All I want is an iPhone 3G with an all screen front. It would fit 4.2-4.5 inch screen with ease and it's the size of my wallet. iPhone X specs in the iPhone 3G body. Thicker is fine, just make the battery last a long time. Honestly, there must be people like me out there. I'll gladly pay $1k for a 4ish inch version of iPhone X.<p>Large phones are fine, to each their own. But some of us what small phones. And I have large hands, but I want to be able to comfortably use a phone with one hand.<p>Typed in iPhone SE.
It is hard to believe that Apple, of all companies, does not understand how customers build their "device portfolios":<p>• one device = biggest phone<p>• two devices = 13/12 laptop or iPad Pro 12 + medium phone<p>• three devices = 13/12 laptop, iPad 10.5 + smallest phone<p>• four devices = three devices + watch / AR glasses<p>It does not take a genius to see that the iPhone SE form factor is the logical choice for Apple customers with three or four devices. These are the customers spending the most money in Apple's ecosystem.<p>In the absence of a product visionary at the helm, large companies may want to ask why US/EU customers purchased a product developed for the Indian market. Abandoning emerging markets' low-cost phones does not require abandoning the global market of customers buying a coordinated portfolio of fit-for-purpose devices.<p>On a secondary footnote, the creation of "Screen Time" is likely a pre-emptive defense against future lawsuits for smartphone health consequences, ranging from eye health to psychological effects on developing brains.<p>What reduces screen time? A small phone like the iPhone SE that can still be used with headphones for audio. So there is a legal argument to be made for small phones: the presence in a corporate product line allows liability to be shifted to customers — if you suffer negative consequences from screen time, you should have bought the small phone to discourage screen use.<p>On the other hand, if companies only offer large phones, and we find out years later that they knew the health risks of excess screen time were increased by large phones, they would have contributed to the problem instead of possible solutions (like the iPhone SE).
<i>It also has no camera. It has built-in apps, though, including a Web browser, a calculator, and a calendar—so sure, it's technically a smartphone</i><p>The established term for a phone with that functionality is "feature phone". In fact, it's even in the URL:<p><a href="https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/product/feature_phone/ky01l/" rel="nofollow">https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/product/feature_phone/ky01l/</a>
What actually happened to the market for 4" phones? I came across my old Droid Incredible II the other day and it felt so much better in my hand than any other smartphone I've held in the last 3 years. I could comfortably type on it with one hand, something I couldn't dream of doing well on a 5" or larger phone.
Twenty-somethings today don't remember a time before the smartphone era when there was a race for phones to be smaller.<p>Cell phones were initially huge. Actually, first they existed as "car phones". They were heavy boxes the size of a big bottle of laundry detergent, bearing a handset with a number pad. They operated on AMPS (analog mobile phone service). After that cell phones then became smaller and more portable, but still huge, resembling household cordless phones. There was a race in the 1990's and early 2000's for smaller and smaller phones. Having a smaller phone than the next person was a status symbol.<p>Smartphones have disrupted that trend, because small touch screens suck. The trend has not entirely been disrupted: smartphones cannot be <i>too</i> large. Then they turn into tablets. And, <i>thin</i> matters, still.
This looks somewhat similar in purpose to the light phone 2: <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/light-phone-2#/" rel="nofollow">https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/light-phone-2#/</a> .<p>I've been looking forward to that phone because their ethos seems to be in line with what I want: all the "directed" tools you want (phone, text, contacts, alarm, maps, Uber/Lyft, etc) but nothing that lets you get into "mindless scroll" mode like social network apps or a browser.
Wish these were not as expensive as they are. This, the new Palm phone and similar devices could potentially start a minimalist (and "cute"?) revolution where devices focus on some core aspects with battery life closer to that of feature phones.
I'm surprised at all the disappointment about no small smartphones existing. I'm typing this on a Sony Xperia Compact (XZ1) I just bought. It's cheap, battery lasts two full days after 1-2 years of usage (I lost my last one, that's why I bought a new one). It works great and have a pretty clean version of Android.<p>Instead of complaining, why not just go buy a small phone? I thought people in here knew better than to complain without doing any research.
I thought the iPhone 5 was the last decently sized phone made. I recently held an older iPhone model and it was actually smaller and even better. I understand that most people, like my wife, use their phone for everything and a bigger screen makes sense. But I spend my day in front of a computer and my phone is for calls, texting, and photos. Throw in directions/maps, and I would gladly live without almost everything else.
Now that all the phones coming out have a bezelless display, why aren't manufacturers reducing the whole phone's size instead of extending the screen to the top and bottom. Take OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 6 for example. The OnePlus 6 could've easily been equal to only the screen size of OnePlus 5 but they chose to extend the screen to top and bottom instead.
Not sure why this is news. There are a whole host of credit Card size phones available in China and you easily buy them on Aliexpress/Taobao at around < USD$30. Here's one example: <a href="https://www.aliexpress.com/item/ultrathin-mini-metal-credit-card-phone-3-5mm-jack-remote-camera-MP3-3-0-bluetooth-BT/32841185000.html?spm=2114.search0104.3.225.6cd539ebduxE6P&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_4_10065_10068_318_319_317_10696_450_10084_10083_10618_452_535_534_533_10307_532_5023915_204_10059_10884_323_10887_100031_320_321_322_5727615_10103_448_449,searchweb201603_45,ppcSwitch_0&algo_expid=66247b9f-a1b8-4f5d-a523-bdd3e1f72f24-32&algo_pvid=66247b9f-a1b8-4f5d-a523-bdd3e1f72f24" rel="nofollow">https://www.aliexpress.com/item/ultrathin-mini-metal-credit-...</a>
I just wish you could find pocketable 4.7" phones in the US. They exist but are either not imported or don't support domestic LTE bands and not worth it. Older flagships are guaranteed to be Chinese knockoffs and not worth the bother. We don't all want a phablet.
Reminds me of the Franklin REX (which I had in my wallet for a while -- eventually donated them to the CHM)<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REX_5000" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REX_5000</a>
I really like the idea of an e-ink display so that the battery will last longer, but they are also not so strong and I'm afraid it won't last long if you treat this phone like other phones (toss into your backpack or put it in your back pocket).
To help break my addiction I'm looking for a phone with good camera, basic apps like uber and email, but small enough that surfing the net isn't great and clash of clans is unusable. :) Any small phone recommendations?
Might consider it if it wasn't so expensive. In a world where feature phones that are marginally larger cost under twenty dollars it's hard to justify.
Would love to switch to a phone like this, only problem I have is text messages are inherently insecure and I would have to create a convoluted setup of texting from a devices with apps like signal and forwarding calls to this dumb device...wish there was a simple phone with a restricted build that only included signal and WhatsApp or something similar, in addition to the basic phone features.
Oh god yes. I have a 5 inch phone going on 2 years now and it's about as big as I can tolerate. I dread the day it dies and I have to get another, because I literally don't see (mid to high end) phones below this size anymore (gsmarena shows... 6 fitting this bill released in the past year).
For me the larger screen has much more value than the ability to have a small phone with me. For typing reasons and for doing research on a larger screen or reading news or ebooks.<p>Also, I use my iPhone more like a PDA, the telephone feature is used lesser and lesser. And if I do use it to do phone calls I do it in combination with my AirPods while my iPhone is in my pocket. And in that case perceptionally my AirPods + Siri ("Hey Siri, call my wife") are my telephone.<p>The way I see it a small(er) phone or even a small dumbphone makes sense for people who use their devices mainly for doing phonecalls.<p>Having said that I must add that going for a run with my iPhone 7 Plus is cumbersome because it's too bulky. I need it to listen to music while running. Cant't load music on my running watch from Garmin (Fenix 5)
What's needed is a carrier offering which allows you to have a small phone on an account in addition to a big one, at no extra charge. Both ring on the same number, and you can't have independent calls on both at the same time, and there's some limitation to prevent using both for major data at the same time.<p>Then you should be able to get a $49 feature phone as a spare, or for when you don't need a big phone.<p>(Yes, you can kludge this up using Google Voice, or Twilio, or running Asterisk on your home Linux server, but it needs to be easier than that.)
>It has a 380mAh battery, which sounds abysmal, but the ePaper display should not use very much power, so we wouldn't be surprised if its battery life is just fine regardless.<p>It has a LTE radio in it. Battery life is not going to be fine. The 80g phones of the '00s era with 2 week battery life are just a fond memory. The technology is degrading over time.
I'd like to see a flip phone again. Large screen, small size (and would actually justify the modern trend to make everything incredibly thin).<p>Having said that I'd like to know if this small phone is a success or not. If no one buys it then maybe everyone is happy with phablets.
No discussion of tiny phones is complete without reference to John’s Phones:<p><a href="https://www.johnsphones.com/store/johns-phone-bar/item46" rel="nofollow">https://www.johnsphones.com/store/johns-phone-bar/item46</a>
I predict that within the next five years, the dominant form factor will move away from large, thin, shiny devices toward smaller, rounder, thicker (but less dense) devices that fit more comfortably into a human palm.
>>> It has a 380mAh battery, which sounds abysmal<p>It is truly abysmal. Can it even last a full day being idle?<p>Contrary to what people may think, it's not the screen that consumes the most battery (unless actively used) but the radio.
The best sizes and felt phone I ever owned was the HTC Desire. I'd love a teeny bit larger successor to thatvwith the same build quality and better battery life.
Keeping a cell around at all times is about as good for your sanity as smoking is for your lungs.<p>They could reduce it all the way down to a "Jitterbug", and the problem would still be there.
as a galaxy user I wondered why they dont make smaller phone that i can control with one hand without fear of dropping it?<p>im okay with a smaller reddit is fun app.