this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2023
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[–] [email protected] 140 points 1 year ago (7 children)

They will have to pry my iPhone 13 mini from my cold dead hands! Small phone gang unite! ✊

[–] [email protected] 69 points 1 year ago (6 children)

I want a smaller smartphone but not an iPhone. It's sad that Apple is the only manufacturer still producing reasonable sized phones. Small phone gang unite and push for other manufacturers to follow Apple on this one!

[–] [email protected] 58 points 1 year ago (15 children)

Unfortunately even Apple has announced they are discontinuing their smaller phone, citing poor sales, so it seems the small phone gang is too small to have any market power.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Small people want small phones. Small people have small hands. Small hands can't carry very much money.

It's simple economics.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (15 children)

I don't believe the small phone gang is small, we just have one option: a pretty expensive iPhone mini.

I want a small phone but not an iPhone, I have no option therefore manufactures assume I want a humongous phone. That's flawed logic.

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[–] [email protected] 97 points 1 year ago (15 children)

I have a theory about small phones:

I see so many people asking for smaller phones, and, at the same time, the sales aren't very good when companies give it a try. How can both be true?

I believe (from my anedoctal observations) that small phone users tend to be people who don't want to replace their phones just for the sake of getting a newer one, and use their devices for several years, resulting in fewer sales than expected.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

You see so many people asking for smaller phones in the forums and places you frequent.

They do not necessarily represent the views of the common public. I personally could do with a slightly smaller phone because the compact size allows for easier holding with single hands. But, sadly, I have not seen folks around me deciding which phone to buy based on their screen size. Neither is that a priority for them. Simply put, our Venn diagrams do not fully overlap.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I see a lot of people around me asking for smaller phones, from my family to work and friends. Perhaps it's something cultural, I don't know.

But I'm well aware that our perception can trick us in so many ways, and can't speak for itself. I would love to see atual data on phone size preferences around the world.

Still, I doubt that there aren't enough people wanting smaller phones to sustain a market niche.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I prefer smaller phones but none of them have the specs I want. I'm never looking for bleeding edge flagships either. I just want a good enough camera, good enough screen, goddamn micro SD slot damn it, and flat glass edges with a bit of a bezel so I can put a case and tempered glass on. And whatever the maker needs to make available for custom roms to be possible because I'm damn well going to keep using it after official updates end.

They wouldn't even need to make a new model as frequently, maybe minor revisions to replace no longer available components. USB port update shouldn't be needed for a good chunk of time since c seems pretty great. There's probably a shitload of tooling and supply chain issues to work out even ignoring the likely toxic workplace politics though.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You meet them online, but they’re a vocal minority. Especially when a smaller phone means a smaller battery and worse camera system, two of the consistently top priorities for consumers.

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[–] [email protected] 62 points 1 year ago (5 children)

People have been saying this for the last 5 years and will continue saying this for the next 5 years. They make less smaller phones cuz people don't buy them

[–] [email protected] 53 points 1 year ago (15 children)

That will be a side effect of them locking abitrary features behind the bigger and thus more expensive models, if there was feature parity smaller phones would probably still be the norm.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yeah, I only got the Pixel 6 Pro because of the zoom lense...i would not have chosen it otherwise. It's too big...

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[–] [email protected] 54 points 1 year ago (3 children)

There was a time where 7" was a damn tablet (looking at you, my old pal nexus 7)

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

7" plus an inch of bezels on each side. A Nexus 7 was nearly 10 inches.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Those bezels are useful though. The bigger and heavier the device the better grip you need in it.

Modern devices try to get around it with crazy accidental touch recognition that works some of the time. But older tablets with bezels give you a place to grip it without the need for touch rejection.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

Modern devices try to get around it with crazy accidental touch recognition that works some of the time.

What you do is you take your thousand dollar fragile crystal oblong and you wrap it in a 30 dollar hunk of plastic that adds the correct bezels for actual human interaction and also provides a moderate amount of physical protection and strength.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

Using diagonal screen size to measure phones doesn't work because of bezels and taller aspect ratios. The 5.5" iPhone 6 Plus (2014) is pretty much the same size as the 6.7" iPhone 15 Pro Max

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[–] [email protected] 49 points 1 year ago (24 children)

Personally, the Pixel 5 was the perfect size and weight for a phone.

No bulky cameras. No thick chassis. No glass adding pointless weight. Very usable as a one handed device. Symmetrical bezels.

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Ooooh nexus..

My Nexus 5 and 5X were the best phones I had ever owned, period

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Hey, your Nexus 5X has called... actually it can't because its still stuck in a bootloop.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What irks me about the larger phones is that there is so much wasted screen real estate. The phone doubled in size, but can only show me half the number of items on my shopping list?

[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That sounds more like an iPhone problem than a large phone problem. You have complete control over both text size and display scaling in Android.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Google and Android aren't perfect but fuck man I love Android.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I believe the (old but still decent) best small Android is the Samsung s10e

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's still my current phone. Newer phones just look so absolutely massive.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Same, holding on for dear life with my S10E. It's the best form factor, great power button finger print reader, dual SIM, I mean, what's not to love. (battery is kind of meh, but I've added a halo ring and a magnetic induction battery).

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Except for the Bixby button, I mostly like my s10e. I have large hands, but still wish it was slightly shorter.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I'm currently in the market for a new phone because Samsung ended security updates for my current one, not because there's anything wrong with it. And I'm noticing that my choices seem to be buy a phablet or buy a total POS.

Remember when Samsung made a flagship phone in multiple sizes, and then also made a giant phone so big it had a built-in stylus? It wasn't that long ago. Now the flagship phone comes with a stylus.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

I bought an unlocked pixel 7a because of lots of custom roms once it goes out of support

It's huge and doesn't have a headphone jack or SD card slot but it's very fast and has a good camera

My dream phone would be:

  • Unlocked bootloader

  • Replaceable battery

  • Small

  • Expandable storage

  • Good camera

  • IR blaster

  • Updates provided for a long time

  • Stock Android

  • Very durable

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (6 children)

I just want phones that are shorter. They keep getting longer, which means more risk of breaking, and means the keyboard is unusable in landscape since it blocks the textfield.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Agreed.

Manufacturers seem to think that we all need a massive screen to watch films and play games on.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I want a small phone with easy replaceable battery and a plastic sturdy screen.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (10 children)

I'm still on my pixel 3 which is line at the cusp of the size i can handle. I want smaller but every new phone is bigger. It's so infuriating.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

I wanted small phone after 4 years with op7t and went logically for S23. But few years back it would be massive phone. Nowadays I found it like a perfect sweet spot of size, weight.. Performance, software and camera wise it's the only option.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (9 children)

My phone is about 15cm (~5¾ in) tall, and to me, that's the absolute maximum. It's slightly too big. The width, about 7cm (~2¾ in) is totally fine.

This (Galaxy XCover 5) was the smallest phone that seemed to exist (and I wanted one woth durability, removable battery, SD slot, headphones etc). It was very expensive though.

Trying to find cheaper ones for various people in the extended family, they all specified "oh, not bigger than my current one", but it was impossible. There's basically nothing less than 16cm tall, and most are even bigger.

I'm scared of this one breaking. The XCover 6 is 17cm x 8cm.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (9 children)

I remember the last time this got brought up and I complained about my thumb not being able to reach the other side of the iphone 3 mini. Well, I tried the Samsung Z Fold the other day and I really like how narrow it is to the point where my thumb can effortly reach the other side when the phone is folded. Perhaps I'll get that phone in the future when my current iPhone 13 mini dies. At the same time, I do enjoy my Apple Watch though and I appreciate the longetivity of the iPhone compared to other brands.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

It's a nice idea, but I'd be worried about the wear and tear on the folding screen. I can't imagine it would hold up through the years of use I put phones through.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I think the main smartphone market is kind of like the market for cars. The only people that can afford to buy them, can afford to keep up heavy consumer traffic, are the ones who are convinced they need to swap to the top of the line model with some sort of trade-in payment plan, where they want every new trendy thing, and every piece of bullshit technology that's not going to last even to the next flagship model. Basically, stupid people who are rich and are insecure about it. I'm certainly vulnerable to that to, just as I'm vulnerable to the unbearable lag on even just like a 6 year old phone, which should really not be that old, and then security updates and support are always a concern, I suppose. I think maybe the solution, individually, might just be to root my phone, or install some linux alternative operating system, cause I don't wanna keep up with this bullshit anymore. I'm trapped in a world of large 19:9 and 21:9 smartphones, unusable with one hand, and with screen space that's useless 90% of the time. I'm stuck without aux ports, and without any physical style keyboard, no nothin. I also want stuff like the DS stylus port and the flip camera they had on the zenfone 7, that shit is cool.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

On the contrary, poorer people tend to buy oversized phones since that's the only device they have

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Every 5th grader I know has a phone (I'm a parent not a creeper). So it's not just the rich and stupid. Cell network companies give these things away under 2 year plans that most can afford. And it's not just two year plans, my kids have $50 phones from Motorola that are +6". I think most people like a big phone and it's only us few that want to see sub 5" phones.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

The Z Flip is hard to wrap a hand around? Was this written by a toddler?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

Asus, Samsung and Sony are still making some very handy phones. Apple and Xiaomi can go suck it. Admittedly smaller phones in 2023 tend to be on the premium side, but imo they also last longer...because you don't drop them as often.

Especially the Sony Experia 5 (I through V) is the perfect balance between an old school width where you can easily hold and use the phone in one hand but also have more space to scroll vertically. Its got a beautiful 21:9 display, so cinematoc content looks dope as well.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Still love my Asus Zenfone 9. Although I have to say, while the hardware is awesome, the software can be a mixed bag sometimes.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I found my old ipod touch (5th gen, 4 inch screen) in the closet and power it on yesterday. Can't believe how small it is. I swear the screen was a lot larger when I bought it years ago. I guess my perception is skewed by modern smartphone screen size which keep getting bigger.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Fake news! Unihertz sells the Jelly

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