But then the item I want to view would be harder to select on a phone or tablet. Let's not forget those devices. On my tablet the page currently shows 25 item

But then the item I want to view would be harder to select on a phone or tablet. Let's not forget those devices. On my tablet the page currently shows 25 items without scrolling and I can easily select an item of interest without accidental selections. In my opinion the current display works well with a reasonable compromise between to much whitespace and too "fiddly".