7 smartphone traits I want would die in 2026

On the entire, 2025 was a reasonably good 12 months for Android telephones. Some manufacturers stepped up with extra respectable replace insurance policies, a wide range of producers now provide 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 plenty of disappointing practices throughout the business in 2025. So listed here are the smartphone traits that I don’t need 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 through USB-PD. Quick-forward to 2025, although, and I’m downright aggravated when any telephone doesn’t help super-fast charging through the user-friendly USB-PPS protocol. So I actually hope we don’t see crappy speeds through this protocol in 2026.

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

I don’t recall anybody asking for super-thin telephones final 12 months, however Samsung and Apple each launched slim units anyway. We noticed the 5.8mm Galaxy S25 Edge again in Could, 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, subsequently, any shock that each of those handsets have been reportedly industrial flops? Evidently, I actually don’t need to see extra ultra-thin telephones in 2026. If something, I’d a lot somewhat see extra small telephones.

One main pattern we observed 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 take care of that efficiency in stress assessments on account of excessive temperatures. This has real-world penalties when enjoying demanding cell video games and bleeding-edge emulation.

Sadly, it tentatively appears to be like like producers are persevering with this apply with Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 telephones. We observed poor sustained efficiency in telephones just like the OnePlus 15 and realme GT8 Professional. OnePlus has fortunately addressed this downside 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 a substitute of attempting to beat the iPhone for an inexpensive PR win.

The apply 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 prospects into pondering a telephone has extra cameras than it actually does.

Funds telephones from manufacturers like OPPO, Xiaomi/POCO, Motorola, and realme are steadily probably the most high-profile offenders right here. In any occasion, it’s excessive time that these corporations cease with this frankly silly strategy 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 goal.

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 quick replace guarantees.

Motorola is probably the worst offender, as units just like the Moto G Stylus 2025 solely provide 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 dangerous, 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 quick 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 – 6 years would nonetheless be a serious improve.

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

Samsung is probably probably the most outstanding, if solely, instance of this unwelcome pattern. The Galaxy S25 collection solely actually provided a brand new processor, so the corporate selected to spotlight new Galaxy AI options like Now Transient, Sticker Technology, and pure language search. This manner, it didn’t have to handle 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 pattern and ship some main {hardware} upgrades. Nonetheless, leaks typically level to extra of the identical in 2026.

I get it. Telephone makers generally prohibit launches to some markets for a wide range of reputable causes. They may solely have sufficient inventory for a small-scale launch, it is perhaps a telephone designed for a selected market, or they is perhaps testing the waters with an idea earlier than launching a successor extra broadly.

Nonetheless, we noticed a number of glorious telephones launching in 2025 that didn’t get a large launch. This contains the OPPO Discover X8 Extremely, the vivo X200 Extremely, the OPPO Discover N5, and the vivo X Fold 5. The Extremely telephones particularly have 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 international. I actually hope this leak turns into actuality.