This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.
When was the last time you saw a product's name, decided it sounded like your next purchase, and pulled the trigger? I can bet it happened all of zero times.
For some reason, chip producers, phone makers, and software developers all decided at once that this was the perfect year to rename their offerings.
Apple, Xiaomi, OnePlus, and Qualcomm: What if we just ruin naming conventions this year?
Keeping up with launches is complicated as it is, even for a journalist. Companies are making it harder to keep track of new products through capricious naming changes.
I get it, all companies need to reinvent certain aspects every few years, and naming changes are an integral part of rebranding efforts.
What doesn't make sense is whimsical strategies. Xiaomi's strategy, if you can even call it one, is to follow Apple. It blatantly admitted that the sole reason it strayed from its usual naming convention is that it wanted its new phones to be viewed as direct iPhone 17 Pro rivals. Didn't we all learn in high school that sitting next to the cool kid doesn't make you one?
Five years ago, we launched a high-end strategy to learn from our greatest opponents and firmly benchmark against the iPhone. So far, Apple is still excellent. Everyone has seen the success of the iPhone 17 series, but we are still very confident that we will face the iPhone in the same generation and level.
Lu Weibing, Xiaomi's partner and president, September 2025
OnePlus is supposedly moving from 13 to 15 because the number 4 is considered bad luck in Chinese culture. Okay... but 13 was fine?
Qualcomm is perhaps the worst offender. Remember the Snapdragon 888 5G? Its follow-up was 2021's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Then came last year's Snapdragon 8 Elite. This year? Say hello to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
Are you having a hard time keeping up with naming changes?
For sure!
51.87%
Not really.
29.39%
Kind of.
18.74%
And if you think Qualcomm skipped a generation, that's so not true, according to the company.
Qualcomm put up a whole blog post to explain its confusing decision.
The chip maker says that it adopted single-digit naming in 2021, and swears the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is the fifth chip in the series. Silly of you to even imply that it's not continuing with the same naming convention.
At least Apple's intention to align the software version numbers with the calendar year seems logical.
With my doomscrolling, my Kindle, and the giant screen in the living room already competing for my attention, it's not easy to keep track of multiple, and in most cases, unnecessary name changes.
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And maybe I am supposed to have all those names at my fingertips at all times, and this post is another self-sabotaging move. Classic me.
However, with a barrage of new launches every year across different devices and software categories, I really don't appreciate these erratic changes.
The only case where it would make sense to deviate from a naming strategy is when a device is completely different from its predecessor. In those instances, it would be more prudent to discontinue the last-gen device, as Samsung did with the Note.
The smartphone market is fiercely competitive. While a giant like Apple can afford to confuse its customers with erratic naming, others might want to consider treading a little more carefully.
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Anam Hamid is a computer scientist turned tech journalist who has a keen interest in the tech world, with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets. She has previously written for Android Headlines and has also been a ghostwriter for several tech and car publications. Anam is not a tech hoarder and believes in using her gadgets for as long as possible. She is concerned about smartphone addiction and its impact on future generations, but she also appreciates the convenience that phones have brought into our lives. Anam is excited about technological advancements like folding screens and under-display sensors, and she often wonders about the future of technology. She values the overall experience of a device more than its individual specs and admires companies that deliver durable, high-quality products. In her free time, Anam enjoys reading, scrolling through Reddit and Instagram, and occasionally refreshing her programming skills through tutorials.
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