Because small phones have a small viewing area, which is a pain in the ass to see, especially as you get older. Which is why I prefer foldables. The more screen real-estate I can fit in my pocket, the better.
Why can't we go back to small phones?
Submitted 1 year ago by corbin@infosec.pub to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.spacebar.news/cant-go-back-to-small-phones/
Comments
Psythik@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Tronn4@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Porn. Next question
humourme@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
people spend more time on their phones than ever before. its substituted sitting in front of a tv, so i guess people want bigger screens the same way they want bigger tvs.
heliophane@lemmy.ml 1 year ago
I’m not gonna lie, as a 6’4" guy, I can’t stand small phones. I understand that I’m an outlier though, and wish there were more options to cater to more people.
brownirish@lemm.ee 1 year ago
i have a 6a and i think its about the optimal size. not too small, not too big.
by the way, my first post on here… how is this different to reddit?
piratekaiser@lemm.ee 1 year ago
The instances are structured much like discord, in that you have a separate server for topics/communities. Think of them as servers that can talk to each other. Instead of subreddits you have this.
Regarding Reddit (US company), well, depending on your values and political views, you might see the need and have the desire to not depend on/support the platform.
thatsTheCatch@lemmy.nz 1 year ago
There are still subreddits though, they’re just called communities
blind3rdeye@lemm.ee 1 year ago
I think it’s a psychological thing.
Like, while thinking about what kind of phone we want - a small phone sounds pretty good. But when it comes time to buy it, we start comparing phones, and we see some small ones, and some slightly bigger ones, and some really big ones. We tend to go bigger than we’d originally intended because of psychological anchoring effects.
The slightly bigger phone is seen as a slightly better phone. “not too big” we think, as we compare it to some monsters; and the key stats such as screen resolution and battery capacity sound slightly better. So we tend to buy that bigger phone even if it isn’t what we actually thought we wanted.
Hupf@feddit.org 1 year ago
I’m just waiting for smart watches to get bigger and bigger and eventually lose the strap.
Lesrid@lemm.ee 1 year ago
I mean that’s kinda what the new razr is. I got one because Asus enbiggened their ZenPhone to normal dimensions. And the razr folds in half but it’s still as wide as the phablets we pass off as typical.
The battery is still dense and the outer screen is still glass, so the weight distribution isn’t great without the extra length for your fingers to share the load. But it’s essentially an overgrown watch when it’s closed. I rarely open it, so it’s not like the external screen is useless.
diemartin@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Haha! I was thinking the same. Saw someone post ads for wireless headphone straps, so it’s a matter of time before techbros reinvent phones, but worse.
mvirts@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Too small, can’t phone
Bloomcole@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I don’t know how you youngsters do it.
One hand eternally glued to this big phone and now they need the other for a soup thermos they suddenly feel the need to drag with them everywhere.weew@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
Because every time a manufacturer releases a small phone, nobody buys them.
Jtotheb@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Well yeah, the people who want a small reliable phone are unlikely to replace them every year for no discernible reason. Cue more articles and comments about how there’s no sale data to support the idea that people want small phones! The odds are stacked against us.
lightnsfw@reddthat.com 1 year ago
If they’re going to make only bog phones they could at least bring back all the hardware features they’ve removed over the years.
LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Derek Zoolander has entered the chat.
catHerder93@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Even for the government you need apps nowadays. Yes you can try doing things in person but wait times aren’t reasonable. I’ve been trying to get a dumb phone for myself but still find I need a smartphone for specific apps a couple of times a month…
AA5B@lemmy.world 1 year ago
What happens if 2fa is phased out, and more sites require either an Authenticator app or passkey?
catHerder93@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Exactly my dilemma
kamen@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Because apparently people want big phones.
For the last 10-15 years it’s been a boiling frog situation really - .1 or .2" increase every generation until 7" somehow becomes the norm (for a phone, not a tablet, mind you).
I wish there were more small hi-end phones too.
TinyShonk@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Large phones are supposed to be called phablets, but it seems like that distinction was phased out as they got bigger.
kamen@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I remember that term. It was short-lived.
Cataphract@lemmy.ml 1 year ago
Here’s my dilemma:
- Been without cell service since the pandemic (eventually stopped using the smart phone altogether)
- All my digital needs are satisfied, devices and functionality in every room for every purpose I need
- Have multiple forms of solid and satisfactory communication channels (don’t need a cell number)
I’ve thought about buying a model I could jailbreak, but again it’s just to use a system that’s abusive. “Download our app!”, “Use our digital coupons!”, “Link your phone number!”, “Scan our code!”, “Let us track your location for your convenience!”.
I’m really a niche subgroup though, I already need other devices while at work that a phone wouldn’t suffice for. I kinda see more people going this route though. If your transportation has a computer, then what’s the endpoint in carrying a phone? If your job requires digital devices, the phone is basically reduced to a large brick of a communication device. I see more and more equipment being specialized and having added communication aspects for more complicated machinery, cell phones are not going to keep up with it in a general sense.
tldr: cell phones are just a fad with an abusive system that will die out one day and be remembered like rotary phones. They’re generally subpar for any specific task and are only a place holder till we figure out better systems.
Lifter@discuss.tchncs.de 1 year ago
I think people don’t want specialised tools, they want one tool they can always have with them. We can see the decline of computer use (and literacy) as a consequence of this. Many young people don’t use computers much, if at all.
SynopsisTantilize@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Can we make this its own thread? Cause I’m genuinely interested in this often.
DarkFuture@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Seriously.
I don’t want a tablet in my pocket all day.
I bought my current phone because it was small and the options I had when looking for small phones were extremely limited.
I’m not trying to seriously game on a smartphone. I’m not trying to watch full length movies. It’s in my pocket 90% of the time. I want it to be small.
Spzi@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Same here. My max is about 5.5’’ and 160g. Otherwise I feel it’s too hard to carry and handle, or even just hold. I also want to be able to reach the opposing screen corner with my thumb.
rimjob_rainer@discuss.tchncs.de 1 year ago
I was small phone enjoyer until my Sony Z3 Compact. I really liked it, but after it died, I tried bigger phones and I couldn’t go back.
engene@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
I don’t see why we don’t already have an iPod size device. I just need something for music and if a phone call happens to come in - great! It was so simple then.
EncryptKeeper@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Why is the article using diagonal screen size as their measurement for phone size? In that case you could have a phone the exact same size get “bigger” just because bezel sizes have shrunk over the years.
olmec@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Because, for a touch screen, the screen itself IS the user interface. Imagine while holding with one hand, you want to reach your thumb to the opposite corner to hit a button. Even if the body of the phone is the same, a larger screen will need a bigger reach for your thumb. That is primary issue.
ICastFist@programming.dev 1 year ago
I miss the times when I found 5" phones big. Now they just seem small because everything else is pushing 7"
kamen@lemmy.world 1 year ago
You have to also consider that when 5" was big, bezels were big too. With today’s thin bezels the same physical size that used to hold 5" could probably hold 5.5".
moonbunny@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
It also used to be commonplace to have a physical home button below the screen on a number of flagship devices, along with the camera being positioned separate from the screen.
I feel like that could bring us closer to a modern equivalent of 6” screens in the same body
jaschen@lemm.ee 1 year ago
You can. Ditch Apple and join us. Plenty of small phone selections here on the other side.
towelie@lemm.ee 1 year ago
I used a Jelly pro for two years as a daily driver. Smaller than a credit card
EncryptKeeper@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo/OnePlus, and Vivo, the top four Android smartphone manufacturers, have not released a single phone with a display 5.5 inches or smaller in the past three years, according to data from GSMArena.
Seems like they’re going away on the Android side too.
jaschen@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Sure sure, plenty more that offers 4.7 and smaller.
Vespair@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Bigger screens mean bigger and more obtrusive ads.
I’m convinced this is 90% of the reason right here.
skeezix@lemmy.world 1 year ago
You see ads on your phone?
OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml 1 year ago
I don’t think phone makers are that close to ad companies.
It’s most likely the same thing as a truck- people say they don’t want this insecurity driven monstrosity, but test after test, people buy the bigger one.
Vespair@lemm.ee 1 year ago
I have a Pixel. It is literally made by one of the largest advertising companies in the world.
Obelix@feddit.org 1 year ago
I don’t think phone makers are that close to ad companies
Google?
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I held on to my iPhone 4S as long as I could. Now I have a 12 “mini”. I know I’m in the minority, though, because I don’t spend all day staring at my phone. I do like having all the features, but I use them only occasionally–say, once a week or less. I prefer my internet use on my gaming computer with a big monitor, and a full-size keyboard.
I expect I’ll end up with a huge phone for my next one, that I don’t need, just to keep access to the functionality. Like everything else in life, there’s always compromises to be made.
iopq@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I bought a pixel fold because the screen on the front is small and it opens in a wide format when I need to look at tables
jaschen@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Same reason I have a Samsung Fold. 75% of the time it’s a small phone for small regular tasks. When consuming media, I open up.
Zeoic@lemmy.world 1 year ago
You know I keep hearing people say they mostly use the small screen on their fold, but since i got mine the small screen has been for notification only, and when I want to actually use my phone the inner screen is just better. So like 99% inner screen for me.
LucidNightmare@lemm.ee 1 year ago
I believe I saw where you hear that people want small phones, they make them, and then they sell poorly. So, to the company at least, it doesn’t look like people want the smaller devices.
Now, I saw some comments in here about the smaller devices usually being less robust than their normal/pro counterparts, and that could also be a major reason small phones don’t sell.
hildegarde@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 year ago
They make bad small phones that people don’t buy because they’re bad, then conclude its because people don’t buy small phones.
They make phones like the palm palm, the second phone you have to pair to your other phone, for those days when the big phone is too big. Also the battery didn’t even last a day. When it doesn’t sell they say its because it was small, not the everything else.
BlueBaggy@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
“Why can’t we go back to small phones”
Company releases small phone
“No one” buys it
Company stops making small phones
People complaining why there are no small phones
c10l@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I don’t know which small phones have been released recently but I’ve used an iPhone Mini and decided against it. Not because it’s small but rather because it’s not small enough.
See, I do like a big screen more than a small one. That said, the phone is something I carry in my pocket so there’s a balancing act to be done there. What was really great about the original iPhone’s size was not that it had a small screen. It’s that it was small enough that I could reach all corners of the screen with my thumb.
None of the recent small phones I tried had that advantage. In that case, since there’s no clear usability advantage to the smaller model, I’ll take the larger screen instead.
moonbunny@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Don’t forget that company does fuck all in advertising the small phone at a similar level as the “regular sized” phone
glitchdx@lemmy.world 1 year ago
no one bought it because it was shit. companies do this all the time so they can make more expensive things more cheaply, and force people into buying the most expensive.
I want an easily removable battery. As in, I want to be able to have two batteries, one in my phone and another in a charger and I just swap them once a day. I used to be able to do that, and it was normal. Now, the only phones that have that are either extremely garbage or also feature a barcode scanner and cost as much as a “flagship” device.
BlueBaggy@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
“because it was shit” if you look at the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini they were essentially the same phone just in different sizes, while the sales of the mini stayed in the low 1 diget % the iPhone 13 was around 35-40% of all iPhone sales in it’s first year.
I agree with some of the things in your 2nd part it has nothing to do with small phones.
And not to say you said it but it came up in the article a couple times, comparing screen inch sizes to determine if a phone is big or not is flawed > the screen to body ratio increased a lot over the last year’s which means that a phone could have the same physical size with a bigger screen.
ray1992xd@lemmy.world 1 year ago
There is a feature called single hand mode on most keyboards. Makes it something like this.Screenshot of smartphone keyboard in single hand mode.
terminhell@lemmy.world 1 year ago
My default setting. Big hands =\
User79185@discuss.tchncs.de 1 year ago
I do, I bought smallest phone available from known company. But most of those companies just decided you need huge phone that can’t fit everywhere, removed sdcard slot, removed headphone jack. Last time I remember nobody asked them to remove those features. I think it is the same enshittification like with everything, they no longer make cheap houses, smaller cheaper cars, actual budget gpus etc, etc. Feels like every company targets top 20% and the rest - gtfo and be damned.
victorz@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Stock market says brrr
Petter1@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Answering single handed on me iPhone 12 mini on latest iOS 😇
It is a great small phone!
victorz@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Answering the phone single-handed sounds like it should be possible on even the largest of phones. No problem for me using a Pixel 9 Pro, although it’s not a very big phone of course.
Asetru@feddit.org 1 year ago
That was discontinued after two iterations. Was going to switch to ios just for their mini range after years of Android, then saw that they got rid of small phones as well. Like, what would I gain by switching ecosystems if I know that the next phone is still going to be huge?
BTW, I settled for an S24, which is considered “small” now but still way too big, but at least Samsung has a decent one handed mode that doesn’t hide half of your screen line ios or stock android but instead decreases the whole screen to bearable sizes:
Still feels like the damn clown mask meme, where, after years of increasing phone sizes, they now add a stupid software feature to virtually decrease screen size to remain usable.
Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
I second this.
BlaueHeiligenBlume@feddit.org 11 months ago
You can. Even if life can get complicated is entirely doable. Unless you live in like China with mandatory apps.