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Have we reached "peak smartphone"?

Peak Smartphone Achieved?

  • Total voters
    106
I do know this: internet-connected, always-on smartphones have decimated human life. At a minimum we should be empowering schools and perhaps even colleges to ban them completely within study areas, then place absolute age limits of 18 on all smart devices--and I'd even support measures to ramp up the cost of 3/4G etc dramatically.
 
I don't own a smart phone and I feel so freeeeeeee.

Really though, it feels great. After almost dying in the hospital I decided to get more grounded so I cut that cord and never looked back. Did wonders for my anxiety.
 
Gargus said:
Those are just upgrades that won't do anything to increase the usefulness of a smart phone, push the innovation of a smart phone in new directions in terms of how it will be used, or give it new found abilities.

What you mentioned just makes the battery last longer, run faster, etc.

No, smartphones have peaked. Yes we can refine them and improve them but they still work the same way, they just do it a little better is all. All we do now is make improvements to the existing platform without actually evolving the platform.

Ok I can charge it with sunlight, ok it has so much ram it's faster but how does any of that alter how the phone is actually used? How does the way I use my phone change or what new possibilities does that open up for me?

One day phones will evolve again much like old cell phones turned into ones you could in your pocket, then smartphones. Just like each of those stages reached the peaked and then became something new and set a new peak so will the smartphones we have now will also. So yes phones as we know them now have peaked.
Click to expand...

Then we've also reached Peak Desktop and laptop computer, going by your argument.
 
I think so. At least personally.
I have been using it just as portable NeoGaf browser, e-mail checking, and work/family chat machine and that's it.... and perhaps Emergency navigation. I haven't found gaming on phones being any rewarding either... so I think I will keep this iPhone7 Plus for another couple of years, as long as I can update the OS.
 
Moved from a pixel 2 xl to a pixel 4 xl... Doesn't feel better at all. In fact, it feels like a step back in useability and design. In pretty disappointed.

Pixel 2 only felt marginally better than my Nexus 6p as well.

Battery life should be the only focus now imo.
 
GobbledeeGoo said:
We are just in a state of flux until certain technologies can be implemented into phones. Foldable screens are still shit, battery life is atrocious and cameras can always be improved and the AI behind them.

With the announcement of a color e-ink display, I'd like to see another company take a stab at implementing a dual screen option.

There was a Russian phone manufacturer that created one but they went belly up and I don't think it ever reached the US.


Yota YotaPhone 2 pictures, official photos

m.gsmarena.com m.gsmarena.com
Click to expand...
Is colour eink even viable yet? It's my dream come true if a 9.6 inch eReader comes out with it.
 
I think we're late-stage for general purpose silicon. Once size fits all CPUs will continue to have less performance gains per generation. Breaking processing out of the CPU and into ASIC will allow for better battery life and allow mobiles perform tasks which are currently still the domain of laptops and above. Apple is really the only player visibly doing this for their devices though, and they're taking their sweet time in doing it, so if this does become the next paradigm, I don't think it'll be soon.
 
It will never be over, things will always improve and change, such is just the way of humanity. Innovation is how our species has grown and survived
 
I watched the MKBHD video. I disagree that innovation looks like this:

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I think it looks more like that:

jEONB0O.png
 
I think they've reached the point of them being like shoes, they are more or less status symbols. People will upgrade to the latest iPhone or Galaxy just because they can and feel superior to people who don't have them.
 
I used to be one of those that wanted the latest and greatest. Im still rocking an S8 and other than it needing charging twice a day by the time im using it as a music player in work I have no issues
 
For me that was many years ago. I hate how most phones are so huge now which makes it very uncomfortable to carry them in normal sized shirt/pants pockets. Also I loved when they had a much better battery life and I didn't have to worry about charging the phone on a daily basis.
 
I think yes.. nobody wants them bigger, nobody wants them smaller, nobody wants them much faster or more capable, it seems..

I mean besides obvious things like faster internet and bigger storage, sure.

I think the recent attempts to develop foldable smart phones - something which seems to carry a vague stink of the useless - show that the physical form of the phones is about as ideal as it will ever be..

I suppose having a breathable semi translucent plastic strap around one's wrist might be the next kind of step~ but yeah.

One thing i can say without bias is the stone cold reality that I've been ordering "compact" phones ever since main models started being huge or the galaxy etc, and i use earphone jacks to support a 100 year old+ technology, as such any smart phones i ever get will probably be the models which retain what may become "retro" features.
 
I think peak smartphone would be a screen u can bend and put around your wrist like a watch and unfold it and use it as a screen to watch a movie on.
 
The last big possible step was all-screen phones, after that I really don't know what else would be enough reason to upgrade besides the phone breaking or getting lost, etc. We got it all already...

Well there is one thing actually, a battery that lasts like one whole week, that would be a game changer.
 
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When these phones are hittin' Rent and mortgage payment prices, hell yeah we have reached the peak! They big trippin'! Especially since everyone today talks in alphabet mode. But my favorite saying is to the chicks...

"IJWMDS"
 
Trogdor1123 said:
Is colour eink even viable yet? It's my dream come true if a 9.6 inch eReader comes out with it.
Click to expand...
I mean, it was achieved recently. It's inevitable some eReader will sport one in the future, just don't know how soon but I doubt any time in the near future.

www.eink.com

Electronic Ink｜E Ink Technology

E Ink Holdings Inc. (8069.TWO), based on technology from MIT’s Media Lab, is an ideal display medium for applications spanning eReaders and eNotes, retail, home, hospital, transportation and more, enabling customers to put displays in locations previously impossible. E Ink’s electrophoretic...
www.eink.com www.eink.com
 
I don't think it hast peaked, but I have lost every interest in upgrading my phone, if it's not absolutely necessary.
I am using a Moto G4 Plus for more than four years now. Ofc it has the occasional stutters, but it still does everything I have and want to do with a smartphone.
I can watch Youtube videos in 1080o@60fps, use netflix and amazon video, whatsapp, telegram, dunno why people think they need 1000 € facebook machines, seems stupid to me, but hey, whatever floats your boat I guess.
 
The people who make phones seem to prioritize making something that looks slick above all other factors.

  • They're using newer, smaller technology to make phones thinner instead of fitting more stuff in the same amount of space.
  • They care more about getting rid of bezels and buttons than they do about creating new, innovative features.
  • They care more about graphical fidelity than they do about performance.
  • They don't even pretend to care at all about battery life.
Even if the technology somehow plateaus, they can still use existing technology to improve the end user's experience. For now, all they care about is what's flashy and marketable.
 
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Like I said before,
bucyou said:
technology is always advancing, Im not sure how you can say we are at peak anything
Click to expand...
It means that you reach a point where phones basically don't revolutionize but evolutionize in the same way PCs are now. Technology advancing just means faster processors, larger storage, improved screen quality but those aren't huge game changing advancements. They're incremental improvements that provided a better experience but not a newer one. I think the next big thing will be with screen tech and foldables because they allow for different form factors and ways of consuming media.
 
I just can't wait to get a smaller phone once my LG V20 dies. I bought it since I could replace the battery (on my second battery now) but it's just too big. I've had it for years, and man will it be nice to go smaller. Almost every phone coming out these days is too large.
 
DeafTourette said:
Then we've also reached Peak Desktop and laptop computer, going by your argument.
Click to expand...

We did reach peak desktop. PC sales peaked in 2011 and are now about where they were in 2005 (and 1/3rd off the top). PCs have been able to do everything that most people need them to do for over a decade by now. In fact, for a huge number of people, the PC is just too much, and a simpler, more secure device is far preferable. There's absolutely no reason to upgrade or even buy a new one for those folks.

Now, we post in a forum where the one place they have continued to advance is very important (GPUs in gaming), so it may not be easy to see from that POV. But even from a gaming POV, a lot of people are using old machines with old CPUs and are fine with it.
 
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Considering that I got to play with the new Galaxy devices a few days ago and the only thing they've managed to do is squeeze 5 cameras onto the S20 I'd have to say we've really reached a point where gimmicks are going to be what sales new phones.

I think the days are gone when a new phone felt like a huge leap in usability. Hell even the 150-200 dollar smart phones feel okay to use.
 
Peak smart phone will open and load apps immediately from a fresh state. Part of that responsibility is on the dev side to preload with old data and show that it's updating to the new data.

I have an iPhone 6s so maybe it does load instantly these days, I wouldn't know.
 
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-Arcadia- said:
Another negative aspect compounding on that is the price. $600 or $700 for a new hyped phone made sense and was fine. $1000+ or close? That's where I start really questioning if I need something, and "peak smartphone" really becomes something to consider.

I'm glad that those phones exist for people with the money and the passion, but I'd rather invest that kind of serious money elsewhere, than in what's essentially a luxury product.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah. I've set my flag pole down a long time ago. I got my new phone... 2 years ago? But by new, I mean an LG V20, which I picked up for $200 because it's not hot off the presses new. Does more than everything I need. I don't need to pay $1000 for an iPhone X.
 
Every new iPhone is the best phone ever made, so as long as they keep making new ones... no, we haven't peaked.
 
Paltheos said:
Oh yeah. I've set my flag pole down a long time ago. I got my new phone... 2 years ago? But by new, I mean an LG V20, which I picked up for $200 because it's not hot off the presses new. Does more than everything I need. I don't need to pay $1000 for an iPhone X.
Click to expand...

I have an LG V40 ThinQ... The phone does everything I need it to. It recently got the Pie update... I'm more than happy with these navigation controls and the built in screen recording feature.
 
Feel's like I've reached the about all I want from a smartphone. At least until whatever the next innovation for them will be.
Just upgraded my phone from a galaxy s7 to the pixel 3a and it feels the same overall. Price is the thing for me now.
The 3a was $400 and I think I spent $800 on the S7 when it came out. I can't justify spending that money anymore on a smartphone.
 
Battery........ i remember the days of 3310s etc where battery would last for a week.

Granted, iPhone does a fuck ton more than a 3310 but technology these days surely we must be able to get a battery that can last longer than 24 hours with no charge.
 
VlaudTheImpaler said:
I don't own a smart phone and I feel so freeeeeeee.

Really though, it feels great. After almost dying in the hospital I decided to get more grounded so I cut that cord and never looked back. Did wonders for my anxiety.
Click to expand...

I've never owned a mobile phone and it feels more and more as if I am surrounded by the walking dead. You see them shuffling along the street with their noses pressed into their phones and a little bit of drool coming out of their mouths and yet they swear blind that they are not addicted to them and only have them for the convenience. :)

Do you get dirty looks from people when they ask for your mobile number and you tell them you don't own a mobile phone?
 
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V2Tommy said:
Every new iPhone is the best phone ever made, so as long as they keep making new ones... no, we haven't peaked.
Click to expand...

Yep. The new thing is always the best thing ever. The old one was always crap - it never did anything right.

Kumomeme said:
10 or 20 years later kid with latest smartphone tech will laugh at us
Click to expand...

Totally agree. And when they're at home, their floor to ceiling wall to wall SuperDuperMegaLargeXtraColossalHD TVs will put our 8k"HD" to shame.
 
diffusionx said:
We did reach peak desktop. PC sales peaked in 2011 and are now about where they were in 2005 (and 1/3rd off the top). PCs have been able to do everything that most people need them to do for over a decade by now.
Click to expand...
I bought my Macbook Pro in January 2010, and I am still using it as my daily driver.
I don't see any reason to upgrade since I use consoles for gaming..
 
The fact that nobody can really add anything missing from modern phones (battery tech is not phone tech) proves that we have.

It's a mature technology and there's very little you can add to it. That's why smartphone sales have really decreased since 2016. The future is all about software with incremental hardware upgrades.
 
I know it's not topic for that... BUT:
I have old lg g6. I can spend 600usd... what to get? s10, 7t, rog phone2(8gb weird ads version), s10e ? anything else?
I just browse forums, watch yt, reddit. Could use nice dual speakers since g6 speaker is easy to cover
 
Yes.

The majority of people don't require 12gb ram, Snapdragon octa-core 865, 108mp cameras, 4k OLED screens .... lets break it down for the normal person

They browse Facebook/Twitter and use messaging apps like WhatsApp. 12Gb of ram is not required.
They take photos, usually with default settings because they've no idea what settings are, and upload as JPEG to Instagram with filters, so a fancy 108mp camera isn't required.
4k OLED screens to watch pirated crap quality movies downloaded off the Internet or Youtube - 4k not required.

People buy the latest & greatest for that "insta/facebook" post where they show it off for likes. A £300 phone can do everything the majority of people require but you can't show off a mid-range phone.

Phones peaked several years ago. Yes they can keep doing incremental changes but that's all it is, an incremental change.

Granted there are the tech people who will use the phones in a more aggressive manner by gaming on them or doing some video editing (Really?) but for most people, its all willy-waving for social media. Like for likes.
 
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