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Best 4-4.3 inch smartphone?

I

It's Not Lupus

Senior member
I'm finding the Nexus 4 too big for one hand use. What's the best 4-4.3 inch smartphone available now or in the near future? I'm thinking the latest iPhone or HTC One mini. Problem with smaller Android phones is their usually mid-range, not high end. Quad core isn't a requirement, but I don't want the camera to be of poor or average quality.
 
Thats currently shipping and available, the Razr M. But thats a Verizon only phone, and you're on AT&T or TMO with a Nexus 4.

The S4 Mini is coming, but its stripped down from the full GS4 and has more in common with a GS3, spec-wise.

The One Mini, the M4, hasn't been announced yet and only exists in Internet pictures and rumor.
 
i have a razr m, and think its a pretty good phone. the one thing really that it needs is another 1GB of ram and mabye a nicer camera,. its a good low end / midrange phone at this point. Good build, same dimensions as an iphone 5. and the battery life is great (i swear its probably at least double of what i woudl get with my galaxy nexus with the extended battery... seriously nexus phones , all have bad battery life compared to even other phones with same cpu / hardware)

the XFON or whatever will be on all carriers in a few months so that probably would be one worth waiting for if you are on at&T. or i guess you could try to get a razr i international GSM model.
 
HTC 8X if you like or don't mind Windows Phone.
One Mini or GS4 Mini if we are talking Android and you don't mind waiting.

Razr M or HTC First if you want one right now.
Apparently I'm biased toward HTC, but it does seem they cover 4.3" better than other manufacturers right now. 😀 I would get the First or 8X given a choice - the First has good specs for a 4.3" device, and has stock Android once you disable Facebook Home.

Some other options at 4.3" (in order of my preference):

Nokia Lumia 822
HTC One S
ASUS Padfone
Nokia Lumia 900
Sony Xperia SL
Samsung Galaxy S2
 
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looks like you are not a power user, so a nokia 900 is perfect. usually goes on sale brand new for $200 or lesser. the hardware is rock solid. i've seen people using the phone to drive nails into wood.
 
luv2liv said:
looks like you are not a power user, so a nokia 900 is perfect. usually goes on sale brand new for $200 or lesser. the hardware is rock solid. i've seen people using the phone to drive nails into wood.
Click to expand...

The downside of the 900 is that it's Windows Phone 7, not 8. Not that 7 isn't stable and smooth - I'd take it over any pre-Jellybean Android phone - but you'd still want WP8 for a new phone for better updates.

The new Nokia Lumia 925 is 4.5", though, which is still smaller than the Nexus 4 and not substantially bigger than many of the 4.3" phones. Plus the camera in all the new Lumias is very good. I would be happy to have that WP8 smartphone.

4.5" screen for the Lumia 925, device size:
5.08 x 2.78 x 0.33 inches

4.7" screen for the Nexus 4, device size:
5.27 x 2.7 x 0.36 inches

The Lumia 925 is a bit shorter overall than the Nexus 4.

For a 4" phone, I would only really look at the iPhone 5. Very few current Android or Windows Phones I would want in the display size.
The Blackberry Z10 is also an option at 4.2"
 
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The BlackBerry Z10 is actually pretty sweet, I've been using one for a few days & am impressed. The keyboard is slick, BB Hub is terrific & the phone has a premium feel in the hand.
 
Hands down the best 4.3" phone is still the HTC One S.
Its slim, still plenty fast, great camera and by far the best value.
You can find them easily for ~$200 on CL.
Only down side is the qhd screen but its hardly recognizable between the Nexus 4 I'm using now.
I look forward to the HTC One Mini with the HD screen.
If they can get the size down smaller than the 8x, it'll be a winner.
 
Nokia 822 if you're on Verizon and like WP8... I bought mine on ebay for 150.00. I'm with you on the size- this was as big as I considered pocketable. The black phones look much better than the white in my estimation and the oem nokia cases are cheap and fit really well.
 
spdfreak said:
Nokia 822 if you're on Verizon and like WP8... I bought mine on ebay for 150.00. I'm with you on the size- this was as big as I considered pocketable. The black phones look much better than the white in my estimation and the oem nokia cases are cheap and fit really well.
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Ooh, forgot that the 822 is 4.3". Added to my list.

I played around with a friend's 822. It's not bad at all for the price, and the camera is nearly as good as the higher end 9XX ones, just without OIS and lesser low-light performance.
 
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it's not lupus said:
i'm finding the nexus 4 too big for one hand use. What's the best 4-4.3 inch smartphone available now or in the near future? I'm thinking the latest iphone or htc one mini. Problem with smaller android phones is their usually mid-range, not high end. Quad core isn't a requirement, but i don't want the camera to be of poor or average quality.
Click to expand...

razr m
 
HTC One S as far as Android is concerned - You can get them under $200 now too

They are powerful as well as thin and small....Jelly Bean, its fast, same chipset/gpu as SIII, and a Top end Camera to go with it - Plus its getting 4.2.2 (with time) - Plus it has a premium feel... and good battery life. It's a VERY underrated phone.

It would be the almost perfect phone if it was 720p and 32GB (its 16GB)

There are special edition 64GB ones out there but are too much money.

It's still the best OLED screen color wise out there IMO, and has good dev support.


Lot going for it. Its almost a US One X in a smaller package basically.

Negatives:

- qHD OLED Screen - Pentile Matrix (like I said though, it really is one of the better ones though)
- 16GB Memory - No SD
- No LTE
 
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El Mero said:
iP5 definitelly... Really nice phone. I bought one for myself and i'm so happy. iTunes rules. 🙂
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I can't believe people like iTunes. iPhone 5, sure, I understand. iTunes just seems a mess to me, and they don't have an unlimited music subscription, either.

I love Zune on the other hand, though. Google Play/Music is good, too, though it does feel a bit beta with the new updates.
 
If you want Android, its actually probably the HTC first at the moment, just replace Facebook home. Otherwise, the HTC 8x or blackberry z10.
 
kaerflog said:
Hands down the best 4.3" phone is still the HTC One S.
Its slim, still plenty fast, great camera and by far the best value.
You can find them easily for ~$200 on CL.
Only down side is the qhd screen but its hardly recognizable between the Nexus 4 I'm using now.
I look forward to the HTC One Mini with the HD screen.
If they can get the size down smaller than the 8x, it'll be a winner.
Click to expand...

qHD vs QHD is really confusing. especially since the first should be qFHD (as QFHD is either 4K or UHD).
 
HTC 8X or Lumia 822. The 8X is a more "premium" device (it was HTC's flagship Windows Phone), but the Lumia 822 will doubtlessly receive far better support from Nokia.

The 8X is a bit smaller than the Lumia 822, and it has a sharper display. Otherwise, their performance is identical.
 
Just a FYI, Nokia is releasing the Amber upgrade along with a Windows 8 GDR2 upgrade sometime this summer to all Lumias. The amber update in part is to improve the camera capabilities and Windows update is a firmware upgrade that adds FM radio to Windows 8 phones along with other upgrades.
 
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