Smartphones in 2018: the half year report

01 July 2018
It's hard to believe that we're halfway through 2018! So let's press 'pause' for a second and look back at the phones launched this year, pull out some stats and identify some of the key trends for 2018 to date

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Moving towards bezeless phones with insane amount of RAM, storage and processing power and multicamera devices. Looking good :)

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    • Lacek
    • iG3
    • 03 Jul 2018

    Thx GA, top post of 2018...

      1080manish, 01 Jul 2018Hello GSMarena please include the speaker trend.Hi, what additional speaker info would you like to see beyond the split of those phones packing stereo speakers?
      Regards

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        • from zero to hero
        • LiX
        • 02 Jul 2018

        Shanti Dope, 01 Jul 2018Only if I have enough knowledge on how to do them I only r... moreVisit xda developers, everything is there, alao you can always ask questions, if you dont know something (in this case about root you -model, phone);

          • f
          • from zero to hero
          • LiX
          • 02 Jul 2018

          I just wanna say, this article is the best article about smartphones, in the past half year. I mean, every useful info is there. Thank you GSMArena for this. Now i am smarter and known even more :)

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            • Anonymous
            • mx{
            • 02 Jul 2018

            Huawei bossin with their 40mp camera and Kirin Chips

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              • shortkey
              • psc
              • 02 Jul 2018

              Alien , 02 Jul 2018The most compact high-end flagship that has snapdragon 845 ... moreYeah, 5" is really big. And it's missing the jack. So I'm just gonna keep waiting.

              Why can't we go back to 2011? The smartphones had great design, were comfortable to hold and use, and there was a lot to pick from. Now, smartphones all look the same so there's not really that much of a choice, and "thanks" to their ever-expanding overall dimensions, they get harder and harder to use comfortably, let alone one handed. If the makers keep this shitty trend up, we're gonna have to carry around a "smartphone bag", like laptop bags.

                • s
                • shortkey
                • psc
                • 02 Jul 2018

                Anonymous, 02 Jul 2018How about special buttons next to volume and power button. ... moreMy work phone is a CAT S31 and I can confirm it's extremely handy to have a dedicated button you can program to launch any app with a single click or a long click (shame there's a double click gesture missing). If the phone wasn't so big, I'd love to have it as my personal phone, but as it is, I'm glad I can leave it at work when I'm off, the damn brick.

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                  • Kangal
                  • uCX
                  • 02 Jul 2018

                  The smartphone trends of 2014/2016:
                  - cheaper
                  - faster
                  - longer battery life
                  - more memory
                  - better screens
                  - better cameras
                  - better speakers
                  - more features
                  - sturdier construction
                  (Examples:
                  Note 4, LG V20, ZTE Axon 7, OnePlus 3, Redmi 3 Note, SGS7-Exynos, Apple 6S Plus)

                  The smartphone trends of 2017/2018:
                  - dearer (Apple, Samsung, Huawei, OnePlus all raised prices)
                  - slower (QSD 625 was most popular!)
                  - shorter battery life (smaller battery)
                  - less memory (microSD card has been killed on many phones)
                  - worse screens (cutouts for notches, unergonomic curves, weird aspect ratios)
                  - worse cameras (Excluding Pixels, gimmicky dualcams cost more, produce worse photos)
                  - worse speakers (sideward facing mono speakers are the norm)
                  - weaker construction (fragile glass on both sides are stupid)
                  - less functionality (bye-bye 3.5mm aux port)
                  (Examples:
                  Note8, Mate 10 Pro, Sony XZ2, OnePlus 6, Redmi 5 Note, SGS9, Apple iPhone X)

                  Anyone thinking that this industry is going in the right direction is demented. We have peaked back in 2014/2016 and now we're doing a 180' degrees in what we valued as a practical day-to-day tool, instead for something more shiny and synthetically-more-desirable due to inflated RRP from companies. If this goes on, smartphones will become a dispensable commodity where they need to be upgraded every 9 months... instead of the 30 month people generally ask from them.

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                    • Alien
                    • 3RM
                    • 02 Jul 2018

                    shortkey, 01 Jul 2018It's extremely sad and disappointing that no one makes comp... moreThe most compact high-end flagship that has snapdragon 845 is the Sony XZ2 Compact:
                    https://m.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_xz2_compact-9082.php
                    I know it's 5" but that's the smallest you can get these days.
                    I don't like anything bigger than 5.5 if you ask me, but if there's no alternative, we're gonna have to adapt, just like with the removal of the 3.5mm jack.
                    So far I've made some compromises for newer technology, but I'll never buy a phone without the microSD card slot, no matter how incredible the specs are.
                    No SD slot => NEVER GONNA BUY IT!

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                      • Anonymous
                      • xq5
                      • 02 Jul 2018

                      My ideal is - 5.0 or 5.2 inch phone with 6GB or 8GB ram and 128GB or 256GB storage. Battery 3000 MAH minimum. Camera 16 Megapixel or higher. Also stock or near stock android.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • 0rY
                        • 02 Jul 2018

                        How about special buttons next to volume and power button. More and more phones seem to get assistent button it seems. Though I don't think this is a good trend. Specially since you can't reprogram these buttons.

                          • s
                          • shortkey
                          • psc
                          • 01 Jul 2018

                          It's extremely sad and disappointing that no one makes compact smartphones anymore. 4.5" display is still pretty big, borderline bearable, the ideal display size for a compact smartphone is closely around 4". Width < 62 mm; height < 120 mm; thickness = whotehellcaresatthatsize. Screw biometrics, screw selfie cameras, just make a small non-glass smartphone with 2 GB RAM, a decent CPU and a battery life that's not shite and I'll throw my money at you.

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                            • 1080manish
                            • tYW
                            • 01 Jul 2018

                            Hello GSMarena please include the speaker trend.

                              Paul L, 01 Jul 2018Update: Couldn't see the wood from the trees. Amended the e... moreNice presentation of the the article by the way.

                                Update: Couldn't see the wood from the trees. Amended the error in mistakenly submitting RAM in MB as opposed to GB.

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                                  • Jonathan Wang
                                  • X3$
                                  • 01 Jul 2018

                                  For pure android - get Android 1, it's clean and updates pretty quickly. Recently I tried our Nokia 8 Sirocco, awesome design and snappy smartphone. I think the large screen is a little over doing it a little? Anything past 6" can become the iPad mini...

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                                    • Alien
                                    • SvB
                                    • 01 Jul 2018

                                    Shanti Dope, 01 Jul 2018Only if I have enough knowledge on how to do them I only r... moreIn order to know what you are doing when rooting a phone, you need to know the following:
                                    - Bash script
                                    - C++
                                    - Java

                                    You don't have to know them only to root, but if you want to learn and know exactly what is happening, you need at least the basics of those.
                                    I suggest you begin with C++ if you're interested. Java is a bit more complicated.
                                    Bash script is quite easy. Specially if you are familiar with the Linux terminal.

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                                      • Blindside
                                      • PN8
                                      • 01 Jul 2018

                                      Agreeing with others' sentiments about flagship phone prices in this comment thread. In Australia myself. Prices of flagship phones are that steep that it's legitimately more appealing to buy a second-hand less than 12 month old phone with 99% of the features of the new current flagships, for about half the price or less.

                                        • B
                                        • Blindside
                                        • PN8
                                        • 01 Jul 2018

                                        Agreeing with others' sentiments about flagship phone prices in this comment thread. In Australia myself. Prices of flagship phones are that steep that it's legitimately more appealing to buy a second-hand

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