Unpacked — What does “perfection” mean to Samsung in 2019?
Samsung’s 2019 Unpacked event was full of innovation and I must admit, they left no stones unturned. Samsung has taken mobile phones to a new level altogether.
Samsung is making the next era of mobile innovation even more amazing than the first.
Event started on a very high note with a lot of expectation around foldable phones. If you remember, Samsung teased its foldable phone with not-so-subtle hints on its Facebook and Twitter last year. This created a lot of anticipation in the market and the reasons are 2 fold –
- Not just Samsung, but, other phone manufactures like Huawei, Lenovo, Xiaomi and LG are working towards the same goal. There was some serious competition.
2. One company, Royale Corporation, has even managed to produce a working prototypeby then, and the response was too bad. Industry got curious to learn how is Samsung going to manage and standup to the challenge?
3. It was Samsung’s 10th year into making Galaxy phones and everyone was curious as to how different is it going to be.
With no further delay, let’s ‘Unfold’ the details. Here is a snapshot of what was announced in the event.
Phones:
· GalaxyS10
· GalaxyS10 Plus
· GalaxyS10 E
· Galaxy S10 5G
· GalaxyFold
Watches:
· Galaxy Watch Active
Smart speakers:
· Galaxy Home
· Samsung buds
Honestly, whoever designed the background graphics for these presentations is super talented. Everything looked even more perfect and tailored to the event.
Galaxy Phones:
It was a smart move by Samsung. Instead of introducing new technology into the flagship Galaxy S and Note series of devices, Samsung is looking to bring in cutting-edge features to its cheaper models first.
Meet the Galaxy S10, S10 Plus, “cheap” Galaxy S10E and Galaxy S10 5G.
Key features to note –
· GalaxyS10 series has an infinityO display. Absolutely edge to edge with a little cut on the screen for the front camera on the top right corner but it allows the screen to flow around without a notch.
· An edge-to-edge screen with teeny-tiny bezels.
· The (remarkable) ability to wirelessly charge another device.
· Up to four rear cameras. Up to 1TB of built-in storage.
· The all-new One UI. Android Pie.
· A cutting-edge Snapdragon 855 processor
· And, in one case, 5G capabilities.
. S10 can wirelessly charge other phones.
· The world’s first ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint reader, which unlocks the Galaxy S10 using sound waves.
The Galaxy S10’s in-screen fingerprint scanner may look just like the one on the OnePlus6T but don’t be fooled. Samsung’s flagship S10 series are the first phones to use Qualcomm’s ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint technology, which uses sound waves to read your print.
That bring me to my next question — Why did Samsung ditch the iris scanner from the previous version? Is it because of security issues? Not sure of its own tech?
One other things that require special mention is of course the Galaxy S10 5G. I’m engrossed because we are finally we’re standing here on the brink of bringing 5G to the market. I cannot be more excited.
Imagine the possibilities!!
· Imagine AR (Augmented Reality), this is going to be game-changer, “it feels more real”.
· Speed of the network is going to be brilliant
Galaxy Fold:
Samsung Galaxy Fold is of course a dream gadget. It comes in the “Phone-Tablet” hybrid category. The display is called “Infinity flex AMOLED” screen when unfolded.
There are so many highlight about this phone and I will try and keep it simple by not diluting the interest of the users.
· The handset sports a measly 4.6-inch display that only takes up about 3/4ths of the front. Unfolded, it turns into a 7.3-inch tablet.
· The company had to customize the software for this one (with help from the Android team).
· The Fold sports a feature called “App Continuity,” so you can open an app on the small screen and pick up where you left off on the big one.
· Multi-tasking gets even more real with Galaxy Fold — The OS also allows for users to have three separate app windows open at once when the device is in tablet mode.
· At the center is a customized hinge, capable of opening and closing hundreds of thousands of times.
· There are two batteries inside, one on either side of the phone, making for 4,380mAh, combined.
· There are not one, not two, but six cameras on the Fold. That’s three on the back, two on the inside and one on the front, so you never don’t have access to one.
Remember when $1,000 phones seemed insane? Yeah, well, this is double that, STARTING at $1,980. So, twice the phone at twice the price!
Is the market ready for Foldable phones yet?
SAMSUNG IS MARKETING THE FOLD AS A CONSUMER DEVICE, EVEN THOUGH IT’S OBVIOUSLY NOT READY FOR THE MASS MARKET
While the tech is exciting and with the Galaxy Fold, you spend big to get access to the beta test — purely my opinion.
Galaxy Home:
Samsung’s smart speaker powered by Bixby. Samsung mentioned that it has amazing sound system.
Not sure how it works individually but in the event Samsung has lined up 160 Galaxy homes and played them all at once. It sounded pretty awesome.
Key things to note — six built-in speakers, a subwoofer, and eight microphones.
No information on when it will be available or it’s cost for now.
Samsung and Apple heavily failed in positing and holding the smarts speakers segment. I personally love Apple’s Home Pod, primarily, for the sound system. It doesn’t lack quality in terms of the hardware but the core assistant itself.
Compared to what Amazon Alexa and Google Home does, Siri and Bixby have a long way to cover.
Galaxy Buds:
The major new feature on the Galaxy Buds actually has mostly to do with its charging case. The case itself can be charged wirelessly, which conveniently complements the Galaxy S10’s newfound reverse wireless charging ability. That means you’ll be able to place the Galaxy Buds on the back of a Galaxy S10 phone and charge the buds wirelessly.
To conclude, it was an amazing event and can’t wait to get my hands on these new toys
Finally –
“The future unfolds” — Samsung did stand up to all the expectations and odds.
P.S — The race to build the best foldable phone is officially on. Huawei announced its very own foldable phone called the Mate X today.
Source: Bunch of tech sites.
