Oppo A1k review: Good battery life is a key feature, camera performance a mixed bag

Optical in-display fingerprint scanners have been around for some time now (they use camera lenses behind the display) but ultrasonic scanners are the new technology. Samsung already uses these in the Galaxy S10 and will probably use it in the Galaxy Note 10 this year too. Instead of capturing an image of the fingerprint like an optical scanner, ultrasonic scanners use high-frequency sound to capture a 3D map of your finger. In theory, this means ultrasonic scanners can be more secure, can work through various materials (glass, aluminum) and can even work with wet, dirty or oily fingers. Since we know that cameras can ‘see’ from behind a display, the next step would be to have selfie cameras placed behind the screen. This would do away with the complicated and somewhat fragile motorised popup cameras that many bezel-less phones are using.

Phones use solid state or flash-based memory. Many have microSD card slots to expand internal storage. But as any geek will tell you, flash storage can range from painfully slow to lightning fast. And as usual, there is a cost associated with higher speeds. Till recently, the fastest storage solution available for smartphones was UFS (Universal Flash Storage) 2.1. It’s on almost all major flagships today. The next generation UFS 3.0 is roughly twice as fast as UFS 2.1. This is important because we now deal with larger photos/videos and larger storage capacities. Faster storage means you can copy things faster, apps load faster, photos/ videos are saved faster — you get the picture. The new standard is supported by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor. OnePlus has already confirmed that their flagship OnePlus 7 Pro features UFS 3.0 storage. We can expect UFS 3.0 to be available on more flagship smartphones this year.

Smartphones need to be slim enough to fit into a pocket. But that also means there are physical limitations that the camera just can’t get around. This is why most smartphones don’t have optical zoom - there’s just not enough space/width. Some phones get around this by offering multiple lenses/sensors. The newest innovation in phone cameras is periscope lenses. Just like the name suggests, they use a system of mirrors to place the sensor sideways in the phone body and extend the focal length. They can easily add 5x optical zoom and 10x hybrid (optical + digital) without adding bulk. We’ve seen this on phones like Huawei P30 Pro and Oppo Reno. Periscope cameras will likely remain the preserve of flagship phones for some time, due to the higher complexity and higher manufacturing cost.

Most screens around us (phones, tablets, laptops, TVs) have a 60Hz refresh rate. That means they can refresh content on the screen up to 60 times a second. A few screens can refresh faster: 90 or even 120Hz. There are multiple advantages of having a higher refresh rate screen: smoother motion, better animations, reduced blur and sharper visuals. This is most visible during gaming and fast moving scenes — it’s why gamers prefer monitors with higher refresh rates. Asus was among the first to offer a 90Hz screen on a phone last year (Republic of Gamers phone) and Razer even has a 120Hz screen gaming phone (not officially available in India). The recently announced Nubia Red Magic 3 has a 90Hz screen and the upcoming OnePlus 7 Pro is also likely to have a higher than normal refresh rate. While we don’t expect these faster refresh rates to become the norm (the screens are expensive to manufacture, require higher processing power and consume more battery), you can reasonably expect it in more flagship phones this year. It’s something that has to be seen to be believed — you can ‘see’ the benefits of a 90 or ILLUSTRATION: 120Hz on video. ANIRBAN BORA

More megapixels don’t necessarily mean better quality. This is an adage that many have come to accept. But a technology called pixel binning is turning that around again. First, the basics. A pixel is the smallest unit on the camera sensor and cramming more of them into a tiny space makes those pixels smaller. However, larger pixels deliver better quality images. Pixel binning takes a high resolution sensor (like a 48 million pixel or 48MP) and combines 4 adjoining pixels into one effective pixel. This reduces the image size from 48 down to 12MP — which is still very usable by the way. But it also doubles the pixel size, giving you twice the amount of light sensitivity. Surprisingly, these high megapixel cameras are now available on mid-range smartphones too (Redmi Note 7 Pro, Redmi Y3, Vivo V15 Pro, Oppo F11 Pro). Samsung has just announced their new 64MP camera sensor for smartphones, so we’re expecting this trend to grow in the coming year.