Personally, I find the user experience on mobile is fantastic. The small icons and links mean that more content can fit on my tiny screen. This is without a doubt one of the main reasons HN is the most visited site on my phone.

(Not trying to start a debate. Just pointing out that user experience on mobile is subjective, rather than objectively "pretty bad".)

I suggest Harmonic for Android, an app front-end to HN with a similarly minimal aesthetic but a pleasure to use on mobile.