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Smartphone review 2017: the year of small, but still big innovations?

Image: pixabay.com
(Post picture: © 2017 pixabay.com)

2017 is drawing to a close. Only a few hours until the New Year - time to take a closer look at the past year. In this article, we review the year 2017 again and summarize our technical highlights.

First of all, a big thank you goes to our readers, who have actively supported us again this year. Together with you we learned some new things in the tech area. Technology that never stands still and is constantly changing. We from TechnikNews were there again this year Close to the happening. But: Has so much really happened this year? All big promises but no innovation? My personal smartphone review of 2017.

Top: The trend of infinity displays and face recognition

Last year I was really impressed by the trend towards borderless displays. More and more manufacturers are relying on it and smartphones are selling well. Apple also noticed this this year, jumped on the bandwagon, and lo and behold: that iPhone X sells like butter. Despite the high price, many are not deterred from buying it. But with a borderless display, the manufacturers also have one Proproblem Where to put the fingerprint sensor? Here, too, Apple has once again demonstrated its FaceID – and this year, for the first time, TouchID has been completely omitted.

Nowadays, face recognition is no longer comparable to what it used to be!

Best of all this year are the heads behind him OnePlus 5T solved. A fingerprint sensor can be found on the back of this, and it also has face recognition. And no, face recognition can no longer be compared with one of the first iris scanners in the Lumia 950 a few years ago. This was exactly the opposite of how it was supposed to work. Thus the perfect combination for unlocking a smartphone. For me, Apple was in spite of it Rumors in advance already clear: Apple will never have TouchID on the back. Even if the large display takes a bit of getting used to despite the small casing of a smartphone: I like it. By 2018 at the latest, the “classic displays” will be out and I always miss the borderless displays on a test device without one. For me, these two aspects are among the two best points of 2017.

Top: Smaller and more manageable smartphones

Can you still remember the year 2016, when it felt like it was all about which manufacturer presented the largest smartphone? Oh man. The tables seem to have turned again in the past year. Smartphones are finally getting smaller again. Clearly, brands like Samsung are still presenting huge 6,2-inch smartphones in the Note range. It's better to leave it like that proagain produces the smaller smartphones in the S, Samsung, or P series, such as Huawei.

Handy smartphones with a borderless display are cool!

A giantproThe handiness of a smartphone used to be a problem. This finally got under control in 2017. Thanks to technologies such as the infinity display, it is finally possible to bring larger displays onto the market again and at the same time offer a handy smartphone. Hope to see more of this next year.

Well: the year with the dual camera as a marketing argument

In no year have so many smartphones been used Dual Camera sold as in 2017. But often these snaps with two cameras don't even bring a better result. Nevertheless, the dual camera remains a top argument: the numbers speak for themselves. However, there are also really good smartphone cameras with dual notches. For example, the models from Huawei in cooperation with Leica again delivered top results this year. Samsung would also like to come in the coming Galaxy S9 has a dual camera obstruct.

Only dual cameras with decent quality!

Also, Apple did it again this year after the iPhone 7 two iPhones with two cameras released. I do not want to claim here that dual cameras always have to be bad. Since one lens usually takes pictures in monochrome and the second in color, really good results can be achieved. The latter two manufacturers have also shown us this. Despite all of this, dual cameras remain for me only one thing: a good marketing ploy. Many manufacturers show how you can achieve very good results in terms of photography on a smartphone even without a dual camera.

Flop: Expensive smartphones and tons of models

You could already see them coming last year: the expensive smartphones. This increased to an even greater extent in 2017. Manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung outdo each other with new smartphones in price ranges of now 1000 (!) Euros. It does make sense for me to spend some money on your loyal companion for performance, cameras, etc., but no longer in the four-digit range. Since most users only use the smartphone for social media, surfing and even less for making calls anyway, it doesn't need to be an expensive smartphone. Why is it now cool to bring such expensive smartphones onto the market? Google also has with the Pixel 2 presented a thousand euro smartphone this year.

Proagain produces smartphones with different features in different price ranges!

But that's not the only thing Proproblem of current smartphones. If you had a reasonable overview of all new smartphones in the last few years, this is almost impossible today. Each manufacturer usually has its three model series: entry-level/lite, middle class and high-end. But that's not enough for some. While things are getting a little better at Samsung but still not clear enough, things are really just getting started, especially at Huawei. For example, the Chinese presented the Huawei P9 Lite (2017) last year, which had exactly the same hardware and equipment as the Huawei P10 Lite and was in the same price segment. Please stop presenting equally expensive smartphones with the same hardware! pure chaos.

Flop: The dying of the headphone jack

Since 2016, the trend of not installing a jack plug in smartphones has become even more popular in 2017. So manufacturers have, such as Google, Huawei, HTC and LG adopted this year for the first time from the 3,5mm jack plug. For me this is absolutely incomprehensible. Why should you now after Apple with the iPhone 7 had shown the first time, suddenly no longer install a handle? Back then you had to think about how Simultaneous listening to music and charging with the iPhone 7 is possible at all. This year I had seen and tested numerous smartphones without a jack. Always this tangled cable and the lack of compatibility among manufacturers with the USB-C-to-jack adapters.

The handle is still not indispensable for many!

But not only I seem to share this view: According to a survey by GSMArea For 69% of around 18.500 votes from website visitors, the handle is still indispensable. What I understand even less then: a smartphone without a jack and not waterproof. Then it is better to leave the handle installed and completely forego waterproof. Hand on heart: who needs a waterproof smartphone? We users have never asked for a smartphone without a jack. Then you will probably have to rely on Bluetooth headphones in the future. But they all have one thing in common: if the battery runs out, they only work with a cable. But that's the handle.

On behalf of the TechnikNews I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year 2018! We'll read each other again next year with fresh technology news!

That was my personal smartphone year 2017. How do you think about it? Do you like the borderless displays? Do you care about expensive smartphones? What do you think of smartphones without a jack: a no-go? We'd love to discuss it in the comments!

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General note on "Column"

This article is an author's column. This does not have to be the opinion of TechnikNews represent and reflect. The article may contain the personal opinion of the respective author - thus, unlike news, this article may not be objective. Nevertheless researched to the best of our knowledge. May contain links to partner sites.

David Wurm

Do that TechnikNews-Ding together with a great team since 2015. Works in the background on the server infrastructure and is also responsible for everything editorial. Is fascinated by current technology and enjoys blogging about everything digital. In his free time he can often be found developing webs, taking photographs or making radio.

David has already written 961 articles and left 382 comments.

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Christian

Very good article. It hits the point. As a technology connoisseur, I also no longer have an overview of the entire market. But it's no wonder if you keep releasing new smartphones.
In addition, I'm not that stupid either and spend around 1100 euros on an iPhone 10, why do you buy a smartphone at this price ?!

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