I need a small smartphone

[Blackpuddin]

Been using an iPhone 13 Mini for the last few months, bought as an official Apple refurb, but getting very frustrated with its foibles. It won't focus on x1 shots, tells me to move further away (??), I end up going to 0.5x. Sometimes the pics come out upside down. It won't transfer pics via WhatsApp, it just says 'preparing' but nothing happens. Won't expand BBC videos to landscape format. Won't give me a going up the screen view on Google maps. There's a constant warning on Settings telling me some iCloud data isn't syncing.

OS is fully up to date on 18.4.1. Talked through some of these issues with Apple last year but still have them today.

I'm looking for a similarly small, simple replacement, ie not much more than a 6in screen. Would go Android if there's a good one. Don't need lots of bells and whistles, as I don't use my phone to watch films or play games. Things like the Asus or Pixel seem to fit the bill but they're expensive! Compactness and ease of use are the most important things for me.

I'd really appreciate any thoughts and recommendations, thanks.

[Magnum 475]

I’d start by taking it to an Apple Store & walking through these problems with one of their experts. It sounds to me like an underlying issue with hardware, and as a refurb you get full Apple warranty - they’ll probably replace it for you.

[dontlookdown]

Isn't it annoying the way all the 'good' phones have become huge? I also like a smaller phone, so I can type one handed with my not-giant-sized mitts.

The a series Pixels are generally a bit smaller than the regular models. Not sure which number they are up to now - 8 or 9 maybe.

I have a 6a which is a good size and a perfectly ok phone. A bit on the heavy side but would do what you want. Quite an old model now though, prob more of a 2nd hand choice.

[Blackpuddin]

Magnum 475 said:

I’d start by taking it to an Apple Store & walking through these problems with one of their experts. It sounds to me like an underlying issue with hardware, and as a refurb you get full Apple warranty - they’ll probably replace it for you.

Yes I should do that but the Genius Bar booking page has become unfindable for me, I did have it before but simply cannot find it anywhere now. Is there some sort of limit on visits or something?

[Donbot]

I recently bought a Motorola Edge 50 Neo, mainly for the (relatively) small size. It's a nice phone.

[Blackpuddin]

dontlookdown said:

Isn't it annoying the way all the 'good' phones have become huge? I also like a smaller phone, so I can type one handed with my not-giant-sized mitts.

The a series Pixels are generally a bit smaller than the regular models. Not sure which number they are up to now - 8 or 9 maybe.

I have a 6a which is a good size and a perfectly ok phone. A bit on the heavy side but would do what you want. Quite an old model now though, prob more of a 2nd hand choice.

Yes, I just want something that will fit into my pocket. I had a Samsung Galaxy before the iPhone but the charging port became too wobbly to use.

[Blackpuddin]

Donbot said:

I recently bought a Motorola Edge 50 Neo which I mainly bought for the (relatively) small size. It's a nice phone.

I'm afraid I had a bad experience with Motorola immediately before buying the iPhone, a Razr foldable one. Half of it went blank and I lost all confidence in it, had to go through a big battle to get a refund so I won't be buying from them again.

[Magnum 475]

Blackpuddin said:

Yes I should do that but the Genius Bar booking page has become unfindable for me, I did have it before but simply cannot find it anywhere now. Is there some sort of limit on visits or something?

Not that I’m aware of. That said, I’ve never used a Genius Bar.

[Griffith4ever]

Moto Edge 50 Neo - got one - £200 ish, a little smaller than most of the market, excellent phone and camera.

[Quattr04.]

What about a iPhone SE, they’ve just discontinued it but they were actually about the same size as a iPhone 8. I think the screen is 4.7 inches

[Blackpuddin]

Managed to get a Genius Bar appointment for this afternoon. I'll let them have a go at it and take my 2024 MB Air in at the same time to try and get that sorted too. That keeps telling me it hasn't done a backup in 200-odd days because it wasn't plugged into the mains whenever I've done it (even though it was).

[Blackpuddin]

Quattr04. said:

What about a iPhone SE, they’ve just discontinued it but they were actually about the same size as a iPhone 8. I think the screen is 4.7 inches

Believe it or not I got two of those when they came out, one for me and one for the missis, but got rid of both shortly after as they were painfully slow. Maybe I'm not meant to own a mobile!!

[Blackpuddin]

John Lewis is selling the Google Pixel 7a for £249. It's a bit big at 6.1in, the iPhone 13 Mini I've got is 5.5in.

https://www.johnlewis.com/google-pixel-7a-smartpho...

I'll see how we get on at the iStore this afternoon.

[frisbee]

You need to compare the physical dimensions of the phone not just the screen size. I went from an SE to a 16 Pro, the screen is a lot bigger but because it extends to all edges of the phone + there is no home button it is only a few mm's physically larger.

[the-norseman]

Blackpuddin said:

Managed to get a Genius Bar appointment for this afternoon. I'll let them have a go at it and take my 2024 MB Air in at the same time to try and get that sorted too. That keeps telling me it hasn't done a backup in 200-odd days because it wasn't plugged into the mains whenever I've done it (even though it was).

Sounds like you might need some lessons of them on how to use the stuff.

[Blackpuddin]

the-norseman said:

Blackpuddin said:

Managed to get a Genius Bar appointment for this afternoon. I'll let them have a go at it and take my 2024 MB Air in at the same time to try and get that sorted too. That keeps telling me it hasn't done a backup in 200-odd days because it wasn't plugged into the mains whenever I've done it (even though it was).

Sounds like you might need some lessons of them on how to use the stuff.

Ha yes, tho in fairness to me the Apple guy reckons there are problems with both the phone and the Air that I took to them so they're going to try and sort both. Said something about accelerometers and a few other big words I didn't understand. Had to put down a £200 deposit to get a loaner phone in the meantime, which will cost me £20. If the problems are software related, even though that's surely gonna be Apple software (?), that's not covered by the 1 year warranty. If it turns out to be hardware, that is covered (scratches head).

[arfur]

Hope you get them fixed ... If not I'd suggest a Samsung Zflip - a 4 or 5 or 6. I've had a 3 and currently have a 5. Best phone I've ever had tbh

I've skipped the 6 as keep phones 2 years so will get a 7 assuming there is one later in the year

[Blackpuddin]

arfur said:

Hope you get them fixed ... If not I'd suggest a Samsung Zflip - a 4 or 5 or 6. I've had a 3 and currently have a 5. Best phone I've ever had tbh

I've skipped the 6 as keep phones 2 years so will get a 7 assuming there is one later in the year

I'm a bit scarred by my experience with the Motorola Razr flip phone which I thought would be the answer until it lost its top screen after a month, leading to a lot of grief between me and Motorola before I got a refund. I bought it direct from Motorola but they were trying to fob me off to some retailer I'd never heard of.

[Tymb]

OP - hopefully they’ll sort it out. I’ve got the iphone 13 mini and don’t think I have any of the problems. Will focus down to about 7cm, use WhatsApp all the time with no issues, bbc and google both seem to work fine.

If your using icloud have you run out of space? Possibly cause an issue if sending photos?

I have had mine from new, am a bit weary of second hand phones after the first iphone ( a 7) I bought turned out to be a dud. Looked perfect and worked fine for a few months. When I took it into Apple, it was a case of Oh you bought this in Memphis, no never been there. Turned out it had a known hardware fault that they would have fixed if I’d been the original owner and was unfortunately outside giffgaff’s warranty period.

[Blackpuddin]

My refurb 13 Mini thinks it's in London, presumably that's where the first owner lived. Don't use iCloud to my knowledge. After I told Apple guy that the phone wouldn't switch to landscape format on videos to make them bigger he reckoned there was probably a hardware fault somewhere. He said something about gyroscopes I think. I told him it wouldn't focus on the normal x1 setting, only on the 0.5 setting. He was a man of few words but I believe he was taking it all in.
Can't open gmail with this loaner phone because 2 step verification is on and you can't turn it off two weeks after you've activated it. This is a problem because in order to get gmail going I need to read a 2-figure code Apple has sent to (have a guess?): my gmail account. I did notice that the Apple guy moved swiftly on from that issue without addressing it when I was in the shop. Hopefully it will work on my repaired phone when I get that back but who knows.