2024 was the year of small flagship phones

We’ve had companies try making small phones in the past, but they couldn’t stand the test of time. Apple tried the small iPhones with the iPhone 12 mini and the iPhone 13 mini, but like most small phones, they were plagued by bad battery life and saw underwhelming sales — despite the much-beloved pocketable size.

But 2024 redefined what “small” means in flagship phones. This was a year when compact devices finally stopped playing second fiddle to their larger siblings, but there’s still one missing piece that needs to be addressed.

True small Pro flagships are here

For years, small Pro flagships have been treated like a second thought in terms of specs. For instance, Apple limited the new 5x telephoto camera to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, while the iPhone 15 Pro featured older optics. In terms of numbers, both these phones had a 48MP main plus 12MP ultrawide plus 12MP telephoto camera. The zoom lens featured the same aperture, and the new 5x optical zoom was limited to only the Pro Max phone.

On the Android side, the Galaxy S24 doesn’t have the same camera setup as the Galaxy S24 Ultra — similar to the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. On Samsung, you get an extra periscope telephoto camera with the Ultra, while the vanilla Pixels have had the zoom lens missing for years without a small Pro Pixel phone.

Phone companies have gatekept the best optics for their most expensive big phones. So you had to choose between having the best cameras or the small form factor. But things changed in 2024.

Apple and Google made flagships that retained the optic prowess of their bigger siblings while retaining a smaller size. Both iPhone 16 Pro phones now sport the same primary, ultrawide, and telephoto cameras with the same software feature set.

The new Google Pixel phones also had the same tactics. The company introduced a new XL model while the Pixel 9 Pro shrank in size this year. It allowed Google to deliver three Pixel 9 phones, out of which the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL featured the same camera system but differed in size and price.

In 2024, you could finally have the best camera system on smaller phones. This meant spending at least $100 less and not going for an inconvenient phone size when prioritizing the optics on your next phone. But these “small phones” aren’t the same size as the compact phones from yesteryears.

Size is relative. It took small phones getting bigger for brands to give us true Pro flagships in a compact size. I’m not complaining, though. In my opinion, a 6.3-inch display is the perfect form factor for a pocketable phone. It’s not too small to compromise on the battery life and display, and not so big it can’t fit in your pocket. I liked the Xiaomi 14 for the same reason.

I remember shifting from the iPhone 14 Pro Max to the iPhone 14 Pro and then to the iPhone 15 Pro and missing an all-day battery life. For years, I’ve wanted a comparatively small phone to last me an entire day. The current-gen compact flagships aren’t there yet, and the battery life of the iPhone 16 Pro has only worsened with each update. But both the iPhone 16 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro are getting there. The bigger phones still last longer, but now you don’t have to compromise on specs to get the phone size that fits your liking.

The future is even more exciting

The iPhone 16 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro have reached a point where you get the best camera system, but the battery prowess is still lacking. The main culprit is using older battery tech. To take an example from outside the U.S., Vivo also delivered a small Pro flagship in 2024.

The Vivo X200 Pro Mini featured the best cameras in a 6.3-inch screen form factor while also packing a big 5,700mAh battery that’s likely to last you longer than the Apple and Google phones with much smaller cells. Comparatively, the Galaxy S24 packs a 4,000mAh battery, while the Pixel 9 Pro has a 4,700mAh battery.

For context, the Vivo X200 Pro Mini offers a larger battery than the biggest Pixel phone. The Pixel 9 Pro XL has a 5,060mAh battery, while the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has a 5,000mAh cell. This is only possible because of the latest innovation in battery tech, which gave us silicon carbon batteries.

I haven’t tested this particular mini Vivo phone, but I have some experience with silicon carbon battery-equipped phones, including the Honor Magic V3, Oppo Find X8 Pro, and Vivo X200 Pro. These have lasted me at least a day, even on heavy usage, and up to 1.5 days on medium use. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by not having to charge my phone twice a day. And even when needed, I can get a full charge within an hour, thanks to super-fast charging from these Chinese brands.

I hope this trend continues

Both Apple and Google made us believe it’s possible to have true Pro flagships with the best camera systems, but the only way for a small phone to have an on-par battery life with bigger phones is with silicon carbon batteries. That’s because these are more energy-dense and can hold more battery capacity in a smaller size. Thus, cutting the weight and delivering a better battery life for each charge. I hope U.S. phone manufacturers embrace this battery innovation next year.

Looking ahead, Samsung is unlikely to introduce the same camera setup on its Galaxy S25 as the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but this is a trend that I hope will continue. 2024 proved it’s possible to deliver true Pro features in a compact size.

While Samsung’s Galaxy S25 might not follow this trend, Apple, Google, and especially Vivo have shown what’s achievable. With silicon carbon batteries paving the way, 2025 could be the year small flagships truly come into their own. Imagine having a globally available phone with flagship cameras and great battery life in a 6.3-inch screen form factor. I hope this dream becomes a reality next year.