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

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

#61
I had a Samsung A3 (2016) which was almost the exact form factor of the iPhone Mini.

I loved it for being so small and light. The last few years it became too slow for regular use (and many apps refused to install) so I put it in airplane mode and used it as an mp3 player.

I'd still be using it today, but I lost it! I was very sad.

I also loved the LG K8 (2017), wonderful device. That one was a touch bigger, but had a really nice curved screen.

I used an iPhone SE (2016) until last year actually, which was even smaller.

It worked fine, until software updates made it useless. That's a recurring theme with my phones!

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

#62

Unfortunately this still hasn't happened yet. There are almost no good options for reasonable size Androids anymore. Zenfone 10 is pretty good, especially with the headphone jack, but it's already out of print and will be obsolete before long. And smaller would be nicer. Any other current gen recommendations?

Unihertz JellyStar. Has a headphone jack too.

3" sounds like a novelty, but the Jelly Max seems a bit more reasonable at 5". Cool company.

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

#63
I have on my desk, the Galaxy S8, iPhone SE (First generation), the iPhone 13 Mini, the iPhone 14 Pro and the Galaxy S22. I intentionally now choose and look for phones that are the smallest possible now (S25, iPhone 15pro or 16pro) etc

My favorite to take with me is the 13 Mini. Would love an iPhone 18 mini.

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

#64
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 used to buy ZenFones, but they're huge now. It feels like there's some combination of poor sales and parts commonality that causes the problem, not a shadowy conspiracy, since I don't think ASUS and other manufacturers have a significant way to benefit from phone addiction.

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

#65
post #19
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity, why's it your last Apple product? Watching lots of Louis Rossmann has put me almost ideologically against Apple (even though they design great hardware and smooth UX within their ecosystem), but I'm not good at forming coherent points to present to Apple loving friends. For me so far, I think it's about control over what I buy - but the rebuttal is always "you're buying a product from them, if you d…

I just don't see the value add anymore and the company appears to have lost its product vision and the design sensibilities are slipping. Apple is controlled by a geriatric board and a logistics expert and it shows. I feel I am more frequently encountering software bugs, vaporware,(dESiGnEd fOr ApPle InTelLiGeNce), and ridiculous "innovation" (genmoji). I feel the hardware advances are not very relevant to me, I don'…

What Linux computer can you buy with the battery life, quietness, lack of heat and speed of a modern ARM based Mac?

As far as phones - your alternative is to buy an Android phone with an operating system by an ad company that is also pushing AI just as hard.

And you still end up getting most apps from the Google Play Store.

By the way, iMessage supports SMS/MMS/RCS for interoperability. What else do you want?

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

#66
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 don't think that's cynical- it's obvious that larger screens allow more phone usage and more ads on the larger screen.

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

#67
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.

I think the other thing is pretty much everyone has a smartphone android/ios, and so the rev model has changed for android its youtube/movies, and for ios its apple tv.

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

#68
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 see it differently. Modern web → the browser → powerful CPU/GPU → big battery → big device → why not cover it with a big screen.

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

#69
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 don't think that's cynical- it's obvious that larger screens allow more phone usage and more ads on the larger screen.

It's still a cynical point of view nonetheless
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