
Joe Maring / Android Authority
Flagships -Smartphones are the best that a manufacturer has to offer, with these devices including premium hardware and innovative features. While some marks seem to rest on the laurels, others continue to give consumers inventive updates that draw more loyal fans.
But not all features are created the same – and some are definitely more about selling products than providing a good user experience. After spending years testing different devices from a number of brands, I have decided that the following features are largely overrated …
Which flagship -smartphone function do you think is the most overrated?
0 votes
1. 100MP+ lenses

Megan Ellis / Android Authority
I used to make the mistake of thinking that a higher resolution usually resulted in a better camera experience. However, the era of smartphone cameras with 100MP or higher resolution lenses (including some 200MP) and my experience of using them thoroughly debunked this performance.
While some of Best camera phones Function These high resolution lenses, there is much more that determines the quality of image than just the raw megapixel value. HDR support, light sensitivity, optical zoom and sensor size all contribute to the quality of an image. Then it is the finishing as smartphones applies to these images.
There is much more that determines the quality of a picture than just the raw megapixel value.
I have found that high -resolution lenses have improved over the years, but many companies smell these on their flagships smartphones as a marketing gimmick. My own S23 Ultra has a 200MP lens – and I rarely switch to this resolution.
This is mainly due to the trade -offs that come with these lenses. For example, when I switch to the 200MP lens on the smartphone, I can no longer zoom into the subject. You can claim that a higher -resolution lens allows you to prune to zoom into the subject of the image. But I have often found weird objects in the picture when I prune to zoom. I also find that images I bring with high resolution lenses are less saturated and lack the same amount of contrast, which leads to a dumber photo overall.
The reality is that most of us use standard shooting mode on our smartphones. So I would take a skilled 50MP lens with a good sensor and zoom features over the super -high resolution lenses that I rarely use on smartphones. That is one of Reasons why the Samsung S25 edge is not appealing For me -limited to just two lenses, Samsung chose a 200MP lens and a 12MP lens. There is also no telecom camera.
2. Generative AI

Megan Ellis / Android Authority
AI is important when it comes to smartphone features – algorithms of flow treatment, hardware optimization and other important software features. But the recent wave of Generative AI The features are mostly not useful in my opinion, and I have rarely come across people who use them.
It was occasional occurrence where I was excited to try out a generative AI function. For example, I looked forward to trying out Samsung Ai’s interpreter. But the tool proved to be overwhelming due to its limited support for languages I use. When I tried to see if it could properly detect what I said on Mandarin by using simple sentences, the translations were inaccurate.
Generative AI also provides weighing privacy, but some models allow you to use AI on devices. Although you have to note that by selecting this privacy setting, you actually lose on other AI features. For example, the Samsung does not allow me to use the AI feature that summarizes transcripts from voice recordings without turning off the option for just processing data on my device.
3. More than 12GB RAM

Robert Triggs / Android Authority
Many brands have begun to push past 12 GB of RAM, with many flagships now including 16 GB or even 24 GB of RAM.
For me, 12 GB has been a good balance for me when it comes to most tasks such as games and multi-tasking. In fact, I would argue that for most people, 8 GB of RAM is more than enough, and that 12 GB is mostly for those who do performance -heavy tasks such as video editing. Past this amount, it feels like brands just increases RAM for it. Other times, marks their actual RAM distribution by counting virtual RAM as part of it.
12 GB has been a good balance when it comes to most tasks such as games and multi-tasking.
The exception is when the device is used for many generative AI tasks. But since I don’t use Generative AI on my phone, I think more than 12 GB of RAM is a bit of an overkill. It is an overrated feature that is mostly implemented for another overrated function.
4. 8K video recording

Megan Ellis / Android Authority
8K video recording has been around for some time on flagships smartphones, but it is one of the features that I have rarely seen people use because of the disadvantages. Smartphones that offer 8K video recording usually provide the video to the video to 30 FPS, which drastically reduces the quality of the display experience.
It is also the fact that most of us use screens that do not support an 8K resolution – and reduce the total appetite for this type of content. That said, there may be benefits to downsampling an 8K video for 4K, but it is a niche use case, and most who are very serious with video quality are likely to choose a standalone camera instead of the smartphone.
I don’t even use 4K video recording on my smartphones.
I don’t even use 4K video recording on my smartphones, even though they both support up to 60 FPS. This is mostly to save space, as I don’t want a simple video of my cat that takes hundreds of megabytes or more gigabytes on my phone.
What I want to see when it comes to video recording on my next flagship smart phone is the ability to shoot video in challenging light environments, as this is an area where my videos always fall short.
5. 4K screens

Robert Triggs / Android Authority
I don’t even bother with a 4K screen for my PC or laptop, so 4K on a smartphone screen is definitely overkill in my opinion. However, this has not stopped any manufacturers making smartphones with this resolution.
With most flagships-smartphone screens measuring between 6 and 6.9 inches, there is not much room to allow a 4K resolution screen to show its sharpness in all its splendor. While my S23 Ultra supports a 1440p resolution, I use it actually set to 1080p to increase the battery life.
This is not a regular flagship feature, but there is one that has appeared over the years – especially on Sony phones that Sony Xperia 1 in. But it seems that even Sony has realized that this is not the hardware specification most flagship users are looking for, with the newer Sony Xperia 1 We and Xperia 1 VII Both included lower resolution views.
I would rather rather smartphone manufacturers improve screens through HDR support, higher update speeds and improved pixel density. Though, with folding smartphones, especially Trifold smartphones, with larger screens; We can see a return to several companies choosing higher solutions.
Although I am sure that some people will disagree that a certain function I find overrated is important to them, I would rather have brands that focus on real improvements in relation to marketing gimmicks. One area I want to see a significant improvement in is durability, especially with screens that are so expensive to replace today.