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I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

smallandroidphone.com

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Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#121
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I touch on this on the site. 5% of iPhones sold are minis. That's 10m sold per year! That is more than enough demand to cover the NREs and costs of making a phone. * https://9to5mac.com/2022/04/21/cirp-iphone-13-best-selling-l...

5% seems quite small and not worth the trouble. It might be worth it if a small phone generated 5% in additional sales, but most people buying a small iPhone would likely buy a normal-sized iPhone if no small version was available rather than making the switch to Android.

Your argument suggests that there are actually 2 smart phone markets. One for iPhones, one for everything else. I think this is a fairly reasonable assumption for the majority of consumers.

Let's assume very few people are switching ecosystems at this point based on form factor. That would mean Apple made a new product to cannibalize 5% of their existing market. No similar product exists in the android ecosystem. It seems reasonable that an android phone maker could get similar market share but have these sales come from a combination of their existing sales and competitors sales.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#122
post #15
post #6

“matching size and design of iPhone 13 Mini” So, by all accounts, the iPhone mini has been an extremely slow seller. https://www.macrumors.com/2022/04/21/iphone-13-mini-unpopula... Why would that form factor succeed in the Android space? --- I see these meme on tech sites all the time: “oh phones are too big I just want something simple”. That is a valid sentiment that I think is shared by basically no average consum…

I touch on this on the site. 5% of iPhones sold are minis. That's 10m sold per year! That is more than enough demand to cover the NREs and costs of making a phone. * https://9to5mac.com/2022/04/21/cirp-iphone-13-best-selling-l...

>That is more than enough demand to cover the NREs and costs of making a phone.

Then why is Apple dropping it ?

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#123
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>people just like big stuff I'm inclined to think that applies more to Americans than people generally. Europeans and Australians can be quite content with smaller vehicles, smaller properties, and quite frankly smaller lifestyles.

Weird, all the europeans who visit me in the US talk so much about how great it is to have this much space.

While the americans visiting me in Europe complain about the cramped streets. One of these is polite.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#124

Has anybody tried the $32 SOYES XS11 or $70 or UNIWA XS11 It's a 2.5 inch 3G Android phone. http://www.cwell-hk.com/products/SOYES_XS11.aspx Lots of small Android phones are in the recommended section on cwell-hk in the $40 range.

> Android 6.0 Operation System They're kidding, right?

China/HK is wild

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#125
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are two big issues with SFF, really: - people tend to correlate size and price, and by default the correlation is direct (for some things it's inverse), so at similar capabilities (and thus prices) consumers will tend to go with the larger version - for a smartphone specifically, there's a direct relationship between battery size and device size, and battery life is a really valuable convenience The iPhone 13 m…

> for a smartphone specifically, there's a direct relationship between battery size and device size, and battery life is a really valuable convenience As the largest consumer of energy is the display of a smartphone, you don't need the same battery size to get the same runtime in a smaller phone. Also by increasing the depth of the smartphone by just 1-2 millimeters you can offset the smaller area available for the b…

> As the largest consumer of energy is the display of a smartphone, you don't need the same battery size to get the same runtime in a smaller phone.

The battery capacity grows much faster than the display energy consumption, and it's not even a fight: at otherwise equivalent hardware, the larger phone has always had better battery life than the smaller one in every iPhone generation.

The minis both suffered significant criticism due to battery life issues, compared to their larger sibling.

> Also by increasing the depth of the smartphone by just 1-2 millimeters you can offset the smaller area available for the battery.

You can do the same on both smaller and larger form factors so that's not an advantage of the SFF phones.

And much to my dismay Apple remains very much not a fan of that: after having increased the phone depth to long-forgotten heights of 8.3mm (a chonk not seen since the 4S's 9.3), it's been reduced back down to 7.65 in the 13 (up a hair from the 12's 7.4). I fear an eventual return to the dark days of the 6S/7 and their 7.1mm you could shave with (but couldn't pick your phone off of the table for lack of ability to grip the thing without using your fingernails to pry it off).

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#126
I used an Atom for a while, which had a ridiculously small 2.4" screen. One thing I realized is that the smaller you make the screen, the thicker you have to make the device in order to provide space for the battery. While a smaller screen does use less battery, it's not enough that you can avoid increasing thickness.

I know that's a bit more extreme than the <6" mentioned in the article, but I think it still holds that when making a flagship packed with good cameras, battery life, and CPU, it's much easier to make a sexy looking large phone than a small phone.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#127
post #6

“matching size and design of iPhone 13 Mini” So, by all accounts, the iPhone mini has been an extremely slow seller. https://www.macrumors.com/2022/04/21/iphone-13-mini-unpopula... Why would that form factor succeed in the Android space? --- I see these meme on tech sites all the time: “oh phones are too big I just want something simple”. That is a valid sentiment that I think is shared by basically no average consum…

>people just like big stuff I'm inclined to think that applies more to Americans than people generally. Europeans and Australians can be quite content with smaller vehicles, smaller properties, and quite frankly smaller lifestyles.

American here with a Smart Fortwo, but I may be an outlier. Dead simple to park in the city though, and I hear lots of people complaining about parking, so… I don’t know why everyone buys those enormous cars here. :)

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#128
I like the idea, I'll fill out your form later today.

Feedback on the website:

On the graphic at the bottom where you overlay different models of phone:

1. I think the red/green/blue borders would benefit from more contrast. It's hard for my eyes to distinguish.

2. I think you should add a deck of cards to the graphic. It would provide a frame of reference for scale.

... P.S. I just noticed the "Extrapolating from past models, the Pixel 10 will be roughly the size of California" below the graphic. If the purpose of the graphic was purely to accompany that joke, then I guess ignore my suggestions.

Although, a deck of cards may contribute to the joke. Hmmm

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#130
post #6

“matching size and design of iPhone 13 Mini” So, by all accounts, the iPhone mini has been an extremely slow seller. https://www.macrumors.com/2022/04/21/iphone-13-mini-unpopula... Why would that form factor succeed in the Android space? --- I see these meme on tech sites all the time: “oh phones are too big I just want something simple”. That is a valid sentiment that I think is shared by basically no average consum…

it's a sort of selection bias, it's only because of a niche unmet need that people take to their blogs to complain - so the only people clamoring are the one not getting what they want

same way the universe is perfectly made for us because if it wasn't we wouldn't be here, ya'know ?

- Sent from my iPhone 13 mini

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