What is the service life of smartphones? How can you extend the battery life of a phone running Android OS. If the service life of the phone is not set

Have you ever wondered what the shelf life of a modern smartphone is? Now on smartphones and tablets there are games with incredible graphics and gameplay that would have raised eyebrows even on a PC ten years ago. For example, in 2014, ten years after its release on personal computers, it came to tablets Nvidia Shield Tablet (Google Android) the game appeared Half-Life 2. So mobile games are no longer the lot of casual housewives, and the problem of device durability is becoming very acute.

In this article, I will describe the main problems with durability and obsolescence of smartphones and tablets that mobile gamers may encounter. The idea for this material was suggested to me by my Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone when Wi-Fi failed on it and critical problems with the battery began.

So, the summer of 2015 has come to an end, four years have passed since I got a smartphone in my hands Samsung Galaxy Note GT-N7000. The model was innovative and became the first popular phablet (smartphone with a larger display, from Phone + Tablet, smartphone + tablet). It is noteworthy that it was at that moment that I stopped filming reviews of gadgets and decided to noticeably moderate my ardor in terms of purchasing them. At that moment, the first devices with four cores came out, which in terms of performance turned out to be not particularly better than dual-core ones - the development of mobile technology slowed down, it no longer provided + 100% productivity per year.

So since then I've only got three new devices, including a laptop and a couple of tablets (Windows and Android). And all this time, the same first-generation Galaxy Note worked as the main smartphone. Over the years, several facts have accumulated about the obsolescence of devices and their failure, which are worth knowing before purchasing.

The average lifespan of a smartphone is from 1 to 3 years, most often 2. 4 is a lot and very bad for the user.
There are cases when smartphones work longer, but this is more a rarity than the general picture.
If the battery in a smartphone cannot be replaced, then the service life is limited to ~1000 charging cycles.
It is better to buy a smartphone half a year after the start of its sales, so there is less chance of buying a defective sample.
There are many factors that influence longevity and the brand is not important here. Acer lives with me longer than Samsung and is alive and well.
Cases and films are really important, without them scratches and damage are inevitable even with Gorilla Glass.
All games, even the newest ones, continue to run on the Galaxy Note. Two cores and four years are not a problem.
The exception is games supported by Nvidia, I play them on an Acer A510 (with Tegra III on board).

Will my Android smartphone be obsolete for gaming in four years?

A smartphone or tablet with two cores is still relevant in games if the device resolution falls under the HD standard or lower. Four Cortex A7 cores, by the way (for example, the Nvidia Tegra III processor) are also only enough for HD resolution, but with more pleasant graphics. I have a quad core Acer A510 and games run great - no FPS drops at medium graphics settings. Yes, if you didn’t know, for three or four years now mobile games have had graphics settings that help games adapt to different hardware.

So, if you buy a modern flagship, it will not become outdated for games in the general sense - the games will still work after a couple of years, but some of the effects or graphics settings will have to be set a little lower than on more recent models. Everything is the same as on personal computers.

Will the graphics be better on new models of smartphones and tablets?

Now Apple iOS and MacOS X have added support for the new Metal API - this is a connection between the video card and the games that run on it. The better the connection, the faster the games run and the richer their graphics can be (more effects and technologies can be shown simultaneously). For Android, the graphics API will also be changed - OpenGL will be replaced by the Vulkan API. I can’t say anything about how quickly they will be able to implement it. But today there is OpenGL ES 3.0 - this is definitely a dead standard on arrival, which began to be actively used only this year and will not be used anymore, because Vulkan will appear in Android 6 - faster in work, faster in game development.

This means that if you buy a smartphone now, it's important that it can be upgraded to Android 6 if you want to see groundbreaking graphics in three to four years. And, most likely, support for OpenGL ES 3.0 will also be important for the Vulkan API to work on the device. This is a rare case when there is a possibility that on a huge number of old devices, a significant part of the new games will not work at all. And where games do work, there may be huge differences in graphics.

So on new models (in this case), the graphics will really be much better in a couple of years. But now I don’t see much difference in Modern Combat 5 on new smartphones or in it on old ones. Same with Real Racing, Asphalt, Shadowgun and other hits.

How quickly does a smartphone break and is it worth overpaying for the brand?

Smartphones from top brands often receive used O Greater support from service centers, this is the only reason to take them. If they break, it’s easier to find a new part and the service life increases. But otherwise, everything is not so simple - surprisingly, first-tier brands are prone to breakdowns no less often than the worst China. The so-called B brands turned out to be somewhat stronger and more durable, although it is not always possible to send them for repairs.

In most smartphones, the first problems can begin within the first year, less often within two. Absolutely any part can break or malfunction - battery, display, buttons, camera. In my case, two years later, the battery of the Galaxy Note swelled and damaged (by an electrical surge) all the power circuits, problems began with the display, and when the charge was less than 30%, it began to blink. Replacing the battery did not solve the problem; until the very end, the smartphone acted up for the next two years. I didn’t replace it for a number of reasons, one of the main ones was the desire not to pollute the planet with unnecessary garbage (the damn “greenies” brainwashed me).

Before writing the article, I talked with some friends who are still working in the field of IT journalism. Their service life of one device is usually a year, because then the model is replaced with a more recent one - their profession allows it. But not all previous devices go to AVITO; some go to friends and family. So you can find out about the service life quite easily - the same two years, maximum three. It’s very rare for four years if a person doesn’t mind suffering from an obviously faulty gadget.

So it’s probably NOT worth overpaying for the brand. It is more profitable to take devices with a focus on China (for example, Lenovo K50-T5 - no name at all) or Russian brands (they have better support and guarantees, Android is localized, etc.). Buying a cool flagship for 50 - 100,000 will not bring any real benefit in terms of durability. And only Nvidia thinks about games for their hardware. Samsung, for example, pushes affiliate games (read casual crap), which cannot always be removed. Most budget flagships will also last two to three years, and any expensive flagship will still lose its value in that time.

What are the conclusions?

You can play on a smartphone and tablet even four years after release, if it even survives until that time. The problems of hardware obsolescence here certainly cannot become an obstacle in the case of flagship models, which cannot be said about the hardware itself - it can fail. And this happens on any brand, unfortunately - Samsung or Apple are no exception. But at the moment we are on the threshold of a new era for Android games - the release of the Vulkan API is ahead. So now is the only moment in the coming years when it’s worth waiting for the release of Android 6 and models based on it for the sake of the new standard. And feel free to take him for two or three years of active games.

If you want to see cool graphics today and now and get it in the future, then take the iPhone 6 Plus with the Metal API. Everything is already working there and the first games on this combination can already be tried out. Yes, they are expensive, but they lose noticeably less in price than Android flagships. And the service life may be slightly longer, because with an official guarantee, replacement of problematic parts is done quickly, right down to the entire gadget. Of course, you can fly in with Apple for repairs - in the last 2-3 years the number of problem devices they have has increased noticeably.

How can you extend the battery life of a phone running Android OS?

Many modern phones have one common problem - short battery life. In principle, this applies to all phones, tablets and other mobile gadgets. But the problem is especially acute for devices running the Android operating system. However, thanks to the variety of settings in the Android operating system and a large amount of free software, the problem can be partially solved. Today we're going to talk about phone battery life and give you some tips to help extend its life.

Most phones running the Android operating system (as well as Windows Phone, iOS and others) have lithium batteries. These are lithium-ion and more modern lithium-polymer.

Previously, after the appearance of the first mobile phones and tablets, they worked. In particular, batteries. They were distinguished by the presence of a “memory effect”, which made them somewhat inconvenient to use. In addition, nickel-cadmium batteries contain harmful cadmium. This complicates their production and disposal. Therefore, alkaline batteries were quickly replaced from the consumer electronics segment by lithium batteries.

Lithium batteries (Li─Ion and Li─Pol) in Android phones have a lifespan of about 3 years or approximately 500 charge-discharge cycles. This is data when using the phone with average intensity.

If you often watch videos on your smartphone, constantly run games and other resource-intensive applications, then the battery discharges faster and the required number of charge-discharge cycles is generated faster. As a result, battery life is shortened.

Various ways to extend the life of your Android phone battery

Reducing display brightness

The display on an Android phone is one of the main energy eaters. Therefore, to save energy, you can disable automatic brightness setting and reduce this value to an acceptable level.

Of course, you should not fanatically reduce the brightness. Make sure you feel comfortable working with your phone.

Below is how to do this.
Here and below in the article, the setup process is shown in the form of several screenshots in the gallery. You can click on the first image and scroll through them to view.

Switching your phone to airplane mode at night

While you sleep, your Android phone drains its battery significantly. But you don't use it. So, some experts advise turning off the radio module of your smartphone at night.

Disabling the GPS module

As you know, the battery of an Android phone runs out especially quickly if you use it as a navigator.

If you do not need this, then disable the use of GPS by phone applications.

Turn off automatic sync

Using automatic synchronization, your Android phone updates information in various accounts and services. This function “eats” a lot of battery energy. So, use manual synchronization and disable automatic synchronization.

Select an application and make sure synchronization is turned off

Cross-platform frameworks provide mobile app developers with a comprehensive set of tools designed to improve productivity by solving common problems. The question is which frameworks are best for you doing mobile development. To help you answer this question, we have prepared a special list of cross-platform frameworks for developing high-quality mobile applications.

With nearly three million apps on Google Play, the Android operating system dominates the mobile landscape. Individuals, small companies and large enterprises are working hard to establish a strong mobile presence and capture market share. However, not everyone has the proper experience and resources needed to create a good mobile application from scratch using native tools.

The goal of frameworks is to make mobile app development as easy as possible.

List of cross-platform application development frameworks:

- Corona SDK;

Is it easy to create applications and games using Corona SDK? The creators of the Corona SDK framework promise ten times faster development of games and mobile applications. How is this even possible? This is likely due to the fact that the internal structure of the Corona application is entirely based on Lua, a lightweight multi-paradigmatic programming language with an emphasis on speed, portability, extensibility and ease of use.

The official Corona SDK website contains guides, lessons, and examples designed to turn novice mobile application developers into experienced professionals. Guides and tips cover all sorts of developer topics. From the basics of mobile development to more advanced topics. The Corona SDK framework is absolutely free. We remember about cross-platform. It runs on both Windows and Mac OS X and supports real-time application testing.

- TheAppBuilder;

So, description TheAppBuilder is a framework used by some of the largest organizations in the world, equipped with a user interface to speed up the development of application code. There are reviews that the version works best when used to create company presentations and other information applications. The framework comes with ready-made blocks for push notifications, feedback, surveys, content updates, analytics and much more. Best of all, TheAppBuilder integrates directly with Google Play, allowing you to publish ready-made apps with one click.

- Xamarin;

The Xamarin framework was developed by the same people who created Mono, compatible with the ECMA standard, and has a set of tools compatible with the .NET Framework. Xamarin offers developers a single C# codebase that they can use to create their own apps for all major mobile operating systems.

Unlike many other frameworks, Xamarin has already been used by more than 1.4 million developers around the world. With Xamarin for Visual Studio, developers can take advantage of the power of Microsoft Visual Studio and all its advanced features, including code completion, IntelliSense, and app debugging on a simulator or mobile device. The Xamarin Test Cloud feature allows you to instantly test applications on up to 2,000 real devices in the cloud (remotely, via the Internet). This is by far the best way to deal with the severe fragmentation of the Android ecosystem and release bug-free mobile apps that run without any major issues on most gadgets.

- Appcelerator Titanium;

The Appcelerator Titanium framework is part of the Appcelerator Platform, which includes all the tools mobile app developers need to build, test, and deploy highly optimized apps. The Titanium framework uses JavaScript to call a vast collection of APIs. These APIs call native operating system functions, providing exceptional performance and a natural appearance.

Titanium includes a visually oriented mobile app development process that relies heavily on pre-built code blocks that can be assembled via drag and drop. You can create data models programmatically or visually. Test your finished mobile apps in the cloud and track them with the Mobile Lifecycle dashboard, which provides valuable insight into app performance.

- PhoneGap;

PhoneGap from Adobe is one of the world's most popular frameworks for developing Android applications. It is created by the Apache Cordova development team. An open source mobile application development environment that uses CSS3 and HTML5, as well as JavaScript for cross-platform development. PhoneGap is also completely open source software.

It is based on an intuitive desktop application used to create applications and connect these applications to mobile devices (phones/smartphones, tablets). Finally, no more obscure text commands that are easy to get wrong and hard to remember. The fantastic desktop app is complemented by the PhoneGap mobile app. The application allows you to instantly see changes on your connected mobile device. Other things that make PhoneGap so recommended are its large library of plugins, third-party tools, and thriving community.

- Ionic;

Ionic is a free and open source framework licensed under the MIT license. It offers a whole library of components and tools. Ionic allows you to develop progressive web apps and native mobile apps for every major app store - all from a single codebase. Thanks to the best native plugins, it's extremely easy to use features like Bluetooth and Health Kit, and fingerprint authentication is also supported.

Ionic is also designed for performance tuning and optimization. All applications built using Ionic look like they are standardized and they work equally well. To date, nearly four million applications have been created by five million Ionic developers around the world. If you want to join them, visit the official website and learn more about this framework.

- NativeScript;

JavaScript and Angular, as well as TypeScript, are perhaps the most commonly used web development technologies. With the NativeScript framework, you can also use them to create applications. Simply put, NativeScript creates platform-specific user interfaces from a single code base. Unlike other integrated frameworks, NativeScript is supported by Telerik, a Bulgarian company that offers various software tools.

Do you need lessons on creating mobile applications in the cross-platform NativeScript framework? To help mobile app developers become familiar with this framework, the official website provides many examples and detailed tutorials. You can view real implementations of mobile applications, study official documentation, and even dive into the source code.

- React Native;

React Native is developed by Facebook and used by Instagram, Tesla, Airbnb, Baidu, Walmart and many other Fortune 500 companies. Facebook's React JavaScript framework is open source. Since React Native uses the same UI building blocks as regular mobile apps for iOS and Android gadgets, it is impossible to differentiate a React Native app from an app built using Objective-C or Java. Once you update the source code, you will immediately see the changes in the application preview window. If you ever feel the need to manually optimize certain parts of your application, React Native allows you to combine native code with components written in Swift or Objective-C and Java.

- Sencha Touch.

Sencha Touch what is it? Like TheAppBuilder, it is an enterprise framework for creating universal mobile applications. It uses hardware acceleration techniques to achieve high performance. Sencha Touch comes with five dozen built-in UI components and decent-looking themes, making it easy to create amazing apps that attract users.

The framework includes a robust data package that can use data from any internal data source. With this package, you can create collections of data using highly functional models that offer features such as sorting and filtering. Sencha Touch has received praise from many influential companies and organizations.

Conclusion of the review of cross-platform frameworks for mobile application development:

No matter which mobile app development framework you choose, don't be afraid to change your mind if you ever feel like there are better development environment options. Cross-platform frameworks are extremely fluid, with new ones being released on a regular basis. Their goal is to help you quickly turn a rough idea into a working app, and a working mobile app into a finished product. In the end, it doesn't matter whether you achieve your goal using the latest modern framework that everyone is talking about, or a long-established framework that is starting to gather dust.

When Chinese IT company Huawei decided to unveil its new multimedia phone surrounded by the ornate National Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona, it certainly gave hints to the journalists present (covering technology news) about what they would see. After all, the recently unveiled Huawei Mate X foldable smartphone looks a bit like a rare Picasso painting.

First review of Huawei Mate X: a smartphone with a folding screen - attractive, has powerful technical characteristics and an incredibly expensive price to buy it.

So, what is the Huawei Mate X smartphone? The impression from the first review of Huawei Mate X can be expressed by the phrase that this smartphone is great. Even the phrase that this is a beautiful smartphone softens the review a little. Rather, he is magnificent in his own way. It has perhaps the most worthy industrial design of any mobile phone that the tech giants have ever released in the last few years. The new Huawei smartphone, from contemplation and deep imagination, clearly expands the boundaries of what smartphones can be. Since the size of a smartphone screen easily turns into a tablet one. Thus, mobile content can be viewed in a convenient way.

Those who know everything about phones might think that when asked for a unique price, the Mate X is a bit like the Picasso story in that it is a very expensive smartphone. The Mate X has raised the bar for smartphone prices. But perhaps, given the specifications on offer, it can justify its high price for those deciding which phone to buy.

Display on Huawei Mate X.

Which display is better? Huawei Mate X has a single display that can be transformed into three different configurations. The first mode is 8-inch tablet. It's an almost perfect square with an aspect ratio of 8:7.1 and a resolution of 2480 by 2200 pixels.

Since the screen is on the outside of the smartphone, when the mobile device is folded, you get two screens. The front screen offers 6.6 inches from edge to edge, complemented by a 19.5:9 aspect ratio and a pixel resolution of 2480 by 1148.

There's also a back that offers fewer inches for the screen as it houses the device's cameras and handle. You will primarily use this part to take selfie photos. This part provides a decent (but thin) screen size of 6.38 inches with a somewhat compressed 25:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 2480 by 892 pixels.

How comfortable is the Huawei Mate X in terms of thickness?

When folded, the Huawei Mate X mobile phone is 11 millimeters thick and, unlike the rival Samsung Galaxy Fold phone, there is no bulky gap. It is completely flat and locks into place with just one click. It would be interesting to test how well it locks when thrown into a purse, for example, and see if it can accidentally open or not.

When unfolded, the Mate X smartphone is 5.4mm thick, which is slightly thinner than the iPad Pro!

On Huawei Mate X, the camera, the pen - everything is for the user!

A quick look at the side of the Huawei Mate X - it's a handle (Huawei's fairly descriptive term). The device contains three mobile cameras, including one using Leica hardware. In technology news, this was not a surprise. The same configuration has appeared on all Huawei phones, starting with the P20 Pro model. It would be strange if the manufacturer Huawei refused such a function in such a revolutionary device.

You may notice that the phone does not have a dedicated front-facing selfie camera. This is because the three rear cameras are selfie cameras. To take a photo of yourself, you just need to fold your phone and flip it over.

It's all pretty exciting. Huawei's premium phones are regularly considered to have the best camera phones on the market. While the company didn't share any camera samples during the launch event, it's fair to say that some people love the experience of taking selfies with a high-end mobile camera enhanced by Master AI software.

And because the back of the Mate X also contains a screen, you can use your smartphone when taking photos, for example to show the subject of your photo a preview of how they'll end up looking in the photo.

Huawei employees claim that there are no problems with the camera on the Mate X model. This is good news, both in terms of appearance and overall durability. The latter is what the company is focusing on as it announced a specially designed protective case with the phone.

New 5G connectivity and performance for the Mate X smartphone.

When reviewing the Mate X, it's important to remember that Huawei is more than just a phone maker. It targets a variety of IT areas, including SoC design. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Mate X uses a Balong 5G modem, as well as a Huawei Kirin 980 processor.

The modem is especially interesting because Huawei promises that the performance will be more than double that of modems from rival firms such as Qualcomm Snapdragon and Samsung Exynos. It is assumed that users who can afford to buy Huawei Mate X in stores will be able to use the download speed of 4.6 Gbps, for example, to download a 1 GB movie in just three seconds. Of course, right now, we have not been able to independently verify this, so for now we can only take our word for it.

What operating system is installed on Huawei Mate X?

In terms of software, the Mate X runs Google Android 9.0 Pie system.

A Huawei spokesperson also said that Desktop Mode software will be available for its latest foldable phone, allowing the Mate X to be used as a smartphone, tablet, or even a desktop computer.

Huawei Mate X memory.

Mate X is a mobile phone with two SIM cards, one slot of which supports 5G network, and the other is limited to 4G communication. If you don't need the latter feature, you can simply insert an NM card (clarification, NM is a nano memory card invented by Huawei that offers the same type of memory as a microSD memory card but in a smaller form factor) and add additional a place to store data in a mobile device. At the same time, the basic version of the smartphone is available with 512 GB of memory. Even the most dedicated filmmakers are unlikely to use all that storage capacity in a mobile phone.

Battery for Mate X.

With such a big screen to work with, you'll be glad to know that the Huawei Mate X phone launched with a pretty gigantic battery. The device has two cells, which together measure up to a respectable 4500 mAh. Unfortunately, there are no battery tests right now, so it's difficult to say how this translates into actual use of the new smartphone.

The Chinese company shared that the Mate X comes with a 55W super charging feature that can recharge the phone's battery by 85 percent in just thirty minutes.

Huawei Mate X pricing.

The Huawei Mate X is perhaps the most important phone ever introduced by the rising Chinese tech brand, and not just because it cements its reputation as an innovative premium handset maker. This phone implements the company's more than three years of research and development and integrates advances in materials technology and communications equipment.

With this in mind, don't be surprised that the smartphone comes with really expensive prices, starting at 2,299 euros. When Huawei CEO Richard Yu (the English spelling of his name is "Richard Yu") broke the news, the silence from the crowd he had previously enjoyed was replaced by whispers of questioning. How much, how much does it cost?

Speaking of prices, it is about 300 euros more expensive than the flagship mobile device Samsung Galaxy Fold. And it's about 800 Euros more expensive than the most expensive Apple iPhone. Price-wise, the Mate X is in the same range as the company's previous luxury phones that bore the brand of luxury car brands, namely Porsche.

Huawei is not oblivious to the high cost of the Mate X, and during the conversation, Richard Yu said that the price of the phone reflects the high cost of research and development of the mobile device. He explained that the patented hinge that separates the two displays was a three-year development process and contains over a hundred different parts. This kind of research and development is not cheap, and it is inevitable that there will be costs.

However, two things are inevitable. Firstly, there will be no shortage of enthusiastic pioneers willing to save on a lot in order to save up the money for a premium phone. For these buyers, there is an undeniable allure to being among the first to own something special. Perhaps Huawei can take advantage of the news buzz and benefit from more than just selling cheaper phones.

Secondly, prices on the market will inevitably decline. Perhaps not for this smartphone, but certainly for foldable smartphones in general. By and large, the price of 2300 Euros per phone will be perceived as a deviation from the norm. This will be driven by several factors, ranging from inevitable cost savings to competition from other up-and-coming brands like Xiaomi and OPPO, which are making strong inroads into the Western smartphone market.

Availability of purchasing Huawei Mate X.

For example, Huawei hasn't said how much the device will cost in the UK, but if you're guessing, it'll probably cost around £2,300. This assumption takes into account previous price trends, high UK sales tax and the continued decline of the pound.

Also, Huawei CEO Yu did not mention any plans to release the Mate X in the United States. Which is not surprising. The company rarely releases phones in the US. Thus, the Mate 20 Pro smartphone, which until recently was the best Android phone and which could be bought for reasonable money, was completely absent from the American market, which forced American consumers to order the smartphone from abroad. This situation could push prices even higher for US users, who may be forced to pay high customs duties and taxes.

When will it be possible to buy Huawei Mate X?

Huawei has announced that the Mate X will be released mid-year. Unfortunately, this message was not more specific. To clarify, you just need to wait and see what the official release date for Huawei Mate X will be.

Are you planning to buy a new premium phone? There are reasons why it's better to wait before buying a premium phone right now. Which? Here are some of the main reasons. What the buyer can expect from premium phones in 2019 is a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 mobile chip, new super fast 5G connectivity, foldable screen design and a 48-megapixel mobile camera.

All about phones and buying them: If you are planning to buy a new premium phone, wait at least one month to buy it. And that's why:

It is expected that at the Mobile World Congress 2019 (also known as MWC 2019), which will be held in just a couple of weeks (on the twentieth of February), most of the leading smartphone companies will present their latest flagship phones with advanced features and updated technical specifications.

So, new cell phone specifications for this year.

Samsung will release the Galaxy S10 multimedia phone, while HMD Global will introduce the Nokia 9 PureView five-camera phone. Phone makers Huawei, Oppo and LG will also showcase their latest mobile devices at the upcoming mobile expo.

But in 2019, buyers need to think about more than just the next model upgrade cycle when purchasing a new premium phone. And the reasons for this are the unique technical characteristics in the description of the phones.

- Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor.

Qualcomm's top-end processor powers most premium phones, from the Samsung Galaxy S9 to the OnePlus 6T. The Snapdragon 845 processor is now history. The latest Qualocmm Snapdragon 855 chipset, based on 7nm process technology, offers better performance, higher battery efficiency and built-in artificial intelligence (aka AI) processing.

Paired with the Snapdragon X50 modem, the Snapdraon 855 will also bring 5G mobile connectivity to premium smartphones in 2019.

Other key features of the chipset include improved gaming performance (Adreno 640 GPU), artificial intelligence and a higher resolution camera, as well as an in-display fingerprint sensor.

- 48 megapixel camera.

The latest premium smartphones are expected to come with a higher resolution camera. The 48MP camera is the new rage and already several phones like Honor View20 and Redmi Note 7 have a similar feature.

While resolution is certainly not the best measurement to judge a camera by, the built-in sensors are also improving significantly. Most of these 48MP camera phones are likely to use the Sony IMX586 sensor, dubbed the highest resolution camera sensor for mobile phones.

Apart from better camera resolution and sensors, premium mobile phones 2019 may also come with Samsung-like quad and penta (five) camera setups. Most 2018 phones featured dual cameras with a primary camera while the secondary camera ranged from ultra-wide, depth to monochrome.

We expect the new phones to feature most of these sensors with three, four or five cameras.

- Fifth generation mobile communications: 5G.

The evolution of mobile networks continues! The upcoming MWC 2019 will also be a launching pad for 5G phones. Xiaomi, OnePlus, Samsung and almost all the leading players in the mobile market are expected to introduce their new phones with 5G connectivity. Most of these phones will also hit the European and US markets later this year. Some Apple fans are already looking to buy the 5G iPhone. For other countries, the rollout of 5G networks may be delayed by at least one year. But investing in a 5G phone right now wouldn't be a bad idea.

- Folding mobile phone.

Folding phones are no longer a concept, screen folding is already part of the features of mobile phones. Korean company Samsung introduced its first foldable phone late last year. It is expected to unveil the commercial version of the phone at its event on February 20, ahead of the MWC 2019 mobile expo.

Samsung is likely betting big on the new form factor, as it plans to release at least one million foldable phones this year. Considering that Russia is one of the priority markets, we can expect that foldable phones will also be released. Apart from Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo have plans to launch foldable phones this year.

- Artificial intelligence in phones, plus don’t forget about machine learning.

Google introduced the Android 9 Pie operating system last year. Android Pie features like Adaptive Display and Adaptive Brightness are powered by machine learning to help improve your Android phone experience. Going forward, artificial intelligence and machine learning will become an important part of updates to the Google Android platform. It may be worth making sure that your new phone will be compatible not only with Android 9 Pie, but also with the Android Q successor.

Besides Google, phone companies like Xiaomi and Asus are embedding artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) directly into system apps. The camera on premium phones, for example, uses AI and ML to automatically recognize scenes and automatically optimize settings. Most of the 2019 mobile phones will come with AI-enhanced cameras.

The only thing that remains a dream when buying is when the best mobile phones will have a full-fledged “3D phone” feature.

News added:

1) Samsung has released the latest version of Galaxy S10 and people believe that iPhone may lose its position as the king of smartphones.

The latest flagship smartphone Samsung Galaxy S10 was released by the company on February 20. On this day, Samsung presented many new products. The audience was really interested in the new phone demonstrated. So much so that they say that Apple's iPhone has a serious alternative. With the latest Galaxy S10 model, Samsung surprised and shocked fans, in a good way.

2) The attractive, powerful and incredibly expensive Huawei Mate X foldable 5G phone.

Following the announcement of the first folding smartphone Samsung Galaxy Fold, the Chinese company Huawei is betting on the folding screen form factor and announcing the release of Huawei Mate X, which also works with 5G communications. Developer Huawei is taking a completely different approach compared to Samsung, namely placing the smartphone's rollable display on the outside rather than on the inside, and this solution has a number of pros and cons when describing next-generation phones. The price of Huawei Mate X starts from 2299 Euro.

3) Will Apple release a foldable iPhone?

Some analysts believe that a foldable iPhone could be in the works from the Cupertino company. Then, if the new Apple smartphone comes out with a folding screen, it has a chance to become the best among the already released foldable smartphones Samsung Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X.

Moom, from the developers of Many Tricks, has been bringing order to chaos since 2011, making managing windows in your operating system as easy as clicking a mouse button or using a keyboard shortcut. With Moom, you can easily move and scale windows to fit half screen, quarter screen, or fill the screen; Set custom sizes and positions, and save open window layouts for one-click positioning. Once you try Moom, you'll wonder how you ever used your Mac without it.

Software review: Moom is a program for moving and scaling windows in the Mac OS system.

So, Moom allows you to move and scale windows - using your mouse or keyboard - in predefined locations and sizes, or in full-screen mode. When using the program with a mouse, all you have to do is hover over the green resize button and the Moom interface will appear. When you are using the keyboard, click on the shortcut you defined and the Moom keyboard frame will appear, then you can move the windows around using the arrow keys and modifier keys.

Moom can be launched as a traditional app, as a menu bar app, or as a completely faceless background app.

Pop-up window placement.

Hover your mouse over the green button of any window and the Moom palette will pop up.

Quickly fill the screen or move and resize vertically or horizontally around the edges of the screen. Want quarter-size windows instead? By holding down the Option key, the palette presents four quarter-size corner options along with a "no resize center" option.

Resizing is not a problem.

It's actually drag and drop, using Moom's unique on-screen resizing grid.

Click the empty box below the pop-up palette, move your mouse pointer to where you want the window to be positioned, then click and drag to new dimensions.

Release the mouse button and the window will fill the outline you drew on the screen, it's not difficult at all.

Want to quickly move and scale windows in specific areas of the screen? Simply turn on Moom's edge and corner snapping feature.

Grab the window, drag it to an edge or corner, and release the mouse button. You can set the resize action for each location in Moom's settings.

Set the window set to the size and location you want, then save the layout. Restore the layout using the assigned hotkey or through the Moom menu.

This feature is especially useful if you're using a laptop with an external display; Moom can launch saved layouts when you add or remove displays.

No mouse required.

Don't worry, keyboard users. Moom isn't just for those who prefer to use a mouse. Enable keyboard controls and you can pan, resize, center, use the on-screen grid, and more—all without touching your mouse.

Additionally, each custom Moom command, continue reading, can be assigned a global keyboard shortcut or one that only works when the keyboard controller is on screen.

Countless custom commands.

Create and save frequently used Moom actions in a menu of custom commands, with additional separators and labels.

Moving, scaling, resizing, centering, even moving to other displays can all be done using custom commands. You can even create a sequence of commands tied to a single shortcut, simplifying complex moving and resizing operations.

But wait, there's more to moving and scaling windows on Mac OS with Moom.

Use Moom as a regular Dock-based app, as a menu bar icon, or as a completely invisible background app.

Custom commands are accessed using the Moom menu bar icon, the green button's pop-up palette, or keyboard shortcuts.

Use a small hex grid to resize the grid instead of a full screen virtual grid.

Move windows across displays, and use related commands to scale them to new sizes and locations as you move them.

You can display a keyboard cheat sheet that shows you what tasks you've assigned to which keys in keyboard mode.

Resizing windows to exact dimensions, ideal for testing how well windows fit into different sized windows.

Moom's developers have worked hard to achieve these goals, where great software should do its job efficiently, have a clear interface, and be enjoyable to use.

Summary:

Moom is a Mac OS app developed by Many Tricks that lets you quickly organize, resize, move, scale, and shape windows so you spend less time arranging windows and more time working with them.

Moom system requirements:

The program requires installation of the macOS 10.8 "Mountain Lion" operating system or later on your computer. You can try Moom for free.

Are you trying to download and choose the best file manager for Windows? There is good news, this is a portable XYplorer program, it is just a file manager for Windows and has such features as tabbed browsing, powerful file search (as an explorer, alternative), universal preview, customizable interface, optional dual panel and a large set unique ways to effectively automate frequently repeated tasks. This file manager for Windows computer, according to the developer Cologne Code Company, is fast, innovative, lightweight and portable. Read on for a review of the XYplorer program!

What is a file manager for Windows today.

Learn more about the functionality of the XYplorer file manager. So, there is an export of extended information about files of entire directories (or even directory trees) to CSV text files. Automatic column width adjustment. Customizable display formats for file size and date information. For each file and folder, the used (real) disk space is immediately displayed. Remembers the last folder and sort order. Browser-like history functionality. You can assign favorite folders. A large set of useful commands added to the standard file context menu, including "Copy to", "Move to", "Copy file name with path", "Copy file properties", "Rename multiple files". Icon extraction, multi-file timestamp and attribute label. Instantly display complete file/version information for each selected file. Instant preview of images, audio and video files (displaying detailed media information). Instantly view file contents for all files (ASCII and binary), including extracting text from binary files (fairly fast). Full support for Drag and Drop and mouse wheel.

XYplorer what is it for the user

XYplorer, as a two-panel file manager for Windows, was designed for heavy-duty work. The program is easy to install and easy to remove. Installing and running the program does not change your system or registry. Ease of use in that you can start working in the shortest possible time (the interface fully complies with file manager standards). The program is small, fast and convenient for the computer's RAM.

Portability:

XYplorer is a portable file manager. That is, it does not require any installation into the computer's operating system, stores all configuration data in the program data folder, and running it does not change your system or registry. Take it with you and you can run the program from a flash drive. Then file management is in your hands.

Working with tabs:

Tabs in the file manager make it easy to switch between folders. Drag them, hide them, lock them, name them, or place files on them. Tabs remember their configuration individually and across sessions. In addition, the user gets tabs and a dual panel.

Functionality:

XYplorer was designed to make the user's experience faster, according to the developer. Indeed, numerous usability improvements in an attractive interface help streamline your workflow and increase efficiency. Under these conditions, you can save a lot of time when working with files in Windows.

Scripts in the file manager for many tasks:

Yes, you can program this program. Individual solutions for individual tasks. No plugins are required, scripts are launched from the program folder. Even beginners can benefit from this feature as many ready-to-use scripts are available on the official file manager forum.

Speed of the program:

Speed has always been the main goal of XYplorer software development. The code is constantly optimized for performance, with zero tolerance for slowness. In addition, the file manager uses very little RAM in Windows; the executable file is small in size (only 7 MB) and loads on the system almost instantly.

Reliability:

Can I trust the XYplorer file manager? One thing is clear: the program works as intended by the developer and is expected to work; it seems that it is very difficult to put it into a crash state. Additionally, the developer states that any issues with the program are addressed immediately and are usually resolved within a few hours. It is worth adding that a large community closely monitors the development of the file manager and constantly tests frequently released beta versions.

Software customizability:

You can customize your file manager to look and behave the way you want. Customization ranges from fonts and colors to custom toolbar buttons and even file icons and program associations. And every part of XYplorer file manager is completely portable. Even dark mode.

Responsiveness of the XYplorer program developer:

System requirements for the program:

Since XYplorer is a portable file manager. File management does not require installation or modification of your operating system or registry. You can take the program with you and simply launch the file manager from a USB drive along with your personal configuration.

The XYplorer program works under 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Microsoft operating systems:

Windows Server 2003;
- Windows XP;
- Windows Vista;
- Windows Server 2008;
- Windows 7;
- Windows Server 2012;
- Windows 8;
- Windows 8.1;
- Windows Server 2016;
- Windows 10.

You can try the file manager for free, but remember that the demo version of XYplorer is fully functional only for 30 days after installation on your computer!

A fast program for downloading videos from the Internet for Mac: Downie will save video content once or according to a list and a customizable “alarm clock”.

A program for downloading videos from Internet sites - Downie is currently supported by more than 1,000 different sites (including Facebook, Vimeo, the legendary YouTube, Lynda, Youku, Daily Haha, MTV, iView, South Park Studios, Bloomberg, Kickstarter, NBC News, CollegeHumor , MetaCafe, as well as Bilibili and other sites with videos). Plus, the list of sites from which the program can download videos is growing rapidly.

Downie program features:

Support for downloading 4K YouTube videos - Unlike many other YouTube video downloaders, Downie supports HD YouTube videos, up to 4K format.

Frequent updates - you don’t have to wait long for new sites to be added from where you can download videos or errors are corrected. Downie is updated approximately once a week with new features, supported sites, and more.

International approach - Downie downloader not only supports specific sites created for a specific country, the program is also localized into different languages. If your language is not on the list of supported languages, just contact the developer, Charlie Monroe Software, and discuss the issue.

New features in Downie:

Redesign of the program's user interface - the downloader's user interface has been redesigned from scratch. According to the developer, the interface has become faster, more convenient and visually pleasing.

Menu bar icon - you can manage downloads from the menu bar, without having to be distracted from your current work.

Improved HLS support - the program developer claims that HLS streams load four times faster.

DASH support - DASH streams are now supported.

Major post-processing improvements - Post-processing of some uploads can take just seconds instead of minutes thanks to Downie, a shortcut to analyze video before converting it.

Simple Mode - If you prefer to keep the user interface as simple as possible, there's an Easy mode for you.

Grouping video files based on the site from which the download was made and the playlist - all downloads can now be sorted into folders depending on where you downloaded them from or what playlist they are from.

Delayed queue start is a function for scheduling downloads for the required time (for example, you can schedule a video download for the middle of the night) so as not to overload the Internet channel for the whole family.

User-controlled pop-up support - The program now additionally supports pop-up windows, so you can log into sites that open the login window in a separate window.

Simple tips for using Downie:

If you have a large list of links or many links within some text, simply drag it all onto Downie - the downloader will scan the text for links to video content.

You can also use copy and paste - just press Command-O in Downie and you can paste a lot of links.

Fast user support:

The developer of the video download program usually responds to emails within 24 hours and quite often adds support for the requested sites in the program in its next update.

A few words from the program developer:

Charlie Monroe, General Manager, Developer and Customer Support:

"My goal is to release the best applications and provide the best support."

Downie Compatibility:

Anyone who is thinking about downloading the Downie program for Mac. You should be aware that to work with the program, you need a computer with the operating system macOS 10.11 or later.

Breaking software news: VideoSolo DVD Creator for converting and recording video, with wide functionality for the user.

So, with VideoSolo DVD Creator, burn almost any video to DVD and even Blu-ray discs easily and quickly, with excellent flexibility of settings (you can record video, edit video, add audio, edit DVD menu).

It is possible to download online videos for burning DVDs or Blu-Ray discs.

Need to solve the problem of how to download videos from online sites? For example, from sites such as YouTube, Facebook, MTV, Vimeo, Yahoo, Dailymotion, TED, Vevo, Niconico, AOL, Worldstar Hip Hop, Youku, CBS, ESPN and others. With this program, home movies or videos, after downloading from an online site, can still be burned to DVD or Blu-ray.

The program allows you, in a few simple steps, to download 3D videos, high-definition videos (4K, 1080p and 720p resolutions) and music for any player.

Styling your DVD using the right menu.

The flexible VideoSolo DVD Creator program offers many diverse and incredible templates to edit DVD disc menus for you. Already available design themes such as holiday, family, wedding and more. After choosing the menu template you like, you can edit the DVD menu text and define its font, size, color. Creating a DVD menu is quite convenient.

Moreover, you can separately set background music, background picture and opening movie with your music, picture and video file.

Setting up DVD subtitles and audio tracks.

Need to change or create subtitles or audio tracks on your DVD? DVD Creator allows the user to customize the subtitles and audio track. That is, you can add subtitles and audio tracks to your DVD manually. Supported subtitle file formats are SSA, SRT, and ASS.

For audio files, this program supports almost all popular audio formats, so it is easy to import them into the program. With the DVD Creator utility, you can edit the audio volume and adjust the position of subtitles to get a personalized DVD file.

Video editing and live preview.

This DVD burning tool is designed with a powerful video editing feature that allows professionals and beginners alike to create professional-looking DVDs. Which allows you to adjust video effects such as brightness, saturation, hue, volume and contrast.

VideoSolo DVD Creator also supports the ability to trim video length, cut video, change aspect ratio, set position and transparency, and add text or image watermark to video.

The DVD Creator software user can view the DVD video at a convenient time before recording to make sure that everything is created as it should.

Video review of the VideoSolo DVD Creator program: User's Guide.

The average lifespan of a smartphone is from 1 to 3 years, most often 2. 4 is a lot and very bad for the user.
There are cases when smartphones work longer, but this is more a rarity than the general picture.
If the battery in a smartphone cannot be replaced, then the service life is limited to ~1000 charging cycles.
It is better to buy a smartphone half a year after the start of its sales, so there is less chance of buying a defective sample.
There are many factors that influence longevity and the brand is not important here. Acer lives with me longer than Samsung and is alive and well.
Cases and films are really important, without them scratches and damage are inevitable even with Gorilla Glass.
All games, even the newest ones, continue to run on the Galaxy Note. Two cores and four years are not a problem.
The exception is games supported by Nvidia, I play them on an Acer A510 (with Tegra III on board).

Will my Android smartphone be obsolete for gaming in four years?

Will the graphics be better on new models of smartphones and tablets?

How quickly does a smartphone break and is it worth overpaying for the brand?

What are the conclusions?

Android smartphones are more vulnerable to viruses

In most cases, Android smartphones become infected with viruses when applications are installed on them not from Google Play, but from unofficial stores and other Internet resources. This most often happens in China, where Google Play is banned, so there are more than 200 different application stores in the country, the owners of which often do not check them for malicious code. In general, Android smartphones are no more vulnerable to viruses than devices running other mobile operating systems.

Smartphones with two SIM cards are less reliable

The model with two SIM cards has only one drawback - it drains the battery faster. The smartphone has to connect to two cellular networks at once, so the battery drains about a third faster. But there is a trick here: simultaneous or alternating operating mode. The simultaneous mode is used via the radio module for each SIM card: you can always call both numbers, but the battery drains faster. In the second case, there is one radio module for two SIM cards, so if they make calls or access the Internet from one, the second one is unavailable. A smartphone with this mode, for example Honor 5X, uses battery more economically.

The battery only needs to be charged when it is completely discharged

This should have been done with old nickel-metal hydride and nickel-cadmium batteries. They suffered from the “memory effect”: if you put a half-discharged battery on charge, it “remembered” this limit and began to give only half of its capacity, believing that it was working normally. Modern lithium-polymer and lithium-ion batteries are free of this effect, but to increase the battery life of a smartphone, it is better to charge them after discharge to 20%.

Android smartphones are poorly protected

The latest version of the operating system - Android 6.0 Marshmallow - has done a lot of work on protection. There is now support for a fingerprint scanner, which is located on the rear panel of the flagship Huawei Nexus 6P. With its help, you can unlock your smartphone (when it lies in your palm, your finger falls on the scanner - this is convenient), confirm a payment via NFC or Google Play. Bypassing such protection is more difficult than a regular password. In addition, Android 6.0 controls application access to smartphone functions, backups and resets data, and has fast encryption. Manufacturers, in turn, promise to make regular security updates.

Modern powerful smartphones are very expensive

Buyers of old budget Android smartphones often encountered constant interface freezes and application errors. The hardware was simply not designed for the operating system, and vice versa. But over time, the production of components became cheaper, and inexpensive smartphones began to have 8-core processors and 2 gigabytes of RAM, which should be enough for all everyday tasks. By the way, with version Android 4.4 KitKat, the operating system has become less demanding on the power of the smartphone.

Smartphones from Chinese companies are inferior to products from other manufacturers

Chinese smartphones no longer look exotic, especially since according to statistics they are becoming increasingly popular not only in the domestic market, but also in Europe and America. This is not surprising, since, firstly, companies from China are growing rapidly. Secondly, smartphones from the largest Chinese manufacturers are on average cheaper than competitors’ models, but at the same time they are equipped with all the necessary functionality. For example, the new Honor 5X smartphone has two separate SIM card slots (for nano-SIM and micro-SIM). There is also a separate slot for a microSD memory card up to 128 GB. The Honor 5X body is made of durable aircraft-grade aluminum, and the 5.5-inch screen with a display resolution of 1920x1080 pixels will provide the most positive experience while viewing photos and videos. Honor 5X is equipped with a 13 MP camera, and on its rear panel there is a sensitive fingerprint scanner that can activate various actions.
Such a set of characteristics and reasonable prices allows manufacturers from China to increasingly appear in various charts of the best smartphones.

The more megapixels a camera has, the better the photos

Matrix resolution, which is measured in megapixels, is an important characteristic of the camera. It tells you how big the photo will be: 5 megapixels is 2560x1920, and 12 megapixels is already 4048x3040. The larger the photo, the greater the detail and the more you can magnify it. But the quality of photography is directly influenced by many other characteristics: optics, stabilization system, image processing algorithms and matrix operation. To understand whether a smartphone takes good pictures, you must first pay attention not to the number of megapixels, but to reviews from professionals and studying test images of various smartphone models.

The average lifespan of smartphones is no more than a year

If the smartphone has not worked for even a year, then it is either a bad or defective model. Depending on operating conditions, quality of components, support for security updates and battery life (what if the device has a rare and non-removable battery?), the smartphone should last from two to five years. But they change much more often - due to fashion, mechanical defects of panels and screens, the emergence of new functions and networks. Another important point is the relevance of the operating system: the older it is, the less likely it is to be compatible with the latest applications.