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Comment by donkarma | Hacker News Reader

why is there no small android phone

Yeah, I want like a 4 inch 'playing-card' sized smartphone (maybe a flip-phone with double touch screens). Just would love the small "palm sized" format. I'm tired of my fingers muscles and nerves getting strained from holding and using massive phones for hours.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Cubot-Pocket-Smartphone-Review...

or https://www.unihertz.com/collections/smartphones/products/je... if you can deal with something a bit older.

Thank you!

Also consider the Palm Phone. 3.3" screen, less bezel than the unihertz. Basically the size of a credit card.

Thank you! Cool username too, btw! :) ;p ;) xx ;p

Then you are holding your phone for too long ;) Jk lol

Sony Xperia Z3 Compact is 4.6", but super brittle. The Huawei P10 is 5.1" and has a case that makes it a tank. The SOYES XS12 Cell Phone is 3.0", if you need smaller. Have you searched using GSMArena's phone finder?

https://www.gsmarena.com/

https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nHeightMax=135&nDispla...

The Sony Xperia Z3 Compact is from 2014 and tops out at android 6. The Huawei Huawei P10 Lite is from 2017 and tops out at android 8 (9 for the non-Lite). I hadn't heard of the SOYES XS11, but it looks like it does not support 4g (and 3g support is being shut down by various operators), and tops out at android 6.

So for current small android phones I'm guessing the unihertz Jelly 2 is one of the few remaining.

There are, but tiny volume means price is high, and the people who want small don't want to pay non-mainstream price. Simply put the market is small but vocal and generally price-sensitive.

This is a small android phone

6" is not small to a large portion of smartphone users

It's almost exactly the same size as an iPhone 6:

https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size/Apple-iPhone-6,Asus-Z...

A little bit taller, but still very one hand usable. Screensize is misleading given that bezels have shrunk.

Bezels have the opposite effect to what you are purporting. The most difficult to reach places on the iPhone 6 are the bezels. A 6 inch phone is not one-handable imo. That is coming from someone with larger than average hands.

Have you tried a Pop Socket?

I can't say enough good things about them - for $2 they transform even the largest phones to being one-handable. It's miraculous. They make this conversation obsolete without the slightest exaggeration. They systematically prevent fragile holds and - they're cool,

I don't think anyone is going to make a 5 inch smartphone. Even if they make one they won't be able to sell any.

iPhone 12 Mini is 5.4” and a touch larger than I want. Everyone who sees it says they love the size and wish they had one.

The ZenTouch button on this looks great - main complaint with my Mini is not being able access Notification Center easily one handed. Unfortunately it looks to be right hand operable only…

The battery in the mini iPhone is just 2200mah. that's like half the size of the Asus battery. Do you want to charge your phone twice a day just because you want a small one? A Powerbank is not small but you need that if you want to spend a day with such a small phone.

We both know mah isn't all that matters, software and system architecture are arguably more important. FWIW I probably charge my 12 mini less than once per day (not even overnight).

Yes I use a powerbank on multiday backcountry trips, but it stays in my pack, not on my person and especially not in my hand.

I have an iPhone 12 mini. Battery is no issue for someone whose use case doesn’t involve gaming or loads of video. And if you’re doing significant amounts of either of those I pity you, especially on a 5.4 inch screen.

6 is large? wierd. Most phones on the market are larger than six inches since like 2018. I don't think it's fair to expect 2012 sized smartphones with 2022 hardware in them. a 1200maH battery is the max that can fit in those. Also I don't think the new smartphone chips can be cooled sufficiently in such form factors. No one would buy a 600USD phone with a 1000mah battery and a dual core processor in 2022 other than a few nerds on HN and reddit......

Small in this context is not relative. What people generally mean is comfortable to use in one hand. Imo the 5.5 to 6.5 is pretty much the dead zone. You either get a phone small enough to use in one hand or get a phone that is as big as possible while still fitting reasonably in your pocket.

For sufficiently large values of "small".

We're in inflation.

larger, heavier, AND has a smaller screen relative to the pixel 5.

A larger battery with a way better SOC.

Not sure where it is sold or what countries it works in, but remember seeing a couple reviews on this one that were actually pretty positive.

https://www.gsmarena.com/balmuda_phone_unveiled_with_49_disp...

That was discontinued after just under two months due to poor reviews and some sort of regulatory issue in japan.

Its sales was suspended due to certification issue, but is now sold again. Initial price was too expensive but finally it's available at $270. https://iosys.co.jp/items/smartphone/balmuda/softbank/balmud...

Interesting, do you know if one can buy it without a contract internationally? I live in the EU and would be very interested in one.

I haven't used, but maybe buying via buyee would be easier. All of listed items are wihout contract. https://buyee.jp/category/yahoo/shopping/49331?query=balmuda...

Here's supported bands https://tech.balmuda.com/jp/support/phone/faq/network/48/

https://www.unihertz.com/collections/smartphones/products/je...

Market forces.

yup this was like my main motivation to move Apple ecosystem 2020.

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