India, Sept. 29 -- justify;">Think about the last two phones in your home, preferably from two different brands. Chances are the cameras were both decent and the chip inside both ran everything you needed without much fuss. What you would actually struggle to forget is how each phone felt to use. This includes how quickly it responded when you were in a hurry, how it organised your photos, how 'yours' it felt after a few weeks.

Traditionally, brand identity was built on what could be seen and measured. For smartphones, this was camera megapixels, processor benchmarks, screen resolution, design language. These specifications still matter. But as manufacturing and component ecosystems have matured, the gap between what competing phones can...