I just want one with a removable battery and a headphone jack...
And SD card support. Why TF do I want to pay a mint for storage when I could spend like $50 (or less) for the equivalent (or more) in SD form?
it's not that you want to, but rather that the companies want to charge you $100 more for $5 of ROM.
Either that or get you on a cloud storage subscription
That you'll need stable internet to use (so goodbye using your media library while camping/offroading)
This, also should the phone die, you can still take out the card and don't lose your photos (fuck the cloud).
Wait until 2027 and buy a Sony then, I guess. They're the only manufacturer who consistently includes a headphone jack and starting in 2027 all phones sold in the EU have to have removable batteries. Yeah, it's pretty sad that that's the only option...
Guess I'll be moving to the EU in a few years ;-;
You don't need to; the Brussels effect has you covered.
It's cheaper to sell phones with replaceable batteries worldwide than to design the same phone twice for different markets. So most major manufacturers will probably just sell EU-friendly phones everywhere just like when the EU required USB charging ports.
Like the old days, man
I don't mind not having a removable battery, and a headphone jack is nice but not make or break... but so few phones apparently have expandable storage these days.
This brothers me so much. It's such an obvious cash grab - manufacturers can force you to buy a more expensive model of the same phone, cloud services can tap your wallet for additional space, and carriers can tap your wallet for a larger data plan.
It's gross. There's literally no consumer-friendly reason to strip it.
Meanwhile me, a 6'4" man with big ass hands, is finally happy that most phones actually feel big enough for my fucking hands for once
Have an older iPhone we use at work and I almost can't type on it with how small the fuckin screen is lol
But yeah, options are nice, make small screens more often ya nerds
I don’t get what the obsession with big phones is. Is it that most people really want big phones or that companies can charge more for them?
It's not that people want big phones, it's that people like big screens.
Two main reasons I think:
People generally just want the biggest screen they can hold in their hands comfortably.
For most people that seems to have settled into the 6.5-6.7" range, depending on aspect ratio and bezels.
I'm old and my eyesight requires them now. Lol
For me it's the bigger battery.
Most of the issues people have with Android are one and the same. Compared to a decade ago, there isn't any choice any more
Years ago, there was almost too much variety at times, and manufacturers would experiment heavily alongside Google. Some phones had physical keyboards, some had no headphone jacks, some had no physical buttons at all, and they came in either stupidly small or (at the time) freakishly large.
Now, for some reason Android feels very sanitized, even the shite that manufacturers stick on top of stock to make it feel like it's their product and not Google's. There aren't even that many manufacturers any more, and unlike the past when Android embraced being a bit different, it all feels like everyone is trying to follow Apple instead of Android leading the pack....
Very surprising that there's no 5.5" phones on the market. I still have good eyes and I'd rather have more pocket space. Sticking with the pixel 7a for now, but yearning for a new Xperia X Compact.
It's all become so bland.
I have small hands and I hate that I have to jerry rig my phone with shit to just reach the upper part of it.
also, interesting side-by-side comparison of the Zenfone 10, the iPhone 15 and the Pixel 8 from the article:
Anyone who wants to keep this convo going, check out !compactphones@lemmy.world
i want a smartphone, that i can hold securely
while still being able to reach the entire screen.
i have pretty big hands, and even i cant reach the upper left quarter of my phone (pixel6a) without letting go of the left and bottom edges.
its ridiculous
Putting things like a back arrow on the upper left is just asshole design, for starters.
Oh yes, to top it I have small hands - I can't reach almost any of the opposite edge without using two hands. Sigh.
This is what is pushing me towards a flip phone. I just don't have a need for a 6.7" phone or bigger.
My favourite phone ever was my first android phone in 2010, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini (e10i). Every time I’ve had to buy a phone since, I’ve looked around trying to find something similar, but it feels like no such thing will ever exist.
Loved that phone. Check out the Jelly Star (I have the Jelly 2) if you want a small, full featured Android. Compromises for the size and price of course, but it has a headphone jack, sd card, IR blaster, and usb-c - everything I need.
Mainstream ruined everything. Like it always does.
I'm a cyclist in the city so for me, a smaller size phone is ideal to keep it secure in a pocket. I got gifted a Pixel 6 about a year ago (wanted to stick with the Pixel 2!) and now I always need to bring some sort of pack to put it in.
I’m on the iPhone mini and I wish I could get a smaller phone. It is way better than the tablets my family carry!
I was disappointed when they discontinued the mini.
Thank for bringing this up. I'm currently using a Samsung Galaxy S10e. I mostly use the smartphone from my pocket:
So as long as the basic version of the SG s-series is sold in the above dimensions, I'm not worried 🤞
On the other end there doesn't seem to be any phablets either. they are all weirdly long screens.
Width has to still fit in hands to be mainstream.
It's not really that complicated, people expect high end phones to have all day battery, which is hard to do with a small phone.
If only high end smartphone chips focus more on efficiency rather than performance, which for most people is already powerful enough for day to day use.
It would stand to reason that a smaller screen would lend to less power draw both for the screen's power usage and being able to use a lower resolution keeping the CPU draw lower too
My zenphone is small and has good battery life. Wish more would shoot for this type of form factor
the sad reality is many people will say they want a small phone like this, but then not buy it for some reason or another, then they sell less, and so companies abandon making them.
I am a very happy owner of a ZF10 too, lovely device.
There was actually a meme I saw a while back where a guy was wielding a sword and shield. Except the sword was an iPhone and the shield was a samsung phone.
At this point I'd rather buy a super outdated smartphone. They're small enough for my hands and pockets, dirt cheap and still functional, and most of the good games left on Android are only available on those old versions.
For myself, phone screens have finally gotten to the perfect size for my hand, and a good size to actually use them for stuff comfortably.
But there should always be variation and choice, for the other users in the market!
Not just small phones actually big phones as well. Remember the Huawei P8 Max, Sony Xperia Z Ultra or Mate 20X?
Phones these days only seem to exist between 6" and 6.8".
and one of the driving forces behind the design of the Palm Pilot was that it had to fit in a shirt pocket …
I just want Sony to make another XZ1 Compact but with updated internals. Keep the screen size, camera shutter button, 3.5mm plug and make it thicker to squeeze in either wireless charging or a slightly bigger battery.
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