Manufacturers don’t make displays under 6 inches available for purchase, with special cases (such as the iPhone Mini) being made under exclusive contracts. The best lead they have so far is to try to use displays designed for the front part of a foldable phone, but they’re yet to strike an agreement.
TIL that display manufacturers are also part of the reason why we aren’t getting small phones and why it’s probably even harder for manufacturers like Fairphone to make them.
My favourite phone ever was my first android phone in 2010, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini (e10i). Every time I’ve had to buy a phone since, I’ve looked around trying to find something similar, but it feels like no such thing will ever exist.
You just brought back fond memories of mine
I loved sliding that keyboard
Sony used to sell smaller phones in general. Plus, they all come with headphone hacks.
Nothing quite as small as the Mini, but the Sony Xperia 5 V is relatively compact in a “thin but tall” way. Sadly, I don’t think they’re still producing their Compact lineup.
If you want to go tiny, there’s the Unihertz Jelly Star:
Unihertz sells a phone with a 4.2" screen, but it’s still tall because there’s a physical QWERTY keyboard underneath the screen.
I still have one in a drawer! It’s functional, but too old to use…
It was the perfect phone.
Loved that phone. Check out the Jelly Star (I have the Jelly 2) if you want a small, full featured Android. Compromises for the size and price of course, but it has a headphone jack, sd card, IR blaster, and usb-c - everything I need.
Unihertz phones are really cool. My main phone is an S20 but I use an Atom with downloaded podcasts for hikes and runs.
I just want Sony to make another XZ1 Compact but with updated internals. Keep the screen size, camera shutter button, 3.5mm plug and make it thicker to squeeze in either wireless charging or a slightly bigger battery.
This.
Sony’s Compact series was excellent, especially for someone with small hands like me. The bigger ones have no advantages for me.
Meanwhile me, a 6’4" man with big ass hands, is finally happy that most phones actually feel big enough for my fucking hands for once
Have an older iPhone we use at work and I almost can’t type on it with how small the fuckin screen is lol
But yeah, options are nice, make small screens more often ya nerds
I moved from the normal sized iPhone to the Max this year. No regrets so far. The most common thing I do with my phone is consume media so the cumbersomeness has been a good tradeoff.
I had bought a 15 Pro on release day but returned it for the max after a week of continuing to doubt myself after holding a max in the store. I had jumbophones up till the iPhone X, I even had a Dell Streak back in the day.
Most suprising thing to me was that the speaker was insainely better. I stopped carrying a Bluetooth speaker around with me for when I’m working cause the speakers get the job done well enough now. It’s not a 1-to-1 replacement but it is just ggod enough that it suffices. Also, the battery life from the smaller phone to the larger was such a big increase that I’ve stopped carrying around an external battery but just keep a usbc cable with my in case my ecig runs out of battery and I need to charge it off my phone.
It’s been an interesting series of trade offs going back to a larger phone but then again, the bezels and thickness have reduced so much that a Max without a case feels the same as a normal size phone with a case. I thought I’d get bit by the screen being too big more than I have but I guess some honest self reflection on what I actually use my phone for compared to what I picture I use it for helped with the decision making. (I totally get that other people’s use cases with have completely calculus)
Man I have enormous hands. I can barely fit into most XXL gloves. I still prefer 6" phones.
I just want a small screen and a physical keyboard like phones had when BlackBerry was still a thing. I had absolutely no trouble blind tiping on those even tho I have sausage fingers.
These days I depend on autocorrect and it betrays me fairly often
I don’t get what the obsession with big phones is. Is it that most people really want big phones or that companies can charge more for them?
For me it’s the bigger battery.
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Two main reasons I think:
- it’s easier to make a big phone as there’s more space for all the components
- the average consumer doesn’t use computers as much anymore, so people start using their phone for all kinds of things where they benefit from the bigger screen
First point is incorrect, there’s no easy/hard with the difference in an inch. People don’t build phones, machines do. We’re very capable of making small phones. That not what the market wants.
Second point is 100% correct. People want computers, and with crazy battery life, batteries can only be so small if you want capacity. The bigger screens combined with that make the user experience for the majority better.
Is there a community for confidentlyincorrect?
It’s not about the assembly, but all the components and features you want to cram into the box while still having decent thermals and battery.
People generally just want the biggest screen they can hold in their hands comfortably.
For most people that seems to have settled into the 6.5-6.7" range, depending on aspect ratio and bezels.
It’s not that people want big phones, it’s that people like big screens.
I’m old and my eyesight requires them now. Lol
There isn’t one, there’s an “obsession” with phones that are usable by today’s use case, which is computer replacements for the overwhelming majority.
Step outside of the small phone echo chamber and youll see that’s not even remotely what the market demand is. Fine if you like small phones, but you’re the minority. If that’s where the money was, they’d still be common.
Second option.
Bigger screens which is the whole appeal with smartphones.
Mainstream ruined everything. Like it always does.
You mean corporate greed? Yes
LOL, by “mainstream” you mean market demand? People use phones as computers now, people that want small phones are the 1%, Apple bought back small phones remember? The 1% loved it, the rest didn’t. No money to be made = it won’t get made.
Same as people who want unreliable SD cards and wired headphones jacks, by far the statistically insignificant minority. What people want as a whole is what influences production, not fringe cases.
Even I used to believe that there is a good demand, but sadly it’s a very small minority.
Anyone who wants to keep this convo going, check out [email protected]
Thanks!
Joined!
and one of the driving forces behind the design of the Palm Pilot was that it had to fit in a shirt pocket …
I just dug out my palm pilot to check, pretty shocking it’s only about 5.5" diagonal. It seemed huge in the day.
i want a smartphone, that i can hold securely
while still being able to reach the entire screen.i have pretty big hands, and even i cant reach the upper left quarter of my phone (pixel6a) without letting go of the left and bottom edges.
its ridiculousOh yes, to top it I have small hands - I can’t reach almost any of the opposite edge without using two hands. Sigh.
Putting things like a back arrow on the upper left is just asshole design, for starters.
Which is why Android very seldom puts stuff in the far top left corner and if it does, it’s the back arrow, which you can and should avoid by just using the universal back action via either gestures (my favorite), the on screen button, or the physical button if you have one.
Material design is pretty much about moving shit away from the top and especially lop left to the bottom
Similarly putting stuff in the upper right is just asshole design for those of us who are left handed, unfortunately that’s relatively common.
I’m a cyclist in the city so for me, a smaller size phone is ideal to keep it secure in a pocket. I got gifted a Pixel 6 about a year ago (wanted to stick with the Pixel 2!) and now I always need to bring some sort of pack to put it in.
I’m currently using a Samsung flip 5. I have it set up to use all my main apps on the outer screen, so I can just have a small screen. Then I have the option to open it for apps that I might want to be on a larger screen.
It’s working out pretty well. Some days I never even use the inner screen.
I might have to do this for my next phone. How’s the battery life?
At this point I’d rather buy a super outdated smartphone. They’re small enough for my hands and pockets, dirt cheap and still functional, and most of the good games left on Android are only available on those old versions.
I held onto my Sony XZ2c for months after calls stopped working on it after the US 3G shutdown. I got a flip phone for making calls.
The worst part? The XZ2c has VoLTE calling capability, but all the US phone companies refuse to support it on their networks.
Now I’m begrudgingly using a OnePlus 6 and praying that I don’t drop the massive thing >:[
Basically, even if we want to use aging tech we’re held hostage by telecom companies, who obviously would prefer to rope people into new devices on credit plans. ARGH
So wait, if US companies don’t support VoLTE then how do they do calls over 4G and 5G?
It was that VoLTE wasn’t supported for that particular model of phone. VoLTE is very much the norm here although I’m unsure if every phone uses it now. My flip phone probably doesn’t, but it’s hard to tell with how stripped down its manufacturer-customized Android is.
I use a dumbphone with volte as a backup phone for work on tmobile
I’m on the iPhone mini and I wish I could get a smaller phone. It is way better than the tablets my family carry!
I was disappointed when they discontinued the mini.
This is what is pushing me towards a flip phone. I just don’t have a need for a 6.7" phone or bigger.
There was actually a meme I saw a while back where a guy was wielding a sword and shield. Except the sword was an iPhone and the shield was a samsung phone.
For myself, phone screens have finally gotten to the perfect size for my hand, and a good size to actually use them for stuff comfortably.
But there should always be variation and choice, for the other users in the market!
