Hello!
It would seem that every year smartphones are becoming more powerful and more affordable, and functions, which were considered the lot of flagships yesterday, appear in smartphones of the middle and budget segments. And you might think, here it is, the happiness of a geek – soon it will be possible to buy the perfect smartphone with everything you need on board and even more. Examples of this approach are available – for example, the 2017 A-series from Samsung. There is almost everything you need, even the flagship feature – water resistance, but upon closer examination, it becomes clear that the device consists of compromises in a beautiful package. Among these compromises, for example, the camera, the quality of which is worse than in the A5 2016.
It just so happened that, against my will, the question of choosing a new smartphone arose – I safely drowned my S7 edge in the Mediterranean Sea in the vicinity of rebellious Barcelona (I just closed the SIM card slot loosely when I moved the memory card to the action camera). And here, if not disappointment, then certain difficulties awaited me. As it turned out, manufacturers continue to play the game of “forget to put something important in the flagship.”
Image taken from liveinternet.ru
I have always had a certain list of requirements for smartphones, among which was the so-called 'minimum set', that is, a number of functions and characteristics without which a smartphone is not interesting to me. The list of these requirements is not taken from the ceiling, it was developed by a very long experience of using a wide variety of gadgets, different manufacturers and price categories.
Among these requirements are mandatory:
- Excellent quality camera. Both photo and video. This applies to both the main and front cameras.
- Slim, ergonomic body no wider than 73 mm.
- A good battery, which should be enough for a day of work under load (active user).
- Flat, without bends, display with a resolution of at least FHD, preferably Amoled.
- The presence of an NFC module.
- Waterproof case.
In addition to the mandatory ones, there is a list of functions that I would like to see in a smartphone if this is possible:
- Availability of wireless charging.
- High quality audio chip.
- Jack 5 connector
Three or four months ago, looking at this list, I would have answered without hesitation – Samsung Galaxy S8.
But that was three or four months ago. What has changed during this time? Much.
First, I realized that the curved display was not for me. I am not distinguished by small palms, they are slightly larger than average, and despite this, using the Galaxy S7 EDGE, I constantly encountered accidental pressing on the edges of the display. Most often, this happened with the base of the thumb when trying to reach with this finger to the left edge of the screen.
Secondly, all the time I was using the flagships from Samsung, I tried to convince myself that the praises about the 'very best' camera are true. However, I was constantly confused by the quality of the resulting images. Something imperceptible, but haunted, even if we do not take into account the wild distortion, which even a special setting in the camera parameters could not equalize. And recently I realized what exactly confused me – an excessive, too aggressive 'noise reduction', which 'lathers' all the small details. Because of this, realism and depth are lost, and the photographs do not look like photographs, but like a retouched advertising booklet. I realized this by comparing similar photos taken a long time ago on my old Moto Nexus 6 , with photos taken on the Galaxy S7 / S7 edge. Alas, the comparison is not in favor of Samsung.
For comparison, the pictures taken at one time on the Nexus 6, and the pictures taken on the Galaxy S7 / S7 edge (be careful, traffic is a photo in full size):
Nexus 6
Samsung S7 / S7 edge
Thirdly, the sound quality in the headphones, which is very important to me. Everything is simple here – Samsung does not know how to make high-quality sound. The sound quality does not stand up to comparison even with the 'purebred Chinese'.
And here the problem of choice faced me in all its glory. Yes, Samsung makes smart harvesters that combine everything at once. No other manufacturer has devices with so many functions and modules on board. But the implementation of some of them is lame.
You may argue that at the beginning I was talking about the S8, but all these problems from the S7 safely migrated to the S8, alas. I had the opportunity to verify this after using the S8 for several days.
I was really looking forward to the Google presentation, hoping that the Pixel 2 will have what I was missing in the first generation Pixel – alas, it didn't work out. Indistinct design, weak battery, lack of wireless charging – by.
Huawei have not shown anything worthy, not afraid of water so far. Moto, as always, goes its own way, but every year this path is farther and farther from the consumer.
Xiaomi, despite the use of excellent hardware, it is in no way possible to make high-quality software for this very hardware. In particular, we are talking about the camera, which, despite the use of excellent modules, due to the software that has not been brought to mind, significantly falls short of the recognized A-brands.
The same can be said for the One Plus – the camera only shoots well during the day, and there is no water protection.
Remain LG with their two flagships (as strange as it may sound), the G6 and V30.
At the moment, these two devices are the main contenders for a place in my pocket. Of course, the V30 is ahead of the G6 in terms of characteristics, but at the same time it is too wide for me – 75.4 mm. You will need to try using it for a couple of days before making a decision. Therefore, at the moment, the favorite and potential next smartphone for me is LG G6. By the way, I do not consider Apple smartphones for purchase only for one reason – the operating system, alas. For those who like to be indignant on the topic 'I haven't tried it, you don't know' I will say – I tried to use iPhone 7, it didn't work
And here, when the buyer has almost made his choice, he stumbles upon another oddity – there are different versions of the same devices. For the LG G6, this is that you have to choose either a device with a dedicated DAC or with wireless charging. It doesn't happen together. And also, in addition, a weak front camera.
At this moment, when happiness was so close, the search has to start over. It's a shame that, given a huge choice, there is, in fact, nothing to choose from. Something tells me that I will have to buy Samsung again and repeat the situation from the well-known anecdote about mice and cactus.
Conclusion
Why are these artificial restrictions?
It can be assumed that these are savings that at first glance are not visible, but when it comes to mass production, every little thing matters. For example, if a wireless charging module costs the company even $ 1, then from a batch of 1 million devices, the savings will amount to a tangible $ 1 million. But the absence of an important function can seriously affect the popularity of the model, and therefore, the final profit.
Where is that golden mean? What is the reason for this strange approach? Backlog for the future? Inability to meet the terms of reference? Evil intent? The intrigues of competitors? Reptilians?
And the choice was never made. Therefore, dear readers, I am asking you to advise a device that meets all the requirements listed at the very beginning of the article.