Earlier than we start, it’s price emphasising that I’m not an AI hater by any means.
The expertise is genuinely useful, and I find yourself utilizing it a method or one other. You’ll be able to’t actually keep away from it because it’s constructed into nearly each platform and machine now, together with smartphones. In actual fact, most producers appear to have shifted their focus nearly completely towards AI as a substitute of bringing significant {hardware} enhancements.
Each new cellphone launch, whether or not it’s your Google Pixels, Samsung Galaxys, or iPhones of the world, now revolves round AI as the primary speaking level slightly than {hardware}. That’s evident even in occasions like Google I/O, which was in regards to the Android platform however has now changed into an AI showcase.
AI is sweet, I admit, however we solely want a lot of it. What began as a cool, progressive idea has changed into one thing kitschy and infrequently pointless. I’m effective with my cellphone summarising my emails or making notes from my calls, however I additionally need options that really add worth. I’d slightly have sensible upgrades that really enhance my day-to-day life, like these 4.
Sooner charging tech
I’m the most important advocate of quick charging, and I’m not going to belief anybody who says it ruins battery life. I’ve been utilizing a cellphone that helps 100W charging for the final three years, and the battery has solely degraded as a lot as a standard Samsung would with 25W charging. There’s actually not a lot distinction.
Sure, quick charging can speed up degradation if it causes extreme warmth, however most trendy telephones have Battery Administration Methods (BMS) that forestall injury from overheating and overcharging by slowing down the charging charge when needed.
Manufacturers like OnePlus and Xiaomi have developed their very own charging requirements that allow quick charging as much as 100W outdoors China. The newest Xiaomi 15T Professional even helps 50W wi-fi charging, which is unimaginable, on condition that no Samsung, Google, or Apple cellphone goes past 45W even when plugged in. It’s a disgrace that we pay a premium for these units and nonetheless have to sit down round for an hour or two to observe them cost.
Luke Baker
If you happen to’ve skilled true quick charging every day, you understand how painful it’s to return to a slow-charging cellphone. It begins dictating your plans, and also you get battery anxiousness the second you overlook to plug it in at evening. As a substitute of including extra battery-hungry AI options that eat up compute energy, producers ought to concentrate on sooner charging, one thing that really makes a distinction in on a regular basis use.
An even bigger battery
In 2025, the battery spec was again within the highlight in an enormous approach, and rightfully so.
Telephones just like the Oppo Discover X9 Professional and Xiaomi 17 Professional Max now ship with 7,500 mAh batteries – that’s almost 50 per cent bigger than what you get on the newest iPhone 17 Professional Max or Galaxy S25 Extremely. The distinction isn’t simply theoretical, with real-world checks exhibiting these units final shut to 2 days on a single cost.
Luke Baker
For years, the argument was that larger batteries made telephones cumbersome. That’s not true. Advances in stacked cells, silicon-carbon anodes, and energy administration techniques permit producers to pack extra vitality with out including weight or warmth points. Regardless of this, corporations like Apple and Samsung have stayed conservative, not often providing longevity that may really compete with the perfect battery life telephones.
Their hesitation isn’t about security or practicality. It’s about consolation. With restricted competitors in key Western markets, they’ve little stress to innovate. In the meantime, Chinese language producers proceed pushing limits, providing longer life and sooner charging that redefine expectations. It’s time we begin asking for a bigger battery. When a mid-range cellphone lasts two days whereas a £1,200/$1200 flagship struggles to make it by one, the concept of premium begins to lose its which means.
When a mid-range cellphone lasts two days whereas a £1,200/$1200 flagship struggles to make it by one, the concept of premium begins to lose its which means
Usable PC integration
This one is lengthy overdue, and it’s frankly embarrassing how fragmented the expertise nonetheless is in 2026. Apple has nailed the ecosystem the place your cellphone, laptop computer, and pill talk seamlessly. Copy one thing in your Mac, paste it in your iPhone. Get a name, reply it out of your laptop computer. Begin an electronic mail on one machine, end it on one other with out lacking a beat.
Anurag Singh / Foundry
Android and Home windows have tried to duplicate this, but it surely nonetheless feels half-baked. Samsung’s DeX reveals actual potential by turning your cellphone right into a desktop-like expertise, but it surely’s restricted to Samsung units and requires particular {hardware}.
Microsoft’s Telephone Hyperlink has improved so much, but it continues to endure from inconsistent efficiency, delayed notifications, and irritating compatibility points throughout totally different Android producers. The expertise varies wildly relying on whether or not you’re utilizing a Pixel, OnePlus, or Xiaomi machine. I don’t perceive why that is nonetheless the case. We have already got the expertise for common requirements that may let any Android cellphone talk effortlessly with any Home windows PC.
Higher haptic suggestions
This may sound like a small factor, but it surely makes an enormous distinction. Many Android telephones, even costly ones, nonetheless wrestle to ship good haptic suggestions.
You’ll be able to really feel it the second you kind or scroll. As a substitute of a delicate, tight vibration, you get a uninteresting buzz or an affordable rattle. That’s as a result of a variety of mid-range and even some premium units nonetheless use low-quality vibration motors that fail to duplicate the exact, managed suggestions you get on an iPhone or a Pixel.
Britta O’Boyle
Higher haptics immediately make a cellphone really feel extra refined and responsive. They flip easy interactions like typing, unlocking, or scrolling into one thing tactile. In addition they enhance accessibility by giving individuals a method to verify actions with out counting on visible cues. In gaming and artistic apps, they’ll even add immersion, making the expertise really feel extra bodily and grounded.
The texture of a cellphone issues. You’ll be able to pack in the perfect show, quickest chip, and smartest software program, but when the vibration motor feels low-cost, the expertise feels low-cost.
You’ll be able to pack in the perfect show, quickest chip, and smartest software program, but when the vibration motor feels low-cost, the expertise feels low-cost.
Give attention to what really issues
I’m not towards AI options. A few of them are genuinely helpful.
However when each cellphone launch is simply one other spherical of AI gimmicks whereas fundamental {hardware} enhancements get ignored, it’s irritating. Quick charging, larger batteries, seamless PC integration, and high quality haptics aren’t flashy promoting factors, however they’re the issues that make a cellphone higher to make use of each single day.