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Comment by crossroadsguy | Hacker News Reader

I wished there was a Graphene/Lineage OS phone (OEM supported; not “flash it yourself” sorcery needed kinda thing).

And something within the size of original iPhone SE or Mini with just even an above average battery. I’d pay a premium for that phone. It’s my wishful thinking about smartphones.

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The Fairphone is going to be sold in the US in partnership with the e.Foundation which develops /e/OS (another deGoogled android fork), and is what's going to come preinstalled on the Fairphone https://murena.com/america/shop/smartphones/brand-new/murena...

I have been a happy user of an /e/OS Fairphone 3+ for two years. I just use it like my Samsung before, nothing special to do (other than choosing non Google apps, obviously).

I'm with you for a smaller phone. A Sony Xperia X Compact with no bezel would be great https://gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_x_compact-8292.php

And the lightness!

I had an XZ1c and, despite the bezels, I still prefer it to the Zenfone 8 that succeeded it. Unfortunately my carrier forced me to "upgrade" otherwise I'd likely still be using it to this day. And my god it was robust. I did unspeakable things to that phone and it never chipped or cracked - and we're talking drops on to gravel, concrete, and steel.

Hopefully one day we'll see something similar again.

Apple tried to bring small phones back and not that many people bought the mini relative to the regular size iPhone. Other than a few attempts by android phone manufacturers the iPhone 13 mini will probably be the best small phone made.

The thing is, for people who want a small phone, the 13 mini still has a pretty hefty feel. Compared to the 5s/orig SE body it's massive and it's only a tiny bit shorter and narrower than the 8/new SE, while feeling thicker.

It’s battery is very lacklustre. I believe that phone that size in this age and time deserves much more battery.

I wish Apple kept Mini alive. Maybe at a premium and with a better battery.

TBH there’s not much you can do about that, it actually has a better battery life than the 8 IMO

By 2023 standards it’s the smallest flagship phone you can get, no one makes a flagship tier original SE style phone

I was on 12 Mini. Was getting a crazy trade deal and the seller didn’t have 13 Mini. So I ended up buying 14.

Yesterday, after months, I was inside an Apple reseller store and picked iPhone 13 Mini and was immediately made aware of the monstrosity that was in my pocket.

Yeah I think Mini is finally dead.

I don't think vendors can stop themselves from putting garbage in their ROMs. The OnePlus One had CyanogenOS, based on CyanogenMod. That didn't last long. Now I've heard the default ROM on OnePlus stuff is particularly bloated. I still use their hardware, but I only buy phones I can put another OS on, like LineageOS, or postmarketOS in the case of the PinePhone. I update the new-to-me phone right away to get the latest baseband firmware and such, then unlock/wipe/flash ASAP. Can't imagine doing it any other way now. If you buy a couple gens back of a OnePlus phone on eBay, they're pretty affordable.

Android has always had bigger phones than Apple. At this point it’s in the DNA of the platform to offer phones above 5.5 inches.

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