Compact phones have a bright future with this lowkey genius Samsung invention

Small phones with compact dimensions that are manageable both in the hand and in the pocket have become increasingly rare to find in the last couple of years. While Apple was still clinging to its 4.7-inchers, there was no dearth of compact phones to pick from, but now the choices can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and that includes both iOS and Android.

Tiny phones still have a lot of fans who appreciate their manageable size and unsurpassed ergonomics, but, given the relentless media and written content consumption we do all day every day on our phones, manufacturers simply decided that having a big screen trumps every other consideration when designing one.

How can they square the vicious circle where people like both small phones and big displays? Enter Samsung and its new Slidable Flex Vertical phone concept, a low-key brilliant solution that could turn out to be everything that foldable phones didn't turn out to be.

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Foldable phones couldn't deliver on the compact promise

The whole premise of phones with foldable displays, as initially envisioned and presented by their pioneer Samsung and then by the myriad of other makers that started developing and releasing bendy handsets, was that one will have a compact phone in their hand or pocket, ready to become one with a giant display when unfurled.

Foldable phones, however, are mostly big fat unwieldy blocks that are not quite manageable in the hand and in the pocket, as manufacturers had to put extra components like hinges on them, and only now with handsets like the Honor Magic V3 are they becoming thinner, lighter, and more manageable to use.

Foldable Magic V3 is not fat or unwieldy anymore, but still can't be called a compact phone. | Image credit – Honor

While the initial heft and thickness issues with foldables are gradually being resolved by the Chinese phone makers, the overall dimensions will remain an obstacle before ergonomics and said act of unfurling proved to be too much of a bother when a foldable is used as a daily driver. It, after all, requires occupying both hands with the act, so people simply started using the cover screen the vast majority of the time, and only rarely opened their expensive foldables during the hectic pace of their days.

The fact that the cover screens of foldables are relatively small or with unorthodox aspect ratio was, surprisingly, not that much of a bother. In fact, respondents in our preferred phone screen size poll gave overwhelming preference to the compact and mid-size category, rather than the big 6.5+ inch category that proliferates these days.

What's your preferred screen size for a smartphone?

Compact (5.9" and below) Mid-sized (6.1 to 6.4 inches) Large (up to 6.7") Huge (everything bigger than 6.8") Other (leave a comment)

Manufacturers are aware of that trending niche and started offering some options for small phone lovers. Apple, for instance, is still clinging to its smallish iPhone SE line, while Android phone makers like Vivo came up with choices like the powerful X200 Pro Mini that has a relatively small 6.3-inch display but a giant 5,700 mAh battery and a flagship 3nm processor.

The X200 Pro mini is svelte and still packs a formidable punch. | Image credit – Vivo

Samsung invents the future of small phones

Nothing, however, can compare to the ingenious creation that Samsung just showcased at the CES 2023 expo in Las Vegas. Amidst the usual slidable, rollable, and foldable IT OLED displays for tablets and laptops that we have now become accustomed to see, the Samsung Display subsidiary demonstrated a brand new and fresh concept phone.

Called the Slidable Flex Vertical, the phone goes from a tiny handset with 5.1-inch screen, to a big 6.7-inch phone that expands to the minimum screen diagonal that current flagships from Apple or Samsung offer.

The Slidable Flex Vertical phone goes from a 5-incher to a big-screen phone | Video credit – Samsung Display

The concept phone's upper part simply slides up and down to adjust its screen size, offering both a compact and easy to use with one hand phone that sits tight in a pocket, and a large 6.7-inch screen for reading or media consumption when the situation really calls for it. What's more, this is simply a prototype that could be polished with time to become slimmer, lighter, and grow automatically with the press of a button.

This is arguably a better approach to having your compact phone with big screen cake and eating it than foldables that usually need to be force-opened with two hands, especially if users do 90% of the things they do on a phone on much smaller screens with relative ease.