diff --git a/src/com/android/email/Preferences.java b/src/com/android/email/Preferences.java
index 4e40e6309..b10cf131c 100644
--- a/src/com/android/email/Preferences.java
+++ b/src/com/android/email/Preferences.java
@@ -47,13 +47,15 @@ public class Preferences {
     // "move to older" was the behavior on older versions.
     public static final int AUTO_ADVANCE_DEFAULT = AUTO_ADVANCE_OLDER;
 
+    // The following constants are used as offsets into TEXT_ZOOM_ARRAY (below)
     public static final int TEXT_ZOOM_TINY = 0;
     public static final int TEXT_ZOOM_SMALL = 1;
     public static final int TEXT_ZOOM_NORMAL = 2;
     public static final int TEXT_ZOOM_LARGE = 3;
     public static final int TEXT_ZOOM_HUGE = 4;
-    // "large" will be the default
-    public static final int TEXT_ZOOM_DEFAULT = TEXT_ZOOM_LARGE;
+    // "normal" will be the default
+    public static final int TEXT_ZOOM_DEFAULT = TEXT_ZOOM_NORMAL;
+    public static final float[] TEXT_ZOOM_ARRAY = new float[] {0.8f, 0.9f, 1.0f, 1.2f, 1.5f};
 
     private static Preferences sPreferences;
 
diff --git a/src/com/android/email/activity/MessageViewFragmentBase.java b/src/com/android/email/activity/MessageViewFragmentBase.java
index 0250fe7a4..9cecfc6f5 100644
--- a/src/com/android/email/activity/MessageViewFragmentBase.java
+++ b/src/com/android/email/activity/MessageViewFragmentBase.java
@@ -502,18 +502,9 @@ public abstract class MessageViewFragmentBase extends Fragment implements View.O
             mMessageContentView.clearView();
 
             // Dynamic configuration of WebView
-            WebSettings.TextSize textZoom;
-            switch (Preferences.getPreferences(mContext).getTextZoom()) {
-                case Preferences.TEXT_ZOOM_TINY:    textZoom = WebSettings.TextSize.SMALLEST; break;
-                case Preferences.TEXT_ZOOM_SMALL:   textZoom = WebSettings.TextSize.SMALLER; break;
-                case Preferences.TEXT_ZOOM_NORMAL:  textZoom = WebSettings.TextSize.NORMAL; break;
-                case Preferences.TEXT_ZOOM_LARGE:   textZoom = WebSettings.TextSize.LARGER; break;
-                case Preferences.TEXT_ZOOM_HUGE:    textZoom = WebSettings.TextSize.LARGEST; break;
-                default:                            textZoom = WebSettings.TextSize.NORMAL; break;
-            }
             final WebSettings settings = mMessageContentView.getSettings();
-            settings.setTextSize(textZoom);
             settings.setLayoutAlgorithm(WebSettings.LayoutAlgorithm.NORMAL);
+            setTextZoom();
         }
         mAttachmentsScroll.scrollTo(0, 0);
         mInviteScroll.scrollTo(0, 0);
@@ -522,6 +513,20 @@ public abstract class MessageViewFragmentBase extends Fragment implements View.O
         initContactStatusViews();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Sets the zoom value which is a combination of the user setting
+     * (tiny, small, normal, large, huge) and the device density. The intention
+     * is for the text to be physically equal in size over different density
+     * screens.
+     */
+    private void setTextZoom() {
+        float density = mContext.getResources().getDisplayMetrics().density;
+        int zoom = Preferences.getPreferences(mContext).getTextZoom();
+        float textZoom = Preferences.TEXT_ZOOM_ARRAY[zoom] * density;
+
+        mMessageContentView.setInitialScale((int) (textZoom * 100));
+    }
+
     private void initContactStatusViews() {
         mContactStatusState = CONTACT_STATUS_STATE_UNLOADED;
         mQuickContactLookupUri = null;