As technology has evolved, so has screen size, but you might be tired of having to use a “bear claw” grip to hold your phone and are more than ready to ditch the two-hand grasp lifestyle. It might even be the case that you’ve always loved a compact phone since the early flip-phone days and just need an upgrade. While a tiny, yet performant phone may seem like a big ask in this market, we’ve got some suggestions for you whether you’re anAndroidoriPhoneloyalist.
In our eyes, there are two categories of compact phones: Traditional flat smartphones that opt for a slimmer width and smaller screen size, and clamshell phones with foldable displays. Selecting tiny, yet mighty options, you’ll find that a lot of these phones could easily makethe best smartphones listif it weren’t for all the larger-screen devices that literally and metaphorically take up the smartphone market spotlight (though the foldables are an exception to this rule, especially if we’re talking about thebest foldables on the market). Read on as we further unpack our selections so you can decide which compact phone best fits in your hand and life.
Apple iPhone 13 Mini
Apple iPhone SE 3 (2022)
Asus Zenfone 10
Samsung Galaxy S23
Motorola Razr+ 2023
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5
Apple has been along for the ride up from a 3.5-inch screen on the original iPhone to as wide as 6.7 inches on theiPhone 15 Pro Max. The good news is that you can still buy a new iPhone that won’t cramp your hand, and while you may have to give up some of the best features of the latest iPhone generations, you’ll still get a capable phone fit for streaming and scrolling.
The small iPhone to get
With a 5.4-inch screen, this is the most modern experience you’ll get with a compact iPhone. And because we’re talking about Apple, you’re able to bet the iPhone 13 mini will last you a long time.
TheiPhone 13 miniwill be the one to choose if you want something palm-able but with Apple’s modern iPhone design language. The colors pop on this 5.4-inch 1080p screen, the A15 Bionic chipset should keep apps running well into your many tomorrows, and the company is backing up that hardware with great long-term iOS support. That said, size does play a role in the compromises you’ll have to cope with when owning this device: battery cycles are shorter, there’s no under-display Touch ID sensor, and there’s no telephoto camera.
Apple no longer sells the device – just the primary iPhone 13 model – but you may still be able to find it at your carrier or a third-party retailer. You should be paying well under $500 for one.
Fittingly familiar
The iPhone SE (2022) keeps the pre-iPhone X days alive for those who have clung to the two other iPhone SEs that came before this one. It’s the smallest and most affordable of the phones on this list as well.
TheiPhone SE (2022)is the third device to keep the pre-iPhone X look – including the 4.7-inch 720p+ display, those chunky top and bottom bezels, and that classic home button and Touch ID combo – while bringing most of the core improvements that the iPhone 13 series had like 5G. As we said above, reliable iOS updates are also a given, so if “it just works” is stuck in your head as a mantra, this should fulfill it. While the single rear camera does come with some annoying lags, if you can pick one of these up for less than the current suggested price of $479, you might not complain too much.
Android phones
The buzz around Android as of late mostly surrounds that of foldable phones, and while nuanced and compact, they’re not your only option. If you’re looking to save not only on space, but some money as well, or perhaps you’re not quite ready to take the dive into a glass crease, these handsets offer a more traditional screen without compromising a compact hold.
Perfect package
The Zenfone 10 delivers flagship performance, has a great display and camera, but squeezes it into a comfortable one-handed, compact form.
For the past few years, Asus has focused its mobile efforts on pushing Android as hard as it can into a device as small as what will fit. TheZenfone 10is the company’s third wave in that push and it’s a pretty good one: the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 works with up to 16GB of RAM and gets a ton of cooling features to tackle all the games you’ll play, the videos you’ll shoot at the beach, and so much more. ZenUI has a sleeve full of tricks to let you glide around that 5.9-inch display with ease. Sadly, it’s no exception to the common rule with this size of phone of having mediocre-to-okay cameras, but we’re still easily talking about the best raw value in Android, hands down.
You’ll need to scope out all of Asus’s partner retailers to find the configuration you want, but current full pricing ranges between $700 and $800.
Compact cutting edge
The highly popular Galaxy S23 series starts with this fit-for-purpose entry. With a 6.1-inch screen, you get a pocketable phone that has all the Samsung trimmings you can take.
TheGalaxy S23nails the role of “best in show” with its 6.1-inch AMOLED display that just fits right into the body. It’s also got a full set of cameras for your wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto shots. And, most importantly for a lot of people, this Galaxy S device is equipped with a Snapdragon SoC instead of one from Samsung’s own fault-riddled Exynos line. Samsung is also doing a better job these days of extending Android software update support across its best devices, so you can expect to keep the S23 around for at least five years if you’re willing to persist with it.
Ahead of theGalaxy S24’s launch, pricing should definitely be top of mind, so make sure you’re paying less than $600 for an S23.
Foldable phones
You don’t have to be adventurous to go from flat to foldable phone. After several iterations over the years, it may even be possible to fall in love with the familiar clamshell flip again -with the flexibility of having both a smaller cover display and a larger, folding display enables you to keep your notification glances and text replies short and your YouTube and Netflix binges long all while sitting small in your hand.
Sharpest tool in the shed
In addition to being a great all-around phone with a foldable display, the highlight of the Motorola Razr+ has to be its cover display - you can use pretty much any app you want on it.
TheMoto Razr+, known in some places as the Moto Razr 40 Ultra, is probably the best item to come out of Motorola for a long, long time. It is no longer razor-thin and razor-sharp, but the entire package is light and a small-enough carry to fit into our parameters of “compact.” It’s got a vibrant 6.9-inch OLED display that closes in on itself cleanly and a just-as-colorful, massive (in relative terms) 3.6-inch cover display. The company has also tailored its take on Android to let users put on pretty much any app they wish to have on that cover without the perils of experimentation and error messages. It’s extremely powerful and, yet, power-efficient, so it lasts a long while with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset on board. In our opinion, it’s worth every penny of its full retail value.
The2023 Razrbears an honorable mention with a lower price point for the same compact form factor, but we think the pure utility that the Razr+ provides is enough to make it the better buy.
The all-round reliable choice
As the globally-established player in foldables, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 5 brings the familiarity of One UI, a fold-shut display, and, much like the Razr+, a bigger cover screen.
TheGalaxy Z Flip 5is Samsung’s latest and greatest clamshell - and that’s saying quite a bit given that weareon the fifth generation of this line. You’re getting brilliant, big displays, the familiarity of One UI, and great utility (if a bit stodgy since it requires finagling with Good Lock) with big performance and battery life in a petite form factor. It may be a generation-to-generation refinement, but it’s a great pick overall if you’re coming from an older slab phone.
Best compact smartphones: The bottom line
Our top choice of the list is the Asus Zenfone 10 because of the immense value it brings in terms of specifications and software utility to price. Ease of use heavily plays into our considerations when we’re talking about smaller phones, so the fact that ZenUI pushes shortcuts like a double-tap gesture for screenshots and a persistent quick access apps drawer really goes a long way. It also has a bunch of nerdier switches and toggles deep down, but our full review should cover those perfectly.
Similarly, the Moto Razr+ is also set up to perform well even with yesteryear’s top-tier Qualcomm chip. Battery life is great here as well as on the Zenfone. But when it comes to talking about the foldable aspect, it’s all about the cover display and the ability to use apps on it without much trouble at all.
We also didn’t want to neglect our iPhone user base with this list, but our recommendations are a bit more strained as Apple only caters hardware updates to small iPhone lovers occasionally. You might be surprised to learn that the third-gen iPhone SE would be our pick here, but when it comes to the day-to-day, battery life and Touch ID trump a full-body display for us. The basement-level price also helps.
How did we choose these compact smartphones?
If we’re being fully honest, the pool of small phones from reputable brands has shrunken over the years. Definitions of “compact” have also shifted relative to the growth in screen size of the many standard flagship offerings on sale. For Android phones, 6.1 inches is about as small as you can get in most markets - and that’s looking at the full price spectrum. Of course, when we’re talking about the Apple camp, well, what you see is all you get. And while we did consider booklet style foldables in addition to the clamshells, we did a little comparative imagining when their interior screens were closed and ultimately preferred the “fat wallet” feel of a flip to that of a “long candy bar” carry that a booklet phone often totes.
The editorial team at Pocket-lint has reviewed each of the phones we’ve listed here and has found enough good in them to fit one person or another. Our job here was just to make sure if you prize size above all else that you knew about all your options.
What’s the most important aspect about size in a compact smartphone?
For the slab phones, the biggest factor is the width because your hand will be cradling said width every time you pick up your device. Samsung’s Galaxy S23 will be the widest of the group at just under 71mm while the iPhone 13 Mini is our thinnest pick at roughly 64mm.
And as we’ve just mentioned with the foldables, we do think the clamshell form factor has the edge over booklets given that thickness is more or less a constant when they’re folded shut. Both the Moto Razr+ and Galaxy Z Flip 5 sit at 15mm thick when closed.
