And just when we thought we’d seen it all, rumor has it that the next generation of iPhones will have support for augmented reality. So what does the future hold for Android? I don’t want to steer towards a debate of who is king between Android and iOS (of course I will be biased; I love Android), so I will get straight to the point: these are the top five features we want every flagship Android phone to have in 2017. The current competition in the smartphone space cannot accommodate “mediocre” features, especially in flagship models. So these features are a must-have for any flagship Android phone.
1. 64GB or More Storage Space
What would a “selfie generation” want more than enough storage space to spoil themselves with those foodie and picnic photos. All those photos take up space, not to mention the videos, music, and other saved documents. And if you happen to have a smartphone capable of recording videos in 4K, that’s when you will know the importance of having a smartphone with a large storage space. Each minute of 4K video may take up to 375 MBs. So you shouldn’t be surprised to see a five-minute video taking up over 1 GB of your storage space. Therefore, a 64 GB internal storage is a must-have for any flagship smartphone in 2017. This is the real smartphone war, and some of the top-end smartphones have already hit the 128GB mark. And it’s not only in smartphones. Demand for space has also transcended into flash drives. Kingston, for example, recently introduced a record-breaking 2TB flash drive.
2. An Excellent Camera
An excellent camera is a must-have for any flagship smartphone in 2017. And when I say “excellent,” I don’t only refer to the pixel count. We want to see out-of-the-box features that will differentiate 2015 phones from the current top models. In this case we want to see features such as Image Stabilization, Time Lapse and 4K rendering in smartphone cameras. I believe iPhone 7 carries the Oscar when it comes to cameras due to its combination of features, HDR included. Right now, if you are looking at an Android phone with the best camera, you are choosing between Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy S8. We want to see more Android manufacturers delve deeper into camera power, and HTC has proven that it can be done.
3. USB Type C
USB type C has begun to appear in consumer electronics and has some cool features that you can’t find in older USB connectors. First, it’s small and powerful, but the magic is seen in its super-fast data transfer speed. It can transfer up to 10 gigabits per second, courtesy of the zippy speeds of the latest version of the USB protocol. And on top of that, it is flexible, smaller, and reversible, so you can insert it either way. With all these cool features, it goes without saying why we need it in all upcoming flagship smartphones.
4. Bluetooth 5.0
If you often connect devices or share media via Bluetooth, then you know it can be terrible. From connectivity problems to pairing issues, Bluetooth is just plagued with problems. However, with Bluetooth 5.0, everything is different and better. This version of Bluetooth delivers quintessential results in all respects. In fact, it has two times the speed, four times the range and eight times the data throughput of Bluetooth 4.0. Bluetooth 5.0 also comes with other spectacular features such as the ability to connect more than one Bluetooth speaker to the same device. The Samsung Galaxy S8 is the world’s first phone to ship with Bluetooth 5.0. We want to see more flagship models shipping with this version of Bluetooth.
5. 3D Touch
This feature is only available on Apple phones, and I feel it should be introduced to Android phones to better compete with iOS. Samsung tried to replicate the function with the pressure sensitivity display in the Galaxy S8, but this is not enough to bring the competition to the iPhones. We hope more manufacturers will introduce similar features or a variation of them.
The Bottom Line
There is no limit to what smartphones can do, and based on the rate at which the Android ecosystem is evolving, you can never tell the direction of innovation. Samsung, for example, is rumored to be working on a foldable smartphone. Does this mean it will ditch its elegant edge design? Only time will tell. All we want to see are Android smartphones with top-notch features that will change the way we use them.
