coverstory What’s Coming Up in Smartphones in 2016 From foldable displays to battle of chips and power, here is what to expect from smartphones in 2016 - Anuj Sharma sers will witness many new devices with foldable displays, improved optics, more powerful processors, longer battery back- Uup and much more. India witnessed some real action in the smartphone category in 2015 and is considered as the fastest growing smartphone market in Asia Pacific. Battle of Chips: Apple A10, Snapdragon 820, Exynos 8, and Helio X20 To Bring More Power, Better Battery Life And VR To Smartphones In 2016 As the smartphone industry grows by leaps and 1. Forget the phone; in 2016 it’s all about the bounds, manufacturers are gearing up to entice users by processor giving them more processing power and speed. Exterior design will not be the center of attraction in 2016 as we 2. Samsung to Launch High-End Tizen-Powered have already seen slimmer, bigger screen size and even Smartphone curved display smartphones this year like LG G Flex. Next 3. Improvements in battery technology year major companies like Apple, HTC, Samsung and Xi- 4. Samsung to Release Foldable Smartphone in aomi are looking on the inside components to stay ahead of each other. January 2016, Will Feature MicroSD Slot and We have been witnessing more powerful chips with Non-Removable Battery. each passing year and 2016 won’t be any exception. Chips next year are expected to deliver better battery life, virtual reality and other features to offer seamless Like the 810 chip, the 820 will once again support 4K user experience. displays, but it’s not official yet whether Samsung and LG will update their 2K screens to 4K, though 4K does opens Apple A10 up big opportunities in virtual reality (VR). Released last year, the iPhone 6s is the fastest smartphone Expected Smartphones - LG G5, Samsung Galaxy S7, in the market, but according to a new rumor, Apple is HTC One M10, Sony Xperia Z6, Nexus 7, Xiaomi Mi5 planning to make a huge leap with its A10 processor in the iPhone 7 that will turn the device into an unbelievable Samsung Exynos 8 speed monster. Jumping from two core A9 chips to six- With the Exynos 8 Octa 8890, Samsung will follow Apple’s core architecture chips, the next generation A10 chip will footsteps as the new chip will be designed around ARM’s focus primarily on multi-threading. processor architecture. The chipset is likely to support 4K Expected Smartphones - iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus video resolutions thanks to the Mali-T880 graphics chip, which means that we can expect Samsung to debut a 4K Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 smartphone or tablet in 2016. Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chip didn’t live up to Expected Smartphones - Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, expectations in 2015 and smartphones equipped with Galaxy Note 6, Galaxy S7 Edge+ Snapdragon 810 suffered badly from overheating issues. The Snapdragon 820 features Qualcomm Adreno 530 MediaTek Helio X20 GPU that is expected to churn out 40 per cent improved Taiwan’s MediaTek is known for powering majority of graphics performance compared to the Adreno 430 low-end smartphones coming out of China in recent GPU. As previously announced, this chipset supports years. The Helio X20 will power mid-range smartphones Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0, which is approximately 4x that can offer the experience of a flagship for the price of faster than conventional charging methods, and 38 per a midrange device. One of the key features of X20’s is its cent more efficient than Quick Charge 2.0. 10 core architecture organized in three clusters which are 30 PCQUEST DECEMBER 2015 pcquest.com twitter.com/pcquest facebook.com/pcquest linkd.in/pcquest [email protected] aimed at handling light, medium and intensive workloads. inch tablet into a regular 5 inch device for a convenient fit According to Mediatek this new chipset will consume 30 in your pocket. per cent less power. Expected Smartphones - HTC One M10, Xiaomi Mi5, Battery Revolution: Time to Power Up in 2016 Acer Predator While smartphones are growing more advanced and are becoming as powerful as laptops but with high-definition Smartphones with Foldable Displays screens and professional camera technology they’re still Samsung showcased a Note 4 variant with a curved limited by power. The battery hasn’t advanced in decades. display last year, and this year Samsung unveiled But we’re on the verge of a power revolution. Although Galaxy Note Edge featuring a curved edge screen on as the mobile tech advanced, battery life has dropped one of its sides. It also released the Galaxy S6 Edge and from several days to roughly a day. If you consume more the Galaxy S6 Edge+ with dual edge curved display. multimedia or play heavy games it is likely to last less than It is expected that the Korean giant is going to bring 5 hours. some interesting smartphones with foldable display technology in 2016. Codenamed Project Valley or Project Solidstate Battery V the devices will be available in two internal storage SolidEnergy’s new technology works by replacing the options. One of them will be featuring the Snapdragon battery’s conventional graphite anode material used 620 chipset whereas the other one will be coming with by most lithium-ion batteries with an ultra-thin sheet the Snapdragon 820 chipset. Both the handsets will be of lithium copper metal foil. This arrangement will featuring 3 GB RAM. reduce the size of the battery for the same capacity, The technology will have some positive impacts on allowing the saved space to be used for extra capacity. smartphone usage. Curved or foldable displays offer better SolidEnergy has also successfully demonstrated that visibility of content because they tend to cause less reflec- its prototype can go through 100 recharge cycles tion of light, which in turn leads to better color contrast while retaining 80 per cent of its original energy than and accuracy for reading or watching videos. This also competing advanced Li-ion technology, meaning that means less consumption of battery as a display with better non-replaceable batteries won’t be such a problem viewing angles requires less brightness. The technology can in the future. The first commercial battery using this also enhance portability as a foldable display will turn a 10 technology is scheduled to arrive for smartphones and tablets in 2016. In other words we could be very close to a battery revolution. “The ongoing trend of affordable The innovative e-ink phone smartphones will continue in the coming Smartphone manufacturer Yota Devices has demonstrated year as well with expected launch of an innovative way of lengthening a mobile’s battery life in more mid segment smartphones which its YotaPhone 2. This dual-screen device looks resemble your phone, with one key difference - there’s an e-ink will fit the budget and deliver the best display (like the Amazon Kindle’s) around the back. in class experience to the customers. The basic principle is to use the low-powered e-ink The innovative nature of the Smartphone touchscreen to check your notifications, read and reply industry has been steadily gaining ground to messages and only turning on the main power while watching video or surfing web. The idea can work won- in recent years and in a competitive ders in near future, as those backlit displays are the main market, manufacturers look towards power-sucking element of any mobile. providing users with features that give their Wireless charging products the cutting edge. Fast charging, One of the new developments in battery tech is wireless better camera quality, fast data speed/ charging that allows you to get rid of your power cables quality and low-cost data connectivity and add extra simplicity and ease to your life. The technology is still evolving and since most of the energy is options with introduction of 4G will be lost between the charging station and the receiver, and the major game changers in 2016.” power transmitted has a one watt limit, just about enough - Mike Wang, CEO, OPPO Mobiles India to power a smartphone. But as research continues, we’re pcquest.com twitter.com/pcquest facebook.com/pcquest linkd.in/pcquest [email protected] DECEMBER 2015 PCQUEST 31 coverstory hopeful that wireless charging will replace those irritating Hot products to be expected in 2016 cables entirely in upcoming years. Apple iPhone 7 The Cupertino giant has always kept its rivals on their toes Flagship smartphone wars will more intense with their iPhones. Continuing that tradition iPhone 7 will Sony is expected to bring the successor of its flagship Z pose a major threat to all the competitors and is sourced series with Z6 and some affordable smartphones that will to pack a number groundbreaking features. According to be powered by MediaTek chipsets and will compete with Apple, iPhone 7 will have an integrated projector allowing the domestic smartphone manufacturers. The HTC One M9 you to display presentation slides; the battery will be built impressed us with unibody design and top notch camera. with organic materials thereby will be more efficient. The So, we expect HTC to continue that with HTC One M10 most amazing feature of the device will be “The Protective which is said to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon Mechanism for Electronic Device.” It will keep the display 820 processor having 3GHz of speed and featuring a undamaged even though it falls accidentally from your 4K display. Similarly, the much praised LG G4 with its pocket or hand. It will also pack the quad-core processor, laser autofocus camera will see a successor (LG G5) with A10 chip and 20-MP rear iSight camera making it a power- improved set of optics and faster processing power.