I've heard many said 2016 was the worst year of releases of Android devices. I just feel like nothing has really been exciting, it's kind of like the same ole same ole this year. Many may laugh, but the Nextbit Robin has been the most exciting release for me this year. Reasoning being is they actually did something to differentiate themselves by not just focusing on the same ole same ole hardware specs battle (Though I do believe they need to make some improvements for their sucessors), but using software to advance their smartphone and its experience. There have been many improvements made to it, the gallery app, camera app, some upcoming cloud updates like battery life, etc.
I however was impressed by the OnePlus 3 this year, and I thought the Axon 7 is a great smartphone (though I'm not too keen on the camera quality). Other than that, I'm kind of meh this year. People debated on who's the top at times, but honestly, I prefer a smartphone company to just do something great that's unique. I kind of hope Blackberry doesn't die off with their smartphone line. I think they still have something unique and different that the can bring to their own line of smartphones.
Any thoughts?
Any smartphone anyone else has been excited for this year that have already been released or that will be releasing before this year's end?
I think that 2015 was more boring. Marshmallow that was released last year was just Lollipop with like 5 new features, and the phones from last were are pretty boring as far as innovation went. At least the Iphone 7 (2016) was more full of innovation than the 2015 Iphone 6S. And this year we got much more interesting devices. The LG G5 and Moto Z series are one of them. They are both modular and completely redesigned from their successors. Sony as well. They are also redefining their smartphone designs. And as for Nougat that was released this year, Nougat brought a lot of new changes. Such as somewhat a redesigned look, Multi-Window, Vulkan API. And at the end of the year, we will also see the new Pixel phones, and perhaps the Daydream VR as well. In conclusion, 2016 wasn't really boring. i would say that 2015 and even 2014 were much more boring than 2016 is.
I don't think devices are any less exciting, people are not getting excited because the phones have gotten so good that it takes a lot longer to make major improvements or breakthroughs anymore.
I'm not sure what's so innovative about the iPhone 7? I'm not about to give up the headphone jack. When I get stuck inside the office for the day sometimes, i have my phone plugged into the computer speakers all day long and plug it in at times.
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As of now there I have not seen any smartphone with major changes to say "It is the most awesome phone." Samsung brings gimmicks, which they are cool, but not completely useful. Sony and other companies, improve the screen and components, but nothing else. Smartphones is the current fab, but will it die soon? Just wonder what people think.
Pointless
raul4916 said:
As of now there I have not seen any smartphone with major changes to say "It is the most awesome phone." Samsung brings gimmicks, which they are cool, but not completely useful. Sony and other companies, improve the screen and components, but nothing else. Smartphones is the current fab, but will it die soon? Just wonder what people think.
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Some of the features of new phones are kinda pointless and alot of people wont use them, they are just selling points.
No, not yet.
i think for a while standard things will be improved , 2 year down the line i think there will be new innovations. thats my guess anyway
Honestly, the last innovation I can think of that hasn't been done already for Android devices is utilizing the 64-bit instruction set. Almost everything else has been done...
I think the things Nokia did with the cameras have been great innovations. I think the Lumia 1020 was really innovative.
I think a lot of people have mixed up the meaning of "innovation" with "upgrade" or "improve".
I think that smartphone companies are doing a lot of research into innovating, for example this year we have already seen the heartbeat sensor (S5), fingerprint scanners (old technology but still visible in newer releases) and there's a lot of features that Samsung have brought to the market like their AI elements such as face detection, Beam and also hardware features that we've seen in Note 3. The Nexus 6 is also rumoured to have the x64 architecture which will open up new possibilities to development. I think people only focus on hardware when it comes to innovation, but there's A LOT of software side aspects that contribute. For example I'd say that the Xposed Framework is very innovative as it gave a chance for developers to "pick 'n mix" features to include in other various types of ROMS.
I think that innovation is slowly happening, of course Samsung have their gimmicks on every release but overall those gimmicks contribute to their research on what else the consumer wants/needs.
It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that at any given time there's no room for more innovation in a particular field. It might seem like that now, but technology will always evolve
raul4916 said:
As of now there I have not seen any smartphone with major changes to say "It is the most awesome phone." Samsung brings gimmicks, which they are cool, but not completely useful. Sony and other companies, improve the screen and components, but nothing else. Smartphones is the current fab, but will it die soon? Just wonder what people think.
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will never stop
raul4916 said:
As of now there I have not seen any smartphone with major changes to say "It is the most awesome phone." Samsung brings gimmicks, which they are cool, but not completely useful. Sony and other companies, improve the screen and components, but nothing else. Smartphones is the current fab, but will it die soon? Just wonder what people think.
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Smartphones have improved so much and so fast these past few years that we have now come to expect ground breaking new tech every year.
I would say the HTC one did that last year with its built and it's speakers. The note 2 and 3 with the S pen features.
But what would you consider as a major change? Personally it depends on each company. For example if Samsung were to drastically improve its build quality it would be a major change.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
Redrail said:
I think a lot of people have mixed up the meaning of "innovation" with "upgrade" or "improve".
I think that smartphone companies are doing a lot of research into innovating, for example this year we have already seen the heartbeat sensor (S5), fingerprint scanners (old technology but still visible in newer releases) and there's a lot of features that Samsung have brought to the market like their AI elements such as face detection, Beam and also hardware features that we've seen in Note 3. The Nexus 6 is also rumoured to have the x64 architecture which will open up new possibilities to development. I think people only focus on hardware when it comes to innovation, but there's A LOT of software side aspects that contribute. For example I'd say that the Xposed Framework is very innovative as it gave a chance for developers to "pick 'n mix" features to include in other various types of ROMS.
I think that innovation is slowly happening, of course Samsung have their gimmicks on every release but overall those gimmicks contribute to their research on what else the consumer wants/needs.
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It is true. The hardware to me is considered "upgrade." That is what I am seeing happening on most phones.
It is fun to see what people see as innovation.
Xposed was the thing I liked the most on rooting (Which is awesome. You choose whatever you want on your Rom!)
barondebxl said:
Smartphones have improved so much and so fast these past few years that we have now come to expect ground breaking new tech every year.
I would say the HTC one did that last year with its built and it's speakers. The note 2 and 3 with the S pen features.
But what would you consider as a major change? Personally it depends on each company. For example if Samsung were to drastically improve its build quality it would be a major change.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
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By Major change is improvement on software towards productivity(that is what makes me love android). As I mentioned Gimmicks are fun for the first couple of days. I dont find them useful for productivity later. I have a Galaxy S4, I cannot stand the lag with the TW, this is due to so many gimmicks they placed. Thankfully I have it rooted and LOKI bootloader with vanilla AOSP rom. What I see as an innovation is adapting the size of phones to the software. I cannot reach the top only using one hand, most can't. They need a way to solve that problem(not complaining about big screens. Unfortunately, there is a tradeoff for everything).
But something I hate that companies are doing, is restricting rooting and unlocking bootloader.
If they take that privilege out of our power, they need to take the step and fix the reason most people root and unlock. Customization. Everyone sees productivity differently. That is why they need to give the option for people to adapt to their needs and not just leave it open to the majority.
The x64 architecture should be interesting to see on newer phones.
I liked the way they designed 4.4. It runs the system much smoother.
Any word on how long the pixels will get software updates?
No change regards updates.
Somewhat disappointing given the fact they are trying to sell this phone on a strong software slant.
I agree 2 years of updates, that's a shame....
iPhone have like 4 years. Is truth that the performance decrease with each update....So let's say they have..3 years of "good" updates.
The Pixel, for that price, should have 3-4 years at least.
And I'm quoting the iPhone because, I consider both Apple's and Google's phones the best you can buy today if you want vanilla experience and long support.
iPhone is a fair comparison given the new price point. Given that there was no hidden standout hardware feature, carrying over the Nexus update schedule is a mistake IMO.
I would seriously consider the Pixel if it had an update life cycle similar to Apple. I may pick up a 5X for the time being and see how the Pixel does.
I am new to the forums. In fact I have owned only two Android phones (J5 and Moto G) in the past. After I unboxed my Samsung phone, I noticed something, At about 200$ compared to Apple , Samsung was offering some really great cheap hardware. Can't say the same about Motorola but it was slightly cheaper so that was fine I guess. However once I set up my device, the Samsung software was just pure garbage. Its almost like they were forcing cheap phone buyers to use good hardware but give them terrible experience. On the other hand the nearly vanilla android on Moto G was a great experience. Everything just worked. But when it came to design and hardware, the Moto G felt cheaper than Galaxy J5. I also have used for a short period an S3, S6, Note4, and S8 plus. The Samsung hardware is actually decent. The cameras are good, phones are sleek, batteries are replaceable many times, dual sim and MicroSD cards are a bonus.
Now I was just wondering, I agree that Samsung have had in the past success with selling crappy TouchWiz flavoured Android, so phones slow down over time, lose updates and people upgrade the hardware. But in 2018 I believe this strategy is hurting their sales. The Pixel Phones have caught up, manufacturers like OnePlus in flagship market are offering good value and in the low end Google is making an effort for Chinese manufacturers to come up with low end smartphones with snappier Android thats almost vanilla (work in progress I believe). So when Samsung launches their flagship S9 and S9+ people want something thats just an overall great experience. I don't think people believe TouchWiz is anything unique anymore and Bixby and Siri are just a joke. Instead of spending money on developing and maintaining crappy software that only hurts sales, why doesn't Samsung spend the same money on improving the experience by using things like Machine Learning to improve camera performance, more hardware chips (AI chips in Pixel are an example) and overall the experience in a more sensible way. Samsung phones used to have the best camera in Flagship but the pixel nailed it this time. And that was a result of that AI chip along with better ML for sure.
And not to mention the fact that in countries like India, Samsung has quickly lost its market share. People still consider Samsung in these countries before buying because of past positive experience with hardware and wide service support throughout the country but the software has let down today and so Xiaomi and Vivo and Oppo are considered since they get slightly better hardware at the same cost.
Any idea how Samsung plans to up its game? I would really love to see a Galaxy phone in the 200$ range that runs vanilla Android and is significantly better than Oppo and Vivo and Xiaomi where people would just go with the big brand instead.
Some renders of the Oneplus 7 are floating around the internet and OnePlus fans are having orgasms over the possible design having a pop-up camera and full-screen. However, the Oneplus won't have a headphone jack like ours. I'm laughing to myself since we already own one.
I have a simple theory as to why this awesome phone flew under the radar last year but is being copied more and more. When it came out people rushed to buy immediately and reviewers rushed to review it too. But it was the Chinese version and 95% of reviews online are for the Chinese version only. The early buyers (including here) and reviewers had all sorts of complaints because they didn't wait for the Global version to be released. The early reviewers also didn't go back and review the Global version either, therefore it was stuck with inaccurate reviews for potential buyers to see.
I've been following the announcement and release of various phones over the last few months and I honestly don't see anything that surpasses my NexS overall. In other words, I don't see any compelling reason to replace my NexS in the near future. It still easily holds it's own hardware and design wise so far in 2019.
My toughts exactly....
Twotems said:
Some renders of the Oneplus 7 are floating around the internet and OnePlus fans are having orgasms over the possible design having a pop-up camera and full-screen. However, the Oneplus won't have a headphone jack like ours. I'm laughing to myself since we already own one.
I have a simple theory as to why this awesome phone flew under the radar last year but is being copied more and more. When it came out people rushed to buy immediately and reviewers rushed to review it too. But it was the Chinese version and 95% of reviews online are for the Chinese version only. The early buyers (including here) and reviewers had all sorts of complaints because they didn't wait for the Global version to be released. The early reviewers also didn't go back and review the Global version either, therefore it was stuck with inaccurate reviews for potential buyers to see.
I've been following the announcement and release of various phones over the last few months and I honestly don't see anything that surpasses my NexS overall. In other words, I don't see any compelling reason to replace my NexS in the near future. It still easily holds it's own hardware and design wise so far in 2019.
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Exactly this! That was the problem and almost all of the complains in the chinese version that people had in the reviews are non-existent in the global version...but vivo could have pushed to send them the global version to re-review...
Aggre most of the parts with observation above but the main issue with Vivo smartphone is that.
1.Lacking landing to western markets.
2.Lacking or not good enough marketing strategy.
3.No developers friendly(if not win the hard-core user base how will you win the majority of users who don't know even the existing of Vivo as OEM smartphone maker)
4.People in western world don't like that IOS hevelly inspired Fantouch OS skin just like any kind ios skin by others OEM even being under global rom umbrella.
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Yep, without a doubt one of the phones of the year. I really love my Nex S.
paatha13 said:
Aggre most of the parts with observation above but the main issue with Vivo smartphone is that.
1.Lacking landing to western markets.
2.Lacking or not good enough marketing strategy.
3.No developers friendly(if not win the hard-core user base how will you win the majority of users who don't know even the existing of Vivo as OEM smartphone maker)
4.People in western world don't like that IOS hevelly inspired Fantouch OS skin just like any kind ios skin by others OEM even being under global rom umbrella.
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I agree with 1 & 2 but not 3 & 4.
The modding community is less than one-tenth of one percent in the mobile phone world.
I would say that if the phone is outstanding enough then the skin doesn't matter. The iPhone is a good example. It sells well despite mediocre software features and a locked down OS. Personally I changed my launcher immediately.
Twotems said:
I agree with 1 & 2 but not 3 & 4.
The modding community is less than one-tenth of one percent in the mobile phone world.
I would say that if the phone is outstanding enough then the skin doesn't matter. The iPhone is a good example. It sells well despite mediocre software features and a locked down OS. Personally I changed my launcher immediately.
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Personal talking don't have any issue with Fantouch skin as UI aspects.
Just 2-3 missing software features that's all who are indipended from Fantouch but has to do with stupid decision made by them.
But most of people in western countries does not like at all hevelly ios inspired android skin.
Even global rom is not enough they must adopt more stock android UI elements.
Look for example Oneplus within 5 years manage to gain respect and hugely adoption from western hemisphere by just following near stock Android UI.
They're fifth place among OEM for selling device within 5-6 biggest European countries.
In India they're third place.
Without any kind marketing strategy without any retailers partnership,without any advertising with exception last 1.5 year that corporate with Amazon for selling their device and most of all with the hugely support by hard core user base even being vastly minority BUT their contributions for oneplus rapidly growing is huge without any doubt.
Vivo has no luck at all in western hemisphere if they don't adopt near stock android UI despite you and me and others few that don't have issues with Fantouch.
We are minority.
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So I've lately been hearing and reading about some new leaks surfacing of the first foldable device from Google to be released 2021. Apparently it's going to be a Pixel line device so I'm actually pretty excited for this especially so since the Pixel 5 is rumored to be out of flagship territory and geared more towards being a high tier mid-range device. I'm sure I'm not the only one but I have always bought pixel devices because they were flagship specs without all the other nonsense that comes with other big brand flagship devices. They were always a blank slate but with the best hardware of that current generation and that's what drew me in. If the Pixel 5 is not comparable to other flagships at the time, I have no interest in it so hearing about this foldable makes me think it will likely have all flagship components but will also likely be a $1,500+ phone. I guess we'll see next year or when Google inevitably leaks everything about it.
Link: https://www.androidcentral.com/google-will-release-its-first-foldable-pixel-phone-next-year