Why have smart phone designs from Apple, Samsung and Google gotten so boring over the years?
It’s reaching the end of 2024 and all major smart phone brands have announced their latest flagship smart phones.
Here are the latest phone designs for the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy 24 Ultra and the Google Pixel Pro 9.
Let’s get on a time machine
I’m about to show you how these three flagship phones compared for the past few years, as long as 2019 for the Apple’s iPhone Pro Max design. Also, I’m not covering foldable smart phones in this comparison because Apple has not announced or released a foldable smart phone at this moment.
Apple iPhone Pro Max
Samsung Galaxy Ultra
Google Pixel Pro
Notice any changes?
It’s clear that looking back, the phone designs have not went through any significant changes. I noticed some exceptions, but I would consider them refinements.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (2021) having a camera bump and it got removed since the S22 Ultra (2022) and the Google Pixel 6 Pro (2022) had a more distinct visor design before Google made a move to use a more premium metallic look for their visor over the years.
My favourite refinement has been the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra which has created a screen and it all flat and it no longer has rounded edges on the left and right side of the screen.
The reason why – Design Identity
Let’s just say that Apple, Samsung and Google have gone beyond just their logos or brand identities and have developed their own designs that are unique to their products. Let’s bring up the latest designs of the phones again to have a deeper look.
Apple’s Design Identity
The most notable feature of Apple’s iPhone Pro Max is the raised, square camera module that houses three camera lenses. These are arranged in a triangular layout, along with a LiDAR scanner (since 2020) and a flash component. While the iPhone design has retained relatively the same for so many years, it is important to note that they have pioneered a lot of design characteristics, minimalism, materials and polishes on their smart phone designs, influencing how other smart phone brands design their smart phones.
Samsung’s Design Identity
The Samsung Galaxy Ultra showcases its main camera modules positioned vertically on the top left side. After the S21 Ultra, here is no raised camera bump; instead, the lenses are individually raised. Designed with a stylus for taking notes, this phone also has an angular design which is considered a distinct feature of Samsung as Apple and Google has adopted rounded corners into their design to be more ergonomic.
Google’s Design Identity
The most recognizable aspects of the Pixel Pro design is its visor, which stretches horizontally across the back of the device. This camera visor holds multiple sensors and lenses and it is slightly raised but it is evenly distributed, avoiding the wobbling that other phones when they are being tapped on top a flat surface. This due to the camera bumps that tend to be housed on the top left corner of the smart phone’s back.
What about the other brands?
Other brands may be exploring more unique form factors and competing in the foldable space, and the latest announcement is the world’s first three-fold screen mobile phone — the Huawei Mate XT.
However, most of the brands are struggling to design their own unique back designs. Most phone designs are now aiming to have a bezelless screen at the front, and phone designers are left with either the frame or the back of the phone to design. Consumers also usually using third party cases to protect their phones and by doing so, they are covering the logos on the phones.
A good example would be the round/circle camera bump design. While it is a beautiful shape, the same design is currently used by three smart phones from different brands – the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, Vivo X100 Ultra and Oppo Find X7 Ultra.
At this point, what if Apple, Samsung and Google tried to redesign the back of their phones entirely? If you ask me, they risk creating phone designs that are less recognisable and lose the brand recall from their current phone designs.
Summary
The general consumer should not be expecting any total redesigns of smart phones. Aside from exploring foldable phone designs, at 2024, companies are now exploring processing power and software solutions in the race of creating AI experiences on smart phones. I think it is safe to say that phone designs from Apple, Samsung and Google will be looking similar with very minimal changes in years to come.
