In the previous article about Redmi Note 7, I touched upon and scolded Samsung a little. I think it's time to share
Samsung 2019
Samsung has today threefull line of smartphones like any well-established brand (with the exception of One Plus and Apple). These are the budget line “J”, the middle line “A”, and the premium segment “S”. Separately, I note the Note line, this is a sub-flagship of the company. Each of the lines has long been easily recognizable name, design, distinctive features, but against the background of competitors in all three planes, we see the most severe margin, and even with a strong desire I can not justify this price.
“Perhaps Samsung has its own perfectly optimized software and services for which one could overpay? Well, as in the case of Apple..” — No.
“Well, maybe then their devices are distinguished by excellent optimization, stability and security, similar to devices from Cupertino? — No.
“Hmm .., I heard about the own development of Exynos single-chip systems, maybe they stand out for their energy efficiency and performance, well, in the case of the Apple processors? -not.
“Well, maybe the design, components, Amoled?” - no, no, and again no.
Claims
You turned your attention to the fact that I am leadingComparison with Apple, and not with some Huawei and Xiaomi, well, simply because at one time, Samsung has very loudly declared itself (and continues to do so) as a direct competitor to the "apple". And since then, it has been breaking the price for its devices similarly to Apple, while washing consumers with “mega tons” of advertising, not having in fact similar soil “under their feet” in the face of its own operating system, processor, optimized software, services, unique security interface and etc. That is, in fact, does not have its own “face”, which means that Samsung is no different from Chinese manufacturers, who in turn squirm as they can, play prices, experiment with design and new formats!
This is the reason why I can't Samsung seriouslyto compare with anyone and somehow justify… In the case of Apple, this is a difference in all main criteria (except price), but in the case of China, everything is obvious. The Koreans have become insolent, lazy and ride on tons of advertising and their good old name, like a locomotive that is rushing at great speed, but its brakes have failed, and it simply risks going off the rails.
What about China?
Pay attention to policy and strategyHuawei in matters of installation of single-chip systems. Take the same Honor 8,9,10: they cannot be called flagships, they just don’t turn their heads, the price doesn’t allow it. But at the same time, there are such chips as Kirin 950/960/970, these are fierce “stones”, the company’s flagships, and Huawei did not skimp, no, the bet was made on something else, and it “played”. This affected the popularity of the Honor line; it soared. Honor 8x — here is a competitor to the Samsung A9, identical technical characteristics, they even brought NFS, but the price suggests that this is a budget device, and that we are being squeezed somewhere. The Koreans, I think, know where exactly…And Xiaomi simply “torn off the head” of the mobile industry, firing a shot with its Pocophone F1, Black Shark and now Redmi Note 7.
We propose to consider one Samsung model from the top, middle, and budget segment, and then disassemble the "chips" that Samsung is trying to justify the inflated price list.
In fact
Samsung Galaxy S9
- dimensions 147.7×68.7×8.5 mm
- 5.8 inch Amoled display with a resolution of 2960×1440 pixels, density 568 ppi
- camera (MP) 12, aperture f / 1.5
- front camera (MP) 8
- body type classic, metal, glass
- interfaces Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C, NFC
- memory 4/64; 4/128; 4/256 GB
- 3000 mAh battery with support for wireless charging.
Need to refresh your knowledge about the single-chip systemExynos 9810 installed in this device, for this we go to the official Samsung website, but what do we see there? Nothing, only the processor frequency is incorrect (namely the frequency of the Snapdragon 845, which lives in China and the United States). Even the name of the processor is not indicated, what this is connected with — unclear.
I doubt this is a mistake, since the details ofExynos processor, we also did not find among other low-end models. Did the fame of the “stones” of its own design make it take such a step? Yes, guys, if it were not for one “but”, the device would have looked different, as if peas of black pepper had been thrust into the juicy “sweet” cake, which spoils the overall aftertaste.
The rest of the flagship (on Snapdragon) turned outinteresting and rich in features, such as dust and moisture protection, stereo speakers AKG, Samsung Pay, and the ability to change the aperture value of the rear camera depending on the amount of light from f / 1.5 to f / 2.4. Which by the way did not particularly affect the quality of shooting compared to the previous flagship Galaxy S8. Also left 3.5 mm audio jack, and how would it "cool."
Today, the official partnersSamsung Galaxy S9 can be purchased for stock +/- 49990 rubles. for version 4/64 Gb. We wouldn’t have questions if this model were on a stable Qualcomm processor (which isn’t sold here), but the company's marketers know better, well, hence the demand. Alternatives to the S9 "dime a dozen", Xiaomi Mi 8, Mi Mix 2s, Honor 10, Meizu 16, there you and the battery capacity will be much more, and support for fast charging implemented, well, decent single-chip systems, (not to mention the price).
See also: Presented by Samsung Galaxy S10
Samsung Galaxy A9
- dimensions 162.5 x 77 x 7.8 mm weight 183 grams
- display 6.18 inches, resolution 2280×1080 pixels, density 400 ppi
- camera: 24 MP, 5 MP, 10 MP, 8 MP
- front camera: 24 MP
- body type classic, metal, glass
- interfaces Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C, NFC
- memory 6/64; 6/128
- 3800 mAh battery
Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 eight cores - “wellit starts, blah, blah, four of which... Wait, how much does it cost?” — In official stores there is currently a version with 6/128 GB of RAM and internal memory for 29,990 rubles. on "Promotion"! That is, for this money, Samsung offers a chip that the Chinese put in state-priced phones. Wow, Xiaomi makes Mi 8 Lite, Mi A2, Redmi Note 7 on exactly the same processor, for the 6/128 GB version it asks only 18,990 rubles .
Samsung A9 is positioned as a camera phone and the firstThere is a smartphone with four photo modules in the world, which is really impressive, but in fact the camera is the same age as Mi A 2 or Redmi Note 7. And these devices are also camera phones, oops, but the price is completely different. G-greed.
Samsung J6 (2018)
- dimensions 149.3×70.2×8.2 mm weight 154 grams
- 5.6-inch display, resolution 1480x720 pixels, density 294 ppi
- camera: 13 MP (f / 1.9)
- front camera: 8 MP (f / 1.9)
- body type classic, metal, glass
- interfaces Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, micro USB,
- memory 2/32; 4/64;
- 3000 mAh battery
- Price from 15490 rub.
Scantly, in our opinion, a small battery, everythinganother microUSB, a negligible screen resolution for this diagonal. By all measures, the Korean state employee merges the Chinese, starting from the price and for each of the parameters. For this money and cheaper, you can pay attention to smartphones with a much more promising and powerful processor, this is Honor 8X or Mi 8 lite. From the point of view of the camera, this is Mi A2, Redmi Note 7. More memory, battery, USB-C can be found in such devices as Mi A2, Honor 8.9. It will be more profitable and practical.
Chips and features
No, in no case, there is no desire to devaluethe uniqueness of the top-line interfaces, but they should serve as a kind of cherry on the cake, a bonus for loyal fans, and not a way to justify crazy markups at the presentation. The Chinese focus on features that are used every day, which are in demand on an ongoing basis, and this is not dust and moisture protection, this is not “wireless” charging, everything is much simpler. It takes a long time to sit down — It charges quickly - this is a path that it’s high time to take.
Amoled
I do not like Amoled, this matrix distorts realcolors, and the cheaper the device, the worse it looks. It looks acidic, and yes, in fact, his eyes are more tired of him. This is so, and so far the problem has not been solved. I felt it all at 100%, when I started using the iPhone XS Max, there Oled transmits a more natural color reproduction, due to the True Tone technology. But even with all this, I feel a significant difference with the IPS screen.
The problem of "burnout" also remains open. A year of active use will provide you with reddening or fading of the screen, and a kind of default screensaver on a white background in the form of icons of some kind of social network (often it is YouTube, Instagram). But on the other hand, given the speed with which users are now updating their gadgets, for many it will not be relevant.
See also: Pink bar on Samsung Galaxy S7 displays. Mass marriage
Unlock system
Just “haha” — I have this feeling whenI watch people bringing the latest fancy Samsung to their face, while looking at the eye holes on the smartphone screen... “haha” this is really funny, it looks like something out of an old science fiction movie about space. Only there such systems protected the premises, and not a compact device, in general they messed up something.
Analogs from Huawei and Xiaomi with laserfacial scanning, in turn, analogues of Face ID — look much better. They are, at a minimum, faster, at maximum, more practical and safer. But the iris scanner was exhibited at Samsung presentations and promotions as a “killer feature,” with greetings from the past. Well, my grandfather would definitely appreciate it. Nothing to add.
Exynos processor
Exynos — own single-chipSamsung's system, created back in 2010, more precisely introduced together with the Galaxy S (note that phones did not need powerful processors at that time, that is, at that time the Exynos 3110 chip was enough to perform the simplest functions). I can’t help but note the fact that I observed stuttering of the interface and some animations, thoughtfulness when opening applications, crashes, and so on back then, with the Galaxy S2,3,4,5,6 edge.
I also want to note that it is found everywhere,whether it is Galaxy S9 or some kind of J6 (2018), and there and there will be lags right out of the box. “And where is Exynos? It can and the shell to lag, and application developers to screw up? ". And this also has a place to be, but similar devices A9, S8, S9, Note 8.9 on the Snapdragon 660, 835, 845 series do not have similar interface twitches, hangs.
Sadly aware, but this productis not the pride of the company, it is “Korean” shame, as it is, this is not Huawei’s Kirin and certainly not Apple’s “A” series. The most interesting thing for us is that Exynos is sold in the CIS and Europe, and Samsung based on Qualcomm in the United States and the Chin, like that.
Design
“They should have just turned the smartphone over”— I thought, looking at the evolution of fingerprint scanners on the back of the company’s flagships S8, S9, Note. “How primitive and impractical it is” — I thought. Just turn the screen towards you and focus your attention on creating a powerful 3D facial scanning system, no? Well, not better, but at least the same as the Chinese? No? Then the fingerprint scanner is built into the screen, like Meizu, OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo, but stands out for its area and accuracy. That would be a surprise, right? - no.
Samsung decided to "kill all the birds with one stone" by not caring about the location of the fingerprint scanner, "hammering a nail" on the degree of protection and practicality of face recognition, placing a bet on marketing as usual.
Bixbi button — complete contradiction andthe inadequacy of designers and programmers rolled into one. How could it be possible to place another button on the end, while all manufacturers are trying to achieve a “seamless” design! I would support the idea of a touch button in the frame of a smartphone, but no, you have to choose the most “awkward” place and «sandal» physics there.
But HTC has managed to apply technology EdgeSense (touch frame responsive to compression) by purpose, adding the ability to select the Google Assistant voice assistant to the settings section, isn’t it fine? And on a huge S9 Plus position this sensor on the bottom end? - in my opinion it is quite realizable and interesting. Or, like everyone else's voice, and not squeeze out the "blood from the finger." Moreover, Bixbi itself is sad, and to this day in Russia we work only in Korean and English.
“Huge bezels around the display,” — YouYou think I’ve started to describe some kind of desktop monitor to you, but no, these are Samsung phones, the “J”, “A” and even “S” line (top and bottom), still have “heavy” frames around the screen. But now manufacturers are very close to 100% coverage of the display area. Yes, it is necessary to note the belated response from the Koreans in the form of matrices with holes for the camera, it looks fresh, and the A8s turned out to be a fairly balanced smartphone, with an excellent chip on board the Snapdragon 710, if the price is similar in beauty, then this device will be a success!
Who buys Samsung?
No matter how strange it may sound, but the productsSamsung companies are bought largely by inertia. People love stability: once they buy, for example, a Galaxy, in 90% of cases their next smartphone will be from Samsung. The reason for this is clever brainwashing by the marketers of the Korean company. The user is simply sure that he simply will not buy a better, more reliable and more stylish smartphone. Brand power… And they simply don’t want to hear that there are devices on the market that are 1.5-2 times cheaper with a similar design!
Total
In general, the company's problems on the surface needchange strategy, price, in order to stay afloat. Indeed, in addition to my thoughts and arguments, there are also sales statistics that have strongly subsided both in our country and in the Chinese market.
While people “don’t redeem” the whole essence, relying onother people’s opinions, tales of sales consultants, opinions of paid bloggers, authoritative publications, stores, and so on. And, of course, I am not opening “America”, this is information for people who see through Galaxy Wear, who do not want and do not want to think and analyze.. Perhaps the situation will change after the presentation of the Galaxy S10, we’ll wait — we'll see.