What to expect from smartphone guys around the globe?

Different from every year, this year it is possible that Apple fans will be welcome new iPhones from the beginning of the year. According to leaked information, including the news from “Mr. Dong” Ming Chi-Kuo, Apple will return in March to the soft price race through the iPhone 9 model with a starting price of only $ 450. At the current price bracket of iPhone 8, iPhone 9 will have a 4.7 inch 16: 9 screen, configured using A13 chip like iPhone 11/11 Pro.

In other words, the iPhone 9 will inherit the SE strategy of 2016, when Apple reduced the cost of products by using the old style but integrated new experiences to “attract” buyers. In the context of the market is saturated and users are increasingly “spending” to upgrade, iPhone 9 may create a turning point for the new year market: this may be the perfect pre-emptive for Apple for the iPhone. in the mid-to-high-end battle is heating up every hour. If the iPhone 9 succeeds, the high-end segment will forever belong to the Apple.

But no matter how important the iPhone 9 is, it is impossible to capture the glory of the all-new iPhone 2020. By the end of 2019, Apple has indeed moved into a 3-year upgrade cycle. Still with FaceID and a notch, the iPhone 2019 experience is essentially an upgrade from the iPhone X (and iPhone XS).

The wait for the new generation of iPhone is boiling just as much as in 2017, when the X launched successfully. Even the iPhone 2019 has not been launched yet, rumors about iPhone 2020 have appeared. According to “fellow” Ming Chi-Kuo, who has leaked a lot of accurate information about Apple, the new iPhone will have a double glass design more like the iPhone 4 than the current iPhone models. Another veteran leaker Ben Gherskin said that the notch will be removed, the camera will be hidden inside the top edge to create the first 100% edge-to-edge experience on Apple-branded smartphones. Other rumors suggest that Apple will follow Android manufacturers and use under-screen fingerprint sensor technology – a bit hard to believe because Face ID is much safer than fingerprints. Other new features include a 90Hz refresh screen, a camera with sensor shift technology for better anti-shake, and 5G connectivity.

Regardless of the true and false rumors, we can be sure that the iPhone 2020 will bring a whole new experience. Three years have passed, the iPhone X’s miracle has completely faded while rivals still regularly launch new features and designs. Now is the time for Apple to have its own answer.

If following the “tick tock” beat that has been applied to the S6 / S7 or S8 / S9, this year will be the year Samsung re-uses most of the Galaxy S10’s design on the Galaxy S20. Based on leaked images up to this point, this year’s Galaxy S trio is not too different from the already perfect S10s.

That does not mean that the S20 will be less important. In contrast, Galaxy S20 will be the first Samsung smartphone to have a 108MP sensor ever equipped on … Mi Mix Alpha and Mi CC9 Pro. Yes, Samsung is the supplier of sensors for the two most popular smartphones from “Apple China” in 2019. By 2020, the advantage of selling will return home. Because Samsung has occupied the towering positions on DxOMark with just 20MP 1 / 2.5 ″ sensor, fans have the right to believe that the absolute throne will go to Samsung this year.

Other product segments are equally important. In 2019, Samsung made a lot of changes across the entire portfolio, notably the Galaxy A80 and A90 models. With a retractable camera, the Galaxy A80 is proof that the Korean company is ready to prioritize strange creations for the mid-range segment before taking them to the next level. And the Galaxy A90 as the first Galaxy A model to have the highest chip at the time of release, shows that Samsung is now ready to compete price / configuration fairly with Chinese rivals. Entering 2020, Samsung believers have the right to believe that Samsung’s innovation will continue to be stronger.

In fact, they do not need to wait too long. As soon as the new year has just started a few days, the Galaxy S10 Lite and Galaxy Note10 Lite have debuted at CES 2020 with a configuration … as strong as the original. Perhaps in the new year Samsung will launch a new strategy again: continue to sell the top of the old year table as a background for new smartphone models? Let’s wait and see.

After launching Lumia 950 in 2015, Microsoft began to be completely indifferent to smartphones. In 2017, Microsoft announced that it would stop developing Windows 10 Mobile and by 2019, all support activities for this operating system will end.

Therefore, technology fans were surprised when Microsoft unveiled an Android smartphone at the Surface event in October last year. Still a folding screen smartphone, Microsoft did not choose flexible screen solutions like Samsung or Motorola, instead using the familiar hinge mechanism. A bold Microsoft experience is brought to Android, the most notable of which is the window management mechanism developed by the software giant specifically for the new smartphone. Surprisingly, the Surface Duo uses Android mainstream, can install any application from the Play market.

Duo is promised to unveil the curtain at the end of the holiday season in 2020. A dream just a year ago is still unthinkable, will come true. For the first time in history, we will enjoy an Android experience in Microsoft’s vision – backed by Google itself.

Looking at what Xiaomi has done over the past year, we can be sure that 2020 will promise a lot of changes to “China’s Apple.” 2019 has witnessed the death of the smartphone “devalued configuration” Pocophone when 12 months have passed without the F2 model appearing. Another smartphone line, Mi Mix, also witnessed a strong disturbance when Mix 4 “disappeared” and was replaced by Mix Alpha, an extremely weird smartphone with a screen surrounding the body and the price up to 2800. USD. At the same time, Xiaomi also opened a new front when it officially unveiled the CC series (from the Meitu brand acquired last year) to target young users, focusing on the camera.

All these steps have a common meaning: Xiaomi is gradually removing the image of “dumping configuration” on the smartphone battlefield. Unlike the Mi 9 or the Redmi K20, the value of smartphones like Mix Alpha, Mi Note 10 and Mi 9 Pro goes beyond their price range: Xiaomi has begun to see the value of the camera, the screen, the experience … Even, the company has joined hands with OPPO and Vivo to build a shared file sharing platform, allowing users of phones of all three brands to send files quickly and conveniently.

Certainly, this innovation will continue in 2020. While Redmi continues to be a key focus on the low-end segment, the mainstream Mi brand will probably welcome more new and high-end smartphones. more in the style of Mi 9 Transparent Edition or Mi 9 Pro goes ahead. Fans have the right to wait for Xiaomi to continue to “penetrate” deeper into the premium price segment with completely new creations in the style of Mi Mix Alpha. While focusing entirely on the high-end / high-end segment like the Mi series, the CC models are also very noticeable when Xiaomi did not hide its ambition to focus the camera power on this product line.

More than ever, 2020 is a vital year for Xiaomi – reflected by its founder Lei Jun’s decision to replace the Chinese chair in late November. Both smartphone sales and smartphone sales have declined. Decreasing in the past year, the frustration of investors has not shown any improvement. If not successfully transformed to break the “cheap” segment, Xiaomi will also face the future struggling ahead.

The last days of 2019 and early 2020 witnessed Pixel 4A continuously leaking. Last year, its predecessor, Pixel 3A, received a lot of positive feedback from the press when it brought all the electronic photography features of the original Pixel 3 to its configuration and lower price. This year, Pixel 4A is expected to bring the “mythical” features of the Pixel 4, such as real-time HDR, or adjust the light / dark area (shadow / highlight) to $ 400. Unfortunately for Pixel 4 users, this year they will not only have to accept the lower configuration, but will have to sacrifice both 3D face recognition and the Soli camera on the front. Unlike the original, the Pixel 4A will only use a regular camera for the front style “graceful mole” that Samsung has applied to the Galaxy S10.

Obviously, the new Pixel 5 is the most notable super product. Since the Pixel 4 was launched in October, the supply chain and tech news sites haven’t yet leaked any information about the Pixel 5. But since last year’s Pixel 4 was fully leaked half a year before its launch, we may only have to wait a few months to see Google’s own Android.

Certainly, if one were to choose an event as the focal point for 2020, it would be a war between President Trump and Huawei. After being on the U.S. blacklist, Huawei was banned from cooperating with Google and lost the right to use official Android on Mate 30 and many other important products.

Initially, the ban was counterproductive as Huawei’s support in China increased, allowing it to continue growing in both the second and third quarters. But by the fourth quarter, the signals were gloomy. started to appear when both smartphone sales and revenue did not meet the goal set by Huawei leaders earlier this year. More worrisome, Huawei’s fourth quarter also witnessed a sharp decline in sales compared to the third quarter and the same period of 2018. As chairman Eric Xu wrote in his letter earlier this year, “survival is a top priority”.

How will Huawei survive? Indeed, on the hardware front, perhaps the Chinese giant will not change much, in which the P and Mate series will continue the trend of combining large sensors with AI chips to increase image quality. . A new generation of folding smartphones may soon be released, improving the serious error situation of the first Mate X (sold in China in November).

The new software segment is notable: the third quarter of this year will see Harmony OS and HMS (Huawei Mobile Services, Android-replacement of Google) turn 1 year old. What these two operating systems do will determine whether Huawei’s hardware and telecommunications power is sufficient to create a software force capable of surviving the post-Google era. And at the same time, Huawei is definitely still looking for ways to negotiate a partnership with Google once more.

OPPO has always been a special outsider of the smartphone market. Not following the configuration dumping strategy like Xiaomi or Huawei / Honor, nor focusing on high-end features like Samsung or Apple, BBK Electronics’ No. 1 brand gained market share thanks to its extensive distribution network and The product philosophy focuses on beautiful design, a camera with a great number of dots as well as a wide distribution network and a smooth marketing engine. In previous years, OPPO has hardly launched high-end smartphones.

Things gradually changed in 2018 and by 2019, OPPO had the first true flagship line called Reno. However, OPPO still proved to be an unpredictable brand when only the Reno 10X Zoom unveiled at the beginning of the year was really high-end smartphone (Snapdragon 855 chip) while both Reno2 and Reno3 were mid-range products. All three generations are not much different in terms of technology, and it may not be until the Reno4 or 5 is released that OPPO will actually return to the high-end segment.

Right now, that is not the focus of OPPO. The Reno units that were released on the market in a row were not to run on new chips or camera technologies, but to universalize 5G as soon as possible. Outside the smartphone, OPPO is clearly expressing its ambition to utilize the 5G wave to become a new Internet of Things power. In 2019, OPPO announced a lot of products in this vision: 5G transmitters into Wifi, hearable headsets, AR glasses …

Entering the new year, users can wait for OPPO’s new product portfolio to continue to explode. At the same time, the Reno4, Reno5 and Reno6, though not much improvement, will certainly play a very important role: with OPPO, 5G smartphones are the center of the smart world.

Similar to OPPO, the second largest brand of BBK, Vivo, also expressed its determination to 5G with …. At the same time, Vivo’s product portfolio is still flooded with mid-range smartphones and relatively soft prices. In other words, entering the era of new connectivity, the two biggest brands of the giant BBK Electronics are still parallel as shown with the ball. The biggest difference between Vivo and OPPO is now in the high-end segment: if OPPO debuted early in the year, Vivo would often use this occasion to unveil new ideas. Then, by the end of the year, these ideas will be finalized on NEX.

Based on what has leaked at the present time, Apex 2020 will bring a seamless design without buttons. This is the same idea that was tested on Apex 2019, but the new version will combine with the waterfall screen of NEX3 to create a more advanced design. The new smartphone is expected to unfold at MWC 2020 in early February.

Before the strong strides of OPPO and Vivo, BBK’s third famous brand, OnePlus, is also promising to change: The recently launched Concept One model has a quite special back design to “hide”. go the whole 4 camera cluster. In the first half of the year, OnePlus 8 will also launch in 3 different versions: 8 Lite cuts features and costs to increase sales, 8 “regular” for users who only need the core values ​​and 8 Pro with Many new technologies.

Of course, OnePlus 8 Pro will be the product that attracts the most attention. According to leaked rumors, this smartphone will inherit the waterfall screen from Vivo and will also be the first BBK Electronics product to have a 3D face sensor on the front. While Android manufacturers have all turned to under-screen fingerprint sensors, OnePlus’s decision will make an important contribution to bringing 3D face technology to the surface, especially when Google has also used the technology. this for Pixel 3 last year.

Finally, 2020 smartphone believers will have to pay special attention to Realme. Separated from OPPO to focus on the low-price segment, Realme had a successful 2019 with a growth rate of … 3 digits and appeared in the top 10 globally when less than 1 year old. Realme smartphones do not have many new innovations but have a price advantage, and that alone is more than enough for smartphone fans to feel excited about the future.

Before 2019 ends, Realme has managed to unveil the “regular” K30: the K30 Pro version with Snapdragon 865 will certainly be available soon. If the scenario of K20 Pro is repeated, Xiaomi’s competitors will have to be wary: the world now has one more name to dump the configuration.

Source : Techtalk