It's funny to read some young person reiterating the desirable properties of small phones, completely oblivious to how smaller was universally better in cellphones phones before the smartphone era.
I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
701–710 of 1001 posts
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
#702For me, the people who want smaller phones are the textbook example of a vocal minority. I've read so many Hacker News and r/apple threads about how people love and miss phones you can use with one hand. And then every few years a phone manufacturer will try it, and it won't sell at all. I almost think people with small phones just underestimate how much they'd be able to adjust to a larger phone.
> I almost think people with small phones just underestimate how much they'd be able to adjust to a larger phone. I switched from a large Android device to an iPhone Mini because I preferred the size. Before the switch, I had used pretty much only larger phones. So, at least for me as a data point, your assumption is wildly wrong.
This is good to know. It could also be that people with large phones underestimate how much they'd be able to adjust to smaller phones.
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
#703Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
#704Hi 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…
Also I'm a little surprised you're hoping an online petition will work after your prior experience trying to influence your acquirers. I presume you saw the inside of Fitbit / Google and how decisions are made...
probably because eric has a history of pd from a customer frustration pov whereas your well articulated explanation mainly represents manufacturers' pov.
btw, such kind of math-checks-out logic is what keeps someone from developing the iphone in 2004. everything about mobile then made sense...to carriers and manufacturers.
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
#705“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…
>people just like big stuff I'm inclined to think that applies more to Americans than people generally. Europeans and Australians can be quite content with smaller vehicles, smaller properties, and quite frankly smaller lifestyles.
> Europeans and Australians
Australians will jump at the largest, cheapest Soniq TV JB Hi-Fi sells. Likewise (with 'local' brands) in the UK.
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
#706Shameless plug for the Jelly 2. https://www.unihertz.com/products/jelly-2 It's not a "flagship" but it is fully featured - nothing spared - and half the size of my palm. The screen is just small enough to be too annoying to do anything really distracting on. I have gotten NOTHING but compliments on it since I started using it a month ago (on a reco I picked up here).
love it. looks like a phone you can throw across the room
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
#707And I want IPad Mini-sized Android tablet, but for some reason all compact tablets have terrible performance, and because of this you have to use a large phone to watch videos or play games.
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
#708A 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'…
You want a small phone. But you want one with better battery life and you want an Android? Between the inefficiency of non Apple ARM chipsets and the inefficiency of Android, that’s not likely to happen.
> that’s not likely to happen.
Why not? It has happened before.
My Xperia XZ1 Compact:
- runs Android (I'm on Android 10, but might upgrade)
- measures about 14cm diagonally and 8-9mm thick
- uses around 10-15% charge per day of light use (without Google services)
- has a standard headphone jack
- has stereo speakers
- has decent front and back cameras, with no bump
- has a microSD slot
- has a USB type C port
- has a fingerprint sensor (I disabled mine)
- is water-tight and dust-tight (IP68)
- supports VoLTE
- supports WiFi calling
My previous phone was similar, and a bit slimmer. The one before that didn't get such good battery life, but its physical keyboard, swappable battery, and even smaller size made up for having to charge more often.
Obviously, these devices are not common, but they are made from time to time. I'm looking at hardware right now that proves there is no technical barrier. I don't see any reason to dissuade people from asking for a new model.
Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
#709Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone
#710Hi 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…
> Big companies are drowning in market data. They know some people really, really want small phones. But it's a long-tail opportunity they're willfully ignoring I would argue that they don’t know what people want at all, since market data just reinforces previously held assumptions. For example if you surveyed people in 2006 what kind of phone they wanted, most consumers would probably ask for a better flip phone. It…
Slate phones were already a trend before the iPhone.