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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

#301

Post by nicpottier »

cehrlich wrote: post #290
davee5 wrote: post #270

Hi Eric, I'm a hardware startup guy myself (our paths have crossed) with the distinction that my own "very specific set of skills" has been honed at smartphone megacompanies and smartphone startups. OSOM, Essential, HTC, Samsung, Apple. I've designed and built a lot of phones. I'm building one now. I think this is a noble effort, I personally prefer pocketable phones too, but I think there are nigh-insurmountable hur…

I wonder if there isn't a third factor: 3. Android OEMs can't make a good small phone, even if there was the demand to produce it at scale Because of how efficient Apple's SoCs are compared to Snapdragons, Android phones typically have much larger batteries than iPhones while getting about the same battery life. Big battery requires a big phone. The occasional somewhat small Android phone (for example Galaxy S10e) te…

Pixel 5 has great battery life. Note that none of the requirements are that it is some game machine or anything. Even less than top-tier chipsets are just fine for me. I just want a good camera in a pocketable form factor.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#303

Post by amyjess »

makeitdouble wrote: post #238
eertami wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similar user, and I have no idea if there will be anything left to buy after the Pixel 4a. I expect the 4a will be good enough for another 3 years at-least, if there are no accidents. Hopefully by then there is something available which continues the form factor. 4a has been the perfect successor to the Nexus 4, it's a little taller but other than that has practically the same footprint. With the 6a moving in a diffe…

I am also planning to move from a 4a, and at this point it would be either a Sharp R7 (probably not available internationally though) or a Sony Xperia 10 IV. The Sony seems to be the best alternative though I have no idea of the software quality.

> Sony Xperia 10 IV

Unfortunately, it looks like it won't be sold in the US. Does it support US LTE bands so I can import it at least?

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#304

Post by achow »

mgkimsal wrote: post #284
davee5 wrote: post #270

Hi Eric, I'm a hardware startup guy myself (our paths have crossed) with the distinction that my own "very specific set of skills" has been honed at smartphone megacompanies and smartphone startups. OSOM, Essential, HTC, Samsung, Apple. I've designed and built a lot of phones. I'm building one now. I think this is a noble effort, I personally prefer pocketable phones too, but I think there are nigh-insurmountable hur…

> and the component suppliers have also been looking at the trendlines so they are building bigger and bigger but... aren't they influencing the trendlines by doing this? if the only things manufacturers make are bigger and bigger, they then get to use the sale of those bigger items as justification to continue to make bigger items? Also seems a bit weird with more eco-awareness going on that some manufacturers would…

iPhone mini is 3% of sale. That's the trend.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#305

Post by nicpottier »

eertami wrote: post #111
erohead wrote: post #2

I’m a long-time small phone Android user. But after the Pixel 5, I have not been able to find a suitable small Android replacement. The Pixel 6 is gigantic, and the Pixel 7 looks like it is also destined to be huge. It’s gotten so bad that I’ve resorted to using an iPhone Mini, biding my time and hoping desperately that some Android OEM would step up. But it’s increasingly clear that a small premium phone is not on t…

Similar user, and I have no idea if there will be anything left to buy after the Pixel 4a. I expect the 4a will be good enough for another 3 years at-least, if there are no accidents. Hopefully by then there is something available which continues the form factor. 4a has been the perfect successor to the Nexus 4, it's a little taller but other than that has practically the same footprint. With the 6a moving in a diffe…

Snag up a lightly used Pixel 5 while you can. You get 5G and it is basically the same form factor, just a bit better all around. (I've had both and the Pixel5 is a step up for sure)

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#307

Post by twobitshifter »

torstenvl wrote: post #265
mtoner23 wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like you've answered your own question. Margins are lower, why would they want to sell more of those compared to the regular iphones?

So increase the price? As a criminal defense attorney, I will never own a FaceID device. Ever. I owned an iPhone 7, then an iPhone 8, then an iPhone SE 2020, then another iPhone SE 2020. I may upgrade to the iPhone SE 2022. Cost is not an issue for me. I don't buy the iPhone SE because I'm cheap. I buy the iPhone SE because it is, on balance, hands down the best phone Apple makes right now for people who value conven…

Just an idea in case they kill touchid options: if you get an apple watch you can keep your phone unlocked when nearby and just disable faceid.

They have also recently improved FaceID to work with masks on, so the situation has improved since you tested the mini.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#308

Post by disharko »

reaperducer wrote: post #120
izacus wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These "slow iPhone 13 mini" sales are more than all Google Pixel phones sold in a year. Think about that. I don't understand when did the ability to choose a product fitting your preferences become a bad thing on HackerNews and modern American perception. Why is being able to buy niche products somehow not a worthy thing to be desired?

I don't understand when did the ability to choose a product fitting your preferences become a bad thing on HackerNews Because so many on HN have been indoctrinated into the "scale at all costs" mentality. It demonstrates the difference between HN and the real world. On HN, if you can't serve a billion people, your product is niche. In the real world, billions of people earn a very nice living making niche products. I…

Also consider he's specifically appealing to makers of premium phones - you can bet Google and Samsung care a lot about scale. And to the parent's point about the iPhone 13 mini's sales still being more than all Pixels: ok, so then consider the already much smaller Pixel market share and how many people are left at the % of iPhone sales that the mini made up.

I'd love for this to happen, signed the petition, and will hope for the best, but I think even if there would be a decent market for this the big players don't care to make that bet.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#309

Post by nostromo »

DANK_YACHT wrote: post #96
ncallaway wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

5% of 100 phones is 5 phones. 5% of 200,000,000 is 10,000,000. 5% can be a huge number, or a tiny number, depending on what it's 5% of . I switched from Android to Apple specifically for the iPhone mini, and if they killed it, I would switch to the smallest phone on the market.

My point is that 5% is probably an irrelevant number because it’s not 5% additional sales. If the mini wasn’t available, many people would get a normal iPhone instead of switch to Android. So the net sales is closer to 0. Apple seems to agree with this sentiment and there will be no mini starting with the iPhone 14: https://9to5mac.com/2022/03/14/exclusive-iphone-14-coming-in... Good luck with your switch.

Phone sales aren’t driven by switching, and haven’t been for a while, they’re about upgrading. Apple knows this better than anyone.

For example: I upgrade my phone every two years or so, so long as I like the new phones. If I don’t like the new phones, I wait as long as possible.

People that like smaller phones won’t necessarily leave the iPhone if they kill the Mini - they will just keep their current phones for as long as possible. And that can indeed hurt sales, even if Apple doesn’t lose market share.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#310

Post by SahAssar »

unwiredben wrote: post #3

From what I've seen, the tiny Palm Phone (from TCL) didn't do very well, but there's still some inventory on Amazon: https://palm.com/pages/product . There's also the Cyrcle Phone ( https://www.cyrclephone.com/ ) which doesn't seem to be for sale anymore after its Kickstarter and Indie Go Go campaigns.

The Cyrcle Phone doesn't look small at all, just in a different shape. Also from the video shots it looked like the UI wasn't very well adapted to it's screen shape.
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