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Comment by the__alchemist | Hacker News Reader

I'm with you brother/sister. It is a tragedy that even with the diaspora of Android makers and models, we can't get anything like it. I hung onto my Pixel 4 for years; bought a new Pixel 4 after too many screen cracks and battery deterioration; used that until it stopped working for mobile payments (security reasons or something), then finally caved and bought a 10.

I don't need a Pixel. An iPhone would be fine. Or arbitrary Android phone. Just make it not huge. I have human hands and pants.

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The pixel 5 ticks a lot of the same boxes as the pixel 4 btw. Similar form factor, but bigger battery and wireless charging. Plus if you install florisboard from f-droid you can customize a one-handed mode for the keyboard, which works quite well.

Also this: https://lineage.microg.org/ so you can run a less-google-ish phone, but also run maps if need be.

The Pixel 5 was an absolutely brilliant phone; everything about it was right: the texture, the size, and the battery was great too. It was the best phone I've ever had. It's a blueprint for creating a great phone, IMO.

I've since moved onto a Pixel 9a and it just isn't as good, IMO. The screen seems so much... weaker? I used to drop the 5 quite a bit onto hard concrete floors, and it never sustained the damage that this one has (without as much abuse): the screen is cracked along the side. I'm still not sure how it came about.

If it wasn't for GrapheneOS and the desire for a private and secure OS, I don't think I would stick with the Pixel line-up any longer.

The Pixel 4 is basically the same size as a standard iPhone (Pixel 4: 147.1 x 68.8 x 8.2 mm, iPhone 17: 149.6 x 71.5 x 7.95 mm, iPhone 17e: 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.8 mm).

I don't think most people realize that. The iPhone mini was essentially a category on it's own (iPhone mini 13: 131.5 x 64.2 x 7.65 mm)

Unihertz sells several small Android phones still, they are just very niche

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