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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

#761

Post by fomine3 »

robocat wrote: post #748
toqy wrote: post #445

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

* Small battery capacity

* Lower performance due to small battery and poorer heat dissipation

* No physical space to put top-tier camera

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#762

Post by fomine3 »

krzyk wrote: post #539
scarface74 wrote: post #503

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple has market data - they sold a premium small phone for two years. Rumors are that they will be discontinuing them this year.

It was almost premium. Still didn't had Pros camera. Real example was Pixel until version 4. The only difference between smaller and bigger versions was the obvious screen and battery.

non-mini iPhone 12/13 are sold well enough.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#763

Post by fomine3 »

makeitdouble wrote: post #238
eertami wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similar user, and I have no idea if there will be anything left to buy after the Pixel 4a. I expect the 4a will be good enough for another 3 years at-least, if there are no accidents. Hopefully by then there is something available which continues the form factor. 4a has been the perfect successor to the Nexus 4, it's a little taller but other than that has practically the same footprint. With the 6a moving in a diffe…

I am also planning to move from a 4a, and at this point it would be either a Sharp R7 (probably not available internationally though) or a Sony Xperia 10 IV. The Sony seems to be the best alternative though I have no idea of the software quality.

Is Sharp R7 your option? It's just a normal sized (read: big/weighty) flagship phone.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#764

Post by throwaway81523 »

Meh, unfortunately the most important smart phone app is the web browser, and what the browser has to do is dictated mostly by site operators, and web sites have an expansionist hunger for more and more cpu power and screen space. So phones have to keep getting bigger batteries even as the electronics get more efficient, because the work loads get heavier faster than the electronics can keep up with. Once you have such a big battery, you may as well also have a big screen, especially since you need it anyway to keep the web sites readable without a magnifying glass.

It is a vicious circle. I blame the rise of non-removable batteries and the transformation of javascript from a scripting extension into a full fat application framework. It would be great if more sites had public API's.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#765

Post by carlivar »

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…

Samsung S22

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#766

Post by fomine3 »

dont__panic wrote: post #477
ece wrote: post #441

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is the main reason, and why only Apple can afford to make a small slab phone. They can still make some margin with 5% of a massive number, while others can't make any. Foldables seem like a better compromise here, and hopefully more like the zflip/razr get in this $700-800 range with stock android, good cameras, and decent battery life. The zflip 3 has been sold for $800, just give me stock android and I…

Foldables are a crappy solution. I do not want a tablet. I have no desire to watch videos on my phone, and I don't need a huge screen for any of the things I do on my phone regularly -- text, listen to music, occasionally browse HN and reddit, take photos. I understand that they fold up to essentially become weird-aspect ratio very thick phones... but that's not desirable for me either, especially at the foldable pri…

nit: Foldables aren't for video, aspect ratio is far from 16:9. Effective video size is not much bigger than non foldable. It's great for reading web/book/pdf.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#767

Post by fomine3 »

serial_dev wrote: post #105
hn_throwaway_69 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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.

I don't think it's as much a culture difference as you think, more like the environment where we use the cars. I'm from Europe, living in bigger European city, and I have a small car (3-door RAV4). I bought it so I can drive and park easily in the city and go up hills and mountains when I leave the city once a month. And if I'm honest, that is the best car I could afford. I see lots of rich people with bigger and big…

> small car

> RAV4

Viewpoint from Japan: is it small?. I feel same thing for BMW Mini because it's bigger width than average on the road.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#769

Post by cco »

SoftTalker wrote: post #552
dismantlethesun wrote: post #517

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also horses that could run at 100mph for 5 hours at a time would be far better than early cars. They run on clean renewable fuel, have built in natural intelligence to avoid crashes and carry drunk drivers, and come in a variety of pleasing colors (not just black!). The main benefit of cars was that if you delay maintenance your transportation doesn’t die.

The emissions weren't so pleasant, however!

> The emissions weren't so pleasant, however!

Do you mean from cars or horses? If the former, early automobiles were far cleaner than the animals they replaced (and still are). Cities faced huge issues with animal excrement and cars represented a cleaner alternative.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#770

Post by toastercat »

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 agree with you, but the Pixel 5 is barely a year old. Why did you move on so quickly?
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