Flashback: a decade of mini phones

17 July 2022
We track how Mini has become less and less accurate over the years.  

Sort by:

SShock, 17 Jul 2022Cheap display panel. Laptop with crappy TN panel that I hav... moreI too can confirm that it's very hard to differentiate and I am also using an IPS monitor.

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • 3SI
    • 17 Jul 2022

    jackdleon, 17 Jul 2022If Apple cuts the price of iPhone 13mini by $100, I'll... moreJust 2 months until that happens

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • 8N3
      • 17 Jul 2022

      Aan2007, 17 Jul 202210 IV is great except crap SoC and it's already quite ... more3:2, 4:3 , 16:9 , 16:10 and 21:9 are the normal ratio.

      18:9, 18,5:9, 19:9, 19,5:9 and 20:9 are not. Only used by phones. Not tv, monitors, laptops, multimedia system on cars, electronic outdoors.

        Hemedans, 17 Jul 2022Xz1 compact really good battery life even for today standar... more10 IV is great except crap SoC and it's already quite tall, if they used normal aspect ratio and at least SD778 it would be no-brainer

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • 8N3
          • 17 Jul 2022

          jemmyw, 17 Jul 2022My wife has a 2016 Sony compact phone. I'd like to upg... moreGet xz2 compact from 2018.

          HDR screen, stereo speakers, jack, micro sd slot, similar size to iphone 8, 2800mAh

            Hemedans, 17 Jul 2022Apple sue Nokia? They did that 2 times already - the first... moreRead once again. I said everyone. Not Nokia.

              • D
              • AnonD-731363
              • SH3
              • 17 Jul 2022

              blue, 17 Jul 2022But absolutely unusable. It's not even large enough to... moreMaybe is not for you but many others would love to buy.

                Hugo, 17 Jul 2022They both seem the same to me as well. Might be related to ... moreCheap display panel. Laptop with crappy TN panel that I have does look red for both. Looks fine on iPhone and my desktop IPS monitor...

                  My wife has a 2016 Sony compact phone. I'd like to upgrade it for the latest software, but there is no Android option of a similar size. She is a light user, doesn't care about the specs. The battery can be smaller the screen doesn't need a high refresh rate, the single lens camera on her old phone is good enough. She just wants a smaller device to fit her hands. If any mainstream manufacturer produced a new Android compact I'd snap it up for her, and buy their flagship large phone for myself.

                    blue, 17 Jul 2022For many people the 5230 and similar phones were the last e... moreDid you use android phone in 2010, any android below 2.3 were way worse than s60v5 its just people Talk about symbian experience in 2010 then they compare with android experience of 2022. At that time do you know android didnt have even copy and paste?

                      blue, 17 Jul 2022Symbian was dead long before touch era, they just did not r... moreIts 2022 but still there is market for under $100 phone, kai os sold more than 100m phones, still you think symbian didnt have a future?

                      S60v3 device like N73 had just 64mb of ram, 220mhz cpu and 48mb storage, and most speced one C5 had 600mhz cpu, 256mb ram and 270MB storage.

                      Then compare it to kai os devices with 512mb ram and dual or quad core 1ghz processor.

                      Symbian had apps, needed potato hardware to run, and you could do anything like any smartphone or feature phone, i could edit better photo with s60v3 device than my flagship android device.

                      Just imagine $20 or $30 smart feature phone, how many it could sell today? With whatsapp, games, emulators, etc

                        My Top 3 Fav Small Phones (under 130 mm in height)
                        1. Apple iPhone SE (2016)
                        2. Google Nexus One (2010)
                        3. BlackBerry Bold 9900 (2011)

                        Bold 9900 actually feels the best in the hand. Display is in landscape. It's shorter than the SE and just as light. Has removable battery. Got mine for $5 brand new last year.

                        I use it to type notes and to watch old Family Guy episodes since the files for them are so small that 50 episodes can fit into 8 GB internal. It's unusable as a phone like the iPhone 4S since 3G already shut down in my country. I'll use it from time to time just to admire how great it feels in the hand.

                        Those are my top 3 favorite phones with the best feeling using one-handed. The iPhone 4/4S is shorter than the 5/5S/OGSE but I don't like the glass back or it's heavier weight. You can argue it still had the best design for an iPhone. My launch day 4 was a beauty when I first got it but it's slippery due to its glass back.

                        The Nexus One was a dream to hold. That's my first Android smartphone. Nearly the same exact dimensions as the original iPhone except 4 mm taller. But the power button was trash and the touchscreen can only do two fingers. You really couldn't game on it since Adreno 200 was so weak.

                        I sold my third Nexus One next to my Nexus 4 last year because I had no use for either one. Just kept the Nexus 5 even with its pathetic battery life of 2-3 hr SOT. The phones I sorta miss are my first Pixel and iPhone 7. Both felt great in the hand. The former still had headphone jack. Better feeling than my HTC One M7 because of their rounded sides.

                        If you want small phones and want battery life to last all day, you would need to carry two phones. That's what I do. Sim is in my Razr 5G. The Flip 3 or SE is my backup. I'll browse on them during the mornings using free Wi-Fi at McDonald's or Tokyo Central. My Razr 5G would still have 80% by the time I start using it more in the late afternoon.

                          Olympus Oms, 17 Jul 2022Meego would have been big. But then again, they tried the U... moreApple sue Nokia? They did that 2 times already
                          - the first one Judge cocluded Apple should pay around $8 per each iphone to Nokia
                          -The second one they paid 2B usd to Nokia and royalities every year.

                          Even Touch screen used by Apple is full of Nokia patents, its Not easy to sue Nokia and win.

                            • H
                            • Hugo
                            • XUi
                            • 17 Jul 2022

                            SShock, 17 Jul 2022I suggest you check your eyes or calibrate the monitor, bec... moreThey both seem the same to me as well. Might be related to some color settings.

                              Yes, I agree, too.

                                I remember seeing the Dell Streak in Best Buy in 2010. I thought it was YUUUGE. I saw the HTC Evo in 2010 and thought that was huge already. Then I wanted the first Galaxy Note in 2011. Can you imagine if you saw them today, they're considered small for 2022 standards? Smaller than the iPhone 13.

                                Basically if you want the best computing, they need to be large. Look at PlayStation 5. That's a large console. You can't escape it. If you want small devices, expect inferior specs and stamina. You buy a Switch OLED, you get a larger device to handle but with better battery life, display, and overall better visual experience compared to a Switch Lite.

                                The one thing I hate about the 12 minis and 13 minis is they still have Lightning ports. The iPhone 15 might be the first to get USB-C. So if say a future SE is based on the 12/13 mini design, you are stuck with Lightning again. Apple keeps holding their users back. Treats them like cattle.

                                  vortex36, 17 Jul 2022A really interesting article, but I'm curious why did ... moreI suggest you check your eyes or calibrate the monitor, because Oppo is clearly orange and Apple is red...

                                    • v
                                    • vortex36
                                    • BRr
                                    • 17 Jul 2022

                                    A really interesting article, but I'm curious why did you use the same exact color for both Oppo and Apple in the graph, making it impossible to see which is which?

                                      Hemedans, 17 Jul 2022Nokia would be fine even if they didnt join Android. Symbia... moreMeego would have been big. But then again, they tried the Ubuntu phone. And also saw the truth. There isn't room for another os on the market. And remember, Apple sue everyone for nothing. If Apple was removed, there would be room for other os, as long they focus on stability and apps.

                                      Don't know why my other comment was deleted.

                                        • b
                                        • blue
                                        • 0CN
                                        • 17 Jul 2022

                                        Hemedans, 17 Jul 2022Nokia would be fine even if they didnt join Android. Symbia... moreSymbian was dead long before touch era, they just did not recognise it. And Nokia itself did not have money to develop Symbian any further. They even tried to make a partnership with others, but they soon realised Android had a better future. Meego was a terrible mistake, a system for geeks could never compete with android or iOS.
                                        Nokia could adopt either Android or Windows to live longer. They decided to choose Windows, which was not a bad system, but it had a bad future development. Any new version incompatible with previous, that was the killing point.