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I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

smallandroidphone.com

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Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#741

Post by rejor121 »

erohead wrote: post #2

I’m a long-time small phone Android user. But after the Pixel 5, I have not been able to find a suitable small Android replacement. The Pixel 6 is gigantic, and the Pixel 7 looks like it is also destined to be huge. It’s gotten so bad that I’ve resorted to using an iPhone Mini, biding my time and hoping desperately that some Android OEM would step up. But it’s increasingly clear that a small premium phone is not on t…

I’m in the same boat, though I like apple. I’d still go for an android phone if they made something really small though.

However, I think the era of small phones as we know it is over for now. The smallest we have is the Mini, and even that isn’t small.

In fact, I think the next version of the small phone will be flip phones. We already see this with the Samsung fold. I tried one and was pretty impressed, and I feel like this is the likely direction the industry may take.

However, I’m using my current phone for the next five or six years. I’m sure by then, the folding screen tech will improve a lot, and apple may even have their own version out by then.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#742

Post by girvo »

I want an iPhone Mini 14, but that's gone too now. I'm going to have to trade up my Mini 12 for a Mini 13, and the repair it until its impossible to repair further, as this is the perfect phone and is basically the last of it's kind now.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#743

Post by NoPicklez »

perardi wrote: 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 like to use the story of one of my parents. Big tall guy, never used technology, big fingers and always complained buttons were too small etc etc.

Now the guy loves his big iPad and his iPhone that he wouldn't go any size smaller because he'd struggle to see what's on the screen. The only challenge he has now is he likes the bigger phone, but struggles to keep it in his pockets when working, when you add in a protective cover.

People don't often know what they want, they're just driven by what they've had and whether they think it has worked for them, which most people can justify their own decision.

I do think however, that there will become a point where phones simply are too big. I'm just not sure how far off we are from that.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#747

Post by jacobsenscott »

bscphil wrote: post #594
davee5 wrote: 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…

> 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…

> some people are more willing to compromise than me

s/some/most/

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#748

Post by robocat »

toqy wrote: post #445
oceanplexian wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Smaller screened smartphones aren't a new market that needs to be defined though. Most people know what they are by virtue of having lived through the era that they were the only choice. And as OP pointed out, Apple makes a smaller screened smartphone, so they exist. In some comment on this post someone said that it accounts for 3% of Apple's phone sales. How big is the group of people that want a smaller smart phone…

I suspect there are two constraints working against mini mobiles:

1. The industry push for thin due to the consumer dislike of thick.

2. The invisible consumer expectation that smaller mobiles should be cheaper.

A mini screen with a fat body (large battery, good camera) is what many functionally oriented people should want, but cost and form will limit consumer desire and make it an extremely niche product?!?

Edit: I am thinking more Canon IXUS cross bred with a 20000mAh powerbank and stock Android One. In fact Canon or another reliable camera brand would be the perfect manufacturer. Fat and robust could work: sell the functionally ugly to practical tradesmen type? Unfortunately writer desires thin and light, which I don’t care about. No need for front-facing camera, instead put a 1” (4:3?) screen on the side of the main camera to allow for pointing/framing when doing selfies.

Functionally oriented people often have other constraints. I have tight constraints for mobiles: I am price sensitive (I break or lose phones), I want vanilla Android (manufacturer skinned often has broken upgrades & broken privacy & broken features), and I generally won’t buy products from extremely niche brands (unpredictable reliability, & trust issues).

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#749

Post by cassianoleal »

...and I want an iPhone that's comfortable to use with a single small hand. Even the Mini is too big and certain tasks are either extremely uncomfortable (rotating the phone whilst balancing it atop a couple fingers so I can reach a corner, for instance), or just require both hands which sometimes is incredibly inconvenient.
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