8 Awesome features that Next Generation Flagships will Roll out with..
This current generation of smartphones brought a host of technological improvements, Each flagship that spawns from a top OEM tries to distinguish itself from the stiff competition. Even mid-rangers have seen some of those advancements trickle down to them and have comfortably solidified their own tier of smartphone development hierarchy cutting down that popular motion that flagships are flagships, and budget....well, budget. For today as this headline implies, we would be focusing on flagships.
Now, to mention but a few of those improvements of this current generation of flagships, we can easily spot the 48 megapixel Sony sensors, used in a lot of flagships and some serious mid-rangers. While we still hold that more megapixels doesn't really translate into a better picture quality, This sensor is not a push-over. Its actually a decent sensor. The least F-aperture we've seen is F-1.8, which is quite okay. We mention the 7th generation in-display optical fingerprints. These provide a good level of improvement over original brought by the Vivo X20. The improvements in wireless charging like the 20Watt wireless charge feature in the Mi 9 and the recent 90/120 hertz displays touted by the Oneplus 7 Pro and the Razer phone respectively.
Without wasting time let's jump into the main discussion.
1.0: 64 Mega-pixel sensors:
Just like the previous 48 MP sensors which is arguably the most used sensor right now in the smartphone industry we expect these new sensors to build up on that foundation and also base on the underlying working principle.
Now, the default resolution for the 48 MP was actually 12 MP. How it worked with its 48MP sensor was to arrange its RGB pixel array in quad configurations, and the subsequent signal processing gives rise to the Quad Bayer pixel array. Here, four individual pixels are combined to give rise to one super pixel, which measures 1.6µm in size. These pixels are larger than what is found in the conventional smartphone sensors, and hence, capture significantly more information than a standard sensor. What this means is that by pixel binning, you get about 1/4th the maximum resolution of the 48-megapixel sensor, giving you 12MP photographs. For the 64MP's Samsung was the first to announce these Sensors. Here Samsung is flaunting an ''re-mosaicing algorithm'' and tetracell technology. The default resolution might be 16MP.
Smartphone companies like Xiaomi and Oppo are already on this tech and a new Redmi was rumored to unveil with it.
2.0: Under-Display Cameras:
While the war against notches is still raging on, Companies like Xiaomi and Oppo were reportedly working on under-display cameras that are essentially hidden, which means that they perform their functions without sacrificing screen space. just like the in-display fingerprint. Now, to understand this technology, let's hear Xiaomi's explanation of the feature.
Majority of the current Smartphones are calibrated with a basic 60Hz Display. The advantage of being able to go higher than 60Hz is that by displaying more frames per second, basic things like navigating menus will look smoother, and interactive apps and games will feel more reactive and enact touch inputs faster.
This is because there are shorter delay between when you touch the screen and the input is rendered. This is why PC gamers in competitive titles like PUBG and Fortnite have always favoured monitors with 120Hz or 144Hz screens. While a host of Phones support this, we believe next generation flagships will roll out with these specifications. They might even upgrade to 144Hz. But a Wise man once said; Where the Display Shines, The Battery suffers. In fact let's check the next one; battery.
Once Global Positioning System or GPS became a standard feature in smartphones, the technology quickly went from revolutionary to ubiquitous. People now rely on the technology regularly to efficiently navigate their surroundings and to make it to their destination on time.
But with just about any adopted technology, it’s long overdue for a major upgrade. Chip maker Broadcom announced that it has developed a new mass-market GPS computer chip that allows satellites to pinpoint a mobile device’s location by within one foot. The technology makes use of a new and improved GPS satellite broadcast signal that provides more data through a separate frequency to phones to better approximate the user’s location. There are now 30 satellites that operate on this new standard. The company cited other benefits, such as improved battery life for devices since the chip uses less than half the amount of power of the previous chip. Broadcom plans to introduce the chip into mobile devices as early as in 2018. However, it's less likely to make it into many of the popular devices such as the iPhone, at least for some time. That’s because the majority of smartphone manufacturers use GPS chips supplied by Qualcomm and it's unlikely that the company will introduce a similar technology anytime soon.
Now, to mention but a few of those improvements of this current generation of flagships, we can easily spot the 48 megapixel Sony sensors, used in a lot of flagships and some serious mid-rangers. While we still hold that more megapixels doesn't really translate into a better picture quality, This sensor is not a push-over. Its actually a decent sensor. The least F-aperture we've seen is F-1.8, which is quite okay. We mention the 7th generation in-display optical fingerprints. These provide a good level of improvement over original brought by the Vivo X20. The improvements in wireless charging like the 20Watt wireless charge feature in the Mi 9 and the recent 90/120 hertz displays touted by the Oneplus 7 Pro and the Razer phone respectively.
Without wasting time let's jump into the main discussion.
1.0: 64 Mega-pixel sensors:
Just like the previous 48 MP sensors which is arguably the most used sensor right now in the smartphone industry we expect these new sensors to build up on that foundation and also base on the underlying working principle.
Now, the default resolution for the 48 MP was actually 12 MP. How it worked with its 48MP sensor was to arrange its RGB pixel array in quad configurations, and the subsequent signal processing gives rise to the Quad Bayer pixel array. Here, four individual pixels are combined to give rise to one super pixel, which measures 1.6µm in size. These pixels are larger than what is found in the conventional smartphone sensors, and hence, capture significantly more information than a standard sensor. What this means is that by pixel binning, you get about 1/4th the maximum resolution of the 48-megapixel sensor, giving you 12MP photographs. For the 64MP's Samsung was the first to announce these Sensors. Here Samsung is flaunting an ''re-mosaicing algorithm'' and tetracell technology. The default resolution might be 16MP.
Smartphone companies like Xiaomi and Oppo are already on this tech and a new Redmi was rumored to unveil with it.
2.0: Under-Display Cameras:
While the war against notches is still raging on, Companies like Xiaomi and Oppo were reportedly working on under-display cameras that are essentially hidden, which means that they perform their functions without sacrificing screen space. just like the in-display fingerprint. Now, to understand this technology, let's hear Xiaomi's explanation of the feature.
Now, The reason phones needed a notch was because the camera requires any materials above it to be transparent to allow light to enter. In a normal phone display this is not the case as the cathode and anode layers aren't transparent. The inclusion of a small rectangular area into the phone's display which uses a "special low-reflective glass with high transmittance." The front-facing camera sits underneath. It allows the screen to display imagery unhindered, but at the same time doesn't block light reaching the camera when in use.
The idea has been around for some time though, but technological limitations actually hindered it from being a reality. A good idea from Xiaomi, but you might still spot the Shadow of the camera sensor, although it doesn't obstruct pictures.
3.0: Updated in-display Fingerprints:
Now, in-display fingerprints have been around for some time, and they are rightfully divided into the Optical variety and the Ultrasonic. Most of the in fingerprints in phones today are of the optical variety. The sensor underneath just takes a picture of your fingerprint and compares it to the one stored in it's database.
The Ultrasonic ones use ultrasound to picture an image of your fingerprint kind of works better with wet and oily fingerprints mostly they don't support tempered glasses. Examples of phones that use this technology are the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus and. Majority of the next generation Flagship smartphones will come with this architecture.
Ultrasonic fingerprints are generally more efficient and better than their optical counterparts.
4.0: 120 Hertz displays:
When the Oneplus 7 pro showed off it's impressive 90 hertz display, we thought we had seen the height till Razer unveiled a phone with 120 hertz. While the Oneplus isn't the first to do this, the technology is obviously getting to it's prime state.
Now, Hertz(Hz) is a unit used for the measurement of the smartphone's display refresh rate. This determines how many times a second a screen displays an image. In practice, a 30Hz screen will display 30 frames per second, a 60Hz will show 60 frames per second and 90....well you get our drift.
Majority of the current Smartphones are calibrated with a basic 60Hz Display. The advantage of being able to go higher than 60Hz is that by displaying more frames per second, basic things like navigating menus will look smoother, and interactive apps and games will feel more reactive and enact touch inputs faster.
This is because there are shorter delay between when you touch the screen and the input is rendered. This is why PC gamers in competitive titles like PUBG and Fortnite have always favoured monitors with 120Hz or 144Hz screens. While a host of Phones support this, we believe next generation flagships will roll out with these specifications. They might even upgrade to 144Hz. But a Wise man once said; Where the Display Shines, The Battery suffers. In fact let's check the next one; battery.
5.0: 5000 Mah+ batteries:
Flagships aren't really famous for large batteries, due to their cool level of optimization. Well, that's going to change. Already flagships are rolling out with sub-4000 mah batteries and the Asus Zenfone 6z opened the show for the 5000 sector.
While we still use the lithium-ion architecture on our batteries, which is quite old, Samsung's Graphene based battery tech could be the game changer. Graphene was always touted as a replacement for lithium-ion batteries, but its actually a form of Carbon with a hexagonal structure. Due to its nature, it can be used to make denser batteries that can hold more power, and since it’s not based on a chemical reaction, it won’t degrade with time like the Lithium-Ion batteries.
6.0: Advanced Global Positioning Systems(GPS):
Once Global Positioning System or GPS became a standard feature in smartphones, the technology quickly went from revolutionary to ubiquitous. People now rely on the technology regularly to efficiently navigate their surroundings and to make it to their destination on time.
But with just about any adopted technology, it’s long overdue for a major upgrade. Chip maker Broadcom announced that it has developed a new mass-market GPS computer chip that allows satellites to pinpoint a mobile device’s location by within one foot. The technology makes use of a new and improved GPS satellite broadcast signal that provides more data through a separate frequency to phones to better approximate the user’s location. There are now 30 satellites that operate on this new standard. The company cited other benefits, such as improved battery life for devices since the chip uses less than half the amount of power of the previous chip. Broadcom plans to introduce the chip into mobile devices as early as in 2018. However, it's less likely to make it into many of the popular devices such as the iPhone, at least for some time. That’s because the majority of smartphone manufacturers use GPS chips supplied by Qualcomm and it's unlikely that the company will introduce a similar technology anytime soon.
7.0: Improved Charging Technology:
An aspect of this current generation of smartphones that we rate highly is the Charging aspect. Vivo on this one though, as Vivo has made another leap forward in battery charging technology with the introduction of Super Flash Charge 120 watts, which is capable of sending enough power through to your phone’s battery cell to recharge it in only 13 minutes. The new system has been introduced at MWC Shanghai, which is currently taking place in China.
Vivo, along with Oppo and OnePlus which are part of the same parent company, are no strangers to incredibly fast recharge times. Oppo’s 50 watts Super VOOC charging system it introduced on the Find X Lamborghini Edition took the battery from zero to full in under 35 minutes, which remains faster than the competition even for now.
We also mention Xiaomi's 20 Watt Wireless charging Tech which blows out the competition as far as wireless charging is concerned.
8.0: Android Q; Exciting Features:
What's a flagship without the latest functional operating system? Android Q is the latest iteration of Google's OS, which aims to provide a fresh but familiar interface as well as solving some problems and introducing new mechanics. Some features like:
---A New and effective Theming System!
---System wide dark mode!
---Improved support and compatibility for foldable phones.
---Notch and punch hole specialized options.
Fact: What will Android Q be called? Google hasn't announced it yet, but it should take the usual edible format. We think it should be called Queen Cake.
So that wraps up our article on the features that next generation flagships might roll out with or possess. Did we miss anything? or what do you think? Please tell us below, We would love to hear from you.
No comments