News flash! Smartphone designs are becoming more homogeneous with every passing year. In 2021, the three biggest flagship phones – namely the iPhone 13 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, and Google Pixel 6 Pro – were recognizably different devices from one another, but in 2025, their respective successors look more alike than their manufacturers would care to admit.
Of course, the iPhone 16 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, and Google Pixel 9 Pro are far from identical devices – their camera arrangements, for one, are still relatively distinct – but they share several common (dare I say Apple-like) design themes that have left the flagship smartphone category feeling a little… samey.
Flat metal sides, gently rounded corners, and clean, industrial colorways are the new norm for today’s flagship smartphones, with practicality and understated style seemingly prioritized over “look at my new phone!” personality. Sure, you can still stand out from the crowd with one of the best foldable phones or best Android phones from China, but in the US, especially, it feels like your options for indulging in a bit of self-expression through your choice of smartphone have narrowed to virtually nil.
But is this such a bad thing? Call me a robot, but personally, I’m all for the steady slide towards a single, optimum phone design (and I’ll explain why in a follow-up article). But what about you? As more flagship phones hit shelves in 2025, we want to gauge your opinions on the sticky subject of smartphone design.
So, do you think we’ve reached peak smartphone design? Or could manufacturers do more to differentiate their highest-end devices from one another? Are modern flagships simply too boring? Or are you a fan of their shared industrial aesthetic?
Check out the numbered response options below, and cast your vote in the comments section of this article. I’ll be running the same poll on the TechRadar Whatsapp channel – so vote there if you prefer! – and publishing a follow-up piece with the results in the coming days.
- 1) Smartphone designs are better than ever; homogeneity is natural
- 2) Modern smartphone designs are boring – I miss the variety!
- 3) Modern smartphone designs are boring, but I understand the need for conformity
- 4) There’s still enough variety in the smartphone industry
It goes without saying, but there are obviously more nuanced stances on this issue that aren’t easily summarized in poll format. For instance, you might like the modern design approach, but think there’s still room for further innovation. Alternatively, you might be nostalgic for the wacky smartphones of old (aren’t we all?), but recognize that these devices catered to a different market.
The four options above are meant to cover four broad sentiments (‘happy’, ‘not happy’, ‘not happy but I understand why’, and ‘disagree’), which will hopefully give us an idea of how consumers feel about the state of flagship smartphone design in 2025. If you’re keen to voice a more specific point of view, by all means, comment below!
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axel.metz@futurenet.com (Axel Metz)
