Smartphones are now more powerful than some laptops, packed with incredible cameras, blazing-fast processors, and endless apps. I love what they’ve become, but I can’t help mourning some of the little features we quietly lost along the way.
7
Physical keyboards
I still fondly think back to the days of BlackBerry. Mine practically lived in my hands when I was a teenager, and there was something oddly satisfying about the rhythm of thumb-typing on those tiny keys. I could dash off long texts without staring at my phone, confident that my fingers knew the layout well enough to get it right.
Touchscreens have never felt the same, as typing is now more of a gamble. You jab at glass and hope the software interprets it correctly. Autocorrect tries to pick up the slack, but more often than not, it gets in the way of turning a quick, casual message into something you have to proofread. On a physical keyboard, there was no second-guessing. Hit the key, get the letter. Simple.
6
Removable batteries
This is the hill I’ll happily die on: removable batteries were one of the greatest hallmarks of older phones. If your battery ran low, you could easily pop it out and put in a spare. There was no need to carry a charger around, and power banks weren’t common yet. Fast-forward to now: when a battery starts to fade, the entire phone feels compromised, even if the rest of the hardware is perfectly fine.
Manufacturers might argue that sealed batteries help make phones slimmer and water-resistant, but I’ll be quick to point out that the Samsung Galaxy S5 had both a removable battery and IP67 water resistance way back in 2014—and it wasn’t anything close to bulky. Fairphone has also proved, time and again, that modern smartphones with user-replaceable batteries aren’t just possible, but genuinely well-designed (just look at the Fairphone 5). So really, the sealed design isn’t about necessity, but about profit.
What really stings is how wasteful this all feels. A phone could easily last years with proper care and updates, but instead, we are forced to treat them as disposable because the battery gives out. If swappable batteries were still the norm, we’d save money, extend the lifespan of our devices, and cut down on e-waste all in one shot.
5
Expandable storage
There was a stretch of time when storage space on my phone was the least of my worries. If it ever started to feel cramped, I’d slide in a microSD card and instantly double or triple my storage. It felt as natural as adding another storage drive to a PC, where you paid a fair price for extra room, and your phone was ready to handle more files.
Now, expandable storage has basically vanished from flagship phones (midrange phones still sneak it in, bless them), and instead, we’re expected to pay a premium for higher storage tiers. Even more annoying is that the price gap is often absurd—a 500GB microSD card can cost under $50, yet manufacturers require another $100 to $200 for an internal upgrade from 128GB to 256GB or 512GB. Otherwise, we have to opt for value cloud storage services that cost money every month until the end of time, and bring along pop-ups nagging us to free up space.
4
A headphone jack
If there’s one feature I still haven’t forgiven (and will never forgive) phone makers for killing, it’s this one. My current daily driver, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus, doesn’t have it, which means I’m stuck with USB-C headphones. Of course, I thus can’t charge and listen to music with wired headphones at the same time unless I drag around adapters that are ridiculously easy to misplace.
The 3.5mm jack was perfect. It was universal, reliable, and required no battery or pairing. You could plug in any headphones, from gas station earbuds to professional studio monitors, and they just worked. Wireless earbuds are everywhere now, but I only use them sometimes because they come with trade-offs, like battery anxiety, compression that affects sound quality, and the inevitable day when one earbud goes missing forever. Add in the fact that they create electronic waste when their tiny batteries die, and they certainly aren’t perfect.
A few Android phones still stubbornly include the jack—Samsung’s budget lineup, for example—but the flagship world has pretty much abandoned it. Well, except for the stubborn few like Sony’s Xperia and Asus’s ROG Phones, which feel almost rebellious for keeping it around.
3
Infrared blasters
One of the most criminally underrated phone features is the IR blaster. My old Galaxy S4 had one, and I used it constantly—not just for showing off, but because it was actually useful. The fact that my phone could morph into a universal remote felt downright futuristic. I could control my TV, air conditioner, or even the old DVD player without hunting for the right remote buried in the couch cushions.
I’ll confess that the prankster in me loved it, too. I definitely spent more time than I should have flicking random TVs on and off in waiting rooms, or changing the channel at a bar when nobody else cared what was on. It was goofy, harmless fun, but it gave phones a bit of personality you don’t see anymore.
Most of the big brands abandoned IR blasters years ago, but companies like Xiaomi still keep the tradition alive. Even OnePlus threw one into the OnePlus 13, and I respect the company for that move. I just wish more flagships would follow suit.
2
Unique phone designs
I know, I know: foldables exist, and they are interesting. They are also specific and different, with price tags that keep them in the niche realm for a lot of people. What I miss is the broader weirdness that phones used to come with.
Think of the Siemens Xelibri line that looked more like fashion accessories than phones, the Nokia N-Gage (which doubled as a gaming console), or the LG G Flex with its experimental curved screen. Even the Samsung Galaxy Beam, with a built-in projector, felt like a glimpse of a bold future. Some ideas stuck, while many others didn’t, but at least companies were trying.
There was also a sense of discovery where every new release had the potential to surprise you, whether it was Motorola’s ultra-thin Razr, a swiveling keypad, or even quirky designs like the Nokia 3650’s circular keyboard. These phones sparked conversations, and some of them ruled the streets.
1
FM radio support
I don’t care how many streaming apps we have now; nothing quite compares to having a proper FM radio baked into your phone. You didn’t need mobile data, Wi-Fi, or some bloated app riddled with ads. You just plugged in your headphones (which doubled as the antenna) and tuned into whatever local station you wanted. You could listen to music, talk shows, news, and sports, all without eating a single megabyte.
Of course, carriers weren’t thrilled about that. Free radio didn’t pad their bottom line, so they nudged everyone toward streaming services instead. Manufacturers played along, quietly disabling FM chips even though most phones still technically have the hardware to support them.
It’s a shame, really. Progress isn’t always a neat, straight road forward. Sometimes it loops back to pick up the good ideas we dropped. I get that modern phones chase sleekness and efficiency, but I can’t help wishing manufacturers would revive a few of these forgotten gems. Without a doubt, the 3.5mm jack would be at the top of my list.
