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Reminiscing about smaller phones (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

35 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Once upon a time you could get a small android device with good specs.
https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_xz1_compact-8610.php

It's still my favourite phone, even though it's been retired and is only used as an MP3 player with AUX in the garage nowadays.
I realize that for most people the phone is now a device to consume media through and that the larger screens are helpful there, but having a smart phone that is fully usable with one hand is still something I miss. Often.

Considering that modern androids have about 85% to 90% of their size as display size then a phone with the size of the xz1 compact should get a screen size of ~5 inches instead of the old 4.6 inches.

With the SoC advancements I don't even feel that the phone would require a flagship SoC to interest me. Put a Snapdragon 6, as much battery as you can fit and an AUX input in it and I'm game.

What would make you guys interested in a smaller phone today?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Man I totally agree. I have an XZ2C running lineage but it isn't working correctly. Am going to try to flash it again, hopefully that helps.

At any rate, I haven't come across a satisfying explanation about the reason for the absence of small smartphones. I'm convinced that there is a market for it so why aren't any of the established companies producing them?
Is it a matter of profit? I.e. are the profit margins better for larger devices?
I don't expect it to be a battery capacity problem, since the trade off seems sensible to make.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

It started with requiring larger antennas, then larger batteries. LTE was super inefficient, and low frequency bands need large antennas.

Then the industry tried to push tablets and smartphones to sell more devices. Most people settled on a single device, the large smartphone that already exists and forego the tablet. In a lot of cases forego the computer as well.

Somewhere in the middle, the industry self-proclaimed that people obviously prefer large smartphones, when there were no small ones available anymore.

...and here we are.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

I'm running an XZ2C with Lineage and it's working just fine fwiw

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

I was thinking about trying another ROM on my old XZ1C but my banking apps wouldn't run properly if I did that anyways.

I can only imagine that your conviction is wrong. If we were large enough a market to make a nice profit then I imagine the smaller phones would still be around.
With all the video that's being consumed through phones today I kinda understand why most people prefer a larger screen too. I have friends who has neither tablets nor computers at home and if I didn't have both of those I might even prefer a 6 inch screen myself.