While the more influential brands abandoned small phones long ago, a few smaller chinese brands seem to be making a lot of smaller phones lately. We already had the soyes phones in the market, but they’re very niche and not capable of all tasks, but since last year, with the launch of the bluefox nx1, we started getting many more. Just this year, according to gsmarena, we got:
- Oukitel C17 mini
- Ulefone Note 22
- Oukitel C26 mini
- Blackview Wave 2C
- Oscal flat 3C mini
And aiphor is planning to launch a new bluefox model
So far, most of them are still quirky phones, but it was long ago since we had such a diversity in small phones, and there are a few models coming with reasonable performance. This may be the opening in the market many of us have been rooting for long ago. Let’s see if this segment survives and becomes stable enough for small phones to become viable for anyone that wants them again.
Oh, and I forgot about the Samsung Galaxy S26, which can be considered small by some people, and is definitely smaller than what most larger brands have been making.
The REALLY small ones are all 2g and are now e-waste due to 2g shutdown. There are still some niche 4g small phones. See tinyphones.uk or AliExpress for examples. There are also “smart” watches that can make voice calls.
Have you checked the size of those phones? Some are about 10cm tall. They’re smaller than the first iphone
I’m a fan of small phones
My one reason for liking a large-ish phone is that I can edit stuff Vim with a BT keyboard. But that’s not a common occurrence. Nice to not have to bring a computer on vacation and still be able to write, though.
But are you ready to possibly charge your phone multiple times a day? Because a smaller phone would come with a smaller battery capacity.
The screen uses the majority of your battery. Smaller phones almost always have better battery life
This.
Our battery life is not increased by phone size.
Wouldn’t they also have a smaller screen? And if you made it thicker you can have more battery
A smaller screen ought to use less energy too, though; I wonder where the optimal point is?
I already use a smaller-than-average phone and I just charge it daily, sometimes skipping a day. The smaller screen compensates for the smaller battery, depending on your usage
Have phones and batteries improved in efficiency and capacity over the intervening years?
I started carrying a 74wh battery bank for my phone anyway, it wouldn’t make a difference
Not everyone is glued to their phone.
I guess those people are the ones OK with small screens and don’t care about 24 cameras or a shitloads of pixels.
