The long-awaited MWC of this year has already finished and as it happens every year the flavor it leaves is quite bittersweet. Yes, I have to admit that as an Apple "fanboy" and a basic connoisseur of everything outside of that world, the eyes with which I see this fair are perhaps not the most appropriate, but I also have to say that every year I do the effort to be very aware and interested in the news that other manufacturers offer us, with Samsung in the lead. One more year has seemed like a fair with a lot of useless accessory, a lot of science fiction and the real thing, what really matters and we can already get our hands on has not really contributed anything new, except for very specific cases.
Samsung more Apple than ever, LG bets hard and Xiaomi leaves us half
Samsung has presented its two flagships for this year, the new Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, two smartphones that are very continuous with respect to the previous generation, perhaps too much. The Korean brand seems to want to imitate Apple even in its market strategy, and has chosen to follow in Apple's footsteps with a generation "S", because it would have been better to call this Galaxy the S6S, although perhaps they are more "S" of the account. The design is practically identical to the previous one, which is not bad in my opinion (not so in that of many others), because it is very beautiful. They have made the camera stand out less and have maintained that premium finish with quality materials, as a phone of that price deserves. Regarding the rest, little variation, or rather, little that goes out of the expected: better processor, better camera, a step back recovering the microSD slot and the water resistance that it abandoned last year ... and that's it.
Yes, Apple does the same, but no. Because the iPhone 6s is identical on the outside to the 6, but there are software changes and a new screen technology, 3D Touch, which may seem little but it is enough. Obviously also the same improvements in processor, and the RAM was doubled, the camera was also improved. Even comparing with Apple, the changes of this Galaxy S7 few crave. If the previous models did not finish working as the company expected, why continue with an almost identical strategy?
LG has been the only company that has decided to innovate, to present something different, which is always risky and therefore is to be appreciated. Leaving aside the aberrant concept of "modular smartphone" that Google raises, LG offers something similar but with good taste. The LG G5 is a beautiful mobile, with premium finishes and specifications at the level of what the market demands, and that offers the possibility of adding modules that give it new possibilities: better audio, more options for the camera, more battery, etc. We will see how the public welcomes this, how it is handled in real life and, above all, the price. Because making a presentation like LG's and hiding the price of your device raises many questions. We will have to be aware.
Xiaomi arrived late, perhaps too late, thus losing the capacity for surprise. If what you bring is also not surprising, the end result is "I expected more." In the end, the Chinese brand has remained in "makes good and cheap mobiles", which is good, but perhaps not enough to be presented at a fair like MWC with such expexation. Make no mistake, the new Xiaomi Mi5 attracts attention, but not for anything special, but for its price. It does not offer anything that we do not have in other mobile phones from other brands, but of course, it does it at a price that few can resist. Your new smartphone has an iPhone-like design with premium materials such as aluminum and porcelain, a screen with very reduced frames, Snapdragon 820 processor, Sony camera, 4GB of RAM ... nothing that stands out from the average, but its price of about 400 € for the most expensive model leaves you wanting to reserve it now.
That is precisely the problem: Xiaomi has been "threatening" to extend its reach territory for too long, but it does not. Their motives? Patents, complicated market that does not interest you, distribution difficulties ... Much is said about this but the reality is that in Europe and the United States the only way to get this device will be through third parties, and this means that its price will be much higher, perhaps already too close to that of conventional brands, with which the appeal disappears completely. So much hype and saucer in a presentation at a world congress to later say that you are not going to reach markets like Europe and America? It really is the most disappointing. A brand like Xiaomi cannot remain long as the eternal promise that will soon arrive but never lands.
Too many toys to stuff
In the absence of great news, manufacturers have chosen to entertain us a bit and attract our attention with funny toys: cameras that record 360º panoramas, imitations of the "Sphero BB-8" ball and the ubiquitous virtual reality glasses that are already going to give away even in the ColaCao boxes. Curious, even funny gadgtes, some of whom may turn out to be something (Yes, I recognize that glasses may be something in the near future), but for now they have only served to be something anecdotal in a fair with little capacity for surprise.
I don't understand, when Samsung brought out something new, the Apple fanboy said that what it is for, now that it makes a more conservative strategy than because it did not innovate, when the android world took out its watches, what it was for and a while later the clock comes out of Apple, now you say that the glasses and the 360 camera so that, and Apple is already working on some and will take out some that cost 10000 dollars (just like the fanboy buys it so they do the same as the android ones) then I don't understand, about that It's all about these things making crazy devices that no one thinks will be used but will cause curiosity and assured you that someone will put them to good use.
Yes, the problem is that Samsung only wants to compete with Apple instead of focusing on its own, they made improvements to the S6, the typical thing, that if liquid cooling, we will see if it does not bring a problem, but nothing, bone, the normal thing.
LG, if I bet on something different that is not so bad, but, a lot of accessories, and I think people do not want accessories so much.
I honestly do not know what else you need from a mobile! More processor and memory is reason more than enough because when you buy a mobile you have done it for a reason, right? And if later they offer you the same but faster, are you going to make him disgusted? My iPhone 3GS is still working as happy as the first day, and what have I always wanted? That it was faster, no more, no less. Sirs. We are talking about phones, it is impossible to put more absurd morraya with the excuse of innovation! Fast enough that they are compared to 5 years ago, what more do you want? As the nonsense continues they will look like Homer's car !! They are faster and more efficient in terms of consumption. Ball point, that's all the innovation that is needed. And whoever does not like it, if he is so clever, then let him start making mobile phones!
And yes, all the writing is without accents and with spelling errors.