C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
On the whole, 2025 was a pretty good year for Android phones. Some brands stepped up with more respectable update policies, a variety of manufacturers now offer phones with absolutely gigantic batteries, and top-end devices have a crazy amount of horsepower.
It’s not all sunshine and roses, though, as we also saw a number of disappointing practices across the industry in 2025. So here are the smartphone trends that I don’t want to see return in 2026.
What smartphone trend would you like to die in 2026? 0 votes Proprietary chargers for maximum speeds NaN % Ultra-thin phones NaN % Peak speeds over sustained performance NaN % Cosmetic/dummy camera lenses NaN % Short update policies for cheap phones NaN % AI as a smokescreen for few hardware upgrades NaN % Great phones getting limited releases NaN % Other (leave a comment) NaN %
1. Restricting fast charging to proprietary protocols
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
I was amazed by 40W wired charging back in 2018 when I bought my HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro, and I initially dismissed criticism that the phone charged extremely slowly via USB-PD. Fast-forward to 2025, though, and I’m downright annoyed when any phone doesn’t support super-fast charging via the user-friendly USB-PPS protocol. So I really hope we don’t see crappy speeds via this protocol in 2026.
The good news is that more brands have recently joined Google and Samsung in embracing fast charging via PPS. Phones like the Xiaomi 17 series and POCO F8 Ultra actually offer 100W speeds via PPS. Even devices like the OPPO Find X9 Pro and realme GT8 Pro offer up to 55W speeds via these plugs. Unfortunately, the OnePlus 15 reportedly tops out at 36W via PPS, but 80 or 120W via the SuperVOOC adapter. Nevertheless, things are definitely moving in the right direction, but it’s time for a few stragglers to catch up.
2. Ultra-thin phones
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
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