The biggest smartphone fails of 2020

The smartphone world had a year-long roller coaster ride as the transition to 5G collided with the COVID-19 pandemic. The former meant we had 5G phones in almost all price ranges as well as some major price increases in the upper range. Meanwhile, the pandemic had a significant impact on business in the first half as lockdowns led to the collapse of offline retail.

But even without these two factors, we’ve still seen some major smartphone flaws that are really hard to justify. From Microsoft to OnePlus and beyond, here are the more notable smartphone glitches in 2020.

The strange case of the belated Nokia

HMD first introduced the Nokia 8.3 in March. It’s an upper mid-range phone with a sleek design, respectable specs, and a ton of 5G bands supported. A month passed after the reveal and we didn’t get the phone, then two months, and then three months. It took about six months for the phone to actually go on sale.

To the best of its knowledge, HMD has not given any reason for the delay. However, the postponement coincided with the delay in the latest James Bond film (No Time To Die). And yes, HMD was the “official phone partner” for the film, strongly suggesting that the film’s delay forced HMD’s hand.

It didn’t help that when the Nokia 8.3 finally went on sale, consumers had better and / or cheaper 5G options on the market, such as the Pixel 4a 5G, Poco F2 Pro, and OnePlus Nord. It also didn’t help that HMD went without a proper flagship phone all year round. If it continues to do so in the first half of 2021, it means we haven’t seen a Nokia flagship launch in two years.

Microsoft Surface Duo

Microsoft made waves in 2019 when it unveiled the Surface Duo for the first time, making its first big entry into the Android space possible. It was a pretty fascinating concept too. Microsoft showed a foldable dual screen and promised to reinvent the way apps interact.

Unfortunately, reviews indicated the Surface Duo was an unpolished mess when it launched. Microsoft’s software contained many bugs, while the list of apps that supported the dual-screen design was disappointingly short.

Connected: All the improvements we’d like to see with the Surface Duo 2

A lack of polish wasn’t the only blow to Microsoft’s phone, however. It was overpriced. For $ 1,400, you get the 2019 flagship, no 5G, no NFC, no fast charging, and no wireless charging. You’d better spend a little extra to get the Galaxy Z Fold 2 unless you Really I want this kind of book-like Kindle experience.

Escobar Fold 2

The brother of the late drug kingpin, Pablo Escobar, launched a foldable smartphone worth $ 350 in 2019, but it was a scam. The so-called Escobar fold was literally just a Royole Flexpai in disguise. Little did Royole’s CEO know this was happening while many customers were complaining that (unsurprisingly) they weren’t getting their orders.

This sketchy company stepped up its game in 2020 when it then decided to launch the Escobar Fold 2. Of course, this wasn’t an original design either, it was the Samsung Galaxy Fold with a gold tape that hid the Samsung branding. A stealth Galaxy Fold for $ 400? Yes, don’t expect to receive your order here either.

Motorola Razr

Motorola managed to grab mainstream attention in late 2019 when it was announced that the Razr flip phone is coming back as a modern folding phone. With a clamshell design, foldable main screen, and large external display, it theoretically merged with retro and modern.

When the phone finally hit the market in 2020, it was far from bang for the buck. If you spend $ 1,500, you get a small battery pack, a camera setup comparable to entry-level phones, a mid-range chipset from 2018, and Android 9 many months after Android 10 was launched. It didn’t help that some users have also complained about build quality issues.

Connected: The best foldable phones you can buy

The Razr was also significantly outperformed by Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip. It offered ultra-thin glass, better build quality, a more impressive spec sheet, and a cheaper price point. No wonder Motorola made buy-one-get-one-free deals shortly after it launched. The company later launched a 5G variant in 2020 that delivers a more modern mid-range silicon and dual rear camera setup. Even so, it didn’t seem to be gaining traction compared to Samsung’s goods.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra may have hit the market for $ 1,300, but that was a really high-end phone. This made it one of the better premium flagships out there. The vanilla Galaxy Note 20, on the other hand, was a rare mistake for Samsung. It wasn’t a bad phone on its own, but definitely a bad phone by Samsung’s standards.

For $ 1,000, you got a phone that was inferior to the Galaxy S20 FE in many ways. The cheapest phone from Samsung’s S20 series has a refresh rate of 120 Hz, support for microSD cards, a slightly larger battery and a 3x optical zoom camera. The Note 20 had to get along with a 60 Hz screen, fixed memory and a 3x hybrid zoom camera.

Samsung’s vanilla note model had some advantages over the S20 FE, however. That included more RAM (8GB versus 6GB), 8K recording, and the S-Pen. Is it really worth paying that extra $ 300? And let’s not start with plastic design. It’s understandable to see this material on cheaper phones (e.g. the Galaxy S20 FE), but the fact that plastic was used elsewhere on a $ 1,000 phone with no functional degradation was bizarre.

Motorola Edge Plus flip flops

Lenovo-owned Motorola launched its first proper flagship for quite some time this year, and it wasn’t the worst phone released in 2020. However, the company drew the ire of many enthusiasts when it initially stated that it could only guarantee an Android version update for the $ 1,000 Motorola Edge Plus.

The company then switched directions after the negative press, claiming it would actually offer two updates to the Android version. This still left an incredibly sour taste as it felt like Motorola was trying to pull a quick one. An update is disappointing for a budget phone, but for a $ 1,000 device? Get out.

More coverage: Exclusive carriers kill great smartphones

This wasn’t Motorola’s only smartphone bug in 2020. The company made the Edge Plus a Verizon exclusive in the US. That was just as silly, considering it was the brand’s first full-fledged flagship in a while. You’d think the company wanted to bring the best of Motorola to the widest possible audience.

OnePlus in 2020

The brand associated with BBK had a solid 2020 in the flagship, with the OnePlus 8 Pro particularly notable. This was the company’s first fully-fledged premium flagship to be shipped. Between photo quality, water resistance, wireless charging, and that QHD + 120Hz screen, this was definitely a high-end experience to challenge the top players. Even the OnePlus Nord was a great phone that made for an outstanding mid-range experience.

However, OnePlus made some missteps this year too, starting with the decision to launch the OnePlus Nord N-series. The more expensive Nord N10 was only slightly cheaper than the Nord, but it missed some notable features (e.g. OLED screen, better processor, additional selfie camera). Meanwhile, the Nord N100 was just a rebranded Oppo A53 and offered little performance, not to mention the most disappointing type of triple camera configuration (main / macro / depth).

Other notable missteps include an extremely controversial redesign of Oxygen OS that allowed unfavorable comparisons to One UI, the promise to only release an Android version update for the Nord N series, and a smartphone marketing campaign that quickly became very exhausting.

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