As a tech enthusiast, 2025 felt like a bit of a lull. While I happily upgraded my coffee setup with a Hario coffee decanter and indulged in some audiophile gear, the tech I cover professionally felt…stagnant.
The Nintendo Switch 2 arrived with only incremental improvements, and while the OLED display on the iPad Pro M4 (purchased in March) was pleasant, it didn’t exactly revolutionize the tablet experience. Even my new iPhone 17 Pro, with its lovely orange finish and impressive selfie camera, felt…familiar.
This sense of tech ennui carried over into my work. Simply put, 2025 was a remarkably uninspired year for phones.
Samsung and Google Stuck in Neutral
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My biggest frustration? Too many smartphone manufacturers seem to be coasting.
Let’s start with Samsung and Google, the two biggest players in the Android world. Their 2025 lineups were almost indistinguishable from the previous year’s models.
The Google Pixel 10 series did add Qi2 support and a dedicated telephoto camera to the base model, but even that was offset by a reduction in the quality of its main sensor.
Chris Martin / Foundry
Some manufacturers even took a step backward. While the OnePlus 15 received positive reviews, its camera and screen hardware were arguably inferior to those of the OnePlus 13.
Nothing abandoned its innovative Glyph system with the Nothing Phone (3), discarding one of the few genuinely interesting smartphone innovations in recent memory.
Smartphone design, overall, feels increasingly homogenous. The phones mentioned above all adhere to the current iPhone aesthetic: flat edges and surfaces with tightly curved corners.
While some manufacturers trotted out the same old hardware, others arguably regressed
Even the Xiaomi 17, with its secondary display, largely mirrors the iPhone 17 Pro’s shape.
Apple’s potential for disruption seems distant. Reports suggest a major iPhone design overhaul won’t arrive until 2027, coinciding with the smartphone’s 20th anniversary.
Britta O’Boyle
Glimmers of Hope for 2026
As we head into 2026, the outlook is somewhat bleak—and I’m deliberately avoiding the tiresome discussion of AI integration in smartphones. However, there were some encouraging developments in 2025.
Notably, 2025 marked a turning point for battery life. Despite lingering concerns about silicon-carbon battery technology, smartphone stamina saw a significant boost.
2025 was the year in which smartphone stamina took a huge leap forward
While the OnePlus 15 had its drawbacks, its battery life was exceptional. It’s the first phone I’ve used that could realistically last for nearly three days on a single charge—and more options are on the horizon.
Smartphones have historically lagged behind feature phones in battery performance. Advances in processors and displays outpaced battery technology, reducing typical usage from days or weeks to barely lasting a full day.
That balance is finally shifting. I anticipate the release of phones in 2026 that can comfortably handle a long weekend trip without requiring a charger—a genuinely exciting prospect.
Foundry | Alex Walker-Todd
2026: The Year Foldables Go Mainstream
Foldable phones are also gaining traction. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 was arguably its most compelling device of the year, boasting a significantly slimmer design.
The Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold demonstrated the possibility of proper dust resistance—although the durability of that claim remains to be seen.
There’s plenty of reason for hope that 2026 will offer something a little more substantial than a few AI tricks
Late in the year, the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold emerged, featuring a foldable design that finally delivered on the promise of a “tablet in your pocket.” While the Huawei Mate XT debuted a similar form factor in China in late 2024, this was the first globally viable product.
With reports suggesting Apple may launch a foldable iPhone late next year, 2026 could finally be the year foldables become mainstream. And when a product category goes mainstream, prices tend to fall and hardware improves.
Despite 2025 being a lackluster year for smartphones, there’s reason to believe that 2026 will bring more substantial innovations than just incremental AI features.
