How the heck did phones become so boring? Looking at you, Apple and Samsung — but at least there’s hope on the horizon

I’ve been covering the world of smartphones for more than a decade, and in that time, I’ve seen a somewhat depressing trend: phones have gone from innovative and exciting with each generation to rather iterative and predictable. Now, as we approach the expected launch of the Samsung Galaxy S26, I’m harbouring the thought that phones are boring.

Sure, the iPhone 17 Pro brought in a different camera and cooling design, but in a lot of ways, it’s hardly a big change from what’s come several generations before it. And while I celebrate the 120Hz ProMotion display in the iPhone 17, it felt like the least Apple could do.

Outside of the Galaxy TriFold – which I do feel needs to be celebrated for its innovation, although perhaps not for its predicted cost and practicality – Samsung’s Galaxy S-series phones have gone from being refreshing to ponderously samey. I think it would take me a good, strong stare to notice much difference between the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and the S24 Ultra or even the S23 Ultra.

The last Samsung phone I can remember fully capturing my attention, and actually proper usage, was the Galaxy S21, thanks to its Contour Cut camera design and specs.

Google has been a tad more creative, evolving the look and approach to its Pixel phones, though its design language and ethos has mostly settled into Pixels being so-called AI phones. Again, the last Google phone that really got my attention was the Google Pixel 6 Pro, although its fingerprint sensor sucked.

I do think there’s some innovation from some Chinese phone makers and smaller brands, but they can be hampered by odd software, limited access to Google services, and specs that aren’t all that great in real-world use.

So yeah, the excitement that the phone arena used to give me has gone. Even though we have a nicely curated best phones list, really, if you have a smartphone from the past four years, you’ve probably got 90% of what you need from a mobile device.

Now, the constant, predictable yearly updates to flagship phones feel less about pushing technology forward and more about providing value for shareholders.

Of course, this won’t come as a surprise to regular readers of TechRadar, as there have been a handful of articles bemoaning that phones are getting boring lately, and we ran a poll asking whether modern smartphone designs are boring, which yielded some damning results.

Do something like Nothing

But I’m writing this as there’s a glimmer of hope on the horizon. It comes in the form of Nothing CEO Carl Pei, who stated the phone maker won’t have a Nothing Phone 4 this year as it won’t offer a significant upgrade over its predecessor.

Pei logic is, “we’re not just going to churn out a flagship phone every year just for the sake of it,” which is distinctly refreshing.

I feel that not only is this a move that’s on the side of technological innovation and giving the consumer more, but it’s also an environmentally friendly move. While some Nothing fans might not get a new flagship phone this year, it does at least mean less material and energy being consumed just to create an iterative device.

And I feel this is something the likes of Samsung and Apple should be doing, not only to push the phone tech envelope but also to truly live up to their claimed green credentials.

While I’ll happily give the Galaxy TriFold a go, and hopefully we will see a foldable iPhone, I’d love to see Apple skip what’s likely to be the iPhone 18 this year, and for Samsung not to feel the need to release new Galaxy Fold models with just a millimeter or so shaved off their girth.

I still hold out hope that the big players in the phone world can be innovative and make phones exciting again, but to do that, I think they should take a leaf out of Nothing and Pei’s book.

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