2017 smartphones – what to expect

2016 was a very interesting year for smartphones. We saw manufacturers adding new features to handsets and removing old ones at the same time. Here is Sweet TnT Magazine’s 2017 smartphones list:

2017 smartphones would be even thinner

Over the years not only has the screen size of smartphones increased but the thickness has decreased considerably. This makes it easier to handle larger phones as well as making them easier to slip into your pocket or handbag.

The thinnest phone list for 2016:

i. Vivo X5 Max – 4.75 mm

ii. Oppo R5s – 4.85 mm

iii. Gionee Elife S7 – 5.5mm

iv. Samsung Galaxy A8 – 5.9mm

v. Huawei p8 – 6.4mm

vi. Vivo X5 pro – 6.4mm

vii. ZTE Grand S – 6.9mm

2017 smartphones would move to bezel less designs

2017 smartphones — *Mi Mix Photo courtesy hardwarezone.com.sg*

In 2016, Xiaomi showed us what is likely to be the future look of flagship handsets when it offered for sale the Xiaomi Mi Mix. A phone that not only had a huge 6.4 inch display but boasted of an 83.6% screen-to-body ratio. The industry standard up until the debut of the Xiaomi Mi Mix was 76.1% screen-to-body ratio on the high end of the scale. Expect to see phones in 2017 with even higher screen-to-body ratios.

2017 smartphones would see USB-C becoming the norm

2017 should see an increase in the use of USB-C ports on smartphones and not just on flagship models. This is because of the flexibility and versatility of USB-C. It is not just about charging, but with that said the port is also reversible making it much more easier to plug in your smartphone.

USB-C would allow you to connect to high definition monitors, smart TVs, headphones, flash drives and other external storage devices.

2017 smartphones would charge faster

The standard battery in smartphones today is 3000 mAh. Using one with Quick Charge 3.0 they are generally fully charged in 1 hour and 30 minutes. 2017 would see greater improvement in both fast charging capabilities and battery life thanks to the collaboration between the people at Qualcomm and smartphone manufacturers. Quick charge 4.0 is expected to still shorten charge times while giving you more onscreen time.

2017 smartphones would be moving to wireless audio (Bluetooth 5)

In 2016, Apple moved away from wired headsets with their latest incarnation of the iPhone and it is rumoured that Samsung will be following suit with the S8 and Note8. This of course is possible due to improvements in Bluetooth technology and the recent availability of Bluetooth 5 for manufacturers. The space that has now been freed up by eliminating the standard headphone jack is what will allow smart phone manufacturers to produce thinner lighter smart phones without bezels in 2017. Bluetooth 5 speculated to have a connection range of 400 meters (1312.34 feet) and twice the speed of its predecessor, Bluetooth 4.2.6.

2017 smartphones would see more use of augmented reality

There are a few phones out there right now using augmented reality like the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro. The most popular example of augmented reality is the Pokemon Go game. This is where smartphones are able to recognise physical objects, map out a room or outdoor space a present an augmented version on the screen. We expect to see more handsets designed around this feature.

2017 smartphones will introduce VR (Virtual Reality) to budget lines.

VR is available in a limited sense on a handful of flagship smartphones like the Samsung S7. We anticipate that this feature will find its way to more budget friendly models and will no longer be a flagship exclusive. As a result it would become available to more people and you will see more content being delivered for this new batch of VR users.

2017 smartphones would be able to store more (increased memory capability)

It is always a bonus when expandable storage is available on a smartphone. We use our smartphones every day to capture those memorable moments and we need a place to store them. At the time of this article the largest available memory card for a smart phone was 256GB and the even rarer 512GB. SanDisk has announced for 2017 a 1TB SD card. No actual date on availability has been announced so we will just have to keep looking out for it.

2017 smartphones would move even faster in all aspects

Currently, the best smartphones can download data over LTE networks at 600Mbps (bits per second) and upload data at 150Mbps. 2017 could see download speeds at 1Gbps with Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X16 modem. Of course, this would still be dependent on the capabilities of your service provider.

Smartphones will also see an improvement in graphics with the Snapdragon 835 or Mediatek’s Helio X30, which has 10 CPU cores the highest to date. This would mean that smartphones performance would soon match that of PCs.

The benchmark in terms of RAM and internal storage will also be another item to watch.

6 Gb of RAM, 128 or 256 Gb of internal storage being the high end of the scale in 2017 as set by Xiaomi with the Mi Mix. It can only go up from here.

2017 Smartphones will be bendable

Lenovo bendable smartphone wraps around your wrist

Lenovo foldable tablet converts from a full size tablet into a smartphone.

Lenovo recently showed the world what could be the next big thing for smartphones. They showed off a smartphone that could be worn as a wristwatch, and a tablet that folds into a standard sized phone. All of this is possible because of recent developments in bendable displays. As the technology is fine-tuned we expect to see actual production models available for sale.

In conclusion, in the future we will see all the features that were once just concept ideas brought to reality.

January 2017 www.sweettntmagazine.com

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