7 smartphone tendencies I want would die in 2026

On the entire, 2025 was a fairly good yr for Android telephones. Some manufacturers stepped up with extra respectable replace insurance policies, quite a lot of producers now supply telephones with completely gigantic batteries, and top-end units have a loopy quantity of horsepower.

It’s not all sunshine and roses, although, as we additionally noticed numerous disappointing practices throughout the trade in 2025. So listed here are the smartphone tendencies that I don’t wish to see return in 2026.

I used to be amazed by 40W wired charging again in 2018 after I purchased my HUAWEI Mate 20 Professional, and I initially dismissed criticism that the telephone charged extraordinarily slowly by way of USB-PD. Quick-forward to 2025, although, and I’m downright irritated when any telephone doesn’t help super-fast charging by way of the user-friendly USB-PPS protocol. So I actually hope we don’t see crappy speeds by way of this protocol in 2026.

The excellent news is that extra manufacturers have lately joined Google and Samsung in embracing quick charging by way of PPS. Telephones just like the Xiaomi 17 collection and POCO F8 Extremely truly supply 100W speeds by way of PPS. Even units just like the OPPO Discover X9 Professional and realme GT8 Professional supply  as much as 55W speeds by way of these plugs. Sadly, the OnePlus 15 reportedly tops out at 36W by way of PPS, however 80 or 120W by way of the SuperVOOC adapter. Nonetheless, issues are positively shifting in the proper route, however it’s time for a number of stragglers to catch up.

I don’t recall anybody asking for super-thin telephones final yr, however Samsung and Apple each launched slim units anyway. We noticed the 5.8mm Galaxy S25 Edge again in Might, whereas the 5.6mm iPhone Air was unveiled in September.

Apple and Samsung made main sacrifices to their digicam {hardware}, battery capability, and different areas to supply these skinny and lightweight designs. Is it, due to this fact, any shock that each of those handsets had been reportedly business flops? Evidently, I actually don’t wish to see extra ultra-thin telephones in 2026. If something, I’d a lot somewhat see extra small telephones.

One main development we seen with a number of Snapdragon 8 Elite telephones is that they prioritize peak speeds over sustained efficiency. This implies we get telephones that excel at one-off artificial benchmarks however completely battle to keep up that efficiency in stress exams resulting from excessive temperatures. This has real-world penalties when enjoying demanding cellular video games and bleeding-edge emulation.

Sadly, it tentatively appears to be like like producers are persevering with this observe with Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 telephones. We seen poor sustained efficiency in telephones just like the OnePlus 15 and realme GT8 Professional. OnePlus has fortunately addressed this drawback with a subsequent replace, however I actually hope this isn’t an indication of issues to come back from different flagship Android telephones in 2026. Hey smartphone makers, it’s okay to prioritize stability and a cool gadget as an alternative of attempting to beat the iPhone for an inexpensive PR win.

The observe of including dummy digicam lenses to smartphone digicam bumps has been happening for years, however I nonetheless discover it ridiculously annoying and downright silly in 2025. There’s merely no technique to justify it, because it appears to be a concerted effort to mislead clients into pondering a telephone has extra cameras than it actually does.

Finances telephones from manufacturers like OPPO, Xiaomi/POCO, Motorola, and realme are incessantly probably the most high-profile offenders right here. In any occasion, it’s excessive time that these firms cease with this frankly silly method to smartphone design. I can settle for a flash situated in one in all these digicam cutouts, however not a dummy digicam lens that serves no actual function.

Replace insurance policies for high-end telephones have come a great distance within the final 5 years. It’s not unusual for flagship units to get 5, six, and even seven years of Android OS and safety upgrades. Sadly, many low cost telephones nonetheless lag far behind with extraordinarily brief replace guarantees.

Motorola is maybe the worst offender, as units just like the Moto G Stylus 2025 solely supply two main Android upgrades and three years of safety patches. Equally priced telephones from manufacturers like realme, HONOR, and Xiaomi are additionally disappointing. It’s not all unhealthy, although. For instance, the $200 Samsung Galaxy A16 5G will get a powerful six years of Android OS upgrades. However this dedication is an exception somewhat than the rule in 2025.

In any occasion, I hope brief replace pledges are a factor of the previous throughout the board in 2026. I’m not anticipating seven years of updates for $200 or $300 telephones, however 5 or 6 years would nonetheless be a serious improve.

Whether or not it’s picture era, audio transcriptions, or summarization smarts, it looks as if no Android telephone launch is full with out point out of its generative AI capabilities. Sadly, we’ve additionally seen a development over time of generative AI getting used to cover an absence of {hardware} upgrades.

Samsung is maybe probably the most outstanding, if solely, instance of this unwelcome development. The Galaxy S25 collection solely actually supplied a brand new processor, so the corporate selected to focus on new Galaxy AI options like Now Transient, Sticker Era, and pure language search. This manner, it didn’t have to deal with the truth that it’s been utilizing the identical digicam sensors and batteries for years now.

I actually want the Galaxy S26 telephones would buck this development and ship some main {hardware} upgrades. Nonetheless, leaks usually level to extra of the identical in 2026.

I get it. Cellphone makers typically prohibit launches to some markets for quite a lot of official causes. They may solely have sufficient inventory for a small-scale launch, it is perhaps a telephone designed for a particular market, or they is perhaps testing the waters with an idea earlier than launching a successor extra extensively.

Nonetheless, we noticed a number of glorious telephones launching in 2025 that didn’t get a large launch. This consists of the OPPO Discover X8 Extremely, the vivo X200 Extremely, the OPPO Discover N5, and the vivo X Fold 5. The Extremely telephones particularly had been two of the very best digicam telephones we’ve seen shortly.

The excellent news is that outstanding leaker Yogesh Brar says OPPO and vivo’s upcoming Extremely telephones are lastly going world. I actually hope this leak turns into actuality.