But it's short of impossible to find a phone that wouldn't be a huge hassle to hold in my hand. I don't want to have to use two hands to write a message, I just a smartphone that is the same size as they used to be, instead of these over-sized abominations that are currently popular.
But the only ones who seem to be releasing smartphones in the same size (or below) as the iPhone 12 Mini seems to be shady brands one never heard of before, or really cheap ones with very low specifications.
So what happened to the smartphones you could hold in one hand? Why did they disappear? And why is no company no longer offering these sizes and instead go for "bigger is better"?
I cannot possibly be the only one with my size of hands + want to be able to use my phone with one hand?
It's not that much of a trade-off in terms of features or capability and it has the small size you'd expect.
Still a good question though!
The problem is that every single phone out there is made for people for whom their phone is their primary, or maybe only, gateway to the internet. This means watching videos on it and all that stuff. There don't seem to be any phones for people like me, who don't even remember they have a phone most of the time when they're home.
We're in the minority, though. The market has spoken, and it prefers larger phones.
Apple dropped the Mini line after two models and replaced it with the largest screen ever (Max line) because the Mini wasn't selling.
I think people prefer larger screens and larger batteries over the ability to use the phone with one hand.
The Zenfone 10 is one of the few decent "small" phones from a major brand: https://youtu.be/6aK407STsGA
For Android, which is my preference personally, there has not been a normal-sized phone since like the Pixel 3A in 2019, and even that was getting pretty huge. There is https://smallandroidphone.com/ , but it seems like a dead project.
If you disagree, touch the bottom of your screen, then touch the top, I promise it wasn’t effortless.
Steve Jobs was very careful about designing the first iPhone to mold into our hands. It’s no surprise they immediately got bigger once he passed.
Unfortunately, people want it because as you say “bigger is better”. Call me elitist, but they don’t know what they want. A phone isn’t the size of a tv. Making it 2 inches larger doesn’t really solve anything when it’s already so small.
Same goes for reducing the bezel, another obvious “solution” that wasn’t needed. The bezel was meant to give your palm some room so it doesn’t touch the screen.
When you see people put handles on the back of their phones, we have a problem with function. Steve Jobs is rolling in his grave at the sight of these flip flop phones.
There's a project [0] that hopefully will bring a good compact Android smartphone to the market, maybe it will be an alternative for people who want a compact phone.
I'm also looking for an Android smartphone to replace my iPhone SE (2016), and the Asus Zenfone 9/10, S23/S24 and Moto Edge 30 are some of the "compact" options I'm considering.
I think people wanted bigger screens, but what they wanted more was battery life which requires that you scale up the phone.
Personally, I was really happy with the original iPhone size of 3.5”.
"…if I wanted an iPad, I would buy an iPad."
My favorite review of the iPhone mini.
Naturally, I increased the font size to be more suitable. This created two problems:
1. The phone now shows significantly less information and is nearing the point of annoyance for me. 2. Many websites outright break when I increase the font size to a suitable size.
Better css would fix these issues, but the web is full of poor css implementations (including hn). If I were to only use my phone for calls and the occasional text for about 30 minutes per day, an iPhone 5S would be perfect. But using it for more than that makes it clear that I should probably get a larger phone to protect my eyesight and enable a better experience.
Unfortunately, my next phone will be larger to make it more useful. I don’t use any form of social media. Only texting and some web browsing. I would consider myself a light phone user. I’d have to imagine these annoyances would be worse for someone that uses their phone more heavily than me. Maybe one day I’ll be able to use iMessage from my Linux desktop and use a small phone again. Until that happens, I’m pursuing a larger phone size.
People say it's due to "what the market wants", but it's more to do with what the car manufacturers decide they want people to buy, advertising it appropriately.
With you on wanting a small phone, though.
Sadly there hasn't been a "normal sized" (for me) phone in many years. I didn't buy the mini because it was still too big. I'm now eyeing the flip phones, once they (samsung or apple, I don't care) release one with flagship specs (to accompany the flagship price) I might go for that...
The small Chinese companies tend to be less affected by marketing trends and just make what users really want. That's why they still have plenty of models with small screens, removable batteries, expandable storage, etc.
It will supposedly be about the size of the regular Pixel 7 which is reasonable size but not as compact as something like the Pixel 2.
I hope that if it sells well it'll encourage them to make more premium small phones.
I still have my P3 but am not into using tech until it dies. For me I just accepted mega phones won.
Yes, I know the Pixel 8 is smaller, but I tried it and screen size aside it's not as good as my OP11.
https://www.asus.com/us/mobile-handhelds/phones/zenfone/zenf...
I love the size of the phone and it fits very well but my current S20 Ultra feels too big for me at times.
Sorry, but you are part of a vocal minority who prefers small phones. Sort of like the group that prefers physical keyboards... or headphone jacks... or IR blasters... or FM radio... or expandable storage... etc etc.
I'm sticking with this iPhone mini until they no longer support it with iOS updates.
I don't think it's that hard - 'the market' doesn't want them. Not enough people bought them to warrant companies splintering their product lines for them.
Consequences matter, so what is the consequence of having a screen that is just a bit too large?
- inadvertent swipes right, lands you on the Google Home page, but you can simply disable this or use a different launcher.
- can't fit as many thumb-addressable QS options, but Google-flavored android makes these larger, also provides one-handed mode gesture
- need to grip phone so that the corner extends beyond the palm of your hand, some phones have the camera on a lip that the index finger can use as a lip to hold
Obviously we're all ad supported entertainment focused media monsters so, screens aren't going to be smaller, you're just going to have to adapt
Long story short: they're practically dead.
The iPhone SE from 2022 is the last generally ok phone, along with the 13 mini.
It seems that the iPhone SE is the last of its kind, mainly so that apple can profit off a lower-budget market segment.
The android world has been ignoring the small phone area for many years now. There are some smaller android phones, as long as you are okay with dubious updates assurance and/or generally lower quality.
I have the iPhone SE from 2022. I get your being annoyed. I'm annoyed too.