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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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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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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Samsung’s latest Galaxy S21 Ultra could spell the end of the Note line — and that’s ok

Earlier last week, Samsung unveiled the much anticipated Galaxy S21 series in typical fashion, with the Galaxy S21 Ultra featuring all the bells and whistles one would expect, alongside the other toned-down S21+ and the vanilla S21 variants. While the latter two models got everyone talking about their respective features — or lack thereof — it is the S21 Ultra that’s got my attention. Of course, with that hefty price tag and such impressive camera hardware, the S21 Ultra is surely made to turn heads around. But as we look at the bigger picture, the S21 Ultra could signal the beginning of a new era where Samsung’s prestigious Note lineup could fade away.

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Why Google’s Pixel 4a still has a chance

Not so long ago, Apple caught almost everyone by a surprise with their latest iPhone, the iPhone SE. The formula is very simple: old-school hardware, upgraded internals for cheap. And in an era where a $900 OnePlus 8 Pro is considered a great value for the money, a $400 brand new iPhone looked like the bargain of the century. I, for one, believed that Apple might have stolen Google’s thunder before even releasing their own Pixel 4a. But, as the dust settled, I began to think otherwise. Without further ado, here is where the Google Pixel 4a could give the iPhone SE a good run for its money.

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