Funny thing is that I still use my Samsung Note 3 (8 years old and kicking, with Android 11) and what was considered ridiculously large phone when I got it (people were laughing at me) is now the smallest one around. It was interesting to observe this gradual shift in perception, especially among those who were laughing at me back than :)
I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
661–670 of 1001 posts
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
#662> For Apple, 10m phones is peanuts. But for an independent company 10m units per year would be spectacular. If Apple kills the Mini, those people will need a new home. Hm, I’d suspect most of the customers are more attached to the Apple iPhone than the form. I’m one, but, I could be wrong!
I have an iPhone 13 Mini. If no equivalent exists when I go to replace it, then I'll buy iPhone Pro Giant Ass Max and shove it the man bag.
But I'll carry a MacBook as my phone before I'll go back to Android, no matter how small they make 'em.
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
#663There's the "lightphone."[1] Stuck at "pre-order" since 2019.
There's this little Android smartphone from Shenzhen.[2] $104 in quantity 2, $74 in quantity 1000. You can get it from Amazon for about twice as much.
[1] https://www.thelightphone.com/
[2] https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Small-Cellphone-3-0-I...
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
#664Earlier 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?
Indeed. Those notches, hole-punches etc, I could do without. I very much prefer to have a bit of bezel and have a proper screen (preferably even with angular corners, rather than rounded corners). This also helps when handing the phone to somebody else to show them something... they have a place to hold the darn thing without accidentally swiping, tapping, or - worst of all - hitting the back button.
Apparently, Android now has an option to emulate a bezel, thus hiding the hole-punch camera.
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
#665Earlier quoted context omitted.
> people who need phones will still buy something even if reluctantly I'll be blunt: no I won't. I reluctantly bought the phone I still use (a moto X4) back in 2019, at which point it was already getting old. It was one of the smaller Android phones available at the time; I measured it diagonally corner to corner (including bezel) at 159 mm (6.26 inches). The screen size is 130 mm (5.2 in) according to Wikipedia. Thi…
> a phone the size of the Nexus 5X or preferably smaller ...so, a current flagship? Samsung's Galaxy S22 is smaller than both the Moto X4 and Nexus 5X. Size comparison: https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size/Google-Nexus-5X,Motor... In general, phone sizes have stayed roughly constant since the Nexus 5X, though the displays are getting bigger as the bezels get smaller.
Aha, you got me. I really should have specified that Nexus 5X was also too big.
Moreover, the specification that actually matters for one-handed phone users is the distance between the bottom corner of the phone (where it's held in the hand) and the top opposite corner of the screen, not the top corner of the phone. That's because that point is the furthest you'd ever need to stretch your thumb to use the phone. So actually, the displays getting bigger as the bezels get smaller has been part of the problem.
If you look at the Nexus 5X [1] you'll see that it has an enormous (by modern standards) top bezel. By comparison, a phone like the S22 has basically no bezel at all and will be much harder to use one-handed.
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
#666Me too!
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
#667Earlier quoted context omitted.
> people who need phones will still buy something even if reluctantly I'll be blunt: no I won't. I reluctantly bought the phone I still use (a moto X4) back in 2019, at which point it was already getting old. It was one of the smaller Android phones available at the time; I measured it diagonally corner to corner (including bezel) at 159 mm (6.26 inches). The screen size is 130 mm (5.2 in) according to Wikipedia. Thi…
> In the event I can't get this I will switch to a cheap feature phone since I need something for emergency use. I tried switching to a feature phone and was surprised how often I use a smartphone; and how many people, banks, government organizations, restaurants, etc, assume that you have one.
Yes. COVID contact tracing in New Zealand nearly completely relied on QR-code sign-ins with an ios or android app, for example. My company has an app to manage my sick/annual leave in. Sure, there are fallbacks, but they're inconvenient and time or energy intensive in a way a phone isn't.
There are vanishingly small numbers of people who will insist on a perfect-or-nothing approach to smartphones. This market segment is unserviceable. Sure, the size will be right, but it won't have the right battery size, or the battery has to be swappable on-the-go, or it didn't have quite the right sd card option, or maybe the software isn't 'polished' enough, or it had to have two headphone jacks. There will be something 'not good enough' and therefore it's passed over even though they want a 'small' phone.
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
#668Earlier quoted context omitted.
> people who need phones will still buy something even if reluctantly I'll be blunt: no I won't. I reluctantly bought the phone I still use (a moto X4) back in 2019, at which point it was already getting old. It was one of the smaller Android phones available at the time; I measured it diagonally corner to corner (including bezel) at 159 mm (6.26 inches). The screen size is 130 mm (5.2 in) according to Wikipedia. Thi…
> > people who need phones will still buy something even if reluctantly > I'll be blunt: no I won't. Agreed. I used my 2005 Motorola Razr until 2020 because I have zero interest in an inconveniently large phone. When the Palm Phone came out I got it as a perfectly-sized replacement. I won't ever go to a larger phone because if it doesn't fit my pocket, what's the point? Might as well not have one.
People who will happily continue using 15-year-old hardware are not a great market segment to target.
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
#669“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…
If you hadn't included the link to Macrumors, I'd have guess that the mini sells poorly because the iPhone SE is available and much cheaper. Personally I really surprised that the SE doesn't sell more.
Anecdotally, I wanted a Mini, but the lack of top-end cameras being available made me hesitant. I ended up buying a SE, since the neither phone was exactly what I wanted, but the SE was so much cheaper.
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
#670Earlier quoted context omitted.
> In the event I can't get this I will switch to a cheap feature phone since I need something for emergency use. I tried switching to a feature phone and was surprised how often I use a smartphone; and how many people, banks, government organizations, restaurants, etc, assume that you have one.
Yes. COVID contact tracing in New Zealand nearly completely relied on QR-code sign-ins with an ios or android app, for example. My company has an app to manage my sick/annual leave in. Sure, there are fallbacks, but they're inconvenient and time or energy intensive in a way a phone isn't. There are vanishingly small numbers of people who will insist on a perfect-or-nothing approach to smartphones. This market segment…
I'm sure there are people like that, but to be clear, I'm not one of them. There are many irritations I have with modern smartphones, but I'm willing to put up with all of them if necessary except 2: must be small enough, must have headphone jack. I'll buy any LineageOS capable phone that meets those criteria.