December is one of my favorite times of the year. In addition to the holiday season — who doesn’t love driving down a snowy street lit by street lamps and Christmas lights — it’s a time where the constant news churn slows down enough to allow for a chance to look back at the last eleven months with a newfound sense of appreciation. But although Android Police (along with other publications) are great at putting out end-of-year awards — ours are coming soon,alongside Readers' Choice— that doesn’t always give us a good chance to look at theoverall smartphone landscapethe way, say, games or movies earn their own attention.
And frankly, I see that as a shame, because in retrospect, I think 2023 will stand up as a landmark year for the industry. This was a complicated year, full of a handful of surprises mixed in with, by and large, boring devices that did their jobs well. It was at once more interesting than the past two years combinedandmore static than ever before. And I think it points to a fork in the road for future handsets, with one direction far more exciting than the other.
The more things change, the more they stay the same
If you upgraded to a new flagship device this year, it probably felt a lot like your old phone. The big hitters — Samsung and Google in particular — didn’t radically change their design from the previous year. TheGalaxy S23 Ultrais the most obvious example here. It’s a great phone, and the processor leap over its predecessor helped make for a great upgrade, especially globally. But it’s near-identical in look and feel to the Galaxy S22 Ultra, making it particularly difficult to feel any sort of excitement towards it.
Samsung didn’t stop there, by the way. TheGalaxy Z Flip 5might have added an expansive front display — and next year’s might be even bigger — but theGalaxy Z Fold 5is practically identical to the 2022 model. Sorry Samsung, but you don’t get points for closing the gap between panels, especially when your rivals beat you to that race an entire generation earlier. The Fold series is in desperate need for a rethinking, especially considering the newfound competition in the US.
If you upgraded to a new flagship device this year, it probably felt a lot like your old phone.
Google didn’t fare much better. Save for the Pixel Fold, every Pixel phone this year simply iterated on what came before. I love thePixel 8 Pro, but the minor changes it made to the overall design are hardly worth an upgrade from 2022’s flagship, especially at its higher price point. ThePixel 8received even less attention, as Google looked to differentiate its budget flagship hardware from the more premium Pro lineup. It even kept a handful of software features exclusive to the $1,000 model.
And, of course, thePixel 7adoesn’t look all too different, either, although the upgrades it brought — a 90Hz display, wireless charging — are, at least, worth improvements that make for a much better overall experience. The one space Google did innovate in was its debut foldable, bringing a new design to the space that felt more in line with pocket notebooks than any other smartphone before it. Unfortunately, the design was all the Pixel Fold had — in nearly every other way, it was lacking compared to the competition.
Something old, something new
Perhaps that’s why I found products from smaller brands so interesting. Devices from Motorola and OnePlus aren’t perfect — especially when it comes to software experiences and upgrade support, both of which are woefully lacking between these two brands. But trying devices like theMotorola Razr+and theOnePlus Openbrought along a sense of something completely new to the table. I’ve written endlessly about my love of Motorola’s output this year; by and large, the company is nailing its hardware. If it could just improve the speed and reliability at which updates roll out to customers, its lineup would be far easier to sell.
Meanwhile, nearly every writer in tech who’s gotten their hands on the OnePlus Open — includingmultiple writersatthis very site— have fallen in love with it. OxygenOS might feel a little disastrous at the moment, especially with its focus on buzzwords in Android 14, but the company nailed its first outing with a foldable. Open Canvas alone helpedmake for one of the most exciting software experiencesI had on a device this year, leagues ahead of any of the AI-powered tricks you’ll find on the Pixel.
If you miss the Android from a decade ago, it’s here where you should turn your attention.
It’s little touches like those that really made these products feel refreshed in an otherwise stagnant era. The outer display on the Razr+ was another. Sure, you could argue the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s implementation felt a little more refined, a little more modern. But Motorola’s cover screen on the Razr felt innovative and fun, like something dug up from a more exciting era of Android. Samsung focused almost entirely on turning the outside of your smartphone into a smartwatch.Motorola threw games on itjust because itcould.
There’s a case to be made that aiming for that sense of novelty every year is actually bad for the consumer — you end up wasting time on a product that will either never be improved or be removed in years to come. We’ve seen Samsung and Google do similar things in the past (do you even remember that the Pixel 8 Pro has a thermometer on it?), which is where OnePlus and Motorola get it right. Both of their concepts — Open Canvas on the OnePlus Open, the cover screen on the Razr+ — feel like fresh concepts, yet essential to their respective product categories. I can’t imagine seeing these tools fade away any time soon.
Two paths in the road
Moving forward, I see two paths forAndroid fans looking to spice uphow they view phones. The first is sticking to what feels comfortable. There’s nothing wrong with the status quo — I’d argue it’s what most people want out of smartphones in the first place. This is a mature ecosystem, and it’s not like Samsung and Google aren’t bringing something to the table. Their hardware is top-notch, their software support is unparalleled, and both companies areracing to bring AI-powered featuresto your pocket — features that, thankfully, should be easily ignored if they fail to take off.
But it’s with smaller brands, the likes of Motorola and OnePlus, or evenNothingandAsus, where you’ll find big swings on concepts that still make smartphones feel fresh, and if you miss the Android from a decade ago, it’s here where you should turn your attention. These devices are often imperfect, but it’s that sense of experimentation that keeps this platform from feeling stale.
2023 may have, overall, been a largely stagnant year for the mobile industry. But some of the more niche releases this year showed the spirit of Android — that sense of “Be together, not the same” that Google once preaches — still exists. You just have to look a little harder for it.
