Palm’s Tiny Phone Sucks, but How About an iPhone nano?

Originally published at: https://tidbits.com/2019/03/04/palms-tiny-phone-sucks-but-how-about-an-iphone-nano/

Most Apple users won’t be interested in the new Palm, a super tiny Android phone that’s also deeply flawed. But what might an iPhone with similar proportions look like? How would it work? And would anyone want it? Let’s take a flight of fancy!

Interestingly, the Palm Phone is pretty much exactly the size that the current iPod Touch would be if it had no top or bottom bezel. The iPod Touch does most things an iPhone can do — a touch slowly, these days, and with a screen smaller than most apps are happy with, but anyway …

I thought you made an interesting suggestion to have an iPhone SE2 be essentially an iPhone SE with all the bezels trimmed off. That would be one very svelte phone. And anybody who’s content with the screen size of the SE would likely be ok with this new device. I would wonder about battery capacity of such a small iPhone. Removing the headphone jack could help, but I doubt battery capacity would make it back to close to where it is on the current SE.

Personally, I’d rather have it the other way around for an SE2. Make it the same physical size as the current SE, but trim all the bezels. That would give you a screen roughly the size of the iPhone 8’s, but in an enclosure as compact as the current SE. I’m sure it wouldn’t be cheap, but IMHO most of the SE followers like it for its compactness, and not because they absolutely refuse to spend north of $500 on an iPhone.

The Apple Watch is a reasonable “model” for an iPhone Nano - particularly potential functionality and battery life. The big advantage of the watch is that it is hard to lose if strapped to your wrist or charging by the bedside. I think an iPhone Nano would be too easy to lose unless worn like a fob watch or necklace.
My AW3 does not have an alpha-numeric keypad of course - which could be a nuisance with an iPhone Nano.
BTW - Siri on Homepod turned out to be helpful when an iPhone was mislaid in our house. I just asked “Where is XXX’s iPhone” and he/it replied “Nearby” and got it to sound a tone.

Amen, Bro.

But leave some bezel. It has gotten so that you can’t physically hold/touch/grab anywhere on the front without triggering something, when all you wanted to do was to pick the dang thing up.

I’d consider an iPhone nano.

Currently using an iPhone SE and an IPad mini to have a small phone always available and a big screen as an option. I don’t want to carry a bigger tablet as I’m carrying a 13 inch MacBook Pro for work and having a 27 inch iMac for heavy work.

I don’t like the idea of an iPhone 6–8 and bigger sized phones as I don’t want a big phone in my pocket all the time. And, somehow I like the added life coach support of having a smaller screen on a phone to not be too comfortable doing work and spending time with it. Smaller screen makes it naturally inconvient in a good way to not lose yourself all the time for the digital world. When you need to grab your IPad mini for a more convenient user experience you know that now you’re giving your time to the digital life instead of your children or other loved ones. I know it sounds silly and propably no other has these thoughts, but then again, why are there Screen Time restrictions in iOS devices nowadays, heh.

I am regularly wearing an Apple Watch to get notifications silently from my iPhone. I keep my phone on silent and not-vibrating as my watch does a better job in vibrating on my wrist. I’d prefer having an even smaller phone than my iPhone SE.

Looking forward for any development on an iPhone nano!

I’m fine with the SE. Just right for in my pocket. I’d feel embarrassed having a phone in my hand all the time looking like a zombie. SE battery life is fine, too.

As an SE fan and holdout for its replacement… I’m up for anything that’s small, robust, got good battery life and a solid camera. I use it to photograph and listen to audio, that’s about it, quick scans of news etc, doesn’t need to do a lot. I like the idea of svelte but robust counts too, give me a bezel to hang onto and keep the glass away from the edge.

Which is exactly the problem with the damn Apple TV remote. Cannot even touch it to pick it up without something happening. A real PITA.

Personally I have no issue with my phone running Android – my laptop, desktop, iPad and iPod are more than enough of the Apple ecosystem for this longtime TidBITS reader. I wanted a device for phone calls and texts, and am fairly happy with my ZTE Cymbal T giving me smartphone features in a durable flip-phone form factor (I do wish the camera was better). And it was way cheaper than anything Apple is likely to offer.

Believe it or not I still use a 5S, just because of its size. Since I actually use it as a phone and don’t use it for streaming or anything like that it works fine. Even better, my wife has an LG flip-phone!

I remember when cell phones first came out everybody was trying to get the smallest one. What happened?

Connecting to the Verizon discontinuing 3G network thread, Isn’t the ZTE Cymbal T going to stop working at the end of 2019? This PC magazine review says it’s a TracFone exclusive which runs on Verizon’s network. Even though the Cymbal T is a 4G LTE phone, the review says it doesn’t support HD Voice and Verizon seems to be saying after the shutdown, phones need to support both 4G LTE and HD Voice. Maybe the review is wrong or outdated.

The Cymbal T’s screen is small but it is not that small, it weighs more than an iPhone SE, 7, or 8. Its long edge, when closed, is slightly smaller than the SE but it’s slightly wider and much thicker.

Curtis, that may be true – in which case I got several years use cheap, and will need to start shopping again sigh

My SE is perfect for me. I nearly bought a 5s before the SE was announced, not knowing the SE would be the same size. Glad I held out.

Diane

Too bad - I had bookmarked it this morning to show my SO, who has to replace his dead RAZR soon.

Diane

I’m not sure it would be acceptable to your SO, but right now Apple is still selling boxed unlocked iPhone SE models. 32 GB for $249 is quite a steal IMHO.

I agree, and I think there will be market for an SE2 at something a little north of $500. The PalmDroid or whatever they call it sounds like it’s not as nearly functional as either a Watch or a first generation iPhone, and it’s neither here nor there. And it doesn’t even sound as fully functional as the cheapest below $150 Android phones currently out in the wild, or bottom feeder smart watches.

What I don’t get is that if you have to link the PalmDroid to an Android, why not buy a better, svelter Android or a smart Android watch.

Palm Pilot was a great and innovative device back in the day, but a few years later Blackberry gave Palm a run for its money. Then Motorola, Nokia, etc. began them both in their derrières. Since Apple and Android took over as kings of the hill, the competition remains very stiff. And promoting the PalmDroid as the perfect fit for a Kate Spade wristlet isn’t exactly smart marketing or in good taste since Ms. Spade committed suicide about a year ago because sales were steadily and rapidly tanking even after selling off controlling stock.

Thanks! I thought those were sold out. Verizon has some 6s’s for $120 but you need a new phone number. He was going to check a pawn shop to see what they had. He doesn’t want to do a smart phone but is questioning why he’d spend $120 on a flip phone.

Diane

I had the 5s before the SE came out. My only regret is I could have used a bit more RAM. The camera is surprisingly good. I use it for track videos.

I know exactly what you mean. When I went from my old 6 to a new SE I was amazed what a difference 1->2 GB RAM makes. Especially Safari is way more useful when you can swipe between tabs kept in memory rather than having to constantly reload and re-render.