Live data from Hacker News

I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

smallandroidphone.com

421–430 of 1001 posts

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#421
post #95
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 don't know. I'm one of these people who wants a smaller phone. Not tiny but definitely wanted a smaller one. I know a couple of people who feel the same, bought an iPhone mini, and when I was looking for my last phone came across reviews specifically targeting this issue. I don't use iPhones so don't really know very much, but my instinct is that it falls into this bundling fallacy about product characteristics (th…

> Sometimes I almost feel like companies sometimes intentionally sabotage experimental products just not to deal with the headache of supporting more options in their supply chain.

Except companies like Samsung throw out dozens of new models per year, which all differentiate only marginally, and none of them gets a SFF while maintaining higher quality of features (i.e. no cheap phone with 720 display and such).

Sometimes they get it right, like with the Samsung A40 from 2019, only to not pursue the sales for a true successor. Heck, me and a lot of my friends and relatives bought an A40 because of its size and fantastic display.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#422
you can pry the iphone SE from my cold, dead hands.

i've been in the anti-iphone group since the first iphone. frankly, android has (and more importantly android phones have) pissed me off more than apple and that's the primary reason of me being an iphone convert now.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#423
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?

It probably wouldn't work well for a small phone, by my oppo has a pop up camera which works much better than I'd expected.

Majority of the time I enjoy a full screen experience with a tiny bezel. If I need the selfie cam it silently and very quickly is there.

I think they didn't catch on as they are complicated and inhibit IP68 ratings.

But I think I'll struggle to move on from it. The notches and hole punch cameras just look like an irritating defect when I use them.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#424

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.

Sounds like you haven't been using ADB. Normally, like you've seen, getting files on or off a modern Android handset is a terrible experience. Considering I only do bulk transfers from my own PC, I just apt install adb, then adb push $files $destination. Highly recommend - it's one of the few ways Android is still dramatically better for techy users.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#425

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Yeah, no kidding. How much of the small phone demo overlaps with the selfie demo? I could go without a front camera.

[deleted]

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#426
post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I hope the rumors are false and that they'll continue to make the Mini. However, 5% does not mean much if market research proves that those people would buy a regular iPhone anyway if they drop the Mini. I think there is also some competition with the iPhone SE. Even though the Mini is not intended to be a budget phone, it is 100 Euro cheaper than the non-mini. So, I can imagine a chunk of people would buy it…

It's as good as guaranteed that the mini won't be returning this year - dummy models of the upcoming line which are used to size cases have made their way to the usual leakers, and even before that the front panels of the line were leaked. No mini, unfortunately :/

I'd be fine if they made it a biennial release. I don't need to upgrade my phone more than that anyway.

I feel like my plan right now is to hope with the iPhone 14 launch, the 13 mini will continue to be sold with a price drop, and then I'll upgrade my 12 mini to the 13 mini and get the battery improvement. I love the size of this phone and hope I'm never forced back to the gigantic "normal-sized" phones that we've gotten stuck with the past decade.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#428
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?

No, because there are so few of people with your opinion that those types of phones will not sell enough to recoup costs, much less make a profit. At most, you can buy a phone with a pop-up camera (the OnePlus 7T Pro is nice, although a few years old now) [0].

[0] https://www.androidauthority.com/pop-up-camera-phones-slider...

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#429
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every female member of my family has complained about devices being too big. Its clearly based on anecdotal evidence. People with smaller hands want to be able to operate the phone fully with one hand.

My girlfriend liked the mini, but didn’t get it partially because it doesn’t feature the 3 cameras. As long as the mini is positioned as a down brand phone, even for technical reasons, some of the interested market is excluded

One thing I don’t think people appreciate is just how impressively compact the Minis are. Every bit of space is used up. I doubt any Android OEM (with the exception of maybe Samsung) could get make a comparable device.

Unless they used something akin to a laptop webcam, there simply isn’t enough space for a third camera.

Post reply on HN