Unbelievably small phones have ever been made
(Dan Tri) - From a model just over 4cm high to a phone almost as small as a bank card, it shows that manufacturers have pursued a philosophy completely contrary to today's large screens.
Zanco Tiny T1: Phone as small as a key chain
Zanco Tiny T1 is the most outstanding device in terms of size alone.
This phone model appeared through a Kickstarter fundraising campaign in 2017. The device is only about 1.8 inches (4.57cm) high, 0.83 inches (2.1cm) wide, 0.42 inches (1.07cm) thick and weighs about 14g.
Zanco Tiny T1 is only about 4.6 cm tall, so small that it can fit in the palm of your hand like a key chain (Photo: Kick Starter).
Of course, the extremely small size means very limited usability. Tiny T1 only works on 2G networks, uses its own interface and charges via micro-USB port. The device can store about 300 phone numbers and 50 SMS messages.
Pantech C300: Folding phone that fits in the palm of your hand
Launched in 2006, the Pantech C300 was once advertised as "the world's smallest GSM flip phone".
When closed, the device is only 2.72 inches (6.9cm) high, 1.69 inches (4.29cm) wide, 0.76 inches (1.93cm) thick and weighs about 71g. Despite its very small size, Pantech still equips the C300 with two color screens. The main screen measures 1.52 inches, while the external secondary screen is 1 inch wide.
Pantech C300 was promoted as the world's smallest GSM flip phone when launched in 2006 (Photo: Reddit).
The device possessed 10 MB of internal memory, could store 800 contacts, and supported instant messaging via popular services of that period such as Yahoo and AOL.
The C300 even has a VGA camera with 4x zoom, WAP 2.0 browser and Java J2ME application support.
However, compactness also creates inconvenience. Some buttons are so small that they are difficult to operate, while the speaker quality is not good.
HP Veer 4G: QWERTY keyboard in an 8.4 cm body
The HP Veer 4G is a notable example of technology companies trying to cram a lot of hardware into a small body.
Launched in 2011, the device is 3.31 inches (8.4cm) tall, 2.15 inches (5.46cm) wide, 0.59 inches thick and weighs about 103g. Notably, inside this size is still a full sliding QWERTY keyboard.
HP Veer 4G attracts attention when integrating a sliding QWERTY keyboard in a body just over 8cm high (Photo: Best Buy).
The device supports email, calendar, third-party applications and can sync Google, Facebook or Microsoft Exchange accounts. The device uses an 800 MHz processor and has 8 GB of internal memory.
The biggest drawback is still the small screen, tasks such as web browsing become significantly difficult on the device.
Unihertz Jelly Star: Android smartphone is almost as small as a bank card
Unlike the three quite old devices, Unihertz Jelly Star is still a relatively modern smartphone.
The device measures 95.1 x 49.6 x 18.7mm, equivalent to a height of about 3.74 inches. Unihertz promotes Jelly Star as the world's smallest Android 13 4G smartphone.
Unihertz Jelly Star is an Android smartphone with a 3-inch screen, still has a 48 MP camera, NFC and fingerprint sensor (Photo: Unihertz).
Even though it only has a 3-inch screen, the device is still equipped with MediaTek Helio G99 chip, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB internal memory and 2,000 mAh battery.
The main camera has a resolution of 48 MP, the front camera 8 MP. Jelly Star also supports NFC, fingerprint sensor, infrared port, two SIMs, memory card slot and even a 3.5mm headphone jack - equipment that has disappeared on most large-sized smartphones today. Unihertz
Unihertz even thinks that small screens can help limit the habit of constantly surfing social networks.
However, the actual experience still comes with a trade-off. The 3-inch screen makes typing, watching videos, or using many modern applications significantly more difficult.
Zylofy Mini Phone 3.0: Android smartphone less than 10 cm tall
The device is about 3.7 inches (9.4cm) high, 1.8 inches (4.57cm) wide, about 0.5 inches thick and weighs nearly 142g. The device has a 3-inch touch screen and runs Android 8.1.
Despite its very small size, the device still supports two SIMs, Wi-Fi, Google Play, WhatsApp and a memory card with a maximum capacity of 256 GB.
Zylofy Mini Phone 3.0 shows that super small smartphones can still run Android, support two SIMs and install popular applications (Photo: Amazon).
However, BGR notes that mini smartphones of this type are more suitable as exotic products than as daily-use devices. Buyer reviews often reflect poor battery life and unstable network compatibility.
Looking back at these devices shows that the concept of a "good" phone has changed significantly.
Two decades ago, compactness was a key selling point. Today, when smartphones become devices for watching videos, playing games, taking photos and working, the screen size is getting larger and larger.
Phones that are only a few centimeters long thus become interesting relics of an era when smaller phones were sometimes considered more modern.