Opinion: Exynos is bad, but it shouldn’t be killed

After numerous leaks and endless rumors, Samsung’s newest Galaxy S23 series has now been officially unveiled, confirming several of those leaks we stumbled upon in the past couple of months. One of those leaks that particularly caught the eye was Samsung ditching its in-house Exynos SoC, going all-in on Qualcomm’s latest offering, bringing parity to its customers across all the different markets we all craved for so long. Not only that, the Galaxy S23 series will feature a special beefed-up version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, featuring the “For Galaxy” moniker. At first, this might sound spectacular, especially for those in the EU and MENA regions contemplating the idea of upgrading to the newest flagship from Samsung this year. However, I’d like to argue that ditching Exynos altogether might not be the best news to hear in the long run.

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New Year. New Google, hopefully.

As a bright new year beckons us, it is always a good time to reflect on the past year as everyone writes down their resolution for the next one. It has been a mixed bag for Google, with some impressive highs and underwhelming lows steered by some questionable decisions. In light of these highs and lows, we thought we could lend Google a hand with their new year’s resolution. Here is what we hope to see from Google this year.

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Google Pixel 7: There’s more to a phone than just a CPU

Not so long ago, a new leak of Google’s upcoming Pixel 7 devices has done the rounds, shedding a lot of light on what to expect from Google’s 2nd iteration of their custom-built Tensor SoC. To the surprise of many tech enthusiasts, it appears that Google’s upcoming Pixel 7 phones will not boast the same raw horsepower as its counterparts from Qualcomm. Thanks to some clever tracking from the eagle-eyed developer Kuba Wojciechowski, it is all but confirmed that the 2nd gen Tensor SoC would stick to the same CPU configuration as last year, albeit boasting a slight bump in frequencies. Of course, such news is likely to put off a lot of the people keeping tabs on Google’s much-anticipated flagship phones of this year. Yet, I would like to argue that this seemingly underwhelming leak could be the very same reason the Pixel 7 can be a gem of a phone.

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CPU throttling is the new norm for phones

One of the hallmarks of every annual refresh of any smartphone lineup, particularly the flagship category of smartphones, is upgraded internals. More specifically, yearly SoC upgrades in the mobile phone space have become a well-established trend that is yet to be disturbed. Yet as manufacturers continue to build their new smartphones around the latest SoC, it has become increasingly obvious that performance gains are no longer as tangible as in previous upgrades. Even more concerning, sometimes these marginal performance gains come with substantial penalties. Most notably, regressions in terms of efficiency and thermal performance have become more and more evident over the past couple of years. Unlike in previous editions, where thermal throttling was an avoidable state, now it has become nearly inevitable. Vapour chambers and heat pipes have become more of a necessity rather than a luxurious feature. Even so, some manufacturers opt to limit the phone’s CPU speeds from the get-go, only allowing it to reach its theoretical maximum speeds momentarily when it is absolutely necessary, regardless of whether the phone exhibits any overheating symptoms. So why has it come to this state?

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Samsung has just induced a big power shift

In typical fashion, Samsung wowed the whole world with its new fleet of flagship phones, the new S22 lineup. Of course, it is the larger S22 Ultra that made the headlines, with its behemoth form factor housing a sleek stylus on its side, along with a slew of exclusive features and a unique design that sets it away from its relatively smaller S22 siblings. However, Samsung has managed to do something few of us would have imagined. Despite Google’s recent endeavors in the Pixel 6 series to assume the default choice of Android, Samsung may have just stolen Google’s thunder with its release of the S22 line.

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The rise and fall of OnePlus’ merger with Oppo

It’s been nearly 8 years since OnePlus was first founded. Indeed, OnePlus has left its stamp on the market, particularly the affordable flagship segment. Of course, it doesn’t take a genius to notice how OnePlus has strayed from its nimble and agile former self to become one of the bigger manufacturers in the mainstream market. It could be argued that OnePlus could only achieve its mainstream status under the guidance of its sister company Oppo. Many of its employees used to work at Oppo beforehand, with many of OnePlus’ latter phones taking a lot of cues from other Oppo phones, particularly in terms of design. To many of the tech-savvy consumers, it was only a matter of time before the OnePlus/Oppo partnership would be officially announced. Fast forward to this year, and the inevitable has happened. Pete Lau, now the Chief Product Experience Officer at Oppo, has confirmed that OnePlus will be further integrating with its sister company Oppo to “capitalize on the additional shared resources.” So how did that go? So far, well, not so well.

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Google could finally hit the nail on the head with the Pixel 6 — here’s why

For years, Google’s ambitious Pixel project has ceased to impress, failing to mark its stamp on the mainstream market, specifically in the flagship space. Rather ironically, Google’s biggest success was the Pixel 3a — Googles’ last-ditch attempt to save the day after the Pixel 3’s epic fail. Of course, at this point, many people would rightfully write them off, with last year’s Pixel 5 resembling the spec sheet and features of a fancy/posh mid-ranger more than a fully-fledged flagship smartphone. This year, however, Google seems to be gearing up to make a comeback with the Pixel 6 series. Here’s how Google could turn the market on its head.

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Farewell, LG

Earlier this month, LG officially announced its decision to shut down its mobile sector for good, leaving its customers — whoever they are — in extreme disbelief. Truth be told, it hardly came as a surprise to anyone — the company has been reporting quarterly losses since 2015. In fact, quite a lot of people were bemused to know that LG was actually still in the business until their recent announcement. As a tech enthusiast myself, it pains me to know of any company’s decision to exit the market. However, I cannot say that I didn’t see that coming either. Here’s why.

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OnePlus 9 series: too expensive

Earlier this week, OnePlus announced its all-new OnePlus 9 Pro, its fully-fledged no-frills flagship, along with its slightly toned-down sibling, the OnePlus 9. Naturally, with a Hasselblad badge on the back, the OnePlus 9 Pro claimed all the headlines, with the promise of providing a much-improved camera system to its consumer base. However, with yet another incremental price hike seeping through, OnePlus might have punched a bit over its weight. At $969, OnePlus is no longer undercutting the competition, instead further reinstating its status as a competitive flagship smartphone vendor. Sniffing at the heels of other household names such as Samsung is no easy task, but perhaps OnePlus feels ready enough to compete with the likes of the Korean behemoth. That seems to be the case on paper, but in reality, OnePlus might need to up the ante a bit to swing the balance in their favor. Here’s why I think OnePlus might need to step up to prove its worth.

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