cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/21069631
Once upon a time you could get a small android device with good specs.
https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_xz1_compact-8610.phpIt’s still my favourite phone, even though it’s been retired and is only used as an MP3 player with AUX in the garage nowadays.
I realize that for most people the phone is now a device to consume media through and that the larger screens are helpful there, but having a smart phone that is fully usable with one hand is still something I miss. Often.Considering that modern androids have about 85% to 90% of their size as display size then a phone with the size of the xz1 compact should get a screen size of ~5 inches instead of the old 4.6 inches.
With the SoC advancements I don’t even feel that the phone would require a flagship SoC to interest me. Put a Snapdragon 6, as much battery as you can fit and an AUX input in it and I’m game.
What would make you guys interested in a smaller phone today?
I remember liking the design of the Xperia active. https://m.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_xperia_active-3998.php
The fact that it was waterproof, had the built in strap holder for securing it.
Make it lightweight durable and super long battery life (small screen, OLED) and you have a great device you wouldn’t need to baby.
Unfortunately it’s never going to happen. They don’t do niche phones now. Everyone seems to have accepted phones are going to be generic slabs of glass. All about the same size. Boring.
What I have always wanted from a phone since Android came out is what I had with my HTC Dream (the first android phone, slide out keyboard, trackball, oh god, I loved it). I had a super chunky extended battery which made it last multiple days on a single charge, or for someone such as myself made it last the full day. My current phone has a 5003mAh battery and is 8.9mm thick. I would happily take something that was 20mm thick to have all that space taken by a battery, which based on the dimensions of the battery is about 0.17Wh/mm^3. The remaining space should provide enough space for about 23500mAh which would bring the total to just under 29000mAh. At my current usage of charging twice a day from about 20% up to 100%, so around 4000mAh x2, and assuming we want to work between 20% and 80% for extended battery longevity, that would make about 17000mAh or just over 4 days of usage. That would be a delightfully chonky phone with the easy ability to keep the charge within the healthy range, not to mention the ability to have it stand on its side or upright without a stand in many cases.
I got an xz2 compact and was so excited about it. Then I realized that even thought it supported wifi calling, you could not used the feature on Verizon network. I tried so many different ways to get it to work, but bottom line was Verizon wouldn’t allow the required FW. Since I lived somewhere with no cell service, I had to replace it. It’s so sad that a phone can have features that can be blocked on some networks…