They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There might be a lot of truth to that. People can be subjective when they judge what looks good and what doesn't.
However, there are also rules to design and aesthetics. For example, it turns out that most people find symmetry attractive. So, when it comes to beauty, some things are more subjective than others.
Regardless of your position on this topic, here's my view on the current state of things in the Android smartphone market. It's not easy to say this, but I think most modern Android phones are some of the ugliest the market has ever seen.
Samsung and Sony to the rescue!
I'm not exaggerating when I say this is a bad time to be an Android fan with an eye for good aesthetics. I'm not sure if you see what I see, but it's almost like the vast majority of Android phones today are competing to become the most unattractive possible and gain attention through controversial designs.
We have phones with giant camera housings that look completely out of place (Xiaomi Mix Fold 4, anyone?). And there's an awful trend for oversized round camera housings that cheaply attempt to imitate the classic design of old film-based cameras.
And now, Honor has the gall to bring up how slim its Magic V3 is next to the Galaxy Z Fold 6, ignoring (and even hiding in its own render) that the V3 carries one of the most awkward camera housings I've ever seen. I mean, who doesn't want a camera shaped like a wheel nut or a water pipe fitting?
Even Google is doing weird things with its Pixel line. The company's new Pixel 9 Pro Fold almost looks like it did a 180 and got so weird that it's beginning to look almost cute in a Pug kind of way.
Nothing phones look almost nice, save for the fact that they're lit up like a Christmas tree and look excessive and in poor taste. At least, they do in my eyes.
Are some of these phones designed by AI?
I could go on and on, but the bottom line is that the more I look around at the Android phone landscape in 2024, the more I am convinced that only two OEMs stand between us and the ugliest generation of phones in history.
Those OEMs happen to be Samsung and Sony. Do you know of another?
More after the video…
Unfortunately, Sony isn't selling too many phones to combat the wave of deformed Android devices that have assaulted the market in recent years. Nevertheless, Sony still deserves recognition for being one of the most consistent OEMs (in terms of looks) and for designing some of the slickest and most elegant-looking Android phones in recent years.
As for Samsung, the Korean tech giant is almost single-handedly keeping the Android phone market in balance. The company has become even more consistent in recent years. Its latest Galaxy phones, slab-type or foldable, are the most elegant and durable you'll find.
Even better, it looks like Samsung might continue to streamline its design language across its smartphone portfolio and redesign the next-gen Galaxy S25 Ultra in the best ways possible.
Samsung walks its own design path, and I couldn't be happier
I couldn't be happier that Samsung walks its own design path and hasn't succumbed to the current trends. And I hope the rest of the Android market will eventually recover. Recover from what I think might be the worst place it's ever been in, design-wise.
Of course, as I said at the beginning, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some phones I consider off-putting are actually quite symmetric for a change, and you're free to like them and disagree with my view. I won't hold it against you if you do. But I'm not going to change my view either, and nothing will convince me that most modern Android phones aren't some of the ugliest ever.
