Semiconductor photocatalysts are being extensively studied for energy and environmental settings because of their high efficiency and sustainability. Despite their great progress, most current photocatalysts are inherently shortcoming to become the cornerstone and convincingly lead the field forward. Previous studies focus on the efficiency of photocatalysts solely that fails to consider the key properties that greatly influence the reported photocatalytic performance. Such properties concern the structure and arrangement of photocatalysts bandgap, which establishes the redox ability, the lifespan of the free radicals, activation energy, and the applications. The highlights and perspectives for future work are shown in the graphical abstract and described as follows: