One more to chime in: The size of the FP2 made me hesitate, coming from a 4.3" Z1 Compact. Now I have it, the 5" seems acceptable, though still a bit bulky, so I’d also have preferred a slightly smaller size (just for future reference :-p).
Tendencies as I could read them just a few days ago does show that sizes of smartphones rather increase than decrease. This can also be easily reviewed when comparing different devices over the last few years.
Somehow the majority of customers seem to prefer larger devices over smaller.
To stay in focus FP should not drift too far off.
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If there would be a FP2 mini (between 3 and 4"), i would buy it immediately. FP2 is too big sorry.
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Hello,
I wish also a FP mini. But I think the most importent is that the phone has a good screen-to-body ratio (>66%). It is useless, when you have a small screen like an iPhone with 4,7" and the body is the same as other phones with a 5,2" display.
A phone in the size of Motorola Droid Mini or S4 Mini would be great. (125x62x9)
If you look through differend forums our anouncments there are a lot of people searching for a phone, which suites in a pocket without any restriction.
The new “Minis” from other brands with at least 5" are just a bad joke.
Fitted body size of ~125x63x9, ~4,3"-4,5" screen with a resolution of 720x1280, Android 7x, Dual-SIM, decent cameras, at least 2 GB RAM, 16GB + expandable Memomery, LTE and a battery capacity of 2400mAh it would be perfect.
Or something like the Sony Xperia Z3/5 Compact just as a Fairphone.
Kind regards
BT38
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Completely agree. Moreover, I found myself thinking (many times) that my FP1U is till well worth having for the size it has! Forget for a moment the fact that it weights like a rock… It feels great in the hand!
I think the Iphone SE is the best compact device out there (even sony’s are good but the it comes to software and…), for someone who wnats to stay productive and use a phone for:
- Call
- Music
- Casual browsing when in need
I think something near 4" is the best… I think a lot of people in this community would share this main interests… After all lot of us are stil using android 4.2.
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In all probability there will be no Fairphone 2 mini. Fairphone are currently planning the Fairphone 3.
And Fairphone want your input on that:
“Lastly, in this concepting phase we do a lot of research to make sure that a new model is as appealing as possible to as may people. If you want to provide us with your input, please sign up to our newsletter where we will send out soon a survey to gather insights in the opinions and ideas of our community.”
I don’t know whether that survey was already sent, but I guess if so, there would have been some thread on it in this forum … can’t find any, so perhaps you want to sign up.
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I have always preferred small sized phones too, so I would be in favor of a second fairphone product line “mini”.
But, I can’t find any statistics about the market share for these. Sure, the brands are building mini/compact/whatever phones but how are going those sales compared to the trendy wider screens ?
Even then, I know a bunch of people who want a cheap and simple phone because they have no use of all the internet features and apps (or often don’t know how to use them).
Cheap does not go well with fair, and I’m pretty sure most of these people would not buy a more expensive mini phone just for ethical reasons, because they don’t want to spend too much money on a tool they don’t use much.
So even if there is market for this, it might not (or might ?) be a good fit for Fairphone.
Most of people I know that really use their smartphone all the time and for many different features do prefer big screens.
Does anyone have some numbers here ? I’d love to be proven wrong !
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… don’t know, but make it smaller. People that are not hunting for benchmarks don’t need a pocket cheese tray. iPhone SE form factor should be recommended as MAX!
Lino
Hi @lino1, I moved your post to this related topic. Let’s continue the discussion here. You might also be interested in the argumentation above.
fine, nice to see my point of view shared.
FP2 is airborne, that settles the matter. Maybe there is a FP3 so it’s every minute worth to reanimate this threat.
Let me tell you guys that there is a correlation near to 1 with the size of a smartphone and the owners obsessively tampering it’s functions. If I was a staff manager I would hire the one with the smallest Smartphone 
Lino
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I would buy the mini version (3.5") instantly!
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Others wants to have it bigger.
I don´t have any problem with the size as I generally don´t keep something like this in my trouser pocket. It´s good to be operated without the need of a touch pen and the size is still big enough to read without the need of a magnifying device or permanent resizing. If I wanted to have something smaller I would miss the practical use of any “smart” feature. I then would rather fallback to get a “dumbphone” just for phoning. I also judge this from the technical point of view to something called limit calculation in relation to design (how small can or should something be designed to still be properly (comfortable) operated.
Before my purchase of the FP2 I checked the size measurements and found it to be good for my needs. Also there was a foldable template available for download and print for those in need of such.
Reading through this forum I found posts of users not being quite comfortable with the size. I believe most users other than me did own handsets before the FP2, so before their purchase based on their experience they should know if the size would suit their expectations or not.
I am used to know what I am spending my money on, specifically such a hunk of more than 500€. But buying something like the FP2 and finding out after unboxing it that the size is not matching the personal expectations, somehow looks to me like (rich) people often keep it, not thoughtfully spending their money. Here is a solution though - simply buy the next phone of whatever type, maybe there´s more luck this time.
As it seems longevity and fairer conditions cannot overcome such simple expectations which in a matter of time drive users again to replace their FP2.
(One person here sold its FP2 specifically mentioning it being too big as one main reason)
I would hire the one not having the phone quickly at hand as this person may be able to concentrate on its (non-mobile phone related) job, for which it´s employed and paid for.
If there wasn´t the price which would rather rely on technical specs than only on size.
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Recently a German computer magazine named the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact “the last small high-end smartphone”. And it’s 5", just as the FP2 
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I am all for a small smartphone, but the default appears to be a larger screen with strong hardware so the smartphone has functionality of a tablet (saving the money and hassle of needing a tablet at the expense of some functionality). Furthermore, the Nokia N97 wasn’t a very popular device, nor was the N96. The Nokia N95 was though but it didn’t sport a keyboard. Your data is furthermore very out of date and doesn’t resemble the recent technological advancements. The ratio of the screen compared to the whole phone size has vastly increased since the release of the FP2 [1]. You can expect a newer FP with exactly the same physical size to have a bigger screen (and higher resolution / pixel density as well). The industry is overcoming challenges such as front camera and fingerprint reader. Whether and how a FP3 would overcome such challenges is an interesting point of debate, but ultimately a matter of speculation.
[1] I like to refer to Xiaomi who copy the popular trends very well. Current examples: https://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/xiaomi-phones
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Technically it should be possible to enhance the FP2’s concept of modularity and offer a unique approach:
- Small version with around 4" display and a smaller battery and a small case
- Large version with around 5.5" display and a larger battery and a large case
The large version could make use of spacers to fill gaps in the corpus.
To reduce the environmental footprint of this approach, a poll could be made to estimate demand of each version and succeedingly plan production volumes.
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I believe FP is listening already since a while. Now it has its foot in the market
and as a small company it may only can afford one next shot and hopefully catch even more customers for the next phone version.
For some customers FP2 is too big, for some yet too small. Developing a smaller may catch some customers who wasn´t attracted by the actual size, but will distract users who was waiting for an even larger version.
Same would happen vise versa.
Sounds reasonable in a way. But imagine someone who has paid for the larger model (probably a higher price as well) having got much space (air) with the larger screen and better handling but without more functionality…would you for example be happy with this situation?
The drawback if using the available space in a larger model (casing) by more functionality…again disappointed/distracted customers would complaint how come FP decided to do this. They maybe would had bought the smaller model if the same functionality was given. Many users still think the more the better even if not all of the functions are used or needed.
A next step in modularity could help here if having more standardized modules with compatible form factor. The bigger model then could keep more than the smaller, but both would still be customizable.
This remains to be a very tricky tightrope walk after all.
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As far as I know Sony’s Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact share the same features besides the display and the battery. I think a larger battery alone could make up for the lack of “bonus” features.
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I don’t understand this sentence. I never used any front cam, so it’s garbage to me, and recently I just stuck a black plastic shutter on it, to take back the control of “when it could work or not”. Taking back the control cost me nearly nothing, and now it’s my phone. I like my cams when they are : « Mine to open, mine to keep »…
Regarding finger print readers, it have been a short fashion in laptops as well, and it seems to me to be disappearing, for the best. I never had difficulties to buy laptops without it.
These are not industry challenges, but useless gadgets.
One good point with big phones is that if something goes wrong with the climate change, we will still be able to put wax on the screen and use them as wax-tablet, like romans did (and like it was still used in some cases until late 19e century).
About outdated data, it’s interesting to get the point of view of another person whom spent a lot of time seeking the perfect size for a small computer to carry in pockets. It was Jeff Hawkins, the founder of Palm Computing. He said in an interview that he spent a year with different objects in his pockets to seek the best size. It’s interesting to see that Palms were, during 18 years with 3,7 to 3,9" screens. Looks like a reasonable choice, isn’t it ?
[PS: I would have like to edit my 1st post to add this last § somewhere near the end]
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[quote=“siltaar, post:72, topic:15405”]
I don’t understand this sentence.[/quote]
Well, the trend is that the screen to body ratio is increasing, and it is problematic with things which are normally on the front of a phone such as: hardware keyboard (used to be on front), light sensor, front camera, fingerprint reader. It doesn’t matter that you don’t like it. If you don’t like it, don’t use it. Simple. Market demand however, is there.
You don’t even have the source code of all this ARM nonsense. You might wanna opt for POWER instead, its closer to open source. If you never use your front camera, you might as well put a sticker on it. I’ve done that w/my laptop but not with my smartphone.
It is being integrated in the touchpad or a key for similar size related reasons, and 2) the fingerprint is being replaced with facial recognition which isn’t yet mature (even current FaceID was simplified by Apple to push the technology).
This is opinion, not fact.
My opinion on it is more nuanced. It depends on the situation (it depends on risk assessment). For example, iPhone’s FaceID has a false positive of what, 1 in 100.000? That’s good enough against thieves, but not good enough against a government agency. Luckily, 3 ticks on the power button puts it off. If you can do the same with a fingerprint reader, then it is relatively safe.
Meanwhile, people who think their PIN is super secure are, well I’ll keep the word I wanted to use here before me since it isn’t very friendly.
I’ll just link this:
That doesn’t prove anything. They are RIP which equally doesn’t prove they were right or wrong.
The question is in the why and the research put into the why. Just stating they’ve done it for 18 years they must be right is a fallacy.
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Thx for the link, I remembered from this scene that Snowden only value passwords with a 12+ length. I’m using a longer PIN code than the legacy 4 digits, but I might have to reconsider this.
Palm is another example in my collection. I’m interested in the fact that they stuck to this size by choice, during 18 years, while nowadays phone screen size increase is presented as a technological progress.
The main argument for Steve Jobs to stick to 3,5" screen was human thumb size.
The main argument for Jeff Hawkins was pocket sizes.
(bad not exact link but still states it : http://www.designinginteractions.com/interviews/JeffHawkins )
We can also notice that :
- bigger screen means smaller battery life
- bigger screen are heavier
- easier to brake or scratch (at least statistically)
I’m also against touch-screen as it get dirty all the time… but that’s another debate.
You don’t even have the source code of all this ARM nonsense.
100% agreed. But it removes nothing from stuckable-plastic-shutters. About core system, my hope is with RISC V OpenRISC implementations :
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