Back in the day, the anticipation surrounding the launch of any new smartphone was always the talk of the town. After all, you’ll be getting completely new and redesigned hardware, a tweaked form factor, and tons of major upgrades, including the usual bumps in the RAM, storage, and most importantly camera. However, all that now seems to be a thing of the past, for better [or worse].
With each new phone release, don’t blame yourself if you aren’t able to differentiate between the newer variant and its older counterpart. Because, in most cases, there are transitions in only the minute detailing, such as changing the camera lenses slightly to the left or right, introducing a couple of new colors, and we guess that’s just about it.
What makes the matter worse is the fact that even on the software front, you wouldn’t witness any tectonic shifts as such. The last major change happened with Android 12 with the introduction of the Material You theming engine and since then, three OS have come and gone, but we are still stuck in the same spot. While this might infuriate quite a few users out there, however, in some cases, that might actually be what the doctor ordered. Here’s why.
Not All Changes are Welcomed
Everyone holds their breath while a new product is announced and their eyes are usually set on what’s new on the table, especially from the design point of view. However, doing too much chopping and churning at regular intervals might not be a good idea after all.
Every device has its own USP in the form of design elements such that one can easily identify it at a glance. But if it undergoes massive changes every other year then it would end up losing its identity and might not even be in sync with a few user’s requirements.
For example, Pixel devices have adopted a unique design element of having an entire horizontal stripe at the back for the placement of their cameras. Along similar lines, the iPhone [which is among the most criticized devices when it comes to hardware innovations] has its own unique notch style at the center front and the cameras at the rear top left.
As a result of this, both these OEMs have managed to create a distinctive identity for themselves based on just this design element which would not have been possible if they were busy changing their hardware design every other year. But this then leaves a subset of the userbase wanting for more and asking an important question: why settle?
Change Should Not Be the New Constant
The line of hardware differences [excluding specs] between a new device and its predecessor is diminishing with each new iteration. But at the same time, the only thing that isn’t constant is the price. Having to shell out more bucks when there is literally no major upgrade from the design point of view is a tough pill to swallow for many users out there, and we can’t blame them either.
The perfect example of the same is the recently released Galaxy Fold 6 and Flip 6. While there have been a few minor under-the-hood enhancements in the specifications, but literally nothing as such if we talk about the improvements in the form factor [which is undoubtedly the most important factor in a foldable device].
The same has been the case within the Fold series as well, you might have to take the help of a magnifying glass to find changes between each iteration of the devices in this lineup. So if you own a Fold 4 or 5, there’s not much incentive to hop onto this newest offering from the South Korean giant unless you’re among those tech enthusiasts who wish to get their hands on the latest gadgets at the earliest.
With that said, although many of us criticize this lack of change across numerous social media platforms, but we ultimately end up buying nevertheless. This gives the company the liberty to act at their whims and fancies knowing that the user would anyways purchase their product, irrespective of the introduction of a change or not.
After all, change ultimately seems to be the new constant and the company is quite content with it, the users, not so much!
Concluding Remarks: Smartphones Design have Indeed Reached their Peak!
While there is no concrete line drawn but one could say with a relative degree of surety that the majority of users definitely want at least a decent level of hardware design change when they get their hands on a new device. While improvements in camera and an upgrade in RAM and storage are welcomed any day of the week, however, the red carpets are also rolled out for the UI/UX and design tweaks. So it would be much appreciated if the OEMs start taking the walk down that carpet sooner rather than later.
But unfortunately, that seems a distant dream and we might have to remain content with the limited changes in the design element for the foreseeable future. With that said, what are your views on this subject? Are you always on the lookout for a change in the hardware design as well or it’s just the upgrade in the specifications that is sufficient enough to checkmark your requirements? Do share your valuable opinions with us in the comments section below.
