Technologies

Boring Phone Designs, Begone. I’m Seeing a New Wave of Fresh Looks for 2026

Commentary: With some phone-makers willing to push boundaries, the days of dull-looking devices may soon be behind us.

As I tilted the phone back and forth, admiring the iridescent artwork — a vivid electric blue with a billow of gold inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night — I was thrilled by the audacity of the design. I wasn’t looking at the screen but at the phone’s rear panel. And no, it wasn’t a case.

You’ve probably never heard of the Nubia Z80 Ultra. This high-spec Android phone is among several devices from the Chinese company ZTE sporting a unique look, unlike anything else on the market.

I got my hands on it this month at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. It was just one of many phones that made me, for the first time in a long time, feel excited about this new wave of design.

To find these phones, you have to look beyond Apple and Samsung, the two brands that dominate the market. For a long time, smaller companies tried to compete with these behemoths by emulating their phones at a more affordable price. And they followed the same bland formula. Each was a uniformly slim slab of plastic or metal in black, silver or white. Dull, dull, dull. Dull to look at and even duller to review.

Sure, phone-makers sometimes took a playful approach to color — blues, greens, pinks — though these tame experiments still played it safe. And sadly, modular concept phones such as Google’s Project Ara and Motorola’s Moto Z died out before ever really taking off.

To my delight, as someone who has had many of these boring phones pass through my hands over the years, it looks like those days might be over.

For one, the foldable revolution has introduced book-style folding phones and a modern reinterpretation of flip phones. It feels like the first time companies have questioned what a phone can do, be or look like — beyond the template Apple set with the first iPhone.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen a glut of new phones announced from brands big and small, making it an ideal moment to pause and take stock of the current design landscape.

Phone design: the current state of play

First up, the big dogs. Apple launched the iPhone 17E in the first week of March. Available in black, white, and one color (the palest of pinks), it follows the slab template the company has relied on for around two decades.

At the end of February, Samsung refreshed its flagship lineup with the Galaxy S26 series, which is largely indistinguishable from last year’s. Then, just this week, the company announced it will no longer be selling the Galaxy Z TriFold, its most ambitious design in over a decade, with three panels folding out into a tablet-like screen. (The Galaxy Z Flip and Fold are still available.)

At MWC, where the smaller brands came to play, the story was completely different. The modular design of Tecno’s phones and ZTE’s vast array of Nubia phones, which varied from the Starry Night Z80 Ultra to the Neo 5 gaming phone, all left a lasting impression.

I was enamored with the craftsmanship and the soft, strokable vegan leather used on the crimson Honor Magic V6. My colleague Patrick Holland noted that the luxurious, silky feel of the Motorola Razr Fold could be its biggest selling point. Motorola has, in retrospect, been something of a pioneer in interesting phone design, experimenting with materials such as fabric and even wood over the years.

The biggest crowds I saw all week at MWC assembled at Honor’s booth to admire its new Robot Phone in action. Not surprising. The Robot Phone, with its pop-up, self-aware, gimbal-mounted camera, is a collision of robotics (an emerging technology) with mobile (an established product category). It is, essentially, a reinvention of the phone as we know it.

“For decades, the form factor of the smartphone remained the same,” Honor’s Robot Phone expert Thomas Bai told me. “As the technology evolves, we need a new species of device.”

Honor hasn’t yet put the phone on sale, and it’s unclear just how popular it might be when it does. But at the very least, it signals the company’s willingness to imagine and execute a daring and unique phone design.

Be glad for bold swings from small players

It’s clear that larger, more mainstream companies are less likely to take design risks, while the smaller companies, fighting to differentiate themselves in a sea of sameness, are taking some bold swings. It feels like a reverse of the heyday of experimental phone design, when market leaders Nokia and Sony were launching all kinds of outlandish phones: sliding, swiveling, bulbous contraptions with bizarre keyboard setups.

No phone-maker understands using design as a differentiator quite like the British startup Nothing, which leans heavily into the nostalgic Y2K aesthetic and away from the prevailing minimalism, exposing the architecture of its products through transparent casings, playful lighting and pixelated interfaces.

Nothing’s Chief Brand Officer Charlie Smith, who was formerly at fashion brand Loewe, describes a culture of fun and “rebellious creativity” as the essence of the company’s design philosophy. That’s allowed Nothing to make a splash as a late entrant to a mature and established market.

It’s both future-looking and nostalgic, harking back to the era preceding the boring phone days. “All of that personality kind of got sucked out,” said Smith, speaking to me ahead of the launch of the Nothing Phone 4A.

The company has started embracing color, too. “If we want to make technology fun,” Smith said. “We can’t do that by things just being gray, black and white.”

Nothing’s devices feel like the antithesis of the quiet luxury that seems to crystallize most prevalently in Apple’s approach to design — whether that’s through the company’s elegant, slim-edged devices, or the Apple Stores themselves, with their inset, perfectly curved marble bannisters that seem to disappear into the walls.

Even when Apple brings color to the iPhone (think its orange effort last fall), it doesn’t hit as hard as when bold color choices combine with unique design experiments. For years, the tech giant has been unwavering in its phone design and, to be fair, it’s been a profitable (and predictable) strategy that keeps iPhone owners around the world satisfied. If Apple does, as expected, introduce a foldable iPhone at some point in the next year or so, it shouldn’t be lauded for its bravery.

Primarily, it’s the Chinese smartphone makers — Honor, Oppo and Huawei — we have to thank for pushing the boundaries of what a phone can take. Everything they, along with Samsung and Motorola, have achieved over the past five years in the foldable space will have laid the groundwork for Apple to take what will be a heavily calculated risk.

If it’s a risk that pays off, it will serve as validation for the phone-makers we already see making bold moves. And, hopefully, that will continue to usher in this new era of phone design, which is a whole lot less dull, and a whole bunch more fun.

Technologies

Trump Maintains US‑Iran Negotiations Continue Amid Tehran’s Denials of Duplicity

President Trump insists that US‑Iran talks are ongoing despite Tehran’s denial of any negotiation plans, while warning that only a deal or total surrender will allow passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Conflicting statements from both sides have heightened uncertainty as the conflict enters its sixth month.

On Monday, President Donald Trump asserted that negotiations between the United States and Iran are still taking place, even after Tehran stated it has no intention of engaging in direct talks with Washington.

In a fiery Truth Social post, Trump labeled Iran’s leaders “unbelievably duplicitous,” claiming they are lying about ongoing peace talks “whether Iran wants to admit it or not.” He repeated his assertion that the United States completely controls the Strait of Hormuz, despite maritime traffic through the crucial route lingering at only a small fraction of pre‑conflict levels.

He wrote, “Nothing reaches Iran unless we allow it, and nothing will pass unless a deal—or total surrender—is achieved.”

Earlier that day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters there is no imminent plan for U.S.–Iran negotiations, contradicting Trump’s earlier comment that talks would resume Monday afternoon. Baghaei added that Iran’s only current discussions are with Oman concerning the Strait of Hormuz.

The conflicting statements have heightened uncertainty over the peace‑talk process and the broader conflict, now in its sixth month.

Trump’s assertion about new negotiations came a day after he said on Truth Social that he had agreed to cancel a massive strike against Iran “subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL.” He said in the same post that Iran and other Middle Eastern countries had asked him to hold off on that attack because “the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”

Trump has claimed dozens of times throughout the more‑than‑five‑month‑long war that a deal is at hand. No permanent deal has been signed, and a temporary ceasefire reached in June has fallen apart.

Trump has also repeatedly threatened to launch devastating strikes against Iran before backing off. After the latest example, oil prices on Monday fell and stocks surged.

BMI, a research unit of Fitch Solutions, said in a note Monday that a broader diplomatic understanding on reopening the Strait of Hormuz is still achievable this quarter, while raising the probability of its escalation scenario to 35% from 25%, citing mounting military, diplomatic and economic signs of rising U.S.-Iran tensions.

“Diplomatic progress is likely to be punctuated by periodic military flare-ups, while miscalculation by either side could trigger a renewed escalation,” BMI analysts wrote in a note. The firm said the key issue to watch is the future governance of the strait, as the Iran-Oman talks — potentially backed by Gulf states, China and the U.S. — point to efforts to build a post-conflict shipping framework.

Shipping risks persist even as diplomacy appears to be advancing. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said it received a report of an incident 20 nautical miles (23 miles) northeast of Khasab, Oman — at the mouth of the strait — with a tanker’s master reporting an explosion in close proximity to the vessel at about 20:37 UTC Sunday (4:37 pm ET). The vessel and crew were safe and authorities are investigating, UKMTO said, advising ships to transit with caution.

The proposal Trump announced over the weekend calls for the U.S. and Iran to return to negotiations and continue ironing out some of the thorny issues that had derailed diplomatic efforts, according to The Associated Press, citing a regional official involved in the mediation efforts.

The official said the proposal also includes a reopening of the Hormuz Strait and halting attacks across the region, including by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq on the Arab Gulf countries and Jordan.

The U.S., for its part, will end its naval blockade on Iran and allow Tehran to export its oil, the official said, adding that no deal has been reached, although the mediation efforts remained underway.

Trump’s weekend reversal has lowered the temperature after days of escalating attacks across the Gulf. Kuwait said Saturday that Iranian forces launched a wave of drones within its airspace, with its military destroying multiple aircraft after Iran targeted critical infrastructure in the country’s north.

A parallel track with Muscat is also advancing. Iranian diplomats said Tehran was close to reaching a new arrangement with Oman to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a deal critical to preventing the war from escalating further, according to the Financial Times.

Iranian officials said negotiations over future management of the Hormuz Strait with Oman, which sits on the opposite shore of the waterway, are in their final stages. The agreed shipping route would be different from those used before, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Baghaei, adding that the new route was separate from the issue of the strait’s reopening or continued closure.

Technologies

Oil Prices Slide as Trump Halts Planned Iran Strike

Oil prices dropped after Trump cancelled a planned strike on Iran, with WTI down about 5% and Brent near 5% lower. He said the move followed requests from Tehran and regional allies for a pause while a deal shaping the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program is negotiated.

Oil prices fell on Monday after President Donald Trump announced he had cancelled a planned strike on Iran. WTI futures dropped roughly 5% to $80.34 a barrel, while Brent slipped about 4.7% to $83.77 a barrel.

Trump said early Sunday he called off the strike after Iran and several Middle Eastern nations asked him to hold off, noting that the outlines of a deal had been agreed upon. He added that the prospective accord would entail the immediate, full opening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, according to his Truth Social post.

The president had been considering another round of strikes as diplomatic hopes waned since the conflict began on February 28. He said the U.S. and Iran would meet for talks on Monday, but Iran denied any scheduled negotiations with Washington, citing PressTV. Iran’s foreign‑ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei clarified that Tehran was only discussing shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz with Oman. In a follow‑up Truth Social message, Trump insisted that, regardless of Iran’s acknowledgment, the United States is indeed discussing a solution to a long‑standing problem created by Iran.

Technologies

Oil Prices Drop as Trump Cancels Planned Attack on Iran

Oil prices fell sharply after President Trump announced the cancellation of a planned strike on Iran, citing a new deal that would open the Hormuz Strait and end Iran’s nuclear threat.

Oil prices fell sharply on Monday after President Donald Trump announced that he had called off a planned strike on Iran.

West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark, slipped roughly 5% to close at $80.34 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, declined 4.7% to settle at $83.77 a barrel.

Trump made the announcement early Sunday, saying he had canceled the strike following requests from Tehran and other Middle Eastern countries.

In a Truth Social post, he wrote: “We have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”

The president indicated that the proposed agreement would include the immediate, complete, and total opening of the Hormuz Strait, as well as an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.

Trump had been weighing additional strikes amid diminishing prospects for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict that began on Feb. 28. He stated that the U.S. and Iran would hold negotiations on Monday.

Tehran denied that talks were planned with Washington, according to state news outlet PressTV.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran was only holding talks with Oman regarding the routes ships can use through the Strait of Hormuz.

In a subsequent Truth Social post, Trump added that whether “Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking of a solution to a problem that they have caused for decades.”