I’m someone with relatively small hands, plus I want my phone to be on the smaller side since I prefer to use my tablet/computer/tv to watch content. But this trend where many manufacturers tend to keep futures away from smaller phones to drive people to bigger phones is driving me crazy and really makes it hard for me to buy a new phone. I can understand not having everything like maybe a periscope lens or something else that is cost etc. but not to this level. Like take Samsung for example: S24 lacks uwb, 45w, a 1440p display, has a lower amount of ram and storage. Why? Why can’t the s24 have faster charging or uwb? Why is there no 512 version and why does it have to start with 128gb storage? Is it not a flagship? It costs 949€ in my place! Why do I have to give 200€ more to get the s24+ just to get these simple features? I don’t want a bigger phone! Google does the same! No uwb, no thermometer sensor, no telephoto lens. And don’t get me started with all the software features google is keeping for the 8 pro like they don’t have the same processor. Why? Are they cheap? No they are not. I’m just really annoyed by this cause I really don’t want such a big phone.
I like my big phone and most people seem to like them as well. Manufacturers want to sell more phones and the intersection of people who care about things you mention (what the heck is even uwb) and really want a small phone is very small.
If I have to I’ll start using clamshell flip phones but they need to figure out the crease problem and durability problem. I had a Motorola razer 1st gen a few years ago that I loved except for the fact it stopped working after 6 months. The touch screen stopped working and the lcd started to turn green until the only sceeen that worked was the small outer screen.
I don’t mind the size, as mine often doubles as the pocket computer that it is. I just wish they’d stop wasting so much time and money with cameras. If I wanted pro pictures, I’d carry an actual camera with me.
Well for one thing, it costs more to make a smaller phone than a larger phone. There are other engineering concerns as well such as heat dissipation. But mostly, any company makes things for profit reasons, not what would work best for you:-(. Hence, if they can extort a higher amount of money out of you, then that is what they will aim to do.
While I don’t disagree with most of what you mention, I do have to ask on a couple points…Isn’t it probably significantly more expensive for them to make foldable screens than to make a smaller phone? Also wouldn’t a larger device mean more materials involved which may mean similar or just as high costs as to engineer something more compact?
Also these are open questions, I’m not expecting you personally to know one way or another, your comment simply inspired them. If someone else has some insight on them, would be interested to read it!
As Openstars mentions, fitting stuff into a smaller space is much more work and expense than extra material for the body. I’ve watched engineers layout circuit boards for much, much, much less complex stuff and it’s quite a challenge.
Then there’s heat dissipation. Having owned numerous phones, including things like the S4 and S4 Mini, the mini would get hot doing certain tasks. Far less surface area means it will heat up and reduce performance. (Granted this was years ago, that hardware and Android version weren’t exactly efficient).
I’m sure there’s other issues like component selection (and sourcing), how many they expect to sell, etc, etc.
In the end, my money is on projections by marketing/sales/whoever.
One of the questions asked (“Why do I have to give 200€ more to get the s24+ just to get these simple features?”) was comparing S24 to S24+. While I have not looked it up, traditionally those versions range from SXY (small) to SXY+ (medium) and SXY Ultra (large), but are otherwise the same phone, so I would be surprised to hear if e.g. the S24 was foldable but the S24+ was not?
As for whether it gets more expensive to make something foldable vs. to make something more compact, I suspect the devil is in the details, so ymmv and you just kinda take each option as it comes. Other factors may help mitigate those costs e.g. a younger company trying to break into the big leagues might try to give phones away for virtually no profits in exchange for their increased market penetration (e.g. OnePlus used to be somewhat this way, now they are in the big leagues, more or less).
But your other point, about more materials: no, I believe that it’s more complex than that b/c it’s the effort of fitting things into tighter spaces that is more constraining. Imagine packing for a long vacation and/or a job interview at a far-away place and you get the idea - if you can fit everything into one suitcase that’s good, but a tiny backpack is much harder to accomplish, and to take nothing and just live with what you can carry on your body alone is REALLY tough! (especially if you want all the normal features like not smelling bad) i.e. the materials costs, while not negligible, have not been the driving/limiting force for many years. At least according to everything that I have read, but I am no phone manufacturer!:-)
Try the CAT S22 for a compact and mediocre experience. I love it.
“and mediocre experience” hahaha
Have my up vote.
How bad is it? Seems that branded stuff like this would likely be mediocre.
It’s actually exactly what I wanted in terms of form factor and purpose, but the battery life is bad for it being so thick, and it comes with a version of android that did not let me sideload the correct version of Google messages on. This caused problems with my Google fi messages for web sync function which basically made the entire phone pointless since I do 99% of my texting and calling on my pc while my phone is off. It’s a long story but in the end I was not able to get it working fully. I went back to my pixel 7.
But if you’re looking for a flip phone with enough smart capabilities to get by in the modern world, this is it. It’s also really really cheap, great for a backup phone in case you ever lose or destroy yours.
