The smartphone market has been steamrolling ahead for the better part of two decades, whilst some years are a little slower than others, the advances year on year are certainly being seen. The biggest changes seen lately have largely been focussed on smart phone cameras as the ability to shoot video in 4K and take photos at higher resolutions have become a primary focus for many users. But could the next big change for smartphones be, and how could this impact the everyday user?

Networking – We’ve already seen a big step toward changes in networking as 5G is just around the corner and will take mobile networking a step forward, but this is only the start of the transition for mobile networking. Once the rollout of 5G has happened on a wider scale, mobile devices will also need to be equipped with the means to handle the increased speeds and capacity with early 5G chips still being a way off the theoretical max and have some way to go.

Displays and accessories – Another big change coming to mobile has been the huge shift for gaming as attitudes toward gaming as a whole have changed – we’ve seen displays on flagship devices ship with the aim toward gaming with faster refresh rates and higher resolutions, but they’re still fewer and far between. A lot of the current favourites in mobile gaming don’t really require this feature, a list here of the most popular US online casinos for example are one example – but as the mobile esports scene continues to develop and grow these faster displays will be needed, and all of the accessories that will be needed for mobile gaming will become more essential too. 

Batteries and power – Of the biggest upgrade yet to be delivered, but likely the most requested from users the world over, comes in the form of the batteries within our smartphones which leave a lot to be desired. The bigger displays and more powerful hardware mean our still relatively small batteries struggle to cope for longer sessions and have left most users relying on external power sources – perhaps the biggest change that could be on its way to our modern devices will come in the form of bigger and more efficiency batteries to keep up with the increasing demand that is given from our modern smartphones. 

Whilst there are many other aspects of smartphones that many would hope to be upgraded, it’s unlikely that much attention will be paid to those – most users use headphones or earbuds so upgrading speakers or microphones may have little impact, software upgrades can be handled on the fly so many vary multiple times within the year and not be a huge push for upgrade – for the big ticket items, we’re running out of big upgrades, and as such the hope that some of the mentioned pieces can see big changes in coming years may determine how the newer flagships perform and whether the four figure pricing can be justified.