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New smartphones: Trends 2022

In March, the Mobile World Congress took place in Barcelona, where the latest trends in the mobile phone market, especially new smartphones, were presented. In the following, we give you an overview of the innovations and show you what else you can expect this year.

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5G - the new standard

There is hardly any mobile technology that has established itself as quickly as 5G. In the process, this technology has prevailed despite very controversial discussions. But what exactly is 5G? 5G stands for the fifth generation of the mobile communications standard and promises lower latency times for a broader range of application scenarios, much faster bandwidths and especially a nationwide mobile network.

Dies bedeutet nicht nur eine flächenmäßige Abdeckung und damit verbundene Erreichbarkeit für Smartphones, sondern vielmehr auch eine mögliche Vernetzung verschiedenster Geräte. Das Stichwort lautet: IoT, sprich „Internet of Things„. Von selbstfahrenden Fahrzeugen, über die Bedienung gesamter Haushalte über das Netz bzw. Handy: Was die Zukunft diesbezüglich alles birgt kennt kaum Grenzen und lässt Science-Fiction Gedanken auftauchen. Ebenfalls absehbar wird beispielsweise der Ersatz des Glasfasernetzes durch 5G und damit das Fernsehen darüber. Alles möglich durch die deutlich größere Bandbreite und die damit höhere Geschwindigkeit und Datenmenge.

In the mobile communications market, 5G has clearly established itself in 2022, and where 5G was previously only available at a high surcharge, it is now regarded as a common standard and is part of the package included with an ever-increasing number of smartphones. This is also because 5G has now also been adopted by the mobile network providers as part of the standard offer and can be subscribed to with ease.

Foldable smartphones - now affordable

The foldable mobile phone has already been the talk of the town again since 2019, with two types gaining acceptance. On the one hand, folding like a book, on the other hand, folding like a vanity mirror. While the former folds the smartphone into the shape of a tablet, the latter virtually reduces the size of the phone.

In 2021, Samsung also launched the Galaxy Z Flip3, the first folding mobile phone in the standard price category of the Samsung range. But customers can expect even more choice in 2022. For example, both Xiaomi and Oppo have announced the market launch of a folding smartphone, with Oppo's device in particular being awaited with great interest. Nevertheless, you can expect Samsung to remain the leader in the foldable mobile segment this year with its Flip series.

Even better screen quality in sight

In terms of display technology, you can expect the advance of so-called AMOLED screens in 2022. AMOLED is made up of the components "AM" for "Active Matrix" and "OLED" for "Organic Light Emitting Diode". Translated, the term stands for an active matrix of organic light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Each individual LED represents its own light source. This is precisely one of the advantages of AMOLED screens: They do not need any additional backlighting, which minimises energy consumption. AMOLED screens are also known for their high contrast and rich colours.

While until recently AMOLED was only reserved for high-end smartphones, this will change significantly in 2022. From this year onwards, more and more new smartphones will use AMOLED screens, including devices in the cheaper class. One example is the smartphone from Xiaomi, the Poco M4 Pro, which was introduced this year and has a 90 hertz AMOLED screen.

With this 90 hertz also comes a higher refresh rate, with even screens with 120 hertz and an even higher refresh rate being available on the mobile market in the mid-price segment.

Loading times are getting shorter and shorter

A major concern among users is not only the protection of the battery, but also the charging time required to fully charge the mobile phone. The battery should be used as gently as possible and thus last for a long time, while charging should happen as quickly as possible at the same time.

While the so-called Quick Charge was already introduced in 2013, the average charging speed of most mobiles was 5 watts. But in the meantime, a lot has happened in this area and various manufacturers have done a lot to further improve the charging speed.

The decisive factor is the number of watts that a charger can supply or use. In this respect, Chinese providers in particular have made great progress and are constantly outdoing each other with even higher records in the necessary charging time. Oppo as well as Realme, Xiaomi and OnePlus are leaders in this area. In 2022, it was announced that Oppo will launch the very first smartphone that works via a 150 watt power supply. This means that a full charge will only take 15 minutes. But that's not all: at the Mobile World Congress, Oppo even presented the prototype of a power supply unit that has 240 watts.

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