Smartphone names suck in 2025: Give me a Google Pixel 10 Vortex

When Google launched the latest Pixel series last year, there was a murmur of excitement around the smartphones’ names. Google had revived the XL moniker for the Pixel 9 Pro XL, a suffix not seen since the Pixel 4 lineup. The fact this caused even a minor stir tells you a lot about the state of the iOS and Android phone industry.

Phone naming conventions in recent years are tedious, and it bothers me. Max, Plus, Pro, and Ultra have been so overused that they’re all but meaningless — if they ever offered much meaning in the first place.