The year is coming to an end - time for a tech recap.
What technological developments have we dealt with over the past twelve months, which will continue to play a role in the world of smartphones, or rather disappear from the picture? We are bringing together five smartphone trends from the crazy year that was - 2016.
The technology world was not stopped this year either. Although we will probably have to wait a long time for some revolutionary new form factors on the smartphone, as manufacturers such as Samsung, Huawei and HTC have concentrated mainly on refining their top models.. We summarize five important smartphone trends of the coming year: from the twist-proof USB-C connection and the fast refilling of the battery via dual cameras to Virtual Reality.
USB-C is finally going through
In the beginning of the time, smartphones and tablets with USB-C connection existed already in 2015, but this year the big manufacturers also recognized the advantages of this twist-proof technology. The flagship smartphones introduced by LG, HTC, and Huawei this year, all set the standard for the new connector standard, but Samsung and Sony came along in the second half of the year. USB-C offers above all more comfort during the regular recharge of the battery, should be synonymous in the long term to the classic jack connection on conscience - Motorola , LeEco and HTC save the analog input on their current smartphone models already.
However, the new standard is not yet quite welcomed: due to poor quality cables and fluctuating voltages, some devices have been damaged. Moreover, a uniform Audi standard for USB-C was formulated at the end of the year. For next year, we also hope that the smartphone manufacturers also rely on the faster and safer USB 3.1 standard and will not hide old specifications behind a new plug connection.
Batteries are filled with more pressure
Also this year, no new battery technology was declared ready for the market, which could finally put an end to the average one-day smartphone operation - despite many announced, allegedly groundbreaking research results in this field. Then there was the fiasco around the Galaxy Note 7, whose battery was apparently too large and compactly layered. If the manufacturers can not build their batteries already larger, then they should at least be quickly recharged. And so this year, there are so many smartphones with fast-charging function as never before - even devices from the middle class are now in the process.
As with the USB-C standard, however, there is still a bit of confusion here, every company is cooking its own soup. Whether Quick-Charge, Dash Charge or Pump Charge, they are not compatible with each other and can even damage the battery.
Extension modules: Do they have a future?
Despite the multiple award-winning Fairphone 2, for which there will be replacement components from the coming year, it was indeed an exciting year for the modular smartphone. After Vsenn had already adopted the idea of the modular smartphone before field tests could be carried out, Google also unexpectedly took the plug in to the project Ara, which was developed over many years. To build a smartphone according to your own taste, this is no longer an issue, so the module concept is not yet dead. The building blocks should also expand an existing device, not replace the components.
Virtual reality has arrived in the mainstream
Samsung's Gear VR and Goog's eyewear cardboard card alone have not been able to heat up the virtual reality two years ago. Only more professional solutions such as HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and a wider range of software have been used to make speeches. The fact that 2016 was now dominated by Virtual Reality, Samsung, among other things, provided the impressive press conference at the Mobile World Congress, which even talked about the interested specialist audience. LG and Google also presented their hardware, Alcatel packaged its current top model Idol 4S even directly in a VR glasses.
Dual cameras: Do two eyes look really better?
Two cameras are better than one - as other manufacturers thought before LG or Apple installed in their top-of-the-line dual cameras. They were not right, the clippers in the HTC One M8 and Honor 6 Plus were good, but a purchase alone was not. This year should change: Huawei in the P9 , the Honor 8 and the Mate 9 , LG in the G5 and the V20 and Apple in the iPhone 7 Plus on a camera with two lenses. While the Huawei smartphones with a dual camera to provide better image quality, LG and Apple offer different focal lengths. In the coming year, many more manufacturers are likely to set a second eye.