I think a squat format like 4:5 would be much more practical than 9:16 or whatever most phones are. It's unfortunate that's the format that's come to dominate, especially when you consider the rise of vertical video.
I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)
631–640 of 702 posts
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)
#632Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm still using a 13 mini, it's fractionally too large, I think the original SE is perfection. Regardless, battery life is horrendous now, and it's starting to lag and fail so when the new ultra watch is released I'm going to replace my phone with it.
Getting the battery replaced fixed mine (and seemed to mildly improve system performance, although maybe that’s placebo), might be worth a shot if you like the form factor.
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Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)
#633Earlier 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…
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…
As per my source, the iPhone 13 outsold both the Pro and Pro Max together, so no the cameras could not have been the reason:
> Combined, all four iPhone 13 models made up 71 percent of iPhone sales, with the standard 6.1-inch iPhone 13 responsible for 38 percent of sales. The iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max weren't quite as popular as the iPhone 13, but sold much better than the iPhone 13 mini.
In fact, the iPhone 13 alone sold more (38%) than the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max combined (30%). The plain old 13 was the most popular SKU, because no, most people do in fact not spend more for an added telephoto camera only a specific few have a true need for. The regular non Pro iPhone has across most years been the best seller, because it is a solid middle ground for the vast majority of people, making it the best basis for a small SKU to have any hope of succeeding. A 13 Pro Compact would have absolutely sold as poorly, maybe even worse than the 13 mini, considering both Pros did not outsell the regular 13 by itself. But even if a 13 Pro Compact had sold twice as well as the 13 mini (a very generous assumption considering it would have been 300usd more expensive), that would still be only 6% of total sales, a drop in the bucket.
Lastly, there are the Xperia 5s and there have been the Zenfones, both having better battery life than their large competitors, both being as (un)popular as Apples efforts.
Again, I like small smartphones, I'd love there to be a significant market for them. There simply is no way to look at the data and claim there is one beyond a tiny niche that a company such as Apple cannot realistically serve.
Apple tried converting their most successful SKU into a small smartphone. That failed to sell even a tenth of its large brother, despite being 100usd cheaper.
Sony literally scales their flagship down and gives it better battery life. Not really a success either.
ASUS made their own, fully dedicated line of compact smartphones which again, had better battery life than most large competitors and even included a 3.5mm jack, getting a second niche of customers to bolster sales. They too saw so few sales that they were forced to pivot to gigantic phones.
No matter what conditions, no matter how favorable, the same result.
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)
#634The 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…
Even if was a small % of the Apple lineup, the iPhone mini was one the best selling smartphones all brands considered. I for one switched to iPhone in 2020 specifically because there wasn't a single current-gen small form-factor Android phone anymore. I have a few friend that also made the switch with the 12 / 13 Mini for that reason. The real reason the iPhone mini failed is not related to screen size, it's because…
Exactly. I had already bought the SE by the time the mini came out. I still bought a Mini anyway, it's that good. But I imagine most people didn't.
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)
#635Earlier quoted context omitted.
What was so odd was how Apple fumbled the iPhone mini launch by launching the iPhone SE first. At that point there hadn't been a small phone for a few years, There was pent up demand. The SE came out and it was a big success, lots of people wanted ti because it was a small phone. Then few months later they launched the mini expecting it to sell even more or something. Somehow they missed that everyone that wanted a s…
I'm still using a 13 mini, it's fractionally too large, I think the original SE is perfection. Regardless, battery life is horrendous now, and it's starting to lag and fail so when the new ultra watch is released I'm going to replace my phone with it.
Same here. Stuck with SE2 till it stopped catching pokemon properly. Currently pleased with the iPhone 13 mini. I think part of why I like small phones is I carry a laptop and hate web browsing / typing on the phone. It's mostly a modem and camera for me.
Also having a laptop means the battery doesn't matter that much as you can just charge it off that.
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)
#636Earlier 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…
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…
My wife would have paid more as well. She still has her 13 because it's the smallest available smartphone. Unfortunately the new flip phones are a bit too thick for now.
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)
#637Earlier quoted context omitted.
What was so odd was how Apple fumbled the iPhone mini launch by launching the iPhone SE first. At that point there hadn't been a small phone for a few years, There was pent up demand. The SE came out and it was a big success, lots of people wanted ti because it was a small phone. Then few months later they launched the mini expecting it to sell even more or something. Somehow they missed that everyone that wanted a s…
That makes sense. I love my iPhone 13 Mini. Its only issues are battery life (now), and non-competitive camera. I'm personally happy with the photos it takes, but then I look at my girlfriend's shots and get FOMO. While I doubt it's economical, I'd love a small, simple phone with juiced up camera. I'd be fine with worse battery life as external batteries can remedy that in a pinch.
I wish they made it thicker. It could easily fit better cameras and a bigger battery.
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)
#638The 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…
Remember the Palm (palm.com, not to be confused with Palm PDAs of a much earlier era) for Verizon networks? That answered all my requests at the time; about the size of an iPhone 5S but running Android 8, but with the caveat that I had to have a "big" smartphone so the Palm could piggyback off the line, even though I could just leave the "big" smartphone at home.
I have no idea why that was the case and can't even speculate since I don't know enough about how the networks worked, but I would love to hear an explanation. I was pretty annoyed by the fact that I still needed to own what I considered a phablet, which was sitting collecting dust on my bedside table at home just so I could have the type of phone I really wanted. Seemed like a punishment-by-design for trying to step off the typical customer rails.
My tastes have changed slightly these days, and I'm okay with a 5.X" screen or whatever, but now I want it to be eInk or something similar and focus more on text/sms as I've gotten pretty minimalism with my phone use.
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)
#639Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your theory makes sense until it falls apart if you consider SE and Mini as the same category of small iPhones. If the only reason why Mini failed was bad launch time, then why haven't Apple launched anything small (SE or Mini) after 2022? Isn't 2024 or even 2025 the perfect time to launch an upgrade for SE or Mini? They now have enough data since the last launch of a small phone. iPhone SE 1st gen 2016 (Discontinued…
The problem is that people who want a small phone prioritize the size. Most of them don't care about the premium features of larger phones. So the Mini was a weird niche within a niche. Small phone with premium price and features. The Mini and SE2 were virtually identical in physical size. For the 16e they should have used the iPhone 12/13 Mini body and the 13 Mini screen. Use the 15 Pro SoC with 8GB memory, and the…
Exactly. When my 13 Mini dies I'll buy the smallest iPhone at any price, whether low or high.
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)
#640Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don’t think you could manufacture a small run like that without the price being extremely high. Say you charge $1,000 per device. That means you need to build an entire company, pay staff, and prototype then manufacture a custom hardware device with customized software with less than a million dollars. Costs add up real fast.
Why does the cost need to be so high? Chinese markets have many small phone options like Soyes and Servo that cost less than $100. Unfortunately, these devices are potentially loaded with malware. Can a similar device without malware not be made in small batches? At a selling price of $500 or less?
I’m pretty sure a manufacturer can cobble something together from existing parts or even white label a phone for you.
The end result will be a $100 quality phone.