What To Look Forward To In Smartphones 2020
Note: The unfortunate story early in 2020 is the rapid spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus and its effects on travel and the economy. It has been negative, as countries around the world are mitigating the problem since it has already gotten worse. As a result, many countries have put temporary travel restrictions as a way to prevent the spread of the virus. This has led to many events cancelations, including MWC (Mobile World Congress), which would have featured some of the latest in telecommunications technology. Instead, we are dealing with the reality of the situation and we can only hope for the best.
The smartphone industry has somewhat declined since peaking in 2010 (in terms of smartphone shipments). Analysts to predict the slowdown may be due to fatigue, but it could also be due to consumers holding on much longer to their smartphones before buying a new one. Every year new smartphones hit the market. Whether or not consumers need them is dependent on the economy. With more capital saved, consumers often will buy the brands they love. 2020 has not started out good for the economy, due to the lockdowns across the world. Many jobs have also been lost, so this does not seem like the best time to buy a new smartphone. The big brands are sure to still try and maximize their revenues despite the hardships.
The best of 2019 smartphones featured bezeless flagships (more screen, less bezels), better color gamut OLED displays, start of foldable screens, more stylus support, dual SIM card compatibility, integration of AI with photography software and multiple camera systems. We will continue to see those trends with some additional features for 2020. Demand is often what drives these product developments and if they are innovative enough, will disrupt the market. Apple was a leader in that space followed by Samsung, but recently it has been companies like Huawei that are introducing game changing features. The following are some of the new features to expect in 2020 smartphones.
New Fingerprint Sensors
Refined fingerprint sensors placed under-display, and in-display scanners using ultrasonic sensors are appearing on more smartphones. Samsung’s S10 and Note 10 originally implemented ultrasonic sensors but encountered problems. It has since been fixed and the feature is in the S20, built in-display. The problem was due to screen protector issues that affected accurate readings of the user’s fingerprints. It has been deemed slow and frustrating by some analysts but there are workarounds.
Other companies like Huawei, Vivo and Xiaomi are also using in-display scanners with ultrasonic sensors. Oppo has announced an optical in-display fingerprint sensor for some of its products. Optical sensors take a photo of the user’s fingerprints under the smartphone’s display and then compare it with the enrolled fingerprint of the user.
Apple might also bring back an updated TouchID for the iPhone, but perhaps not in 2020. An embedded fingerprint sensor will be under-display on the iPhone screen. It is not yet confirmed, but according to a 9to5Mac report:
Ming-Chi Kuo (today) released a report claiming that Apple will bring back Touch ID fingerprint recognition to its iPhones starting in 2021. The analyst said that he believes Apple will release an iPhone with both Face ID and under-display Touch ID fingerprint biometrics.
Kuo says that over the next 18 months, a lot of technical issues will be resolved which will enable Apple to deliver the high-tier experience it strives for in its devices.
Higher Refresh Rates
Smartphone screens are getting higher refresh rates. The Samsung Galaxy S20 Range, OnePlus 8 & OnePlus 8 Pro, ASUS ROG Phone 2, Razer Phone 2, OPPO Find X2 and iPad Pro Models are some of the products with refresh rates up to 120 Hz. 90 Hz is already fast, but 120 Hz may become more common. Refresh rate refers to the number of frames or images a display can show per second, which is measured in Hertz (Hz). The higher, the smoother the transition and better performance for rendering non-raster images like games and animations. This really aims to benefit mobile gamers, the type of users who play games on their smartphone. It also gives the display less blurring, artifacts and lags when displaying content. It also brings out the best details in color and contrast when it comes to streaming video. Another additional benefit is sharper and clearer text, making content easier to read.
Advanced Networks
The support for 5G and Wi-Fi 6 networks are here. These provide connection to faster networks for data. Among the vendors who have released 5G capable smartphones include Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, LG and OnePlus. Apple has not officially released any 5G iPhone, but will support it in their upcoming line. For consumers who want the 5G model, make sure you buy the correct model. Vendors are specifically putting 5G in the marketing name of their phones to distinguish it from standard 4G LTE models. 5G models are compatible with existing 4G and 3G LTE networks.
Wi-Fi 6 (IEEE 802.11ax) support is still getting traction. Look for the ax label under the smartphone’s WLAN specifications if you are looking around. Wi-Fi 6 is enabled where it is available, but it is also backward compatible with previous Wi-Fi networks. Apple, Samsung and Huawei are some of the major vendors that have released products that support Wi-Fi 6.
Improved Foldables
Same concept as that introduced in 2018, but getting better with more durability and style. The second generation of foldables improve upon the design of the first versions. A main issue had been durability. Some early adopters encountered creasing problems when folding their phones. This was apparent with the Samsung Galaxy Fold. Other issues include different types of screen problems. At one point some users thought that you had to peel off a plastic film on the Galaxy Fold, but it turns out that it should not be removed. Joining Royole, Huawei and Samsung are Motorola, Oppo, LG and Sony. Some are still in prototype, but the competition in this area should create better products to market and should be good overall for foldables.
mHealth
Mobile Health (mHealth) is gaining more support. It is not an actual smartphone specification, but more of a feature implementation terminology that can be applied to both hardware and software for medical purposes. Examples include health tracker apps that can measure pulse rate, track your sleep patterns, monitor your heart rate and amount of calories you burn during a workout. Developers are coming up with more ways to deliver apps that interface with health tracking that can save data for sharing with medical professionals (e.g. doctors, health providers, etc.).
These apps use your phone’s hardware to measure health metrics. An example of this is tracking heart rate by measuring the blood volume under your skin, which is called photoplethysmography. The apps use your smartphone’s camera and flash to illuminate and capture the flow of blood under the skin. These apps integrate with telemedicine systems that provide medical professionals with important data while working with patients remotely.
More Bluetooth Headphone Support
The end of the wired headphone jack may have finally arrived. Bluetooth is now the way to connect with headphones, otherwise it requires using an adapter (usually connected to a USB port on the smartphone). The writing was on the wall, perhaps when the S10 was released featuring no 3.5 mm headphone jack. The decision to remove it entirely has become clear and this is most likely due to the addition of more essential hardware to update the new class of flagships. It is a sacrifice that audiophiles may not appreciate (wired produces better audio quality than Bluetooth, if noticeable to the user).
Samsung is going to continue without the headphone jack in the S20 line. The shift has been echoed by many others, ever since Apple removed it when they launched the iPhone X. It may take some getting used to, but it has already been accepted by many retailers. Now you see many headphones and earbuds that are Bluetooth but with wired support (most likely to connect to other audio playback devices). The rest of the industry has caught on with Apple as they release their own wireless earbud versions (Bluetooth) complete with charging case similar to the Airpods.
Faster Processors
Qualcomm, Apple and HiSilicon are releasing even faster SoC CPUs for smartphones. At the moment (March-April 2020) Apple has the A13 Bionic, Qualcomm delivers the Snapdragon 865, HiSilicon (used by Huawei) has the Kirin 990 4G and 5G and Samsung has the Exynos 990. The top 5 processors based on Centurion Mark’s rankings are:
- A13 Bionic
- Snapdragon 865
- Exynos 990
- MediaTek Dimensity 1000
- A12 Bionic
Apple has the most powerful smartphone processor in the market. Its performance can beat that of an entry level laptop and at par with some models. An important addition to the SoC has been a Neural Processing unit for AI support most often used with smartphone camera’s for computational imaging. Clock rates on the A13 Bionic top at 2.65 GHz, which can execute more operations per second. The Snapdragon 865 has an even faster clock rate at 2.84 GHz. However, the CPU power is determined not just by speed but by optimizations. This was something Apple did by dividing its architecture into fast high performance cores (for compute intensive tasks) and energy efficient cores (for saving battery life).
Battery Life Improvements
Probably not the first thing consumers look at when checking smartphone specifications. It is very important though, because it is an indicator of how long your smartphone will last before recharging the battery. As more features are added, more drain is placed on the battery. As a result, engineers have had to redesign their chipsets to become more energy efficient and optimized to perform tasks more efficiently as well. The idea is if your processors don’t expend more electricity, it can conserve on battery life. Displays can also place a lot of drain on the battery, but features like dark mode and sleep mode can help conserve battery life.
Motorola’s Moto G Power has one of the highest battery capacities at 5,000 mAh. Based on testing from Tom’s Guide, the Moto G Power can last up to 16 hours while on average most smartphones only last 10 hours. The Moto G Power is not the same as the G7 Power (also from Motorola) but has comparable performance. Other notable phones on Tom’s Guide include Asus ZenFone 6, Samsung Galaxy A20, ZTE Blade Max View, LG V60 ThinQ 5G, Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, Google Pixel 3a, Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra and iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Higher Quality And Resolution Cameras
The smartphone camera keeps getting better and better. Not just on flagships, but even standard budget models can take better photos than your entry level point and shoot digital camera. Some new features that recently became tech buzzword jargons are ToF (Time-of-flight), the “slofie” (Slow motion selfie), Ultra Vision camera (Huawei P40), Raindrop camera (LG Velvet) and AIS (Artificial Image Stabilization).
The multiple-camera system is becoming the norm. You have a wide angle, standard lens and zoom lens integrated in a camera square as the main camera. Higher resolutions will continue. The Huawei P40 boasts a 50 MP wide lens camera. That also means increased quality in the images, like on the Galaxy S20 Plus due to larger sensor size. AI also figures into the equation of things to deliver high quality images on the new line of smartphones.
In recent developments, one thing that has considerably improved are the smartphone camera’s low light capabilities. Vendors like Samsung have actually increased the sensor size (up to 3x on the S20 line) to be able to handle better low light shooting. The larger sensors allow more light to be collected to create much better images at night.
On The Horizon
There are some features that are not yet mainstream, but are being explored by certain vendors. HTC has already been integrating blockchain support with their Exodus smartphone. Even Samsung has provided support for a wallet DApp (Distributed Application) for Ethereum’s Ether (ETH) and ERC20 tokens. As cryptocurrency payment processing is still not a general purpose technology, there is limited support for it. As users grow, there will be more apps or DApps available that can be installed on existing smartphones.
The modular approach is making a return. Motorola has been experimenting with this for quite a while now with the Moto Z (using mods). Modularity as an idea was the innovation many were expecting from camera maker RED, when they initially teased their Hydrogen smartphone. It did not turn out to be what many expected, but it does bring a fresh perspective to how smartphones can evolve. One way is to allow integration for camera lenses and other add ons, like an external display, keyboards and other input devices. It may even allow consumers to build their own smartphone using parts that can be purchased separately (e.g. lenses, input devices, sensors).
For example, a user can extend their smartphone’s capabilities by adding a payment processing module with hardware encryption security. Users will be able to connect a projector, translator, card reader, an extra battery and temperature reader. These are all hardware related functions, so will require a physical device. More users will probably prefer to install an app which is more convenient, but the modularity approach gives other options that may prove more reliable and even secure.
There are also new apps coming up, some a bit controversial others quite interesting. The controversial one is the app Apple and Google could integrate with their operating systems for iOS and Android for coronavirus contact tracing. There are concerns that it can violate a user’s privacy if the data is publicly shared or made available. Some users may actually want not just their friends and family on social media, but everyone they come into contact with to know their medical condition. There are questions that arise from this app, like will it only be useful for coronavirus or can it be used for other things as well. Can it be used to track people and allow third party targeted advertising or harvesting of user’s information?
Due to stay at home measures, messaging and conferencing apps have become popular. Zoom has skyrocketed in popularity, despite security concerns. TikTok is allowing users on lockdown to express themselves through song and dance to entertain their followers on social media or just their immediate friends and family. Perhaps the most downloaded apps during this time are online delivery and ordering apps (e.g. Amazon Prime, Instacart, Uber Eats, GrubHub, Postmates, etc.). The lockdown and stay at home mandates have left people with an option to have their food or items delivered so they don’t have to leave home. This is probably the time to create apps that can bring the best user experience and service in that industry. Demand will likely continue in 2020, due to the coronavirus and social distancing.
