How smartphone brands evolved and engaged in 2025

The year 2025 started with Android 15 and now nearing its conclusion on Android 16. While this was just one of the new things that has happened this year, the 2026 is going to be a transformational phase for foldable phones with Samsung being expected to bring its tri-fold phones to India. However, this wasn’t an easy year for the smartphone brands where they had to deal with a steep rupee fall and increasing memory costs leading to price increase.

Every year starts with Samsung and its Galaxy S series devices and 2025 was no different when it introduced Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25+ and Galaxy S25 Ultra. Later on, it stretched the series by launching a slim form factor, Galaxy S25 Edge and ended with Galaxy S25 FE. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7 made it the king of foldable again in 2025.

In 2025, Samsung exceeded with Galaxy AI where it brought some natural, free flowing artificial intelligence tools in its devices that made things much easier and less complicated. While fruit seller still struggling with its intelligence, Samsung showed how it can be done.

OnePlus had a restless 2025 in which it had to launch two flagship phones: OnePlus 13 and OnePlus 15, to save its place in the premium segment. It also filled in with Nord devices like Nord 5 and CE 5, but did not go beyond slab style phones, and has somehow closed the ‘Open’ for now. It tried to make some localistaion efforts under Project Starlight, but overall had a muted time.

Nothing had a great success in 2025 in which it launched phones like Phone 3 and before it, came with Phone 3a and 3a Pro. It aligned its India-centric approach by bringing the CMF team to India and partnering with local vendors to serve for the world. It also kept its community engaged with devices like Phone 3a Community Edition. Nothing is stressing upon native AI apps and thus introduced Playground and OS Essential.

Talking of success, Vivo could not have asked for a better year where it dominated the Indian smartphone market by share with clear cut products ranging across series, from Y, T, V and the flagship X series. While V series had a loyal fanbase in India, the camera-focussed X series instilled trust that Vivo can also make good camera phones which no brand can match, just like the newly launched Vivo X300 series. Similarly, its sub-brand iQOO wants everyone to know it as a performance oriented entity rather than just gaming with phones like iQOO 15.

Oppo had a decent 2025 where it expanded its product series with Reno 13 and 14 series and Find X9 series. It did not make much noise though, but easily sat among top five smartphone brands in the country with series like K and A. However, the Chinese smartphone maker did not go beyond smartphones in India with products like smart glasses which it sells in other markets. Similarly, Realme had a patchy time this year in which performed well with series like 15 Pro and ending it on a high note with Realme GT 8 Pro.

Xiaomi would like to forget 2025 because it did not do well. It collapsed from being the number one smartphone brand to number five or six. The product lineup was not clear from the brand, it just launched one flagship phone this year, Xiaomi 15 series. Its sub-brand Redmi failed to capture the imagination of Indian buyers who are marching towards premiumisation.

Motorola has been a silent yet effective brand in 2025 in India. The craze started by it with the Edge 60 series came to a conclusion on Motorola Edge 70 where it showcased other brand how things can be done nice and easy. Not only this, Motorola also introduced Razr 60 series and let people engage with brand more often.

Apple had a phenomenal 2025 in which it introduced iPhone 17 series consisting of iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max and a new member iPhone Air. This year, Apple made changes to the camera setup, both front and rear. It also made some design changes in the Pro variants, while bringing a much lighter phone that only runs on e-SIM. 2025 had been the most valuable year for Apple in India where it had gained a lot both in terms of value and volume.

Google had a fairly good 2025 with phones like Pixel 10 series doing well for the brand in India. Its second foldable offering, Pixel 10 Pro Fold, had caught the attention of the buyers with its finesse and great infusion of artificial intelligence.

Lava, the only India smartphone brand still running among Chinese and Korean players, tried new things with Agni 4 while introducing itself to the world of AI. In 2025, it stressed upon its strong area of sub-15K and launched phones that had pure operating system and comparable cameras.