I can see the appeal of these little phones, but I think the batteries weren’t as good as the other counterparts… so that aspect alone made me pass them.
Some of those are small, but those are from lesser known brands. My experience with those is that their long term support is often lacking. It’s also going to be difficult to find replacement parts in case the display cracks or something.
I'd been using an iPod Touch 4G thru 7G, for my everything pocket computer. Apple killed the iPod Touch, so I migrated to iPhone 13 mini just over a year ago. Sorry folx, they prolly killed the 13 mini cuz of me. Any other Apple products you'd like me to latch onto, so Apple will kill it? :-(
Lol I feel like this happens to me too. You like the fit of that T-shirt? Discontinued. You like the shape of those eyeglasses? Discontinued. You want a new car that starts up without 5,000 microchips? Haha too bad. You like buying phones that you can’t use without physically hurting your hands? Cool, enjoy the new 16 inch iPhone, it’s the smallest available. You’ll never leave it in your pocket or bag, because it doesn’t fit in either one. Oh and you need a speaker adapter to hear things without earbuds. That’ll be $2,500.
A shield-shaped dorsal sclerite or plate of certain insects and arachnids.
An oblong shield made of boards or wickerwork covered with leather, with sometimes an iron rim; carried chiefly by the heavy-armed infantry of the Roman army.
I'm assuming the third definition is the one we're after. But it could be an alligator scute, ya never know. (https://animals.howstuffworks.com/reptiles/alligator.htm). And having looked at scutes, I think a phone shaped like that would be all kinds of amusing!
For the most part they use stock android on their Zenfones. Their camera software, I have no experience with, but the pixel phones are typically the best quality photos out there because of Google’s machine learning and tensor chips, so any competition is going to have a hard time catching up to the pixel in terms of photo quality.
I’m hoping against hope that Google copies Apple and turns the Pixel 5 into a mold for the Google version of Pixel SE. I know it’s not happening, but that phone is close to perfect for me, it’s still my daily driver. Just give me a P5 SE with updated guts every two or three years.
Sadly I think the latest rumours were that they’d use the Xr/11 chassis for the new SE. hopefully not because if they use the 12/13 mini… oh boy it’d be great
That would be unfortunate, I always saw the SE as not only the cheapest but also the smallest model but I guess it’s really just a way for them to use up old parts?
Yeah that’s exactly what it is and why it’s cheap. They have a bunch of leftover or recycled chassis that they can shove new guts into and sell for cheaper.
Thing is, very few people bought the small phone. The community that wants them is very vocal, but they don’t show up in big numbers at the cash register.
I find that to be a good option. Unfortunately, given my current needs, the Apple Watch is the best device to meet them, so I’m stuck with the iPhone. And yes, I’ve researched the Galaxy Watch, too, but app integration and health measurements are considered lackluster compared to the AW.
It’s not impossible, it’s just a chore level difficulty. Either buy it in Apple Music or just pop the audio file into garage band and export as ringtone. iOS is way better than Android in every aspect except sideloading and expensive development and restrictions on what apps can do, but it’s already enough for your needs.
Just long/3D touch the link and click save link as or if you can’t just take a screenshot and click full page; it’ll save as PDF. Better yet just press share on the page and either share it wherever you share or save to files if it’s like a PDF. If you wanna transfer local-only files then just host an Apache server on your computer or send it over your favorite instant messaging service.
dude… it’s 2023. Why are you fighting for a mega corporation that cares nothing for you. Just let people use what they want to use. If they are happy with their color box, then leave them being happy with their color box.
Because sideloading is a fake concept developed by apple because they want you to think that you can only install from the app store. It is called downloading and installing. On android, you have the benefit of multiple app stores to choose from, not just one. You can also download .apk directly and install that. With iOS you are SOL unless you have one of the few jailbreakable phones, which will fall behind on security updates and become inherently insecure.
Every one of those phones even in their standard configuration smack iOS flagships 6 ways to Sunday. I know this because I have used both, android since 2007 and iOS since 2012 to 2020.
Yes, it is harder to break an iOS system, but android offers infinitely more freedom, and the UI is not bad either. If you don’t like the UI, you can simply install another launcher.
I hate word choice arguments. It’s literally just a different word/phrase. It doesn’t matter as long as it’s unbiased and people know what you mean. It’s also generally better to categorize things and make a distinction and not start your argument by a personal attack.
There’s AltStore. Granted, it’s slightly inconvenient, but as long as you have contact with your server you’ll be fine.
While it’s not something I care about, iPhones are widely known to be significantly ahead on performance on running things. One thing I do care about is how it runs smoothly. I use some Chinese apps for reasons and all their different services clog up the background and make things laggy. This isn’t really Android’s fault, but in practice it makes Apple a better choice for my needs. It also has a great UI design across apps. Yes you can change your launcher but you can’t change the appearances of apps to be better and I haven’t found good-looking apps on par with Apple’s on Android yet. I also just like Apple Emojis, fonts and bells and whistles more. I’m curious on what advantages you’re referring to.
Android offers more freedom, but Apple’s lack has not hindered me in doing my stuff, which is all I care about for a touch device.
I am sorry, but altstore is trash. iOS needs more options.
There is nothing wrong with liking what you like, it is just not fair to try and tout something as superior when they are not really comparable. Android and iOS are phones and that is where the similarities end. Using an android phone is more akin to using a portable computer (especially if you are a power user) while iOS is a simpler experience for those who don’t need all of the features you would get on android. They both do what they do really well, some of the things they do are better than the other, but neither is TRULY better than the other.
For instance, three of the biggest things for me when it comes to android is:
Alternative ROMs
Filesharing
Modularity
On android, I use GrapheneOS (custom ROM) which has a level of security I absolutely need in my day to day life if I am going to be carrying around a networked computer on my person at all times. I sync certain files and folders in realtime with my Linux machines using syncthing, and I install most of my apps from fdroid, one for privacy and security reasons, but also because I love free and open source software.
iOS can achieve things similarly, but what I don’t like is that they want you to use it within their ecosystem. For instance, file sharing on iOS to your computer is easy on MacOS, a PITA on windows, and damn near impossible on Linux unless you either use a VM or you are just accessing your pictures.
I guess that’s the biggest thing about iOS to me is that apple wants you to be in their walled garden and ONLY in their walled garden. MacOS is not a great choice for the work that I do and as such, I stay away from having iOS as a daily driver.
That being said, I have a friend who is an apple freak to say the least. He has a workflow that integrates perfectly with his apple devices. His m1 macbook air, his m1 Mac mini, his iPhone, his apple watch, his homepod, etc etc. He doesn’t have a technical workflow and doesn’t do anything seriously complicated or application specific, and he loves it. One joke he commonly makes is that “nothing integrates as well as apple” when it just isn’t the case.
I can’t comment much off personal experience when it comes to the airtag system equivalent on android, but believe it or not it is actually a thing and it isn’t bad. It actually works similarly to the apple system but the only thing is, there are less android users in the US. I personally stray away from that because I do not like location services at all and go out of my way to NOT use them.
Android and iOS are phones and that is where the similarities end.
I agree. I'm more responding to the ridiculousness of Captain's purported shortcomings of iOS. I daily drive an Arch laptop and a WIndows PC(I also have a 2014 secondhand 128g macbook air which I never use now for obvious reasons), so I have a very odd combination that can run anything. I just like Apple's approach better.
It does have more options like SideStore and Sideloady, though these can't install really large apps (which I use) for some reason
Don’t get me wrong, iOS DOES have its shortcomings, but literally everything does, nothing is perfect and if there was a perfect system, everyone would use it (although I think we can both agree that Linux is about as perfect as an operating system can get so long as you are capable of properly tuning your system).
in sheer things you can do, android is clearly superior. but there are some things that apple products will do best, like integrating everything so well.
Uh, what about syncthing? Syncthing is literally better than anything apple has ever pumped out in the name of file sharing, because it is multi-platform and does it in essentially real time (configurable).
Airdrop is borderline pointless too, it does pretty much the same thing as any messenger worth a damn when it comes to filesharing but has a much lower limit than most of them, both in filesize and filetype.
Depends on their needs. If they purely want a phone that fits nice in a pocket, a Z Flip will do. But if they really want the small screen, there are niche brands like Unihertz, which recently released the Jelly Star, a 3" phone with pretty decent specs.
That’s a bit of a painful workaround considering paying for and not using the main selling point and then having to use a phone that’s twice as thick as it should be.
The options on Android aren’t much better, unless you go for some obscure manufacturer who won’t support the phone with updates 1 year after its life cycle.
Apple was for a while the only remaining flagship manufacturer who actually provided mini models. Ironic, because Android is supposed to be the alternative providing more options.
Literally every one of them is better, because none of them are running iOS. That’s my subjective opinion.
unless you go for some obscure manufacturer who won’t support the phone with updates 1 year after its life cycle.
Samsung and Google both support devices for 5 years now. Doesn’t matter how long Apple “supports” the software because they don’t support the hardware.
I’m talking about small phones. iPhone 13 mini was the last decent option when it came to small phones. Neither Google or Samsung make phones that small. The smallest phones they make are same size as a regular iPhone 13.
Now there’s only a few “obscure” manufacturers left who make small phones. “Obscure” manufacturers usually lack long term support on both the software and the hardware side to be a decent option.
As someone with tiny hands and tiny fingers, I’ve been thinking long and hard about this and in the future, when my 13 mini lets out its last breath, I’ll probably just go with a regular-sized iPhone and use Voice Control to swipe right and “go back” when I use it one-handed, since reachability doesn’t address how I struggle to reach the far end of the screen with one-hand (I even have to struggle a bit with the mini). Sucks that I’ll have to use voice control as a workaround, but I mostly bought an iPhone for the Apple Watch anyway.
The solution that I have been bouncing around is to get the watch for quick use, and then a larger phone to act more as a tablet. Of course this requires me to have multiple devices, which is annoying. But here we are.
I considered getting a Mini a couple years ago. I tried one. It was not small enough for the reasons you describe. I have a regular sized iPhone for that reason.
I’ve long said the mini flopped not because people don’t want small phones, but rather because it wasn’t small enough to be worth the tradeoff of a smaller screen.
In Settings -> Accessibility-> Touch -> Assistive Touch you can configure a small button the floats on the screen (you can move it around), providing access to all sort of gestures and functions one handed.
Tried that but none of the gestures include “go back” nor “swipe right” (the closest thing is “scroll right”). Even used a custom gesture as well and that didn’t work.
For my needs it works out much cheaper to buy a new android phone every few years, but it is such a waste.
Depending on manufacturer you get up to 5 years of security updates, but the phone usually costs up to 800 euros less so it simply doesn't make sense to buy the iphone.
You end up throwing a perfectly good phone in a drawer, never to be used again.
In ye olden days, it didn't really matter that the phone was less secure. But with banking apps, you have no real choice in the matter.
My problem with cheap phones is, that they also degrade fairly quick. At the beginning they still feel fine but after just a few months of usage I already start to feel the micro stutters again. And I hate that. I blame Android in general for that and like that iOS’ ecosystem is typically a lot more efficient in that regard.
Maybe. All the Androids I had pissed me off after 2 years latest. Since there were no small Androids at the time, I took the dive and bought an iPhone 13 Mini. I’ll see if it also pisses me off after 2 years ^^ But at least what I saw from other people who have their iPhones for far longer, I am optimistic.
CarPlay works much more fluent than Android Auto. That alone already made the switch worthwhile. Oh and having a unified backup solution via iTunes is really nice. While many Androids cannot be backed up at all unless you root them (which I don’t want).
I’ve only ever used Androids, all my phones have been at least 4 or 5 years with me, I’ve also never bought a flagship model. Honestly, at first having a smart phone for so long aged pretty fast, for the speed of software and hardware upgrades was frantic. But nowadays, I’ve had my current phone for 5 years and just now I’m considering an upgrade, just because I’m bored with it and want a phone with more storage space and a nicer camera. But otherwise the phone is still solid and functional, just had a software update a few months ago. I honestly hate that most Apple fans like to compare Apple with Chinese shovelware. But there are pretty good solid Android phones if you shop around.
The only worthy ones I found were Samsung and Pixel. At least in regards to update duration. I don’t like Samsung’s customizations though. So I effectively end up with Pixel. Which would be fine… but that doesn’t solve my initial problem of wanting a “small” SmartPhone. At least not at the time I bought the iPhone Mini.
Since Apple buried the Mini series, this might very well mean this is not only my first, but also my last iPhone again. Time will tell.
Get a flip. That seems to be the format that most manufacturers are looking at for a smaller option. I had a friend who was small phone obsessed as well and nowadays he just uses a dumb phone and is starting to turn into a kind of Luddite.
Not yet good enough for me. With small I don’t just mean width and height. Also weight and thickness. Even the Xperia XZ1 Compact I had was too bulky for me, even though width and height were perfect. But it was heavy and thick. So are the flip phones.
The Sony Xperia series is reknown for being extremely nice phones as well, the only reason I don’t have one is that I don’t know if you can build grapheneos for it or not.
Unfortunately it hasn’t received a security update since March and Samsung have put it as EOL. Still a great phone but it’s not a small phone, it’s about the same size as the S23, it was just small compared to the S10 and S20 which were stupidly big.
At this point, get an S23 or a normal iPhone if the S10e was a suitable size.
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