13 OBJECTS · 4.5 cm TO 2 m

Size It Up: Technology

Technology is the modern-life set: smartphones, laptops, a PlayStation 5, a server rack and a camera drone. Products are designed to look bigger or smaller in marketing than they are on a desk, which makes this a sharper test than it sounds.

The Technology set holds 13 measured objects, from a smartwatch at 4.5 cm to a server rack at 2 m — the numbers on this page cover a factor of about 44. Each one is measured on the axis the game scores: standing height for things you would walk up to, longest visible span for everything else. Every size below links to the published measurement it came from.

THE NUMBERS

How big are these, really?

All 13 objects in the Technology set, smallest to largest. Each rung is compared with the one below it, so the category reads as a single ladder rather than a list of unrelated figures.

4.5 cm

Smartwatch height

Smartwatch: Watch cases are sold by case diameter in millimetres, and 45 mm is a large one. Source ↗

13 cm

Mirrorless Camera length / span

Mirrorless Camera: Dropping the mirror box let camera bodies shrink by about a third. Source ↗

14.7 cm

Smartphone height

Smartphone: Phones stopped growing at roughly the limit of what a thumb can reach one-handed. About 3.3× the height of a smartwatch. Source ↗

16 cm

Game Controller length / span

Game Controller: Controller width has hardly moved since the 1990s — hands did not get bigger. About 1.2× the length of a mirrorless camera. Source ↗

20 cm

VR Headset length / span

VR Headset: Most of the bulk is the gap the lenses need in front of your eyes. About 1.3× the length of a game controller. Source ↗

35 cm

Laptop Computer length / span

Laptop Computer: Measured across the closed lid, not along the screen’s diagonal. About 1.8× the length of a VR headset. Source ↗

35 cm

Camera Drone length / span

Camera Drone: Measured diagonally between motors, the dimension most drone regulations use. Practically the same length as a laptop computer. Source ↗

39 cm

PlayStation 5 height

PlayStation 5: The largest home console ever sold, almost entirely because of its cooling. About 2.7× the height of a smartphone. Source ↗

44 cm

Computer Keyboard length / span

Computer Keyboard: Full-size boards owe their width to the number pad; tenkeyless models lose about 10 cm. About 1.3× the length of a camera drone. Source ↗

45 cm

Desktop Computer Tower height

Desktop Computer Tower: Tower cases are sized around the motherboard, a standard barely changed since 1995. About 1.2× the height of a PlayStation 5. Source ↗

45 cm

Office Printer length / span

Office Printer: Width is set by the paper path — A4 and Letter need the same clearance. Practically the same length as a computer keyboard. Source ↗

1.2 m

55-Inch Television length / span

55-Inch Television: A 55-inch TV is 55 inches corner to corner; across the front it is only about 1.2 m. About 2.7× the length of an office printer. Source ↗

2 m

Server Rack height

Server Rack: A full rack is commonly around two metres tall. About 4.4× the height of a desktop computer tower. Source ↗

PLAY IT

Play the Technology set

Reading the numbers is one thing; sizing them by eye against a reference silhouette is another.

The daily puzzle mixes every category, so these objects turn up there at random. For a set built only from them, Unlimited deals five of them at a time, as often as you like. Unlimited is practice: it is unranked and never touches the daily leaderboard. New to the game? How to play covers the rules and the 0–500 scoring in two minutes.

KEEP GOING

Other categories

Every category has its own page of measured sizes. Landmarks and space produce the biggest scale shocks; sports and everyday objects are the fairest places to calibrate your eye.