In an age when phablets and big screen smartphones are more popular than ever, one manufacturer is swimming against the tide by trying to make its mobile phones as tiny as possible. Their latest achievement, a phone that’s smaller than the average human thumb and lighter than a metal coin. The Zanco tiny t1 is being advertised as the world’s smallest mobile phone. It can fit into the tiniest of pockets, can store up to 300 numbers in its phonebook and makes an adorable-yet-practical gift. And just in case you’re wondering, Zanco claims that it is indeed a fully-functional ‘talk and text mobile phone’, allowing users to make and receive calls, and exchange text messages.

Photo: Zanco/Facebook

Zanco has been making tiny mobile phones for many years now, but even to them the tiny t1 started out as a joke. The guys at Clubbit, a marketing company working with Zanco, were shown a prototype of the manufacturer’s Zanco Fly micro phone, and they were so blown away by its size that they asked if a smaller mobile phone was even possible. Zanco founder Shazad Talib said ‘we could probably make one half the size’. 18 months later, the Zanco tiny t1 became a reality. And not only was it half the size of the already small Zanco Fly prototype, but it featured all the necessary features of a functional mobile phone, including an alphanumerical keyboard, a tiny display and a 200mAh battery that can allegedly keep the phone running for up to 3 days in standby mode, and guarantees 180 minutes of talk time.

Photo: Zanco/Facebook

There was just one thing left to figure out – would people actually be interested in such a tiny mobile phone? To find out, Zanco and Clubbit set up a Kickstarter croudfunding campaign with a $33,444. They figured that if they could raise that amount, the Zanco tiny t1 would be worth mass producing. With 22 days left, the tiny t1 campaign has already breezed past its goal, raising $102,816 (at the time of this writing). “We’re proud to introduce the world’s smallest mobile phone. It’s so tiny, you won’t believe it’s real! It’s the perfect gift for any gadget lover and fits in any bag or pocket no matter how small,” the Kickstarter campaign page reads. “The first time you see it you can’t believe it exists. Your second thought is why does it exist? When you look a third time you realize how much you want it.”

Photo: Zanco/Facebook

Judging by the success of the campaign, they seem to be right. The Zanco tiny t1 works with any mobile phone network and uses a nano-SIM card. One thing to consider before ordering one through the Kickstarter campaign is that due to its reduced size the phone only operates on the 2G network. Australia and Japan have already stopped using 2G for any type of mobile connection, so it’s best to check the availability of 2G in your country before pledging any money.

Photo: Zanco/Facebook

Kickstarer backers should receive their Zanco tiny t1 mobile phones in May 2018. It will be interesting to see if the new world’s smallest mobile phone becomes as popular with prison inmates as its predecessor, the Zanco Fly. Because of its reduced size and the fact that it was almost 100% plastic, the Fly was apparently very easy to conceal by inmates, some of which smuggled them into prison by inserting them in their rear ends…