There’s a special kind of thrill in slipping a truly compact phone into your pocket—a thrill that’s largely vanished amid today’s relentless march toward ever-larger screens. If you’ve ever yearned for the days when smartphones felt like, well, phones, you’re not alone. Apple once catered to this niche with its original 4.0‑inch iPhone SE and its 4.7‑inch SE successors (2nd and 3rd generation). Now, a scrappy newcomer called the Bluefox NX1 is aiming to revive the joy of one‑handed use with a pleasantly tiny 4‑inch display—and an eyebrow‑raisingly low price tag to match.

Measuring just 100 × 49mm, the NX1 is even more compact than the iconic iPhone 5—and it squeezes a respectable spec sheet into that diminutive frame. At 12.5mm thick, it may feel chunky compared to today’s wafer‑thin flagships, but that extra girth buys a surprisingly meaty 3,000mAh battery. Bluefox claims you’ll get up to nine hours of music playback or around five hours of continuous GPS navigation before needing a recharge—no small feat in a device this size.

Inside, the NX1 runs on a MediaTek Helio G81 chipset—originally released in 2019—paired with either 4GB or 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 64GB or 128GB of eMMC 5.1 storage (expandable via microSD up to 2TB). That combo should handle everyday tasks—email, social media, light gaming—without much fuss, though you won’t be breaking any benchmark records.

Despite its small size, the NX1 boasts a 4‑inch IPS LCD panel with a 1,168 × 540 resolution—yielding a pixel density of 321 PPI. At up to 500 nits of peak brightness, it’s plenty bright for outdoor use, and the standard 60Hz refresh rate feels perfectly adequate for reading, browsing, and the occasional video binge. A playful “Dynamic Island”‑style cutout at the top houses a 5MP front camera and can display small notifications or battery status, a nod to premium design trends.

Round the back, you’ll find a single 48MP shooter—China’s launch version used an Omnivision OV48B sensor, upgraded from a 21MP Sony IMX230 on earlier models. In good light, you can expect sharp snaps; low‑light performance will be limited, as is often the case with budget sensors. For selfies and video calls, the 5MP front camera is nothing to write home about but gets the job done.

Out of the box, the NX1 runs a clean build of Android 15, and Bluefox has promised to keep third‑party clutter to a minimum. There’s no word yet on long‑term update plans, but starting on the latest OS is a nice touch in this price range. Connectivity-wise, you get Wi‑Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, and 4G LTE support on a broad array of bands—plus a throwback infrared blaster so you can turn your phone into a universal remote.

Here’s the real kicker: the entry‑level 4GB/64GB model is up for global pre‑order at just $99, while the 8GB/128GB variant rings in at around $129. Both configurations are expected to ship sometime in August, making the NX1 one of the most affordable modern smartphones on the market.

The NX1 won’t be for everyone—power users accustomed to sprawling displays and top‑tier performance will want to look elsewhere. But for anyone craving pocketable convenience, one‑handed navigation, or simply a break from the “more‑bezel‑less, more‑gigahertz, more‑inches” arms race, it’s a fascinating throwback with surprisingly capable bones. If you’ve been pining for a truly compact Android daily driver that won’t break the bank, the Bluefox NX1 might just be the unicorn you’ve been chasing.