{"id":397037,"date":"2026-03-21T18:56:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T18:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/397037\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T18:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T18:56:09","slug":"smartphones-might-bring-back-waterdrop-notches-and-microsd-cards-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/397037\/","title":{"rendered":"Smartphones might bring back waterdrop notches and microSD cards in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new leak suggests that some smartphone makers might be circling back to features that, until recently, felt like they were on their way out.<\/p>\n

According to a post by Digital Chat Station on Weibo, several older hardware choices could be making a return in upcoming devices. And the list is oddly specific.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

DCS says future phones could feature a top configuration of just 8GB of RAM paired with 512GB of storage, along with 90Hz waterdrop-notch displays, support for SIM plus microSD cards, and even plastic frames paired with short-focus (optical) fingerprint sensors.<\/p>\n

Rising global smartphone prices could be behind the shift<\/strong><\/p>\n

As you might expect, none of this sounds particularly exciting for 2026. In fact, much of the industry has been moving in the opposite direction. Toward higher refresh rates, punch-hole or under-display cameras, metal or glass builds, and the gradual disappearance of expandable storage.<\/p>\n

The return of these more conventional features could be tied to rising component costs, particularly for memory and storage. Several Chinese brands like OnePlus, Oppo<\/a>, Vivo, and iQOO have already nudged prices upward for their budget devices. Meanwhile, Samsung has also increased smartphone prices<\/a> in markets like India.<\/p>\n

\"SamsungSamsung Galaxy A07 5G<\/p>\n

And while prices are rising, consumers\u2019 willingness \u2014 or ability \u2014 to spend more on phones might not be increasing at the same pace. As a result, manufacturers could be looking for ways to keep retail prices in check, even if that means leaning on older hardware and design choices.<\/p>\n

What makes this leak interesting isn\u2019t any single feature. It\u2019s the combination. A return to waterdrop notches, expandable storage, and plastic builds suggests manufacturers may be re-evaluating what they can realistically deliver as smartphone prices continue to climb globally.<\/p>\n

These decisions help reduce costs, but they also bring back some practical perks, like storage flexibility, that many users still appreciate.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss a thing!\u00a0Join our Telegram community<\/a>\u00a0for instant updates and grab our\u00a0free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0for the best tech stories!<\/p>\n

For more daily updates, please visit our\u00a0News Section<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new leak suggests that some smartphone makers might be circling back to features that, until recently, felt…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257],"tags":[18,19,17,279,3254,11014,1470,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-397037","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-mobile","12":"tag-oneplus","13":"tag-oppo","14":"tag-samsung","15":"tag-technology"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116268694519693931","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}