ZTE P945 has 5.7-inch screen, bigger than the Galaxy Note 2

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2's 5.5-inch frame may have looked gargantuan when it first lumbered its way onto the tech scene, but it's now being dwarfed by many a rumoured mobile -- the latest ZTE P945, for example.

Spied by Unwired View (through binoculars, as it tears strips out of skyscrapers, I imagine), this smart phone has a 5.7-inch screen. That's not quite as large as the Huawei Ascend Mate's ridiculous 6.1-inch display, but is enough for it to fall into 'phablet' territory.

While it's no slouch on the specs front, the P945 doesn't match up to the Ascend Mate or Note 2. Inside is a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, and the screen resolution is 720p. The Note 2 is quad-core too, but clocked at 1.6GHz, and has the same 720p resolution as the P945. But the winner on paper is the Ascend Mate, with a 1.8GHz quad-core engine under the bonnet, and 1080p resolution. That's just on paper, mind.

For video calls, the P945 has a 1-megapixel front-facing camera, and on the back is an 8-megapixel effort -- so it sounds solid all round.

While you might need bigger pockets, the P945 shouldn't bulk you out too much, seeing as it's under 9mm thick. Massive screens and slim handsets -- this is exactly the opposite of mobiles of old.

The P945 is pictured with China Telecom written on the back, and there's no word whether it'll make it to the UK. We'll hopefully hear more at CES.

Big-screened blowers are expected to be -- ahem -- massive this year, with 5-inch 1080p set to be the new standard. LG, Samsung, HTC, Sony and more are at work on their own mammoth mobiles. All of which will make the iPhone 5 look a little tiddly by comparison.

What do you think is the optimum size for a phone? Let me know in the comments, or over on Facebook.

Image credit: Unwired View