Don't buy the Galaxy S25 or the iPhone 16. We shouldn't be upgrading every year

The iPhone 16 series is already official, and somewhere between the hyped PR lines there's an uncomfortable truth to be read. There's nothing new. Meanwhile, we're gearing up to get another big reveal, the Galaxy S25 series, and the same rinse-and-repeat hype machine is about to start its engines. Here's a thought. Don't buy the iPhone 16 or the upcoming Galaxy S25. Here's why...

 

Pretty much the same goes for the Galaxy S-series:

 

If I were the CEO of either of these two companies, I would've been ashamed to call these "new models." There were times when such changes were marked by an "S" next to the model nomenclature.

So, how can a new camera sensor or a slightly faster chipset justify a $799 investment? Charging speeds are abysmal on the iPhones and pretty "meh" on Galaxy phones, and they haven't moved an iota in the past five generations.

Camera sensors are important, but post-processing algorithms are much more important in the end, and that's why the past couple of Galaxy flagships and iPhones have barely made changes to the camera hardware. What gives? So, it's the software then?

Reason number 3: It's all in the software, and you will get it eventually

There's a big debate around AI, machine learning, and large language models. It's the next big thing in the smartphone world, and every company, big or small, is trying to get this tech on its phones.

Setting aside the long-term value of these AI features, let's think for a second. Companies say that their newest flagship phones are perfectly equipped to handle these LLM and AI tasks, thanks to the new hardware.

But in reality, as Samsung showed, older phones are perfectly capable of handling these AI tasks. Why? Because all these AI magic tricks are meant to be a subscription model, and companies can't afford to let older phones not have it.

So, if you're worried that your Galaxy S22 is getting too old to hop on the AI train, this isn't the case. I fiddled with my girlfriend Galaxy S22 a week ago and found almost no difference in experience with much newer models, such as the S24 Plus that I reviewed recently, both in general experience and when it comes to AI. 

Furthermore, I rocked the iPhone 13 mini for about a year before returning to the Android camp (sorry, iOS is not my thing), and it felt very similar as an experience to the iPhone 15 Plus.

And with the pledge for seven years of major OS upgrades (made by Google with the Pixel 8 series, and subsequently Samsung with the Galaxy S24), you have no software reason to buy a new phone. Even Apple supports its iPhones for five years, which is more than twice as long as people actually use them, according to the statistics in the beginning of the article.

Reason number 2: They all look the same!

If you line up all Galaxy and iPhone models from the past five years backside up and make people try to guess which is which from about 10 feet away, the success rate will most likely be abysmal. Now, if you turn them around and turn off the display, no one would be able to guess the correct generation. Okay, maybe less than 10%.

I get how companies don't want to stray too far off the design language of a certain flagship line, but at the same time, this concept makes phones quite boring and robs us of the true excitement of a new flagship.

These days, all we're getting is new colors. Тhere was even a smartwatch "announcement" not long ago, featuring just a new color as an upgrade. Yep, that was the Apple Watch Ultra 2. We got a new finish and a matching band with it. Speaking of colors, they're not that exciting either, and most people put a case on anyway.

So, the hardware is mostly the same, the software will arrive on older phones anyway, and the design has been almost identical between the generations for the past five years or so. 

Now, on to the final and most important reason..

Reason number 1: Let companies sweat a little

I'm not a communist, nor do I hate the modern capitalist reality. Quite the contrary, I think we live in the best times ever. That being said, tech companies need a wake-up call. We've been putting up with this for far too long.

Imagine if the Galaxy S25 flopped. Do you think Samsung would just shrug and release another uninspired S26? Yeah, me neither. As long as we buy these lookalikes with minor tweaks here and there, the companies won't get off the lazy chair.

The sad part is that the majority of users and potential buyers believe all the hype about the new "Fusion camera", the "next-gen all-powerful AI," the "20% faster chipset," and the "new screen that goes up to thousands of nits." Most of these are just hype with fine print attached.

The new Fusion camera is the same as the old one; the AI tricks are mostly just a gimmick across all generations; the 20% faster chipset you won't ever, ever notice; and the thousands of nits are measured on a single pixel overdriven for a millisecond.

So, please reconsider your urge to buy every new phone because of the flashy marketing and let companies do something to deserve your hard-earned money!