Technology

Why can't we go back to small phones?

Well, I can't speak for everyone else, but I can't go back because they don't sell any small phones.

When are we finally going to get curved phones on some kind of bracer? They wear them in every futuristic movie, we finally have curved screens, and no one’s made one for wearing on your forearm yet.

people spend a third of their lives on those things. And while cumbersome, a big screen simply is better for media consumption

only way I see smaller phones make a comeback is if we change our habits or if a new technology comes along

Yes please. I really dislike iOS, but I use the iPhone 13 Mini for work and it's the perfect form factor. I desperately want an Android phone that's the same size, but I'm rocking a Flip which is the best I can do for small form factor right now.

Why can't we have both? I want a bigger phone. Bigger than what I have now, and many people would consider this to be a fairly large phone.

But I don't want to stop people who want smaller phones from having those, too.

People don't buy them for the price they'll buy bigger phones. That's it. That's the whole story.

They have to make the phone cost $300 less to sell in meaningful numbers. Why do that when they could just not make them at all and sell fewer models at higher prices?

Consumers just aren’t that interested in a product that’s visibly cheaper and worse than what everyone else is carrying. And that is what a smaller phone signals.

Phones are a status purchase; they all do basically the same things, but most people gravitate towards higher end phones because they offer all the fancy features. Flagship phones are all large, so that’s what you see in the marketing. Just like you’ll never see a car company put its cheapest base model on a car catalog cover.

A smaller phone tends to cut corners; it’s not just smaller, but also functionally worse. While the price might be appealing, the potential customer also knows that using said phone will mean a worse experience, and might even get them ridiculed because they got ‘the cheap one’.

So we can absolutely go back to small phones - we just don’t want to. Smaller, cheaper, worse products just don’t appeal to a status-conscious buyer. If phone manufacturers offered the same specs at different sizes, that might change. But any savvy tech buyer knows a smaller phone is worse than the bigger one.

Back in the pre-smartphone days, size was a thing companies could compete on since customers wanted small, light, distinctive designs in premium materials. Like the Motorola Razr V3. These days, that just doesn’t work.