Mobile that can be used with one hand

What are the pros and cons of a compact mobile?

There can be many reasons to want a compact mobile, but if we focus on one advantage, it is that the phone can be used with one hand.

Published 10 February 2025 - 09:51

A larger mobile model today is simply impossible to use with one hand. You might be able to unlock it and read a message, but if you want to write a message, your thumb won't reach across the entire screen, and the phone becomes too top-heavy for you to maintain your grip while typing.

Apple and Google don't exactly make one-handed use easier either, often placing buttons you need to press at the top of the screen, out of reach of the hand holding the mobile.

The compact-format mobiles available today can just about be used with one hand, at least if your hands aren't too small, and at least for certain tasks where you don't need to reach the top of the screen.

The downside of a smaller mobile is that most things on the screen also become smaller. Especially if you're getting older and your vision is deteriorating, it can be difficult to watch a movie on a screen that's too small. You can adjust the text size, but the content on the screen might not look as nice then, with awkward line breaks.

That smaller phones have worse battery life is not entirely unfounded. Many of them have a smaller battery size, but not all. Generally, you can say that the size of the battery and the screen go hand in hand, in that you get about the same screen time out of a compact phone as from a larger one, but if you run apps that you notice drain the battery faster than usual, this will be more noticeable on a compact phone than on a larger phone.

This is an excerpt from an article about compact phones that was previously published exclusively for Plus members on Mobil.se. Here you can become a Plus member and thereby get direct access to all articles on Mobil.se. As a Plus member, you get collected tips and many other in-depth, guiding articles. You can find the entire article here.