That phone isn't a squircle, it is a rounded square. Those rounded edges seem to be inspired by google material design. Also phones have converged to the metal band, glass back before the iphone did it. Mobile phones are a mature technology and their designs have converged to the designs people are buying.
I have 5 year old Note9, and recently broke my display where small part of it is just black. I have been searching for a phone to replace it with, with very few criteria: modern SOC, non-folding, not ugly looking.
Its breathtaking how many phones just go nuts on their backside, stuff Id be ashamed to pull out in public (oneplus 12, oneplus open, xiaomi 14 ultra). When theres finally some normal lens housing that isnt protruding on a side making the phone wobble while laid flat on a table (like almost every remaining phone), it almost doubles the phone width.
And then when theres finally a phone Id like to buy thanks to its big battery, sleek design and no front camera cutout (Nubia Redmagic 9 Pro), the must fuck it up by adding a freaking fan to it. And ofc their Z60 Ultra has again huge and uneven camera housing with red accent around main camera.
Its as if every manufacturer is either conforming to herd, or going batshit crazy.
The reason people are buying those phone is because theres no choice. Not that theres no choice because people are buying it.
I really wonder if consumers have any influence on phone designs. People generally buy phones for completely different reasons, the design just has to be "not bad" which generally means just take whatevers available that meets your actual criteria (OS, camera quality, etc). After all you'll probably have to slap a case on it anyways.
