Buying new phone in 2019 can be a hard task for smartphone users, and its getting harder with each day!
Why ?
Consider this :
Just in 2017 we had 474 smartphone models released globally, in 2018 we did get another 435 models and as of 30 of March we have 64 models released, that's almost 1000 models to choose from if you are fine looking for “older” models, or over 500 if you are fine with just last year models.
Isn’t that a little bit too much ?
But why do we need so many different models ?
Wouldn’t it be better to release fewer phones and give them proper support care ?
Let's take a quick look at smartphones trends!
In 2017 we had couple trends every company wanted to keep up with those were:
How about 2018 trends?:
Those were just 2 years, and that’s a lot of trends to keep up with! And those trends are main reasons why we have so many models to “choose” from.
“Choose” do we really have choice?
Do we really have 500 models to choose from?
Unfortunately most of those models got similar to the point we cannot distinguish one from another without looking into a spec sheet, while some of us might argue that’s good because why wouldn't we want to have 500 great feature rich phones to choose from?.
I see a great problem in that fact that most of those models were one offs or “release it and forget it” type of deals (god forbid models that were so similar to previous ones they had to be branded as “XYZ 20XX” ones!
While some companies at least try to provide support and tend to longevity of their smartphones(Apple of all people) most of them treat each models as “launch it and forget it until we get complaints” type of deals.
Sadly.
With each year we will see more and more trends that will encourage companies to release more and more “different” models in hopes they hit just the right spot as we saw in 2017 many companies fail with their products,and some companies succeed unexpectedly Nokia of all companies got back in business with the release of Nokia 6.
I’m personally in the market for a new feature rich phone to replace my old one, and as much as i don't like to admit it i will have very tough time picking “The One” for me in near future.
Some questions for you:
If u were looking for a new phone what would be your number 1 priority while choosing between models ?
Which of the mobile trends you like or hate the most and why?
Are there any features you are still missing in modern phones ? What is it? Are there any useless features you wish weren't here?
Sources: GSMArena for smartphone stats, Huawei's site for 2019 trend "Foldable phones" representation.
Why ?
Consider this :
Just in 2017 we had 474 smartphone models released globally, in 2018 we did get another 435 models and as of 30 of March we have 64 models released, that's almost 1000 models to choose from if you are fine looking for “older” models, or over 500 if you are fine with just last year models.
Isn’t that a little bit too much ?
But why do we need so many different models ?
Wouldn’t it be better to release fewer phones and give them proper support care ?
Let's take a quick look at smartphones trends!
In 2017 we had couple trends every company wanted to keep up with those were:
- Dual main camera assemblies, we started seeing those everywhere primary + secondary sensors on the back became quickly our bread and butter.
- Curved screens
- Unibody metal designs
- Bigger and more dense (pixel wise) screens
- LTE support
- More ram
How about 2018 trends?:
- Camera software and sensor race (more, bigger, better)
- We had Type-C connection switch
- And 3.5m Jack removal
- Bezel Less screens
- Even bigger screens!
- AI everything!
- Face recognition as a biometric security
Those were just 2 years, and that’s a lot of trends to keep up with! And those trends are main reasons why we have so many models to “choose” from.
 |
| Huawei's Foldable phone Mate X one of many 2019 trends in smartphone market source:https://consumer.huawei.com/en/phones/mate-x/ |
“Choose” do we really have choice?
Do we really have 500 models to choose from?
Unfortunately most of those models got similar to the point we cannot distinguish one from another without looking into a spec sheet, while some of us might argue that’s good because why wouldn't we want to have 500 great feature rich phones to choose from?.
I see a great problem in that fact that most of those models were one offs or “release it and forget it” type of deals (god forbid models that were so similar to previous ones they had to be branded as “XYZ 20XX” ones!
While some companies at least try to provide support and tend to longevity of their smartphones(Apple of all people) most of them treat each models as “launch it and forget it until we get complaints” type of deals.
Sadly.
With each year we will see more and more trends that will encourage companies to release more and more “different” models in hopes they hit just the right spot as we saw in 2017 many companies fail with their products,and some companies succeed unexpectedly Nokia of all companies got back in business with the release of Nokia 6.
I’m personally in the market for a new feature rich phone to replace my old one, and as much as i don't like to admit it i will have very tough time picking “The One” for me in near future.
Some questions for you:
If u were looking for a new phone what would be your number 1 priority while choosing between models ?
Which of the mobile trends you like or hate the most and why?
Are there any features you are still missing in modern phones ? What is it? Are there any useless features you wish weren't here?
Sources: GSMArena for smartphone stats, Huawei's site for 2019 trend "Foldable phones" representation.
Comments
2. One of my favorite trend is full screen monitor without any frames. On the other hand this is the reason for the trend that i hate, i mean there is a problem with forward camera and the nice effect is ruined by weird cutout in top of the screen.
3. I needed to think about this question for a while and i can't find any thing that is missing for me.
4. I thing this question is more about tech-spec, but for me most useless features which are in every smartphone, are build in software apps which are impossible to remove. I think about apps for example like mobile operator apps. If someone buys smartphone from operator it has overlay installed by them.
When it comes to bezel less phones, i personally dont use front facing camera and could accept its removal, how about you ?
2. As Sebastian Windyga said, screens without or with very thin bezels are awesome and definitely I love it! This is really very good looking solution. For example in my S10+ this looks very good. Without notches, only 1-egg hole on front screen. For me this is better than notch.
3. In my opinion, we need a revolution in power. To be more specific, the batteries. I really would like to have a smartphone that would last a few days on a single charge. This will probably be due to the graphene batteries, which will be introduced to the smartphone market oncoming years.
Back in 2013, I bought my first Iphone 5s, it served me until 2018, the release of the new XS Max. In any case, I will only buy Apple, it never let me down, unlike samsung.
2.Which of the mobile trends you like or hate the most and why?
I like frameless phones, but I don't like the black stripe on top of the XS max, and I still can't get used to the weight.
3.Are there any features you are still missing in modern phones ? What is it? Are there any useless features you wish weren't here?
I still have to charge my phone every day, even though the battery capacity is 3174.Useless Parallax Wallpapers, Apple.
Have you seen the newest leaks about possible triple main camera assembly on the new Iphone?
2. I do not like large and bent screens, in my opinion they are not comfortable and easy to break.
3. I miss the possibility of connecting the screen. But this is already happening in some smartphones.
Battery life for sure and water resistance i think. I don't want to charge my phone every 12 hours while using it. I don't want to buy power banks or case chargers, it is so annoying.
2. Which of the mobile trends you like or hate the most and why?
I hate large screens, when you are not able to do routine things in your phone by using one hand. I like phones without frames and with a small camera, that looks neatly.
3. Are there any features you are still missing in modern phones ? What is it? Are there any useless features you wish weren't here?
A lot of things can be discussed. I have everything for my needs, but as i mentioned, battery life needs to be increased.
When someone releases new phone the first thing that im looking at is battery life and if the phone is not too wide. Phones should be easy to use by one hand so when its too wide its really annoying to efficiently use it. I just hate it and its typical with new phones.
I love all this feachures in new phones, the only thing that I hate about them is that people can easly hack them and track whatever u are doing but it is common with everything connected to the internet. So I would love to see that your phone is not tracking your every move.
What phone are you using right now ? and have you looked into Samsung's S10e from what you are saying it could be really neat fit for you?
I don't like in android that you have a lot of presintalled app and it is quite hard to get rid of them.
I like that nowadays phones has thiner and thiner notch, as it looks very elegant and usefull. Which i don't like is the size of the phones, they are making phones like tablets.
Well I miss my headphone jack in iPhone :D I think nowadays phones has pretty everything for common user.
I like new USB-C trend. I dont like tons of RAM needen in Android, but it's made on Java
unfortunately.
I dont need next application or function in my phone.
2. I hate when all companies desperately try to copy all Apple ideas no matter if they are good. For example – Apple removed jack socket for whatever reason, and some other companies did the same. Another example is the so called “notch”. After Apple released iPhone X, the market was flooded with phones with such screen which is truly disgusting and shameless, and I can’t understand why Apple allowed for this.
3. Well, I whish phones could vibrate stronger, because I often miss the calls or notifications, and no – I won’t use a ringtone. Besides – it would be nice if I wouldn’t have to charge the phone that often. If there is something useless – it is a ton of built in applications without a possibility to delete them.
I try to take care of the phones I own and do not exchange them immediately when a new model appears on the horizon. However, if I had to choose features that I would pay the most attention to, then it would be a camera and a brand. I love the phones that Samsung produces, for their folding and I trust the brand. I have their phones since I remember.
2. Which of the mobile trends you like or hate the most and why?
I definitely do not like the trend that aims to remove microjack headphone socket from phones. Of course, this slot is old, but removing it, in my opinion is a step back in development.
3. Are there any features you are still missing in modern phones ? What is it? Are there any useless features you wish weren't here?
In my case, there is no concept of useless function. Every function can be used in many different ways, especially when various scientific projects are created. However, the efficiency offered by modern batteries leaves much to be desired ...
I still do not particularly understand the trend of the foldable phones, but we need time to fix the problems and exits to more extensive use (at least an affordable price)
I would like more battery capacity, because now I spend a lot of time on the phone, I have to charge it 2-3 times a day.
I don’t really delve into it, but I’m sure that there are a lot of small useless functions, because of the big competition in this market, as soon as firms don’t try to surprise the already rather an oversaturated users.
I actually mostly look for my own convenience. I'm quite big fan of Macintosh so using IPhone with it makes some sense. It is really easy to do anything and to load new phone from backup take me less than one minute.
>Which of the mobile trends you like or hate the most and why?
I do not have any opinion. I do not like to take war like Android vs iOS or Apple vs Samsung. Use whatever makes you happy and what you like. Easy as that.
>Are there any features you are still missing in modern phones ? What is it? Are there any >useless features you wish weren't here?
Snake game :( it was so cool.
When it comes to trends, hmmm paying with my phone or wireless charging. These are ideas that i think are mostly enjoyable to have for me. Also i like underscreen sensor to unlock phone but its not something i need right now.
Well, i'd agree with Andrzej about classic snake. But for that, naah. I'm good with stuff i got almost 2 years ago.
1. I've been using iPhones since iPhone 3G and so I will just go for the new model if my old one was starting to be faulty.
2.I like getting rid of microjack socket, wireless headphones are much more convenient. What I don't like is the whole war between ios and android. Just use phone which is better for you and let people use theirs.
3. I'm not sure, nothing comes to my mind
I definitely have no favorites among the manufacturers of mobile devices, and there are no trends for which I feel negative either. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, and many among them are on the same level with each other, as evidenced by competition in the market.
I would not dare to single out useless functions, since each person uses the phone differently, depending on their own needs. But I know for sure that I do not use the full potential of my phone, I think only 30%.
Price. I am a fervent Xiaomi user and constantly fail to see why their flag models, which are not very much worse than those of competitions cost 800-1 200 PLN while new Samsung or iPhone can cost up to 4000 PLN.
Which of the mobile trends you like or hate the most and why?
I don't like face recognition, fingerprint unlock and all these kinds of perks. I think that we are on their mercy. It seems much more likely to me that a face recognition system breaks down than a digit-based unlocking, and it is so complicated that there will be nothing we can do about it.
Are there any features you are still missing in modern phones ? What is it? Are there any useless features you wish weren't here?
I think many features are completely useless, especially software-wise. I have a lot of MIUI-based apps, which is an internal system of Xiaomi, on my smartphone, and I cannot uninstall them.
Would you go back to smaller phone if it meant better battery life ? Or are you too used to your current phone screen size to go back to smaller one ?
2 What I hate in mobile trends is that they realise new models every year and there is almost no differences in their performance but they demand excessive prices. And another is that you can’t take out batteries in new phone models this sucks.
3 Hmm maybe flying option for taking pictures, more durable batteries and of course they should be indestructible.
But on the more serious side i do wish the release cycle would slow down a notch, its getting really overwhelming as it is now.
It would be design, and coolness. I like stuff that looks good, and when it makes other people jealous.
Which of the mobile trends you like or hate the most and why?
When they demand more and more excessive prices for every single newest model
Are there any features you are still missing in modern phones ? What is it? Are there any useless features you wish weren't here?
They should make a phone that's able to become a projector. it would a cool feature. And I think they should make phone unbreakable , and the same goes for battery, its too small and too weak!
I think durability and sustainability over years. For me it's worth to pay more once for premium that will last at least 4 years than to buy phone every 2 years.
Which of the mobile trends you like or hate the most and why?
Market is stagnating for few years know, there is no more pixel density or megapixels manufacturers can put into their devices, so they put more cameras, foldability, and other unusable technologies into phones instead of innovation. Also a lot of devices are becoming slow and sloppy after only one year of usage. I don't like most a trend for 2, 3 or more cameras in phone, it's just ridiculous why anyone could possibly want this.
Are there any features you are still missing in modern phones ? What is it? Are there any useless features you wish weren't here?
I think that phones are still bad in predicting what we want at the exact moment so I think software should go forward because hardware just don't loaded for now.
I really like waterproof smartphones but I used it one time so it is really not worth it, I also like frameless phones, they look cool.
I understand that the reason of removing headphone jack, but for me it’s too early.
Volume mixer for each application would be useful.
I really love to do a photo, so on a first place it’s a camera, then it’s ram and then its clear android like Pixel.
2.Which of the mobile trends you like or hate the most and why?
I like my phone google pixel and i hate it…
like it because of camera and clear android but hate because of new pixel :)
i really believe that next pixel4? will be better then pixel3
3.Are there any features you are still missing in modern phones ? What is it? Are there any useless features you wish weren't here?
Yes, i am waiting for normal AI, i want to speak with my phone like with normal people (Turing test), i mean hey bro what about tacco and he will answer BROOO we have 1 new store with tacco and i just write to it about delivery for evening with you favorite souse’s.
I really like how all of them works in almost same way but there are small differences so all of us users can personalize these small media boxes.
I'd like them to have screen multiplication so I could have a 5 inch screen turning into 15 inch. But for now this is a fantasy. I'm okay with my smartphone features.
2. The trend I cannot stand is the increasing size of those devices! They keep getting bigger and bigger!
3. I wish the voice recognition feature would work better! It still has a hard time recognizing your voice depending on your pitch and filtering out backround noise, however I'm sure it's a matter of time before it becomes close to perfect.