Cheap phones are getting good. And good phones are getting cheap.
— MKBHD (Oct 29, 2015).
Back in 2015 One plus had already disrupted the market by offering flag ship specs in devices that cost around $400. Huawei had announced itself with the launch of Nexus 6P, LG was still relevant, HTC had not thrown in the towel, Microsoft was still surviving and Xiaomi had started to appear on the radar of tech enthusiasts and reviewers. Those were the good days when as a consumer you could get a flagship for around $700 and flagship killers for almost half the price.
Then Samsung decided to pull an Apple and we entered the sub $1000 device era. The “good phones getting cheap” flagship killer category followed suite and they jacked up their prices to $700 plus. Almost every smartphone manufacturer started offering Bluetooth earphones resulting in disappearance of the headphone jack. Nowadays finding a headphone jack on a device is a cause for celebration.
Disappearance of the beloved jack was blamed on phone designs, display bezels getting slim resulting in lack of space. I tend to believe that selling blue tooth earphones is more profitable. Having said that, I cannot deny the utility & freedom blue tooth earphones offer as compared to good old wired set of earphones. I myself am writing this post while enjoying a tribal track on my MPOW Flame 2 BT earphones. You can watch a review of these very capable earphones by unbox therapy on YouTube or read my review in a few days and head over to allmytech.pk to grab a pair for yourself.
Fast forward to 2019: Chinese manufacturers rule the market. Huawei has led the Chinese charge all but obliterating main stream manufacturers in many markets around the world. Huawei’s impact has been so profound that they are one of the main bargaining chips in Chinese-US Trade war. They along with Xiaomi, OPPO, Realme, OnePlus, Vivo and literally countless others have taken over the android device segment.
Gone are the days when Chinese manufacturers were playing catch up. Now, Chinese manufacturers are leading the way with many industry 1st solutions that you would expect main stream OEMs such as Samsung to introduce. From the way devices look and feel to computational implementation as well as physical implementation of cameras, Chinese manufacturers have left everyone far behind. Now the competition is playing catching up. From going bezel less to innovating with pop up camera designs to introducing 1st ever in-screen finger print scanners, to periscope cameras (yes you read that right); the innovation is endless and growing at a rapid pace.
It is probably the best time to be alive as a consumer. The future of tech is ever evolving as is evident from the emergence of fold able devices. Samsung has already launched its first iteration of fold able device. Huawei and Xaomi have teased their own take on what fold able devices should look like. Even though Samsung was 1st to the market with its offering; it was more of a misstep than a bang.
Samsung should not be entirely blamed for the attempt. They should actually be applauded for the effort as Samsung Fold is an amazing device and without a doubt the future of smartphones. You would not associate a well established brand like Samsung to drop the ball at such level with such a huge launch. This launch was rushed. This felt like a reaction to the Chinese onslaught and the way the Chinese have become leaders in innovative solutions.
The problem with foldables is: A fold able screen needs to bend and not break. It has to be soft and not rigid. So far the answer is plastic OLED. However, plastic screens are soft and prone to getting damaged rather easily. Add to the mix moving parts and hinges and you have a very difficult puzzle at hand.
Let’s see how Chinese ingenuity comes to the party, finds the answers and solves this puzzle. Exciting times ahead!
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