Best 5-inch Smartphones of 2022

The smartphone industry has taken the world by storm. In 2020 alone, studies show that there’s a total of 6.05 billion smartphone users globally, and this has increased from the time that the first smartphone has been officially released in 1994. It has been projected that smartphone users will predominantly increase in the coming years. True to their purpose, smartphones serve users on what they do best – to help users in their daily lives.

Smartphones are more than just any phones. Apart from the typical purpose of a phone, which is to send and receive calls and messages, it can connect you to the internet, play your favorite music, take and record videos and photos, hail you a cab, play games, watch movies or even install apps that you will need as you go along your day-to-day activities.

These advantages can only be completed with a smartphone. It acts and functions like a mini-computer that runs on a mobile operating system (OS). Without a doubt, this industry will continue to flourish because more and more people are needing it. Technology evolves fast and since we’re in the 21st century, we should be able to adapt to these changes.

Over the years, tech companies like Apple, Samsung, and Google are releasing various versions of smartphones. It comes in three classifications: basic range, mid-range or high-end. In these classifications, smartphones come in big and small form factors, higher and lower camera specs, or even higher and lower storage capacities and memories.

In this article, we will be talking about the top three smartphones that fall under the 5-inch category. They have been referred to as compact smartphones. Since they have a small form factor build, you can operate these phones in just one hand and can fit anywhere from your pocket, purse, or your bag.

APPLE IPHONE 12 MINI

If you’re a fan of Apple and wanted a phone that performs and has the features of its high-end variants but in a small compact size, the iPhone 12 Mini is the perfect phone for you. Here’s a quick specs check of the iPhone 12 Mini:

• Display: 5.4 inches Super Retina XDR OLED with 1080 x 2340 resolution.
• Dimensions: 131.5 x 64.2 x 7.4 mm
• Weight: 135 grams
• Build: Aluminum frame with Corning Gorilla glass in the back and front
• Storage and Memory: 65GB with 4GB RAM, 128GB with 4GB RAM, 256GB with 4GB RAM
• Chipset: Apple A14 Bionic (5 nm)
• Main Camera: Dual camera with 12 megapixels, 26mm (wide) and 12 megapixels, 13mm (ultrawide)
• Front Facing Camera: 12 megapixels, 23mm (wide)
• Operating System: iOS 14.1 (upgradable to iOS 16.0.3)

Build and Design

The build of the iPhone 12 Mini has been reimagined from the design of the iPhone 5. The iconic shape of the latter made a big impact on some because it has good grip and portability. This phone is a typical aluminum-finished phone with tempered glass panels in both the front and back. Apple came up with the Ceramic Shield screen that’s proven to be four times resilient to shattering.

They used OLED in the screen which made the phone quite bright and responsive. With a glass back, expect that this phone is a fingerprint magnet. With an advanced coating, you can easily wipe smudges with a clean cloth. The 5.4-inch screen has HDR10 with 1200 nits maximum screen brightness. It also has a 19.5:9 screen-to-body ratio with 476 ppi density. The screen has a 60Hz refresh rate which is enough for this small screen.

Features

iPhone 12 Mini comes with Apple’s secured face-detecting technology - the Face ID. It comes with an 8.57Wh battery that’s non-removable. The phone is capable of MagSafe and Qi fast wireless charging. The mini iPhone packs a 2,227 mAh battery, about 20% smaller than the iPhone 12. Apple guaranteed a 50% battery in 30 minutes of charging. It may be a concern to some, provided that it’s being housed in a small body.

The camera features a dual-LED and dual-tone flash with 4K video support, HDR, and Dolby Vision. Unfortunately, the 3.5mm headphone jack has been discontinued so you’ll only be using wireless headsets on this one or buy an audio dongle separately. The speaker in this phone comes in a hybrid stereo speaker setup.

There are two speakers respectively, one at the bottom and one at the screen notch. The sound coming out from both speakers is quite balanced as it supports spatial audio.

The phones come out in iOS 14 which features new widgets and the App library. You will be able to stack widgets of the same size on top of one another. Other features such as Siri is still part of the operating system as well as PiP (Picture-in-Picture) mode that minimizes your currently playing video as you continue to navigate and access your phone.

It comes in six colors: black, white, red, green, and purple.

Pros and cons

• Lightweight, good grip and pocket-friendly
• Good cameras considering the small form factor
• OLED screen is an improvement compared to older iPhone models
• Great performance from the A14 Bionic chipset
• 5G ready for faster connectivity

• Battery life falls below average
• Storage starts at only 64 GB provided that this phone does not support micro-SD
• Headphone jack has been removed
• Unit does not come with a charger out of the box
• Slower MagSafe charging capability

GOOGLE PIXEL 4A

After the release of their Nexus products, Google now has the Pixel lineup. Google has been known to release quality-based products showcasing the Android operating system as well as the features that they release yearly. This is Google’s answer to phones that fall under the 5-inch category which are compact yet very powerful smartphones. Here is a quick look at Google Pixel 4a’s specs:

• Display: 5.81 inches OLED Screen, HDR
• Dimensions: 144 x 69.4 x 8.2 mm
• Weight: 143 grams
• Build: Plastic frame and back with Gorilla Glass 3 in front
• Storage and Memory: 128 GB with 6 GB of RAM
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G (8 nm)
• Main Camera: 12.2 megapixels, f/1.7, 27 mm (wide)
• Front Facing Camera: 8 megapixels, f/2.0, 24 mm (wide)
• Operating System: Android 10 (upgradable to Android 13)

Build and Design

The Google  Pixel 4a   is built with a plastic frame. The front display is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It has a rear-mounted fingerprint reader that’s very responsive. Like its siblings, the Google  Pixel 4a   has a square-like camera setup at the back.

The phone is well built as it doesn’t creak under light pressure. This phone is not rated for water or even splash resistance, so that’s something to watch out for. The bezel in  Pixel 4a   has the smallest bezel compared to previous releases and the display fills the whole screen.

The screen of the  Pixel 4a   has a taller 19.5:9 aspect ratio and is smaller than many smartphones. This phone has a 1080 x 2340 pixel count with a density of 443 ppi. The 5.81-inch OLED screen comes with an 8-megapixel punch-hole camera and Google included a headphone jack located at the top.

Features

This phone has 2 speakers, one can be found at the bottom and one at the top. Same to Apple, Google also did not include a micro-SD slot, so there’s no expandable storage in this phone. Google  Pixel 4a   comes with a 3140 mAh, an improvement coming from the 3,000 mAh of last year’s model. The 18W USB-C power delivery is quite good. This phone recharged to 45% in only 30 minutes.

 Pixel 4a   has been released with Android 10 out of the box. It’s upgradable to Android 13 in the coming year. Android 10 features clean and uncluttered home screens. It also comes with a dark theme that’s very easy on the eyes. You can also enable the Always-On display under Display settings. This will show you your clock as well as your notifications even if your screen is locked.

The Android operating system comes with features packed every year and as you upgrade the  Pixel 4a   to a higher Android version, you can expect better performance and new features. The camera in this phone is optically stabilized with Dual Pixel autofocus. You can adjust a couple of settings in the camera app known as Dual Exposure where you get to adjust the highlights and shadows before clicking the shot button.

You can play casual games with this phone, but don’t expect it to be a powerhouse. This phone is not optimized for cooling and some gaming-specific settings.

It comes in two colors: Just Black and Barely Blue.

Pros and cons

• Great compact size
• Features a headphone jack which is very useful for some
• Very smooth operating system
• Display is decent
• Great images captured from the camera

• Battery life and wireless charging are a bit of a concern
• Questionable durability
• Does not come with an IP rating

GOOGLE PIXEL 5

Another great phone from Google’s pixel lineup is the Google Pixel 5. Google has taken the steps to focus on providing a great user experience without compromising the specs of the device. Here’s the quick spec sheet for Google Pixel 5.

• Display: 6.00 inches OLED Screen, 90HZ, HDR10+
• Dimensions: 144.7 x 70.4 x 8 mm
• Weight: 151 grams
• Build: Aluminum frame and aluminum back, Gorilla Glass 6 in front
• Storage and Memory: 128 GB with 8 GB of RAM
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G (7 nm)
• Main Camera: 12.2 megapixels, f/1.7, 27 mm (wide), 16 megapixels /2.2 (ultrawide)
• Front Facing Camera: 8 megapixels, f/2.0, 24 mm (wide)
• Operating System: Android 11 (upgradable to Android 13)

Build and Design

Not like the Google Pixel 4a, the Pixel 5 is built with a quality recycled aluminum frame. The 6-inch Pixel 5 phone is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass with a punch-hole camera in front. Even though it’s slightly bigger, the screen has 1080 x 2340 pixels with a 19.5:9 screen-to-body ratio. This phone has a flexible OLED screen display with full HD resolution.

The 90Hz refresh rate is particularly excellent in this phone. It delivers smooth and buttery navigation as well as swiping in and out of apps. Pixel 5 is rated with IP68 water resistance which means that this phone can survive against dust and up to 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes. The design of the phone is close to  Pixel 4a   but slightly bigger.

Features

The fingerprint scanner at the back is very responsive and can be felt very easily. There’s no headphone jock in this phone but it won’t stop you from using your headset for there is a dongle available separately for purchase. Pixel 5 has a 4,080 mAh battery which should deliver excellent performance compared to its predecessors considering that the Pixel lineup has a weak point in the battery department. It can charge your phone from 0% to 41% in 30 minutes.

This phone also features wireless charging with fast charging speeds of up to 12W. It can also reverse wireless charge your Pixel Buds and other Qi-enabled devices. The Google Pixel 5 comes with vanilla Android 11 out of the box which promises simplicity but powerful performance. Google promised 3 cycles worth of OS upgrades which will ensure that your device is always up to date and performing as expected.

The camera in this device is a 12.2 MP shooter and has Dual Pixel autofocus. The new version of Android features Night Sight which will take your portrait pictures to the next level. The Portrait Light feature lets you add and adjust the lighting.

The Google Pixel 5 comes in 2 colors: Just Black and Sorta Sage.

Pros and cons

• Great battery performance compared to predecessors
• Wireless charging
• The bezel is smaller thus more screen
• IP68 water and dust resistance
• Android operating system offers smooth and buttery performance

• Audio quality is not that good
• Charging comparatively slow
• No headphone jack
• Chipset is not impressive

The biggest selling point of these phones is the fact that they are compact and pocketable. Whether you prefer Android over Apple, there’s always the right phone for you. Any of the phones listed will deliver what they do best even if they have small screens.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the iPhone 12 Mini have a good camera?

The iPhone 12 Mini's camera features a dual-LED and dual-tone flash that supports 4K video, HDR, and Dolby Vision. Good cameras considering the small form factor is an advantage of this model.

How can Android 8 show WiFi password?

Open the settings menu on your gadget; Go to the “Wi-Fi” or “Wireless Access” section, depending on the version of your device; Click on the access point for which you need a password.

What are the top 5 mobile phones for children?

Relay is a screenless smartphone alternative designed specifically for kids. Gabb Wireless Z2 is a simple smartphone with limited functionality. The Nokia 3310 is a rugged and reliable feature-packed phone that offers basic calling and texting capabilitie

What trends in consumer preferences were observed in the 5-inch smartphone market in 2022?

Trends likely included a preference for compact design, high performance, and advanced features in a smaller form factor.