Which smartphone trend should die in 2026? Survey reveals an interesting answer.

However, I also included a poll in my article asking you to choose the smartphone trends you wanted to die in 2026. This was a popular poll, and here’s how you voted in it.

Almost 4,500 votes were cast in this survey, and ~26% of respondents wished that the practice of “AI as a smokescreen for few hardware upgrades” would die in 2026. I’m not surprised to see pushback against this trend, as the tech industry itself continues its incessant AI push. You can also argue that features like bigger batteries, faster charging, and more base storage would be more useful than most AI features. We’ve even seen some enthusiasts call for smartphones with fewer or no AI options. This result also comes as Samsung emphasizes its Galaxy AI features in the last couple of years, while neglecting major hardware upgrades.

The second-most popular choice was “proprietary chargers for maximum speeds,” as ~17.5% of polled readers wanted this trend to end in 2026. We have seen the tide turn, as companies like Xiaomi and realme embrace the USB-PPS standard for fast charging. However, there are still some stragglers out there, such as OnePlus.

In third place was “cosmetic/dummy camera lenses,” which accounted for ~17.1% of the vote. We’ve seen no shortage of companies offering fake camera lenses on their cheap phones over the years, like Motorola, Xiaomi, realme, and others. So plenty of people want this practice to come to an end in 2026.

At least two readers expressed their annoyance with this trend, starting with dkmoody66:

Dummy lenses are stupid (and I like Motorola mid-rangers). Moto’s limited upgrades don’t bother me since I rarely keep any phone for more than a year or two. I’m already looking forward to the Moto G stylus 2026 and I’m typing this on the 2025. I question how many keep their phones for the 6-7 years worth of updates anyway.

Meanwhile, user clairegolden15 also lamented this issue:

the dummy lenses also are a huge hindrance to budget phones. they already have such a tight budget that it’d be best if they spent as much as they could on just one good camera

Otherwise, two other choices that received a healthy number of votes were “ultra-thin phones” (~16.9%) and “short update policies for cheap phones” (~9.4%).

Finally, just under 3% of voters chose “other.” Comments suggest that these readers want an end to fixed storage, large phones, large camera bumps, and the lack of headphone jacks.