Korean beasts unleashed
On Monday this week, Mobile World Congress opened its doors, in Barcelona, Spain. The annual show for mobile hardware, software operators and Internet companies marks the launch of various exciting new devices, technologies and is in general a pre-cursor to the industry trends. Just before the official launch, tech giants, Samsung and LG launched the next iterations of their flagship phones on the same day. Like me, all the tech-watchers were scrambling to find out what these phones will offer this time. Let’s take a look at how these much-awaited phones:
LG G5:
I’ve had LG’s G2 and was quite impressed with it. Since then, though I didn’t have a chance to get my hands on the latest versions, I have always admired how LG has pushed the boundaries and made the G series better with every iteration. The completely redesigned G5 is another innovative and bold iteration that has really got me excited. The phone is expectedly rich in terms of specs- it offers latest Snapdragon 820 processor coupled with 4GB of RAM. It is a gorgeous looking phone with 5.3” screen as compared to 5.5” screen on G4. Smaller screen with the resolution of 1440p ensures higher ppi and sharper display. It is the first phone in G series that has a full aluminum-clad body. The rear of the phone has changed from last G phones. Volume buttons have moved to the sides and a fingerprint scanner features prominently on the back along with not one but two cameras. The dual-camera lenses are amazing to take wide-angle shots with a field of vision of 135 degrees as compared to 75 degrees on standard phones (human eyes have field of vision of 120 degrees).
On the software front, the phone is powered by Android Marshmallow but with some tweaks. Gone is the App drawer and so the apps stay on the home screen like the iPhone. While people who move from iPhone, might find it neat, I didn’t particularly like this change. Another much celebrated feature is the always on screen that shows time and notifications. As per LG, the always on feature does not really hit the battery and is really convenient. The phone offers a slot for SD card and a removable 2,800 mAh battery.
Overall, the phone is brilliant in terms of looks, internals and innovations like ‘Friends’ which are add-on modules that can be plugged into the phone through a removable battery slot. The modules launched are Cam Plus which adds functionality to take photos really convenient. Another module Hi-Fi Plus adds audio functionality for serious audiophiles. This module is designed in partnership with Bang & Olufsen.
Samsung Galaxy S7
Sumsung has quite a following for its Galaxy S series which had a new version launched on February 21. The phone carries the design language from S6 with aluminum clad body and a glass back. It also retains 5.1” screen from its predecessor featuring 1440p resolution. As always, the display is very bright and gorgeious. The phone is powered by either a Snapdragon 820 or its own Exynos 8890 chipset depending upon region. Backed with 4 GB RAM, the phone is fast and offers great performance.
New features include IP68 certification, making the phone dust and water resistance. S7 also has an Always ON display which means a part of the screen is always active displaying notifications, time and other information.
Samsung Pay has been made more accessible for easy and quick use. Fingerprint scanner and a heart-rate monitor are featured like before.
Galaxy S7 comes with Android Marshmallow baked in TouchWiz UI which unfortunately still seems bloated.
S6 was always praised for its brilliant camera. S7’s camera promises to be as amazing with an f / 1.7 aperture capable of taking in more light and detail. Though the megapixel count has gone down from 16 MP to 12 MP, Samsung has ensured that the camera is better than ever even in low lights and can take 4K video with fast motion and slow motion. Another highlight of the camera is improved autofocus. Apparently it takes microseconds to focus on the subject.
The(still unremovable) 3,000 mAh battery is bigger than S6 which had 2,550 mAh.
Overall, the phone is the sleekest version yet and has the best technology possible on a phone. On the downside, this iteration does not offer too much innovation except minor updation on the S6 features.
On Monday this week, Mobile World Congress opened its doors, in Barcelona, Spain. The annual show for mobile hardware, software operators and Internet companies marks the launch of various exciting new devices, technologies and is in general a pre-cursor to the industry trends. Just before the...
On Monday this week, Mobile World Congress opened its doors, in Barcelona, Spain. The annual show for mobile hardware, software operators and Internet companies marks the launch of various exciting new devices, technologies and is in general a pre-cursor to the industry trends. Just before the official launch, tech giants, Samsung and LG launched the next iterations of their flagship phones on the same day. Like me, all the tech-watchers were scrambling to find out what these phones will offer this time. Let’s take a look at how these much-awaited phones:
LG G5:
I’ve had LG’s G2 and was quite impressed with it. Since then, though I didn’t have a chance to get my hands on the latest versions, I have always admired how LG has pushed the boundaries and made the G series better with every iteration. The completely redesigned G5 is another innovative and bold iteration that has really got me excited. The phone is expectedly rich in terms of specs- it offers latest Snapdragon 820 processor coupled with 4GB of RAM. It is a gorgeous looking phone with 5.3” screen as compared to 5.5” screen on G4. Smaller screen with the resolution of 1440p ensures higher ppi and sharper display. It is the first phone in G series that has a full aluminum-clad body. The rear of the phone has changed from last G phones. Volume buttons have moved to the sides and a fingerprint scanner features prominently on the back along with not one but two cameras. The dual-camera lenses are amazing to take wide-angle shots with a field of vision of 135 degrees as compared to 75 degrees on standard phones (human eyes have field of vision of 120 degrees).
On the software front, the phone is powered by Android Marshmallow but with some tweaks. Gone is the App drawer and so the apps stay on the home screen like the iPhone. While people who move from iPhone, might find it neat, I didn’t particularly like this change. Another much celebrated feature is the always on screen that shows time and notifications. As per LG, the always on feature does not really hit the battery and is really convenient. The phone offers a slot for SD card and a removable 2,800 mAh battery.
Overall, the phone is brilliant in terms of looks, internals and innovations like ‘Friends’ which are add-on modules that can be plugged into the phone through a removable battery slot. The modules launched are Cam Plus which adds functionality to take photos really convenient. Another module Hi-Fi Plus adds audio functionality for serious audiophiles. This module is designed in partnership with Bang & Olufsen.
Samsung Galaxy S7
Sumsung has quite a following for its Galaxy S series which had a new version launched on February 21. The phone carries the design language from S6 with aluminum clad body and a glass back. It also retains 5.1” screen from its predecessor featuring 1440p resolution. As always, the display is very bright and gorgeious. The phone is powered by either a Snapdragon 820 or its own Exynos 8890 chipset depending upon region. Backed with 4 GB RAM, the phone is fast and offers great performance.
New features include IP68 certification, making the phone dust and water resistance. S7 also has an Always ON display which means a part of the screen is always active displaying notifications, time and other information.
Samsung Pay has been made more accessible for easy and quick use. Fingerprint scanner and a heart-rate monitor are featured like before.
Galaxy S7 comes with Android Marshmallow baked in TouchWiz UI which unfortunately still seems bloated.
S6 was always praised for its brilliant camera. S7’s camera promises to be as amazing with an f / 1.7 aperture capable of taking in more light and detail. Though the megapixel count has gone down from 16 MP to 12 MP, Samsung has ensured that the camera is better than ever even in low lights and can take 4K video with fast motion and slow motion. Another highlight of the camera is improved autofocus. Apparently it takes microseconds to focus on the subject.
The(still unremovable) 3,000 mAh battery is bigger than S6 which had 2,550 mAh.
Overall, the phone is the sleekest version yet and has the best technology possible on a phone. On the downside, this iteration does not offer too much innovation except minor updation on the S6 features.
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