I miss small phones, and the Galaxy S26 doesn’t count

Samsung launched the Galaxy S26 series back in February, and the base Galaxy S26 is one of the best smaller Android phones on the market. I say “smaller,” because you and I both know that this isn’t actually a small phone.

In fact, it’s virtually impossible to find a legitimately small phone from a major manufacturer in 2026. Here’s why I miss them and really want them to make a comeback in the near future.

When I’m talking about a small phone, I generally mean a device with a sub-6-inch screen, though I’m also fine with a 6.1-inch display. By contrast, the base Galaxy S26 is actually larger than previous entries and now has a 6.3-inch display. That’s still small, right?

Unfortunately, my time with 6.3-inch phones in 2026 has convinced me that while they’re smaller than today’s average phones, they’re still not truly small. I extensively used the vivo X300 and Xiaomi 17, and briefly used the Galaxy S26. Unfortunately, these phones all have aspect ratios that make it a little tough to reach the top of the display. Furthermore, these devices don’t quite disappear into your pocket like legitimately small phones.

When I think of small phones, I immediately think of devices like the ASUS Zenfone 9 (5.99-inch display), the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact series (5-inch screen), and Samsung Galaxy S10e (5.8-inch). When you ignore the actual screen sizes, which can be clouded by varying aspect ratios, you’ve got phones that vary in height from 135mm to ~146mm. Even the Galaxy S25 counts in my book, although it’s just a hair under 147mm.

A Samsung representative recently claimed that the company doesn’t make small phones anymore because the most popular use cases all benefit from a larger screen. Furthermore, leaker Digital Chat Station previously asked representatives from top Chinese manufacturers why they didn’t make small phones. These reps apparently attributed the lack of small phones to larger screens being more popular, while claiming that 6-inch phones can’t tick all major boxes (i.e., performance, camera, battery life).

Despite these claims, I believe that, from a technological perspective, there’s never been a better time for manufacturers to make legitimately small phones. And that’s largely due to the arrival of silicon-carbon batteries. This tech allows you to squeeze the same capacity into a physically smaller battery, or more capacity into the same physical battery size.

This tech has already resulted in smaller (but not small) phones with stupendously large batteries. For example, the OnePlus 15T has a 7,500mAh battery despite a 6.32-inch display and ~150mm height. Meanwhile, the Chinese Xiaomi 17 has a 7,000mAh battery packed into its 151mm frame.

Smartphone makers don’t even have to offer ridiculously huge silicon-carbon batteries in their smaller phones. They can instead offer a physically smaller battery while still offering plenty of juice. This way, they can offer a small phone without necessarily compromising on battery capacity, performance, and other hardware.

We’ve also seen other hardware innovations over the years that might make small phones a reality once again. For one, Samsung’s ALoP telephoto camera modules are smaller than conventional periscope cameras. This means a smaller camera bump while freeing up internal space. Check out the image below for a better idea.

There’s also less pressure to offer a gigantic battery in 2026, as today’s phones are significantly more efficient compared to older devices. A big reason for this is that today’s chips are pretty frugal. Qualcomm says the current Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 offers 16% lower power consumption in general and a 35% more efficient CPU than the Snapdragon 8 Elite. But even the 8 Elite brought a claimed 45% more efficient CPU than its predecessor. In fact, we found that phones with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip were significantly more efficient than previous flagships.

So if Google can offer a smaller phone like the Pixel 10 Pro, which offers good (but not amazing) performance, a large lithium-ion battery, and a full suite of flexible cameras, I’m sure it could release a legitimately small phone by harnessing a silicon-carbon battery and other technological advancements. And if OnePlus could offer the 6.3-inch OnePlus 15T with a ridiculous 7,500mAh battery, what’s stopping it from releasing a sub-6-inch phone with a 5,500mAh or 6,000mAh battery?

The smartphone industry is trying to reframe what constitutes a small phone, as the Galaxy S26, Pixel 10 Pro, and Xiaomi 17 all offer ~6.3-inch screens. And these companies are undoubtedly seeking praise for offering this smaller size.

However, I’d love to see these same brands gather up the courage to offer legitimately small phones in 2026. Because the technological ingredients are finally here for a compact phone that doesn’t make significant compromises. Will it actually happen, though? Well, let’s just hope Apple resurrects the iPhone Mini, so Samsung can undoubtedly follow suit.