Every phone manufacturer spends a lot of money on marketing. Those beautiful words move stocks. From time to time, however, this is the case with some realities. These are just some of the goal setting shareware that you can use in 2018.
Almost three years ago, I was writing an article about phone truths. Things have changed and not much. That's why I'm going back to the topic and updating it with a new list. I love marketing when I don't have to make a purchase decision. If you are the same, these demystifications will help you.
Brands like Leica, Zeiss or Dolby mean little to no phones
Five years ago, there was a crazy megapixel race in the cameras. Having a 20 MP camera was no surprise. It all culminated in the 40 MP Nokie 808 PureView. Then came HTC One (perhaps the most interesting HTC phone in five years) and turned things around. From megapixels he emphasized their size.
But the Taiwanese did not stick to work and, here we are, in 2018 when Huawei boasts a 40 MP camera as if it were no longer in the history of Lumia 1020 or 808 PureView. However, those megapixels don't matter, it's more the branding.
In a wave of nostalgia, HMD Global has brought the Zeiss brand back to Nokia phones. Huawei pulls hard with Leica. When it comes to sound, Dolby is the most popular brand. Huawei claims that it is working with Leica on certain issues, such as the application (which, admittedly, is similar to what you would find on a Leica camera).
Beyond that, these brands are just licenses. Even Huawei was at the center of a debate: does Leica mean anything or not? I wrote about it at the time in Adevărul. Leica is a respectable manufacturer in the photo area, but it came late in the digital area and does exceptionally well not because of the sensors, but because of the lenses.
On phones, things are radically different: software matters, not so much hardware (not excluding either variable). For example, Google Pixel 2 was praised and still appreciated, and all that mattered was the quality of Google's software. So, mind you, branding with Zeiss, Dolby, Leica, Harman Kardon or whatever I know doesn't mean much.
Large battery. Huge! Almost useless on some phones
A big advantage of iOS over Android is still power consumption. That's why I praised the 4,000 mAh battery on the Huawei Mate 10 Pro (also taken on the new model). This manufacturer also boasted that it has software to better manage consumption. Samsung is also delivering Android Oreo on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 with a more aggressive tactic on consumers in the background.
Even so, the truth is: huge batteries of over 5,000 mAh on all kinds of Chinese phones don't mean much until you see how the phone works. Sure, autonomy is a bit higher, but if it had software management at the same level you would be right to believe.
Back to iOS: Apple has the advantage of being able to control everything from hardware to software. Which makes an iPhone with a lower battery stand out from the alternatives with Android. Maybe that will change with Android P, maybe with the next version. We do not know. The reality remains: good hardware is useless without the right software.
The notch on the phones is good, because it gives you more screen
Six months later, the iPhone X popularized the concept of the cropped screen. Essential Phone is also on the list, but Apple's popularity has worked wonders. Huawei also came with its version: Huawei P20 and P20 Pro. They all become children, and OnePlus 6 is announced to be the newest in this chorus.
OnePlus Director may have best summed up the situation: the user gets more screen, even if not the happiest design. It is not like that. The video content is truncated (if you want full screen) or is "cramped". Applications are not optimized. Maybe one day. Maybe after Android P.
Until then, it's a bizarre design and functionality decision. The producers found a marketing message here that they didn't think of. It's the compromise made by iPhone X and Essential Phone that is now becoming the norm in the absence of ideas. What's more, OnePlus and Huawei give you the option to "stop" that area. They still have great confidence in their creations.
Huge resolutions - 2K, 4K - because people want VR (though they don't want to)
Each five-year period has its own technology that manufacturers are in a hurry to adopt. Remember the 3D screen? This is how 2K and 4K screens on phones are, but also virtual reality (VR). The first is almost useless, the second totally useless, the edifying example being Sony Xperia Z5 Premium. It had a 4K screen, because Sony had nothing better to say about the phone.
Samsung claims that 2K is necessary because it provides a VR solution. Google is still trying to sell VR through Daydream headphones. At the same time, OnePlus and Huawei remain in full HD (a bit elongated), because the average user, in everyday activities, does not feel the difference anyway. At the same time, you can have a lower energy consumption.
Praiseworthy here is Apple's strategy of having "Retina" screens. Resolutions are stupid, with almost no logic, but you don't think about pixels anymore, just whether it's good or not. And OLED has proven to be a good technology, no matter the resolution.
The applications (and their own software solutions) are offensive to users
Yes, it's bloatware. All those own, "optimized" applications delivered by phone manufacturers. It is commendable that ASUS has taken a step back in this regard with Zenfone 5. Samsung, on the other hand, insists on Galaxy Apps and its applications. Huawei is just starting out with an app store (AppGallery).
All the manufacturers who create "parallel" solutions do not want to depend on Google (understandably). It's just that their products are often worse than what Google is delivering (bad luck, I know). And maybe users may be fooled into trying their own solutions, but should they? There are already alternatives in the Play Store.
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This trend has been massively supported by Amazon, which has also created an Android-derived operating system and its own app store. For a while, Samsung was experimenting with Tizen to move further away from Android.
All these experiments charge the phones in vain. But there is a bonus and it should be remembered: some manufacturer interfaces are more useful than what Google offers by default. The trade-off would be to invest more in interfaces (UX / UI) and less in duplicate applications.