Bring Back the SE • Hacker News Board

Re: Bring Back the SE

#271

Post by Nition » Wed, Sep 11, 2019, 2:53 AM UTC

jeffkeen wrote: post #167

Seriously. This giant phone trend is nonsense. Nonsense! I'm a 6'5" man with large hands who still swears by an SE, despite being mocked by friends and strangers whenever I pull out my "tiny phone". I had a 6S and promptly ditched it for an SE after feeling like the thing was designed to slip out of my enormous hands. That whole "reachability" feature they added when they started with this phablet obsession was basic…

SE size but all-screen like the X would be perfect I think. Up to Apple whether they call it the iPhone SEX.

There's nothing current and SE size in the Android world either (except at slow feature-phone level).

Even better, release two new phones, one in SE size but all screen so the screen's bigger, and one with SE screen size but all screen but the phone's smaller.

By my calculations you could fit a 5" screen on an "SE X". A size comparison: https://i.imgur.com/OKZiWrN.png

Re: Bring Back the SE

#272

Post by ken » Wed, Sep 11, 2019, 2:54 AM UTC

wlesieutre wrote: post #11

temuze wrote: post #9

Mostly, I hope they bring TouchID back, preferably via a scanner on the back of the phone. Outside of providing a bigger screen, FaceID is strictly worse: - When I pulled my old iPhone out of my pocket, I would have my finger on the scanner and it would be unlocked before it reached my face. With FaceID on the iPhone X, I have to wait a few seconds. - If you wake up and you're squinting as you look at your phone, Fac…

FaceID works a lot better with gloves on than TouchID did.

True, but I don't see that as a real advantage. No matter how I unlock it, I need to take off my gloves to do anything with the phone, anyway.

Re: Bring Back the SE

#273

Post by raynr » Wed, Sep 11, 2019, 2:56 AM UTC

aidenn0 wrote: post #198

erigeron wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's not even good stuff in the 4.7" to 5.2" range anymore.

https://www.sonymobile.com/us/products/phones/xperia-xz2-com...

The xz2c was a step down in many ways from the xz1c. Just off the top of my head, no headphone jack (I use mine almost daily), back-mounted fingerprint sensor (that's not how I use my phone), fatter and bigger, less battery life, and front-facing selfie camera is not wide angle.

Re: Bring Back the SE

#274

Post by Nition » Wed, Sep 11, 2019, 2:59 AM UTC

KiSM wrote: post #243

pkorzeniewski wrote: post #242

I can't believe that despite sooo many smartphone models there isn't even ONE under 5 inch with a good camera. Two years ago I bought one of the cheapest smartphones on the market (Alcatel Pixi with 4 inch screen) because it was the smallest one I could find - it has the perfect form factor and is good enough for most stuff I use, but one thing I really miss is a good camera. I waited for something better in that siz…

I feel that, IMO the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact is about the b̶e̶s̶t only premium compact phone. No confirmed successor and it was a bit pricey too...

I looked at that phone as an option a while ago but it's relatively huge compared to the SE. The screen is 25% larger.

I realize it's also the smallest recent high-end Android phone though!

Re: Bring Back the SE

#275

Post by Nition » Wed, Sep 11, 2019, 3:20 AM UTC

odiroot wrote: post #168

redisman wrote: post #152

Is there even a good 4" Android to switch over to at this point? Their flagship phones also seem to be slowly expanding.

The last one was Sony Xperia XZ Compact.

Close, but even that smallish phone was 4.6".

Re: Bring Back the SE

#276

Post by arvinsim » Wed, Sep 11, 2019, 3:38 AM UTC

dijit wrote: post #40

Every year I wait on bated breath at the release of a similarly compact phone to the SE. I even recently bought a new one right before they removed them from the store, so I have 2 year apple care+ for it to tide me over. Ordinarily I would vote with my wallet, but there are no compact Android phones either. Ironically I still own a Oneplus One which is quite old by todays standards; and I distinctly remember it bein…

> (also, I wonder how women get on, since generally they have smaller hands than men.)

Women actually have it better since they always have their purses to put their phones on.

Re: Bring Back the SE

#277

Post by Illniyar » Wed, Sep 11, 2019, 3:53 AM UTC

You expect apple to do what their users want? That's nonsense, users have no idea what they want.

Besides, the article is completely missing the point - the user should just grow bigger hands.

Re: Bring Back the SE

#278

Post by erichurkman » Wed, Sep 11, 2019, 3:57 AM UTC

jeffkeen wrote: post #167

Seriously. This giant phone trend is nonsense. Nonsense! I'm a 6'5" man with large hands who still swears by an SE, despite being mocked by friends and strangers whenever I pull out my "tiny phone". I had a 6S and promptly ditched it for an SE after feeling like the thing was designed to slip out of my enormous hands. That whole "reachability" feature they added when they started with this phablet obsession was basic…

Having an uneven phone back such that it falls off of even level surfaces when receiving a phone call is a _vital feature_ that I cannot live without. How else will my phone land on a corner and crack the screen, requiring an expensive repair? Am I supposed to drop it like it's 1999?

Re: Bring Back the SE

#279

Post by alexnewman » Wed, Sep 11, 2019, 4:04 AM UTC

jeffkeen wrote: post #167

Seriously. This giant phone trend is nonsense. Nonsense! I'm a 6'5" man with large hands who still swears by an SE, despite being mocked by friends and strangers whenever I pull out my "tiny phone". I had a 6S and promptly ditched it for an SE after feeling like the thing was designed to slip out of my enormous hands. That whole "reachability" feature they added when they started with this phablet obsession was basic…

Exactly all of this and a headphone jack. Yes.

Re: Bring Back the SE

#280

Post by thinkmassive » Wed, Sep 11, 2019, 4:14 AM UTC

Apocryphon wrote: post #21

033803throwaway wrote: post #4

Or someone, anyone, make a functional clone of it. I don't care much which OS I have to run, they are all the same now. I just want a smart phone that fits in a single hand. I tried the palm and it is a bit too small, and the battery life was insanely bad.

> I don't care much which OS I have to run Maybe Purism could think about making a Librem 4 after the 5 releases. Double-down on the hacker-hobbyist niche.

Pine64 is going for that angle with the PinePhone: https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/

The specs are far from the Librem 5, and software support is basically DIY, but at $150 it might be worth trying if you want a Linux hobbyist phone.