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Comment by joelrunyon | Hacker News Reader

Why can't they just keep making new phones in the size of the iPhone8? Who decided that we all want to carry around mini-tablets now?

Makes me want to go back to a flip phone.

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Exactly, I’ll buy a new iPhone when they release one in a form factor like the SE. I’d also love to see a high-privacy, compact, phone-first flip phone from Apple, but I understand that I might as well pray for rain in hell.

I am in total agreement here. I never got the hang of doing "real stuff" on a phone, and prefer a laptop whenever possible. Phones should be small and portable, rather than trying to replace tablets (which are in turn trying to replace laptops, in turn desktops). The last phone I really liked was the droid razr mini. I also liked the galaxy s3.

Please, phone manufacturers: if you hear this, listen. I do not care about large phones. I couldn't care less about "screen-to-body ratio". I don't want a notch or a stupid sliding mechanism. I want a simple, small phone. It should have excellent battery life (don't care about thickness), be sturdy. Calls, texts, pictures, and emails are about all that's necessary, along with occasional web browsing and music playback. Maybe a reader app. That's it. But I guess you can't charge $1,500 for that.

Edit: Oh yeah, and leave my headphone jack alone. Seriously.

I just downgraded from a flagship android phone to a refurb iPhone SE from eBay. New battery, no visible signs of wear; $120 for everything on your list. If I have to do it every year, I'll still be ahead after 5 years.

I might look into that; the recommendation is appreciated.

> Why can't they just keep making new phones in the size of the iPhone8?

As an SE-owner, I suspect you misspelled iPhone 5s there.

> Who decided that we all want to carry around mini-tablets now?

The market. Small phones don't sell well unless they're at a significant discount. Or else Sony would have owned the Android market with their Xperia Compact series.

For a majority of users, their phones are their #1 computing platform. For many, it's also their ONLY computing platform. They need all the screen real-estate they can get.

“A majority of users” != “we all”

Who decided that we all want to carry around mini-tablets now?

Customers.

The XS is the size of a 6/7/8. The screen is just bigger

Why post this without even checking your facts?

https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=9318&idPhone2...

visually: https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size#/phones/size/Apple-iP...

> Why can't they just keep making new phones in the size of the iPhone8

You mean, like iPhone XS?

The XS is larger than the 8: https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size#/phones/size/Apple-iP...

The XS is 5 mm taller, 3 mm wider, and 0.4 mm thicker. Does that kind of difference really matter?

Considering the average adult male thumb length is ~70mm and female is ~63mm[0], that would be 7-8% of thumb length increased in height and 4-5% in width.

That's not even including the very different screen interactions on XS vs the iPhone 8, where the screen itself was significantly smaller.

[0] http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/smartphone-thumbs-2012-9...

But the iPhone 8 is already 15mm taller and 9mm wider than the iPhone 5/5S/SE which is probably the most comfortable size for a phone. Plus, the fact that the screen itself is much larger makes it more difficult to reach everything with one hand.

I previously had a Note 8 for work and have just gone back to my Galaxy S7 which, while still big, is much nicer to use - even though I thought I liked the Note while I had it.

That is with 4.0mm Bezel on every sides. So If Apple shrink the Bezel by 1.5mm, It would have the same width. Assuming you don't do Curved around edges like Samsung, Huawei has managed to make the left right Bezel shrink to 2.1mm.

The major difference between X/XS and 8 is the weight. And this make the whole phone felt very different.

I think it does when the 7/8 size is already on the edge of what is reasonable to use with one hand.

Slightly. You can feel and see the difference in size, but only if you hold them both side by side (as opposed to the weight, which is quite obviously different).

I noticed the size difference immediately when I got my iPhone X, and I still notice it every day, even if I'm not comparing it side by side with an iPhone 8. Maybe you got used to it, but I haven't, and likely won't.

I'm not you, so I can't confirm what you are experiencing, but have you considered that the screen is throwing off your perception of the phone's size? For me, the biggest difference has been in interacting with the phone, which means that my fingers have to actually cross the entire height of the device rather than just the area that used to be the screen.

Yes, that's another factor, along with the increased weight. But even controlling for those things I still notice (and dislike) the increased size.

> Slightly. You can feel and see the difference in size, but only if you hold them both side by side

Slightly larger for every iteration over years and years makes it much, much larger in the end.

I refuse to go for anything noticeably larger than the SE.

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