Modern smartphones are boring

I’m bored with smartphones today. It feels it’s been years since a new Android competitor offered much more than a spec bump. There was the Pixel 6 in 2021, which was cool with a new design and chipset — but now it’s just an endless parade of sterile identikit slabs with crufty software and gimmicky AI shoved in.

Now, you can take what I say with a grain of salt. If you’re happy with your $1,500 Galaxy S24 Ultra, that’s great. But hear me out. I’ve had a front-row seat to the state of the smartphone market for some time, and I’ve got valid examples of design blandness, the lack of meaningful software innovation, and the cringe of AI. Don’t worry, though, because I’ve also got some ideas about how to fix it.

I’m nostalgic for a bygone era

The 2010s were the last great era of aesthetic innovation

Phone releases in the 2010s were exciting. There was always something new to behold, like when the HTC One M7 hit the market with those front-firing speakers and sleek unibody aluminum chassis.

I remember Motorola’s phones were super comfortable to hold, thanks to the curved back. Samsung was on a roll, too. The South Korean OEM was churning out a different design with each iteration of the Galaxy S line, starting with the S III, and Samsung turned heads when they introduced curved screens.

My favorite phones of this period were the Nexus 5, 6, and 6P. I fell in love with the rubbery material of the Nexus 5, and that screen was gorgeous. The best phone of this era was the Nexus 6P (in my honest opinion). I loved the look and feel of that thing.

Now it’s all the same

Today’s corporate conformity is ruining everything

Now compare those heady days of groundbreaking design with today’s smartphone lineup. If it wasn’t for the logo on the back, you might not know which phone you have from the hardware alone. I’ll give kudos to Google here for breaking the mold a little with the latest Pixel 8a phone, but even the Pixel 8 and rumors about the Pixel 9 paint a picture of Google hanging around the edges of the box, but not really stepping outside of it.

Design has truly stagnated. They all have the same screen shape; the cameras all look the same. Sure, one phone might have lenses arranged in a row, while another has them in a circle. Great. Foldables aside, where’s the creativity?

Software isn’t any better; it no longer matters if you’re on Android or iOS since they do the same thing, just with minor tweaks here and there. Even the custom ROM scene is dead thanks to manufacturer lockdown. Phones no longer have a personality.

AI ain’t it

They’re putting all their eggs in the AI basket

But wait a minute, you might say; what about AI? Google, Samsung, and Apple want you to believe AI wizardry makes every new phone a revolutionary step forward. Let’s be real, most of this AI stuff is just gimmicks — looking at you, Google Gemini. It can blur a background in a photo, or suggest you say “That sounds great” in a reply message.

Where are the truly innovative uses of AI for my phone? When will AI automatically put in an order at my favorite coffee shop when I’m in my car heading in that direction? When will AI create custom apps for me as I pick up my phone, anticipating what I’m going to look for, then delete them when I’m done?

The price of stagnation

It’s not only personal — there are real world consequences

I think the lack of innovation is a result of not enough players in the field, and it’s stifling. Manufacturers have no need to truly push the boundaries when we’re all happy buying the same two or three phones every year. But now we’re stuck with higher prices. All the techtubers and bloggers lost their minds when Apple unveiled the $1,000 iPhone X in 2017, and now we’re paying that for mid-tier devices.

The ultimate consequence of boring phone design is a boring phone experience. There’s no joy anymore in unboxing a phone and turning it on for the first time. All of these are simply tools. When one dies, toss it, replace it with another, and get on with your day. Where’s the fun in that?

How to enjoy your boring phone

It’s not all doom and gloom if you know where to look

We wrote about how to spice up your phone life back in November, and the advice still stands. There are ways to make a phone more exciting than the manufacturers offer. For starters, you could add a fun launcher to your device and give it a fresh coat of paint. My personal favorite is Niagara Launcher, but Nova Launcher isn’t bad either. Heck, even the Microsoft Launcher is kind of a unique take on smartphones.

And while the major manufacturers who ship the vast majority of phones continue to push out derivative spec bump updates, you can try out a little-known OEM if you want a total hardware redesign. Mobile World Congress 2024 was filled with cool concepts, like Motorola’s bendy wrap-around phone.

You may not have heard of Tecno. It’s a Chinese manufacturer, and its Tecno Phantom X2 Pro has a camera that extends out of the casing, like the digital cameras of old. The Moondrop MIAD01 is a DAP disguised as a smartphone for audiophiles. Or you can dive into the foldable market if you want something a little different without going nuts. There are plenty out there.

End of an era?

So now you know why I’m so disgustingly bored with smartphone conformity today: there’s stagnation in the market. The tech corpos are trying to dazzle us with useless AI, but it doesn’t change the main problem of a lack of innovation — remember the Amazon Fire phone?

To an extent, it’s our fault as consumers. We let Samsung and Apple dictate to us, rather than forcing them to compete. But there are glimmers of hope; you can see them shining through the cracks, you just need to look outside the mainstream markets. Maybe if enough of us jump ship to these smaller brands, we can reignite the era of competition we miss so much.