this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2023

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The Verge: So long, small phones / There are fewer choices than I thought — and I’m getting out before the end. (www.theverge.com)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I'm definitely a small phone lover. I don't watch videos on my phone if I can avoid it and tend to consume text-heavy content.

Currently bouncing between an Xperia XZ1 Compact running Lineage 17.1 and an iPhone SE 2016 (!!!) running iOS 15. I get security updates for both, but it's clear that I'll have to move to a different phone in the next year or two.

Honestly at this point I just wish Apple would bring out an "iPhone Classic" based on the 4,5, or Mini body. Throw a headphone jack on there, a TouchID power button, and I'd pay serious money for it on launch day. I'd prefer an SD card slot, but if I know the phone will last for 3-5 years, I can pay a couple hundred extra bucks for 512GB of storage.

I just do not get folding phones. I understand that others like them, but I've never been a tablet guy. I suppose I would consider one with an internal e-ink screen, so I could combine my e-reader and phone into a single device... but I don't think I'd enjoy using a phone that's 1.5-2x the standard thickness of modern phones (not counting those massive camera bumps!). Plus the durability issue -- I would absolutely not trust any modern folding phone to last 5+ years, and at the $1000+ price point, it damn well better last 5+ years.

Above all else, I prefer small phones for two reasons:

my phone can "disappear" into my pocket, even if I'm walking, biking, running, or playing a sport
I can use my phone with one hand on public transit, or doing one of the above activities if I decide to listen to music during that activity

It's really frustrating that phone companies don't bother with small phones any more. But nobody is even trying -- and never has tried -- to market a small phone that stays out of your way but helps you when you need it. Even Apple barely marketed the Mini at all (and debuted it during a global pandemic when a lot of people stopped commuting and traveling, two of the best times to have a small one-handable phone).

I wonder how much Apple fucked up the small phone market by maintaining exclusive access to the Mini screens from Samsung, as the author mentions in this article.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Nobody is trying to market a phone that stays out of your way because they don't want it to stay out of your way. They want you to use it as much as possible, both for data collection and brand recognition.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Funnily enough, I'm 100 % in the same situation like you. Same switching back and forth between the same two devices. Same lack of options afterwards. I'm so out of options I'm even looking into a weird chinese/Hong Kong device named Unihertz Jelly Star. I'm not sure about the screen size though. 3" is a whole inch smaller than an iPhone SE 2016. That's damn small, even to my standards

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

I had a Jelly 2, which came before the Jelly Star. It was pretty dang small. I would have been happier with it if the dang thing didn't drop wifi and Bluetooth every five minutes. If the Jelly Star has the same antenna, I'd steer clear!

I believe there is a phone called the Retro, which is an old Razor style flip phone, but it only has the screen on the top, and is quite small, and relatively cheap. Not sure about availability though.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I've looked at the Unihertz phones quite a bit, but the cell bands and camera have stopped me so far. Your Lemmy instance implies that you're in the EU, so you should give it a shot if you can stomach the crappy camera. I'm afraid no Unihertz phone has IMS or voLTE support in the USA, so it's an open question if you'll even be able to use them at all on our networks in a year or two :(

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Apple didn’t have a claim to all small size screens, they were the only ones who ordered them in the first place. So this isn’t their fault, though I do resent them dropping the 13 mini so suddenly (I had expected to pick one up after this announcement, but they cost the same as the newest pro…)

The small phone project is looking for existing screens so they don’t have to design and pay for the tooling to produce them.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

From the article:

“The problem is Apple has exclusive rights to [the iPhone Mini’s] display — so, even with the line being discontinued, [Samsung Display] isn’t going to give us access,” he told supporters last month.

Sounds like we're splitting hairs: no other OEM is ordering the Mini-sized display, and this line certainly implies some kind of exclusivity. I've been following the thread on the Small Android Phone discord as well, and what I've seen there aligns with that understanding.

As far as I know, no small manufacturer ever gets displays built specifically for them. Even Pebble, which was a lot more popular than Small Android Phone, used preexisting displays. It just takes a lot of time, knowledge, and money to create a custom display.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

"iPhone Classic" based on the 4,5, or Mini body. Throw a headphone jack on there, a TouchID power button, and I'd pay serious money for it on launch day. I'd prefer an SD card slot,

Similar things have been said many times but not enough people put their money where their mouths are.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How did Apple not try hard enough with the 12 and 13 mini? They did market it but not enough people bought it. Including you, apparently. Instead you're whining about how you're forced to use a phone from 2016. And then, in your mind, they are somehow responsible for killing the whole market for small phones, sure.

Folding phones don't exist in just the tablet form factor, they are doing Flips as well. And they do have a pretty tiny footprint.

The truth is that no one wants phones with small screens except a small, loud minority. But you just keep complaining without actually supporting the small phones they do release, I bet that'll show them.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

Read the article.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Even if only one percent of people want smaller phones, with the huge volume of phones sold I don’t understand how that’s not enough to justify a healthy market.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (4 children)

It probably doesn't make sense to spend the time, money, and staff to develop/market a small phone for most of the manufacturers because the people that want a small phone will still buy a bigger phone if there isn't the option for a small one. They can spend less money and make the same number of sales.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Unfortunately, the same goes for headphone jacks, removable batteries, even sliding keyboards.

I really miss being able to find a phone with features I want.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I hear you. I do wish there was more variation, but their all basically the same now.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Pretty much why I still use a Note 9. I've tried switching to other phones but keep going back to this phone.

Expandable storage was great for consumers but not the big corporations. They can charge much more for storage and keep their prices high for that reason.

As long as this phone works, I'll stick with it.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Right I don’t doubt that the decision makes financial sense because I know several companies, most notably Apple, gave it a really sincere effort with enormous resources.

But it does show that even this last supposed benefit of hyper capitalism—consumer choice—is a bit of a lie. All TVs spy on you, it’s almost impossible to buy a small car in the US, even expensive clothes are made in the same cheap fast fashion factories, and on and on.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Yeah, the small car thing is a perfect parallel. The market doesn't necessarily fit preferences perfectly: instead, companies optimise for whatever MOST folks will buy that nets them the most money.

They make more money selling a large phone with a bigger sticker price and a bigger profit margin, so they make big phones. And the most phone-hungry people, power users, who buy a new phone every year or so, tend to buy big phones. So they cater to that group.

Think of it this way: when I bought my iPhone SE 2016 7 years ago, I cast maybe $100 of profit "vote" in the marketplace.

Every time someone buys a $1700 folding phone, they cast something between $500 and $1000 of profit "vote" in the marketplace. And they do that every year, not once every 7.

Of course, I'd be willing to spend a lot more on a really decent small phone. But nobody in the market has really experimented with that model yet. And it is admittedly harder to fit components into a smaller phone body (though not as hard as Apple would have you believe -- after all, the 14 and 15 literally takes up more space with a useless empty plastic SIM card spacer than the headphone jack used to take.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

But there is the possibility they could capture almost the whole small phone market, instead of competing against titans for a piece of the big phone market. I also don't see how this is not still a big market that is being ignored. So many random trash phones that must be getting pitiful sales numbers, but they can't make anything in a small size, like they used to do in huge numbers just half a decade ago?

I get that the Mini might not reach numbers acceptable for Apple, but for some random Android manufacturers, those same numbers would be huge, and they have basically no competition right now. The first company to offer something decent in that size bracket would have that whole market to themselves.

But no, i think they all just dream that they might beat Google and Samsung for the same 6.3-6.8" market and be rich.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

99% of the folks that want a particular phone will buy another one instead. Can't discount the bullheaded consumer (like me).

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

1% is nothing for a company like Apple or Samsung. Making something actually nice for 1% of the market would never pay off.

Especially when those 1% will just buy whatever else they offer most of the time.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's not just small phones. Getting a decent small tablet is impossible now

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

I just got myself the Alldocube iplay 50 mini pro. Great little tablet.

I was skeptical initially. Reviews across the board praised it. Bit the bullet and got it ... Not perfect but pretty darn good.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

As a small phone enthusiast, for my current phone I just got a Galaxy Fold 5. I know it sounds counterintuitive. But when the cover mode, the phone has the same width as my old Xperia Z3 Compact. The unfolded mode is a bonus where the two hand usage is justified with the much larger screen. You just need to deal with the thicker phone because of its foldable nature.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I went with a Pixel Fold for the same reason. It's squattier, so I can use it one handed, and the big screen can be nice on occasion. Really, thickness is the only issue I have with it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Same, thickness actually doesn't seem so bad imo either. Kinda nice having the two batteries too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

that's what she said

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I'm not paying that ridiculous amount of money just to get a small phine that fits in my parents pocket. Foldable phones at the moment is just a fad that they push to keep enthusiats engaged and prices high. Same like to hyperfocus on 4k Raytracing in gaming.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

I would love a pocketable phone that is also large enough for my failing eyesight. Foldables are a solution, but they need to become more sturdy, and come down in price to reasonable levels.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I don't want a small phone but at the same time I don't want a phone that is massive. Can I just get a medium?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Standard iPhone, zenfone 10 and S23 could be considered medium.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I don’t want a small phone but at the same time I don’t want a phone that is massive. Can I just get a medium?

Isn't that what foldables are for?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

It's annoying how inconvenient it is to exercise with a phone nowadays. The armbands needed for a phone compared to an old iPod are comically large, and they're so big they bounce around.

Smart watches aren't quite what I want, they're annoying because they're not quite phones, and you still need a phone hanging around if you're using Spotify or other apps and control the media using the watch.

An iPhone 4 or even iPhone 5c sized phone would be perfect for me

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Currently on a Pixel 5. not too big, not too small

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I'm on one too, and I wish it was a little smaller. The Nexus 5 was just about perfect, though I thought it was a touch too big at the time. I think rounding the corners a bit more would do it.