I’m sorry, but small smartphones aren’t making a comeback

It’s probably no secret to anyone who’s been shopping for a smartphone in the past few years that compact smartphones have all but disappeared. It depends on how you define them, of course. For my purposes, though, I’m referring to fully-featured devices with a display under six inches, and those are a rarity. Even Apple — whose co-founder Steve Jobs once insisted that you should be able to reach every corner of a phone one-handed — no longer sells an iPhone under 6.1 inches. Its biggest model, the 6.9-inch iPhone 17 Pro Max, can feel more like a tablet.

In online circles, you’ll regularly find people clamoring for a return to smaller devices, arguing that there’s at least some market for them. There’s obviously truth to that, but the sad reality is that small smartphones aren’t coming back. At least, not as we know them. It could be that foldables will be as close as we’ll get.

The case for bringing back small phones

Bigger isn’t always better

In 2025, my wife and I changed phone carriers, and my wife took the opportunity to upgrade from a second-generation iPhone SE. She was hesitant to switch, but that SE was getting very long in the tooth. The clerk persuaded her to pick up an iPhone 13 Pro Max — despite the fact that she loathed the idea of a huge phone. Sure enough, while she appreciates the viewing area, she sometimes complains about how big and heavy the new-to-her device is.

There are a lot of people in the same boat. They want a device that’s easy to hold for long stretches of time without propping it up on their lap or a stand. They want something they can easily fit in their pocket, especially in the case of women, who are lucky to get pockets at all. And perhaps most commonly, people want something they can use one-handed if they need to.

I’m very sympathetic to that last point. While I don’t mind two-handing a smartphone 99% of the time, the exceptions are frustrating. I might, for instance, be carrying groceries or luggage in one hand, and forced to put them down just to take a phone call. If I’m out riding on my EUC, both of my hands are technically free — but I even if I was more confident about my ability to multitask at 20mph, I can’t afford to block my view. It’s no wonder some EUC and bike riders strap their phones to their arms.

It’s not like device makers aren’t aware of these complaints. Even after six-inch phones became the norm, some companies bucked the trend, figuring there was still a niche market for compact designs. ASUS, for a while, led the charge on the Android front with its Zenfone models. Apple gave the idea a shot in several ways. Apart from the iPhone SE, it released the iPhone 12 mini and 13 mini, which were largely as powerful as regular iPhone 12 and 13 models, just mini-er.

So what happened? Why are Zenfones as big as anything else now? Why is there no iPhone 17 mini?

The echo chamber problem

Posting versus paying up

The problem, it seems, is that all the online chatter represents a vocal minority, whether it’s tech enthusiasts or practically-minded people like my wife. How do I know this? Sales. While Apple never publishes exact figures for iPhones, that doesn’t stop analysts and journalists from collecting data — and the 12 mini and 13 mini both reportedly failed to live up to expectations, despite a global marketing campaign. Those phones were even replaced by Plus models in later generations, and then the 6.5-inch iPhone Air, as if the company were sprinting in the opposite direction. The Air is doing badly in its own right, but complaints mostly revolve around its cost and single-lens camera, not its size.

ASUS ran into similar issues with the Zenfone. While it enjoyed good reviews, real-world sales were poor, to the extent that after the Zenfone 10 was released, a rumor emerged that ASUS would be ending the Zenfone line entirely. That proved false — the Zenfone 12 Ultra was launched about a year ago — yet all subsequent models have been full-sized products.

You’ll encounter this sort of situation in other areas of the tech world. Hardcore gamers, for instance, can be very loud online, demanding new features and balance changes from studios. Sometimes, this results in better games — but usually only for the people who’ve already bought in. Fixing the damage caused by SMGs in PUBG isn’t going to prevent new players from being picked off by veteran snipers two minutes into their first match. That’s a dilemma if you want to expand your playerbase.

The silent majority prefers larger smartphones, no matter if there are downsides attached. I’m one of them. As much as I wish I could take calls with one hand, I sometimes need to get work done on my iPhone, and that’s much easier with a 6.3-inch display instead of 5.3. I also enjoy watching YouTube when I’m going to sleep or waiting for my car to be fixed. Other people, meanwhile, may want to use their phone as an e-reader, or as a makeshift game console. For those purposes, it’s hard to go too big, short of something that won’t fit in your pants at all.

Something I haven’t even touched on yet is battery life. It’s inherently shorter on small phones, and that’s a dealkiller for many people, given how bigger devices can still end up running on fumes at the end of a long trip or workday. Heck, there are people who complain about the iPhone Air, even though it’s rated for the same runtime as my iPhone 16 Pro — probably because the longest-running demand among smartphone shoppers is a multi-day battery. An ultra-thin or ultra-small phone feels great in the hand, but that hardly matters if it dies before you make it to your hotel.

The future is foldable

At a high price, for the moment

The way out of this situation may be foldables, specifically flip foldables like the Motorola Razr or the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7. While they sometimes have to make battery sacrifices of their own, those usually aren’t as severe, and you at least get some of the benefits of a small form factor, including improved pocketability and a way of propping them up for hours without strain. These days they also have large cover screens, which make at least some tasks manageable with one hand.

A big obstacle, as you’re probably aware, is price. Foldable tech is new enough that it remains relatively expensive. It’s possible to find an older budget Moto Razr for $400, but newer models are typically $700-plus, and flips with flagship specs can be eye-watering. Many of them are $1,000 or hundreds more, and that’s a tough ask just for the sake of ergonomics, especially when hinge and screen durability remains a concern.

At some point, folding OLED screens should become cheaper to manufacture and bring costs down. That may end up satisfying the small-phone diehards, with any luck.