# Why aren't there smaller cell phones?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-smaller-cell-phones/289162
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 9, 2005, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-smaller-cell-phones/289162 "2005-02-09T07:54:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-smaller-cell-phones/289162/21 "2005-02-10T03:52:26Z")
> [@NattoGuy](#):
>
> It could become this decades version of the 70’s/80’s “NOBODY MOVE! I’ve dropped my contact lens! It cost $200 and my mom will KILL me if I don’t find it!”
Okay, again, what if I’m not a 12 year old punk?
Consumer choice and all that, blah, blah, blah.
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### Author:  [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2005, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-smaller-cell-phones/289162/22 "2005-02-10T08:03:54Z")
> [@Meeko](#):
>
> Seriously, why would you want a smaller phone? There is a point where smaller is not better.
so that you can add wristbands to it and start talking to your wrist? that, or you can pin it to your shirt…
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### Author:  [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2005, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-smaller-cell-phones/289162/23 "2005-02-10T08:32:07Z")
Yeah, I think we’re being artificially limited in what we can do here. I mean, it may not look like some stupid Zoolander phone, but they could still be smaller. I really like that phone in the headset idea. Frankly, I’ve never understood why people wanted to use one radio-device to hook to another radio device to talk on the phone.
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### Author:  [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-smaller-cell-phones/289162/24 "2005-02-10T15:24:13Z")
Dick Tracy had one, years and years ago.
Looked like a wrist watch which it was, plus camera, plus phone.
What more could you ask for? 🙂
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### Author:  [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-smaller-cell-phones/289162/25 "2005-02-10T16:59:44Z")
The way I see it, cell phones are radio transmitters (and receivers). That means no matter what size it is, it needs a certain amount of power output. Unless there’s still room for major improvement in transmitter and antenna technology (which doesn’t seem too likely to me), the only way to make them smaller is improvement in battery technology.
That said, the size of my cell phone is practically zero. I used to carry a Palm III PDA and a cell phone. My current Treo 500 has the functionality of both (and much more), and is just about the same size as my old Palm.
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