Feature fatigue: Do we really need more AI gimmicks on our phones?

August 16, 2026 — 1:49pm

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The smartphone playbook has been rewritten around generative AI, with Google, Samsung and Apple banking on smart agents, magic photo manipulation and automated workflows to trigger the next major upgrade cycle. However, at least anecdotally, consumer excitement is chilling into something resembling feature fatigue. The promises are familiar, the improvements are incremental, and the squeeze that AI is putting on component manufacturing means some phones may soon cost as much as a used car.

Last week Google showed off its Pixel 11 line-up at its annual showcase, with new chips, a baseline of 256GB storage, and new capabilities powered by Gemini models that can run locally on device. The Pro models even have a new “HiLight” on the back, which can show when the AI assistant is thinking or responding while the device is placed face down. But do users benefit from Gemini becoming an even more prominent part of their lives? And who pays for it?

Phones are now a wrapper for AI

With Google’s annual phone reveal sandwiched between Samsung early in the year and Apple around September, there’s generally a rhythm to the competitive new features being baked in. But while some previous years have seen brands battling to improve speeds and power, pack in better cameras, boost battery life or thin down designs, AI features now dominate presentations. The phones........

© Brisbane Times