In many ways, 2024 was one of the best years for smartphones in a long time. While you could pick out several other innovations made in years prior, 2024 marked an important year where phones debuted more eye-friendly displays, finally adopted years of promised software updates, got overheating under control, and moved toward more consumer-friendly practices like better repairability.
But I’m not confident that 2025 is going to be quite as good. Patent disputes between Samsung and BOE are heating up, threatening to get BOE displays banned here in the States. For me, that’s particularly concerning because Samsung AMOLED panels typically use PWM dimming, which gives me headaches and makes it impossible to use these types of displays long-term, while BOE panels are far more eye-friendly.
We’re also seeing design convergence go back to the “iPhone is best” model among OEMs, something that hasn’t happened en masse in a very long time. I don’t just mean the overly flat hardware design, either. Samsung’s upcoming OneUI 7 looks more iPhoney than ever, and companies have been slowly introducing iPhone designs like split notification shades and the Dynamic Island to Android phones in the latest software updates.
Of course, some of these trends are positive ones, but they could largely mean that 2025’s best phones end up all looking and feeling the same in North America, and that’s something I’d rather avoid.
Be together, not the same
Smartphones in North America — particularly in the U.S. — are mainly bought through someone’s carrier of choice. Whether that’s Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, or one of the many smaller carriers or MVNOs, carriers are often the most affordable way to get a new phone. Because of that, U.S. customers mainly buy from four brands: Apple, Samsung, Google, and Motorola.
According to Counterpoint Research, less than 10% of U.S. customers buy from other brands, a direct side effect of this buying model. As such, companies like Nothing, CMF, OnePlus, Nuu, Blu, and several others have a hard time making significant gains. Most China-based OEMS like vivo, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Honor aren’t even officially sold in the U.S., further complicating matters, but more on that in a bit.
Once upon a time, Android’s slogan was “Be together, not the same.” It proved a point that Android phones might all look different, but they share the same core experience and apps, giving users true choice without sacrificing the apps or services they love.
From the rumored Samsung Galaxy S25 to the recently launched Google Pixel 9 series, many phones now look just like iPhones.
Looking forward to the 2025 North American smartphone market reveals less choice than ever, and even the few players in the market seem to be converging around a master hardware design language that feels uninspired and wholly utilitarian. From the rumored Galaxy S25 to the recently launched Pixel 9 series, many phones now just look like an iPhone.
Many people seem to prefer flat front glass on their phones, if for no other reason than it makes finding a tempered glass screen protector easier. Unfortunately, most Android phones in the U.S. have (or will have) ultrasonic fingerprint sensors in 2025, which are sometimes faster and more accurate — although that depends highly on the person.
The issue is that many tempered glass screen protectors render ultrasonic fingerprint sensors useless. They simply don’t work at all when a protector is over top. Seems like it defeats the point, doesn’t it?
This makes product testing more important than ever, particularly since the biggest advantage of a flat display is that it makes adding a screen protector easier. No modern Android phone does advanced facial recognition, as Google tried to push back on the Pixel 4 line, so good fingerprint sensor performance is extremely important for a good user experience.
I’m not convinced the current hardware design trajectory is entirely a good thing, but that’s why we have to have alternatives. OnePlus and Motorola continue to be the biggest alternatives available to Samsung, Google, and Apple, which is a great thing, considering the big three aren’t prioritizing eye health the way they should.
Some new entries into the more affordable phones market in 2024 have me confident in this sector for 2025. Nuu and CMF both delivered fantastic entries under $300, bringing back the feeling that you can still buy a good phone without spending $500, $1000, or even more. My hope is that these two companies — plus a few others — continue this trajectory through 2025 and buck the trend of more expensive phones.
The China quotient
The U.S. government continues to wage economic war on China, and with that, a wave of new tariffs and bans are expected to come forward in 2025. While this is appealing from a “domestic” standpoint, the problem is that nearly all the real competition for Google, Samsung, and Apple is from China. Lenovo, a China-based company, owns Motorola. BBK, a China-based group, owns OnePlus.
From my perspective, the two best hopes here are Nothing — as well as Nothing’s sub-brand CMF — and Nuu. Nothing is based in London, and Nuu is based in Hong Kong. There are other brands that could deliver good alternatives in the wake of a full China product ban, but these two are the shining gems, in my estimation.
From what I can tell at the moment, a “full ban” won’t happen, but I fully expect price increases on phones from Chinese brands, particularly in the U.S.
Given that these companies are among the few keeping prices low, I would hope that lawmakers take a moment to think of other economic repercussions before making sweeping legislation.
Better performance than ever
For a long, long time, Android has been a sort of “second-class citizen” when it comes to performance versus Apple silicon. Last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 was the closest we’ve ever been to Apple-like performance on Android phones, and the Snapdragon 8 Elite in upcoming 2025 phones is the first time ever that we’ve seen Snapdragon chips eclipse Apple’s latest in most metrics.
That’s beyond exciting, to say the least, and it was achieved by Qualcomm unifying its chipsets across mobile and laptops. In other words, we’re getting laptop-grade performance out of our 2025 flagship phones. Now that’s a massive upgrade!
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Single-core | Multicore |
| Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 | 2144 | 6698 |
| Snapdragon 8 Elite | 3236 | 10049 |
| Apple A18 (iPhone 16) | 3429 | 8790 |
Tensor G5 could finally bring Pixels the performance boost they’ve needed in 2025.
Not only that, but it’s said that Qualcomm has done a better job of keeping thermals in check all while delivering better performance. The last two times we saw a big shift in the naming convention and processor design — that’s the Snapdragon 810 and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 — things didn’t go so well and chips regularly overheated. Based on what we know, the third time seems to be the charm for Qualcomm.
Google Pixel phones are finally in for a big performance upgrade in 2025, too, if Tensor G5 leaks are anything to go by. It’s been said for years that Google till be moving to TSMC for Tensor G5 instead of using Samsung cores, and that G5 is the first “fully custom” Tensor chip.
Previous generations were built on Exynos technology and it regularly felt like it. Tensor G4 performance in the Pixel 9 series is akin to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 which, as you can guess, is now 3 full generations behind what Qualcomm just released.
The future of folding phones
Lastly, I wanted to cover the state of folding phones and what 2025 holds for them. We’ve already seen rumors that one major player is pulling out of the folding phone category. Fewer players are always worse for competition, but folding phones remain a relatively small portion of even the biggest phone manufacturers’ earnings statements, so it’s not much of a surprise to see one company potentially pulling out.
From my point of view, folding phones are already excellent, and 2024 proved to be the best year yet for the segment. While we didn’t get a follow-up to the OnePlus Open, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and the Honor Magic V3 both surprised me in the best ways.
2024 was a great year for folding phones, but with one player rumored to leave the space, 2025 is feeling a little uncertain.
On the Flip-side, Motorola continues to impress with its Razr reboot. Motorola has consistently delivered excellent hardware design, superb battery life, surprisingly good cameras, and the very best flip phone software on the market, plus a new commitment to providing long-term updates.
Overall, though, I’m not feeling the best about 2025, even if there are still some bright spots here in the U.S. market. Carriers continue to have a stranglehold on the country’s phone distribution systems, and smaller players have a hard time getting a foot in the door because of it. If there’s any kind of change needed here, it’s to help move people away from carrier dependence so we can have better choices for mobile devices.