Some of the biggest smartphone announcements of recent times had an odd thing in common: they were either smaller than the previous version or smaller than their main competitors. Are compact smartphones on the rise again? Have you embraced the trend of large cell phones or do you miss smaller models? Let us know in our poll of the week!
Although some manufacturers have continued to release compact models – such as Sony with its Xperia 5 series – the trend in the smartphone market has always pointed towards larger screens. As “phablets”, some models reached a screen diagonal of almost 7 inches.
trend or coincidence?
In 2021 there were already some outliers! Like the Asus ZenFone 8 with a compact 5.9-inch AMOLED screen and small bezels in a 148 x 68.5 x 8.9 mm body. Later in the year, Oppo announced its first foldable device – the Find N – with flagship specs and a small form factor. It’s significantly smaller than other ID-style foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold 3, the Huawei Mate X, or the Xiaomi Mi Fold.
In 2022, Xiaomi presented its new flagship, the Xiaomi 12, whose screen is significantly smaller than that of the Xiaomi Mi 11. 6.28 inches compared to 6.81 inches – the reduction also affected the Pro model, that of 6.81 inches has been reduced to 6.73 inches.
Not to be left behind, Samsung announced one of the first big releases of 2022: the Galaxy S21 FE with a screen that’s just a tiny bit smaller (0.1”, but still…) than that of the S20 FE, and all this in a body that is almost 9% more compact.
This begs the question:
In recent years, smaller screen bezels have always been the main achievement to enlarge screens. But with almost nothing left to cut away and more and more people prefer flat displays to curved ones, we seem to be pushing the limits of what’s possible.
The result is that smartphones, apart from some niche models, do not exceed the 7-inch limit. That seems to be the status quo, so it’s time to revive an old poll. So: Do you have a particular preference when it comes to screen sizes?
What about small foldables?
Another trend that could prevail in compact smartphones are foldable models. After the positive reviews for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 and the launch of the Huawei P50 Pocket in Europe announced for the next few days, a new Moto Razr is expected.
That’s it for this week – let’s leave it at a rather compact survey. I’m looking forward to your opinion on this topic in the comments and I look forward to your feedback!