Tech in review 2018: From AI to camera, trends that shaped smartphone space

Business Standard takes a look at technology trends that changed smartphones space in 2018.

AI became the new buzzword in the smartphone space. Smartphone makers adopted the new technology to enhance the operating system, optimise battery life, improve imaging and reduce unnecessary resource consumption. Of many use cases, the technology made a huge impact on the imaging capabilities of the current generation smartphones. From automatic scene detection to customising settings based on frame, the AI has proved to be a valuable addition.

From iPhone X-inspired wide notch to dewdrop shaped small one, 2018 would be marked as the year of notch-screen smartphones. The Asus Zenfone 5z (review), unveiled at the MWC 2018, marked the beginning of the notch-screen trend in the Android ecosystem. The trend spread like wildfire and smartphones -- budget or premium – did not shy starring the notch on their foreheads.

Since its inception, the fingerprint sensor is one of the phone’s components that never really got a space of its own. It has moved from front to back, right to left, and under the power button -- in some cases. However, the biometric module finally got its much awaited dedicated spot in 2018 – under the screen – thanks to Chinese smartphone maker Vivo. The in-display fingerprint sensors technology is neither fast nor accurate than conventional fingerprint readers. But, they are the future as they save space on the front for display to stretch edge-to-edge without hampering the unibody design of phone’s back.

Launched in March this year, Huawei’s phone made triple-lens cameras a thing of the past, and other android mobile phone makers followed suit. A few months later, Samsung unveiled mid-range phones featuring triple and quad camera modules on the back. More is always merrier, showed the Huawei P20 Pro and Mate 20 Pro. However, the Google Pixel 3-series with a single lens camera showed that a lot can be achieved even with a single camera. This makes us wonder; do we really need triple or quad cameras in phones?

Year after year, smartphones are becoming more and more powerful and their battery life continues to be the biggest pain. So this year, the push seems to be towards making them charge faster than making them larger. Chinese smartphone maker Oppo showcased the SuperVooC charging technology, which is able to charge a 2500mAh battery in just about 15 minutes. Huawei also introduced super charge technology with 40W rated output, claiming to charge a 4,000 mAh battery in less than an hour. OnePlus also introduced a 30W rated WarpCharge that is an improvement over the company’s proprietary 20W Dash Charge technology. Interestingly, the wired charging has become better but wireless charging remains far from ideal.

Business Standard