Chips or ride? Unique little things in smartphones
It's no secret that smartphone manufacturers love to peep (and, what’s already, copy) interesting solutions from each other. This becomes especially noticeable when for research purposes I have to use three to five devices at the same time, and the devices are counted in the laboratory not by tens, but by hundreds (it’s time to open a museum). Even the minimal differences are already interesting, and if we are talking about something really unique ... This article is a kind of continuation of last year's text , in which we are talking about various unusual smartphones. In last year's article, I talked about smartphones with curved screens, a smartphone camera, keyboard Androids and a smartphone with a chassis in the form of a steel I-beam (this is not a joke, but the model is quite famous and more than respectable). Since then, new devices and new trends have appeared; I’ll talk about them today.
The year 2018 passed under the flag of elongated screens and cutouts of various shapes. This year we saw devices whose screen occupies almost the entire area of the front panel. Slippery metal frames and no less slippery (and not too durable) glass as a back panel have become a universal trend. Manufacturers are less and less trying to stand out against the background of black rectangles that flooded the market. However, some little things still distinguish one device from another. For someone, one such trifle can become decisive in choosing a device. We will talk about some of these little things in today's article.
Do you know that, starting from the second generation, cameras in smartphones of the Google Pixel line are completely unique and slightly plenoptic? This is not about HDR + technology or even about the Google Camera application, the capabilities of which are still able to pleasantly surprise. It's about the hardware of the sensor.
What is a plenoptic camera? This is well written in the article “ Computational Photography ” (by the way, I highly recommend the article).
“Starting with Pixel 2, the camera for the first time became“ a little ”plenoptic, though with clusters of only two pixels. This made it possible for Google not to put the second camera like all the other guys, but to calculate the depth map exclusively from one photograph. ” Why is this done? Portrait mode, depth of field map with a single module. Details are on the link .
Perhaps the most interesting thing about this technology is that it is one of the few listed in this article that will almost certainly remain in the next generations of Pixel smartphones. Moreover, it will almost certainly remain an exclusive smartphone from Google: the company bought Lytro, which developed and patented the corresponding technology.
And Pixel has “active” edges: you can squeeze the phone in your hand and Google Assistant will launch. Or it will not start if this feature is not needed. Unfortunately, the options for adjusting the response of the Pixel to compression in the “stock” Android are limited, but there have been modifications since the first Pixel (most of them require root access), allowing, for example, turning the phone screen on and off, just squeezing it in your hand . This is convenient, you get used to it so much that the motor memory remains for some time even after switching to another phone that does not understand compression. In fairness, this opportunity came from HTC, which released several models (the U11 and U12 lines) that recognize the compression of the case.
Will Google continue to equip Pixel-and touch-sensitive edges, time will tell. But with HTC everything is simple: no company - no smartphones; no smartphones - no touch-sensitive faces.
How many years have OLED panel makers advertised flexible, bendable panels in all directions? Probably the last five years. In 2014, even the experimental (but quite commercially available) smartphone LG G Flex came out, which had a noticeably curved screen. In 2015, it was replaced by the second model, LG G Flex 2. The company did not succeed: the quality of the matrices of that time was low, the effect of the “bent” screen quickly disappeared against artifacts visible to the naked eye (more about this in my blog article ). The idea was pushed into the far corner until better times.
If something else from the category of “never before” happened, then at the end of the month we will be offered the Samsung Galaxy Fold, which has a folding design and a really flexible screen. The behavior of the early samples is alarming: the screens bend well and bend with the robot in a clean laboratory. Having fallen into human hands and having come into contact with moisture from the hands and abrasive dust particles from the air, folding screens of pre-sale samples began to fail en masse. It seems that Samsung was able to finalize the design; how reliable it is - time will tell.
By the way, the “plastic” P-OLED screens used in the LG G Flex 2 were covered on the outside with the most ordinary tempered glass. The Galaxy Fold screen is protected by a soft flexible plastic film. It’s hard to break such a screen, but they will scratch (from the experience of using unbreakable Moto Z2 Force) on the first day. The question of delamination and peeling of the protective layer also remains open (again, a fairly common problem with Motorola).
The future of technology is uncertain. Probably the first generation Galaxy Fold will be unsuccessful. Will there be a second - the question is more likely to Samsung marketers.
An unsuccessful drop - and the glass screen, sometimes - along with the glass case are covered with cracks. And if replacing the screen, as a rule, costs a reasonable amount ($ 279 in the USA for Apple iPhone Xs), then a cracked back panel for the same iPhone Xs will cost the user $ 549 already.
For users who often drop their phones, Motorola (Lenovo) offered the solution. The Moto Z2 Force smartphone uses a brushed aluminum case and an unbreakable plastic screen.
Here, too, not everything is clear. Indeed, it is difficult to break the Z2 Force, but the soft plastic screen is instantly covered with scratches, no matter how carefully you use it. Moreover, in the hands of some users, the protective plastic layer exfoliated; the phone needed repairs. The problem as a whole was solved by gluing a protective glass; Nevertheless, I assess the innovation as ambiguous.
Motorola itself agrees with this assessment: in the third and fourth generations of Moto Z they refused to use unbreakable screens, and the bodies began to do like everyone else - from slippery fragile glass. Probably unbreakable smartphones will no longer be.
The Moto Z2 Force, released in 2017, went through this article with a stretch, but the entire Moto Z line as a whole (including the current Z3 Play and Z4 models) has a unique distinguishing feature: support for external modules. You can attach a back cover to the Moto Z / Z Play, Z2 Force / Z2 Play, Z3 Play, and Z4 phone that will contain some useful things. For example:
Given the low cost of each module and their compatibility with a wide range of models, this is a completely unique feature. But without smartphones, the line of smartphones is not so interesting: the design of the phones is such that without at least the simplest decorative cover, holding them in your hands is inconvenient. However, Motorola comes with Z smartphones with at least one module: a decorative cover, a JBL speaker cover, a battery module or a module with a wide-angle camera.
The future of this technology is unclear. Motorola continues to release smartphones with module support, but the last truly flagship device is the Moto Z2 Force. Everything that came after it was either equipped with outdated processors, or used frankly weak hardware.
It all started with the Moto X (I still had very pleasant memories of it), in which Motorola (then still part of Google) added sensors in the corners of the front panel that respond to gestures above the screen. It is enough to extend a hand to the phone lying on the table or pass a palm over it, as the device’s screen is activated and shows the time and notifications (all notifications, not just those built into the shell). Taking the phone in hand, you can work with notifications (for example, if it is allowed in the security settings, read the first lines of the letter or SMS) without even unlocking the phone.
“Allow me!” The reader may object. “There is a proximity sensor! He, too, can be taught to react to waving his hand over the screen! ”Indeed, it is possible; only it will not work normally. Four (in the new and budget models - two) sensors scanning the surrounding area in the Moto X4 and the entire Moto Z line up to the Z3 Play model (the Z4 model lost these sensors) allow not only to confidently determine the moment when you reached out to the smartphone, but and understand in which direction the gesture was made.
Unfortunately, Motorola did not squeeze all the potential out of the sensors. Yes, the phone distinguishes between “right to left” gestures from “left to right,” but it makes no difference between them. Scrolling pages? No. Swipe notifications? No. Switching apps? No! Only screen activation when the phone is on the table.
In Motorola smartphones, the future of technology is in doubt. The Moto Z line will probably no longer be equipped with the necessary sensors, and nothing is known about the future fate of the Moto X line.
It is very likely that at the very moment when Motorola buried the idea of external sensors (I remind you that the Moto Z4 already didn’t bring any sensors), the fallen banner will pick up Google. According to rumors, a set of sensors will be built into the front panel of the Pixel 4 and 4 XL, allowing the device to respond to gestures above the screen. Maybe if Google manages to find a working use case for such gestures, then Motorola will return the sensors to their phones? We are waiting for the announcement.
It is too early to talk about the future of this technology.
Does anyone else remember that SONY launches mobile phones? The SONY Xperia line is not going through the best of times, which is even surprising given their technical characteristics, a clear update policy and reasonably clean Android. Here I want to talk about one interesting opportunity of the new flagship of the company Xperia 1: a unique OLED screen with a resolution of 4K.
Why do we need such a high density of points, because by eye it can not be distinguished from the usual QHD? Of course, for virtual reality applications! It is enough to insert such a phone into Google Daydream VR glasses, and you can forget about the need to buy a dedicated headset: OLED with the highest point density and deep black color will allow you to immerse yourself ... but however, it will not allow it: SONY smartphones do not support Dreamview and do not work in virtual reality. Accordingly, the 4K resolution in the Xperia 1 screen is redundant and useless from any point of view, except for marketing.
The future of this technology is in doubt. For many years, SONY marketers have been flirting with ultra-high-resolution screens, and for a year nothing has come of it. In order for 4K screens to become popular, you need to at least “screw” something from the field of virtual or augmented reality to them. In everyday use, we will get nothing but increased battery consumption.
LG continues to experiment. Following the failed idea of Flex curved screens, following an unsuccessful experiment towards modules in the LG G5, the company pleased us with a series of completely faceless flagships G6, G7 and G8. And now - another completely faceless flagship LG G8x, whose unique feature is the ability to insert it into the case! A minute ... a unique opportunity? Yes, the whole point is in the case itself: an additional screen is built into it.
How does it all look in reality? Honestly, it’s quite terrible: the design turns out to be heavy and cumbersome, it’s inconvenient to keep the whole structure weight unfolded, and the experience of use is openly controversial in both modes (the “limitless” screen, which is a continuation of the main one, and the “second space”; I know what marketers will call these modes exactly). Honestly, all this looks more like an attempt to assemble a semblance of Galaxy Fold from what was under our feet on our collective farm.
The future of technology? I think it’s about the same as bent screens and the modular design of previous generations of LG smartphones.
Not entirely new and not entirely unique, but still worthy of mention in this article is a feature of older iPhone models - touch-sensitive screens. The opportunity first appeared in the iPhone 6s back in 2015 and lasted until September 2019: the latest iPhone 11 models did not receive it. The touch-sensitive 3D Touch screen made it possible to speed up and simplify some frequent operations. For example, in the Chrome browser, you could close the current tab by pressing the “tab list” icon strongly (in Safari, you had to press and hold the same icon). A strong press on a letter or link opened a preview window, and a strong press anywhere on the keyboard during typing put the touch panel in touchpad mode.
After the advent of 3D Touch, many Chinese manufacturers tried to copy the opportunity. Huawei P9 Plus and Mate S managed even before the release of the iPhone 6s; however, just as quickly, the company abandoned a new opportunity. Xiaomi Mi 5s, Meizu Pro 6 and a couple of less well-known Chinese also borrowed a new chip from Apple. Alas, it did not take root. "Deep click" was supported in a few applications, all of which were built into manufacturers' own shell.
But Apple did it for a long time. 3D Touch support was built in by many third-party application manufacturers; sometimes it turned out even better than in Apple’s own applications.
The future of technology? Alas, the 3D Touch function turned out to be unclaimed by most iPhone users, and the company made the difficult decision to save a few dollars by abandoning 3D Touch support.
In fact, Haptic Touch is a combination of a really powerful and high-quality vibration motor, or rather, a Taptic Engine linear actuator (in Apple terms) and precisely selected reactions of this actuator to user actions (more about this in the article ). An example is the touch button in the iPhone 7 and 8, the sensation of pressing which did not differ much from clicking on a real, physical button. The technology is used in all iPhones starting with 6s, as well as in all versions of the Apple Watch. Taptic Engine worked best in combination with 3D Touch; alas, now you can forget about it. In place of the "deep" clicks came the "long".
Unlike 3D Touch, Haptic Touch is not going to fade. Moreover, other companies are beginning to pay attention to the quality of feedback. So, in smartphones Pixel 2 and 3, Google installs high-quality vibration motors that implement some kind of Haptic Touch. Unfortunately, this parameter is difficult to formalize; if Apple has a marketing name for the technology, then Google does not have it; Pixel does not talk about the quality of feedback.
Some of the opportunities that seemed unique some time ago have now become mainstream. Is this good or not? There is something to discuss here.
It is no longer exotic, and even less so something unique, fingerprint sensors hidden under the screen have already become a tradition. Huawei Mate 20 Pro and Huawei P30 Pro, OnePlus 6T, 7 and 7 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S10 and S10 +, Xiaomi Mi 9 and 9T, Redmi K20, Realme X, Oppo Reno 10X Zoom Edition and a dozen more models are equipped with on-screen fingerprint sensors . You can argue about the convenience of the sensor under the screen in comparison with the sensor located on the back of the device, but it is obvious that the sensors built into the screen are more difficult to manufacture and look more interesting. As a user of smartphones equipped with all possible biometric authentication systems, I admit that the sensors located on the back cover of the device turned out to be more convenient for me than any other location. However, this is a matter of taste; but the fact that optical sub-screen sensors so far work more slowly, but they recognize fingers not as confidently as traditional scanners, is a fact that is relevant for most such models.
Probably in the near future we will see progress in the speed and quality of recognition of such sensors. If manufacturers manage to combine sub-screen sensors with Haptic Touch technology, then it will be more pleasant to use them.
With the release of Huawei P30 Pro, the company paid special attention to the quality of the cameras of the new device. The main camera, five-time optical zoom and super wide-angle lens - isn’t it a novelty? No. There were Nokia 9 PureView (five, for a minute, cameras), and a relatively inexpensive Motorola One View (here, of course, “only” threefold zoom on telephoto), and Oppo Reno 10x Zoom (ten is better than five, right?), and dozens of other Chinese models with swivel, telescopic, pop-up and drive-out cameras. Perhaps I would not pay special attention to the marketing statements of Chinese manufacturers regarding cameras, especially after the frankly false slogan “Clearer Photos” OnePlus 5 and one notorious company, “pasting” the Moon into night pictures.
What awaits us in the near future? Nothing new, all this we already went through first in soap dishes, then in SLR cameras, and then in mirrorless ones. Now in smartphones we are waiting for another boring race of megapixels and zoom ratios. The result is known in advance.
"Started for health, finished for peace." You have to look for unique technologies and functions in modern smartphones with a magnifying glass, but even if they are in your smartphone and you use them, there is no guarantee that the manufacturer will not decide to part with them in the next generation of devices. Unbreakable smartphones? At the junkyard of history. Curved screens? In the same place. 3D touch? Not needed. All that awaits us is dull rectangles with dozens of megapixels in a handful of cameras. The good news: there will be many cameras, megapixels - a lot, and the zoom will be wide and long. Enjoy the progress!
The year 2018 passed under the flag of elongated screens and cutouts of various shapes. This year we saw devices whose screen occupies almost the entire area of the front panel. Slippery metal frames and no less slippery (and not too durable) glass as a back panel have become a universal trend. Manufacturers are less and less trying to stand out against the background of black rectangles that flooded the market. However, some little things still distinguish one device from another. For someone, one such trifle can become decisive in choosing a device. We will talk about some of these little things in today's article.
Google Pixel is not only “clean” Android
Do you know that, starting from the second generation, cameras in smartphones of the Google Pixel line are completely unique and slightly plenoptic? This is not about HDR + technology or even about the Google Camera application, the capabilities of which are still able to pleasantly surprise. It's about the hardware of the sensor.
What is a plenoptic camera? This is well written in the article “ Computational Photography ” (by the way, I highly recommend the article).
“Starting with Pixel 2, the camera for the first time became“ a little ”plenoptic, though with clusters of only two pixels. This made it possible for Google not to put the second camera like all the other guys, but to calculate the depth map exclusively from one photograph. ” Why is this done? Portrait mode, depth of field map with a single module. Details are on the link .
Perhaps the most interesting thing about this technology is that it is one of the few listed in this article that will almost certainly remain in the next generations of Pixel smartphones. Moreover, it will almost certainly remain an exclusive smartphone from Google: the company bought Lytro, which developed and patented the corresponding technology.
Google Pixel, HTC U11, U12: active faces with the reaction to the compression of the body
And Pixel has “active” edges: you can squeeze the phone in your hand and Google Assistant will launch. Or it will not start if this feature is not needed. Unfortunately, the options for adjusting the response of the Pixel to compression in the “stock” Android are limited, but there have been modifications since the first Pixel (most of them require root access), allowing, for example, turning the phone screen on and off, just squeezing it in your hand . This is convenient, you get used to it so much that the motor memory remains for some time even after switching to another phone that does not understand compression. In fairness, this opportunity came from HTC, which released several models (the U11 and U12 lines) that recognize the compression of the case.
Will Google continue to equip Pixel-and touch-sensitive edges, time will tell. But with HTC everything is simple: no company - no smartphones; no smartphones - no touch-sensitive faces.
Foldable Samsung Galaxy Fold: ambiguous so far
How many years have OLED panel makers advertised flexible, bendable panels in all directions? Probably the last five years. In 2014, even the experimental (but quite commercially available) smartphone LG G Flex came out, which had a noticeably curved screen. In 2015, it was replaced by the second model, LG G Flex 2. The company did not succeed: the quality of the matrices of that time was low, the effect of the “bent” screen quickly disappeared against artifacts visible to the naked eye (more about this in my blog article ). The idea was pushed into the far corner until better times.
If something else from the category of “never before” happened, then at the end of the month we will be offered the Samsung Galaxy Fold, which has a folding design and a really flexible screen. The behavior of the early samples is alarming: the screens bend well and bend with the robot in a clean laboratory. Having fallen into human hands and having come into contact with moisture from the hands and abrasive dust particles from the air, folding screens of pre-sale samples began to fail en masse. It seems that Samsung was able to finalize the design; how reliable it is - time will tell.
By the way, the “plastic” P-OLED screens used in the LG G Flex 2 were covered on the outside with the most ordinary tempered glass. The Galaxy Fold screen is protected by a soft flexible plastic film. It’s hard to break such a screen, but they will scratch (from the experience of using unbreakable Moto Z2 Force) on the first day. The question of delamination and peeling of the protective layer also remains open (again, a fairly common problem with Motorola).
The future of technology is uncertain. Probably the first generation Galaxy Fold will be unsuccessful. Will there be a second - the question is more likely to Samsung marketers.
Motorola: unbreakable (but scratching) Moto Z2 Force
An unsuccessful drop - and the glass screen, sometimes - along with the glass case are covered with cracks. And if replacing the screen, as a rule, costs a reasonable amount ($ 279 in the USA for Apple iPhone Xs), then a cracked back panel for the same iPhone Xs will cost the user $ 549 already.
For users who often drop their phones, Motorola (Lenovo) offered the solution. The Moto Z2 Force smartphone uses a brushed aluminum case and an unbreakable plastic screen.
Here, too, not everything is clear. Indeed, it is difficult to break the Z2 Force, but the soft plastic screen is instantly covered with scratches, no matter how carefully you use it. Moreover, in the hands of some users, the protective plastic layer exfoliated; the phone needed repairs. The problem as a whole was solved by gluing a protective glass; Nevertheless, I assess the innovation as ambiguous.
Motorola itself agrees with this assessment: in the third and fourth generations of Moto Z they refused to use unbreakable screens, and the bodies began to do like everyone else - from slippery fragile glass. Probably unbreakable smartphones will no longer be.
Motorola: external modules, from projector to camera
The Moto Z2 Force, released in 2017, went through this article with a stretch, but the entire Moto Z line as a whole (including the current Z3 Play and Z4 models) has a unique distinguishing feature: support for external modules. You can attach a back cover to the Moto Z / Z Play, Z2 Force / Z2 Play, Z3 Play, and Z4 phone that will contain some useful things. For example:
- Projector. The real one: in a darkened room you can watch movies, videos on YouTube or sports. Very useful module.
- Optical zoom camera. Turn your smartphone into a soap box! Or not: the quality of the photos is not very, the proud name of Hasselblad is here past the cash register.
- External battery. If you need the phone to last a day or two under load, it is enough to use an external battery instead of the decorative back panel. The weight and dimensions of the phone are increasing, but not as much as you might expect.
- A variety of speakers, from JBL to speakers with Alexa voice assistant support. If it is possible to turn the phone into a boom box - why not?
Given the low cost of each module and their compatibility with a wide range of models, this is a completely unique feature. But without smartphones, the line of smartphones is not so interesting: the design of the phones is such that without at least the simplest decorative cover, holding them in your hands is inconvenient. However, Motorola comes with Z smartphones with at least one module: a decorative cover, a JBL speaker cover, a battery module or a module with a wide-angle camera.
The future of this technology is unclear. Motorola continues to release smartphones with module support, but the last truly flagship device is the Moto Z2 Force. Everything that came after it was either equipped with outdated processors, or used frankly weak hardware.
And again, Motorola: sensors above the screen
It all started with the Moto X (I still had very pleasant memories of it), in which Motorola (then still part of Google) added sensors in the corners of the front panel that respond to gestures above the screen. It is enough to extend a hand to the phone lying on the table or pass a palm over it, as the device’s screen is activated and shows the time and notifications (all notifications, not just those built into the shell). Taking the phone in hand, you can work with notifications (for example, if it is allowed in the security settings, read the first lines of the letter or SMS) without even unlocking the phone.
“Allow me!” The reader may object. “There is a proximity sensor! He, too, can be taught to react to waving his hand over the screen! ”Indeed, it is possible; only it will not work normally. Four (in the new and budget models - two) sensors scanning the surrounding area in the Moto X4 and the entire Moto Z line up to the Z3 Play model (the Z4 model lost these sensors) allow not only to confidently determine the moment when you reached out to the smartphone, but and understand in which direction the gesture was made.
Unfortunately, Motorola did not squeeze all the potential out of the sensors. Yes, the phone distinguishes between “right to left” gestures from “left to right,” but it makes no difference between them. Scrolling pages? No. Swipe notifications? No. Switching apps? No! Only screen activation when the phone is on the table.
In Motorola smartphones, the future of technology is in doubt. The Moto Z line will probably no longer be equipped with the necessary sensors, and nothing is known about the future fate of the Moto X line.
Google Pixel 4: Soli?
It is very likely that at the very moment when Motorola buried the idea of external sensors (I remind you that the Moto Z4 already didn’t bring any sensors), the fallen banner will pick up Google. According to rumors, a set of sensors will be built into the front panel of the Pixel 4 and 4 XL, allowing the device to respond to gestures above the screen. Maybe if Google manages to find a working use case for such gestures, then Motorola will return the sensors to their phones? We are waiting for the announcement.
It is too early to talk about the future of this technology.
SONY: useless 4K screen
Does anyone else remember that SONY launches mobile phones? The SONY Xperia line is not going through the best of times, which is even surprising given their technical characteristics, a clear update policy and reasonably clean Android. Here I want to talk about one interesting opportunity of the new flagship of the company Xperia 1: a unique OLED screen with a resolution of 4K.
Why do we need such a high density of points, because by eye it can not be distinguished from the usual QHD? Of course, for virtual reality applications! It is enough to insert such a phone into Google Daydream VR glasses, and you can forget about the need to buy a dedicated headset: OLED with the highest point density and deep black color will allow you to immerse yourself ... but however, it will not allow it: SONY smartphones do not support Dreamview and do not work in virtual reality. Accordingly, the 4K resolution in the Xperia 1 screen is redundant and useless from any point of view, except for marketing.
The future of this technology is in doubt. For many years, SONY marketers have been flirting with ultra-high-resolution screens, and for a year nothing has come of it. In order for 4K screens to become popular, you need to at least “screw” something from the field of virtual or augmented reality to them. In everyday use, we will get nothing but increased battery consumption.
LG G8x: case with a second screen
LG continues to experiment. Following the failed idea of Flex curved screens, following an unsuccessful experiment towards modules in the LG G5, the company pleased us with a series of completely faceless flagships G6, G7 and G8. And now - another completely faceless flagship LG G8x, whose unique feature is the ability to insert it into the case! A minute ... a unique opportunity? Yes, the whole point is in the case itself: an additional screen is built into it.
How does it all look in reality? Honestly, it’s quite terrible: the design turns out to be heavy and cumbersome, it’s inconvenient to keep the whole structure weight unfolded, and the experience of use is openly controversial in both modes (the “limitless” screen, which is a continuation of the main one, and the “second space”; I know what marketers will call these modes exactly). Honestly, all this looks more like an attempt to assemble a semblance of Galaxy Fold from what was under our feet on our collective farm.
The future of technology? I think it’s about the same as bent screens and the modular design of previous generations of LG smartphones.
Apple iPhone 6s ... Xs (as well as all Apple Watch): touch-sensitive screen
Not entirely new and not entirely unique, but still worthy of mention in this article is a feature of older iPhone models - touch-sensitive screens. The opportunity first appeared in the iPhone 6s back in 2015 and lasted until September 2019: the latest iPhone 11 models did not receive it. The touch-sensitive 3D Touch screen made it possible to speed up and simplify some frequent operations. For example, in the Chrome browser, you could close the current tab by pressing the “tab list” icon strongly (in Safari, you had to press and hold the same icon). A strong press on a letter or link opened a preview window, and a strong press anywhere on the keyboard during typing put the touch panel in touchpad mode.
After the advent of 3D Touch, many Chinese manufacturers tried to copy the opportunity. Huawei P9 Plus and Mate S managed even before the release of the iPhone 6s; however, just as quickly, the company abandoned a new opportunity. Xiaomi Mi 5s, Meizu Pro 6 and a couple of less well-known Chinese also borrowed a new chip from Apple. Alas, it did not take root. "Deep click" was supported in a few applications, all of which were built into manufacturers' own shell.
But Apple did it for a long time. 3D Touch support was built in by many third-party application manufacturers; sometimes it turned out even better than in Apple’s own applications.
The future of technology? Alas, the 3D Touch function turned out to be unclaimed by most iPhone users, and the company made the difficult decision to save a few dollars by abandoning 3D Touch support.
Haptic Touch is another feature of Apple smartphones (and not only)
In fact, Haptic Touch is a combination of a really powerful and high-quality vibration motor, or rather, a Taptic Engine linear actuator (in Apple terms) and precisely selected reactions of this actuator to user actions (more about this in the article ). An example is the touch button in the iPhone 7 and 8, the sensation of pressing which did not differ much from clicking on a real, physical button. The technology is used in all iPhones starting with 6s, as well as in all versions of the Apple Watch. Taptic Engine worked best in combination with 3D Touch; alas, now you can forget about it. In place of the "deep" clicks came the "long".
Unlike 3D Touch, Haptic Touch is not going to fade. Moreover, other companies are beginning to pay attention to the quality of feedback. So, in smartphones Pixel 2 and 3, Google installs high-quality vibration motors that implement some kind of Haptic Touch. Unfortunately, this parameter is difficult to formalize; if Apple has a marketing name for the technology, then Google does not have it; Pixel does not talk about the quality of feedback.
Conditionally unique and replicated "chips"
Some of the opportunities that seemed unique some time ago have now become mainstream. Is this good or not? There is something to discuss here.
Fingerprint scanner under the screen?
It is no longer exotic, and even less so something unique, fingerprint sensors hidden under the screen have already become a tradition. Huawei Mate 20 Pro and Huawei P30 Pro, OnePlus 6T, 7 and 7 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S10 and S10 +, Xiaomi Mi 9 and 9T, Redmi K20, Realme X, Oppo Reno 10X Zoom Edition and a dozen more models are equipped with on-screen fingerprint sensors . You can argue about the convenience of the sensor under the screen in comparison with the sensor located on the back of the device, but it is obvious that the sensors built into the screen are more difficult to manufacture and look more interesting. As a user of smartphones equipped with all possible biometric authentication systems, I admit that the sensors located on the back cover of the device turned out to be more convenient for me than any other location. However, this is a matter of taste; but the fact that optical sub-screen sensors so far work more slowly, but they recognize fingers not as confidently as traditional scanners, is a fact that is relevant for most such models.
Probably in the near future we will see progress in the speed and quality of recognition of such sensors. If manufacturers manage to combine sub-screen sensors with Haptic Touch technology, then it will be more pleasant to use them.
Three cameras and fivex zoom. Who is bigger?
With the release of Huawei P30 Pro, the company paid special attention to the quality of the cameras of the new device. The main camera, five-time optical zoom and super wide-angle lens - isn’t it a novelty? No. There were Nokia 9 PureView (five, for a minute, cameras), and a relatively inexpensive Motorola One View (here, of course, “only” threefold zoom on telephoto), and Oppo Reno 10x Zoom (ten is better than five, right?), and dozens of other Chinese models with swivel, telescopic, pop-up and drive-out cameras. Perhaps I would not pay special attention to the marketing statements of Chinese manufacturers regarding cameras, especially after the frankly false slogan “Clearer Photos” OnePlus 5 and one notorious company, “pasting” the Moon into night pictures.
What awaits us in the near future? Nothing new, all this we already went through first in soap dishes, then in SLR cameras, and then in mirrorless ones. Now in smartphones we are waiting for another boring race of megapixels and zoom ratios. The result is known in advance.
Conclusion
"Started for health, finished for peace." You have to look for unique technologies and functions in modern smartphones with a magnifying glass, but even if they are in your smartphone and you use them, there is no guarantee that the manufacturer will not decide to part with them in the next generation of devices. Unbreakable smartphones? At the junkyard of history. Curved screens? In the same place. 3D touch? Not needed. All that awaits us is dull rectangles with dozens of megapixels in a handful of cameras. The good news: there will be many cameras, megapixels - a lot, and the zoom will be wide and long. Enjoy the progress!
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