Small screens and big ambitions shape new Android flagships
Yet, there are layers to this — overcoming challenges posed by smaller dimensions, sustaining consumer interest, and making compact phones more affordable.
In recent years, 6.7-inch and thereabouts screen sizes became the norm for flagships. This evolution now puts the widest selection of smaller phones, for buyers to choose from. The Vivo X200 FE, which went on sale this week, finds competition from the Xiaomi 15, OnePlus 13s, as well as Samsung's Galaxy S25 and the iPhone 16e.
Current market prices peg these between ₹50,000 and ₹80,000.
'Compact flagships are gaining priority in India as users often face challenges with large-screen smartphones, such as difficulty operating them with one hand and maintaining a secure grip, raising chances of accidental drops. This has made one-handed usability a key consideration for many consumers,' Tarun Pathak, Research Director at Counterpoint Research, tells HT.
Their latest study reveals 74% of young professionals based in India, have a preference for compact smartphones.
In a way, this is the smartphone market coming a full circle. 'This is not a sudden shift. Flagship portfolios have traditionally featured two size formats. Ten years ago, it was 5 inches and 5.5 inches. Today, it is closer to 6.3 inches and 6.7 inches,' says Anuj Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer, Xiaomi India.
Phones became bigger with time, and now there's a return to some smaller sizes as well.
He believes this clearly reflects the needs of two distinct consumer groups—those focused on content creation and consumption, and those who prioritise mobility with one-handed usage.
But there is still apprehension, in terms of consumer demographic willing to use compact phones in the long term.
'We are not expecting compact phones to be more than 5% of the total sales this year,' says Faisal Kawoosa, Chief Analyst and co-founder of Techarc. Content consumption trends, and user age, are primary reasons.
There's an element of variety in a smartphone portfolio, with focus presently on the premium bands.
'While large-screen smartphones continue to dominate the market, phone makers are strategically positioning compact devices as differentiated offerings,' explains Prabhu Ram, Vice President - Industry Research Group, at CyberMedia Research (CMR).
For phone makers, it hasn't been easy to get it right, from a technology standpoint.
'Delivering true flagship performance in a compact size is not a small challenge. With limited internal space in compact devices, this often leads to trade-offs in performance, cooling, and battery endurance. Still, we rose to the challenge,' explains Robin Liu, CEO of OnePlus India.
The OnePlus 13s retains specs expected in a top-tier phone, as do the Xiaomi 15 and Vivo X200 FE phones. These include the latest chips from Qualcomm and MediaTek, denser batteries with reconfigured composition for higher capacity, and top-tier cameras optimised by camera makers — Xiaomi has Leica's expertise on its side, while Vivo relies on Zeiss for tuning.
'Foldable phones and compact form factors represent engineering milestones that resonate with distinct consumer profiles,' says CMR's Ram.
This market transformation may well be credited to Apple, who launched the 6.1-inch iPhone 16e earlier this year. 'Apple did it for a purpose which was to bring its latest features, especially AI, to a lower price tier and eventually replace the trend of a large segment buying older generation iPhones,' says Techarc's Kawoosa.
Apple wants as many users as possible, to buy and use their latest generation hardware, and therefore a strong argument for the iPhone 16e.
'Our belief is that our customers want as much display as they can, in the most comfortable form factor,' Bob Borchers, who is Apple's vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, explained to HT in a conversation, at the time.
A logical next step would be to percolate this trend to more affordable mid-range phones too. Phone makers seem open to the idea.
'From both a technology and portfolio standpoint, the OnePlus 13s marks the beginning of a new chapter for compact flagships in the industry. This opens an exciting roadmap for similar compact mid-range offerings,' says OnePlus India's Liu.
Counterpoint's Pathak believes the screen size choice is likely to trickle down to mid-range buyers as well. 'With brands actively launching new phones round the year, introducing compact designs in the mid-range segment could prove fruitful,' he opines.
Xiaomi's Sharma insists 'smartphone design will be increasingly shaped by user context', and that compact flagships no longer remain niche. There is consensus that a wider spectrum of choice is good for consumers.
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