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Thread: Which 'compact' smartphone?

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    DDY
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    Which 'compact' smartphone?

    Where have the smaller smartphones gone?

    I'm after a replacement for my two year old Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray with an equivalent or better spec in a similar physical size. My search has been fruitless as now it seems similarly equipped phones start at 4" and smaller ones have inferior displays.

    Can anyone suggest anything that's comparable to the Ray's 3.3" 854x480 display and 111x53x9.4mm size?

    EDIT: I discovered Phone Arena's phone finder site and it appears small 'reasonably' equipped smartphones haven't been made since early 2012
    Last edited by DDY; 02-12-2013 at 04:06 PM.

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    Re: Which 'compact' smartphone?

    Small phones aren't very popular at the moment,

    best reasonably speced one I can find at a glance has to be the Samsung S4 Mini, dimensions of 124.6 x 61.3 x 8.94mm (H x W x D)

    but its still got a a screen size > 4"

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    Senior Member watercooled's Avatar
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    Re: Which 'compact' smartphone?

    Yeah I subscribed to this thread to see what would be suggested, out of interest. There aren't really any particularly small but decent smartphones I can think of. Some of the smaller phones I can think of are the HTC One Mini and Moto G.

    Or perhaps one of the smaller Nokia Lumia Windows Phones?

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    Moosing about! CAT-THE-FIFTH's Avatar
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    Re: Which 'compact' smartphone?

    An iPhone 4S?

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    Re: Which 'compact' smartphone?

    Quote Originally Posted by watercooled View Post
    Yeah I subscribed to this thread to see what would be suggested, out of interest. There aren't really any particularly small but decent smartphones I can think of. Some of the smaller phones I can think of are the HTC One Mini and Moto G.

    Or perhaps one of the smaller Nokia Lumia Windows Phones?
    The Moto G and HTC One Mini at 4.5" and 4.3" respectively are far too big :/

    The Lumia 620 is much closer to my preferred size at 3.8", the spec isn't bad but the 1300mAh battery is a bit of let down.

    Quote Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH View Post
    An iPhone 4S?
    I'm tempted but the deal killer is the lack of expandable storage. It's also much more expensive than my Xperia but I would have overlooked that if I could fit my music library on it.

    I think for now, the best option for me is a 4" device and hope that the smartphone market returns to smaller devices someday.

    I wonder why smaller mid-high range smartphones ceased to be produced after the early half of 2012...
    Last edited by DDY; 03-12-2013 at 03:49 AM.

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    Re: Which 'compact' smartphone?

    Though the recent uncover of both HTC and Samsung cheating on their benchmarks have made me lost trust in the brands, I will still say they make good phones. As for small phones, I actually considered the S4 mini when I was purchasing my phone, and from the reviews that I read and from the short time that I used it via a distant friend, I can say it's a good phone that you should definitely keep your eyes on. If you want a lower specced phone than that one, I'd suggest the Samsung Galaxy Ace 3. It's plenty small, from what I've seen of its predecessor(which my friend owns and swears by)

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    Re: Which 'compact' smartphone?

    Quote Originally Posted by DDY View Post
    I wonder why smaller mid-high range smartphones ceased to be produced after the early half of 2012...
    i think the world has gone daft for larger devices nowadays.

    I have Galaxy Note 3 and at 5.7inch screen size, the device is huge. the norm seems to be 5 inch and above now. the demands of HD screens and video streaming from YT might be the issue. I personally prefer the larger devices as i have hands like shovels.

    not sure you can get a better spec device in that range TBH
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    Re: Which 'compact' smartphone?

    Quote Originally Posted by DDY View Post
    EDIT: I discovered Phone Arena's phone finder site and it appears small 'reasonably' equipped smartphones haven't been made since early 2012
    Nice find, I didn't know about that. I'm on the lookout for a new qwerty Android phone to replace my Xperia Pro which is getting a bit long in the tooth but no-one makes those either!

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    Re: Which 'compact' smartphone?

    I guess now that the smartphone market has settled a bit the manufactures are focusing on what makes them the most money - which isn't a physically small phone or one with a qwerty keypad.

    Oh well...

    I'm off to buy a low-mid range 4" device.

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    Re: Which 'compact' smartphone?

    Don't just go by screen size - some devices are surprisingly small, for example the Nexus 5 has a larger screen than the Nexus 4 but is IIRC a bit smaller overall.

    I'm also happy with the larger size of my phone, a Nexus 4, the only real thing I notice is its fit in some of my clothes with smaller pockets. The bulky case I have probably doesn't help that though.

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    Re: Which 'compact' smartphone?

    Quote Originally Posted by watercooled View Post
    Don't just go by screen size - some devices are surprisingly small, for example the Nexus 5 has a larger screen than the Nexus 4 but is IIRC a bit smaller overall.
    Of course, I use display size as a convenient measure of physical size.

    Quote Originally Posted by watercooled View Post
    I'm also happy with the larger size of my phone, a Nexus 4, the only real thing I notice is its fit in some of my clothes with smaller pockets. The bulky case I have probably doesn't help that though.
    I don't have any real reason to go for a phone as small as my Xperia Ray, I would happily carry a 5" device around with me but I'd be happier with something smaller. I can't really put it in to words but it's the same reason why I'm a fan of SFF machines.

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    Re: Which 'compact' smartphone?

    Oh of course it's a preference thing, regardless of reasons, and there really is a lack of decent small phones on the market ATM. I just meant I'm personally happy with the size, but I was admittedly unsure before I bought it - the Galaxy Ace I had previously was a more portable size (sort of iPhone 4S sized I think), but the trade-off for more usable screen and better performance etc was worth it for me.

    Edit: It looks like the Galaxy Ace line are progressing a bit with specs with the Ace 3 (as KinTharEl suggested), however it just doesn't seem terribly good value considering what you can get with the Moto G for example.

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    Re: Which 'compact' smartphone?

    I've just bought the Galaxy S3 Mini, at £120 it's great value for money as similar phones start at around £150. I would have gone for the Moto G which is even better value but no expandable storage!

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    Re: Which 'compact' smartphone?

    What's the moto X? I know it's a big screen size but the actual phone is small thanks to the bezel sizes.
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    Re: Which 'compact' smartphone?

    I don't think the Moto X is available in the UK.

    About the S3 mini, I've had a play with one and I'm really not keen on the lowish-res pentile screen (I see the checkerboard effect quite strongly), but I suppose it's subjective.

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    Re: Which 'compact' smartphone?

    Easier choice: the HTC One Mini is now banned in the UK, so you can scratch that one from consideration anyway

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