KPH tech blog

I summed up my last blog by eliminating the Galaxy S20 and S20 FE from my shortlist, but adding the base Galaxy S21.

That means the S21 joins the Pixel 4a, the Pixel 5 and the Xperia 5 II on my shortlist.

But, the same thing that I have found is a positive for the Galaxy S21, is a negative for the Xperia 5 II.

Its size. It is the only thing that has so far stopped me from choosing the Xperia 5 II as My Next Phone.

Although the screen and body have a different aspect ratio to the Galaxy S20 FE, both phones are almost the same height as my Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus.

Whilst this means they’re not huge, the whole objective of my search for a new phone was to get a smaller, more compact phone than my S9 Plus – not one that’s the same size.

Otherwise, I might as well not bother with this search, end it here, and continue using my S9 Plus as though nothing’s changed.

It’s this issue I have with phone size, that got me thinking. I could eliminate the Xperia 5 II solely because of its size, but then I’d be missing out on its great features.

Therefore, an experiment needed to be conducted, and for that, I looked to my iPhone 6s.

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iPhone 6S, 11, and 12

Although the screen on my iPhone 6s is a bit too small for my liking, as a whole the phone feels like the perfect size.

As part of the experiment, I typed up Part 16 and Part 17 of this blog on my iPhone 6s. My Galaxy S9 Plus was plugged-in and charging at the time, so it was the perfect time to see if I could cope with a much smaller phone.

The reason for this, is because although I yearn for a smaller phone, how would I actually get on with it? Would it be easier or more difficult to use?

Therefore, doing tasks on my iPhone 6s – that I would normally do on my S9 Plus – would allow me to judge how comfortable it was to use a smaller phone. After all, if smaller wasn’t necessarily comfortable, then maybe the Xperia 5 II would be perfect?

For the most part, using my iPhone 6s as a main phone was great. Typing was comfortable, and the smaller keyboard wasn’t a problem. The only thing I would say is that, although my iPhone 6s is perfect for one-handed use, for two-handed usage it’s a bit too small.

I guess that’s how much I’ve gotten used to holding my S9 Plus with two hands, but it now means that the iPhone 12 mini would be too small. And, maybe also, the Pixel 4a.

According to Phone Arena’s size comparison tool, although the iPhone 12 mini has a bigger screen, the body height is a bit shorter than my iPhone 6s, meaning the two-handed typing experience would be even worse.

Discovering this about the iPhone 12 mini is a shame, as otherwise I’d say it was the perfect size.

But as I’ve now become accustomed to bigger phones, I guess my perfect phone would ideally need to have a 6-inch screen and minimal bezels.

It also means that my one-handed usage argument is no longer valid. That said, for outdoor, on-the-go usage, one-handed mode would still be a plus point, if not entirely essential, and would make a phone more useful.

Just because I’ve performed this experiment on an iPhone, it doesn’t mean I’m leaning towards iPhone’s – which I explored in detail in my blog about the iPhone 12 series – but it does mean that I would be happy with the size of the iPhone 11 or iPhone 12.

Although I yearn for a smaller phone than my S9 Plus, this discovery means that I now know that I would be comfortable with a slightly smaller phone.

But, not too small. It means that the Pixel 4a, Pixel 5 and Galaxy S21 perfectly fit this requirement.

But, the Sony Xperia 5 II doesn’t…

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My thoughts on my shortlist

My preference for a 6″ inch phone/screen means the Pixel 4a, Pixel 5 and Galaxy S21 would be the perfect size for me.

The recently announced Galaxy A72 5G looks perfect on paper, but its 6.7″ inch screen is too big – and the fact that the Galaxy S21 offers much better performance in a smaller package, means that I know I’m doing right by also dismissing the cheaper Galaxy A72. I’m not going to lie: 6.7″ is huge, and it’s way too big for my needs.

As I’m typing this particular blog on my S9 Plus, I’ve also come to realise that it’s simply too big for me. I don’t feel comfortable typing on it at all.

Therefore, I’m still where I was at the start of this journey in July 2020: I’d prefer an overall smaller phone. That means on size alone, both the Galaxy S20 FE and Xperia 5 II have now been eliminated from my shortlist.

While the Sony Xperia 5 II does have a narrower 21:9 aspect ratio, it’s still just as tall as my S9 Plus, so probably not the best phone for me.

On paper it looks great, especially with the Photo & Cinema Pro apps… but, those alone aren’t worth the money, and I’d be compromising on device size to get a few features that I already have in my DSLR camera.

The Xperia 5 II cameras also don’t have a Night mode – speaking to its niche nature as a phone for enthusiasts – but, it means it doesn’t really have enough features to entice me.

It would be great as a multimedia machine, and its cameras are impressive – especially the eye-tracking facility – but the missing Night Mode is a disadvantage.

I’ve come to rely heavily on the Night Mode on my S9 Plus over the last two-and-a-bit years, and it has been incredibly useful both at night and in adverse lighting conditions – such as when it’s dull or raining.

And although the Xperia 10 II offers the Sony experience in a more compact form, the Photo & Cinema Pro apps are nowhere to be seen. That means it’s not really any better than a Pixel 4a, despite being more expensive and not being great in the performance department (as per its poor reviews).

It’s a great shame, as otherwise I love the 21:9 aspect ratio and was hoping to finally own a Sony phone. But the size and compromises I’d have to accept, means the Sony Xperia 5 II is no longer a viable option.

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S20 FE – also too tall?

On the Samsung side of things, the price of the base model Galaxy S21 means the S20 FE would really be perfect, but again its size is its biggest disadvantage.

That’s also a shame, as the FM Radio on the S20 FE 5G would’ve been nice. Although, the 5G model reportedly has ghost touch issues, and the 4G version comes with the infamous Exynos 990 chipset. It means that it, too, is off the shortlist.

It’s a shame, as when I saw the price of the Galaxy S21, and how it was missing the Micro SD card slot, my hopes were immediately raised when I noticed that the price of the S20 FE had also come down a lot.

The S20 FE would’ve been a Galaxy S phone on a budget – basically, what I’ve been hoping the top tier Galaxy A phones would offer, but sadly haven’t as of yet.

If my only two options were the Galaxy A72 and the Galaxy S20 FE, and I had to choose between them, I’d have a really hard time deciding which to go with, as they’re both pretty similar on paper.

But, if my S9 Plus is now too big for me, then the similarly-sized S20 FE would also be too big for me, and so too would the even-bigger Galaxy A72.

That latter point is a shame, because as well as the Micro SD card slot, the Galaxy A72 also packs in a 3.5mm headphone port – meaning, if it wasn’t so tall, it would be the perfect replacement for my S9 Plus.

But, it isn’t. Neither is the S20 FE, and neither is the Sony Xperia 5 II.

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Final thoughts

That means that after this blog post, I’ve now whittled down my shortlist to just three devices:

• Google Pixel 4a;
• Google Pixel 5; and,
• Samsung Galaxy S21 5G.

– Chris JK.