Anyone miss using a smaller phone?

[Stanley Kubrick]

Remember that the people who read these forums are few and far between compared to the vast majority of cell phone buyers/users. Most people buy their phones from their provider when they walk into the store. They see these huge, shiny phones and look at the price. They don't care about specs because they have no clue what any of those things even mean. Then they see another phone that's quite a bit smaller, but costs nearly the same, or even more...they think "I want the BIG one". That's what they buy. This is why the OEM's don't make smaller phones. The cost to design, build, and promote such devices dictates that they need to sell a certain number of them. When they don't sell, they stop building them. Twelve interested people is just not enough!

 

[Grabber5.0]

Yep. Unfortunately anything small made these days is gimped with a midrange or years-old processor and substandard cameras.

 

[belodion]

I still use my iPhone SE because, for me, it is what a phone ought to be - elegantly small, fast, and high-spec. A similar Android phone would be welcome, but I suppose I stopped hoping for that years ago.

 

[L0n3N1nja]

Yep. Unfortunately anything small made these days is gimped with a midrange or years-old processor and substandard cameras.

Unfortunately there is no way you're fitting a flagship camera set up on a small phone. Unless you want to go back to a 1500mah battery.

I don't understand why they can't make a decent small phone with the same SOC, RAM, and storage options.

 

[Morty2264]

I still use my iPhone SE because, for me, it is what a phone ought to be - elegantly small, fast, and high-spec. A similar Android phone would be welcome, but I suppose I stopped hoping for that years ago.

I LOVED the iPhone SE. It was likely the only iPhone I'd consider using.

 

[uw]

Unfortunately there is no way you're fitting a flagship camera set up on a small phone. Unless you want to go back to a 1500mah battery.

I don't understand why they can't make a decent small phone with the same SOC, RAM, and storage options.

I think obsession with thin phones is part of the problem. I would have no problem with a thicker phone if they can squeeze in a good size battery.

It's looking more like the 845 SoC based android flagships are the last of the great "smaller" phones. But I guess with the midrange chips being so good now days, that might have to do for now. For my hands, a Pixel 3/Galaxy S9 size with a flagship chip and big battery would be ideal. One can only hope.

 

[the_boon]

I think obsession with thin phones is part of the problem. I would have no problem with a thicker phone if they can squeeze in a good size battery.

It's looking more like the 845 SoC based android flagships are the last of the great "smaller" phones. But I guess with the midrange chips being so good now days, that might have to do for now. For my hands, a Pixel 3/Galaxy S9 size with a flagship chip and big battery would be ideal. One can only hope.

Pixel 5 is 144mm tall and has a 4080mAh battery.

Compact phone with decent battery life can be achieved.

 

[L0n3N1nja]

Just thought of something, I'm probably buying a battery for my S7 and replacing it myself because I have one use for a phone that small and don't want to buy a new one.

For flying my DJI Spark, S7 fits the controller and is much more comfortable to use as a display for flight. Note 8 barely fits and just made for an awkward experience so I kept using the S7 for that last year.

Otherwise I'm too used to large screens at this point. I was using the Note back in 2012 when it was the biggest phone available to me.

 

[bembol]

Give me the hTc One M7 in today's specs and I will buy it.

My all-time favorite phone.

To answer OP. No, I don't miss it.

 

[uw]

Pixel 5 is 144mm tall and has a 4080mAh battery.

Compact phone with decent battery life can be achieved.

Yup. That's a good size. I'll probably get the Pixel 5 in the secondary market to replace my Pixel 3 in few years. Unless a true flagship phone of that size comes.

 

[Morty2264]

Yup. That's a good size. I'll probably get the Pixel 5 in the secondary market to replace my Pixel 3 in few years. Unless a true flagship phone of that size comes.

This makes me wonder what the Google Pixel 6 will be like. If it's a smaller size, I'd be all set!

 

[spARTacus]

I don't really miss a smaller phone, but it sure was more convenient. BlackBerry Z10 was a nice size. I loved it. For a smaller phone nowadays, it would probably have to cater to a bit of a niche need. Something for folks that don't need to try to do everything that everyone is using their phones for nowadays. Perhaps just some basics like: phone, sms, email, calendar, contacts, directions/GPS, lite versions of social media apps, basic web browsering, decent but not over the top camera and audio/video, etc...

 

[bkdodger2]

I’m using the 4a 5G which I find small along with my iPhone 12 both are small feeling to me ...of course I’m used to the larger phones and prefer my Fold and Note series ...I think the Pixel 5 is a perfect small phone for those that can find it at a discounted price ...

 

[Ry]

The last "small" phone I used as a daily-driver was the original Motorola Moto X. Went "large" with the third gen Moto X Pure Edition, Moto Z Force Droid, Moto Z2 Play, iPhone Xr, and Moto Z4.

Now I have an iPhone 12 mini which is such a great size.

 

[Morty2264]

The last "small" phone I used as a daily-driver was the original Motorola Moto X. Went "large" with the third gen Moto X Pure Edition, Moto Z Force Droid, Moto Z2 Play, iPhone Xr, and Moto Z4.

Now I have an iPhone 12 mini which is such a great size.

I loved the Moto Z2 Play! Great line of Moto devices.

 

[J Dubbs]

The last "small" phone I used as a daily-driver was the original Motorola Moto X. Went "large" with the third gen Moto X Pure Edition, Moto Z Force Droid, Moto Z2 Play, iPhone Xr, and Moto Z4.

Now I have an iPhone 12 mini which is such a great size.

My first "big" phone was also a Moto X Pure Edition, which still works great as a backup phone, but I doubt I'll ever go smaller than that again. As my eyes get older my screens seem to get bigger

 

[kenorian]

Yup. That's a good size. I'll probably get the Pixel 5 in the secondary market to replace my Pixel 3 in few years. Unless a true flagship phone of that size comes.

I've always had XL versions, was hesitant about the Pixel 5; now I heartily endorse it.

 

[J Dubbs]

I've always had XL versions, was hesitant about the Pixel 5; now I heartily endorse it.

I've been hearing that a lot about the pixel 5... and I also thought it might be a little too small for me as well. I need to get to a Best Buy and actually hold one for myself

 

[Morty2264]

I've always had XL versions, was hesitant about the Pixel 5; now I heartily endorse it.

That's a really good testimony for the Pixel 5! I wouldn't mind getting my hands on one!

 

[cbreze]

Looks like Sony is making the Xperia Compact for 2021 with 5 or 5.5" screen. Always liked the build quality of Sony phones and how they put the fingerprint reader on the side.

View attachment 331599

Looks nice, wish it would work on Verizon, if so I'd be interested providing the specs are up to snuff