The iPhone 13 mini is dead, leaving small phone lovers in a lurch
3 years ago by fne8w2ah to c/technology
The options on Android aren’t much better, unless you go for some obscure manufacturer who won’t support the phone with updates 1 year after its life cycle.
Apple was for a while the only remaining flagship manufacturer who actually provided mini models. Ironic, because Android is supposed to be the alternative providing more options.
I haven’t seen any phone offered by these manufacturers that is as small as iPhone 13 mini. At best they’re just marginally smaller than iPhone 15.
There is no good alternative anymore if you’re looking for a truly small phone.
I’m talking about small phones. iPhone 13 mini was the last decent option when it came to small phones. Neither Google or Samsung make phones that small. The smallest phones they make are same size as a regular iPhone 13.
Now there’s only a few “obscure” manufacturers left who make small phones. “Obscure” manufacturers usually lack long term support on both the software and the hardware side to be a decent option.
i wish fairphone filled that market gap, and throw in a headphone jack as well.
My pixel 5 was awesome but then they started making their phones big again
Depends on their needs. If they purely want a phone that fits nice in a pocket, a Z Flip will do. But if they really want the small screen, there are niche brands like Unihertz, which recently released the Jelly Star, a 3" phone with pretty decent specs.
Isn’t the Z flip the one with the screen that has the consistency and hardness of jelly beans?
Yes if you open it. You could also only use the outside screen which would give you a phone with a small screen.
Seems to be bigger and heavier: https://www.gsmarena.com/...
I find that to be a good option. Unfortunately, given my current needs, the Apple Watch is the best device to meet them, so I'm stuck with the iPhone. And yes, I've researched the Galaxy Watch, too, but app integration and health measurements are considered lackluster compared to the AW.
that's always the problem with android based stuff. good software is the one thing they can't do.
It’s not impossible, it’s just a chore level difficulty. Either buy it in Apple Music or just pop the audio file into garage band and export as ringtone. iOS is way better than Android in every aspect except sideloading and expensive development and restrictions on what apps can do, but it’s already enough for your needs.
in sheer things you can do, android is clearly superior. but there are some things that apple products will do best, like integrating everything so well.
It's probably not gonna happen but maybe they'll fill that gap with the next iPhone SE
That would be unfortunate, I always saw the SE as not only the cheapest but also the smallest model but I guess it's really just a way for them to use up old parts?
Yeah that’s exactly what it is and why it’s cheap. They have a bunch of leftover or recycled chassis that they can shove new guts into and sell for cheaper.
I'm hoping against hope that Google copies Apple and turns the Pixel 5 into a mold for the Google version of Pixel SE. I know it's not happening, but that phone is close to perfect for me, it's still my daily driver. Just give me a P5 SE with updated guts every two or three years.
Thing is, very few people bought the small phone. The community that wants them is very vocal, but they don’t show up in big numbers at the cash register.
The hardware is good but Asus was never known for software.
For the most part they use stock android on their Zenfones. Their camera software, I have no experience with, but the pixel phones are typically the best quality photos out there because of Google's machine learning and tensor chips, so any competition is going to have a hard time catching up to the pixel in terms of photo quality.
Luckily for you the pixel 8 is rumored to be around the same size as the pixel 6a, smaller than the pixel 7.
As someone with tiny hands and tiny fingers, I've been thinking long and hard about this and in the future, when my 13 mini lets out its last breath, I'll probably just go with a regular-sized iPhone and use Voice Control to swipe right and "go back" when I use it one-handed, since reachability doesn't address how I struggle to reach the far end of the screen with one-hand (I even have to struggle a bit with the mini). Sucks that I'll have to use voice control as a workaround, but I mostly bought an iPhone for the Apple Watch anyway.
The solution that I have been bouncing around is to get the watch for quick use, and then a larger phone to act more as a tablet. Of course this requires me to have multiple devices, which is annoying. But here we are.
In Settings -> Accessibility-> Touch -> Assistive Touch you can configure a small button the floats on the screen (you can move it around), providing access to all sort of gestures and functions one handed.
Tried that but none of the gestures include "go back" nor "swipe right" (the closest thing is "scroll right"). Even used a custom gesture as well and that didn't work.
I considered getting a Mini a couple years ago. I tried one. It was not small enough for the reasons you describe. I have a regular sized iPhone for that reason.
I’ve long said the mini flopped not because people don’t want small phones, but rather because it wasn’t small enough to be worth the tradeoff of a smaller screen.
Run a Pop Socket on your phone and buy a couple of these:
PopSockets Flexible Phone Mount & Stand, Phone Tripod Mount, Universal Device Mount - Black https://a.co/d/0aYtsed
It makes an S22U so much more ergonomic for smaller hands. YMMV.
was just doing the math yesterday to see when I was going to have to get rid of mine. I get it, I just wish they would have kept it going
I'd been using an iPod Touch 4G thru 7G, for my everything pocket computer. Apple killed the iPod Touch, so I migrated to iPhone 13 mini just over a year ago. Sorry folx, they prolly killed the 13 mini cuz of me. Any other Apple products you'd like me to latch onto, so Apple will kill it? :-(
Lol I feel like this happens to me too. You like the fit of that T-shirt? Discontinued. You like the shape of those eyeglasses? Discontinued. You want a new car that starts up without 5,000 microchips? Haha too bad. You like buying phones that you can’t use without physically hurting your hands? Cool, enjoy the new 16 inch iPhone, it’s the smallest available. You’ll never leave it in your pocket or bag, because it doesn’t fit in either one. Oh and you need a speaker adapter to hear things without earbuds. That’ll be $2,500.
Sent from my dying iPhone SE 2020.
Android welcomes you brothers and sisters
Check the screen size/ dimensions, none of them compare.
None of these are small
Ok, then what about these https://joyofandroid.com/...
Which android phone is as small as iPhone 13 mini?
Asus Zenfone 9
That’s just a few mm smaller than iPhone 15
I feel lurched.
EDIT: That gif came out WAY bigger than I expected. Apologies to your eyes, my friends.
As I get older, the smaller screens are more difficult for me. As for others, I don't know.
There aren't that many Android phones that actually are smaller.
They also couldn’t fit the pro cameras. If you wanted a small phone, you had to accept shit battery and base model cameras.
I posted this from my galaxy s23 while wiping my butt with my other hand
iPhone 15 is just 1 mm larger than S23
The galaxy S23 isn't small. 6.1 inches isn't small
I only want a phone that cannot double as a scutum is that too much to ask
I had to look it up. A scutum is a type of Roman shield.
You and me both.
scutum
skyoo͞′təm
noun
A scute.
A shield-shaped dorsal sclerite or plate of certain insects and arachnids.
An oblong shield made of boards or wickerwork covered with leather, with sometimes an iron rim; carried chiefly by the heavy-armed infantry of the Roman army.
I'm assuming the third definition is the one we're after. But it could be an alligator scute, ya never know. (https://animals.howstuffworks.com/...). And having looked at scutes, I think a phone shaped like that would be all kinds of amusing!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
That marks the end of life for arguably the best premium small phone designed for one-handed use.
Market research has consistently shown that most users want bigger screens and batteries, which are incompatible with a smaller phone.
Supply chain analysts and journalists with inside knowledge have generally agreed that Apple could update the iPhone SE as soon as next year—but most rumors have suggested that it would go bigger, not smaller.
Many op-eds have been written at tech sites (including this one, by me) saying it's important for Apple to offer a one-handed phone size, even if it's less popular than the bigger models.
That said, supporting an additional size adds extra supply chain and production overhead—and it may not be the most financially prudent decision for Apple if it's confident that it can covert mini owners to join the majority and opt for larger phones instead.
Chances are that axing the iPhone 13 mini won't do much to hurt Apple's earnings, but it leaves a minority of consumers without an important option, and I still think that's bad news.
The original article contains 382 words, the summary contains 180 words. Saved 53%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
For my needs it works out much cheaper to buy a new android phone every few years, but it is such a waste.
Depending on manufacturer you get up to 5 years of security updates, but the phone usually costs up to 800 euros less so it simply doesn't make sense to buy the iphone.
You end up throwing a perfectly good phone in a drawer, never to be used again.
In ye olden days, it didn't really matter that the phone was less secure. But with banking apps, you have no real choice in the matter.
I buy them cash, no contract, prepay.
Trade in value is usually really low, something like 20 euros max. I keep the old phone as a back-up and there's no need to wipe it.
Usually cheaper to buy the new phone on amazon or wherever. They don't offer trade in, but it still works out cheaper. No contract, cheaper phones.
My problem with cheap phones is, that they also degrade fairly quick. At the beginning they still feel fine but after just a few months of usage I already start to feel the micro stutters again. And I hate that. I blame Android in general for that and like that iOS' ecosystem is typically a lot more efficient in that regard.
Never had that issue, tbh. For all their flaws and limitations, the affordable motorolas usually run a relatively stock android, so that might be it.
iPhone 15 is not that much bigger compared to S10e, so if you want a small phone like iPhone 13 mini you’re out of luck.
Unfortunately it hasn't received a security update since March and Samsung have put it as EOL. Still a great phone but it's not a small phone, it's about the same size as the S23, it was just small compared to the S10 and S20 which were stupidly big.
At this point, get an S23 or a normal iPhone if the S10e was a suitable size.
Sent from my Galaxy S10e.
I was really looking forward to the Balmuda phone, but it also disappeared from the market https://arstechnica.com/...
I'd like to see a more ergonomic phone; it's time to evolve from just a thin slab.
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Perhaps the perfect opportunity to stop buying Apple products?
save