5 smartphone trends that will continue to dominate in 2021

It barely needs highlighting that our reliance on technology is growing with each passing day. There was a time when mobile phones were used only for talking and exchanging messages, but the arrival of smartphones took the communication technology to a whole new level. In just a few years, smartphones became an indispensable part of our lives; today, they are being used for various purposes including entertainment, documenting, payments, contact tracing and more.

Amid a global slowdown due to Covid-19 pandemic, the world, both developed and developing, saw a phenomenal rise in the sale of smartphones. Cheaper data rates, a strong push towards digitization, huge competition across segments and a surge in the demand made smartphones a particularly exciting segment that took steps in the right direction. To keep the impetus going, we’d like to look deeper into the space and find ways on how to improve the journey for a consumer — from better products to more effective communications.

Here are the top 5 smartphone trends that are likely to dominate in 2021.

5G – Future is Now

With a number of gadgets launching with 5G capabilities already integrated into them, 5G technology is no longer a thing of the future. This is in step with consumer expectations also, who consider 5G as a key smartphone buying factor, as emphasized by a recent Cybermedia study. This is due to the opportunities that the technology brings with it – better quality video creation and consumption, quicker downloads, unforgettable AR/VR and gaming experience, and the capacity to stream UHD videos.

Compact Phones

Gone are the days when a phone with a 5.5-inch display was considered a phablet and anything over six inches was a tablet. Today, even the smallest of Androids are in the same approximation. While there are noticeable benefits of a bigger phone, a small market for small phones still exists.

But we do comprehend why it is so hard to pull that off, as a smaller phone means a smaller battery, poorer thermal management, smaller camera sensors and bad loudspeaker performance. The iPhone 12 Mini is the only phone that is slightly unbeatable to these inadequacies, but it too is not quite satisfactory. Compact phones are possibly the least likely to materialize from this list. Thin and lightweight phones are what we might have to make do with.

Curved Displays

Curved displays continue to be a heated topic in the world of smartphones, as fans strive to come to an agreement, as do brands. On one hand, they provide a far more premium touch, along with an improved viewing experience and a higher screen-to-body proportion, offering a bigger display in a smaller body. On the other, they are more vulnerable to damage, take up more internal space and can be held back by poor palm rebuff.

Although brands are addressing some of these cons, the progress appears rather stationary. It’s generally felt that the issue here is that the more popular phones with curved displays, such as the flagships from Samsung, offer the worse experience in terms of functionality and inadvertent touches. Remarkably, other smaller brands such as Huawei, Oppo and Vivo do not encounter the same issues, making one believe in the future of flexible displays.

Foldables

These smartphones are a very stirring category that is still very promising. So far, it has been a pokey race in the form of whatever Samsung has offered. The alternatives have been nowhere as competitive nor extensively available. If foldables are certainly the future, we think that brands are wasting valuable time in achieving their expertise while the market is fledgling. Indeed, the first couple of generations are improbable to be great, but you have to begin somewhere. It might not be that apparent at the moment, but Samsung’s lead today will be helpful in its future.

Fast Charging Standards

Last year, fast charging on smartphones reached new heights; even many economical phones offer unbelievable charging speeds of under one hour for a full tank. In some ways, it offsets the limited battery size that small phones suffer from. Nevertheless, there’s one key obstacle which doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon: interoperability. Every company has apparently chosen a different approach with its fast-charging application. Some have gone with higher voltage; some augmented the current while others used numerous inflow points. This disintegration has led to an odd problem where USB Type-C is ubiquitously but your preferred charging standard isn’t.