Back in my day, “compact” meant “usable with one hand”, or sub-5”.
True, but on the other hand, phone screens used to be 16:9 and have larger borders around them. A 21:9 6" phone of today is roughly the same physical size as a 5" phone of 5 years ago.
It's also true that phone are actually getting bigger and bigger by the year, and I don't really like that
I don't want thin bezels - thick left & right ones improve fall protection, while top & bottom ones are a resting place for fingers in landscape mode & allow for physical navigation buttons and a full rectangular screen without notches or rounded corners. Also a smaller screen inherently consumes less power at the same brightness.
5" 16:9 is 110×62 mm
6" 21:9 is 140×60 mm, not accounting for shenenigans like rounded corners that technically decrease the diagonal
I prefer the former, and I'm thus using a 2017 5.2" Samsung Galaxy J5 I got for $50 and upgraded to Android 10.
Right?
I want bezels. And my notification bar and nav bar.
Hell, I want capacitive buttons around the perimeter, that I can assign actions to. Or just let me use a portion of the screen edge for buttons. I miss my blackberry and treo for this kind of customization - those permitted physical button custom actions.
Stop this immersive crap.
capacitive buttons around the perimeter
Those don't really work through cases and are too easy to press accidentally. Tactile buttons FTW
Oh, real buttons? That's way too much to hope for! Lol
I'll check out key mapper, though I'd bet I've used it before...I've tried everything under the sun since about 2010. GMD Gesture controls has been on all my (rooted) phones since about 2012.
Oh, damn, Keymapper is essentially GMD but without needing root. BRILLIANT. Wish I had more upvote to give. Thanks!!
then maybe this phone isn't for you
That’s not my point. Stop calling them compact, they are giant by not-too-old standards.
Also... are there any new phones for me, then? Maybe the 2020 Unihertz Atom L?
It is a small phone, which is what it is. Just because the screen has expanded to fill the bezels doesn't make it not small.
CaptainObvious.jpg
This is really a pet peeve of mine, people basing screen sizes off a diagonal without taking into account the aspect ratio. Thanks for speaking up on this.
Comparing it based on screen size is silly IMO.
You'd think based on screen size that this phone would be way larger than older phones, but it isn't really. Smaller bezels have enabled much larger screens on our phones.
This phone is slightly taller and slightly less wide than a Galaxy S5 from ~10 years ago. And IMO narrower width is more important for one handed usage.
IMHO frame width matters more than anything else for one-handed use. Personally I would love to see a modern phone with flagship specs at <65mm wide but I doubt it'll ever happen again.
<70mm wide is what passes for "compact" nowadays.
Galaxy S23: 70.9mm
Pixel 7: 73.2mm
iPhone 15: 71.6
Zenfone 10: 68.1
Xperia Five-Five: 68mm
For comparison, the Xperia Z3 Compact in 2014 was 64.9mm wide. Even in 2014 it was one of the smaller phones available, and widely regarded as the best "compact" phone.
The only other phones released since 2022 that are compatible with my network and under 68mm wide are the iPhone SE and the Xperia Five-Four.
At this point I don't know what I'll get for my next phone. I might just give up on one-handed use and get the biggest slab that can still fit in my pockets.
Really, you want a narrow phone? The difference in width is the biggest thing I dislike about the new longer-aspect-ratio phones. I used to use a Moto z, which was 16x9 aspect ratio instead of the modern 20x9 and that's the biggest thing I miss - the typing that wide screen was heavenly.
I've been using gesture typing for about a decade now. On my Pixel 7, I have Gboard set in mini mode so I can swipe over it with one thumb. For me, a narrower phone would make typing easier, not harder.
That's funny, I have the same phone, but I'm naturally a two-thumb typer. When I gesture-type I still find it okay, though even without the mini mode. I'm a short guy but I guess I've got big flexible thumbs.
I used to lie down on the sofa and surf Reddit two-thumb typing in landscape mode on my old Moto Z, which is why I really miss 16:9 screens - on 20:9 screens the keyboard obscures the entire text area in landscape you literally can't see what you're typing, so I can't do that anymore. I was a huge landscape-typing fan, I used to even own a side-slider keyboard phone. I bought the Moto Z initially because of the Livermorium side-slider keyboard Moto Mod.... which never materialized.
My dream phone would probably be the size of a Pixel 4a but with a 16:9 aspect ratio and some kind of Moto Mod architecture for snap-on batteries and game controllers and the like. I'm still salty that failed.
Makes sense. I've been considering moving to an open-source keyboard out of privacy concerns, none of which (in my experience so far) have good gesture typing. So I might switch back to double-thumbing it and end up in the same boat as you.
Right?
The screen is larger than my Galaxy S4 was - the entire phone.
Nope.
Xperia 5 V screen area: 86.9cm²
Galaxy S4 full frontal area: 95.9cm² (pretty much exactly 10% larger)
In terms of full dimensions (not just the Xperia's screen) the Xperia is narrower but longer than the S4.
So for stuff like typing one handed, or using better designed apps with navigation on the bottom, the one-handed experience will be better on the Xperia. Swiping down your notifications won't be.
10%...so effectively the same.
What's that come out to, perhaps 1.25 mm difference?
So you've went from "the screen of this phone is bigger than my S4" to "it doesn't matter that I lied and that the S4 is actually 10% larger"? Lol
10% isn't effectively the same. It's easily noticeable.
I told you the difference. I provided numbers. 95.9mm² - 86.9mm² = 9mm²
Guess to you a 1mm difference is significant.
*10% is significant. I'd be happy to hear about getting a 10% payrise tomorrow, for example.
But in your topsy-turvy world, 110% is smaller than 100%.
Just accept you lied or made shit up, take the L, and move on.
I just measured my S4. That things screen is significantly larger than the entire S4, by 1/4".
No it isn't. I gave you the numbers, which you can verify at a number of places online.
Mate, just take the L. It's not that deep. You made up some misinformation and got called out for it. That's it.
But feel free to show me you measuring your S4 and your 5 V lol
I just measured my S4 (I have 3 of them still). That phones screen is 1/4 inch larger than the entire S4. Quit lying.
No it isn't. Stop lying.
You know you're lying, I know you're lying, and nobody else is reading this, so why are you even bothering?
Back in my day, “compact” meant “usable with one hand”, or sub-5”.
True, but on the other hand, phone screens used to be 16:9 and have larger borders around them. A 21:9 6" phone of today is roughly the same physical size as a 5" phone of 5 years ago.
It's also true that phone are actually getting bigger and bigger by the year, and I don't really like that
I don't want thin bezels - thick left & right ones improve fall protection, while top & bottom ones are a resting place for fingers in landscape mode & allow for physical navigation buttons and a full rectangular screen without notches or rounded corners. Also a smaller screen inherently consumes less power at the same brightness.
5" 16:9 is 110×62 mm
6" 21:9 is 140×60 mm, not accounting for shenenigans like rounded corners that technically decrease the diagonal
I prefer the former, and I'm thus using a 2017 5.2" Samsung Galaxy J5 I got for $50 and upgraded to Android 10.
Right?
I want bezels. And my notification bar and nav bar.
Hell, I want capacitive buttons around the perimeter, that I can assign actions to. Or just let me use a portion of the screen edge for buttons. I miss my blackberry and treo for this kind of customization - those permitted physical button custom actions.
Stop this immersive crap.
Those don't really work through cases and are too easy to press accidentally. Tactile buttons FTW
You may be interested in Key Mapper.
Oh, real buttons? That's way too much to hope for! Lol
I'll check out key mapper, though I'd bet I've used it before...I've tried everything under the sun since about 2010. GMD Gesture controls has been on all my (rooted) phones since about 2012.
Oh, damn, Keymapper is essentially GMD but without needing root. BRILLIANT. Wish I had more upvote to give. Thanks!!
then maybe this phone isn't for you
That’s not my point. Stop calling them compact, they are giant by not-too-old standards.
Also... are there any new phones for me, then? Maybe the 2020 Unihertz Atom L?
It is a small phone, which is what it is. Just because the screen has expanded to fill the bezels doesn't make it not small.
CaptainObvious.jpg
This is really a pet peeve of mine, people basing screen sizes off a diagonal without taking into account the aspect ratio. Thanks for speaking up on this.
Comparing it based on screen size is silly IMO.
You'd think based on screen size that this phone would be way larger than older phones, but it isn't really. Smaller bezels have enabled much larger screens on our phones.
This phone is slightly taller and slightly less wide than a Galaxy S5 from ~10 years ago. And IMO narrower width is more important for one handed usage.
IMHO frame width matters more than anything else for one-handed use. Personally I would love to see a modern phone with flagship specs at <65mm wide but I doubt it'll ever happen again.
<70mm wide is what passes for "compact" nowadays.
Galaxy S23: 70.9mm
Pixel 7: 73.2mm
iPhone 15: 71.6
Zenfone 10: 68.1
Xperia Five-Five: 68mm
For comparison, the Xperia Z3 Compact in 2014 was 64.9mm wide. Even in 2014 it was one of the smaller phones available, and widely regarded as the best "compact" phone.
The only other phones released since 2022 that are compatible with my network and under 68mm wide are the iPhone SE and the Xperia Five-Four.
At this point I don't know what I'll get for my next phone. I might just give up on one-handed use and get the biggest slab that can still fit in my pockets.
Really, you want a narrow phone? The difference in width is the biggest thing I dislike about the new longer-aspect-ratio phones. I used to use a Moto z, which was 16x9 aspect ratio instead of the modern 20x9 and that's the biggest thing I miss - the typing that wide screen was heavenly.
I've been using gesture typing for about a decade now. On my Pixel 7, I have Gboard set in mini mode so I can swipe over it with one thumb. For me, a narrower phone would make typing easier, not harder.
That's funny, I have the same phone, but I'm naturally a two-thumb typer. When I gesture-type I still find it okay, though even without the mini mode. I'm a short guy but I guess I've got big flexible thumbs.
I used to lie down on the sofa and surf Reddit two-thumb typing in landscape mode on my old Moto Z, which is why I really miss 16:9 screens - on 20:9 screens the keyboard obscures the entire text area in landscape you literally can't see what you're typing, so I can't do that anymore. I was a huge landscape-typing fan, I used to even own a side-slider keyboard phone. I bought the Moto Z initially because of the Livermorium side-slider keyboard Moto Mod.... which never materialized.
My dream phone would probably be the size of a Pixel 4a but with a 16:9 aspect ratio and some kind of Moto Mod architecture for snap-on batteries and game controllers and the like. I'm still salty that failed.
Makes sense. I've been considering moving to an open-source keyboard out of privacy concerns, none of which (in my experience so far) have good gesture typing. So I might switch back to double-thumbing it and end up in the same boat as you.
Right?
The screen is larger than my Galaxy S4 was - the entire phone.
Nope.
Xperia 5 V screen area: 86.9cm²
Galaxy S4 full frontal area: 95.9cm² (pretty much exactly 10% larger)
In terms of full dimensions (not just the Xperia's screen) the Xperia is narrower but longer than the S4.
So for stuff like typing one handed, or using better designed apps with navigation on the bottom, the one-handed experience will be better on the Xperia. Swiping down your notifications won't be.
10%...so effectively the same.
What's that come out to, perhaps 1.25 mm difference?
So you've went from "the screen of this phone is bigger than my S4" to "it doesn't matter that I lied and that the S4 is actually 10% larger"? Lol
10% isn't effectively the same. It's easily noticeable.
I told you the difference. I provided numbers. 95.9mm² - 86.9mm² = 9mm²
Guess to you a 1mm difference is significant.
*10% is significant. I'd be happy to hear about getting a 10% payrise tomorrow, for example.
But in your topsy-turvy world, 110% is smaller than 100%.
Just accept you lied or made shit up, take the L, and move on.
I just measured my S4. That things screen is significantly larger than the entire S4, by 1/4".
No it isn't. I gave you the numbers, which you can verify at a number of places online.
Mate, just take the L. It's not that deep. You made up some misinformation and got called out for it. That's it.
But feel free to show me you measuring your S4 and your 5 V lol
I just measured my S4 (I have 3 of them still). That phones screen is 1/4 inch larger than the entire S4. Quit lying.
No it isn't. Stop lying.
You know you're lying, I know you're lying, and nobody else is reading this, so why are you even bothering?
Here you go, actual data:
https://m.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=12534&idPhone2=5125
But feel free to upload a video of you measuring the S4 and 5 V that you totally do have.
Liar.
Hahah, I OWN 3 S4's. That new phone screen is 1/4 inch larger than my entire S4.
Please, keep trying to gaslight me.
"Professional"
I do not think it means what you think it means.
For a real world awesome camera test of this phone check out this beautiful video by Olle Nilsson:
https://youtu.be/0DJe4MQ84po?si=8p8fMYqmcBRLxMvb
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/0DJe4MQ84po?si=8p8fMYqmcBRLxMvb
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.