I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022) • Hacker News Board

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

#621

Post by ndiddy » Thu, Jul 17, 2025, 6:52 PM UTC

scarface_74 wrote: post #65

pclowes wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I have an Asus Vivobook S14 laptop with an Intel Core Ultra 258v processor. In Linux, it gets 12-15 hours of real usage (i.e. not manufacturer "playing videos off local storage with wifi off and the screen all the way down" battery life numbers). If I'm doing something like web browsing or streaming videos, the laptop doesn't get hot and the fan doesn't turn on. I've only had the fan turn on when I'm doing something intensive like compiling GCC or video encoding. It feels just as fast as my ARM Macbook Air.

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

#622

Post by crossroadsguy » Thu, Jul 17, 2025, 7:00 PM UTC

franga2000 wrote: post #558

crossroadsguy wrote: post #520

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn’t really help. If you play around with it, the plat integrity test will not pass and there goes too many apps — so that nullifies even MicroG etc as well. I haven’t played around with microg’s #2611 (had seen it on github when it was getting implemented) but the point is — it will remain cat and mouse in this manner and that is a headache one doesn’t want to have on their primary device.

I'm well aware, but I'm not sure what the point here is. The OP was complaining that the author of the page wants "stock android". On a production device, you can either have 1) the manufacturer's custom version of Androi, 2) a near-stock Android, or 3) your own custom version but with all the usual issue that brings. There is no secret fourth option. So I don't see what the OP's complaint is trying to achieve.

You don't have to see what OP's complaint is trying to achieve. Besides you never even indicated trying to see OP's point in any of these comments you made.

On those lines I don't get any of the points you are trying to make (assuming you are) either. So maybe it's an hn thing.

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

#623

Post by JamesSwift » Thu, Jul 17, 2025, 7:04 PM UTC

alabhyajindal wrote: post #528

RankingMember wrote: post #501

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 16e is the successor to the SE in case you want to take a look at that.

16e is not a small phone, it's about the same size as an iPhone 16. https://phonesized.com/compare/#2552,2644,1975,1863

Right, and even the 2nd/3rd gen SE got much bigger than the original. I basically want the original SE (which I believe is the same as the iPhone 5s), with no bezels.

Actually, looking at that handy link you provided, it appears the 13 mini is basically that. Discontinued in 2023 : /

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

#624

Post by jajuuka » Thu, Jul 17, 2025, 7:07 PM UTC

rickdeckard wrote: post #422

The hard reality is that there is no PAYING market for such a device, because when it comes to the point-of-sale, most people still choose the normal-size device with better screen/battery/camera. This is equivalent to something I called the "QWERTY paradox" more than a decade ago: Back when the Smartphone market exploded, people disliked typing on a touchscreen and repeatedly stated that they want a device with a ph…

I think this is true for a lot of different features that get a lot of play on social media as "I wish my device had X feature." And it's not like QWERTY or small screen phones didn't try. They had models that were best of the best, cheapest of the cheap, mid range, offered a range of options and choices. And the audience just isn't there.

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

#625

Post by pessimizer » Thu, Jul 17, 2025, 7:08 PM UTC

kbrackbill wrote: post #104

The best phone I ever had was a Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact. I would still be using it if it wasn't too slow to run modern versions of android. This is one of those things that just makes me feel so out of touch with the rest of the world. Does everyone else have giant pockets and giant hands? Does everyone use their phone with two hands and carry a bag everywhere? Is it just a trend like small phones were a trend before…

> Does everyone use their phone with two hands

They have to because of stupid pinch-to-zoom. You either have to balance the phone in the palm of your non-dominant hand (literally switch the phone from one hand to the other) while pinching with your dominant hand, or do a sort of goatse thing with your thumbs while holding the phone in both hands.

Screw-to-zoom is a million times better: draw a spiral to the right and you get closer, spiral to the left and you get farther away (agreeing with the "righty-tighty, lefty-loosey" standard.) Easily done with any single finger, or even with the thumb of the hand holding the phone (for people with adequate thumb-wrestling skills.)

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

#626

Post by prmoustache » Thu, Jul 17, 2025, 7:16 PM UTC

icedchai wrote: post #580

prmoustache wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people don't really need more than 2 hours of battery life anyway[1] as their laptops barely ever leave the house. >8H of battery is nice to have but it is really an important parameter for a specific population while for others it is just convenience. I wouldn't trade an OS/desktop I don't like over my linux setup just because it last longer when I never need more than a couple of hours on battery[3]. [1] which…

I spent almost 10 hours at a coworking space and didn't even worry about charging my M4 MacBook Pro. Apple Silicon is a game changer: incredible performance and long battery life, generally totally silent, no thermal throttling. 10 hours may be extreme, but it's nice to be able to go to a coffee shop and not worry about not having charged your laptop since last week. I used to run Linux on a laptop (10+ years ago) an…

It is exactly what I am saying, it is nice, a convenience. But that's it.

I don't worry about closing my thinkpad lid. Well I do because I disable sleep on lid close and prefer using the dedicated button for that. But my thinkpad goes to sleep when I ask it to.

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

#627

Post by leptons » Thu, Jul 17, 2025, 7:17 PM UTC

amluto wrote: post #473

rickdeckard wrote: post #422

The hard reality is that there is no PAYING market for such a device, because when it comes to the point-of-sale, most people still choose the normal-size device with better screen/battery/camera. This is equivalent to something I called the "QWERTY paradox" more than a decade ago: Back when the Smartphone market exploded, people disliked typing on a touchscreen and repeatedly stated that they want a device with a ph…

> when it comes to the point-of-sale, most people still choose the normal-size device with better screen/battery/camera. My theory is that much of this effect is an error, or at least a far-less-than-ideal effort, on the part of the designers. Of course it’s hard to sell a low-end “mini” device with a worse camera, worse battery life, etc. But that’s not actually what I, or many people I discuss this with, want. I wo…

Maybe you haven't heard, but Samsung has been making folding phones that fold up to be very small. The Galazy Flip 7 is pretty much what you describe as far as easily being able to fit in a pants pocket, has plenty of battery life, high-res screen, and it even flips out to have a large screen. No, folding phones are not a gimmick, been using a fold 4 for a few years and it's been amazing.

https://www.samsung.com/us/smartphones/galaxy-z-flip7/buy/ga...

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

#628

Post by prmoustache » Thu, Jul 17, 2025, 7:20 PM UTC

scarface_74 wrote: post #340

prmoustache wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people don't really need more than 2 hours of battery life anyway[1] as their laptops barely ever leave the house. >8H of battery is nice to have but it is really an important parameter for a specific population while for others it is just convenience. I wouldn't trade an OS/desktop I don't like over my linux setup just because it last longer when I never need more than a couple of hours on battery[3]. [1] which…

Is that where we are going? Most people don’t need a laptop that has more than 2 hours battery life? When I was in the office full time in the bad old days, you would be in a conference room and every one would plug their laptops in. After I started working remotely and still doing business trips, one charge could last a full day either going back and forth between conference rooms, in “war rooms” etc and no one with…

You are exactly one of those few that I mentionned as exceptions. Fine.

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

#629

Post by dmonitor » Thu, Jul 17, 2025, 7:20 PM UTC

nordsieck wrote: post #547

Topfi wrote: post #507

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The iPhone 12 and 13 Mini were always marketed as the cheaper versions [...] No, they were not. They were literally a scaled down version of their respective regular sized counterparts, the 13 Mini had the same cameras, SOC, memory, screen quality and storage options as the regular 13 [0], yet its sales success (or lack thereof [1]) was enough to instantly cure me of any previously held notions that there is a suff…

For a while, I was optimistic that Apple would at least continue to release the SE every 3-ish years. I'm guessing they wanted to finally kill the fingerprint reader and other SE-specific features[1]. And maybe even the SE with its reduced price didn't sell that well. --- 1. Yes, I understand that these features were present in other phones, but the SE was the last phone actively sold by Apple that had them

The SE has always seemed, to me, a way to repurpose older iPhone components into a more modern shell, which is why the SE line has been replace by the 16e. 16e uses iPhone 13 dimensions.

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

#630

Post by amluto » Thu, Jul 17, 2025, 7:23 PM UTC

Topfi wrote: post #507

amluto wrote: post #473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> when it comes to the point-of-sale, most people still choose the normal-size device with better screen/battery/camera. My theory is that much of this effect is an error, or at least a far-less-than-ideal effort, on the part of the designers. Of course it’s hard to sell a low-end “mini” device with a worse camera, worse battery life, etc. But that’s not actually what I, or many people I discuss this with, want. I wo…

> The iPhone 12 and 13 Mini were always marketed as the cheaper versions [...] No, they were not. They were literally a scaled down version of their respective regular sized counterparts, the 13 Mini had the same cameras, SOC, memory, screen quality and storage options as the regular 13 [0], yet its sales success (or lack thereof [1]) was enough to instantly cure me of any previously held notions that there is a suff…

You’re right but you’re kind of missing my point. The iPhone 13 Mini started at $699. The normal iPhone 13 started at $799. The Pro started at $999. People were largely not looking at detailed specs — the Mini was obviously the smaller, cheaper version for if you couldn’t afford the standard model, and if you wanted the dramatically better camera, you would pay $999.

Per my suggestion, Apple should have scrapped the 13 Mini completely and instead offered a 13 Pro Compact for $999. Or maybe even $1049 if it had a bigger battery than the standard Pro model. The profit would have been much higher per unit than the 13 Mini, and I imagine they might have sold more units as well.

I’m typing this on a 13 Mini, and I would have paid an extra $400 for a better camera and more battery life. Before I had this phone, I bought a 15 Pro, used it for a week, and returned it because it was uncomfortably large.