CNET reviews: The best small phones

Finding a more compact phone these days can be tough. Bigger is apparently better, with pretty much all companies continuing to increase the size of their flagship phones. Your options are limited but there are still some smaller phones to consider.

Everyone's definition of "small" is different, and a comfortable size for you may feel uncomfortably large to someone else. If you're worried about the size, it's worth trying to get hands-on with a phone at your nearest store. Here are three of CNET's best picks for phones that have less square footage.

WHAT Apple iPhone 13 Mini

THE COST $599 and up

AVAILABLE FROM apple.com

While Apple didn't release an iPhone 14 Mini in 2022, essentially putting a nail in the coffin of the Mini line, the iPhone 13 Mini is still officially on sale directly from Apple. Its 5.4-inch display makes it a fair bit smaller than any in the iPhone 14 range, and qualifies it as the physically smallest phone Apple makes. Sure, the iPhone SE 2022 has a smaller display, but it has large bezels around the edges, which makes the whole phone slightly larger. It also features a dual rear camera system that adds an excellent ultrawide angle to the standard view.

WHAT Google Pixel 7A

THE COST $444 and up

AVAILABLE FROM store.google.com

Google's budget phone offering took a leap forward in 2023 with the Pixel 7A, which boasts many of the same benefits as the Pixel 7 but at a cheaper price. At 6.1 inches, it isn't exactly a tiny phone, but it's certainly among the smallest Android phones you should consider buying.

Like the Pixel 7, the Pixel 7A runs on Google's Tensor G2 processor, meaning it has many of the same photo-editing and language-translation features as its pricier sibling. The Pixel 7A's 64-megapixel camera also takes excellent photos that will suit casual snappers well.

WHAT Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4

THE COST $809.99

AVAILABLE FROM samsung.com

With a 6.7-inch screen size, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4's screen is way too big to be on this list. But before you slam your fists into your keyboard at our incompetence, hear us out. As one of Samsung's foldable phones, the Z Flip 4 folds in half, turning that massive screen into a small, square puck that quite comfortably fits into a jacket pocket.

An outer display will alert you to incoming notifications, meaning you only need to unfold it to its full size when you actually want to reply. It's hardly cheap, but its innovative hinge design might offer you the best of both worlds: a compact form when it's sitting in your pocket, but a big screen for when you want to use it.