No, the iPhone Duo isn’t a small phone
I get why the Mini crowd got excited. A 5.4-inch cover screen is exactly the size that used to be the whole point of a small phone, and the idea of a device that folds out into a tablet sounds like the best of both worlds. But the cover display is a notification surface, not the screen you interact with. The phone you actually use is the larger main panel, so the Duo ends up feeling like a big device with a small window on the front.
That distinction matters because the appeal of a small phone has never really been the number of inches. It's the weight in your pocket, the reach of your thumb, the way it disappears when you're not using it. A foldable that opens up to a full-size display just to show you a notification on its cover is the opposite of that philosophy. It's a maxed-out device pretending to have a minimalist side.
I'd want to know how the cover screen feels in daily use, whether it's genuinely glanceable or just a gimmick you stop looking at after a week. But as someone who has watched the small-phone market shrink for years, I'd rather be honest: this isn't the comeback we were hoping for.