It’s likely that most people make things like comfort, style, and price the main criteria when purchasing clothes. But there are other things that can be more important such as the ability to fit a phone in the pocket.
My last pair of jeans was from Rivers (one of the more affordable Australian clothing stores which also has online sales) [1]. They were the “long leg” version and have front pockets that are 28cm deep (measured from the bottom of the pocket to the lowest part of the lip) and 15cm wide (a 15cm ruler will barely fit sideways in the pocket).
I’ve just got some new jeans from Rivers which are the regular leg length, they have front pockets which are 21cm deep and slightly more than 16cm wide.
The old pair could fit a Nexus 7 tablet in the front pocket. The new pair should more easily fit such a tablet in the pocket but it might be less comfortable to walk with the tablet in the pocket. I don’t plan to try using my front pocket for a tablet (I’d be more likely to use a backpack or my Scott e vest [2]), but a Galaxy Note 2 (which is about the largest device that most people would want in their pocket) would fit nicely.
I find the Rivers jeans to be quite comfortable and I like the way they look. They also only cost $25 online or $30 in the store. When I bought my first pair before I even had a 4″ phone they were good value and they will be even better value early next year when I get a bigger phone. Even though Rivers jeans may wear out faster than more expensive brands, for $30 it’s easy to just buy a few pairs at a time.
During an email discussion of geeky clothing the issue of women’s clothes having fewer and smaller pockets was raised. Unfortunately I didn’t think to measure the pockets in women’s jeans when I was at the Rivers to discover whether they have big pockets too. I’ll do that next time I’m in the area.