Smartwatch makers OG want to revive small phones
It's not a common complaint to hear someone say that smartphones are just too big these days. However, some people still prefer the small form factors of yesteryear. And with the iPhone mini gone, there aren't many great options for a small smartphone. But there are a few who seek to change that.
The same people who banded together in the 2010s to invent the Pebble smartwatch brought the group together to form the Small Android Phone community project. The Small Android Phone team includes Pebble founders Eric Migicovsky and Benjamin Bryant, as well as designer Alex De Satsio, data science manager Susan Holcomb and product manager Chris Hendel. The project is united by the team members' love of small phones if it's not yet a real business.
On the Small Android Phone Project website, Migicovsky states that despite being 6'6″, he has never enjoyed using larger smartphones and lists the main reasons why he likes the small form factor. Including that the small phones fit well in his pocket, are much lighter, easy to use with one hand, and won't fall out of his pocket while he's cycling.
Of course, it's obvious to Migicovsky (and pretty much everyone in this space) that smartphones the size of the original iPhone in 2007 are almost non-existent, and that the appetite of big companies to make them is practically zero, which is interesting because Steve Jobs always insisted on the small size of the iPhone. However, only a few years after his death, Apple decided to increase the size of the iPhone with the iPhone 6 Plus, and it has been getting bigger ever since.
It's impossible to know if Jobs would support the Small Android Phone project (but it's doubtful because it contains the word "Android"), but there are several thousand people who share Job and Migicovsky's attitude on the size of phones. Today, over 38 people have signed up to support the Smart Android Phone Manifesto.
There aren't many specs to report on the tiny Android phone (even the name hasn't been hashed yet). But, according to the project's website, a potential model would have a sub-6-inch screen (matching the size of the iPhone 13 Mini), "big cameras" and a standard Android operating system. Migicosvksy says he doesn't want to start a mobile phone company. He calls the idea crazy. But, the purpose of Small Android Phone is to attract the attention of Google or other Android manufacturer to demonstrate the demand for such a device, and hopefully they will manufacture them.
Source: Small Android Phone
