The year 2025 was pretty sane if you ask my tech-obsessed heart. It has produced some great differences, such as the liquid-cooled Red Magic 11 Pro, which has also redefined what it means to get the best possible hardware for your money. The iPhone 17 proved to be a surprise hit, while Apple returned to its swashbuckling ways with the iPhone 17 Pro.
It gave us phones like the Vivo X300 that truly redefined what a palm-friendly phone could do. Not one to sit on the bench, Samsung has impressed us with the Galaxy Z TriFold, which truly embodies the phone and tablet hybrid vision. Then there’s Google, which has really hit its intended form with the fantastic Pixel 10 series.
Companies like OnePlus and Honor pushed the boundaries of battery technology, while names like Oppo and Vivo showed what outstanding camera quality really looks like. But not everything was great. Smartphone users became increasingly wary of the incessant pressure on AI, and by the end of the year we entered a memory crisis.
A price shock is almost inevitable
It all started with AI, or more specifically, hundreds of billions of dollars poured into data centers that power tools like ChatGPT and Gemini. The result? A major memory shortage. The cash-laden AI giants paid a higher price and gobbled up the supply of memory chips.
Inventory ran low and RAM module prices skyrocketed to the point where DDR5 now sounds like a luxury. It was only a matter of time before manufacturers – already making record profits – turned their full attention to AI customers, scaring away everyone else, including smartphone brands.
Smartphone storage prices have reportedly increased by up to 50%, and prices will continue to rise in the coming months. Combined with the rising price of silicon, this is almost a sure sign that a price increase is on the way next year. Companies like Apple can absorb this to some extent due to their supply chain control, but the rest simply have to pass the additional costs on to customers.
Insiders say several smartphone brands are already struggling to avoid a price hike from next year, but the wind is already starting to take effect in markets like India, where even a memory maker like Samsung has increased prices. Due to the rising prices of DRAM and NAND, smartphone manufacturers are in big trouble, the only way out of which is to reduce the RAM capacity itself.
However, the latter approach is not favorable. Everyone is pushing for more AI on phones, but AI needs a generous helping of memory. In short: you either pay from your wallet or reduce the storage fee. And neither seems like a good idea.
More AI, fewer apps
AI is the most controversial smartphone trend to emerge in recent years. Apparently every smartphone brand sees this as an existential upgrade, regardless of whether users actually use it as often as the feverish marketing would have you believe. But it means staying anyway.
In 2026, the nature of AI will be different and more far-reaching than ever before. First, more and more AI-powered experiences are running on-device. This means that for tasks that require an AI model to do its work, the entire process occurs logically without requiring an internet connection, personal information, or leaving your phone.
More importantly, AI will penetrate deeper into apps. Google and Apple have already released frameworks that allow them to integrate Gemini or Apple Intelligence into their apps. Pixel phones already let you complete a variety of app-specific tasks using natural voice prompts, even in third-party apps like WhatsApp and Spotify – without ever having to open those apps.
But will developers adopt it? That remains to be seen. But even if this isn’t the case, there is another way to integrate AI into your apps. OpenAI just launched its own ChatGPT app store, which lets you perform tasks in dozens of apps using text or voice commands. From creating playlists in Apple Music to editing photos in Photoshop, everything is possible. You only need to link the accounts once and you’re good to go.
Nothing has developed an even more personalized system to do away with apps. The AI-powered Nothing Playground app lets you create mini apps by simply describing their purpose and design in simple language. You can share these mini apps and even build on top of existing apps.
Google’s Opal also does something similar and it’s only a matter of time before the concept goes mainstream. However, the vision is pretty clear. Apps are here to stay, but AI assistants will increasingly perform everyday tasks conversationally, rather than typing and typing within those apps.
But here’s the fine line. When AI enters the stage, more RAM is needed. And that would mean you’re not just paying for the hardware, but also the subscriptions that come with it to give you the full experience. It’s a bittersweet bargain that not many users even asked for.
Big battery, more power
When 2025 came, a phone with a 5,000mAh battery was considered a powerhouse in terms of mileage per charge. As 2025 came to a close, Honor had already launched a normal-looking phone with a 10,000mAh battery. This was not a one-off device.
The OnePlus 15 had a 7,300mAh battery with 120W charging support in tow. Other Chinese brands quickly followed in their footsteps and within months a 7,000mAh battery became the norm for premium phones.
Heading into 2025, we’re already hearing rumors of phones with 8,000mAh batteries galore. Companies like Realme plan to exceed the 10,000mAh limit early next year thanks to advanced technologies such as silicon-carbon substrates.
All of this happens while the loading data jumps at the same time. Mainstream phones like the OnePlus 15 already have 120W wired charging power, and there are a few good competitors that are also in the 40W wireless charging class.
The pressure is growing, and if the delayed introduction of the Qi2 standard in 2025 is anything to go by, we will see phones that not only accelerate charging speeds but also increase battery capacity. The ball is now in the court of heavyweights like Samsung, Apple and Google.
The camera wars are back
Google’s Pixel and Apple’s iPhones finally adopted the all-big-sensor mantra in 2025. Samsung, on the other hand, touched the 200-megapixel target but didn’t quite make it to the top elsewhere. But it is the smaller labels from the East that increased the pressure.
Xiaomi’s latest Leica-tuned phone combines a huge 1-inch main camera with a 200-megapixel zoom sensor. Oppo and Vivo played a similar game with their respective tele-snappers, but also brought extender kits into the mix.
Next year the race will be hot. The Vivo X300 Ultra and Oppo Find X9 Ultra could have not just one, but two cameras with a resolution of 200 megapixels. Oppo is reportedly overhauling lens technology to achieve an unprecedented 10x optical zoom range, doubling the performance of the iPhone 17 Pro or Google Pixel 10 Pro.
Apple isn’t exactly going to sit idle. The company will reportedly introduce variable aperture technology to the iPhone 18 Pro, a camera innovation that Samsung implemented years ago on the Galaxy S phones but quickly abandoned. As for Samsung, it seems like the company is going for professional controls and delivering software-based upgrades.
The topic is clear. The race for the imaging summit will be tough next year. It would be interesting to see if it’s hardware upgrades that will make a bigger difference, or if algorithmic tuning will deliver a more refined experience. Anyway, I’m excited.
