Apple announced new line ups of Apple Watch with Watch SE 2022, Series 8 Watch and a new flagship Apple Watch Ultra. The new line ups are both in terms of design and hardware upgrades to the previous generation along with the new Watch OS 9.
The Apple Watch SE 2022 is now a bit less price than last year with the new band color options, the same dual core S8 SiP SoC in Apple Watch 8 and two options of 40 mm and 44 mm. Apple has also included Apple Watch 8's new hardware features of Satellite SOS, Car-crash safety sensor and software integration ad new compass app. The display is also upgraded with more shatter proof crystal with new Retina poled panel with 1000 nits.
The new Apple Watch Series Watch 8 has three options: Series 8 Watch, Nike and Hermes. Series 8 Apple Watch comes in aluminum and Stainless steel options starting at $399. The display options are 41 mm or 45 mm and with the same poled as affordable SE 2022 while there are three color options. While the difference is IP 6X certified for waterproof and dust and shock proof, sapphire crystal glass display, new temperature and ultra wideband support. There is also afib support for heart sensor for tracking previous histories. The Nike series 8 shows Nike logo when switched on along with Nike exclusive tracking in Fitness plus while Heremes shows horse in House animation in watch face when the watch is raised showing the equestrian house roots. There are also Nike bands and Hermes bands with new colors and designs.
The new surprising edition to Apple branding is Apple Watch Ultra 8 with more endurance battery life, biggest and brightest display at 2000 nits, and three band options at $799. The new action button is customization savy to user needs. The battery life is also further improved by new low power mode that almost doubles the Watch on time.
Apple also announced an update to AirPods with a new AirPods Pro second generation at $249. The new buds pro is with updated H2 audio SoC, 1.5 hours more of battery life and a new charging case. There is also new transparency mode to noise cancellation that cancels outside environment noise. There is a new immersive spatial audio for customizing audio with truedepth front camera of iPhone to create more immersive audio.
Apple changes the smartphone and smartwatch markets again with new hardware and software innovation iPhones and Series 8 Apple Watch. The new AirPods Pro is also unveiled as Apple's groundbreaking product for music listening.
Apple announced new iPhone 14 series with four new iPhones powered by updated and new SoC, upgraded cameras and ground breaking innovations. The series now ditches mini with a new plus in iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. There are four colors availability with 14 ad 14 Plus color variants same as last year's 13 while 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max with Space Black and Deep Purple as new colors. The designs of iPhone series 14 is also improved to more thinness and less weight than previous generation while front camera notch is now updated to show notifications and dynamically adjusted to the display content as Dynamic Islands. Also there is new arrival of always on display for notifications.
In terms of hardware specs, the upgrades are: iPhone 14 and 14 Plus with upgraded A15 Bionic 5 nm hexacore CPU and 5 core GPU while iPhone 14 Pro ad iPhone 14 Pro Max are with ground breaking new A16 Bionic 4 nm hexacore CPU and 5 core GPU. The displays are now upgraded to Super Retina XDR oled with 800 nits and 1000 nits average brightness for 14, 14 Plus and 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max respectively. The cameras on 14 and 14 Plus are as same as on 13 in terms of Ultrawide megapixels output while 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max are now with 48 Megapixels. The selfie cameras are 12 Megapixels for all four iPhones with upgraded specs. The camera software is upgraded by new improved photogenic engine that produces great 3d true depth selfies while for main cameras its new action video recording mode for more stabilized video recording.
The new hardware innovation is integration of car crash detection to Apple Watch for automatically dialing emergency numbers or showing emergency number on Apple watch. There is also a groundbreaking satellite sos sms system that provides sms option when there is no wifi or network as Far Out event name says!.
Apple has delivered a groundbreaking display, camera and connectivity features with the iPhone series that starts at $799 to $1099 against the competition of fold form factors by Samsung and other Android smartphones.
Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4 is this year's the most awaited foldable display smartphone with lots of excitement and anticipation by Fold fans and tech journalists as smartphone industry becoming saturated by just two options of big screen phablets and normal screen smartphones. After Galaxy S22, Galaxy Z Fold 4 is also Samsung's new flagship smartphone in terms of price for this year. Samsung as inventor of Foldable smartphone mainstream market oem, apart from incremental design improvements, went with more innovations in both hardware and software.
Display: AMOLED 2X, HDR10+, 1200 Nits( Max Brightness), 120 Hz, 7.6 Inch at 1812 x 2176 resolution. 6.2 Inch at 904 x 2316, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+
Li-Po 4400 mAh, non-removable Fast charging 25W, 50% in 30 min Reverse wireless charging 4.5W
OS:
Android 12 L, One UI 4.1.1
Colors:
Graygreen, Phantom Black, Beige, Burgundy
Price:
256 GB Fold 4 $1799.99
512 GB Fold 4 $1919.99
1 TB Fold 4 $2159.99
Un-Box:
Samsung has delivered its best hardware specs for this year's Fold 4 with the display upgraded to HDR10+ AMOLED 2X panel for supporting 10 bit and above HDR encoded movies and camera recorded videos. The display is now protected by latest from Corning's Gorilla glass Victus+ that adds more durability against scratches, falls and spills. The device is also IPX 8 protected against water, dust and shocks. The hinge is now more stronger than previous generation as it stands unbroken against harsh folds and reverse folds. At 1200 nits maximum brightness, the display shows vivid colors, 1 fps to 120 fps support and better power saving.
The dual displays at 7.6 inch and 6.2 inch provides a great user experience balance for Samsung's own One UI 5.0 on the top of Android 12 L. The hinge based split screen really making it a Top Gun of smartphone to tablet experience a powerhouse for productivity, entertainment and gaming. And this year, fast charging and increased capacity to 4400 mAh upgrades the user experience without the hassle of waiting for hours of device charging. Samsung has also outdone Apple in supplying out of box charger while still remaining green smartphone packaging oem. There is also S-Pen support on dual displays.
The selfie camera has also received a great upgrade with addition of another for Samsung's Ultrawide strategy for a options spectra. The 10 Megapixels main selfie is supported by 4 Megapixels for an option galore selfie shooting experience of ultrawide mode, macro modes and more. The main camera is with Samsung's Ultrawide imaging strategy of three camera modules of 50, 10 and 12 Megapixels in 12 Mp output.
The chipset powering the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is Qualcomm's flagship 4 nm based Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Octa core and Adreno 730 GPU. The new SoC is delivering blazing fast performance and optimized battery life on top of 6 GB and 12 GB RAM options.
Checkout the hands on video by CNET for Galaxy Z Fold 4's user experience and performance:
Durability:
As tested by RRTech, Galaxy Z Fold 4's hinge is strong as advertised by Samsung against the harsh folds and reverse folds with almost no damage to mechanism. Though against the flames, not under the IPX 8 protection, display got burned along with the back-plate While against the drops, Z Fold 4 turned out shatter proof defeating other Android smartphones.
JerryRiggEveryhing tests Galaxy Z Fold 4's victus+ Gorilla Glass with a wire cutter and its less scratches than previous generation. Galaxy Z Fold 4 also shows great hinge quality against knife and reverse folds. Galaxy Z Fold 4 turns out more tougher than previous year with IPX 8 protection.
Photography:
Galaxy Z Fold 4 is Samsung's flagship foldable smartphone this year with improved design, updated hardware specs and more innovation from previous generation. The camera hardware is updated with three cameras for ultrawide, depth photography and adding 30X Space Zoom to photography. The images captured are vivid, bright and clearer even with 30X zoom mode and night photography is as impressive as day time. The selfie camera is now a dual camera update from previous generation with same ultrawide sensor outputting vivid, bright and clearer selfies. Samsung has delivered its best camera for Galaxy Z Fold 4.
Checkout the camera testing of Galaxy Z Fold 4 by Phandroid:
Checkout the video recording test by CNET:
One UI 5.0 and Flex app user experience:
Samsung has also released new One UI 5.0 on top of Android 12L. Android 12 for Large screens is well optimized for Galaxy Z Fold 4 with the lock screen for both displays showing the same app shortcuts and notifications, While the home screen is dynamic in terms of which display is closed or if the hinge is folded to a single display. The app drawer is pretty similar to Galaxy S22 in portrait modes while on tablet display mode its similar to Galaxy Tab.
The Flex user experience is also improved and updated with support for more app experiences. It is also integrated with more support for Play Store apps.
Checkout the review of software experience on Galaxy Z Fold 4 by ZDNET:
Checkout also the PUBG gaming test on Galaxy Fold 4 by HG:
Conclusion:
At $1799.99, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a industry-defining Foldable-dual display smartphone that overshadows the competition by Oppos, Xiaomis and Chinese foldable smartphones by Qualcomm's blazing fast SoC, Samsung's own Ultrawide cameras that are zoom-savy, vivid and brightest dual displays and One UI Android 12L with Flex app experience. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is an immersive dual-display fold form-factor flagship smartphone by Samsung that fuels entertainment, productivity and gaming to the most dynamic and smarter user experience.
