4 ms·

My love for the dumbphone has nothing to do with disconnecting from distractions. I just want a small fucking phone again.

NiagaraThistle 2y ago
i love my iphone 12 mini for this very reason. It's still small enough to fit 'mostly' comfortably in my pocket, even a shirt pocket. I hate how large most phones are now and everyone i know that sees my phone makes fun of me/it. I just don't get why (or how) one uses such huge devices as their phones now.
- judge2020 2y ago
  Phones are more of a content consumption devices than a communication device for probably the majority of users; a bigger screen directly makes it a better content consumption device, even if you sometimes need to adjust your grip to tap something on the top edge of the screen.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- cjk2 2y ago
  A friend of mine has an iPhone 12 mini. She has to carry a powerbank the size of the phone around. Thus it is bigger than my iPhone 13 Pro. YMMV.
  - vladvasiliu 2y ago
    Depends a lot on what she does with it, doesn't it? My friend with a 12 mini complains it's still too large and basically always needs to have a purse with her since it won't fit any of her pockets. Never complained about battery life and doesn't cart any external power source, either. Different friend had one of those cases with integrated battery packs around her iphone pros. She spends her days on the phone, though... As another data point, my iphone 7 had basically enough battery to last me through the day until last year. I changed it because the battery was bulging, and at the end the screen was hanging on to the body by next to nothing.
- veunes 2y ago
  Love my iphone 12 mini too. I was so disappointed when I found out they wouldn't be releasing mini versions anymore
- michaelbuckbee 2y ago
  The reason the market has shifted to larger phones is that for many people outside the HN crowd, phones are their _primary_ computing device. Reading books, watching videos, social, etc. but also interacting with webforms, etc. are all easier on a larger device and screen.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
Rinzler89 2y ago
>I just want a small fucking phone again. Foldables are now the best of both worlds now if you're open to this relatively niche tech and some of the compromises it brings.
- rcthompson 2y ago
  What about durability? I've heard a lot of "one speck of dust gets in the wrong place and the screen self-destructs" stories.
  - Rinzler89 2y ago
    Nothing is ever bulletproof, and if you search enough you'll hear horror stories about non foldable phones too, but everyone I know with recent foldables hasn't had durability issues.
- layer8 2y ago
  Too thick and heavy, compared to how small and light smartphones used to be.
  - Rinzler89 2y ago
    What do you realistically expect? None of the major phone makers will go back to making 2009 era sized phones just to cater to you and the 3 other people who like them, because the market has spoken with their wallets unilaterally in favor of large phones, hence why most manufacturers have dropped small phones altogether, whether you like it or not. Since nothing is ever perfect at satisfying everyone, choices in life are always about compromise, and foldables are currently the best compromise for those who value small sizes without sacrificing usability of larger screens.
    - Braini 2y ago
      Yes, I will slowly have to adapt and move to larger and larger phones once my 13 mini dies (hope this will still take a looong time). This wont stop me from complaining how ridiculous these phones have become, even foldables are just a crude hack from my POV.
puetzk 2y ago
My daily driver is a Unihertz Jelly Star: full android 13, but on a 3" screen and it fits in a watch pocket. Probably not for everyone, but I love it and maybe you would too...
- walthamstow 2y ago
  I went on their website and immediately got a bot chat window and three notification sounds I never asked for. How unpleasant. The phone sounds great though!
- ChrisRR 2y ago
  With bezels that big, they may as well have included a larger screen Edit: And it's twice the thickness of a normal phone
withinboredom 2y ago
My first Afghanistan deployment, I left with an old nokia and came back to find the world had invented smart phones. My second deployment, I left with a new iPhone 4, and came back to find people walking around with tablets. I miss my iPhone 5, that thing was so tiny. It was amazing.
- Rinzler89 2y ago
  >and came back to find people walking around with tablets Well, if the majority of people voluntarily chose with their hard earned cash to walk around with tablets instead of small phones, then it's just the free market at work, and there's not much you as an individual can do about it. Apple in the days of Steve Jobs was notoriously opinionated about small phones being the best and preaching on how they're much better for ergonomics, as a response to the assault of Androids with much larger OLED screens, but even they shamelessly caved in and adopted the larger screens against their own previous rhetoric, since you can only piss against the wind for so long before you get wet(as in loose sales and market share to competitors who offer what customers really want, larger screens).
  - withinboredom 2y ago
    > If people voluntarily chose with their hard earned cash to walk around with tablets instead of small phones, it's just the free market at work. Just surprising. From my perspective, I missed all the marketing. I remember getting off the plane and someone pulling out their massive android and me being like WTAF is that? Maybe I like smaller phones since I missed out on being told I wanted bigger phones on TV. By the time I got back, nobody was trying to convince me I wanted bigger, just cameras and stuff.
ChrisRR 2y ago
Exactly. I've wanted a small phone for years now. I even bought the Qin 3 mini but the hardware is a bit crap (and I'm suspicious of the software) Now I have an S23 which together with the Zenfone is considered the only real "small" phones, and yet they're still almost the size of a normal phone
jjav 2y ago
Yes, small is the best. Currently I use a Palm Phone which is the perfect size. But of course discontinued. The market needs a lot more choices in that size.

NiagaraThistle 2y ago

i love my iphone 12 mini for this very reason. It's still small enough to fit 'mostly' comfortably in my pocket, even a shirt pocket. I hate how large most phones are now and everyone i know that sees my phone makes fun of me/it. I just don't get why (or how) one uses such huge devices as their phones now.

judge2020 2y ago
Phones are more of a content consumption devices than a communication device for probably the majority of users; a bigger screen directly makes it a better content consumption device, even if you sometimes need to adjust your grip to tap something on the top edge of the screen.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
cjk2 2y ago
A friend of mine has an iPhone 12 mini. She has to carry a powerbank the size of the phone around. Thus it is bigger than my iPhone 13 Pro. YMMV.
- vladvasiliu 2y ago
  Depends a lot on what she does with it, doesn't it? My friend with a 12 mini complains it's still too large and basically always needs to have a purse with her since it won't fit any of her pockets. Never complained about battery life and doesn't cart any external power source, either. Different friend had one of those cases with integrated battery packs around her iphone pros. She spends her days on the phone, though... As another data point, my iphone 7 had basically enough battery to last me through the day until last year. I changed it because the battery was bulging, and at the end the screen was hanging on to the body by next to nothing.
veunes 2y ago
Love my iphone 12 mini too. I was so disappointed when I found out they wouldn't be releasing mini versions anymore
michaelbuckbee 2y ago
The reason the market has shifted to larger phones is that for many people outside the HN crowd, phones are their _primary_ computing device. Reading books, watching videos, social, etc. but also interacting with webforms, etc. are all easier on a larger device and screen.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

Rinzler89 2y ago

>I just want a small fucking phone again. Foldables are now the best of both worlds now if you're open to this relatively niche tech and some of the compromises it brings.

rcthompson 2y ago
What about durability? I've heard a lot of "one speck of dust gets in the wrong place and the screen self-destructs" stories.
- Rinzler89 2y ago
  Nothing is ever bulletproof, and if you search enough you'll hear horror stories about non foldable phones too, but everyone I know with recent foldables hasn't had durability issues.
layer8 2y ago
Too thick and heavy, compared to how small and light smartphones used to be.
- Rinzler89 2y ago
  What do you realistically expect? None of the major phone makers will go back to making 2009 era sized phones just to cater to you and the 3 other people who like them, because the market has spoken with their wallets unilaterally in favor of large phones, hence why most manufacturers have dropped small phones altogether, whether you like it or not. Since nothing is ever perfect at satisfying everyone, choices in life are always about compromise, and foldables are currently the best compromise for those who value small sizes without sacrificing usability of larger screens.
  - Braini 2y ago
    Yes, I will slowly have to adapt and move to larger and larger phones once my 13 mini dies (hope this will still take a looong time). This wont stop me from complaining how ridiculous these phones have become, even foldables are just a crude hack from my POV.

puetzk 2y ago

My daily driver is a Unihertz Jelly Star: full android 13, but on a 3" screen and it fits in a watch pocket. Probably not for everyone, but I love it and maybe you would too...

walthamstow 2y ago
I went on their website and immediately got a bot chat window and three notification sounds I never asked for. How unpleasant. The phone sounds great though!
ChrisRR 2y ago
With bezels that big, they may as well have included a larger screen Edit: And it's twice the thickness of a normal phone

withinboredom 2y ago

My first Afghanistan deployment, I left with an old nokia and came back to find the world had invented smart phones. My second deployment, I left with a new iPhone 4, and came back to find people walking around with tablets. I miss my iPhone 5, that thing was so tiny. It was amazing.

Rinzler89 2y ago
>and came back to find people walking around with tablets Well, if the majority of people voluntarily chose with their hard earned cash to walk around with tablets instead of small phones, then it's just the free market at work, and there's not much you as an individual can do about it. Apple in the days of Steve Jobs was notoriously opinionated about small phones being the best and preaching on how they're much better for ergonomics, as a response to the assault of Androids with much larger OLED screens, but even they shamelessly caved in and adopted the larger screens against their own previous rhetoric, since you can only piss against the wind for so long before you get wet(as in loose sales and market share to competitors who offer what customers really want, larger screens).
- withinboredom 2y ago
  > If people voluntarily chose with their hard earned cash to walk around with tablets instead of small phones, it's just the free market at work. Just surprising. From my perspective, I missed all the marketing. I remember getting off the plane and someone pulling out their massive android and me being like WTAF is that? Maybe I like smaller phones since I missed out on being told I wanted bigger phones on TV. By the time I got back, nobody was trying to convince me I wanted bigger, just cameras and stuff.

ChrisRR 2y ago

Exactly. I've wanted a small phone for years now. I even bought the Qin 3 mini but the hardware is a bit crap (and I'm suspicious of the software) Now I have an S23 which together with the Zenfone is considered the only real "small" phones, and yet they're still almost the size of a normal phone

jjav 2y ago

Yes, small is the best. Currently I use a Palm Phone which is the perfect size. But of course discontinued. The market needs a lot more choices in that size.