We asked, you told us: UWB would be nice on your next phone

Ultra-wideband (UWB) is the latest wireless connectivity technology on smartphones right now, with Samsung and Apple‘s recent flagship phones offering this tech. It enables more accurate device tracking and more intuitive communication with other UWB-equipped devices.

We’ve seen Apple and Samsung both offer smarter tracker tiles with the tech, while Samsung has also announced the ability to use your UWB-equipped phone as a key fob for your car. Meanwhile, Xiaomi demonstrated the ability to control smart home gadgets by simply pointing at them.

So is UWB something you must have in your next smartphone or is it a non-factor? We put this question to Android Authority readers and here’s how you voted.

Do you want your next phone to have UWB?

Results

We posted the poll on Monday, May 3 in our article covering the possibility of next-generation Pixels getting UWB. Just over 1,300 votes were cast, and it looks like there’s plenty of love for UWB tech. Almost half (46.5%) of all polled readers said it’s not a must but would be nice to have on their next phone. This was the single-most popular option in the poll.

As for the outright ‘yes or no’ battle, 30% of respondents said they don’t care about the tech, beating out the 23.3% of polled readers who said it’s a must-have. Nevertheless, the poll clearly shows that almost 70% of respondents support having the tech on their phones.

The few comments suggest that people have a few other ideas about what they’d like to see on new Pixels instead of UWB, such as an IR blaster or a better camera.

Comments

• Adam Gunderson: Keep your uwb and give me an ir blaster
• Joe Black: Give me a better camera, I literally do not care for anything else (as a Pixel 5 owner). Well, better battery life would be nice through.
• CR45H 0V3RR1D3: Keep your BS UWB , try bringing back facial recognition, tech people actually use…

Thanks for voting in this poll. Do you think every flagship phone will have UWB in a year’s time? Or will it turn out to be a niche feature that only a few phones have? Let us know below.