I’m someone with relatively small hands, plus I want my phone to be on the smaller side since I prefer to use my tablet/computer/tv to watch content. But this trend where many manufacturers tend to keep futures away from smaller phones to drive people to bigger phones is driving me crazy and really makes it hard for me to buy a new phone. I can understand not having everything like maybe a periscope lens or something else that is cost etc. but not to this level. Like take Samsung for example: S24 lacks uwb, 45w, a 1440p display, has a lower amount of ram and storage. Why? Why can’t the s24 have faster charging or uwb? Why is there no 512 version and why does it have to start with 128gb storage? Is it not a flagship? It costs 949€ in my place! Why do I have to give 200€ more to get the s24+ just to get these simple features? I don’t want a bigger phone! Google does the same! No uwb, no thermometer sensor, no telephoto lens. And don’t get me started with all the software features google is keeping for the 8 pro like they don’t have the same processor. Why? Are they cheap? No they are not. I’m just really annoyed by this cause I really don’t want such a big phone.
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It can’t have faster charging because it lacks the space to dissipate the thermal energy to stop it from catching on fire. If it did support 45W on paper, it would still charge slower to prevent thermal runaway. The “Ultra” models have thermal cooling systems that rival laptop computers just short of active cooling fans.
It can’t have UWB because it’s too small for the 30,000 antennae they have to jam in the phone. 4x for cellular, then GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, Wireless charging, NFC, and on and on.
These phones, especially Samsung, jam so much technology in such a small package. We’re brushing up against the laws of physics.
And lets not even talk about then also expecting good cellular reception when on your lower cellular bands. Take 700MHz for example, an ideal 1/2 wavelength antenna would have to be 21cm/8.2in tall, so they have to use fractional wavelengths that further degrade performance potential, again, due to physics. (While still also supporting the fractional wavelengths of 30 other bands.) The plus and ultra models at least have space to approach more usable antennae for better reception. The tiny phones (and watches) don’t really have a chance.
Now, Google’s software feature nonsense, and the way handset manufacturers manipulate price for a few cents worth of storage increase are both downright criminal. However, the telephoto lens thing again goes back to space and reality. Telephoto cameras take up a ton of space. Look at a teardown of the S22 Ultra to see how big the camera modules are.
That’s actually an annoying point I recently observed though. The S24 ultra has a lower resolution 10x camera than either the S22 Ultra or S23 Ultra. I think they’re trying to make up the difference with “AI” instead of real sensor/glass. Maybe it’ll get rid of the camera rattle though.
Yeah it’s actually infuriating to read some of these threads. Some of the small phone users expect Oppo Find X7 Ultra cameras with a 5000 mAh battery and headphone jack in an iPhone 5S form factor and the only argument they make is the phone can be thicker. Thickness is only one dimension, all these components need space in other dimensions too.
I like bigger phones, but I hate camera bumps.
Just make the damn thing thicker and flat on the back.
I miss my note 9, the last flat backed flagship phone.
maybe just get a case?
I consider cases an unfortunately necessary evil.
I prefer to go raw most of the time.
But wouldn’t a case do exactly what you want? It would make the damn thing thicker and flat on the back.
I’d prefer an easily removable battery, headphone jack, upgradable storage, etc etc. not just a thin phone with a thick case on it.
It would, but why not make the phone larger and add more battery?
I’ve never heard someone say “my phone has too much battery”
You don’t. But, people do complain about the weight and thickness. Personally, larger batteries(above 5000mah) which also charge super fast(120w) is the way to go.
At least, Samsung’s are not that big. Look at iphone pro or the OnePlus xdd
Small phones are great but unfortunately we have become a niche. For companies to make products for a niche, they will have to charge them a high price or push them to different products.
The only small android phone I would consider is the Asus zen phone. And even that is +£700.
The problem is not that they are expensive. The problem is that even though they are expensive, they are still lacking basic features! Why can’t the s24 have 45w or the pixel 8 have thermometer sensor or the video boost thing? Like, no reason at all
Exactly, artificially limit the phone touch you to bigger phones.
Mind you, once you have many phones sharing the same hardware(for example the same 6.7inch screen), it becomes a question of adding or removing features (fast charging, AI, etc).
It makes commercial for companies to standardise on as many parts as possible.
Well, I won’t buy another phone in many years anyway. (After this one)
Xperia Z compacts were awesome because of this.
Yeah they were probably the last great small Android phones. The “small” phones of today like the Zenfone and base Galaxy S series are noticeably larger.
EDIT: Just want to add that both the XZ1 Compact and the XZ2 Compact are still being maintained. The XZ1 Compact supports both iodéOS and LineageOS for microG, while the XZ2 Compact is an official LineageOS device. Obviously not a perfect solution for everyone but they are still viable if size is a key issue for you.
That’s a hill I will die on. Bring back rugged android phones under 6".
It’s not just android devices, Apple discontinued the mini (5.4”) after the 13 series and they are on 15 series now. If you want a small iPhone now you have to get the SE which is an 8 with a chip from the 13 inside. The standard size is now 6.1 on both platforms.
I’m hoping the Mini isn’t discontinued, just that they are skipping a few gens. I have a 13 Mini. Given my normal pace of buying, I’ll be in the market for a 20 Mini.
Yeah the mini is a great phone just didn’t sell well. I thought maybe they would roll the X back out as a mini or a SE since it’s screen size was about halfway between the mini and regular 12&13. I never thought phones would just keep getting bigger. I remember switching from a HTC One to an LG G3 with its massive 5.5” screen and it was just perfect lol.
6.1 is still slightly smaller than the S24 OP is talking about.
Although Apple also remove features from the Plus phones when it comes to the camera.
I know this is an android /c, but I have the iPhone 15 Pro, so miss out on the upgraded camera.
I agree with OP. The big phones are just too big. I like the size of the standard size phones.
The thing is that even if there is not an actually small phone, iphone 15 (pro) has an okay size. Think about pro max or plus. These guys are big
I have big hands and I still can’t stand these 6"+ phones. They don’t fit in a pocket worth a shit and they’re fragile as hell.
I had a Samsung S4 Mini, it was my favorite phone. Fit in a shirt pocket, I kicked that thing down ladders and on gravel, never broke the screen. Everything else bigger has had a broken screen within a year.
Kicking a phone down a ladder isn’t exactly the intended use case though, so maybe it’s just your fault that your phone screen keeps getting broken. I’ve had large phones for years, and haven’t broken a single screen.
My hands aren’t particularly small either and I hate big phones. I like to use my phone with one hand most of the time so I need a small phone to hold it comfortably and to reach around the touch screen.
I’ve noticed even few millimeters of difference in width has great impact on how comfortable the phone is to use. Gesture navigation also helps and I think it was created out of necessity for bigger phones.
I have a V30 which has a fine size but I wish I didn’t have to go bigger
I’m sad that phones don’t fit my hands anymore, but I know it’s my own fault for not growing my hands at the expected rate.
Yeah, grow some hands already! Xd
Reminds me of the auto industry insisting everyone wants an SUV or monster truck.
We don’t? Xd
Man made one of the pioneering smartwatches before anyone else. My pebble still had better battery life than my current feature bloated smart watch. He knows what he’s talking about.
I picked up a Pixel 8 in the store. It isn’t small, but it is a nice size for my hands. I bought the Pro because it’s getting exclusive features and has a bigger battery. I want to hold onto this phone for a while, so I wanted more features
It’s shitty. If the two sizes received equivalent features, I would have gone for the smaller device.
Exactly
I like my big phone and most people seem to like them as well. Manufacturers want to sell more phones and the intersection of people who care about things you mention (what the heck is even uwb) and really want a small phone is very small.
Uwb is ultra wide band. It’s what makes things like Air Tags work, tracking them down to a few centimeters in accuracy.
Literally why I’m still sitting here on my Pixel 5.
In the past, manufacturers seem to “innovate” every few years and reinvent the small form factor phone. I’m waiting, hoping we see that trend breaking again soon.
Just bought a 5. Going to buy a couple more as spares.
You know, I should buy a spare. Thanks for the idea
It really helps. I can use it for testing stuff, and then rebuild it as a duplicate of my phone (at least the baseline), then get a backup of it (not sure if TWRP still works for this, did a couple years ago), then it’s a hot spare for me that takes maybe an hour to get to bootable. And the let my backup apps (Neobackup and Titanium) restore everything from yesterday (They run daily backups, synced via Syncthing to my file server).
Plus when an OS upgrade comes along, I can run it there first to see if it breaks anything for me.
Still on an LG V30
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Firstly, iphone 15 has uwb. I think even the iphone 13 mini had. Secondly I think what Samsung did with the telephoto lens is that it went from a 10Mp 10x to a 50mp 5x. It wasn’t about ai, it was about megapixels. The end result I think is the same
Apple has different design tradeoffs, they use smaller camera modules than Samsung, at least compared to the last few Samsung models, for example. They also tend to use smaller batteries, and charge them slower, requiring less cooling components. They also design more of their components in-house than other manufacturers, allowing them more efficient use of space. Their RF also tends to be inferior to Samsung, trading antenna design for space. Apple also uses inferior cooling solutions, relying on software thermal throttling to cut down on the physical size of the device. The whole trade-off of what can be fit in that smaller space is something each manufacturer has to make per model.
Optical zoom will always be superior to digital from the perspective of getting focused light onto a sensor, it’s just science. Digital methods will indeed continue to improve, I’ll leave most of that philosophical debate to those more passionate about camera tech, however. They’re definitely leveraging the new coprocessor to enable better image processing, in the same way Google leveraged their ML coprocessor to improve pictures out of Pixels a few generations back. Companies think software processing of images can “work around” image quality that requires physical hardware. (Look at Samsung Moongate.) It results in images that may end up being visually pleasing, but as for image quality, that’s debatable. (Zoom in on a Samsung zoomed picture of a pine tree for example, the way it tries to contrast/filter/process the branches makes them look like some 1990s Photoshop unsharp mask filter job meant for newsprint.)
Good conversation.
Deleted the above as it was a double-post and it orphaned other comments. Whoops.
Try the CAT S22 for a compact and mediocre experience. I love it.
“and mediocre experience” hahaha
Have my up vote.
How bad is it? Seems that branded stuff like this would likely be mediocre.
It’s actually exactly what I wanted in terms of form factor and purpose, but the battery life is bad for it being so thick, and it comes with a version of android that did not let me sideload the correct version of Google messages on. This caused problems with my Google fi messages for web sync function which basically made the entire phone pointless since I do 99% of my texting and calling on my pc while my phone is off. It’s a long story but in the end I was not able to get it working fully. I went back to my pixel 7.
But if you’re looking for a flip phone with enough smart capabilities to get by in the modern world, this is it. It’s also really really cheap, great for a backup phone in case you ever lose or destroy yours.
You now have reviewers that say on foldable phones they do most of their stuff on the small screen.
Might be different for the newer generations, but I have a fold 2 and it’s awkwardly skinny closed. I almost always use my phone open if possible.
I waited for the Pixel Fold specifically for this reason, Galaxy Folds are way too narrow and makes you want to use it unfolded which I think goes against the spirit of a foldable, to be a phone when you need a phone and a tablet when you need a tablet
