New-ish meaning anything that has 4G. Today every phone i See is huge and annoying.
this is my main reason why I don’t want to switch to a new flagship from the Google pixel 4a. It’s not supported by still runs smoothly with GrapheneOS custom ROM and I swapped the battery for a new one from iFixit and it works! Maybe you can consider a Google Pixel 8a, at least it’s not as huge as other flagships
In December I finally bought a phone to replace my 3a. I did it mostly for the battery life, although I did actually buy a replacement battery for the 3a and have all the necessary tools to install it. It wouldn’t be my first time replacing a cellphone battery.
I was window shopping and the Oneplus 12 became fairly discounted at the end of last year.
Honestly, the overall experience really isn’t that different than my old 3a. It’s not like newer versions of Android are adding revolutionary features these days and if you’re running a custom ROM, odds are you’re on a newer version of Android anyway.
Nice things:
- Two days worth of battery life with my usage patterns. Even with a fresh battery, my 3a wouldn’t last this long
- Something like 4x more RAM means that apps are usually in the state I left them in when I come back to them, whereas on the 3a they had usually been forced to free up resources and not all apps deal with that well
- The telephoto lens is nice to have, but none of the built in cameras are a substitute for my dedicated camera for things that are moving and/or things are far away
- The screen mounted fingerprint sensor is very convenient, but that’s a placement thing. Some people liked the 3a location, but I didn’t personally
Unless you are taxing your processor, an upgrade will be incremental. At least that was my experience.
I somewhat regret the larger phone in that it’s a bit harder to handle one handed, but most on screen keyboards have a one handed mode to deal with this. I had a pop/ring type holder on my 3a, so gripping one handed isn’t that big of a deal.
Also writing from a pixel 4a… Where you get that rom from bro? By the time I heard of the project, they didn’t have roms for the 4a on their website.
Jelly star 2
Pretty sure 4g was widely supported starting like 15 years ago, so newish doesn’t seem the right word.
How big we talking?
like iPod size
The only phone that has a screen that small is the Unihertz Jelly Star
Apparently oneplus is planning to launch a mini version of their latest phone.
“Mini”. With a 6.3 inch screen this is like calling Shaq small because he’s shorter than Yao Ming.
Well relatively small compared to their normal model which is unusable single handed. (Buyer remorse kicking in already)
Back in 2022 when I upgraded my phone that died of old age, I was honestly kind of shocked that I could not use modern phones one handed anymore. Idk why everyone is just ok with needing two hands to operate their phones at all time???
I have something kind of like a pop socket on the back of my phone which helps a ton though but still.
The predominant marketing and business philosophy is to build products that can be sold to the maximum number of people. (That is - undifferentiated, one size fits all products over solving specific needs). And since phones have become primary media and computer devices for most people, who want to use it all day, it makes more sense to make bigger phones with all the features and big batteries. Companies will say consumers want this kind of device because this is the only kind of device they make which is also usable (same thing with SUVs and crossovers in auto industry), but ignore other large consumer groups who want small phones, custom ROMs, interesting designs, etc etc.
Not really, and the reason is very simple. Ordinary folks don’t buy computers any more. A mobile device is all they need. So might as well get one with as big a screen as possible.
There are a handful of niche brands that make small models for weird people like us, including Cubot and Unihertz. I have one of the former, it’s tiny and works fine.
This probably also driving the demand for folding phones. Carry a phone, unfold it into a tablet.
I first read that as “unfold on the toilet”
I mean… You’re not wrong
same
Not really there’s the Unihertz ones that seem more novelty to be honest I think the one called Jelly Max is the newest one. Specs wise they don’t seem awful or anything but I’ve never seen one in person to be honest.
Apart from them Sony maybe but you’ll pay a lot.
The asus zenphone 10 is a 5.9" Phone relased in july 2023.
Here’s some info:
Read this as 5’9"
We arrived at a time where 5.9" is considered small…
The number alone means nothing. Ratios and bezels can and do make a difference.
That’s uh…what she said?
Agree, but also half the story.
The zenphone 10 is 146.5 x 68.1 x 9.4 mm.
I had a 3a until very recently. With its 5.7" screen it was 151.3 x 70.1 x 8.2 mm, so it does support the story.
The OG iPhone was 115 × 61 × 11.6 mm.
I’m still using an iPhone 8 for my work phone and it’s 138.4 x 67.3 mm x 7.3 mm.
It’s clear that the market is demanding larger phones, which means that today’s “small” phones are often larger than the phones of yesteryear.
It’s clear that the market is demanding larger phones, which means that today’s “small” phones are often larger than the phones of yesteryear.
True and I didn’t address that, just the shallow view of bigger number bigger phone.
We arrived at a time where 5.9" is considered small…
I see you’ve met my girlfriend.
Who do you think shifted her perspective?
Dad?
A ruler
My main issue with that phone is the abysmal software support. Asus promised 2 years of OS support and 4 years of security updates. So its OS updates are going to stop soon and you get 2 years of security updates if you buy the phone today.
I have a samsung s9 running android 10. Everything works, so it’s probably not a critical issue. Still, I got android 14 running with noble rom and it worked perfectly, besides banking apps.
CMF phone 1
Super affordable so far as smartphones go. Might be a little bare bones, check for exactly what you want. I ended up getting something else for some extra water resistance.
Pretty sure the unihertz jelly line has that covered
Isn’t there always one Google Pixel model and one iPhone, that’s a bit smaller than the average? I mean there has to be a list of small phones somewhere on the internet.
The iPhone 13 mini was discontinued in 2023, I think.
Now you can choose the smallest “big” phone, but it’s still big.
I hate this.
I just bought a new battery for my 12 mini, I’m not going to upgrade until small phones are back.
But also this phone still works perfectly, it’s like the day I bought it after the new battery.
Be interesting to see if it happens, but like cars, manufacturers are going down a “bigger is better” route.
I was at a subaru dealership and they had a mid 2000s Subaru next to a new one
The old one was awesome, big windows, good storage, small footprint. It was way smaller than the modern one, which is a full on SUV.
But also this phone still works perfectly, it’s like the day I bought it after the new battery.
Interesting. I always have heard and had the experience that eventually updates make the phone worse.
On Apple they were intentionally gimping your phone with updates and they got sued to change that practice. So you were correct to think that.
2022 iPhone SE Gen 3 will be the last 4.1 inch screen. Gen 4 is rumored to be a 6.1 inch.
Oh wow, that’s small. I’ve had a Pixel 4a for the last few years and that was already small at 5.8 inches, compared to what other people carry around… Idk what OP’s use case is… My Pixel was great, but I’d advise against buying a phone that doesn’t get the security vulnerabilities fixed any more… And the successors have become larger and heavier. Idk maybe one if the flip-phones?
I’m still using my 2020 SE that has the same screen size. It’s needed a battery swap last year which set me back $50, but that was installed at the Apple Store.
Apple supports their phones for quite a few years. When they drop support for this phone I’ll be on the new small phone journey myself.
I’m really happy that Google took inspiration from that long support period. I personally don’t like buying new phones. And at this point it’s not like the next generation can make me a sandwich or anything new. I’ve upgraded recently and skipped several generations and like 4 years of technological advances and yeah, it looks almost the same, I run the same apps on it. It just has a better camera, plus the fingerprint reader is on the other side… I would have been fine with my old phone if that were still supported. My new one is nice, but it doesn’t really change anything about my life.
those are the 2 phones I will never wanna touch again, but thanks.
Why
FairPhone ?
Fairphones are still relatively big, especially fairphone 5 ( I have 3+ and my partner 5)
I’m also holding out for a compact flagship (with a headphone jack and SD card slot) but things have been pretty bleak. Settled on the Sony Xperia 5 line. While it’s not small, it’s narrow enough to be used with one hand and checks all the other boxes.
Other models I’ve looked at were the Asus Zenfone 10, Jelly Max, and Galaxy.
Sony has their Xperia Compact series.
- Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact - 129x65x9.3mm
- Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact - 135x65x12.1mm
I wasn’t aware they still made those in 2025
Edit: they don’t, got fooled by the prices chart
Ah, sorry. Turns out the one I got two years ago isn’t a Compact either. (I had Compacts previously, and didn’t want a big phone then either.)
The 10 V I got is not as big as some of the other big phones, but it is a bit bigger and significantly longer than Compact was previously. 155x68x8.3mm
Sony also at least used to make phones that are more tall and narrow. For some people complaining about having to hold a wide phone night find that’s good enough.
I’m an Android person (P9PXL) but I’m in a mixed marriage with an Apple person. Lol. The iPhone SE 3rd generation only has a 4.7" screen and it’s 5G.
