Last year was a fantastic year for smartphones. Strong releases from familiar faces and some old friends like Motorola emerging from the wilderness made 2023 a year to remember. As I look to 2024, I’m hoping some key trends continue. I’d like to see flagships push limits to justify their high price tags, but I’d also like to see mid-range and budget devices continue to make us question why we must spend $1,200 on a smartphone. With that in mind, here are the phones I’d most like to see in the coming year.
1 Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Yes, the Galaxy S24 Ultra was officially unveiled this week, but since it hasn’t hit store shelves yet, it’s staying on the list. It’s might not be the most exciting entry, but Samsung’s Ultra devices have been almost annoyingly good for several generations now, and I don’t expect anything different this cycle. The days of TouchWiz are long behind us, with One UI emerging as arguably the best skin on Android — or, at least, the most reliable.
With the Galaxy S24 Ultra, I’m looking forward to more of the same: premium build quality, consistent software updates, and an excellent camera system. Samsung has also joined other manufacturers in moving to titanium construction, which should make for a tougher construction. Not to be outdone by Google, the S24 Ultra is also our first taste of the company’s AI-enhanced software, with artificial intelligence aiding everything from voice recording to translated phone calls. All told, the S24 Ultra is shaping up to be one of my favorite releases of 2024 — again.
2 Motorola ThinkPhone 2
The Motorola ThinkPhone was quietly one of the best phones of 2023. It featured a lightweight, aramid fiber weave construction, fantastic battery life, 68W fast charging, and respectable raw performance. Unfortunately, I’m not sure we’ll see a ThinkPhone 2 in 2024, as the phone was held back by poor marketing and a lack of presence in carrier stores.
But as the kids would say, if you know you know, and if you were lucky enough to pick up a ThinkPhone on one of the many spectacular sales Motorola ran throughout the year, you can rest assured you have one of 2023’s most impressive phones in your pocket. If we get a ThinkPhone 2, I’d want Motorola to keep the aramid fiber backing, as we don’t see enough variation from glass slabs and eco-leather.
3 OnePlus Open 2
OnePlus burst onto the foldable scene in 2023 with the OnePlus Open. It was such a breath of fresh air from the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Pixel Fold in the US that I didn’t even mind it was a rebadged Find N3 from sister company Oppo. The Open managed to fix many of my problems with folds; it sports a slightly wider outer display, a relatively lightweight construction, and the best multitasking on a fold.
It’s the device I always wished the Galaxy Z Fold series would be. If OnePlus can just make OxygenOS a little less annoying to use in future versions — and future hardware continues to match the slim chassis from the likes of the Honor Magic V2 — the OnePlus Open 2 could be my favorite folding phone of 2024.
4 Google Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro
Google exercised a few demons in 2023 with the Pixel 8 Pro. The company finally put any display brightness criticisms behind it with the Super Actua display. It also got Tensor under control with the G3, as overheating was virtually non-existent, and battery life was excellent on the Pixel 8 Pro. I would love to see Google not pull a Google in 2024 and stick with the design of the Pixel 8 Pro with only a few design refinements.
While I love last year’s efforts, I want to see the company squeeze a bit more raw performance out of a hypothetical Tensor G4. If it can, the Pixel 9 Pro can stand toe-to-toe with the S24 Ultra, with AI features and massive software support perhaps tipping the scales in Google’s favor.
5 Samsung Galaxy A55
The Samsung Galaxy A54 did a lot to wash away the sins of the A53 — a device I often felt like throwing through a window. Samsung cleaned up performance and brought the design in line with the more expensive S23 series. I would love to see the Galaxy A55 muster up a bit more power and improve the cameras. If so, it would be a worthy rival to a potential Google Pixel 8a in the Spring of 2024.
2023 was a great year for mid-range phones, bringing into question how much most people need to spend on a device. An improved Galaxy A55 would continue that trend, giving people a quality OneUI Android experience at an excellent price point.
6 Motorola Razr+ 2
While the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 was the fold you’d get your grandma, the Motorola Razr+ was the flip you bought if you’ve ever used the word rizz. It was the phone I carried in my pocket when I wanted to have a bit of fun, and it was my favorite foldable of the year. Breaking away from nostalgia, the Razr+ was released with a new design featuring gorgeous colors, a fantastic external display, and clean software. I’d love to see a slightly refined build, beefed-up specs, and new colors on a Razr+ 2, as it won’t take much work for Motorola to be king of the flip phones like it’s 2006.
7 LG Wing 2 (after all, it’s a wishlist)
I promise I’m not behind on the times — I’m fully aware LG is out of the smartphone business, and there will not be an LG Wing 2 in 2024. This header could just as easily read Palm Treo, BlackBerry Passport 2, or Microsoft Surface Duo 3. Folds and flips allowed manufacturers to break out of the glass slab mold, but this is a lonely plea for companies to release one or two different form factors in 2024.
What is preventing a company from picking up where LG left off? With the right implementation, slider phones, wider form factors, and rotating hinges would all be great. The reviews will be awful — mixed at best — and sales will be weak, but it’s been a long time since we’ve had a classic niche phone to cherish.
2024 should be a good one
Please don’t take this as a complete list, as there are so many phones I’d like to see in 2024. Smartphones in 2023 showed us that we didn’t need to spend $1,300 just to get a quality experience, but I’m curious to see how Samsung and Google leverage AI to justify high flagship prices. I loved the lineup of smartphones we got in 2023, and I’m excited for what this year brings.
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Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
It’s not an overhaul by any means, but even small changes like (finally) swapping back to a flat touchscreen and seven years of system updates help the Galaxy S24 Ultra stand apart from its predecessors. Galaxy AI’s suite of features are front and center, as well as Google’s latest utilities like Circle to Search, and this AI craze even brings its magic to the Ultra’s cameras for after-the-fact super slo-mo.
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Google Pixel 8 Pro
$799 $999 Save $200
The Google Pixel 8 Pro is the company’s latest flagship, boasting a new Tensor G3 chip, a brighter screen, and a new camera array capable of capturing even more light. As usual, the real power lies in Google’s Tensor chip, which offers even more photo enhancement and image editing features.
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OnePlus Open
$1500 $1700 Save $200
OnePlus’ first foldable packs an impressive specs sheet and boasts some equally remarkable features. The lightweight design, the super-bright cover and folding screens, the high-end internals, and the triple-camera setup make the OnePlus Open a great alternative to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold lineup.
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