Why today's phones are so boooooring?

<i>&gt;Why today’s phones are so boooooring?</i><p>Because the HW part of the UX has been commoditized to a giant screen where the big difference in style and UX is made by the SW and UI.<p>In fairness LG has tried experimenting with different HW UX over the years to distinguish themselves[1], and they went bust doing it because consumer weren&#x27;t into that and voted with their wallets to those making boring phones like everyone else.<p>If consumers want large pocket Netflix machines you give them large pocket Netflix machines if you want to stay in business. They can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.androidheadlines.com&#x2F;2021&#x2F;04&#x2F;top-5-best-unique-lg-smartphones.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.androidheadlines.com&#x2F;2021&#x2F;04&#x2F;top-5-best-unique-l...</a>

The article author ignores how little those old phones could actually do, and how much of a pain in the ass it reliably was to get them to actually do most of it. I understand why; none of that would go to his point. But I was also there.<p>Boring is <i>good</i> in technology. It means you don&#x27;t have to think about it much, and that usually means it is <i>doing its job.</i>

To be honest I think that it&#x27;s good direction. Why one should be excited about a phone or a pair of headphones? It&#x27;s a tool like a hammer, shovel etc. There is one more angle - when it&#x27;s boring it&#x27;s more environmentally friendly, there is much less incentive to buy new shiny, blinking toy when it mostly looks and works just like old toy.

&gt;So, here’s a question - when were you last excited for a new phone? Well, I mean really excited?<p>Probably either the OnePlus One or the PinePhone (if that even counts), though getting a phone with a 120Hz screen (OnePlus 8T) was somewhat cool as well. My PC monitors are still 60Hz so it was kind of novel to me.<p>There was also the Gemini PDA, but that thing was a huge mess and has made me skeptical of any other UMPC ventures or ARM devices with chips I&#x27;m not familiar with.<p>At this point you could probably get people excited just bringing back removable batteries, SD card slots, and headphone jacks.

Because many things that are not boring are gimmicks.<p>I think of the Porsche 911 as a good example, beautiful but boring in its design iteration. It’s considered the top of its class in so many fields.<p>That’s how I feel about many things such as the aforementioned hd600. Classic design and outstanding performance.

Because accustomization and normalizations removes the awe from what at first were amazing achievements. It’s the standard expectation creep effect. What’s novel or exciting today is boring tomorrow.<p>Try showing today’s phones to someone in 1994.<p>——-<p>As to the article’s example of headphones as an example of a product that has interesting variation - I am not getting the same impression.<p>The headphones all look essentially the same with a slightly different case style - in other words if those headphones are exciting then a phone can be made exciting by buying an artsy case. Problem solved.<p>Actually, personalized phone cases are way better than the manufactures providing a non-customizable case like the headphone cases to. Both are wrapping a tiny bit of visual style around a standard product. But for phones one can choose from an almost unlimited number of variations if one so chooses, for headphones it’s only a couple options per brand.

<i>&gt; when were you last excited for a new phone? Well, I mean really excited?</i><p>Everyone already had phones by the time I came into this world, so I&#x27;m not sure there was ever a time to be really excited. They were just an every day part of normal life, not providing much to get excited about.<p>I was really excited for my first internet-connected pocket computer, but that too is something everyone has now and are just a part of every day normal life. They will never be really exciting again either.<p><i>Something</i> will really excite me again someday, but it won&#x27;t be something I (and just about everyone else) already have. That level of excitement requires something that will completely change the way of life.

I think it&#x27;s an outward reflection of how the decision makers at these companies think. A look into their psyche. They&#x27;re probably boring, conservative, unimaginative, dull people, concerned with raising profits and nothing else.<p>Ask them their &quot;vision&quot; and they&#x27;ll probably tell you a larger screen, or a thinner body. Some kind of optimization of what&#x27;s there, and not something new and wacky.

I love how the Nothing Phone and earbuds look. The design is exciting, it’s opinionated and has techwear style. If it was an iPhone in the ways that matter to me, I would buy one in a heartbeat.<p>Take a scroll on their website.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;us.nothing.tech&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;us.nothing.tech&#x2F;</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;us.nothing.tech&#x2F;pages&#x2F;phone-2?variant=42721597718680" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;us.nothing.tech&#x2F;pages&#x2F;phone-2?variant=42721597718680</a><p>Asus ROG Phone has an optional active cooling fan you can attach to the back of the phone, and side mounted USB port for maximum gaming. These don’t appeal to me like the Nothing, but it’s different and fun.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;rog.asus.com&#x2F;us&#x2F;phones&#x2F;rog-phone-model&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;rog.asus.com&#x2F;us&#x2F;phones&#x2F;rog-phone-model&#x2F;</a>

&gt; So, here’s a question - when were you last excited for a new phone? Well, I mean really excited?<p>Every time I got one for use as a main phone. Granted, in the last 15 years I first got Openmoko Neo Freerunner, then Nokia N900, then Librem 5 that I write this on; and before that I was a teenager in the era when getting a phone that had a camera was already cool... but they were all very exciting.<p>I remember the announcement of the first iPhone (somewhat exciting... but a complete disappointment as soon as it released) and Android (very exciting at first, but then slowly getting to iPhone level of disappointment).<p>Before the Librem 5 arrived I had to augment my N900 with an Android phone for about two years. That was annoying, but thankfully I could get excited again soon enough. I miss the keyboard though, capacitive screens still aren&#x27;t great for writing.

&gt;what do you get on the back usually? A mat glass with too many cameras and a logo that you gonna cover with a phone case anyway.<p>Meanwhile, there’s a ton of aesthetic design in cases. The essay doesn’t make that point building on the quote above, but that seems to be the simplest answer.

These feature phones didn&#x27;t have (many) third party apps. Smartphones are all rectangular touch screens, so creating an app that works on different devices doesn&#x27;t require huge amounts of work (technical and design).<p>If manufacturers come out with phones that stray too far from the rectangular touchscreen paradigm, the majority of app developers aren&#x27;t going to customise their app for the phone, unless it&#x27;s really succesful.<p>I used to make apps for Smart TVs, when Samsung release their &quot;Sero&quot; rotating TV, supporting portrait orientation AND the orientation changing whilst in the app was too much work, so we just ran it in a letterbox mode.

I’d kill for a phone with proper music control hardware buttons. I miss my iPod, and being able to control it, precisely, from my pocket.

Aren’t they just optimised for screen size&#x2F;display? Eg. before design sold the phone, now image quality and camera quality.

&gt;Why today’s phones are so boooooring?<p>The author explains that the backs of phones are the primary distinguishing factor with inconsequential differences in screen resolution and refresh rates.<p>And then...favorably points out how the backs of headphones are the primary distinguishing factor with inconsequential differences in driver response.<p>Am I missing something?

I wish there was even less flare in smartphone camera bumps actually. Hurry up this race to the bottom and arrive at the standard smartphone already, so we can have hotswap camera modules and hotswap batteries again (way faster than fast charging btw)

If they are <i>soooooo</i> boring why does everyone stare at them all day long?

The design of a phone has to fit every app, every kind of content. A design that would look cool with one app would look weird with another.<p>The thing about headphones is that you don&#x27;t see them when you have them on.

&gt;So, here’s a question - when were you last excited for a new phone? Well, I mean really excited?<p>Last year when I bought a Galaxy Fold4. I would say that is the opposite of boring, it&#x27;s freaking cool!

I bought Unihertz Pocket Titan, at least it was different! Quite thick and heavy, but the battery lasts about 6 days even without any power-saving mode.

Because no one cares? I have more interesting things to do on the internet or with apps than playing with physical gimmicks.

Because of A&#x2F;B testing and design by committee.

Boring and slow.

The author answers their question in the article surely? Phones are boring because they are all screen as that’s the most important part. Perhaps I missed some other point they are making?