Over the past few years, manufacturers have been shifting their focus towards making thinner phones that have bigger displays. Your average screen size ranges anywhere from 4.7-5.7-inch displays, which would have been considered huge to gargantuan just 5 or so years ago. Today, this is just what we consider normal.
But not everybody is thrilled about the fact that smartphones have gotten so large. While I’d argue that most people just put up and shut up about the direction of the industry, there are some that will argue that smaller phones still have a place in this world – mainly for easy one-handed use. I happen to be one of those people, although lately I find that I’m not as concerned about the size of the phone as I once was. Still, up until recently there has been a serious lack of choice when it comes to compact devices.
But today I can add one more to that list.
Although I consider smartphones a hobby of mine, there are still plenty of times where I’m not familiar with every single smartphone on the market, because there are oodles of them. It’s probably just best to admit that I tend to focus on the more recognizable brands, and very seldom venture outside of that circle. However, today I did happen to come across a particularly interesting device that just so happens to be the smallest Android smartphone on the market.
The Posh Micro X S240, which appears to be the same device as the Elephone Q, measures to be just 3.5 inches tall (the height of a credit card) and features a 2.4-inch 240 x 432 resolution display. Although we have made great strides in providing high quality smartphone performance in small phones, as you may have already expected, a phone this small does not focus on specs, but rather the novelty of its very small size. The Micro X S240 features a 1GHz dual-core processor, 512 MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage (microSD supported up to 32GB), 2-megapixel rear-facing camera and VGA rear-facing camera, 4G H+ connectivity, and runs on Android 4.4 KitKat. It’s 650 mAh battery is said to provide up to 4 hours of talk time. The device comes in black, white, pink, and blue colors, and costs $50 from Amazon.
My first thought upon seeing this device was that this would make a decent first phone for kids. Additionally, this could make for a good backup phone, or for anybody looking to use a phone as a phone first with the option of using it for apps second. It could even serve as a good “smaller phone” for times where it’s inconvenient to have a large phone on hand (which might sound crazy, but it’s not like other companies haven’t tried to sell the idea already). Some reviews even claim that this makes for an excellent media player. Really, this extremely niche device could prove to be rather useful for just $50.
The Posh Micro is completely adorable, and aside from its tiny, tiny virtual keyboard it’s apparently quite functional. Although I’m not sure I would take my affinity for compact smartphones so far as to think this would be a good fit for everyone seeking a compact smartphone, I do think there are a number of people out there that could benefit from knowing that this product even exists.
