Based on materials from androidcentral.com
If anyone didn’t know, there was a small event at Apple. New watches were announced, and several phones at the same time. Well, okay, jokes aside. This time the company managed to impress the audience. The Apple Watch Series 4 looks much better than any Wear OS device on the market. And iPhone XR, being the 'budget' representative of the new line from Apple, also looks promising. However, in this post we will focus on the XS.
iPhone XS is the flagship 'iPhone' of this year, and even though its operating system is not our favorite Android, there are a few features that would be useful for smartphones from the camp green robot.
Notch screen but no chin
Since the release of iPhone X last year, the manufacturers of Android – smartphones have broken loose, wanting to decorate each of their offspring with a fashionable neckline. Some devices, such as the OnePlus 6 and Essential Phone, have a noticeably smaller notch than in iPhone X, however, there is something that distinguishes smartphones on Android with a notch from iPhone X and XS – 'chin' at the bottom of the screen.
The purpose of the cutout is to give you more screen by getting rid of bezels. Apple managed to do this by bending part of the display itself, and the end result was good. For some reason, smartphone manufacturers on Android haven't achieved this yet.
Some smartphones, such as the Pixel 3 XL, try to justify the notch and 'chin' by putting dual speakers on the front of the device, but looking at how they achieved stereo sound in the iPhone XS without any 'chin' is easy understand that this argument is worthless.
Face ID
As with iPhone X earlier, iPhone XS has Face ID and no fingerprint sensor. Since last September, many Android smartphones have come out with their own face unlock options, and many of them are faster than Face ID on iPhone X (at the cost of security, of course).
Apple says Face ID on iPhone XS 'is faster and easier to use' compared to iPhone X, and although it is still not clear how much faster in fact, this sounds reassuring, since Face ID works fine as it stands.
In addition, Face ID is still superior to any face unlocking system as it supports apps.
Face unlocking still takes longer than fingerprint unlocking, but when you are already actively using your smartphone, it makes a lot of sense in applications such as 1Password, Apple Pay, etc.
Google has yet to create facial identification systems that could serve as a way to unlock in apps, and until that happens, Face ID will remain the leader in this area.
Manual Depth of Field for Portraits
One of the most significant camera features we've seen evolve over the past year has been portrait / bokeh mode. Android smartphones like the Pixel 2 managed to outperform iPhone X in this area, but the iPhone XS has a trick up its sleeve that can make Apple the king of portraiture. This is the Depth Control function.
Once you've shot the portrait with the iPhone XS, you can manually change the depth of field to add a blur to the background as you wish.
Samsung offers something similar with its Live Focus feature on devices such as the Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy S9 +, but for some reason, very few manufacturers have added such a feature. But it would be great to get it.
And if we look at other camera enhancements, such as improved color reproduction and reduced noise in low-light footage, the iPhone XS could claim to be the first choice for photography-obsessed users.
Chipset A12 Bionic
Even though last year's Snapdragon 835 was not a drag, the chipset from the Apple A11 Bionic proved its superiority over it. Qualcomm made great progress in the 845, but once again the A12 Bionic impressed us with its powerful potential.
Even though the A11 Bionic was already the fastest mobile chipset we've seen, the A12 Bionic achieved:
- Up to 50% faster graphics performance
- Up to 50% reduction in energy consumption with energy efficient cores
- Up to 15% faster performance cores
- Improved image processing
Of course, Apple will never share their chipsets with smartphones on Android, but can you dream?
Taptic Engine from Apple
This feature is not new in iPhone XS (since it appeared in iPhone 7), but nevertheless, the Taptic Engine from Apple continues to outperform any similar tactile engine response on smartphones Android.
Of course, this is not the function that you think about when choosing a smartphone. But think about the fact that you have to deal with this all the time – notifications, typing and so on – all that make up your daily experience with a smartphone.
If you have never held a Taptic Engine in your hands iPhone, just go to the store and give it a try, the experience is guaranteed. Every touch, tap and swipe is brought to life thanks to it, and it completely changes the feeling when you use iPhone.
A number of devices, such as the Pixel 2 and Galaxy S9, have their own tactile feedback engine, but they can't match the Taptic Engine. And when you pick up more budget devices, especially the OnePlus 6 and Essential Phone, the response is so lousy that you want to turn off your smartphone rather than agonize further.
Dear smartphone manufacturers on Android, if there is anything you want to learn from Apple, can you spend time and money on tactile response systems that won't feel like they fell out of 2010?
What do you think, dear users Android – smartphones? What would you like to borrow from iPhone XS for your phones? Share in the comments!