It is time for my Festivus phone rant, and these smartphones have some explaining to do

AI generated image from prompt: "A photorealistic image of a very large family angry mad bitter fighting at a nondescript family dinner. We are looking at the angry family everybody is angry over the shoulder of an angry young child who is pointing at the rest of the family, accusing them of disappointing him. The rest of the family is in denial or looks ashamed. We are looking over a family feast. Everybody is holding a smartphone and there are smartphones everywhere on plates and even the main course might be a gigantic roasted smartphone. The image is a bit surreal. There are at least a dozen people at the table and everybody is very angry and shouting and yelling and pointing at each other or trying to hide from the anger. It is like a scene from the show Seinfeld during a Festivus episode"

(Image credit: Adobe Firefly AI generated image)

In the spirit of Festivus, I am airing my grievances for the smartphone world. Gather round the Festivus pole! To paraphrase the impeccable Frank Costanza, ‘I got a lotta problems with you phones, and now you're going to hear about it!’ While I’m sure there will be time later for the feats of strength benchmark tests, now I want to discuss the ways my loved ones have disappointed me over the past year.

You think I’m going to drone on and on about AI? Don’t worry, I’ll get to it. It will be a Festivus miracle when I finally see AI features that make a smartphone worth buying. I’d settle for AI that doesn’t tell me my son sold the family dog every time he texts updates about football practice.

These are my biggest problems with some of the best phones I saw in 2024, and just like I tell my own family, if I didn’t love these phones I wouldn’t spend so much time criticizing every way they aren’t perfect.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold I really want… in Korea and China only?!

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6 has a flaw: Z Fold phones are simply too narrow when closed. The front screen looks awkward and some apps don’t fit right. I hoped Samsung would fix the problem with the Galaxy Z Fold 6, but the new phone was only a bit wider than previous Galaxys Z Fold. The problem persisted, while the OnePlus Open and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold showed how a foldable tablet is supposed to look.

Then Samsung fixed the problem! It launched a Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition with a bigger display up front and a proper aspect ratio. It also got a big 200-megapixel camera upgrade, but I don’t care about that because I forgive foldable phones for their camera foibles.

But wait, the new Galaxy Z Fold 6 Special Edition phone is only on sale in Korea and China!? Okay, so those countries actually spend money on foldable phones. Sorry US, UK, and Australia readers, maybe if you’d just dropped a few grand on a Samsung foldable last year, you’d have the correct Galaxy Fold model this year. I hope the Galaxy Z Fold 7 doesn’t disappoint.

The iPhone 16 Camera Control isn’t a shutter button

I was very excited about the new Camera Control on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models. I’ve been hoping two-stage shutter buttons would make a comeback (every Windows Phone had one!), because it makes shooting much easier when you want a steady focus and a sharper shot.

Then the Camera Control showed up and it was nothing like what we’d seen before. It was so much more than just a shutter button with focus lock. I really like the Control! And I love that every iPhone 16 model gets a Camera Control. I think there’s a lot of potential.

I just have one big problem: it doesn’t do the thing I wanted. I wanted a button that has a halfway stopping point – a two-stage shutter that you can press a little bit, then press harder. You can do that with the Camera Control, but there’s no real stopping point, you get haptic feedback from the iPhone when you get there. I’m not very good at stopping my finger at precisely the right point without some physical resistance.

Also, the focus lock feature wasn’t available at launch, it took a few months to arrive, and by the time it did, the Camera Control became known for its Apple Intelligence powers more than its camera convenience. Maybe that was the point all along? Hopefully when Samsung inevitably copies this button, it will offer a proper two-stage shutter button like I wanted.

I can’t buy a Xiaomi 14 Ultra. Or a Huawei. Why?!

There’s a camera phone that haunts my dreams: the Xiaomi 14 Ultra. It might be the best camera phone on the market right now, but not my market. You can get a Xiaomi phone in plenty of other English-speaking countries. But the US doesn’t have an official retail channel, and I wouldn’t buy an import model because I won’t get full network or warranty support.

So, I borrowed a Xiaomi 14 Ultra from our UK team, and its cameras are jaw-dropping. I took photos that were light years ahead of what some of our favorite US camera phones can produce, especially shooting macro photos, portraits, and enhanced zoom shots. The level of control is amazing, with the best aperture control I’ve seen on a smartphone.

I’ve never gotten a satisfying answer explaining why I can’t buy Xiaomi phones. For that matter, why can’t I buy any cool Huawei phones, like the Huawei Mate XT?! I have heard from industry analysts that there is a political reason more than a technological impediment. In any case, it’s clear the US market is missing out on something good.

Stereotypes from generative AI, now on your smartphone

Motorola Razr Plus 2024 in green — (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

There are so many problems with generative AI that it’s tough to nail down my favorite bugbear. Is it rampant and blatant copyright infringement? Supervillainous levels of energy consumption? I think my favorite generative AI problem to whine about is the way AI image generators usually create images that adhere to racist, sexist, ableist… pretty much any stereotype you can imagine, and probably a few we haven’t defined.

That isn’t a bug, it’s a feature because of the way they were trained, and it’s now a feature on your smartphone. Google and Samsung have avoided the worst problems by limiting AI wallpaper features. But when I reviewed the Motorola Razr Plus 2024, the results I got from the image generator presented a strong pattern of Antisemitic and misogynist stereotypes. It was shocking.

This is not acceptable. These AI image generators are not useful enough to justify the danger. Why do I need a problematic wallpaper app on my phone? When did it become acceptable for electronics companies to foist offensive features on users? I’m guessing it’s when we decided we weren’t going to buy those foldable phones.

When AI works properly, I’ll be excited to use it. Until then, I don’t need it, just like I wouldn’t need a text messaging app that can’t send text messages, or a web browser that goes to the wrong URL. AI features don’t work, and that is the end of that.

Phil Berne is a preeminent voice in consumer electronics reviews, starting more than 20 years ago at eTown.com. Phil has written for Engadget, The Verge, PC Mag, Digital Trends, Slashgear, TechRadar, AndroidCentral, and was Editor-in-Chief of the sadly-defunct infoSync. Phil holds an entirely useful M.A. in Cultural Theory from Carnegie Mellon University. He sang in numerous college a cappella groups.

Phil did a stint at Samsung Mobile, leading reviews for the PR team and writing crisis communications until he left in 2017. He worked at an Apple Store near Boston, MA, at the height of iPod popularity. Phil is certified in Google AI Essentials. He has a High School English teaching license (and years of teaching experience) and is a Red Cross certified Lifeguard. His passion is the democratizing power of mobile technology. Before AI came along he was totally sure the next big thing would be something we wear on our faces.