Grade: B
Android Central Labs
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Speak about a implausible yr for the North American smartphone market! Whereas there have definitely been difficulties to endure — tariffs, rising RAM costs, and geopolitical tensions, to call a couple of — the innovation we have seen this yr has led to raised telephones throughout.
In fact, nothing good ever comes with out one thing unhealthy, from tariffs inflicting important distribution and pricing issues to a document degree of homogenization in smartphone design. What’s all this spell for the yr? Let’s break it down.
The yr our eyes have been lastly seen
Since I started writing about it in spring 2023, I have been preventing to get smartphone producers to acknowledge the hurt that flickering shows are inflicting prospects. We have seen gradual enhancements as extra individuals have turn out to be conscious of this downside, however this yr was essentially the most profitable yr but for real progress.
In August, Google launched a brand new accessibility function that doubled the show’s PWM charge. Apple adopted a month later with a brand new accessibility function that disabled PWM dimming at low brightness. Whereas neither of those options solves the issue in its entirety, it marks a milestone for the flicker-sensitive neighborhood.
Most Chinese language producers proceed to supply the very best eye care options, however seeing Google and Apple start work on this essential subject is an enormous deal.
People who find themselves flicker-sensitive can’t use telephones with flickering shows in any respect, and in a world the place smartphones have turn out to be an indispensable instrument, it is extra essential than ever for corporations to make use of eye-friendly settings.
Foldables received thrilling once more
Regardless of no follow-up to our favourite foldable of 2023 and 2024 (the OnePlus Open), the foldable market was higher than ever, even when worldwide markets nonetheless get the very best selections. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 is the foldable we have been wanting the corporate to make for years, even when it dropped S Pen help to get as skinny as it’s.
Then Samsung launched the TriFold in choose worldwide markets. Whereas it isn’t formally obtainable in North America proper now, will probably be quickly.
Motorola and Google additionally lastly gave Samsung some first rate competitors, launching the premium Motorola Razr Extremely and the Pixel 10 Professional Fold. Whereas Google’s entry wasn’t the very best, it marked the primary foldable to ship with MagSafe/Qi2 magnets inbuilt and IP68 water- and dust-resistance.
In the meantime, Motorola’s Razr Extremely outclassed Samsung’s Z Flip 7 in mainly each approach whereas teasing a possible new book-style foldable within the new yr, guaranteeing the North American foldable market is beginning to look very wholesome.
In their very own lane
Firstly of 2025, the OnePlus 13 launched to glowing critiques, together with our very first 5-star smartphone evaluate. Two years in the past, should you advised me OnePlus can be the corporate to attain this distinction, I’d have been fearful about your sanity. However the stars appeared to align completely on that launch, because the OnePlus 15, which launched later in 2025, did not make the identical massive impression.
Google’s Pixel 10 launch wasn’t fairly as spectacular as some had hoped, however its objective of constructing a cellphone for everybody provides it a singular leg up on the competitors. Pixels have notably eaten into Samsung’s market share, now accounting for 7% of telephones offered. The Pixel 10 can be the primary main Android cellphone sequence to function MagSafe/Qi2 magnets inside.
This additionally marked the yr of skinny telephones, or so Apple and Samsung thought. Each the iPhone Air and Galaxy S25 Edge launched with large hype, and whereas Samsung beat Apple to the punch by a number of months, nobody appears to have cared in regards to the launches after the actual fact. Each Samsung and Apple have reportedly already canceled the follow-ups, however perhaps one thing else will do higher subsequent time.
AI takes over
Each firm adopted main AI platform options this yr. Nothing launched a devoted AI key on its telephones, and loads of different corporations adopted go well with. OnePlus and Motorola pursued an analogous strategy, whereas corporations like Samsung and Google repurposed the ability button or used devoted apps to attain related targets.
We additionally began seeing “AI hub apps,” letting customers decide their favourite AI assistant to finish system duties. OnePlus launched Thoughts House with Gemini integration, whereas Moto AI lets customers select between Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Perplexity for its AI duties.
However Samsung and Google appear to be the one corporations providing some form of true offline AI capabilities. Some customers could not care about this, however it’s an essential choice for corporations to supply in an period when cloud computing is ubiquitous and delicate person data appears to leak from information facilities consistently.
An enchancment over 2024
The North American smartphone market stays closely reliant on carriers and their affect over the manufacturers offered within the nation, however virtually each different metric has proven enchancment. We have wider availability of fashions from corporations, together with essential new additions to the U.S. market from corporations like Nothing and Fairphone, strengthening competitors in a yr when fears over tariffs thought we might see the other.
The state of affairs in Canada is significantly better than within the U.S. general, although. Canadians can purchase all the very best Chinese language telephones, which implies they’ve full entry to the very greatest Android telephones. U.S. prospects can technically purchase them by way of third-party sellers on websites like eBay, however these telephones are sometimes costlier and include no guarantee, making them a no-sale for most individuals.
If I needed to grade the U.S. by itself, I would give it a C- due to the absurdity of our provider infrastructure and the federal government’s arbitrary restrictions, however Canada’s market brings North America’s rating up by a stable grade level general.
