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2020 will be a year of refinement for Android phones
June 13, 2025
We wouldn’t blame you if you were a little disheartened by the state of the Android worldthis time last year. 2018 saw necessary progression in foldable phone technology,5G, and design, but it all made for a kind of lackluster year overall.
The promise that we’d see real, tangible upgrades in 2019 was what companies were advertising, while 2018 remained a year of minor improvements. It was more a year of teasing the upcoming tech people should look forward to in the coming years, instead of companies actually bringing original modern tech to market.
Now we’re closing out 2019 and I really think this was the most interesting year to be an Android fansince this time five years ago.
The biggest, most expensive new product category in the Android world is foldables, and 2019 gave us plenty. TheSamsung Galaxy Fold,HUAWEI Mate X, andMotorola Razrreboot all showed up in 2019 after being teased in 2018. The Galaxy Fold was the only one out of the three to launch (after afalse start) in multiple markets, though, while the Mate X was stuck in China aftera hard year for HUAWEI.
2019 didn’t just give usfoldables— it was also the year companies got out of the iteration phase of their update cycles and started bringing new designs to market. One of the biggest criticisms in the tech world in 2018 was the fact that many of the major flagship smartphones were just iterative updates to the phones that launched in the year prior. 2019 changed that.
ThePixel 4and4 XLlook like the phones Google actually intended to make with thePixel 3.OnePlusbroke out of its repetitive design language and heavily experimented with new designs in theOnePlus 7 Proand7T Pro. Samsung removed bezels (andheadphone jacks) while adding punch-hole cameras and additional phone sizes for people who wantbiggerorsmaller phones. LG startedgetting weird with designs againafter the dullLG G7. Even Apple’siPhone 11/11 Proline received plenty of updates (dual/triple cameras, bigger batteries) that helped differentiate itself from theiPhone XS, even if their designs aren’t wholly different from one another.
Speaking of the iPhone, one design change that helped 2019 phones look less like iPhone copycats is that manufacturers finally started ditching thenotch. Pop-up cameras,shark-fin cameras, punch-hole cameras, and evenunder-display camerasgave OEMs alternative methods of trimming the bezels without addingunsightly display cutouts. I’m happy notches are going away, and it’s only going to get better in 2020.
Related:Under-display cameras mean we can finally stop arguing about notches
Android in 2020: Little refinements and a lot of 5G
Companies often find a good design language that works and stick with it for a year or two. Apple, Google, Samsung, OnePlus, and others all made bold design decisions this year, so the odds of them doing so two years in a row are slim. Instead, 2020 will be the year of important behind-the-scenes changes that refine the products that launched in 2019.
5G will be everywhere
I don’t just mean5Gwill be deployed everywhere; 5G will find its way into even more conversations than it did in 2019. Companies used it as some sort of futuristic selling point last year, even though there weremany legitimate reasonswhy buying an early 5G phone wasn’t the best idea. In 2020, if you’re planning on buying a new phone,you may not have a choiceon whether to get a 5G model or not.
Mostsmartphonespowered byQualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 chipsetwill likely have some sort of 5G functionality. Same with devices running theSnapdragon 765. Because these chips make it easier for OEMs to build 5G capabilities into their devices, we’ll begin seeing fewer special 5G variants of flagship phones. For instance, we wouldn’t be surprised if Samsung released a Galaxy Note 11 with 5G capabilities, instead of a Galaxy Note 11 and a separate Galaxy Note 11 5G.
Samsung, OnePlus, LG, HUAWEI, Xiaomi, Motorola, OPPO, and ZTE havealready launchedphones with 5G capabilities. You can expect these companies and others to release 5G phones in 2020, too.Applecould jump on the bandwagon, as could Google.
As time goes on, 5G will continue to roll out in many parts of the world. The US, China, Australia, Korea, UK, and other parts of Europe have all deployed 5G networks in 2019. In 2020, we’re expecting Japan, Southeast Asia, and other parts of Europe to roll out 5G, though it may be another year or so until India gets 5G coverage.
Expect quicker software updates overall
Astute companies know that some of the most dedicated (and coincidentally vocal) smartphone users care about timely software updates. We know usersdon’t want super fast buggy updates, but people should expect their phones to receive software updates in a timely manner. It’s slowly but surely getting better in the Android world, and we’ll see even more improvements in 2020.
Samsung is traditionally very slow with updating its phones. It’s not uncommon for Galaxy owners to wait months to receive new Android versions, even if they’re buying the latest Samsung hardware. This year, Samsung has been improving things. It rolled out itsAndroid 10beta program ahead of schedule, and theS10andNote 10lines are both getting their stable updates before the end of the year. Nice.
Oddly enough, Google — the companytaking software updates by the hornsand urging OEM partners to release updates quicker — has beenmajorly slacking on rolling out software updateson time. Some Pixels might get the newFeature Dropsandsecurity updateson day one, but many people around the internet are still running software from October. Personally I think Google will take the criticism to heart and turn things around next year.
Project Treble is working, and companies like OnePlus and Xiaomi aretaking update timelines seriously. I think we’ll see more companies take note in 2020.
90 and 120Hz displays will become more commonplace
Ever since smartphones became a thing, the go-to display refresh rate has been 60Hz. It still is today. But in 2020, higher refresh rate displays will become even more common than they are today.
As of this writing, only a few phones have something other than 60Hz screens. Therealme X2 Pro,OnePlus 7 Pro,7T,7T Pro,Google Pixel 4 and 4 XL,nubia REDMAGIC 3,ASUS ROG Phone, andOPPO Reno Aceall have90Hz displays.
Even fewer have120Hz screens. Right now, that’s just the Razer Phone,Razer Phone 2,ASUS ROG Phone 2, and Sharp Aquos R3. TheGalaxy S11, the2020 iPhones, and apparentlyan upcoming Xiaomi phonewill all have 120Hz screens.
Most people may not be able totell the difference, but once you’ve gotten used to a higher refresh rate display, you’ll never want to go back. I’m sitting here with aGalaxy Note 10 Plusin front of me, butI still prefer my Pixel 4 XLbecause of that 90Hz goodness.
90 and 120Hz displays are quickly becoming a flagship phone staple. Don’t expect that to let up next year.
Better battery life, especially in smaller phones
If the smallGoogle Pixel 4exists for a reason, it’s to prove that people carea lotaboutbattery life. I mean, we’ve always known good battery lifeis a huge selling point, but we can also see with the Pixel 4 how bad battery life can tarnish a smartphone’s reputation. The Pixel 4 will always be known as the phone with the horrible battery life. In 2020, it will (or should) serve as an example for OEMs to do anything in their power to avoid the same fate as the Pixel 4.
It’s a little easier for OEMs to squeeze bigger batteries in larger phones, but we’re hoping companies get the message that most of us would prefer thicker, longer-lasting phones to thinner phones with poor battery life.
Battery life was a big topic for 2019, and we can expect things to turn around in 2020.
Resolution wars, more optical zoom cameras, and smarter AI photography
If you thought the resolution wars heated up in 2019, well, you’d be right. Don’t expect that to die down any time soon, and especially not in 2020.
I won’t dive too far into this because the venerable Rob Triggs already talked in detail aboutwhat to expect from smartphone cameras this year. The gist is that some smartphone OEMs are going to continue to race to the highest megapixel number, even thoughthat’s not necessarily a good thing. Still, it’s nice to seesome OEMsstick with relatively modest megapixel counts, so we don’t expecteveryphone maker to jump on this trend.
Xiaomi seems to be all-in on the high megapixel race. It’s also one of the OEMs ushering in thedual-optical zoom cameramovement. Okay, it’s not really a movement yet, but we think dual optical zoom lenses will become more frequent in Android smartphones. It’s a cheap way for OEMs to add additional zoom capabilities to devices with limited processors.
“AI” is one of those terms that companies throw around to make things seem more advanced than they actually are. But in smartphone cameras, it’s actually making a difference.Computational photographyis the secret behind Google’s camera success, while many other companies are using artificial intelligence to remove noise from low-light shots. Expect companies to continue to invest in AI photography features in 2020 and beyond.
This isn’t to say we’ll only see iteration in 2020, or that 2020 will be a boring year. Sure, companies will stick to the foundation they laid in 2019. But we’re at the forefront of big, new technologies that will fundamentally change the way we use smartphones going forward. 5G and foldables will bring a much-needed shot in the arm to the smartphone world, as cameras become more advanced and software updates roll out quicker than ever before.
Read next:Best upcoming Android phones of 2020
What are you most looking forward to in 2020? 5G, foldables, or something else? Let’s hear those thoughts in the comments.
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