Smartphone innovation has come a long way. A lot of the tasks that used to require separate tech gadgets can now be done on your smartphone—something companies love bragging about in their ads and launch events.
But as great as it is to have all those bleeding-edge specs and features inside a handheld device you can carry everywhere, do you need them? Do they actually make a difference? Let's take a look at some overhyped features you can ignore when buying a new phone.
1. 8K Video Recording
We've had 4K video recording (3840 x 2160 pixels) on smartphones for a little less than a decade. To give you some perspective, one of the first Samsung phones to get the feature was the Galaxy S5 back in 2014 (feel old yet?).
4K video recording was quite useless back then as the image quality was poor and only served as a marketing trick. Today, 4K video is present on all flagship phones, most mid-range phones, and some budget phones too.
This makes sense because we often consume video content on phones, tablets, laptops, and similar-sized devices. Their screens are big enough that you can tell the difference between 1080p and 4K video.
But when it comes to 8K (7680 x 4320 pixels), the improvement is, quite frankly, not noticeable. One of the rare cases where 8K resolution might make sense is professional gaming, but for mobile videography, it's a definite overkill.
2. A Camera With 108MP or Higher Resolution
We've said this before, and we'll say it again: more pixels don't mean better image quality. Smartphone companies love to brag about the megapixel count on their cameras, but that doesn't mean their cameras are objectively better.
A higher number of megapixels only helps increase the resolution of your photo. That means you can easily zoom into and crop your shots without losing detail. However, due to the higher resolution, the file size is also bigger and thus eats more storage.
There are mainly two reasons a 108MP camera is not necessary. One: flagship phones today already come with a zoom lens for when you want to take a shot of faraway objects. And two: for regular photos, you don't need that much resolution to ensure clarity in your images.
Yet, Samsung went ahead even further, adding a 200MP camera as one of the standout features on the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Just to be clear, we're not saying more resolution is a bad thing, we're saying having this much of it is unnecessary for most people since they share their photos via social media and messaging apps that compress your shots anyway.
3. QHD Display
Quad HD (QHD) screens, with 1440p (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution, are quite common for flagship phones, and we've had them since as far back as 2014. To give them some credit, QHD displays are indeed noticeably sharper than Full HD (FHD) 1080p resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels) displays.
The problem is that QHD screens take more power to run. Compared to FHD screens, you can lose nearly 10% more battery life during a full day of use. Also, QHD panels are not available in budget and mid-range phones, so if you want that high resolution, you have no choice but to spend more on a phone and get a flagship instead.
4. 144Hz Refresh Rate
Not too long ago, almost all smartphones were locked at a 60Hz refresh rate (with a few exceptions). But ever since the launch of the OnePlus 7 Pro back in 2019, the tech industry hasn't looked back. We went from 60Hz to 90Hz to 120Hz in what felt like overnight. Fun fact: the first 120Hz phone was the Razer Phone released in 2017!
Up until 2020, 120Hz displays were limited to flagships and mid-range phones; fast-forward to today, and we're already seeing budget phones come with the same feature. In just two years, high refresh rate displays went from being a trend to being mainstream.
Now, while we're thankful for this revolution, going any further than 120Hz gives diminishing returns. We've already seen the first gaming phone with a 165Hz refresh rate, which is frankly overkill. Put side-by-side, you can't tell 120Hz from 144Hz; the difference is simply not visible. In a blind test, many would struggle to tell 90Hz from 120Hz.
The point here is that it doesn't make sense to waste so much battery life in exchange for these negligible improvements that don't contribute much to the overall user experience. Plus, many mobile games don't even support 120Hz—making the feature redundant.
5. 16GB RAM
Yet another overkill is 16GB RAM. How much RAM a smartphone should havedepends on your use case. For most people, 6GB RAM is enough for daily activities like web browsing, light gaming, music and video streaming, social media, etc.
6GB RAM will future-proof your phone for the next three to five years. For power users and gamers, 8GB RAM is enough to run all mobile apps and games, and 12GB RAM will ensure that even heavy games work smoothly.
Anything beyond that is simply unnecessary as you won't be running that many apps in the background at once anyway, so it's best not to overpay for a feature you're not going to use.
6. Wireless Charging
Although the tech is slowly getting better over the years, wireless charging still sucks and shouldn't be a priority if you're looking to buy a new phone. It's inefficient and produces a lot of heat.
Not to mention that wireless charging isn't technically wireless because your phone still needs to be placed in one fixed spot to charge. And true wireless charging still needs at least three more years to become even remotely useful.
In comparison, wired charging is faster, cheaper, more efficient, more durable, doesn't overheat, and produces less waste in the manufacturing process—making it less harmful for the environment. Plus, having a USB-C port is more useful since it's a universal standard and can plug into almost all modern tech gadgets.
7. Periscope Camera
Smartphone photography has come a long way, and we're now at a point where we can achieve up to 10X optical zoom on phones like the Galaxy S23 Ultra that fit in your pocket.
This clever piece of engineering is made possible via periscope telephoto cameras that use a technique called folded optics to mimic the capability of huge, professional telephoto lenses.
So, what's the problem? Well, periscope cameras are costly to produce, making phones more pricey. But more importantly, they are not essential for everyday photography for most people. You use the main camera of your phone every day, but a periscope telephoto camera with 10X optical zoom is only useful in rare cases such as shooting buildings or birds, for example.
Avoid Overrated Features, Look for Value
As tech nerds, it's always exciting for us to see companies pushing the boundaries with their bleeding-edge tech. But admiring new technologies and making a purchase decision are two very different things. Just because a phone supports a high-end feature, it doesn't mean you actually need it.
It's very likely that most of the features mentioned in this list will become mainstream in the coming years. But until then, it doesn't make sense to pay a premium price for such a device when you're not going to make much use of it anyway.
The above features are best suited for someone who is either an enthusiast, hardcore gamer, aspiring photographer, or someone who works closely with tech for a living. Unless you're one of those, you should not consider these features when buying a new phone.
MUO
