Android phone 5" screen or smaller
Discussion
Before I push the buy button on a reconditioned iPhone SE (2020, around £150-170) are there any decent Android phones with 5" screens or smaller?
I had a fairly old Huawei 5" phone, but the bezels were quite large so it felt large in the hand and gosh it was slow. Then went to a tiny Cubot King Kong Mini 2 with 4" screen which was great ergonomically but the small screen is starting to do my eyes in a bit, can never get text to scale up and sit in the frame properly so end up trying to read tiny text on websites.
And most other phones i see these days are 6.5" screens or larger; granted the better design means that the overall handset isn't as big as it would have been 5-10 years ago, but it's still bigger than I like.
I thought I would buy an Apple product over my own dead body, but it's odd that Apple have kept the SE going but there's nothing really comparable in the Android market, or at least not that I've found yet. The Cubots are good phones but the cameras aren't great, with awful video, which having small children I'm really starting to notice.
I had a fairly old Huawei 5" phone, but the bezels were quite large so it felt large in the hand and gosh it was slow. Then went to a tiny Cubot King Kong Mini 2 with 4" screen which was great ergonomically but the small screen is starting to do my eyes in a bit, can never get text to scale up and sit in the frame properly so end up trying to read tiny text on websites.
And most other phones i see these days are 6.5" screens or larger; granted the better design means that the overall handset isn't as big as it would have been 5-10 years ago, but it's still bigger than I like.
I thought I would buy an Apple product over my own dead body, but it's odd that Apple have kept the SE going but there's nothing really comparable in the Android market, or at least not that I've found yet. The Cubots are good phones but the cameras aren't great, with awful video, which having small children I'm really starting to notice.
Zarco said:
I've just got a Samsung S22 as it's one of the smaller Androids at 6.1" long I believe. It's replacing a Google Pixel something or other that I got a couple of years ago, mainly as if was shorter than most. Any bigger is too long in my pocket I find!
I did see that in the shop and noted it down - it's still not far off the size of my Huawei though which was a bit chunky in the pocket and didn't balance that well in one hand. Also ££££s. 
ScotHill said:
I know it's a 6" screen, but the Xperia 10iv is also an option if anyone has experience of that, as the width is the key bit and it's the same width as the iPhone SE. I'm guessing the screen is taller than the SE, hence being 6" instead of 4.7".
I've just ordered one, mainly because it's one of very few sensibly sized Androids available at the moment.Similar price and size is the Pixel 6a, no SD card slot though which was a deal breaker for me.
Tried a large phone (6.6" Poco thing) and it's just annoying to carry, awkward to use one handed, and being cheap Xiaomi crap it's got touchscreen issues at just over a year old.
Jonny_ said:
I've just ordered one, mainly because it's one of very few sensibly sized Androids available at the moment.
Interesting, it was that and the Galaxy S22 that were the only noticeably smaller ones in the shop. And an Alcatel PAYG for £40. There's been some criticism of the camera but reading up on it there's nothing that should bother most users and it's light years ahead of anything I've had so far. Will think on it and maybe order something next week, I'd really like to stick with Android as I know how it works and it can do everything I need it to.
Pixel 6a has a 6.1" screen. It's down to £299 at the moment (and another £20 off via Google Store if you know someone with a Blue Light Card).
Ordered one for the Mrs which arrived on Friday. Very neat wee handset for the money. No SD card slot of course but 128GB memory. I'm sure the overall size will be about the same as the iPhone SE with its colossal bezels and luddite-friendly home button.
I have a Pixel 4a 5g, no issues at all in 18 months.
Ordered one for the Mrs which arrived on Friday. Very neat wee handset for the money. No SD card slot of course but 128GB memory. I'm sure the overall size will be about the same as the iPhone SE with its colossal bezels and luddite-friendly home button.
I have a Pixel 4a 5g, no issues at all in 18 months.
mabosh said:
Pixel 6a has a 6.1" screen. It's down to £299 at the moment (and another £20 off via Google Store if you know someone with a Blue Light Card).
Ordered one for the Mrs which arrived on Friday. Very neat wee handset for the money. No SD card slot of course but 128GB memory. I'm sure the overall size will be about the same as the iPhone SE with its colossal bezels and luddite-friendly home button.
I have a Pixel 4a 5g, no issues at all in 18 months.
That's another I looked at but it's the same width as my old Huawei - the Sony is 5mm narrower which doesn't sound a lot but makes a difference to handholding. The SE is the same width as the Sony but with a much smaller screen.Ordered one for the Mrs which arrived on Friday. Very neat wee handset for the money. No SD card slot of course but 128GB memory. I'm sure the overall size will be about the same as the iPhone SE with its colossal bezels and luddite-friendly home button.
I have a Pixel 4a 5g, no issues at all in 18 months.
Think I'll mull it until Tuesday and then order the Sony, it's also £300 which is fair enough for the use I'll get out of the cameras.
Xperia gets delivered tomorrow, based on all the Reddit comments I read it'll do exactly what I need it to. It's funny seeing people get all het up about things like there being no 4K display - on a 6" screen! I can't even tell the difference between 1080p and 720p on my 14" laptop let alone a tiny phone. As someone who worked in Currys back in 1993 when anything larger than a 21" TV was "woah, we got the big guns in today" I'm still amazed that I can watch telly on the toilet, so maybe I'm part of the long tail.
I know what you mean, I'm much the same. We have an LCD Toshiba TV that my mum got free with a phone contract about 15+ years ago and gave to us probably 5 years ago. 2 of my friends have said "what the f
k is that" when they've come to visit 
works and looks fine to me!
The main thing I'm hoping for in my next phone is less lag or delay, they keyboard lag in particular when using certain apps on the A52 is getting really irritating.
Keep us posted on the Xperia, it would be good to hear your feedback. The size and weight appeals, as well as the headphone jack as I only have AUX Input in my car and no Bluetooth streaming.
k is that" when they've come to visit works and looks fine to me! The main thing I'm hoping for in my next phone is less lag or delay, they keyboard lag in particular when using certain apps on the A52 is getting really irritating.
Keep us posted on the Xperia, it would be good to hear your feedback. The size and weight appeals, as well as the headphone jack as I only have AUX Input in my car and no Bluetooth streaming.
rossmc88 said:
iPhone SE is the best small phone
The best isn't always needed though, sometimes it has to be good enough with a few extra bells and whistles. I actually watched a youtube comparison of the two phones, and while the Apple has the better processor and graphics chip, a lot of the rest of it the Xperia won out on, including 2.5x battery capacity, larger screen, larger screen-to-phone ratio, standard headphone jack and SD card slot. Plus it's £499 vs £299 so it's not really a fair comparison.ScotHill said:
Xperia gets delivered tomorrow, based on all the Reddit comments I read it'll do exactly what I need it to. It's funny seeing people get all het up about things like there being no 4K display - on a 6" screen! I can't even tell the difference between 1080p and 720p on my 14" laptop let alone a tiny phone. As someone who worked in Currys back in 1993 when anything larger than a 21" TV was "woah, we got the big guns in today" I'm still amazed that I can watch telly on the toilet, so maybe I'm part of the long tail.
Mine arrived yesterday. Never knew that Royal Mail delivered on Sundays! So far it's proving decent enough. Nice and compact, and remarkably light, makes that Poco feel like a slab of lead! Do notice the slight drop in performance but it's nothing significant. Screen is nice and clear although I don't think the colours are especially vibrant for an OLED. Camera is adequate but not fantastic, although the 2x telephoto lens is useful to have.
I've seen a couple of mentions for the iPhone SE, funnily enough I happen to have the 2022 SE provided by work. It's got its upsides, being nice and compact and having a decent camera. But I don't like iOS or the lack of expandable storage, and it's expensive, all of which which rule it out for my personal phone.
Okay so the phone arrived yesterday, it looks great, the photos and video are far better than any of my previous phones, the display is sharp, I can scale up the text to a comfortable level, all my contacts, messages and apps transferred straight across from the previous phone's cloud backup, but... I'm still using my old phone. It might be that I don't quite know where the tiny screwdriver is to get the SIM card out of the old phone, but I was disappointed when I held the new one that it just didn't feel right somehow, like the balance was wrong or I was always on the verge of dropping it. And then I realised that because modern phones are basically made out of glass and Teflon I was fighting against zero friction to stop it slipping away! It's like the proverbial bar of soap.
This is the old phone (although please note I don't have lizard hands like the model does):
It not only fits really snuggly into a hand and into pretty much any pocket, but it has rugged textured corners that stop it sliding around the place. If I didn't need the better camera (two small children to make a record of) and my eyes weren't getting a bit messed up by the small text I'd be leaning towards carrying on with this and sending the Xperia back.
Will try it round the house for a few days but maybe also look into some kind of grip tape to put up the sides.
This is the old phone (although please note I don't have lizard hands like the model does):
It not only fits really snuggly into a hand and into pretty much any pocket, but it has rugged textured corners that stop it sliding around the place. If I didn't need the better camera (two small children to make a record of) and my eyes weren't getting a bit messed up by the small text I'd be leaning towards carrying on with this and sending the Xperia back.
Will try it round the house for a few days but maybe also look into some kind of grip tape to put up the sides.
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