How do you stand apart from the clones? If everyone is running the same OS and using the same third-party components, what extra titbits can you throw in to woo buyers? Well, as it turns out, there is enough room left for new features — some that are genuine value-adds, while others that are completely bonkers. In fact, you will even come across innovations that are answers to questions nobody asked, or solutions wandering around in search of a problem.
Liquid metal, anyone?
Do you know what Liquidmorphium is? Neither did we, till the Turing Phone showed up. Named after the famous Second World War cryptographer Alan Turing, this “revolutionary liquid-metal phone not only redefines phone engineering, it also paves the way for trustworthy communication”. Apparently, the material used to construct it is tougher than titanium or steel. The phone is also waterproof — a feat partly achieved by the dubious decision to get rid of the headphone jack and the microUSB port. Instead, the phone relies on a special Macbook-style magnetic connector. On the security front, it comes with a Turing Imitation Key — a private encryption key that should befuddle anyone trying to intercept your messages. We don’t know about you, but James Bond could certainly make use of the Turing Phone, whether shaken or stirred.
Pixel overload
Those huge 4K TVs now have something in common with a puny 5.5-inch phone — the screen resolution. Called the Z5 Premium, Sony claims its upcoming phone packs in around ten times the pixels of a Full HD TV in a staggering 3,840x2,160 pixel display at 806 pixels per inch (ppi). Compare that to the newly-launched iPhone 6S Plus, which has a relatively mediocre 1920x1080 resolution at 401 ppi. But do you need such absurd resolution on a phone? Most probably not, unless you are a hardcore VR fan — a 4K panel eliminates the pesky screen door effect that shows up when you hold the phone only a few centimetres from your eyes.
Upside down is fine
It has been dubbed the upside down phone. The Alcatel Idol 3 comes in two sizes and works fine whichever way you hold it up — so when you get a call, you can simply pull out the phone and put it next to your ear without bothering to check the direction; the speaker, microphone and display automatically adjust to the orientation. We aren’t sure under what circumstances this innovation would be a must-have feature, but if you spend lot of time in dimly lit areas, this wrong way up phone might be the right choice.
Going round in circles
Across brands and models, touchscreen phones look like brothers from the same mother — they all have a rectangular screen, a bezel around it, and one or more buttons below. That’s it. While you can innovate with display sizes, materials and colours, the basic form factor remains the same. But what if you could reshape the screen itself? Samsung has been at it for some time, curving the screen with the Round, then bending it like Beckham on one side with the Note Edge, and then both sides with the S6 Edge devices. Meanwhile, LG seems to be taking inspiration from bananas and has been flexing the screen on its G Flex series, and elsewhere, Blackberry wants you to “work wide” and so turned the standard rectangular screen into a square on the Blackberry Passport. Going even further, the upcoming Runcible is a perfectly round phone. Think of it as the high-tech version of pocket watches of yore, but one that runs apps and makes calls. Though #GNTECH wonders how the Angry Birds will feel about being stuck behind a circular screen.
Two’s company
What’s better than a phone with a nice display? Why, it is a phone with two nice displays! Or so the Russian company Yota believes. On one side of its YotaPhone 2, you find a regular 5-inch 1080p display. But flip the phone and lo behold, there is another screen. This one is special — an e-ink display that you would normally find on readers like the Amazon Kindle. The display tech is battery-friendly, and ideal for reading, browsing or checking notifications. Though you will be doing it in black and white. But is the idea essentially pointless? Well, if your to-do list includes reading epic tomes, like Tolstoy’s War and Peace, during your daily commutes, this phone will certainly come in handy.
Say cheese
There are phones with cameras, and then there are cameras with phones. The latter eschews wimpy optics in favour pro-grade hardware that shutterbugs would be proud to lug around. While Samsung has released a couple of Zoom models, the current champ is the Panasonic Lumix CM1, which the company is marketing as a “communication camera”. That mouthful aside, the phone is a standard Android device with a 4.7-inch 1080p display, which has one stand-out feature tacked on — a massive 1-inch camera sensor. In comparison, Apple uses 1/3-inch sensors on the latest iPhones. The bigger sensor on the CM1 brings home pictures that are spectacular and close to what you would get from a DSLR. So if you are the click-happy type and don’t mind pocketing a chunky phone, this might be the one to snap up.
Music to your ears
Sure, any smartphone can play music just fine. But it can’t match the quality of a high-end dedicated audio player. Marshall, known for its upmarket speakers and amplifiers, believe there are enough music buffs out there who would pay a hefty premium on a standard Android phone, if only it came baked with audiophile features. Marshall’s phone, the London, claims to be the loudest on earth and packs in two front-facing speakers, a dedicated Cirrus Logic audio processing chip, dual headphones out, a scroll wheel and a special M-Button for one-click access to your music. London shines best when you chuck high resolution FLAC files at it. But if your reaction to regular MP3s is to say, “They sound just fine to me,” then the Marshall’s phone is not for you.
