important message to google, samsung, all android phone manufactures
important message to google, samsung, all android phone manufactures
just make normal sized cellphones again, please!
Everytime someone says this and manufacturers end up making a smaller phone... no one buys them.
I did. I bought the original Jelly. Now I use the biggest phone of them all, a Fold 4...
In saying that, I might buy the new Jelly too, it's IR blaster feature would come in handy as a universal remote, plus, in case I ever decide to take up running, would be easier to carry the Jelly around instead of a Fold.
Large phones are the new normal size now.
Going back to small phones now feels like trying to type through a postage stamp
Yeah, I was thinking who's to say what "normal" size even is? In hindsight, it was awkward as hell taking calls on my tiny nokia brick. Personally, I think we've hit a sweet spot between functionality and size practicality. I'm happy with my 6" screen as long as women's clothes continue on the trend of indulging us with functional pockets.
I'm waiting for a free upgrade to switch to a flip phone. I didn't want one immediately because I was worried about quality, but from what I hear they're doing well. Decent compromise for me
The comments section of a post like this feels like early reddit. Love it!
I adored my Pixel 3a. The size was perfect in my opinion. Small enough to handle with one hand and to put it in my pockets, big enough to enjoy watching videos on it. The Samsung S10e was lovely too.
I don't have sources but I remember them stating that small form factor phones were not selling too well. So I guess we won't see many flagship or even midrange phones in the near future.
People asked Apple for this, and when they obliged, it sold so terribly that retailers literally could not give them away. Unfortunately, it seems those who actually want smaller phones are a vocal minority
Capitalism: Providing infinite consumer choice, so long as your choice is to consume what everyone else is consuming.
I've got about a billion issues with capitalism, but I'm not sure how you think something like this should work otherwise? Product design/development/manufacturing takes a bunch of resources, so it doesn't make sense in any model to make things people generally don't want.
I moved from Android phones to Apple specifically for the iPhone mini. Seems when it eventually dies I’ll be out of luck.
Apple user here. If they don't come out with a new generation of iphone mini, I am simply going to never buy another phone again.
I am simply going to never buy another phone again.
This will not happen.
I switched to a Pixel 7 today from a Xiaomi Android phone. I always felt my existing phone was too big, and when looking for a new one the first thing I did was go to gsmarena and search for a phone released relatively recently with a smaller screen. Literally the only result was the Iphone SE.
The Pixel phone is practically the same size as my existing phone, just a tad smaller and just a tad heavier. But there is a significant difference in the gesture support, which is usually something I don't bother with. The result is that the basic system navigation and app switching can be done with my right hand only, in its normal holding position. The swipe from the left to go back a screen can be done from the bottom of the screen, so I don't need to stretch my thumb up and across to do it from the middle of the screen.
Stretching unnaturally is still required to swipe down from the top of the screen, or I guess if third party app design puts buttons in the top left. But as a software solution to this hardware problem which also preserves the larger screen size for cases where that's useful or desired, I think it's pretty good.
you should be able to install a custom ROM that allows you to have notification bar on bottom so that you can swipe up.
@LordShrek @gila iphones used to have the control center by swiping up. Took a while to adjust to doing it from the top right. Wish we had the option to add it to the bottom
I figured out that the swipe down doesn't need to begin from the actual notification bar, like it does on my older Android phones. I can just naturally extend my thumb up to halfway up the screen and swipe down from there. Doesn't work if I have scrollable content already on screen though
I'm a big guy, with big hands.
Got the s22 ultra, and it feels like it's finally a me sized phone. I've been fighting tiny phones for decades!
In the end, we need a range from small to large.
Old people, who have bad eyes and money, buy the bigger phones. Profit margins are bigger with the bigger, more expensive phones. If you want a small phone, get one. Just don't expect the large phone makers to sell them.
Small phones have shittier cameras.
I like the idea of a small phone but, if I’m being honest, I’d probably use an iPad Mini as my phone if it had the ProMax (or better) imaging group on it.
It's these glass backs that I can't stand. I bought a phone not a wet bar of soap.
Not possible at the moment. Without the large size, you can't fit an adequate battery to last a day or longer.
Not to mention that many people want good cameras on their phone, an they need space as well.
Display needs a lot of battery, less of it and you dont need such a big one. Than make it two millimeters thicker and the problem is solved.
I'm generalising here and obviously it won't apply to everyone, but I tend to think most people with small phones look at huge phones and say "whoa, too big" and thus never bother to give it a go. People with large phones either love them already, or they love the idea of a small phone — so they go get one, and in most cases, immediately miss their large phone.
Of course, some people have experienced both formats enough to know that they definitely prefer small phones — but, unfortunately, they appear to be a minority. Small phones don't sell well, or else there'd be more of them. And so, these people fall into that all-too-common market category 'You're Not Significant Enough'.
All that said, it absolutely depends on what you want from your phone. I use my S23 Ultra to edit photos and videos, play a few games, get some work done — and all of those things benefit from a big display. Hell, even typing is easier for me on a big screen, thanks to my sausage thumbs. 😂
Of course, some people have experienced both formats enough to know that they definitely prefer small phones — but, unfortunately, they appear to be a minority. Small phones don’t sell well, or else there’d be more of them.
The conundrum with sales though is, if almost no major brands are selling them, how would a regular person ever find them? In the Android market, there are few companies making & selling them & they arguably aren't widely popular for phones (sorry Asus, no surprises Unihertz) , so almost inevitably they won't sell well.
In the iOS market, they still have the iPhone SE which I think is the smallest of that lineup, and I don't think Apple would continue to make those if there wasn't still a market for them. Also to swing back to the first part of what I've quoted here, I guess I'm in that minority.
I recently got a new phone as I was concerned about the battery of my old one, but it turned out I may have gotten ahead of myself, so I have a very clear point of comparison between the two when it comes to their form factors and uh...Yeah, when you do it's no contest. The smaller device is way more comfortable to use, as I can reach most of the screen with one hand without feeling like I'm about to fumble it & drop it.
They can't even fit in a headphone jack in the large phones. A small phone would require a SIM adapter and external battery if they ever make one.
They don't want to fit a headphone jack. See the Asus ZenFone it's smaller than usual yet still has a headphone jack and expandable storage
Big phones sell though, that's the issue. Apple sold the mini version of the iphone right alongside the bigger models and it sold like shit. The people who want smaller phones are in a minority.
20 years ago these were great. Now? Ye gods I'm too old for that tiny stuff.
A friend of mine was all in on the palm pre. And extolled the small form factor and how much better it was than the incoming 4G Android phones...
Now he buys the largest iphone possible every year
I used an overlooked palm pre for internet access before I got my first smart phone and while it was neat at the time it really wasn't going to be good for say, browsing on jerboa with that screen size. The keyboard wasn't good either.
Why do people prefer smaller phones? Like I use a realme 7. So not small but I don't feel like it's massive. And ths screen is nice if I want to watch a video or play a game. I feel like with more people using their phone as a primary computing device they will be bigger to accommodate that. Genuinely interested in why people prefer smaller phones
My desktop is my primary computing device, and I still want a large phone. Using small phones is no fun, and I'm actually looking for larger. I prefer the screen width to be at least 7cm, most phones don't clear that.
Life is your creation. :)
Unironically if there was enough demand they would be made. Even the iPhone mini failed in market penetration, not to mention things like the Sony compacts and the Zenfones.
There's definitely a market for these - my partner prefers a more compact phone, it has been harder and harder to get a decently spec'd small phone of late. There are certain niche markets for small devices and alwasy will be
but the big phone manufacturers don't realize there's a market for this and they completely neglect that. or rather, they know that there's a market for it but they know it won't make them enough profit so they stick with the mainstream, which is a huge shame. i'm sure that there are engineers working at google, samsung, etc. who would love to work on smaller phones, phones with other unique hardware such as trackballs, but aren't able to because of "turn everything into money" mindset.
It is strange, it may be a small market niche (pun intended) but surely its worthwhile for someone to jump into it, particularly given that it could be satisfied with existing technology, no great advances required
On the one hand I love my fold 3. On the other I miss my pre. That thing was great except the terrible slider.
Unihertz, interesting, thanks!
I had the atom XL for a while, it was ok. Battery life was awesome, but it was hobcobbled together software wise and not actually rugged (both mine and it's warranty replacement broke their screens from a 3' fall out of my pocket stooped over). Their support sucked as well. 3 months after shipping my phone back for warranty they approved the replacement and then shipped out the replacement.
Thanks for relating your experiences. I did kinda get that cheap vibe when I was perusing the site. For now I'll continue driving my pixel 4a until the wheels fall off.
I want a smaller phone, without sacrificing on the camera. I have an S22 ultra and the camera is great, but I can't use it one-handed.
I love my s23
At least here, I am apparently in the minority. I have an S22 Ultra, and I would legitimately take a much larger phone. I estimate I could use up to a 8.5" screen version of the S22U, but that would be the absolute max size I would use.
I do think if someone made a proper small high end phone they could sell them like hotcakes. Maybe make it just thick enough to accommodate a large enough battery.
I want a smaller, but high end phone with S-Pen. We no longer have the Note. How about the Memo (since Memo pads are often smaller than notebooks)? Or we could just get a model that goes back to the old dimensions of the Note 3: 151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3 mm (5.95 x 3.12 x 0.33 in). That was a "big" phone at the time, but compare it now to the S23 Ultra: 163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9 mm (6.43 x 3.07 x 0.35 in). We're talking like a half inch more length in the current model. Yet, my pockets have not gotten larger.
I love larger displays. Easy on the eyes, better gaming and video experience. Still, on many newer phones aspect ratio is a problem for me. If the phone's screen is something like 21:9 then it's only really big on paper, since videos won't fit perfectly, and the text and UI elements of games I play would still be pretty small, since they scale with the screen's height in landscape mode.
I could not agree more about the allergy ratio. The only justification I can give is the navigation buttons are gone, so that makes up for then being on screen.
I remember when wider aspect ratios were being pushed, before bezel-less displays, and Samsung had a very large radius for their curved screens, and the phones felt very stretched out. Honestly I would be happy with 16:9 to 19:9 and zero curve, but I am a sucker for the best cameras and most usable zoom.
No way, Note/Ultra always! Because I'm old and can't see properly now.
This is something I don't really understand. People will always talk about how smaller phones don't sell well, but there are a lot of products that are aimed at much smaller niches and do very well, but barely any company creates phones for that niche.
The only one I know is cubot, a chinese brand who makes the cubot pocket, the king kong mini, and the cubot j10. I hope they succeed and consolidate the small smartphone niche.
Oh man, sorry but I think they need to start getting bigger. Even the note is starting to feel small.
sorry man i guess people will just never learn how the voting system works (i upvoted you). i obviously understand some people like big phones, phablets, if you will. and that's fine. i still use my phablet for media and stuff.
Just grow bigger hands 😉
I have very small hands. Like smaller than children's sized. I though the same until my boyfriend got me an s29 ultra and at first I thought it was ridiculously large but I've had it since launch and anything smaller now feels cramped. I tried using his pixel once and it felt barely usable to me. I mean I've user the iPhone 4s and a honor 6x and at the time I thought they were fine but just the extra height on my current phone leaves me with a whole phone worth of space when typing. I used to hate how much screen real estate the keyboard took up. It's definitely useful to have smaller phones for a more utilitarian perspective. I'm that case though I'd rather have a bar or flip phone with a very long battery life and at most a black lcd screen or something. Sometimes I think id rather have my phone separate from my portable internet device.
So your boyfriend travelled to the future and got you an S29? 😛
It'll take a bit, but big minds are working on it
There's a chinese brand called cubot that already makes small phones. It's already available for buying.
Their website does not instill me with confidence, plus China.
I agree, and I miss my single handed phones. But I think its the same mentality as people who buy
Suburban Assult TanksSUV's, Bigger is better.