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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

#391

Post by boring_twenties »

nousermane wrote: post #349
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…

Talking about notch/hole-punch displays. As somebody who never ever uses front-facing camera, can I have a phone/display without such defects, please?

On my G7 Play with LineageOS, I was able to "disable" the notch -- that is, draw a black bar around it, and have a proper rectangular display with a full-width status bar right below it.

Works great, especially considering the display is not quite small enough for me in the first place.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#392

Post by rootusrootus »

mgkimsal wrote: post #256
dr_ wrote: post #173

I wonder how much of the limited sales of the iPhone mini could be attributed to the branding? What if Apple were to drop the mini and make this the base iPhone, with the other models being Plus, Pro, Max? Margins may be poorer with Mini, so it likely won’t happen, but I feel mini sales could be much higher if they wanted them to be.

> Margins may be poorer with Mini, But they don't necessarily have to be. We've never had an option where, for the same price, you could choose screen sizes. There's a sizable portion of people for whom larger phones are simply difficult to use. Would I have paid an extra $50 for my iPhone 12 mini? Yep, because I was buying based on the size, not the price. This is so weird compared to 20 years ago, where the smaller…

That's not a totally fair comparison, because before smartphones there was no inherent advantage to a phone being larger. You got exactly the same features either way, so miniature was premium. Now the big screen is the premium feature.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#394

Post by pja »

makeitdouble wrote: post #254
amyjess wrote: post #201

This is why I'm not moving on from my Pixel 4a. If it ever dies, I'll go on eBay or wherever and buy a new one. I don't even care if it goes EOL and stops receiving security updates. TBH if I do end up replacing it with something else, it doesn't have to be stock Android or even a powerful device. I'm okay with replacing my 4a with some cheap ultra-budget shanzhai phone as long as it's small and it works with T-Mobil…

For me the more problematic aspect of the 4a is the updates it’s receiving make it so much slower. For instance at this point opening the camera takes around 3s, and the shutter button lags 2s as well. Going back yo the previous OS would fix that, but it was also buggy and missing proper support for the new gesture navigation. I love the phone but it also makes me hate Google so much.

This is not my experience - my Pixel 4a takes There’s something wrong with your phone. Try resetting it maybe?

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#395

Post by roelschroeven »

nabakin wrote: post #365
roelschroeven wrote: post #79

A problem is that even within the niche of small phones, not everybody has the same wishes. Compared to your ideal specifications, my wishes are: support for microSD card storage; battery that easily and reliably lasts a full day with moderate phone usage; fingerprint sensor, not necessarily on the power button; camera decent, not necessarily great (I don't care that much about low light performance, for example). I'…

> Early Android versions supporter USB mass storage and that worked pretty well, but the transfer method implemented on newer versions is very slow and never works reliably for me. Have you tried both connecting your phone to your computer via USB and connecting your phone to a USB stick?

Connecting my phone to a USB stick is not something I have tried yet. I wasn't even aware that that's supposed to work.Thanks, I'll give that a try.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#396

Post by igreulich »

perardi wrote: 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 buy the best camera an iPhone will give me. If that same camera in the Pro Max was in the Mini I would have bough that.

The iPhone 5 was the perfect size, and I miss that form factor. But The camera is what sells me the device.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#397

Post by cassepipe »

iamthirsty wrote: post #287
cassepipe wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using a refurbished Galaxy S7. It works just fine, is small enough and has a physical home button which I love. We don't need new phones. Please stop buying new phones, buy refurbished ones and prioritize easy to repair friendly hardware.

The issue with refurbished ones is guaranteeing quality. If you buy from Amazon Renewed, for example, you have no idea exactly what you'll get. You could get a pristine unit without a scratch on it with a battery that has barely 10 cycles, or you could get a well worn (with plenty of micro scratches and minor nicks) with a battery that's been cycled 500+ times. It's kind of a crap-shoot when it comes to buying refurb…

I bought mine on backmarket, they act as a middleman. You buy from a repair with a minimum six months guarantee or beyond. If it stops working, you can send it to repair. Batteries are guaranted to be at least 70% original capacity or have been replaced. There are different grades from scratched to pristine. Not sure they operate in your country though. Getting a former flagship phone for 150 euros with a CPU just as good or equivalent to a new phone of the same price seems worth it to me. Plus it's nice not to have to worry about that expensive thing in your pocket.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#398

Post by bee_rider »

soco wrote: post #123
0des wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That's weird, I'd expect them to celebrate the walkability (never been there but I've heard it is a major advantage to your towns and cities).

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#399

Post by makeitdouble »

bipson wrote: post #283
makeitdouble wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me the more problematic aspect of the 4a is the updates it’s receiving make it so much slower. For instance at this point opening the camera takes around 3s, and the shutter button lags 2s as well. Going back yo the previous OS would fix that, but it was also buggy and missing proper support for the new gesture navigation. I love the phone but it also makes me hate Google so much.

Huh? My 4a is works perfectly so far.

Interesting. I thought that was the battery, but status seemed to be ok.

I’ll try to see if there’s some setting killing it.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#400

Post by cheeze »

grishka wrote: post #393

I'd add a headphone jack to "must have". And I don't like these bezel-less displays. Just give me a more modern HTC Desire S. Or a first-gen iPhone SE that runs Android.

And now you've made such a niche product that you and a few HNers want it, and that's about it.
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