Modern-day smartphones may have ultra-powerful CPUs and oodles of RAM, but over the years, they’ve also been getting bigger in size. With comically-large notched displays becoming the norm in the mobile industry, compact smartphones have become a rarity these days, and that’s why seeing Kyocera’s KY-O1L fills the heart with joy.
 
Launched by Kyocera in its home country of Japan, the KY-O1L is a credit card-sized phone that weighs just 47 grams. The petite mobile device, which can fit inside a cardholder, will be coming to NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s largest mobile carrier, next month. According to The Verge, DoCoMo calls the KY-O1L, which is just 5.3mm thick, is the ‘thinnest mobile phone in the world’.
 
Now, obviously, this isn’t a full-blown smartphone we are talking about here. Kyocera KY-O1L has a 2.8-inch monochrome e-ink display, but no app support or even a camera. However, the phone does support LTE connectivity and features a basic browser. It’s backed by a tiny 380mAh battery but considering the e-ink panel and the small size of the phone, that power-pack should last longer.
 
Perhaps the only thing that isn’t ‘small’ about Kyocera KY-O1L is its price tag. The phone costs 32,000 Yen, or about $285 (approximately Rs 21,000). That’s a lot of money for a basic feature phone, since you can get a very solid mid-range smartphone in the same price.
 
Talking about compact phones, TCL corporation recently brought back the iconic Palm brand with the new Palm phone, which has a 3.3-inch HD display and is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 435 chipset.