You can get an Android in any size as long as it is big. This is the direction the smartphone segment has headed over the last decade, with fewer compact phones. When smartphones gained traction in the early 2010s, the average screen size was under 5 inches. Today, it is above 6.5 inches. Almost no small Android phones are available today (unless you count flip-style foldables), while the rest are iPhones. Even the iPhone Mini series has been killed and replaced by its antithesis, the iPhone Plus. The Asus Zenfone 10 from 2023 is the last great compact phone.

The OnePlus 13 on an orange background with the camera facing out.


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10

An endangered species

Asus Zenfone 10 held in hand at angle facing camera

Compact phones are getting increasingly rare. And where things are headed, with multiple cameras, bigger batteries, and more sensors, a turnaround seems unlikely. More than anything, compact phones are bad for business and failed to take off in a meaningful way. They require more R&D costs to get right, but sales have not been enough for manufacturers to continue pouring in money.

When we hear about compact phones, the news is about another manufacturer giving up on the idea. When we heard that OnePlus might make a mini variant of one of the best phones of the season, we couldn’t help but be excited (and cautiously optimistic).

A Snapdragon surprise

The OnePlus 13 gets a lot right and is in the running for the title of the best phone of the year. It’s one of the biggest generational leaps we’ve seen. Compared to its predecessor, it has a better screen, higher IP rating, better cameras, and a bigger battery while being thinner and lighter. At $900, it undercuts most of its rivals.

A lot of engineering must have gone into bringing the OnePlus 13 to life, but many of these upgrades were made possible by the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Qualcomm offers a chipset that is powerful and efficient.

When it comes to compact phones, a common compromise has been poor battery life, generally followed by lackluster performance or heating. Still, as chipset designs and manufacturing processes have progressed, it’s possible to have chips that score high on performance and efficiency. That means smaller or thinner phones might finally not suck.

A worse OnePlus 13 would still be good

A compact phone will have some compromises or corner-cutting that their larger counterparts don’t have. Considering how good the OnePlus 13 is, it’s difficult to imagine the OnePlus 13 Mini being worse. The battery size may be smaller, and the cameras will be simpler. Still, for the most part, whatever made the OnePlus 13 great should make its way to the Mini, like a nice design, a great screen, enjoyable software experience, and fast charging.

The OnePlus 13 set the bar so high that even coming close to it would be impressive.

Based on circulating rumors and leaks, the OnePlus 13 Mini (or the OnePlus 13T) will be powered by the same Snapdragon 8 Elite chip as other flagship Android phones of the year. Its screen will measure a comfortable 6.31 inches with a 1.5K resolution. It will likely move to a dual-camera setup, but it’s unclear if the ultra-wide lens or the telephoto will be axed.

Most notably, it might come with a 6,000 mAh battery. The OnePlus 13 Mini might come with a battery larger than that of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra or the Google Pixel 9 Pro. Never before have we seen something like this. If OnePlus pulls this off, it will be commendable. Paired with its iconic Super VOOC charging, it should be a winner.

Most people (and manufacturers) have written off compact phones owing to the unavoidable compromises they historically carried. Whatever battery breakthrough OnePlus potentially has, it has the potential to bring back excitement and sales to the small phone segment.

OnePlus has all the right ingredients

A mini OnePlus 13 could revive the compact phone category. OnePlus has been bold and innovative recently. The combination of these developments gives it a unique advantage. It is still a bit of wishful thinking to combine the best of everything latest, but it doesn’t seem far-fetched or impossible.

If I were to wave our magic wand to make the OnePlus 13 a reality, this is what I’d like it to bring to the table to be a killer compact phone.

A small(er) screen

A pink Google Pixel 9 Pro next to a blue Samsung Galaxy S25, face down on a brown table

While a mini phone is supposed to be small, how small can we expect? The iPhone 16 has a 6.1-inch screen, the Samsung Galaxy S25 brings it to 6.2 inches, while the Google Pixel 9 is at 6.3 inches. If OnePlus aims to compete with them, its screen size should be in the same ballpark, ideally closer to the lower end.

However, since the OnePlus 13 Mini is rumored to pair a high-end chip with a big battery, I will accept anything under 6.4 inches. The screen’s size can be misleading, as a phone’s ergonomic ease is more impacted by its shape and width. For most users, a sub-70mm width is considered comfortable for one-hand use to reach the other side of the screen with your thumb.

The 7-core Snapdragon 8 Elite

The Snapdragon 8 Elite is great, but it is overkill for most users in terms of performance. Recently, a lower-binned, 7-core variant of the chip surfaced without additional details or OEM partner information. With one less high-performance Prime core, it should run cooler and last much longer.

Its purpose is unknown, but we expect it to be used in foldables and slim phones where heating is difficult to manage and battery sizes are small. A chip like that would make sense in compact smartphones, which have the same thermal and volumetric constraints.

A large-ish battery

A few months ago, OnePlus unveiled its high-density Glacier battery. With a silicon-carbide anode, it packs 21% more energy than conventional batteries. Glimpses of it can be seen in the OnePlus 13’s 6,000mAh pack.

It would be nice to see the OnePlus 13 Mini have at least a 4,500mAh battery. It’s too early to confirm if the new 6,000mAh battery rumor is true, but we can expect OnePlus to outdo its rivals.

Trademark fast charging

Moving to something that’s probable, the OnePlus 13 Mini should feature the company’s iconic fast charging. Super VOOC comes in many forms, but cheaper and smaller phones from Oppo and OnePlus have it.

Fast charging can generate a lot of heat, so we might not see the same 80W speeds as the regular OnePlus 13. Something around 50W sounds possible, and that would still be quite competitive.

A sub-$800 price

A Pixel 9 Pro lying next to an iPhone 16 on a tan backdrop.

We don’t know if the OnePlus 13 Mini will be available in the US. If it is, it will compete with the likes of the iPhone 16, Samsung’s Galaxy S25, and the Pixel 9. These phones start at $800.

At under $800, the OnePlus 13 Mini would be the cheapest Snapdragon 8 Elite phone.

OnePlus has always undercut its competition in the West. If it can continue the trend with the OnePlus 13 Mini, it will be enticing. The OnePlus 13 is priced at $900, while the OnePlus 13R has a $600 starting price. A $750 price tag for the OnePlus 13 Mini would create a sensible laddering without overlaps or cannibalization while being cheaper than the competition. Hopefully, it manages to get carrier partners this time.

The Xperia 1 V being held in a hand.


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A big revival of small phones

The OnePlus 13 Mini is shaping up to be a formidable phone of any size. OnePlus is uniquely positioned to revive the small phone segment and dominate it. In a year without a new foldable, the OnePlus 13 Mini might be the company’s most exciting offering of 2025.

We might be looking at the biggest thing to happen to compact phones in years. Samsung and Apple hope to get a piece of this space with their slim-phone approach. Regardless of which approach wins, 2025 will be your pinky finger’s favorite.