this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2026
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So I used to be quite a tech enthusiast but kinda stopped, I used to be a lot in cameras, smartphones etc even tho i cud never afford them lmao

Anyway today i saw the MKBHD video he released recently about oneplus, and it got me thinking, i remember the time when i used to really be into it and remember devices being so cool for their time like iphone 11 and 12, the samsung galaxy s phones.. oneplus obv, always came with a lot of actually cooler features like better battery lives, new cooler designs, improved cameras etc etc, we also had companies like ASUS making and experimenting with cool phones

However now it just seems that they all add useless irrelevant features, AI slop being number one of them, but even then the designs are much uglier now.. iphone 12 and 13s used to look so elegant and cool.. same with samsungs galaxy note series and s10 series, ASUS went out of the market.. and oneplus is.. well just another random generic brand.. the only brands doing smthng cool are prolly xiaomi or vivo but even then its a lot more cool for the first week and then forget abt it than much else

Same kinda happened with the camera market.. i remember there used to be cameras lile XS-10 or fujis XE4 and XT30 making big news about being arnd and under 1000$ and being such good value for money with good sensors.. IBIS in some cases, and in the full frame you had A7iii from sony and Z5s from nikon offering insane value However now apparently 1K dollars only gets u recycled parts from much older cameras.. and entry level is now fuckinf 1.5k+ dollars for APSC cams, micro four thirds is dead (i always wanted a g9 so bad lol it was like 999$ a steal but i was like 15lol), and even the cameras dont seem much that great, however maybe i just am not upto date on that stuff so idk.. the pro market might be getting better.. im talking more as an enthusiast who just sees them from outside lol

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[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 42 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Not so much peaked, but plateaued.

They are getting more powerful, but the difference between an 8MP and 16MP camera was a lot more obvious than the last 5 years worth of changes.

[–] respectmahauthoritybrah@sh.itjust.works 3 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

Raw chip performance? Yeah.. but I am kinda talking more about the actual useful features tbh, for eg the camera sensor technology has all but remained the same since iphone 14, (for all brands not just apple) nd neither have they improved the image processing pipeline, the straight out of camera images are still absolutely shit. Thanks for the proRAW tho, i have used my frnds newer iphones and they are the same with that weird pastel hdr-y look, all they r offering is just random AI improvements no one needed

Same with stuff like battery life, now i am not saying its not getting better, but it has definitely not been a focus, oneplus recently came with the silicon carbide tech but the major brands and rlly slow to adapt to that, u can see xiaomi and vivo phones still absolutely in these two areas so its definitely not tech plateauing (1inch sensors, bigger batteries), more accurately there is a weird preference order of AI and unnecessary visual changes

Camera is basically the only specs I need to look at in a phone today as a general user.

[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 20 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The peak was like 2014. The inception of social media and the ad industry is what ruined smartphones.

[–] Canconda@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

iphone 5 was the last good iphone. Steve Jobs was right in that an every day carry device/tool should be fully operable one handed.

If RIM had innovated maybe we'd see physical keyboards with features that could compete with touchscreens. Like programable keys with digital displays for multiple languages. Maybe interchangeable or even customizable button layouts.

Social media, specifically video shorts, shifting us away from reading and writing is leaving us neurologically under stimulated.

[–] 9point6@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

Well firstly since about 2020 everything has basically doubled in price due to inflation, so that's more or less your camera point. As someone who also takes pictures, they're certainly still innovating, it's just money is worth less now.

The phone thing is more down to the product category maturing. 5-10 years ago there were still obvious improvements to be made to the hardware and software. Now we've effectively perfected the black rectangle for the current tech available, so the only stuff they can do to differentiate now is bloat. Also, as above, everything is more expensive, so if they get some commercial partnerships attached to that bloat they can keep the prices a bit more constant than stuff like pro cameras (which just have to get more expensive because bloat like that wouldn't be tolerated for pro gear)

[–] TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I got a new phone in 2020.

I haven't seen a compelling or interesting device since then. Even then, I was barely convinced I actually wanted the upgrade in 2020, but I spent a lot of 2020 in a poor mental state and made some less than sound decisions.

I kinda want a folding phone? But not really. Like if you handed me one I'd be happy, but if you asked me to pay even $300 for one I don't think I would.

[–] VivianRixia@piefed.social 13 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I love the idea of a folding phone, but the fact that it has a lifetime number of folds before it breaks is a no go for me. Until the lifetime number of folds is as ridiculous as the number of IPv6 addresses, I don't think I want one.

[–] gkaklas@lemmy.zip 3 points 22 hours ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTdbpoQkR4U

With a 5-year lifespan and a conservative estimation of 200.000 folds, I count 110 folds per day, which comes out at around 1 fold every 6 minutes for 16 hours straight every day

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Also because no gorilla glass... :/

a fingernail scratches it

Btw might be a naive question but i never realized why cant they just use plastic around the hinge and use glass everywhere else

[–] Onyxonblack@lemmy.zip 1 points 23 hours ago

No, the newest 2026 Razers have Gorilla glass on the inside foldable screen, and the hinge was reworked in metal.

[–] VivianRixia@piefed.social 1 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago)

That is also a significant downside. I am not nearly careful enough with my phone to be trusted with something so frail for regular use.

[–] aramis87@fedia.io 2 points 23 hours ago

I mean, the main reason they're making folding phones is that general phones have gotten so large. I'd love to have some decent small-form phones back on the market.

I'd dig a foldable that unfolded rectangle. I don't like those squar ones. I don't think I'd have a use for one. A rectangle one would be good for photo and video.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 5 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

I like my Xperia, you can even use it onehanded. "Normal" phones look like phablets nowadays.

[–] bluesheep@sh.itjust.works 2 points 16 hours ago

I bought an iPhone 12 mini specifically for its small size. It's not rare for people to say something like, "wow your phone is so small wtf", and I'm like yeah that's the whole point. I don't want or need to carry around half a fucking tablet.

[–] Weirdfish@lemmy.world 3 points 22 hours ago

I just upgraded from an over 10 year old Samsung S8 to a pixel 10.

I prefer the old phone. There are maybe two features on the pixel that are an improvement, otherwise, I'd rather have the S8.

[–] deacon@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

yes but 2014.

[–] thatradomguy@lemmy.world 0 points 13 hours ago

Yes. MKBHD2s YouTube channel is what I use to make that judgement. Samsung gave their phones ridiculous amounts of RAM and storage for a device that really shouldn't be used that way. 12GB RAM for a phone?? You can still get laptops that only give you 8GB!

The whole folding gimmick is also stupid IMO due to the impracticable usefulness of a cover/case and screen protector at that point. I get people wanting more screen surface... but dude, just use a fucking laptop and be done with it. A phone is a phone. Get over it already.

Hell, I'd be more impressed if more people started flashing a Nintendo Switch and just carrying that around instead of complaining about screen size for something that's designed to fit in your pocket. FFS 😤

[–] theywilleatthestars@lemmy.world 2 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Tech peaked when I was 15 year old and had an iPod nano that clipped to my jeans

[–] starlinguk@lemmy.world 2 points 19 hours ago

I still have one of those.

[–] Perspectivist@feddit.uk 4 points 1 day ago

I haven't been excited about a new smartphone since LG V20. What ever is "new" in our current flagships doesn't really interest me that much.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 2 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

more likely 2015. 5G turned out to be a waste of time.

[–] zikzak025@lemmy.world 2 points 19 hours ago

Even now I feel like I haven't seen any noticeable performance increase on 5G vs 4G. And yet now whenever I only have a 4G signal, I can barely get websites to load.

I used to be able to video chat with people on the other side of the planet over 4G in 2017. In 2015, I used to be able to tether my phone to my laptop and stream 4K video without issue. I have no idea what they did to make it suck so badly today.

[–] Curious_Canid@piefed.ca 2 points 21 hours ago

I think the hardware continues to improve. Unfortunately, Android hit its peak around then and Google has been systematically crippling it ever since. They stopped allowing users control of their own devices. All of the customization and automation utilities that used to make it great have been shut down or limited to the point where they are not longer really useful. But Google is making more money, so I guess that's all okay.

I'm not sure Google has made a single good decision in the last decade.

[–] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net 2 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

I think peak design of various aspects happened at different times.

  • peak mobile OS design was Palm OS from PDA's
  • peak device design was Blackberry handhelds with physical buttons

Those two things combined today with a polished Linux base and a decent camera would become the new peak.

[–] Zak@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

I'm still using a phone from 2020. It's fine. If I got something new, it would probably be bigger and lack a headphone jack.

A new phone would have a better camera than my old one, but it would not be as good a camera as my Olympus, which I use when I care about the result.

[–] SalamenceFury@piefed.social 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Honestly the only device I find compelling nowadays is the Poco X7 Pro, everything else kinda looks dumb by comparison, and before that I was looking exclusively at the Poco X6 because it was the last Poco with a headphone jack - I have since bought a USB-C cable for my KZ IEMs. And I'm only looking to get a new phone cause mine (Moto G62 5G) is on Android 13 and I absolutely loathe this OS constantly killing my apps if I move away from them for 15 seconds. I was thinking of installing a different OS but I don't want to work through the hassle of backing up everything.

My dad has it and its very good.. especially xiaomis software is surprisingly good smooth and fast, i much prefer it to samsungs one UI, u do need to do some tinkering. Tho by disabling ads or as they call it “recommendations” and learning to ignore their cleaners and getapps appstore

[–] notsosure@sh.itjust.works 1 points 23 hours ago

It’s true for all technology. Incremental improvements. I can’t think of a quantum leap in tech since 2015, no new device which is Earth shattering.