Ever Googled for “Finest Small Telephones”? I’ll prevent the press: the guides you’ll discover characteristic telephones which are outdated, underpowered, or just not small to start with.

I’ve lengthy been a small cellphone man. I cherished my 2013 Moto X, with its 4.7-inch display screen, and I’ve used a 5.4-inch iPhone Mini for years. However when Apple discontinued the Mini final month, I made a decision it was time to leap ship. I saved my cash for the Pixel 8, figuring I’d ultimately study to reside with a “new regular” of 6.2-inch handsets.

However for gadget fanatics like me, Google had different plans: it’s arbitrarily pushing consumers to the ginormous Pixel 8 Professional as a substitute, bragging about how its bigger handset can deal with niftier options despite the fact that each telephones have the identical cameras and chips.

That’s why I started my hunt for the final good small telephones — however gosh is it slim pickings.

For instance, maybe you’ve heard the Asus Zenfone 10 is a small cellphone as a result of it has a 5.9-inch display screen — smaller than 6.1, 6.5, or 6.7. However do you know the cellphone itself is nearly identically sized to a “regular” Galaxy S23 or iPhone 15, not counting digicam bumps?

Some guides recommend the 2022 iPhone SE, maybe as a result of it’s received a 4.7-inch display screen — even smaller than a 5.4-inch iPhone Mini, proper? Fallacious:

Pixel 6A and Pixel 7A? Completely nope — each are greater than a typical Samsung or Apple cellphone. Even unlocking their under-display fingerprint sensor looks like a stretch for my average-sized hand.

Whereas Android Police calls the Sony Xperia 5 V “the compact flagship Android cellphone fanatics at all times needed,” I feel this measurement comparability speaks for itself:

And for those who assume folding flip telephones are small, properly…

Opened, the Samsung Z Flip and Moto Razr are roughly as massive because the Pixel 8 Professional or iPhone 15 Professional Max, two of the largest flagship handsets on the market.

Closed, the Z Flip’s girth doubles, making it that a lot more durable to wrap a hand round — and it’s lots broad, too. Plus, Samsung doesn’t really allow you to use it like a small cellphone by default — you’ve gotta leap via hoops to make use of apps on the outer display screen. Even with the Z Flip 5’s bigger cowl display screen, it’s awkward.

There may be one firm doggedly nonetheless pursuing small telephones. It’s referred to as Unihertz, and its Jelly line is tiny and has nifty options like a BlackBerry keyboard or programmable buttons and further LEDs. However they’re additionally exceptionally finances, designed for minimalists, not those that need an incredible processor and an incredible digicam like me.

Why isn’t somebody constructing the iPhone Mini of Android, you may ask? They’re making an attempt! However the newest dispatches from the Small Android Cellphone Undertaking are… not nice. The undertaking hasn’t had a significant replace in 5 months, and workforce chief Benjamin Bryant admits he needed to pause to search for consulting work on the aspect.

In some methods, they’re nonetheless at sq. one: your entire design revolves across the cellphone’s show, however show producers don’t publicly provide the sort of small, high-end display screen Bryant’s workforce is searching for — these are sometimes produced below contract to particular producers.

“The issue is Apple has unique rights to [the iPhone Mini’s] show — so, even with the road being discontinued, [Samsung Display] isn’t going to present us entry,” he informed supporters final month.

The scenario has barely improved since then: Bryant says his workforce simply had its first actual name with Samsung Show US. “Samsung Show US is prepared to champion us; the problem shall be convincing the Korean HQ that we’re a viable sufficient undertaking for them to take a position time and assets into,” Bryant tells me.

Different choices: there are “apparently greater than sufficient” refurbished iPhone Mini shows available on the market to fill the Small Android Cellphone Undertaking’s wants; the exterior cowl show on the Oppo Discover N2 appears promising; and there are different shows that might work in the event that they’re prepared to construct a cellphone with a chin.

However I might not anticipate a cellphone out of them anytime quickly. Bryant admits that, on the whole, the small cellphone outlook is “bleak” and that a few of his potential prospects “shall be pressured to improve within the coming 12 months.”

Personally, I don’t really feel pressured: I may theoretically substitute the battery in my Mini but once more and preserve it operating one other 12 months. However as a substitute, I impulsively nabbed a Z Flip 5 at its Prime Day value to attempt one thing completely different for a change.

I’m on day 4, and whereas I’m positively not glad with the dimensions, I don’t need to be caught on small telephones the way in which I used to be caught on bodily keys. A decade in the past, smartphone producers pulled the bodily QWERTY keyboard from my chilly Droid arms. This time, I’m getting out earlier than I get left previously.