Android
The new home of /r/Android on Lemmy and the Fediverse!
Android news, reviews, tips, and discussions about rooting, tutorials, and apps.
🔗Universal Link: [email protected]
💡Content Philosophy:
Content which benefits the community (news, rumours, and discussions) is generally allowed and is valued over content which benefits only the individual (technical questions, help buying/selling, rants, self-promotion, etc.) which will be removed if it's in violation of the rules.
Support, technical, or app related questions belong in: [email protected]
For fresh communities, lemmy apps, and instance updates: [email protected]
📰Our communities below
Rules
-
Stay on topic: All posts should be related to the Android OS or ecosystem.
-
No support questions, recommendation requests, rants, or bug reports: Posts must benefit the community rather than the individual. Please post to [email protected].
-
Describe images/videos, no memes: Please include a text description when sharing images or videos. Post memes to [email protected].
-
No self-promotion spam: Active community members can post their apps if they answer any questions in the comments. Please do not post links to your own website, YouTube, blog content, or communities.
-
No reposts or rehosted content: Share only the original source of an article, unless it's not available in English or requires logging in (like Twitter). Avoid reposting the same topic from other sources.
-
No editorializing titles: You can add the author or website's name if helpful, but keep article titles unchanged.
-
No piracy or unverified APKs: Do not share links or direct people to pirated content or unverified APKs, which may contain malicious code.
-
No unauthorized polls, bots, or giveaways: Do not create polls, use bots, or organize giveaways without first contacting mods for approval.
-
No offensive or low-effort content: Don't post offensive or unhelpful content. Keep it civil and friendly!
-
No affiliate links: Posting affiliate links is not allowed.
Quick Links
Our Communities
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
Lemmy App List
Chat and More
view the rest of the comments
I'm definitely a small phone lover. I don't watch videos on my phone if I can avoid it and tend to consume text-heavy content.
Currently bouncing between an Xperia XZ1 Compact running Lineage 17.1 and an iPhone SE 2016 (!!!) running iOS 15. I get security updates for both, but it's clear that I'll have to move to a different phone in the next year or two.
Honestly at this point I just wish Apple would bring out an "iPhone Classic" based on the 4,5, or Mini body. Throw a headphone jack on there, a TouchID power button, and I'd pay serious money for it on launch day. I'd prefer an SD card slot, but if I know the phone will last for 3-5 years, I can pay a couple hundred extra bucks for 512GB of storage.
I just do not get folding phones. I understand that others like them, but I've never been a tablet guy. I suppose I would consider one with an internal e-ink screen, so I could combine my e-reader and phone into a single device... but I don't think I'd enjoy using a phone that's 1.5-2x the standard thickness of modern phones (not counting those massive camera bumps!). Plus the durability issue -- I would absolutely not trust any modern folding phone to last 5+ years, and at the $1000+ price point, it damn well better last 5+ years.
Above all else, I prefer small phones for two reasons:
It's really frustrating that phone companies don't bother with small phones any more. But nobody is even trying -- and never has tried -- to market a small phone that stays out of your way but helps you when you need it. Even Apple barely marketed the Mini at all (and debuted it during a global pandemic when a lot of people stopped commuting and traveling, two of the best times to have a small one-handable phone).
I wonder how much Apple fucked up the small phone market by maintaining exclusive access to the Mini screens from Samsung, as the author mentions in this article.
Funnily enough, I'm 100 % in the same situation like you. Same switching back and forth between the same two devices. Same lack of options afterwards. I'm so out of options I'm even looking into a weird chinese/Hong Kong device named Unihertz Jelly Star. I'm not sure about the screen size though. 3" is a whole inch smaller than an iPhone SE 2016. That's damn small, even to my standards
I had a Jelly 2, which came before the Jelly Star. It was pretty dang small. I would have been happier with it if the dang thing didn't drop wifi and Bluetooth every five minutes. If the Jelly Star has the same antenna, I'd steer clear!
I believe there is a phone called the Retro, which is an old Razor style flip phone, but it only has the screen on the top, and is quite small, and relatively cheap. Not sure about availability though.
I've looked at the Unihertz phones quite a bit, but the cell bands and camera have stopped me so far. Your Lemmy instance implies that you're in the EU, so you should give it a shot if you can stomach the crappy camera. I'm afraid no Unihertz phone has IMS or voLTE support in the USA, so it's an open question if you'll even be able to use them at all on our networks in a year or two :(
Nobody is trying to market a phone that stays out of your way because they don't want it to stay out of your way. They want you to use it as much as possible, both for data collection and brand recognition.
From the article:
Sounds like we're splitting hairs: no other OEM is ordering the Mini-sized display, and this line certainly implies some kind of exclusivity. I've been following the thread on the Small Android Phone discord as well, and what I've seen there aligns with that understanding.
As far as I know, no small manufacturer ever gets displays built specifically for them. Even Pebble, which was a lot more popular than Small Android Phone, used preexisting displays. It just takes a lot of time, knowledge, and money to create a custom display.
Similar things have been said many times but not enough people put their money where their mouths are.
How did Apple not try hard enough with the 12 and 13 mini? They did market it but not enough people bought it. Including you, apparently. Instead you're whining about how you're forced to use a phone from 2016. And then, in your mind, they are somehow responsible for killing the whole market for small phones, sure.
Folding phones don't exist in just the tablet form factor, they are doing Flips as well. And they do have a pretty tiny footprint.
The truth is that no one wants phones with small screens except a small, loud minority. But you just keep complaining without actually supporting the small phones they do release, I bet that'll show them.
Read the article.