Even though the death of compact handsets has been widely anticipated for longer than we can remember right now, a few important companies continue to swim against a current recently joined by Apple (among others) by regularly releasing smaller-than-average models.
Of course, said screen size average has gradually increased in the last few years as bezels have slowly moved closer and closer to complete extinction, which means we don’t really know what to expect from a newly rumored “small” Pixel flagship in that department.
As a matter of fact, we have no idea what to expect in any department from a device purportedly codenamed “neila” that no other leaker or tipster has even vaguely alluded to ahead of Digital Chat Station’s latest Weibo post.
But because this has proven a fairly reliable source of inside information on a number of different products in the past, we’re going to treat the otherwise wild-sounding fresh rumor with a healthy dose of (skeptical) seriousness.
After all, who’s to say Google is not working on a “small-screen flagship machine” with a flat panel, centered hole punch, and “family-style” rear design… whatever that last part is supposed to mean?
Just because the iPhone 12 mini and 13 mini didn’t work for Apple, that doesn’t necessarily mean a prospective Pixel 7 mini or Pixel 8 mini variant of sorts wouldn’t find an audience. Big G, remember, released a single Pixel 5 model with a 6-inch screen back in 2020, and by today’s standards, that’s a pretty compact handset with nearly invisible bezels.
The same more or less goes for this year’s 6.1-inch Pixel 6a, which is however most definitely not a flagship in the traditional sense of the word. It remains to be seen if Google will stay around the 6-inch mark to give the likes of the 5.9-inch Asus Zenfone 9 a run for the money in the near future or perhaps go back to the 5.5-inch roots of 2018’s Pixel 3 in this rumored bid for the modern title of best small phone on the market today.
Like the mythical Pixel Ultra super-flagship and Apple Watch-rivaling Pixel Watch, this Pixel Mini project could of course never come to fruition or get delayed year after year until the search giant finally deems the mobile industry ready to welcome such a risky product with open arms.
Either way, we’ll surely keep our eyes peeled and ears to the ground for any and all future developments on the Pixel “Neila” rumor front.
