Small phones are gone, but this one reminds me of the good old days
There are no more options for a truly small smartphone, but the iPhone 15 gets close enough to get me feeling nostalgic.
There are no more high-end small phones – nowadays, even the cheapest budget phones come equipped with 6-inch displays, and while I appreciate the immersive power of a nice large screen, I do sometimes find myself missing days gone by.
Though we didn’t know it at the time, the introduction of large smartphones – then (and sometimes still) called phablets – kicked off an extinction event that ended with the discontinuation of the iPhone 13 mini in 2022, now a rare find itself.
We’re at a point now where the term “mini” seems to have lost all meaning – for example, the upcoming Vivo X200 Pro Mini measures in at 6.31 inches, which is actually the slightest bit larger than the 6.3-inch iPhone 16 Pro.
It might come as a surprise given my previous tribute to the OnePlus Open, with its massive 7.82-inch inner display, and how quickly I fell for the 6.67-inch screen on the Xiaomi 14T, but I’ve still got some hope for the return of the small phone.
Before switching to my trusty 6.39-inch Huawei Mate 20 Pro (and, since joining TechRadar, a handful of equally large phones), I was daily driving an iPhone 5S.
I remember the 5S fondly for its headphone jack, convenient Touch ID fingerprint scanner, and indeed its incredible portability. Today’s phones are hardly a bother to lug around, but the iPhone 5S simply disappeared into any pocket you put it in, an unobtrusive and useful companion in the gym, on a hike, or at a concert, and while that small screen couldn’t display much at once it made getting to your desired app or website an absolute breeze. I never thought I’d use a phone like it again.
That was until I started using the iPhone 15 about a week ago to brush up on my iOS know-how. Sure, there may not be any small phones left, but here was one that fit in one hand and could be easily used that way, had (nearly) all the mod-cons of today’s iPhones, and that feels compact in my pocket compared to the super-sized flagships I’ve been using the past few years.
Once the initial haze of deja vu passed, I started getting to grips with just how much power Apple packs into the base model iPhone’s 6.1-inch frame. Having the full power of the A16 Bionic chip means I fly through day to day social networking and web browsing, with more than enough power for games. And as our iPhone 16 review finds, this year’s iPhone brings even more performance, ready for the launch of Apple Intelligence.
More than a feeling
The back features color-infused back glass (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
The iPhone 15 also just feels great to use. At an aspect ratio of 19.5:9, the display is of a fairly standard relative height, but the corners are more rounded than a typical phone which makes everything feel satisfyingly compressed. The huge advancement in bezel reduction in the 10 years between the iPhone 5S and iPhone 15 means the latter is only about an inch taller, which takes me back to a time when phones were more like dashboards to be checked than immersive media machines. The only thing I acutely miss when using the iPhone 15 is a 120Hz refresh rate – but that’s another story altogether.
Another underrated upside of using a small phone is the effect compact ergonomics have on photography. Being able to swing the iPhone 15 from my pocket to my hand and instantly open the camera app means I can capture moments more quickly than I would with a super-sized flagship, and my hands and wrists have an easier time holding the phone in landscape mode.
Apple does offer one smaller phone – the current iPhone SE inhabits the body of the iPhone 8 – but its camera system, display technology, and chipset are all somewhat dated compared to the iPhone 15. What’s more, we expect the iPhone SE could soon inherit the design of the iPhone 14, 6.1-inch display included. This could become the new standard for the small end of Apple’s phone lineup.
So, unless Apple brings out a 5S-sized iPhone with today’s internals (iPhone SE SE?), the iPhone 15 is probably as close as I’ll get to the feeling of my former phone – but with this much portable power, that’s no problem at all.
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