Thinking Differently About Phones (Premium)

I have made dramatic changes to the personal technology products and services I use in recent years. But not in one crucial area: Since the death of Windows phone, I’ve ping-ponged almost exclusively between the iPhone and Pixel, in part because both are made by the platform maker, respectively, and offer clean experiences I consider to be superior.

But maybe it’s time for a change. Maybe I could apply the thinking I use when choosing other tech products–be them apps, services, or other kinds of hardware–to phones. To be clear, I get it. This isn’t life or death. And that’s especially true for me, since I use PCs a lot more than I use phones in any given week. Which is unusual, apparently, but that’s my life and my job.

In the PC space, I often think about and discuss efficiency, meaning how well suited a tool is to me based on familiarity, design, performance, and whatever else. But what does that mean with phones?

As on PCs, it depends. And in this case, it depends on how one uses a phone. And perhaps how much one uses a phone. And that’s something I have been thinking about. Since writing The Perfect Phone (Premium) a few weeks back, I enabled and started paying attention to the digital wellbeing functionality on whatever phones I’ve been using. The data is useful, but there’s still nuance. I use a phone differently when I’m out in the world, seeing and doing things, than when I’m working. I use other devices, like my iPad, too, where my wife and others might perform many of those activities–mostly reading, in my case–on their phone.

It’s too easy to overthink this. So I will try and rein it in for a change.

In recent weeks, especially, I’ve been thinking about phones a lot. I could go in all kinds of different directions. Here are some of the more compelling options.

?Affordable

Looking for now just at the two platform makers–Apple and Google–this has been a great season for affordable smartphones. Apple announced the iPhone 16e in February as a replacement for the venerable but too-small iPhone SE, and if you haven’t, be sure to read Laurent’s review. I never seriously considered switching to an iPhone 16e, as $599 is too close to a base iPhone 16, I find the single camera to be a bit too restrictive, and I really like the Dynamic Island it’s missing. But it does throw off those Good Enough vibes I respect and almost yearn for.

And then there’s Google. The Pixel 3a XL is still memorable as the ultimate Good Enough phone in my personal experience, but that was several years ago. And more recent affordable Pixels were either unmemorable or had too many issues to recommend. But the $499 Pixel 9a is very interesting to me. It stacks up nicely against the iPhone 16e, which is important, and I love its minimalist look and feel. I considered buying one, in fact, though I’d have to wait until I got home from Mexico. The introductory sales are over, but with a $125 Pixel 7a trade-in, I could get one for about $374. If I got it through Google Fi, I could get it for free if I could stand to use it for two years, which feels unlikely. But it would be free while I used it, at least, thanks to monthly credits.

I may get a Pixel 9a just to experience it. But if I’m being honest with myself, and I try, I don’t see dropping the Pixel 9 Pro XL, which I can’t trade in with Google now anyway, for that.

2️⃣Folding

For the past several years, I’ve been waiting for that moment where a folding phone makes sense to me. And I’m not alone: My wife, no tech obsessive, has been talking about this for years as well, and the only thing holding her back at this point is the price.

There are different types of folding phones, of course, but the only type I would consider is the book-style device, not the smaller, compact-style phones like the Moto Razr line. I need a big screen, and I would appreciate the ability to fold out the larger display on these devices for certain tasks.

In looking at this market today, I discovered a few things. One, I recall that the OnePlus Fold was well-regarded, but when I looked at that company’s website, I was surprised to not see a new versions; it turns out, OnePlus is pausing its folding phone aspirations. Hm. Two, we all know that Samsung is the leader in this space, and it appears that it will announce its next Z Fold earlier than usual, in July, this year. I’m trying to get over my Samsung aversions–more on that below–so I will at least pay attention to that.

The goal here is lofty and it’s rarely been obtained: For any folding phone to be successful, it would need to somehow overcome my right tool for the job mantra and provide hybrid functionality so good that it can replace two other devices. I’ve only tried one folding smartphone–the Pixel Fold from two years ago–and that was close. It was too expensive, but I liked the form factor–most folding Android phones have tall, thin outer displays that feel “off” to me–and it had problems related to it beginning a first-gen device and, well, it being a Pixel with a lackluster Tensor processor. I never did try its successor, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, but I thought about it a lot and almost pulled that trigger multiple times. I am curious about the third version, of course.

But the dark horse here, as always, is Apple. When you think about one device replacing two, there is no more obvious possibility than a folding iPhone, one that could be both an iPhone and an iPad (Mini). That’s not ideal, I know–the iPad Mini is a bit small to my eyes–but Apple has a history of getting things right when they enter a market late. And depending on which rumors are right, it may lead with a folding iPad, not an iPhone. And that’s not the kind of hybrid I care about or want.

?Focus on the camera

I’ve often described big decisions as being a matrix of smaller, weighted decisions, and that’s certain true of expensive hardware products like smartphones. But if I had to pick a single factor to weigh in that matrix, it would always land on the cameras: Above all else, I prize the photographic capabilities of these devices, which ranges from hardware (lenses, etc.) to software (computational photography) to services (Instagram, Google Photos, and the like). And that explains why I love the Pixel so much despite some flaws. It doesn’t have the best cameras if you look just at the hardware, and the Tensor processors are lacking in some key ways. But the overall experience is excellent.

Someone asked me recently whether I’d consider getting a current generation Samsung Galaxy S25 flagship. I tried to find this but failed, sorry, but I feel bad that I was so dismissive of this question. The thing is, Samsung does have the best camera hardware, and it uses the very best (Android-based) mobile processors in the market. It’s possible–likely, even–that the camera system in the Galaxy S25+ would be as good if not better than that offered by my iPhone 16 Pro Max, meaning I wouldn’t have to shell out top dollar for a Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Plus, One UI 7 is out now, and it looks pretty nice. I checked it out on my wife’s Galaxy S24 Ultra, bit my tongue on my complaints about Samsung software, and started looking around. And here’s something interesting. Samsung always has great trade-in values, on its own phones and on iPhones. It would even let me trade in my Pixel 9 Pro XL, something neither Apple nor Google allows right now. But the best deal I could find was at Google Fi, of all places. The only problem is, I can’t take advantage of it.

Google sells Pixels through Fi, of course, but it also sells some Samsung and Motorola phones too. There are lots of promotions there, but in looking at Fi, I saw I could get a Galaxy S25+ for $300 off, or $699.99 before trade. I could pay $16.67 for two years through Fi, with no interest, and in doing so, I could save another $300 if I kept the thing on Fi, thanks to monthly credits. And that is at least possible. Regardless, I’d save money while I used it. Google won’t let me trade- n my Pixel or my iPhone, but I could save another $100 with that Pixel 7a trade (it’s less valuable with this device purchase, but the $100 would come in the form of rebates oh my monthly bill). And that is … tempting. $17 a month for a new flagship phone? I’d be stupid not to take this deal.

Well, it’s also impossible, unless I want to give up my phone number. After doing all that math, I realized I was signed in with my Workspace account, not the personal Gmail account I use with the service. And when I switched to that account, the numbers changed. I could get $350 off the selling price of the S25+, bringing the total down to $649.99 before trade. But that $300 in monthly credits was gone. I’d get $100 in monthly credits until that disappeared from the 7a trade, but that was it. And my monthly payments would be $27.08. Reasonable, sure. But not a no-brainer. (Google Fi won’t let me switch accounts to keep my number and save that money. I guess that’s understandable.)

I may still consider this. But I would want to compare the prices at Samsung.com again too.

♻️Sustainable

What if there was a Framework for phones? Well, there is. You may have heard of Nothing, a phone company founded by Carl Pei, previously a co-founder of OnePlus. I’ve been mostly dismissive of this company since it began, and so I haven’t been paying attention too much. But Nothing coincidentally just launched something called CMF Phone 2 Pro, which looks incredible and seems like a terrific value. This isn’t a true flagship, but I suspect it’s something north of Pixel 9a and the Samsung A-series stuff, and … well, what is this thing?

I hadn’t heard of CMF either, but it turns out that it’s a sub-brand of Nothing that markets sustainable devices–phones, but also earbuds, watches, and power adapters–that are also beautifully designed and low cost. The original CMF Phone Pro was notable for its repairability and modular design, but the new version is much, much thinner and prettier and … hm. This is quite interesting.

Nothing, like OnePlus, optimizes Android for performance, and its phones focus on design and cameras, both of which I also care about quite a bit. The CMF Phone 2 Pro is just $280, and it has good to excellent specs and looks terrific. I suddenly find myself drifting sideways, yet again.

?What’s next?

I don’t know. I may stick in this holding pattern. I may suddenly veer off in some unexpected direction. I’m trying to follow my own advice and be open to whatever. But at the very least, I think I would like to move past the familiarity of Pixel and iPhone for a while. And see what it’s like out there.