Five key features to expect in future smartphones

• Smartphones are evolving at a rapid pace. Changes, big and small, are affecting the way people communicate daily.
• 5G connectivity will have a big role to play in how smartphone usage evolves over the next few years.
• We may not see anymore pop-up selfie cameras in the near future but there will definitely be more cameras and more megapixels.

The next wave of smartphones have some new and innovative features in store, especially with the onset of 5G network across the world.

In 2019, trends like the pop-selfie camera or gaming smartphones didn’t really take off in the mainstream but did well within their niche audience.

Other trends like gaming capacity smartphone chipsets, additional cameras and the megapixel war were appreciated by most.

Here five key trends that you can expect in future smartphones:

1. 5G connectivity

With most countries around the world gearing up to set up their 5G networks, smartphone makers are also preparing by launching smartphones with 5G capabilities.

As of now, 5G capable phones are rare and expensive. They also can’t be used to their full potential since 5G networks are yet to fully roll out.

A few companies have taken the leap and launched their 5G smartphones like the — Oppo Reno 5G and the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G — but their availability is limited to their home markets.

Other 5G phones like the Huawei Mate 20 X, Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 5G and the Motorola Moto Z4 too have limited reach.

5G will mean faster network connectivity and lower latency for smartphone users.

2. Foldable phones

Foldable phones aren’t far from being a reality with every brand working on their own prototype. In fact, Samsung’s already launched its Galaxy Fold and Huawei recently released the Mate X.

Google and Apple will reportedly use Samsung’s foldable screen device to launch their own versions.

India’s first foldable phone might be a Xiaomi device — the Mi Fold or the Mi Flex. The phone’s launch was expected this year, but the company is yet to announce any plans.

3. More cameras, more megapixels and more depth

It’s the year of the cameras as smartphone brands hone in on the triple camera and quad camera design. The Samsung Galaxy Fold boasts of six cameras while Nokia has already launched their ‘pentacam’ PureView smartphone with five cameras.

It’s not just the number of cameras that are increasing but also the megapixels that they can capture.

Sony’s IMX 586 camera sensor was a boon allowing cameras to shoot up to 48 megapixels. Samsung’s ISOCELL GW1 sensor takes that same technology — the quad pixel array — forward to deliver a maximum output of 64 megapixels.

Upcoming Xiaomi and Samsung smartphones will have the capability to shoot more than 100 megapixels.

Another unique feature that we might see on phone’s more often is 3D depth sensors for cameras. “It uses the known speed of light to measure distance, effectively counting the amount of time it takes for a reflected beam of light to return to the camera sensor,” according to Samsung. The sensor is already available on Samsung Galaxy S10 5G.

4. More power and better graphics

Smartphone users want more power on their phones. A few are even buying ‘gaming’ smartphones, even though they don’t game, for the additional processing capacity.

Companies are also integrating Qualcomm’s ‘gaming’ chipset, the Snapdragon 855 Plus, into their flagship mobile phones. The OnePlus 7T and 7T Pro, Vivo Nex 3, Xiaomi Mi 9 Pro and Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro are some devices that aren’t necessarily marketing themselves as gaming smartphones but come equipped with the new chipset.

More phones will employ more powerful chipsets and their accompanying GPU’s as games become more graphic intensive but they may not necessarily launch gaming smartphones.

5. Augmented reality and virtual reality (AR and VR)

There’s already a lot being done to bring augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology to smartphones.

Google’s Pixel 3A deployed some of ARCore’s technology — Google’s platform to build AR solutions — to bring users AR maps. It allows directions to pop up as a part of the scene being captured by the camera lens along with a distance countdown.

Apple has plans to launch the AR-enabled ‘Apple Glasses’. The company has been heavily investing in ARKit to develop AR use cases for mobile devices and Apple’s Glasses would be positioned as an iPhone accessory.

The technology is already available, the question is how creatively can developers apply it.

See also:
The iPhone 11 Is Missing 6 Modern Smartphone Features, And It Feels Like A Placeholder For Something Better Coming Later

India is as prepared as US or Australia to welcome the 5G era

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