Robert Triggs/Android Authority

2021 has been a pretty good year for the smartphone industry, as we've seen more and more brands come up with longer update commitments (in some capacity), premium and affordable flagships, top-notch budget phones and improved camera capabilities.

However, there's always room for improvement, and 2021 has definitely seen a few trends we'd rather not see in 2022. So here's what we want to see from smartphones next year.

Better and wider update engagements

Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority

Samsung started this trend in 2020 when it announced that a large number of devices would now receive three years of operating system updates and four years of security patches (matching Google's traditional commitment) These devices included slightly older flagships, some mid-range Galaxy A-series phones, and foldable devices.

OnePlus, Nokia, Vivo, Oppo, and Xiaomi all announced a similar commitment to OS updates this year. But the truth is most of these brands used it as little more than a tactic. marketing as this update only applied to their latest high end phones. This was particularly disappointing in the case of Vivo and Xiaomi as they only announced this update for their H2 flagships 2022. So that meant the Vivo X60 series and Xiaomi Mi 11 phones released earlier in the year wouldn't get in on the action.

More update coverage: Android 12 update — When is it coming to your phone?

In other words, we want to see these brands bring longer update commitments to older high-end models. It would also be great to see cheaper phones like the Redmi Note series and Vivo V series getting more operating system updates.

Sticking with updates for a second, we'd also like companies to do a better job of releasing polished, relatively bug-free software. Xiaomi, OnePlus, Samsung, and Google all released buggy software in 2021, either via over-the-air updates or pre-installed devices. Hopefully, we'll see less of this happening next year.

Give us a choice for bundled chargers

Robert Triggs/Android Authority

Apple and the iPhone 12 series started the trend of removing the bundled charger, forcing consumers to upgrade to a new charger. This was followed by Samsung and Google, who opted to drop the Galaxy series charger S21 and the Pixel 6 duo.

Most of these companies' excuse is that the charger was removed due to environmental concerns. But it's hard to accept that this is the real reason why companies are charging a hefty amount for these accessories in the first place. .

Related: The Case Against Bundled Phone Chargers

Nevertheless, the launch of Xiaomi's Chinese Mi 11 was a great example for businesses to follow. The manufacturer offered plans with and without a charger, but you still paid the same price. So we hope to see Apple, Samsung and Google do likewise, or just charge a nominal fee for an additional charger.

Better fast charging support

Ryan-Thomas Shaw/Android Authority

Sticking with chargers, a trend we've seen over the years has been for Android OEMs to release phones and chargers with proprietary fast-charging protocols. It's okay if both gadgets support fast charging via standards such as USB-PD, PPS and Quick Charge. But we've seen a few phones and chargers that only fast charge via proprietary protocols, reverting to extremely slow 10W charging via the aforementioned alternatives .

Read more: It's 2021 and USB-C is still a mess

Therefore, we would like manufacturers to offer faster charging via USB-PD, PPS and/or Quick Charge if they insist on using proprietary standards as their primary protocol. It would be great if more companies moved away from proprietary standards like main protocol when both PPS and Quick Charge have made significant progress in recent years.

It would also be wonderful if companies like Google and Apple adopted faster charging in 2022. We don't necessarily mean adopting charging speeds of 65W or more. But even a 30W boost as well as the ability to sustain Max charging speeds would be an improvement over the Pixel 6 series.

More foldable phones in global markets

Robert Triggs/Android Authority

In 2021, Xiaomi, Huawei, and Oppo all revealed foldables to be Samsung's rivals. Unfortunately, these foldables are only available in China, leaving Samsung as the only company to offer foldable phones in the world.

More foldable content: The best foldable phones you can buy right now

So we'd love to see Xiaomi and Oppo bring their foldables to global markets. Otherwise, it'll be another year of Samsung dominating this space, and another year closer to Apple inevitably bringing its own foldable to the table. worth, Oppo says it aims to bring the Find N to Europe next year, but there's no word on a launch window.

Ditch the crappy 2MP cameras

Eric Zeman / Android Authority

One of the most disappointing trends in recent years has been the addition of a pair of 2MP cameras to phones, usually a macro lens and a depth sensor. It's a pretty transparent attempt to increase the number of rear cameras so brands can say their latest phone has a triple or quad camera setup.

Photo coverage: Want a phone with a great camera? Here's what to look for

Some of the phones using dual 2MP rear sensors in 2021 include the OnePlus Nord N200, Redmi Note 10 series, and Samsung Galaxy A12. In the case of phones like the Nord N200, the device had a triple rear camera system, the only really useful camera being the main shooter.

Let's hope this trend ends in 2022, because those 2MP cameras are shoddy. In fact, Poco has already ditched the dual 2MP cameras on its Poco M4 Pro in favor of a dual rear setup (main and ultra-wide cameras) The ultra-wide camera can take macro shots anyway if it's equipped with autofocus, but here are the manufacturers who use higher quality macro cameras if they insist on having them.

What do you want to see from smartphones in 2022?

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Better update commitments

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A choice for bundled chargers

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Better fast charging support

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Foldable in world markets

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Ditch the crappy 2MP cameras

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Other (leave a comment)

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