Welcome to Ask Jerry, where we discuss all your inquiries about the smart devices in your life. I’m Jerry, with years of experience in the tech industry, specializing in engineering and R&D. My focus has been on Android and Google for the past 15 years.
Ask Jerry
Ask Jerry is a column where we answer your burning Android/tech questions with the help of long-time Android Central editor Jerry Hildenbrand.
I also excel in researching diverse tech data – a vital aspect of our work here at Android Central. I genuinely enjoy assisting people, which is another significant part of our job. If you have any tech-related questions, feel free to reach out.
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I eagerly await your correspondence!
When is the next big breakthrough coming? This is boring.
Milo asks:
Why are smartphones not getting better? It seems like we have so many places to get better, but all phones are essentially the same now.
Hi Milo, and thanks for asking! This is a polarizing issue, but I can see where you’re going — almost every phone is a rectangular sandwich of glass running software that does the same things as other phones. It seems like they all came from a clone factory.
On the other hand, a lot of people are going to disagree. This is because some phones are outliers, like foldables or phones with an S Pen, and the small software features can make a big difference for the people who use them regularly.
There are reasons for this, of course. A phone maker has two goals when it offers a new product — it wants it to be popular and sell in the millions, and it wants to make a bit of profit from every unit sold. To do this, they have to offer what they’re sure people want to buy.
If you look at a Galaxy S25, a Pixel 9, an iPhone 16, a OnePlus 13, or any other “normal” smartphone, you can see they seem alike, especially at a glance. However, the small differences add up and are what makes people choose one over the other.
If you want to take amazing photos without fiddling with anything, buy a Pixel 9. If you want to do the same for video, buy an iPhone 16. Want the ultimate set of specs and hardware for a good price? The OnePlus 13 is for you. And, of course, the Galaxy S25 further refines the software people love with One UI. There are differences even though they seem the same at a glance.
But there are other phones out there, especially on the Android side. It’s hard to say the industry is stagnant when you can buy a phone that folds out three ways, a phone that flips open like a Star Trek Communicator, or a phone that silos an integrated smart stylus. A Techno Phantom Ultimate 2 (these names are getting terrible) or a Motorola Razr Plus 2024 (see?) aren’t anything like a Pixel or an iPhone. Even the Galaxy S25 Ultra and its S Pen are very different from the base model S25 or any slab phone.
I think phone makers are innovating but in a different way than they used to. We see fewer gimmicks like an IR blaster or a tiny ticker screen and more focus on the things that seem to sell. You and I might have loved the IR blaster or the LG V10’s small ticker tape screen, but they didn’t add to the overall sales numbers in a way that justifies their inclusion. And that’s the real deciding factor.
Phone makers are also working on ways to make their phones thinner and batteries that last longer. These aren’t flashy innovations that stand out from the pack, but they’re something that people demand. Remember, making a thin device even thinner or packing a bigger battery in a tighter space isn’t easy.
We all won’t appreciate the design and hardware innovation in the smartphone world of the past few years. I want a thicker phone with a big removable battery, made of quality plastic with enough bezel to hold it without my big, thick thumbs hitting the screen. Better yet, BlackBerry could rise from the ashes and build me what I loved to use.
None of this is happening because what I want isn’t as important as what most people want. I think phone makers are delivering what people want, and these small differences make a world of difference when it comes to using your phone.
Eventually, some company will fire off something nerdy, goofy, and weird that enthusiasts love. If it sells, then the other companies will copy it. Until then, we’ll see the small differences and minor revisions between models to make them consumer-friendly.