Has the Smartphone Plateaued?

SomeGadgetGuy's Gear List

--------------------------------------

Links on this page may be affiliate links which help support production on this website.

[jondub]

I'd like to bring back the Samsung S5, but with today's power. That phone was water resistant, had removable battery, expandable storage, headphone jack, IR blaster, heartrate reader, FM radio chip. It was a phone above all else

[jangkrus]

People saying Phones becoming boring are the same people who wouldn't pay attention to the LG's Sony's and only have iphone on their pockets.

[davidburns]

What we see now, especially in North America, is monopolistic market calcification that prevents all but the most pedicured and anti-segment cannibalizing features / phones to be released because this market is so locked in due to anti-consumer business practices from carriers and phone manufacturers in the US

[LarryAsberryJr]

You can tell Juan genuinely loves this space because of all the thought he dedicated to each point. There's no one better in this space. I can feel the intentionality of his script. 👍🏾

Moreover innovative use of existing tech absolutely moves segments forward. I don't think you even mentioned AR which you continue to support.

[TheMukaila]

I think the correct term is "mainstream phones have plateaued"
All the brands with lower market share are constantly trying new things. But the only two left standing Samsung and Apple have no incentive to do anything really new as long as people "vote with their wallet" as you say.

[Tsinglung]

Smartphone has not yet plateaued. Some of those "tech reviewers" have.

[Just_Mike]

Sadly most of the phone content in English is US centric where you have the choice of 3-4 brands. Everywhere else in the world has 20+ brands. Here on my iqoo 12 with 16/512gb snapdragon 8 gen 3 and great cameras (except the selfie video) for less than half the Samsung price. Great video as always keep up the good work 🎉

[techierg]

Consumers control what companies will give you. Short story I grew up in nyc a bag of chips cost 25 cents and out of the blue companies raised the price to 50 cents or higher consumers got enraged and stopped buying the junk food in about a few months the prices went back to 25 cents cause they lost money they sure listened at that point

[XieRH]

Products like smartphones, CPUs, and graphics cards have annual release cycles where there’s new models every year.

In general when it comes to that sort of frequency of releases and updates, it’s easier to get bored sooner as you start to see the changes and new features get increasingly minor and incremental, especially when the product has matured.

I've personally also grown really disenfranchised with the direction that smartphones have gone in, as I've witnessed features get removed like the headphone jack, heck the Xperia 1 V that I bought last year had its notification LED removed so now I can't even tell if it's finished charging when plugged in. It's hard for me to get interested any more when features with practical value get removed while the things that get added feel mostly like gimmicks (the most recent of which is the AI fad).

[BarryJohnson]

This was very well done and it puts a spotlight directly on those that constantly complain about the "smartphone plateu". Also, Samsung Unpacked was the perfect example to highlight how that although a couple of companies have gone with the status quo. it doesn't represent the mass. Great video Juan.

[camilstoenescu]

Yes, fortunately. We don't have to reinvent the wheel every 2-3 years, change for the sake of change. Take a look at the automotive industry with all the "innovations" for the cars' interior: screens upon screens, shitty touch controls instead of real buttons, essentials functions being burried in menus, an ergonomics nightmare.

[aisland]

I constantly watch phone reviews. Then one day i said to myself what do i mainly use my phones for
I had to realize all i do is watch YouTube
Get what you need people not what you want

[bassandtrebleclef]

Plateauing isn't bad. It gives customers more choice as to what feature set we're willing to pay more for, since phones are basically interchangeable. The delta between a $500 and a $1000 phone isn't that much anymore. Customer wins. It's not unlike buying a washer/dryer. They all do the same thing, have the same issues, so why fork over $3000 when $1500 gets me what I need. Customer wins.

[hotrodhunk]

My note 9 was perfect. I'd still be rocking it if my wife didn't get me the 22 ultra. Battery was getting a bit weak but still usable. I'll get one when a good folding phone comes out.

[olivermorning]

I think any high end phone from 2020 would still run great for 4 to 5 years for regular folks. Currently over a year and a half in with my ROG 5s 512gb and I am still loving it. Everything is great even the camera is still decent, 4k60fps from the main sensor with plenty of storage to use.

My only slight excitement is the 7 years of update, not the AI soon to be a subscription. My iPhone Xs still run great and I hope Android can do that longevity too

[amirulaiman]

even as a consumer, I think smartphones have very much plateaued lately. Still using my Galaxy Note10+ for almost 5 yrs and didn't find the need to upgrade, idk I just think that the upgrades of the "successors" to the Note10+ just isn't substantial enough or make me go "I need that upgrade .", having the S24 Ultra in my hand made me felt like I'm using the same phone and I haven't upgraded at all and day to day usage feels similar too. This Note10+ very much still serves me well and probs won't upgrade until I break my phone. Perhaps I should go back to trying Sony phones or get a foldable next.

[Guuzaka]

First thing I want to say is thanks for doing this in 60FPS for a change. 😅 I do suggest that future videos to the channel are at least uploaded in 1080p60FPs. 😅
And yes, I certainly agree with the main message of this video: people should not look at Apple and Samsung's underperformance as an indicator of where smartphones are going. 🚫🍎 As you have plainly said, there are lots of cool innovative things that happen outside of Samsung and Apple. 🌠📱

[majestikmoose]

I'm sure I've said this before, but thank you Juan for consistently being one of the most thoughtful voices in the mobile tech space. I truly appreciate your perspective!

[floppa]

6:52 This was 100% me. Getting my first Smartphone a Galaxy Ace, this was something I constantly did for fun. Scroll around one homescreen, flick through menus, play with the unlock animation, and especially installing any random app or game from the Android market.

[billiamnotbob]

From my perspective, we've lost our sense of wonder at what these companies have accomplished. I haven't as I grew up long before this Tech explosion. No cell phones, much less smart phones. No computers at home, school, the libraries or anyplace else for everyone. I'm still amazed at what can be done and am very appreciative of the accomplishments.