diff --git a/cmp/compare_test.go b/cmp/compare_test.go
index 172e3d4..f7b1f13 100644
--- a/cmp/compare_test.go
+++ b/cmp/compare_test.go
@@ -1297,6 +1297,11 @@ using the AllowUnexported option.`, "\n"),
 		x:      struct{ X interface{} }{[]byte("Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam sit amet pretium ligula, at gravida quam. Integer iaculis, velit at sagittis ultricies, lacus metus scelerisque turpis, ornare feugiat nulla nisl ac erat. Maecenas elementum ultricies libero, sed efficitur lacus molestie non. Nulla ac pretium dolor. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Orci varius natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Pellentesque mi lorem, consectetur id porttitor id, sollicitudin sit amet enim. Duis eu dolor magna. Nunc ut augue turpis.")},
 		y:      struct{ X interface{} }{[]byte("Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam sit amet pretium ligula, at gravida quam. Integer iaculis, velit at sagittis ultricies, lacus metus scelerisque turpis, ornare feugiat nulla nisl ac erat. Maecenas elementum ultricies libero, sed efficitur lacus molestie non. Nulla ac pretium dolor. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Orci varius natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Pellentesque mi lorem, consectetur id porttitor id, sollicitudin sit amet enim. Duis eu dolor magna. Nunc ut augue turpis,")},
 		reason: "bytes slice within an interface should benefit from specialized diffing",
+	}, {
+		label:  label + "/LargeStandaloneString",
+		x:      struct{ X interface{} }{[1]string{"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam sit amet pretium ligula, at gravida quam. Integer iaculis, velit at sagittis ultricies, lacus metus scelerisque turpis, ornare feugiat nulla nisl ac erat. Maecenas elementum ultricies libero, sed efficitur lacus molestie non. Nulla ac pretium dolor. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Orci varius natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Pellentesque mi lorem, consectetur id porttitor id, sollicitudin sit amet enim. Duis eu dolor magna. Nunc ut augue turpis."}},
+		y:      struct{ X interface{} }{[1]string{"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam sit amet pretium ligula, at gravida quam. Integer iaculis, velit at sagittis ultricies, lacus metus scelerisque turpis, ornare feugiat nulla nisl ac erat. Maecenas elementum ultricies libero, sed efficitur lacus molestie non. Nulla ac pretium dolor. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Orci varius natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Pellentesque mi lorem, consectetur id porttitor id, sollicitudin sit amet enim. Duis eu dolor magna. Nunc ut augue turpis,"}},
+		reason: "printing a large standalone string that is different should print enough context to see the difference",
 	}}
 }
 
diff --git a/cmp/report_compare.go b/cmp/report_compare.go
index a6c070c..104bb30 100644
--- a/cmp/report_compare.go
+++ b/cmp/report_compare.go
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ func (opts formatOptions) verbosity() uint {
 	}
 }
 
-const maxVerbosityPreset = 3
+const maxVerbosityPreset = 6
 
 // verbosityPreset modifies the verbosity settings given an index
 // between 0 and maxVerbosityPreset, inclusive.
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ func verbosityPreset(opts formatOptions, i int) formatOptions {
 func (opts formatOptions) FormatDiff(v *valueNode, ptrs *pointerReferences) (out textNode) {
 	if opts.DiffMode == diffIdentical {
 		opts = opts.WithVerbosity(1)
-	} else {
+	} else if opts.verbosity() < 3 {
 		opts = opts.WithVerbosity(3)
 	}
 
diff --git a/cmp/testdata/diffs b/cmp/testdata/diffs
index e2ffdd2..05118be 100644
--- a/cmp/testdata/diffs
+++ b/cmp/testdata/diffs
@@ -1010,8 +1010,8 @@
 >>> TestDiff/Reporter/EmptySlices
 <<< TestDiff/Reporter/LargeMapKey
   map[*[]uint8]int{
-- 	&⟪0xdeadf00f⟫⟪ptr:0xdeadf00f, len:1048576, cap:1048576⟫{0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, ...}: 0,
-+ 	&⟪0xdeadf00f⟫⟪ptr:0xdeadf00f, len:1048576, cap:1048576⟫{0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, ...}: 0,
+- 	&⟪0xdeadf00f⟫⟪ptr:0xdeadf00f, len:1048576, cap:1048576⟫{0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, ...}: 0,
++ 	&⟪0xdeadf00f⟫⟪ptr:0xdeadf00f, len:1048576, cap:1048576⟫{0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, ...}: 0,
   }
 >>> TestDiff/Reporter/LargeMapKey
 <<< TestDiff/Reporter/LargeStringInInterface
@@ -1036,6 +1036,16 @@
   	}, ""),
   }
 >>> TestDiff/Reporter/LargeBytesInInterface
+<<< TestDiff/Reporter/LargeStandaloneString
+  struct{ X interface{} }{
+- 	X: [1]string{
+- 		"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam sit amet pretium ligula, at gravida quam. Integer iaculis, velit at sagittis ultricies, lacus metus scelerisque turpis, ornare feugiat nulla nisl ac erat. Maecenas elementum ultricies libero, sed efficitur lacus molestie non. Nulla ac pretium dolor. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Orci varius natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Pellentesque mi lorem, consectetur id porttitor id, sollicitudin sit amet enim. Duis eu dolor magna. Nunc ut augue turpis.",
+- 	},
++ 	X: [1]string{
++ 		"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam sit amet pretium ligula, at gravida quam. Integer iaculis, velit at sagittis ultricies, lacus metus scelerisque turpis, ornare feugiat nulla nisl ac erat. Maecenas elementum ultricies libero, sed efficitur lacus molestie non. Nulla ac pretium dolor. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Orci varius natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Pellentesque mi lorem, consectetur id porttitor id, sollicitudin sit amet enim. Duis eu dolor magna. Nunc ut augue turpis,",
++ 	},
+  }
+>>> TestDiff/Reporter/LargeStandaloneString
 <<< TestDiff/EmbeddedStruct/ParentStructA/Inequal
   teststructs.ParentStructA{
   	privateStruct: teststructs.privateStruct{