Zanco tiny t1 is the world’s smallest phone measuring the same size as a USB drive

Mobile phone manufacturer Zanco has teamed up with Clubit New Media to bring the world’s smallest phone to Kickstarter. 

Although a number of other tiny phones already exist (like this one, the size of a credit card) The Zanco tiny t1 is officially the world’s smallest. It measures just 46.7mm in length and weighs only 13g, making it similar in size and weight to a USB drive.

The phone lets you make calls and send texts and you can store up to 300 numbers and 50 SMS messages, but, with a screen measuring only 12.5mm, using it to the browse the web is out of the question.

So who would really want such a small phone?

The gadget’s creators argue that it makes an excellent emergency phone that you can take with you when you need to travel light. Other than showing it off for its novelty size and gimmicky ‘voice changer’, that makes the most sense because you can fit the Zanco tiny t1 in any pocket and barely know its there.

Its lack of power-hungry features and three-day battery life means it’ll probably outlast any smartphone in the real-world use (although it only stretches to 180 minutes of talk time), but I can’t imagine there’s much joy to be taken from using its miniscule buttons.

You can get your hands on the Zanco tiny t1 by simply pledging £30 or more on its Kickstarter, but like any crowdfunded project, there’s a risk it might never come to fruition.

There’s even a possibility that such tiny phones could be banned after Justice Secretary David Lidington called for online retailers to stop selling them earlier this week. Lidington claimed they’re designed to be easily smuggled into prisons, where they can be sold on for as much as £500 and used to facilitate further crime.