The vanishing of the small high-end smartphone

Manufacturers don’t make displays under 6 inches available for purchase, with special cases (such as the iPhone Mini) being made under exclusive contracts. The best lead they have so far is to try to use displays designed for the front part of a foldable phone, but they’re yet to strike an agreement.

TIL that display manufacturers are also part of the reason why we aren’t getting small phones and why it’s probably even harder for manufacturers like Fairphone to make them.

jivemasta,

I’m currently using a Samsung flip 5. I have it set up to use all my main apps on the outer screen, so I can just have a small screen. Then I have the option to open it for apps that I might want to be on a larger screen.

It’s working out pretty well. Some days I never even use the inner screen.

nonfuinoncuro,

I might have to do this for my next phone. How’s the battery life?

FallenGrove,

There was actually a meme I saw a while back where a guy was wielding a sword and shield. Except the sword was an iPhone and the shield was a samsung phone.

EnderMB,

Most of the issues people have with Android are one and the same. Compared to a decade ago, there isn’t any choice any more

Years ago, there was almost too much variety at times, and manufacturers would experiment heavily alongside Google. Some phones had physical keyboards, some had no headphone jacks, some had no physical buttons at all, and they came in either stupidly small or (at the time) freakishly large.

Now, for some reason Android feels very sanitized, even the shite that manufacturers stick on top of stock to make it feel like it’s their product and not Google’s. There aren’t even that many manufacturers any more, and unlike the past when Android embraced being a bit different, it all feels like everyone is trying to follow Apple instead of Android leading the pack…

RobotToaster,

It’s all become so bland.

Zoomboingding,
@Zoomboingding@lemmy.world avatar

Very surprising that there’s no 5.5" phones on the market. I still have good eyes and I’d rather have more pocket space. Sticking with the pixel 7a for now, but yearning for a new Xperia X Compact.

root,

I just want Sony to make another XZ1 Compact but with updated internals. Keep the screen size, camera shutter button, 3.5mm plug and make it thicker to squeeze in either wireless charging or a slightly bigger battery.

Lorindol,

This.

Sony’s Compact series was excellent, especially for someone with small hands like me. The bigger ones have no advantages for me.

mulcahey,

Anyone who wants to keep this convo going, check out !compactphones

SGHFan,

Joined!

Sir_Simon_Spamalot,

Thanks!

Kerb,
@Kerb@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

i want a smartphone, that i can hold securely
while still being able to reach the entire screen.

i have pretty big hands, and even i cant reach the upper left quarter of my phone (pixel6a) without letting go of the left and bottom edges.
its ridiculous

circle,

Oh yes, to top it I have small hands - I can’t reach almost any of the opposite edge without using two hands. Sigh.

ikidd,
@ikidd@lemmy.world avatar

Putting things like a back arrow on the upper left is just asshole design, for starters.

lud,

Which is why Android very seldom puts stuff in the far top left corner and if it does, it’s the back arrow, which you can and should avoid by just using the universal back action via either gestures (my favorite), the on screen button, or the physical button if you have one.

Material design is pretty much about moving shit away from the top and especially lop left to the bottom

Auk,

Similarly putting stuff in the upper right is just asshole design for those of us who are left handed, unfortunately that's relatively common.

tswerts,

Thank for bringing this up. I’m currently using a Samsung Galaxy S10e. I mostly use the smartphone from my pocket:

  • listening to podcasts with earbuds on;
  • running with Strava on;
  • working in the garden with music on;
  • checking messages with my smartwatch on;
  • driving my car with Android Auto on;
  • … . Of course I also use my smartphone itself for messaging, shopping online, banking, ordering takeaway, … . And a larger screen would definitely be more comfortable in these cases. But having a larger smartphone when I’m currently using my smartphone while it’s in my pocket, is a step back. In fact, for use at home I still have a Samsung tablet to have a bigger screen die when that’s more useful. When I would switch to the SG S23 version, it seems that the dimensions of the new device are quite similar? Dimensions: S10e: 5.60 x 2.75 x 0.31 inches (142.2 x 69.9 x 7.9 mm) S23: 5.76 x 2.79 x 0.30 inches (146.3 x 70.9 x 7.6mm) Zenphone 10: 5.77 x 2.68 x 0.37 inches (146.5 x 68.1 x 9.4 mm)

So as long as the basic version of the SG s-series is sold in the above dimensions, I’m not worried 🤞

aluminium,

Not just small phones actually big phones as well. Remember the Huawei P8 Max, Sony Xperia Z Ultra or Mate 20X?

Phones these days only seem to exist between 6" and 6.8".

SternburgExport,

Mainstream ruined everything. Like it always does.

random65837,

LOL, by “mainstream” you mean market demand? People use phones as computers now, people that want small phones are the 1%, Apple bought back small phones remember? The 1% loved it, the rest didn’t. No money to be made = it won’t get made.

Same as people who want unreliable SD cards and wired headphones jacks, by far the statistically insignificant minority. What people want as a whole is what influences production, not fringe cases.

circle,

Even I used to believe that there is a good demand, but sadly it’s a very small minority.

Zippit,

I have small hands and I hate that I have to jerry rig my phone with shit to just reach the upper part of it.

freebread,

I’m a cyclist in the city so for me, a smaller size phone is ideal to keep it secure in a pocket. I got gifted a Pixel 6 about a year ago (wanted to stick with the Pixel 2!) and now I always need to bring some sort of pack to put it in.

BlueSquid0741,

My favourite phone ever was my first android phone in 2010, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini (e10i). Every time I’ve had to buy a phone since, I’ve looked around trying to find something similar, but it feels like no such thing will ever exist.

dawa,

You just brought back fond memories of mine

I loved sliding that keyboard

thesorehead,

Loved that phone. Check out the Jelly Star (I have the Jelly 2) if you want a small, full featured Android. Compromises for the size and price of course, but it has a headphone jack, sd card, IR blaster, and usb-c - everything I need.

giotheflow,

Unihertz phones are really cool. My main phone is an S20 but I use an Atom with downloaded podcasts for hikes and runs.

skullgiver,
@skullgiver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl avatar

Sony used to sell smaller phones in general. Plus, they all come with headphone hacks.

Nothing quite as small as the Mini, but the Sony Xperia 5 V is relatively compact in a “thin but tall” way. Sadly, I don’t think they’re still producing their Compact lineup.

If you want to go tiny, there’s the Unihertz Jelly Star:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0520/5337/7214/files/Jelly_Star_-_The_World_s_Smallest_Android_13_Smartphone_-_Gallery_600x.jpg

Unihertz sells a phone with a 4.2" screen, but it’s still tall because there’s a physical QWERTY keyboard underneath the screen.

Socsa,

It’s not really that complicated, people expect high end phones to have all day battery, which is hard to do with a small phone.

blackbarn,

My zenphone is small and has good battery life. Wish more would shoot for this type of form factor

applejacks,
@applejacks@lemmy.world avatar

the sad reality is many people will say they want a small phone like this, but then not buy it for some reason or another, then they sell less, and so companies abandon making them.

I am a very happy owner of a ZF10 too, lovely device.

CmdrShepard,

“Won’t buy it for one reason or another” meaning the manufacturer intentionally builds the device so shittily that the feature you want is drowned out by 15 year old hardware and high prices. I’ve seen it happen a hundred times already.

I really hate this argument since it implies every phone is a 1:1 copy of the next and the only difference is the headphone jack, or SD card slot, or removable battery and “see! nobody wants this one feature anymore because ObscurePhone 22 had it and nobody bought it!” Never mind the fact that ObscurePhone 22 was built by child slaves using secondhand parts from old recycled Gateway computers, the screen is CRT, and they cost $5000 each, but yeah, “nobody bought it because people hate headphone jacks now.”

Zerfallen,

ZenFone is the same size as an iPhone or an S23, pretty sure there is no lack of people buying phones at that size. But also I would consider that a standard size, not ‘small’.

applejacks,
@applejacks@lemmy.world avatar

If you look at the S or iPhone series you’ll see that the larger versions sell far far more.

falkerie71,
@falkerie71@sh.itjust.works avatar

If only high end smartphone chips focus more on efficiency rather than performance, which for most people is already powerful enough for day to day use.

DudeDudenson,

It would stand to reason that a smaller screen would lend to less power draw both for the screen’s power usage and being able to use a lower resolution keeping the CPU draw lower too

Fallenwout,

75% of your battery cycle, the screen is off. So a smaller screen can only win battery in that 25% window. A bigger battery on the other hand can be applied to 100% of the cycle.

Unless you go oldschool lcd, a smaller screen does not gain as much as a bigger battery for battery cycle time.

root,

My Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact had very excellent battery life for it’s small battery. Sony definitely did an amazing job optimising it.

h4wk3y3,
@h4wk3y3@feddit.de avatar

However, the 25% on-time use a lot more than 25% battery.

jivemasta,

They could make a small screen phone, but thicker to make more room for a bigger battery.

obinice,
@obinice@lemmy.world avatar

For myself, phone screens have finally gotten to the perfect size for my hand, and a good size to actually use them for stuff comfortably.

But there should always be variation and choice, for the other users in the market!

RobotToaster,

On the other end there doesn’t seem to be any phablets either. they are all weirdly long screens.

guacupado,

Width has to still fit in hands to be mainstream.

helenslunch,

They’re all phablets. People used to make fun of my Note 4 endlessly but it’s practically tiny by modern standards.

MsPenguinette,

I had an og Dell Streak when it first came out. It absolutely blew people’s minds when they saw it back then.

Looked up some old reviews of it and can’t beleive it was a 5" screen. In my mind, I remember it being so much bigger.

BellaDonna,

Almost all popular mainstream Android phones are absolutely phablet sized to the point that it’s now the standard, and not the outlier. Your perception has just changed.

RobotToaster,

I’m still using my mi max 3 that’s 6.9" screen, no modern phone seems to be able to match that.

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