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The Smartphones of the Decade - Part 2 | Israel today

2019-12-13T22:08:03.955Z


profound


The One Plus One paved the way for Xiami and Wavi, the rise of the Galaxy Note 7 fire and the Chinese invasion of the Western smartphone markets • Part Two and Last

  • Chinese invasion: Xiaomi CEO Lee John introduces Mix Alpha, a full-screen phone // Photo: Reuters

Want to know what was in the field of smartphones at the beginning of the decade? Read part a

Asian flavor

At the end of 2014, everyone in Israel was talking about One Plus One. An obscure Chinese manufacturer's device that delivers great performance at a funny price. Initially, the only way to purchase the device from the official site was through an invitation from a friend who had already purchased it - a genius promotional tool. Subsequently, the device sold in dozens of sites and in the first half of 2015, it became a hit. Thus, the road to the other Chinese manufacturers unknown in the West paved the way, including the Wawi Highs.

The One Plus included a 5.5-inch touchscreen, Android 4.4.2 (KitKat), a Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor, three gigabytes of RAM, and 64GB of storage, indulgent Very much for 2014 in 2015. This is in addition to a 13 megapixel camera. The first One Plus was everything: a clean and simple system reminiscent of Google's clean versions, equal hardware and bottom line: an excellent device at a market-breaking price - whether you purchased it privately for around $ 1,000 and added a customs clearance fee around NIS 500, or you paid a little more for it on Israeli import networks.

Photo: Mickey Noam

One Plus has been on the same line more or less since then and its devices (OnePlus 7 is the latest version) all provide excellent value for more or less NIS 1,400. Before him, a thought about buying a Chinese smartphone was for the brave only - it could be successful and it was possible to fall, a matter of luck and gambling.

As mentioned, the road to the highs was paved with Mi series (usually 5.15-inch screens, excellent performance and 50% lower price on premium devices) - of course, it is impossible to talk about my peak without talking about Wavy and Pucophone, but we will discuss them later.

OnePlus. Breakthrough // Photo: PR

7 against 7 and a few more jokes

The main competition over the past decade, it seems, has been between Apple and Samsung. Somehow the number 7 binds to the two huge ones. Samsung's iPhone, Galaxy, and Notebook series numbers have progressed in parallel.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was released in August 2016 and the iPhone 7 a month later. The latter was one of Apple's successful devices and included some notable changes that characterized Apple in the years to come. 4.7-inch screen, A10 quad-core processor, NFC support, 12-megapixel camera - all of which didn't knock anyone out of the chair. The innovations were a touch-sensitive touch button, a new headset called Lightning, two stereo quality speakers and water and dust resistance. The iPhone 7 even met the IP67 standard, which means durability of one meter for thirty minutes.

In contrast, the Note 7 met the higher quality IP68. That means durability at a depth of one and a half to 45 minutes. The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 also enjoys a 5.7-inch screen, and was considered by many to be the most advanced device when it went on the market at the end of 2016. The Super Amoled screen was exceptionally high-quality, and with a 1440 by 2560 resolution, it included an eye scanner to release the device, an octagonal processor, a camera With a 12 megapixel sensor and a 3500 mAh battery.

Galaxy Note 7 warning on airlines screens (pictured, United)

Despite the impressive data, after a wave of news from Korea about flames and flames, Samsung stopped the release of the new flagship device in the Not series. Hundreds of thousands of devices have been taken off the shelves and the US Federal Aviation Authority has banned boarding a Galaxy Note 7 device while operating, threatening a $ 200,000 fine. After attempts to replace the devices on fire repeatedly, Samsung came out with a sweeping message to stop using the devices Note 7 and return them ...

The image damage done by Korean society was unimaginable. At least in the country, the crisis has contributed to LG, which saw an unexpected increase in sales of the LG G4. LG's excellent device, which was launched nearly a year before the Note 7 and did not arrive in Israel, filled the vacuum. This is how Buzz came about for the release of the LG V series, with the first of the series being the V10 and soon after the V20, LG's answer to Samsung in the big handsets.

But Samsung wasn't the only one burned out, quite literally. The LG G4 also suffered from occasional reboots, according to consumers. In 2010, Apple also suffered from network malfunction and reception on iPhone 4 devices. The "antenna-gate" malfunction did not cause Apple to admit it. The late founder Steve Jobs was quoted as recommending customers to "hold the iPhone at a different angle or use a protector for the device", but later had to apologize and admit: "We are not perfect."

Had to make up and also apologize. Steve Jobs at the iPhone 4 apology incident // Photo: Reuters

The age of intermediate instruments

Even today, Apple's premium devices are at the top of its pyramid. In contrast, Samsung has in recent years been releasing "lite" versions for premium devices. This is the case with the A-series with the A50 or A7, which includes a high-quality triangular array that does not fall from the premium devices.

Samsung understood the need for mid-range devices that might be a bit compromising on performance, but for a cheap price. After Google discontinued the Nexus devices - great and relatively cheap products - and launched the Pixel series as a premium brand in hardware but also at a price, Samsung realized that Chinese manufacturers had taken over the niche device and joined the popular trend.

As mentioned, thanks to the OnePlus Wavy and Xiami have gained momentum. But it is doubtful that we would have heard about the calls and witnesses to open a local branch, without the F1 Pokémon. Launched in the summer of 2018, the device was a flagship masterpiece for a mid-range device. The design may be less spectacular and glitzy, but the hardware data was premium for everything: 6 GB of RAM, 128 or 256 GB of storage, a dual SIM slot, a slightly newer Galaxy Note 9 processor, and a quality screen. Initially, the device was sold in Israel for about NIS 1,650, but a few months after its launch its price dropped significantly to the NIS 1,200 area. We reviewed it here on the channel over a year ago. And the F1 phonograph received a very high score from us.

Invest in hardware. Pocophone F1 // Photo: Ariel Gavish

Six months before the release of the PocketPhone, the Huawei P20 Pro was launched. The Wawai flagship features a 6.1-inch, thin-brimmed OLED screen like all three-times premium devices, a luxurious 6 or 8 gigabyte RAM, a terrific 4,000 mAh battery, and a Leica triple camera array that has countless reviews written to make Apple align A line in the iPhone 11 Pro, which features a similar camera set. Channel editor Niv Lillian also reviewed him at the time, and was enthusiastic.

Not only did this data show premium performance. The camera array took the photography era one step further. The great pictures that the device provided were stripped of wildfire and hoped - a year and a half after that, Apple also came out with a set of triple cameras. Is this a sign of change? The Wawai P20 Pro sold today for around NIS 2,200 in parallel imports and its younger brother, the improved P30 Pro, can be had for about NIS 2,600.

Huawei P20 Pro // Photo: PR

Google's Nexus devices have always been quality flagships at a lower cost than the competition and are well remembered. Mostly the Nexus 4 ($ 300 for the 8 Gb version and $ 350 for the 16 Gb version) and the Nexus 5 (about $ 350) which were great devices. Google replaced the Nexus devices in the Pixel series. Quality remained, but the price soared as Google aligned its competitors' flagship devices.

Google Pixel 3 // Photo: PR

We will note the Google Pixel 3 released in November 2018. The device is still considered by many to be the best camera on the market (even though the recently released Pixel 4 has better quality zoom and better night-time capability. The US price is $ 599). Four-core Snapdragon 845-based and a 5.5-inch OLED screen, but it was mainly the camera that made it one of the favorite devices of recent years.

The improvement in performance, and quality, provided by Chinese premium devices is undoubtedly contributing to a real upheaval in the market. Once advanced users who insist on saving hundreds or thousands of shekels are no longer considered risk takers and enjoy the payoff, Apple also "straightens" a line with leading Chinese manufacturers and it seems that we can say with full mouth that we are at the door of a new smartphone era.

For dessert, some up-to-date numbers:

- Average Android Price: About one-third of the corresponding iPhone

- The iPhone has more games than Android

- Android is an open system unlike the iPhone

- According to Statcounter, Android dominates the operating system market with 41.19%, iOs with 13.52%, and Windows 34.8% and other percentages with other companies *.

- Five years after the first generation, the iPhone 5 generation was launched in 2012. Five million pieces were sold in the first weekend of sales.

- Xiaomi, the world's fourth-largest smartphone maker (after Apple, Samsung and Huawei), became the world's most expensive start-up after investing $ 1.1 billion in 2014.

* The data refers to all devices (including computers) with operating systems and not just smartphones (Android name controls with over 80% share).

Over and done

Source: israelhayom

All tech articles on 2019-12-13

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