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I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

smallandroidphone.com

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Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

#41

Post by nomel »

carlosjobim wrote: post #34
theendisney wrote: post #15

I want a thick clunky device without a screen that can run for 4-7 days without charging. Then i want 1) a normal size device, 2) a tiny one and 3) a tablet. These should be terminals, little more than a screen, a battery and some radio to communicate with the herefore mentioned brick that does all of the heavy lifting. It needs only 20-30 meter range. The brick may also feature a webserver captive portal with public…

> I want a thick clunky device without a screen that can run for 4-7 days without charging. That's a landline phone, you can buy it for cheap.

> It needs only 20-30 meter range.

And, this is trivially satisfied with a $10 extension cord.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

#43

Post by grishka »

hammyhavoc wrote: post #2

With a battery that can be swapped rapidly without tools. Bonus points for pogo pins like a Samsung XCover phone. Smaller size means smaller battery, but that's mitigated by the above. I want utilitarian. I don't want a phablet. I want practical and unobtrusive. The smartwatch was meant to replace the phone, but doesn't hit the right notes for me.

My first Android phone was an HTC Desire S. It had a rather sturdy metal case with some plastic inserts for the antennas. The bottom insert slid off to reveal the battery and SIM and SD slots. The only downside is that because of this construction it has the USB port on the side. I used it way beyond official support by installing custom ROMs, but eventually apps got so bloated it couldn't run them without frustrating me.

So, uh, can I please have that but with a more modern SoC and a non-potato camera?

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

#44

Post by rtpg »

khurs wrote: post #39
pclowes wrote: post #8

My cynical take is that small phones don't exist because they are not the product. Similar to vape pens the product is the addictive substance the device loads. In this case its apps and ads. A smaller screen probably negatively impacts KPIs on many levels, at Google/Apple/Meta/X and on down through the ecosystem. I understand that Apple did not make enough money to make it worth their while to continue the iphone mi…

>No major player wants a smaller screen because it has downstream impacts on the pipeline of addictive material and ad pixels they can stuff into ocular nerves. There are lots of phone manufacturers who have no ads business. They just make phones so why would they care? Size is dictated by trouser pocket size/handbag size and usage. Editing photos and movies to upload onto social media is probably better on a big scr…

I think photos are a big deal, but IMO it's more about the photo quality. And if you put a nice fancy camera on the phone, suddenly the device gets pretty expensive.

And so while there are people who want "small screen + nice camera". There are people who want "small screen + small price". There are many people who _don't want the small screen_. So you have this phone that can cost a lot of money (in a pretty messy market where most phone models seem to not make money anyways), and you're going to cut off chunks of the market?

So we end up with small screen + shitty camera and specs etc. And people here who want a small phone (but really want a small phone that isn't miserable to use) still are unsatisfied.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

#45

Post by wilsonnb3 »

fgblanch wrote: post #22

Funny enough, in 2023, Asus released a good very close to iphone Mini-size android phone. The asus zenfone 10. https://www.asus.com/us/mobile-handhelds/phones/zenfone/zenf...

I don't know why it was reported so frequently as a compact phone, the ZenFones are much larger than the iPhone mini. It's the same size as a standard iPhone or Galaxy S series.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

#46

Post by rtpg »

paxys wrote: post #40

We've seen this story play out before. Every phone manufacturer has had the bright idea of introducing a small flagship. They spend a ton of money developing and marketing it. Internet people get excited. And when launched - no one buys it. They learn their lesson and move on.

the foldables seem to have found their niche at least in this space though. But they get away with it by... also being a big phone

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

#47

Post by _carbyau_ »

pclowes wrote: post #8

My cynical take is that small phones don't exist because they are not the product. Similar to vape pens the product is the addictive substance the device loads. In this case its apps and ads. A smaller screen probably negatively impacts KPIs on many levels, at Google/Apple/Meta/X and on down through the ecosystem. I understand that Apple did not make enough money to make it worth their while to continue the iphone mi…

The issue is "bigger numbers" marketing. The story for much of smartphone history was the flagship had a bigger screen.

But then it hit the practicable limits of what people can pocket/hold-comfortably.

If you make a phone with a smaller screen but want to call it "flagship" then you'd better have some good marketing to reverse the perception.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

#48

Post by rtpg »

hammyhavoc wrote: post #2

With a battery that can be swapped rapidly without tools. Bonus points for pogo pins like a Samsung XCover phone. Smaller size means smaller battery, but that's mitigated by the above. I want utilitarian. I don't want a phablet. I want practical and unobtrusive. The smartwatch was meant to replace the phone, but doesn't hit the right notes for me.

I've come around on swapping batteries, and have decided that external battery packs are the way to go. Works on more devices, and you're not buying batteries that work on exactly one device.

Still want my phone battery to be replaceable, but I'm pretty fine with not being able to do it myself.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

#49

Post by pelagicAustral »

I recently got a Samsung S25 and it's the best phone I've ever had. I went for the base model and the size is just perfect. It's a small enough phone that I barely feel I carry around all day. It's light and slim and has premium tier hardware so I don't miss out. Never paid more than £300 for a phone before, but I am more than happy with this one.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

#50

Post by javier2 »

pclowes wrote: post #8

My cynical take is that small phones don't exist because they are not the product. Similar to vape pens the product is the addictive substance the device loads. In this case its apps and ads. A smaller screen probably negatively impacts KPIs on many levels, at Google/Apple/Meta/X and on down through the ecosystem. I understand that Apple did not make enough money to make it worth their while to continue the iphone mi…

> I only traded out my iphone 12 mini just recently for an iphone 16 pro (likely the last apple product I will ever buy but thats another story) and aside from the camera it is basically the same. Just heavier, awkward to hold and slightly worse designed.

Just did the exact same thing 5 months ago.. I still miss my 12 mini. Would strongly consider buying a 13 mini instead of its even being sold anymore.

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