How to Convince Tech Companies to Make a Smaller Smartphone
A long time ago, smartphones were small. It seems to be quite small. Previously, it was believed that such a device should fit snugly in the hand so that you can do everything you need with it using only your thumb. They certainly don’t make them what they used to be. In 2022, most “lower” smartphones are still huge, with sports screens almost twice the size of phones from yesteryear. Even Apple, which has been releasing “mini” iPhones for the past two years, is expected to drop the form factor this fall with the iPhone 14 line .
While the world seems to be moving away from smaller smartphones, not everyone wants it. Dig into enough tech forums and you’ll find users complaining about the lack of smaller smartphones in the market, especially in the Android world. While many customers clearly love these large screens, there is definitely a sub-market of people who are (or would be) happy to text, watch and play on a phone that fits easily in their hand. One such person is Eric Migikowski.
Migikowski is best known for founding Pebble , a smartwatch company that at the time boasted the most funded project in Kickstarter history . Pebble was eventually sold to Fibit, but now Migikowski is trying to make a splash again, promoting a new chat app called Beeper and making a concerted effort to inspire a tech company, any tech company, to bring back the small smartphone.
The founder of Pebble launched smallandroidphone.com , a site dedicated to reviving tiny phones. His reasons for wanting a small phone are probably the same as everyone else’s: he just prefers this one. Migikowski says he never liked the feel of a big phone, and despite being a tall guy, a compact phone has always been more convenient for him.
Migikowski is looking for four key features of a small phone: the screen is less than six inches; the design profile is about the same in size and quality as the iPhone 13; excellent cameras; and stock Android OS (sorry, Apple fans). Ironically, to fix his little phone, Migikowski actually uses an iPhone 13, but he doesn’t like iOS compared to Android. He cares so much.
Here is his list of features that this new little phone “must” have:
- Follow mini industrial design as closely as possible
- Frames of the same width throughout the display
- 5.4 inch 1080p OLED (60Hz normal)
- Cameras should be as good as the Pixel 5, should have excellent low-light performance.
- Stock Android OS
- Snapdragon 8 (or equivalent flagship processor)
- 5G world phone
- Front camera with hole punch
- 2 rear cameras (normal and wide angle)
- 8 GB RAM
- 128/256 GB storage
- 4 hours screen on (SOT)
- Unlockable bootloader
- NFC
There’s also a short list of features that would be “nice to have” but that he doesn’t think are strictly necessary:
- Sturdy enough not to need a case
- Waterproof IP 68
- Fingerprint sensor on the power button
- Hardware mute switch
- Wireless charger
- eSIM
If you agree with most or all of this wishlist, consider signing the Migikowski petition. It hopes to “bring together” the small phone enthusiast community, hoping to gather at least 50,000 signatures to present to tech companies as proof that a market for smartphones of this size still exists. While Mitchell Clark of The Verge is skeptical of Migikovsky’s plan, which is enough to spur a tech company into making such a small device, it’s a noble cause. After all, both Clark and I signed this petition, so at least two tech writers want this to happen.
As Clark points out, there are many obstacles here. The first is the manufacturing crisis we’re in: big companies that make well-known products are having a hard time meeting demand, leaving less room for niche offerings. Second, it’s unlikely that a large company will see any advantage in producing such a device, especially if Apple itself seems to have failed to make it work. Third, small phones in 2022 are hard to balance: today’s chips are powerful and 5G connectivity is the standard. Both of these things increase battery life, and a smaller phone means less battery space. The iPhone 12 mini has even been heavily criticized for its poor battery life , so any company looking to build a modern smartphone at scale will have to figure out how to manage all those moving parts. (Migikowski suggests making the phone thicker until the battery gets big enough—and while most of us don’t want a phone as thin as the Apple mini, you probably don’t want to veer too far in the other direction.)
As of Friday morning , Migikovsky’s petition has garnered 20,000 signatures , indicating interest in this type of product. He has a long way to go before he hits the 50,000 goal and there are a lot of questions left to answer, but I’m aware. I would like to be able to use a small phone that meets today’s standards. If you feel the same, sign this petition and get us one vote closer to 50,000.