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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

#951

Post by dont__panic »

zmix wrote: post #867
grishka wrote: post #457

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I'm as frustrated as you are. I want a no-compromise 4" Android phone, comfortably usable with one hand. For me, the phone is a communication device for the outside, that's it. I hardly use it at home except for calls. My primary device is my laptop. I have exactly zero use cases that would benefit from a large screen, yet all of my use cases would benefit from being able to fully use it one-handed. I don't watc…

Why is the headphone jack so important? These days there are very good wireless earbuds. Except as FM antenna or to plug into legacy devices...

It just works. Bluetooth does not.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#952

Post by dont__panic »

phinnaeus wrote: post #814
dont__panic wrote: post #585

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very much the same situation for me. I'm especially interested in why Eric doesn't mention the headphone jack -- does he simply think it isn't a noteworthy feature, and assume the phone WILL have the jack? Or does he assume that bluetooth is the future and only silly luddites like us care about the jack? I hope Eric eases up on the weirdly specific requirements, like dual rear cameras, symmetrical bezels, and a punch…

I agree that the requirements should be pared down to the absolute least common denominator, but disagree that the headphone jack belongs in that category. You (and GP) surely have to recognize that at this point requiring a headphone jack is also a niche request.

Everyone I know gets annoyed from time to time that their modern phones lack the jack.

A lot of people are willing to go without it because practically nobody makes smartphones with the jack any more. But given the choice of a phone with, say, 2% less battery and a jack vs. a phone with a slightly bigger battery and slightly better waterproofing... I'm pretty confident what more users would choose.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#953

Post by unethical_ban »

kalleboo wrote: post #816
unethical_ban wrote: post #570

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good point, with caveats: What is the comparison of 13-non pro vs. 13 mini? When I almost bought an iPhone recently, the thing that made me hesitate to consider for so long was that the mini is not pro - I want 90/120 hz, and they made a substandard flagship and blame poor sales on size. However, if the non-pro-fat 13 has great sales, you have a point. Second, it's only iphone. I hesitated for so long to consider it…

Is it even physically possible to fit all the high-end features in a mini? The 12 mini was panned for poor battery life and they just about got that fixed in the 13, but now you want 120 Hz (which will eat away battery life), someone else in here demanded all the cameras (which will take away internal space from battery), not to mention the difficulty of heat dissipation

And here's the rub. I personally don't need the telephoto lens on the mini. But I tell you, after experiencing high refresh rate on a phone, it is terribly difficult to go back.

Apple touts their variable refresh rate for better use of battery than competitors - surely they could put it on the mini and still get it through a day of use.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#954

Post by nicolas_t »

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…

By the way, I was interested in Beeper but it seems the airtables link to sign up blocks any ip addresses from Hong Kong. I just get a blank page when I try to sign up. Just bringing it up, I have noticed quite a few sites have blanket bans on HK ips but it's rather frustrating.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#955

Post by hammock »

aidenn0 wrote: post #481
hammock wrote: post #32

Shameless 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).

I love my Jelly 2. The only thing that it skimped on was the camera. The primary camera is worse than my Moto G5 was. It's adequate for my primary usage of "taking pictures of things I need to remember (serial numbers, receipts &c)" but nearly useless as a general purpose photography tool.

A good camera is the literal sole reason I still have an iPhone as an option alongside my Jelly 2

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#956

Post by Abishek_Muthian »

mjfisher wrote: post #935
Abishek_Muthian wrote: post #837

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have baby hands, I am a dwarf. With each generational increase of display size, The number of times I drop the phone over its lifetime increases proportionally. I've used android phones from 2.8" to 5.7" display as daily drivers over the past decade. I assume, Many with small hands(palms) do face the issue of dropping phones, So I finding it quite surprising that 'Easily Repairable' wasn't included in neither 'Must…

I’m not a dwarf, but I do have smaller than average hands and really struggle to type on a phone one handed. I dropped my phone a lot trying to balance it. Have you come across pop sockets? Small collapsible self-adhesive handles for the back of your phone. They’ve made an absolutely massive usability difference to my phone usage (although I aim for the smallest handset I can get without compromising too much on qual…

I tried pop sockets on the phones of my friends, my fingers are too small and stubby that I felt I would drop the phone more by fiddling with it so I didn't use them.

Btw checkout Swiftkey's one-hand mode for typing, If you haven't already.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#957

Post by theodric »

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…

> people who need phones will still buy something even if reluctantly

> until it breaks, becomes unusable

You say no, but then you give two cases in which you would be a person who needs a phone who would grudgingly buy something.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#958

Post by Archelaos »

nsonha wrote: post #628
Archelaos wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> “oh phones are too big I just want something simple”. That is a valid sentiment that I think is shared by basically no average consumer. For a lot of people, phones are their primary computing devices, so a big screen is nice there. Bigger phones allow for more battery capacity. My way of dealing with it is two phones. Besides my smartphone, I still use my more than ten-year-old Nokia when I do not want to take the…

Do you still use your phone as a phone? Because I personally stopped using the phone features long ago, and I suspected many are in the same basket. So even for a minimalist/backup device, it would still need to be a "smart" phone, for note taking, calendar sync and what not.

Yes, I am indeed primarily using phone and SMS for mobile communication. I have never been on Facebook or WhatsApp and generally do not like too much distraction. If I am in the mood to socialise with people, I call them, email them or suggest a joint activity, but typically from home. And as I have been working from home office (or camper-van) even pre-COVID, I am prefering my laptop for email, calendar, to-dos, Web-browsing, etc. I think this reduces the need to carry a smart phone around quite a lot, compared to many others.

What could change that would be the availability of a smartphone that turns into a PC/laptop when connected to a docking station. I suspect that Microsoft is pursuing such a plan with the integration of Android into Windows 11. Let's see ...

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#959

Post by sudosteph »

askvictor wrote: post #909
sudosteph wrote: post #526

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for taking initiative on this! As a 5'5" woman with small hands, I haven't had an android phone that I could use with one-hand since my Nexus 5 (which I used for 5 years straight). The current android flagships are unwieldy even with two-hands for me, and it's been just a quality of living downgrade ever since my Nexus 5 broke. I'm not into apple products myself, but I know many other women swear by the iph…

A recent discussion on this at my work was centred around the notion that large phones don't generally fit in women's clothes pockets (when they have pockets), as the pockets tend to be smaller. There seems to be an inherent sexism in phone design (and clothing design, and many other things).

I've been mostly wearing men's pants for the past few years to get past the pocket problem (skinny leg men's pants fit me pretty well and still have OK pockets). I'm probably in the minority though, most women just carry a pocketbook.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone

#960

Post by sudosteph »

WolfRazu wrote: post #712
sudosteph wrote: post #526

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for taking initiative on this! As a 5'5" woman with small hands, I haven't had an android phone that I could use with one-hand since my Nexus 5 (which I used for 5 years straight). The current android flagships are unwieldy even with two-hands for me, and it's been just a quality of living downgrade ever since my Nexus 5 broke. I'm not into apple products myself, but I know many other women swear by the iph…

What did you think of the Pixel 5? It's only 0.5cm taller and otherwise more or less identical in dimensions.

I used a friend's once and it seemed fine! Taller height is generally more manageable. It's the lack of one-handed keyboard usability that irritates me the most with modern android phones, and that's more of a width thing.
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