Why am I so out of step with smartphone trends?

[MTA-P]

Why is there nothing in-between a dumb phone, and a slightly miniaturized laptop?

A few years ago when my android bit the dust, I inherited a friend's old iPhone 8. I never knew how much I missed having a phone that fit into the pocket of a pair of skinny jeans. When that hit planned obsolescence, I discovered that phones the size of a standard smartphone ten years ago are pretty much obselete. I tried to track down the smallest full smartphone, and went with a Unihertz Jellymax. It bills itself as the world's smallest full android (yet it's slightly larger than the iPhone 8!)

I thought I'd be taking a big risk with an obscure Chinese brand that makes novelty phones with silly names, but it's great! The biggest sacrifice is that the camera isn't great, but I personally don't miss that.

But I could still go a little smaller. Why is this not a thing?

I've come to realise, since using it, that these things are so packed with features, that it doesn't really make sense to squeeze them into smaller sizes (probably why they're getting bigger), so I'm looking at simpler phones for my next one.

But again, simple phones are risky novelty things that tend to take things to extremes, like the Lightphone.

I don't really need a digital detox, I quit social media by deleting the apps, and I haven't been tempted back. I don't want a simple phone for self-control, I want a simple phone for the same reason I want a small one, these things are getting unwieldy, and as a result, obtrusive. I want my phone to fit into my life, I don't want my life to have to make room for it.

Because I am not looking for a detox, I do want a full android, I mean, these dumbphones seem to be solving the wrong problem imo. You can already remove the apps you don't want, restricting the apps you can have just gives you a device that does less (often for the same amount of money).

In terms of software/OS simplicity, i thought it would be hard to describe what I want, until I came across the Boox Palma. It's a full android device, the size of a smartphone, and a digital e-ink display. Theoretically, it can do anything any other android would, except, since it wasn't built for (for instance) watching videos on, it doesn't have any of the unwieldy complexity of a phone that's also a portable TV.

Theoretically, I could watch video on it, in much the same way I could probably find a way to watch video on a smart watch. But imagine a smartwatch that was built for video, you'd have a ridiculously big screen strapped to your wrist! Smartwatches are small and convenient because they're not built to be all-in-one devices. Yet they're powerful and useful because you're free to decide what you want them to do.

A simple phone would have full android, so that I could add any app I wanted, it just simply wouldn't be optimised for certain functions.

I'd say the Boox Palma was perfect for me, except one big problem, its not a phone! No sim tray! So close, yet so far.

(It's also slightly bigger than I'd like, but only slightly).

So, I'm hoping against hope here, but is there a small (around 5 inches) phone with simple functionality out there? (Obviously doesn't have to have a digital e-ink display, that's just one particularly novel way of achieving that simplicity). I get the feeling this is, in many ways, the opposite of where the market is going.

Oh, and expandable memory would be a nice-to-have function too.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Unfortunately, the big companies will design and sell what the majority of buyers are interested in, and it's been clear that the vast majority of buyers want bigger phones. Manufacturers that have tried making compact phones inevitably give it up, like Sony and ASUS.

Your best bet may be Unihertz's Jelly Max: https://www.unihertz.com/products/j...BwE&gbraid=0AAAAAo0I_Vn3XwTq3kVWu8PF0Wg_tRBf4

 

[MTA-P]

Welcome to Android Central! Unfortunately, the big companies will design and sell what the majority of buyers are interested in, and it's been clear that the vast majority of buyers want bigger phones. Manufacturers that have tried making compact phones inevitably give it up, like Sony and ASUS.

Your best bet may be Unihertz's Jelly Max: https://www.unihertz.com/products/j...BwE&gbraid=0AAAAAo0I_Vn3XwTq3kVWu8PF0Wg_tRBf4

Yes, I think that's probably the case, since it's what I have. It's the best I found. And like I said, I do think it's pretty great. Although, like I said, I could go smaller, and it is lacking that simplicity I'd hoped for.

It's also a little chonkier than I imagined. This is probably to accommodate a powerful battery. But I already get two days easily from one charge, so that's not necessary for me.

Still, I like it so much that my next phone will probably the the next generation up. Or I might step down to their extra small one. They're so cute! But that's a risk, if it's android modified for its small size, that could be the simplicity I want, but if it's standard android squeezed into a tiny phone, that'll just be unwieldy.

 

[B. Diddy]

Oops how embarrassing, I missed that you had already gotten that phone!

There are even smaller phones available from more obscure Chinese companies (notably Soyes), but I think Unihertz will be more reliable and trustworthy than those.