Phone prices have crept up to the point where, sadly, the sticker shock of seeing $1,000 price tags isn’t a thing anymore. Unfortunately, it isn’t because we’re getting such mind-blowing devices that we’re okay with paying that amount to experience the benefits, but we’re buying them anyway. We’re doing so for a product that has become so mature that it almost feels like many of the makers of the best Android phones have run out of ideas.
No Thanks, Keep Reading
This isn’t to say that smartphones are bad; they’re just boring. While this idea is anything but new, something that appears to have slipped under the radar is that it seems we’ve reached the same point with wearables. If we really think about it, what was the last smartwatch announcement that wowed you? If you’re anything like me, it’s been a long time.
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Whose fault is this?
In no small part, it’s all of ours
If so many people didn’t upgrade their smartphones each year, we might be able to convince smartphone brands to put more effort into the devices that get millions of dollars in marketing budgets, each trying to convince us we need to buy. Phones no longer getting meaningful improvements year over year has been talked about ad nauseam, to the point that Android Police video producer Ryan-Thomas Shaw says people don’t want phone innovation.
For as great as smartphones are right now, he’s right; shopping habits have shown that if we really wanted innovation, we’d stop buying phones that barely change each year, forcing OEMs to try harder to earn our money. At this point, there doesn’t seem to be a reason for new flagships each year. While part of me was bummed we didn’t get a OnePlus Open 2 in 2024, it isn’t as if the current model isn’t still a fantastic device.
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Smartphone upgrades aren’t what they used to be, and AI isn’t enough
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What we haven’t really discussed is that we’re in the same place with smartwatches, but that isn’t to say there aren’t many excellent Android smartwatches to choose from. And while we have fewer Wear OS options to consider than in years past, the ones we do have are really good. Not to mention, there are non-Wear OS devices like those by Garmin and Amazfit.
In contrast to smartphones, which need to be great tools and entertainment devices, smartwatches can and probably should be boring. If we look at the wearable landscape, is there really anything out there that’s truly exciting? If you’re an elite athlete, a new device with finely-tuned health tracking to ensure your next workout is monitored to the most minute detail is something that can be improved annually. But that isn’t everyone.
What’s the way out?
Time and commitment
Now that AI is beginning to play an even bigger role in many consumer technology brands that millions of people use daily, it feels as if software design is taking over from hardware design. Seemingly satisfied with the latter being a basic, uninspired form to simply house the intricately designed software. This is squarely the case for smartphones, where the only real design changes we’ve been getting each year are thinner bezels, and we don’t care.
But for all the hype about AI in phones, we aren’t getting a fraction of that in our smartwatches. That isn’t to say it isn’t present, but not nearly to the same levels as what you’ll find in a smartphone like the Google Pixel 9 Pro. Sadly, in the US, we have smartwatches capable of helping to monitor important health metrics, but we can’t use them. Well, we can use the watch, but not the features.
The biggest perpetrator of this is Samsung with its Galaxy watch lineup. For years, Samsung wearables have been able to monitor blood pressure and the feature has been available in other countries around the world, but we miss out on them in the US. While I would love for this feature to be something anyone who wants to can access, it is difficult to monitor blood pressure on a smartwatch, but it is obviously possible to an extent.
We’ve been hearing about Apple and Samsung working on blood glucose monitoring along with some other health features, but for as useful as those can be, they aren’t exciting. Concepts of projection-style wearables and wrap-around screens have all been things we’ve seen floating around the web for years, but nothing has materialized. Leaving us with the same stale-looking smartwatches, similar to most smartphones.
All hope is not lost
Aside from a major jump in battery life for many Android smartwatches, there isn’t much left to do for the current form factor. Sure, brands can shoehorn in some AI features, but the chances of that causing a major shift in how wearables work is pretty unlikely. It hasn’t seemed to matter for phones, so I see less of a reason it would matter for a watch.
As users, we need to demand that manufacturers give us tangible reasons to buy a new smartphone or watch, and if they don’t — we shouldn’t spend money on them. Don’t worry about FOMO, either, because there’s not much to miss out on right now.
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Google Pixel Watch 3
Google’s Pixel Watch 3 keeps the familiar pebble design but gains a much smoother user experience, improved battery life, and a new, larger, 45mm watch size.
