I am looking for a smaller sized smartphone, and I believe this might be something for FairPhone to consider.
Most of the smartphones are >5inch, which doesn’t comfortabilly fit in your pocket… If you look for a small sized smartphone (i.e. max. 4.5 inch) you unfortunately end up with the Iphone XE as only good choice…
So, are there more people here that would like for FairPhone to develop a smaller sized Fair Smartphone?
regards.
Welcome to the Fairphone community.
There are already several discussions (for example Will there be a mini phone?) about wishes for a new or existing Fairphone. Some want it smaller, some want it bigger, some with an OLED screen, some with a ‘standard’ LED…
But as all Smartphones are still growing, and a tiny manufacturer as Fairphone can’t afford to produce different hardware versions, I would guess, that the next FP will not have a smaller screen.
Yes I would love a smaller phone. My previous phone which I still have and is working is a Samsung A70 Alpha. The whole phone is the size of the usable part of the Fairphone screen. It’s screen is 4.6" and it about half the thickness of the Fairphone with a case and a removable battery. Sadly it doesn’t have wifi calling, that’s the only reason I don’t use it.’
However with all that agreement with your desires I am in accord with @Incanus in that it is extremely unlikely that Fairphone will make a smaller phone.
I suggest you contact the manufacturer of your pockets or manually update your pockets, via the old fashioned needle and thread process 
I agree with Incanus and amoun, it’s certainly primarily an economic decision that keeps Fairphone producing just one phone model (one size factor). Apart from making it easier for Fairphone to pay their own bills (don’t underestimate how big a challenge that is for Fairphone), it also helps massively to keep spare parts both available and affordable.
I myself have used the small form factor Fairphone 1 until the beginning of this year and was sceptical how I would be able to cope with the much larger Fairphone 3 resp. Fairphone 3+ then. However, I have to admit that in the three months since I switched to the FP3+, I have adapted to the size change (I even added the bulky protective case on it) with much more ease than I would have expected. I think it helped that the “growth” (at least compared to the predecessor model FP2) was mainly in the height rather than the width of the phone.
But especially the height makes it more uncomfortable to use it, because one hand ain’t enough anymore, whereas the width might make it more bulky in the pants.
I like smaller phones too, therefore i kept my business iPhone SE first generation as long as possible and switched only a few months ago to the iPhone 12 mini.
My personal FP3 still feels too big for me, but I understand the necessities the modular concept comes along with.
OK Still looking at this
The Samsung is as old as the FP3 from 2019
There’s the Samsung S10e 5.9" with next to no bezel.
Google Pixel 4 5.7"
I could go on, but if the issue of Fairtrade is paramount for a new investment in the human population and planet ecology, rather than your pocket mismatch or discomfort at using two hands ~ Fairphone it has to be.
A valid point, but only if you want to oppose any growth of the device. If the device is to grow, growing it in height is actually the lesser evil for one hand use (which means one thumb use). The thumb’s reach should be roughly the same in horizontal (width) and vertical (height) dimension. But while it is at least possible (while uncomfortable, yes, and a bit risky) to extend its reach in the vertical dimension – by moving the device up and down in your hand with the thumb –, extending its reach in the horizontal dimension is basically impossible – you just cannot move the device freely to the side when it’s already hitting the inside of your thumb’s base.
It doesn’t make it uncomfortable to use. You have to scroll less, and have a bigger UI. There is also a mode on developer settings where you can use the interface with 75% of the screen, one hand mode IIRC in Lineage OS.
For me, it’s uncomfortable. And when I use one hand mode, I have a big bulky phone with a small screen area, doesn’t make any sense to me.
I agree.
And I don’t think, that growth in height or width can be compared to one another or exchanged.
When growing in width, it is not only hard to use the thumb, but for people with small(er) hands it becomes increasingly difficult to even hold the phone in one hand. That’s why 7" phone “tablets” are painful for making calls with the device put to the ear.
Great for streaming videos and everything multimedia and internet, but way off for the basic function those devices developed from: making calls. OK, I know, that nowadays users tend to use headsets or speakers and holding the phone in their hands. Still …
Definitely don’t want to walk around with my ears full of gadgets or have to put them in when I get a call. Small is great.
I’d argue one hand mode isn’t for 24/7 use. Then you’re better off with a smaller phone. I get it with regards to small hands, and in a way I actually like the idea (I love iPhone SE, FWIW), but for me the smaller the screen the less useful the device. I need space… not even a touch screen specifically, but space for UI. Anyway, imagine the following: a world where Fairphone could innovate different deviations of the FP3. Which deviations of the FP3 series would people wanna see? Such would require extensive market research.
I use headset with ANC for music and video, and its great (except if its SBC). You can use ambient noise if required for safety, and it works great with calls as well (well, I had to figure out they got a ‘wind mode’ to ignore the wind here). I don’t even hold my smartphone then. Heck, its illegal here to control one on a bicycle.
No derivatives and definitely no deviants 
If Fairphone can reduce the size by getting rid of the bezel that would be great. Just requires smaller modules which I’m sure is possible.
Those must be tiny pockets, or maybe you pants are too tight. I can easily fit a 7.9 inch iPad mini in the pockets of my skinny jeans.
With that said I want 16:9 phones back!
I agree - smaller is nice for one-handed use and pocket-ability.
I was OK with the size of the Fairphone 2, but haven’t upgraded to the FP3/3+ because its larger than I’d like. My wife even finds the FP2 to wide and therefore unwieldy.
One option, given that Fairphone is a small company with a large task already, would be to pick up something like an Xperia XZ1 Compact (about the size of the iPhone SE) and put Lineage OS on it. Or if you’re really after smaller one-handed ease of use, get a used Jolla Phone 1 running Sailfish OS. The whole UI is designed for one-handed swipe use. Or check the Xperia phone’s Sailfish runs on to see if any of them are small enough.
You’d get an up-to-date OS on a 2nd-hand phone, which though lacking modular repairability is still an environmentally friendly choice as it keeps an older phone out of the landfill.
The size of the FP3 almost kept me from buying it. Fortunately it is not too large for the pockets in my pants. But if the FP4 is any larger I would not buy it. Probably wouldn’t anyway if the FP3 while still good.
Hi Wouter,
Apple has reportedly stopped the production of the iPhone 12 Mini because of lackluster demand. You have to consider the ecomomies of scale – the entire Fairphone project is challenging from this point of view. I assume that a smaller Fairphone model for the few (!) people who would personally prefer such a device is not commercially viable. An wishful thinking will simply not work here.
Sorry,
Thomas
Right now the smartphone market is a circus, literally. Bezel genocide, ugly notches, 20.5:9 screen ratios. Madness. A nightmare for someone who is using his phone for reading, not just watching cat videos.
I dream of a 16:9 phone without ugly notches (looking at Nokia 6.1). That would be perfect for me as I read a lot. But, it will probably never happen, I got more chance inventing time machine and travel back to 2015 and stay there forever.
It just means less scrolling, and scrolling is what people do. I challenge everyone to try a dual monitor setup with a vertical (!!) monitor. I also heard a lot of good things about vertical mouse (to combat RSI), so maybe vertical Is The Way 
As for notch, I honestly don’t even notice the front facing camera on my work smartphone (SGS20). The not perfectly aligned screen protector is more annoying. But ultimately, what I miss is easily accessible (not DIP switches like Pinephone) hardware killswitches on microphones and cameras.
I get it, few people read books on their phones, I could get away with portrait mode 5 years ago, now landscape is the only way. But I’m terribly spoiled too, well, all of us are really. I used to enjoy reading books on Motorola E398, that was 3 years before Kindle.