Google’s refurbished Pixel 9 might be the smartest phone purchase of 2026

The state of the smartphone market in 2026 is quietly getting quite worrying. Sure, we have Apple finally jumping onto the foldable phone bandwagon with the iPhone Duo, and brands like OPPO and vivo continue to deliver some excellent camera smartphones. But there’s no denying that rising memory prices, and consequently higher smartphone prices, are starting to affect the market.

Samsung recently increased the prices of its Galaxy S26 series, which means even the base Galaxy S26 now starts at a whopping $1,000 in the US. And the impact is starting to show in sales figures as well, with the smartphone market reportedly seeing a 20% decline in sales, the biggest drop in nearly 14 years.