Published on March 26th, 2020 | by Ron Sinda

This is the Perfect Smartphone No Company Wants to Make

Looking back a year or two, many experts agree that the smartphone is reaching a technological plateau (or already has). The point is, we haven’t seen any innovation or upgrade to newer models, aside from the growing number of cameras. Every phone iteration became only about making things a little bit faster and shinier. Different phones from different manufacturers all look the same ‒ from last year’s design! Because of this, no wonder people are keeping their phones longer.

Smartphone companies are even taking away features instead of keeping them. The 3.5mm jack, Camera OIS, NFC, USB-C, and wireless charging among others ‒ these should be smartphone staples. Instead, long forgotten problems are brought back and fancy solutions are presented as ground-breaking innovations.

It’s already 2020. A new decade has started and unless companies finally decide to release new phones without missing any of these important features, here is my “Perfect Smartphone” wish list.

Photo by Jonah Pettrich on Unsplash

SPEAKERS

Let’s start off with the least appreciated ‒ the speakers. Most people don’t check the audio features as long as it’s loud. Most devices have single bottom-firing speakers that are simply not enough. We do have earphones but there are instances we just like to put our phones down and enjoy a Youtube video quickly.

Even these have TWO speakers

(Photo by Eric Nopanen on Unsplash)

Perfect Smartphone: Airpods, headphones, and practically all other audio devices have stereo, so why limit the smartphone speakers to mono? Devices with stereo speakers sound more immersive and more natural. Making this a standard among smartphones would make anyone’s ears happy.

Tech Suggestion: Unless piezoelectric screen sound tech is developed to rival conventional ones, putting the speakers out in front, like in the ASUS ROG Phone II, would greatly improve your next Netflix experience without ever needing headphones or external speakers.

BATTERY

Almost all smartphones today have non-removable, internal batteries unless one would settle for a cheap, low-end device. Capacity and charging tech has increased over the years but whether a phone can last a day or two, you still have to connect it to a charger sooner or later.

Internal batteries – another reason to keep us buying new phones

Photo by mnm.all on Unsplash

Perfect Smartphone: Bring back the removable battery. In case we already forgot, these are the ones where we can actually take out the battery without special tools. Better still, new devices should come with a spare battery to switch to and we’ll never have to need charge the phone itself anymore. There’ll be no need for an insanely large capacity battery or fancy fast-charging tech to stay juiced throughout the day easily.

Tech Suggestion: A clever ejecting mechanism can be developed to make the battery swapping seamless. A small, internal battery can be included to keep the phone “on” long enough during the process. The bottom part/face of the phone, including the charging port, can be part of the battery itself so you can plug it directly without needing a separate charger similar to AA batteries such as this.

FRONT CAMERA/SCREEN

We can’t get rid of the front camera. It’s too precious compared to the disappearing 3.5mm audio jack. From the hideous notch of 2018, to the more refined tear-drop/water-fall/punch-hole designs ‒ any screen cut-out is still ugly and distracting to say the least. If given a choice, anyone would prefer a complete, uninterrupted full screen estate.

It’s 2020 and yet the notch is still here

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Pop-up and flip-up cameras made full screen experience possible once again but these extra moving and protruding parts and mechanism can compromise integrity and occupy precious phone internal space.

Perfect Smartphone: Remember the Galaxy S9? It’s the last Samsung flagship phone of 2018 without any notch/punch-hole but still looks exquisite. No doubt this can still be refined to make the top bezel as thin as the front camera would allow, providing the immersive screen we used to have.

Tech Suggestion: Under display fingerprint was made possible and I believe the camera can be hidden as well. Companies should develop the hidden front camera tech from Oppo and get rid of notches and punch-holes once and for all.

MAIN CAMERA(S)

There are plenty of reasons to buy a new phone, but this one tops most people’s list. It is also the one smartphone component that has been mostly upgraded in the last year or two.

Billions in R&D but we still can’t have interchangeable lens in our phones

Photo by ShareGrid on Unsplash

Perfect Smartphone: A single camera but with an interchangeable lens. Period. If Mirrorless cameras can do it, the smartphone can do better.

Tech Suggestion: If there is one smartphone component that can be upgradeable, this is it. Forget about having four or more ugly camera modules, we only need one. Imagine having a small and thin lens for your everyday shots which can be swapped for a zoom or wide-angle one. Having a DSLR-like lens system would fit anyone’s photography needs without having to upgrade the whole device.

LOOKING FORWARD

To think, most or all of these ideas are not science fiction but are actually possible with the right people and quality education.

But in the real world, no-one wants to create the “perfect smartphone.” Companies are simply interested in making and selling new units for profit. For now, we’re stuck with essentially just new and fancier models of yesterday’s phones

Tags: Android, concept, iOS, Smartphone

About the Author

Ron Sinda is a full-time dad who loves all tech things and a beginner blogger. Learning the ropes of graphic and web design, he helps with the digital content of Courses.com.au.