What occurred to the enjoyable, thrilling, and distinctive Android telephones that used to get launched? Should you really feel like smartphones all look the identical today, you are not alone. I miss the Android of outdated when telephones got here with twin front-facing audio system, wild designs, and cutting-edge adjustments seeking to break the mildew.

Naturally, many designs or options fizzled out because of new design approaches or did not get sufficient consideration from clients, however that does not imply they weren’t nice concepts. With that in thoughts, listed here are just a few outdated Android telephone options I want by no means went lacking.

5

The Possibility For a Detachable Battery

Bear in mind after we may simply change the battery on our smartphones? The final Samsung flagship with such an choice was the Galaxy S5. Having the ability to pop the again cowl off and throw in a full battery was nice, even when it isn’t all that helpful in 2025.

Telephones now include big battery packs and crazy-fast charging speeds, so we do not essentially want this function anymore. Plus, with an built-in battery, producers at the moment are delivering sleeker telephones with IP68 water resistant rankings and issues of that nature. Nonetheless, that does not imply I do not miss having the choice.

Having a user-replaceable battery is not nearly comfort; it is also about longevity. Deliberate obsolescence is an actual factor. Producers don’t desire you to have the ability to simply change that outdated battery that does not maintain a cost after 3–4 years. No, they need you to commerce it in and improve to one thing new.

There are just a few manufacturers nonetheless doing issues the outdated means. You may get the Fairphone 5 with a repairable design and replaceable battery. Others embrace the HDM Skyline or Samsung Galaxy XCover 6Pro. Simply do not anticipate a premium and flagship expertise.

4

Highly effective Entrance-Going through Audio system (Bear in mind the HTC One?)

How usually do you end up cupping your hand across the backside of your telephone in hopes that it will amplify the audio? Our telephones hold getting larger and higher solely with slimmer designs and some areas that by no means appear to enhance. Extra particularly, battery life and audio high quality.

I miss the times when manufacturers like HTC needed to push the envelope, and I’m not the only one. Who remembers the HTC One M7, with its beautiful steel design and large twin front-facing audio system? The corporate even partnered with Beats Audio. That telephone may bump! Clearly, with large edge-to-edge screens and such, there is not any room for giant audio system. Certainly Samsung, Apple, or Google can do higher than what we’re getting.

Most telephones have a bottom-firing speaker with little foam balls inside to make them sound fuller, and the earpiece can form of double as a second speaker. Nonetheless, audio high quality stays a weak spot on nearly each telephone.

3

LED Notifications

Our smartphones are as distracting as ever, with always-on shows (AODs) simply tempting us to select them again up and scroll by social media. Issues weren’t all the time this manner although. I miss notification LEDs that allowed me to immediately look over and see that I had a notification with out turning on my telephone. The AOD function does this too, but it surely’s not the identical.

See, telephones had a tiny little LED within the nook someplace that might glow for notifications. Some fashions even had an RGB LED, so customers may customise the colour for sure apps. I bear in mind having my LED flash purple for Gmail, blue for missed texts, white for calls, and amber for Tweetdeck (Twitter) notifications.

Samsung’s AOD is a pleasant function. It even provides tiny icons to the lock display to sign a brand new textual content or e mail. At one level, every icon had a sure shade, however now they’re all white and too small to be helpful. Because of this, I discover myself turning the display on and taking a more in-depth look simply to discern what the alert is about. The subsequent factor I do know, I have been on social media for 25 minutes. Our telephones are extra customizable than ever today, and there are replacements, however the notification LED will all the time maintain a particular place in my coronary heart.

2

Expandable Storage with MicroSD Playing cards

Telephones are costly, and if you need sufficient storage for all of your favourite apps, video games, and movies or to snap infinite images, you may must pay further for a mannequin with extra storage. For instance, the Galaxy S25 Extremely comes with 256GB of storage for $1,299. You may pay over $1,400 if you wish to enhance that to 512GB. Ouch!

I want I may nonetheless purchase a 256GB smartphone after which throw in a 512GB MicroSD card for $35. I did that for years with my outdated Samsung telephones, however like every little thing good, they disappeared too. Now, we’re pressured into costly greater storage fashions or a month-to-month subscription payment for cloud storage.

I perceive why producers ditched the bezels and LED notifications in favor of larger screens, however eradicating microSD slots is all about making a buck. It is unlucky. That mentioned, a number of telephones nonetheless include a microSD slot or perhaps a headphone jack. Oddly sufficient, they’re often low cost funds telephones. Sure, low cost telephones usually have a bunch of options that $1,000 telephones don’t. Bizarre.

1

Enjoyable Designs and Small Flagships

I do not learn about you guys, however I believe we want extra small Android phones that don’t skimp on features. Massive telephones closely dominate the smartphone market, particularly on Android, and so they’re displaying no indicators of slowing down. Yearly or two, our telephone choices get somewhat larger, to the purpose that they are too large. Pocketability is shortly disappearing.

I really returned the Galaxy S25 Ultra for a smaller mannequin, because it was too large. If you need a telephone with display, succesful cameras, and wonderful efficiency, you may have to purchase an enormous Professional, Max, or Extremely gadget. Even the Samsung Galaxy S25+ is lacking options, and it is big too.

In our Pixel 9 review, we known as it an enormous improve in a small bundle. Guess what? It packs a big 6.3-inch display, and that is small by at this time’s requirements. I simply desire a sub-6-inch telephone with a high-end show, a number of Professional-level cameras, the newest Snapdragon processor, 512GB of storage, and good battery life.

And if we won’t get compact flagship telephonesa minimum of make issues somewhat bit extra thrilling. Does anybody remember the LG Wing or the Moto X with all its customization choices? I had a Moto X with a picket again. What a bit of artwork, with all these textures and wooden grains! I nonetheless have it to this present day as a result of it was enjoyable, compact, and distinctive.

Or what concerning the OnePlus 7 Professional and its pop-up front-facing digicam? That was fairly neat. Within the lengthy historical past of Android, a whole lot of telephones have been launched of all shapes, sizes, and designs. We have moved away from that within the pursuit of revenue, which is comprehensible, however I nonetheless want we had just a few issues from yesteryear.