If you’re an Android user, you’ll immediately recognize a number of iPhone 14 upgrades.
So let’s see what’s new for Apple and what’s already available for Android users.
Android Got It First: Camera and Video Stabilization
There was a long-standing issue with shaky footage when recording with a smartphone. There has been some improvement over the years in the ability of phone makers to stabilize video, but it has yet to reach the level of a GoPro or other action camera. Due to advancements in stabilization and post-processing techniques, smartphones such as the Google Pixel 5 and 2020’s Samsung Galaxy S20 include Active Stability and Super Steady modes that allow users to capture smooth GoPro-like footage in movement.
All iPhone 14 models feature Apple’s new Action mode, which might make racing-related recording more appealing. Like many other stabilization solutions, this setting seems to push down the image for a tighter fit.
Android got it first: pixel grouping
In the iPhone 14 Pro, Apple finally presents a 48-megapixel camera. Compared to the standard iPhone 14 and the previous year’s iPhone 13 Pro, the number of pixels is four times higher on the iPhone 14. The problem is that it is difficult for each pixel to collect enough light on a tiny smartphone camera sensor to generate a good image.
To combat this, high-end Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S21, OnePlus 9, and Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra, and more affordable Android phones, can group pixels together so that they function as one huge pixel. Pixel binning is a technique that allows sensors to manage incoming light while maintaining their relatively high resolution.
Apple product manager Vitor Silva was careful to note during the “Far Out” presentation that he is not the pioneer, but rather that Apple is introducing a “whole new class of cameras to iPhone”.
Android Got It First: Pill-Shaped Front Camera Style
The huge high end of recent iPhones has become a distinctive design feature. Apple is following Android’s lead in ditching the notched screen in favor of a pill-shaped cutout with the introduction of the iPhone 14 Pro.
When Apple released the iPhone X in 2017 with the notch, Samsung was quick to poke fun at the unusual design choice. It wasn’t long before Android smartphone makers started looking for ways to reduce the size of their own front-facing camera notches by cutting dramatically smaller notches into the display or settling for punch-hole cutouts instead.
The OnePlus 7 Pro even went so far as to include a mechanism that pops the selfie camera out of the frame so nothing blocks the screen. When it comes to taking selfies, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 opts for an under-screen camera, leaving the inner screen nearly unimpeded.
Android Got It First: Always-on screen
Android has supported always-on display technology in various forms for many years. The feature was standard on outdated Lumia Windows Phones in 2013. Even before Samsung, LG was at the forefront of this technology with its smartwatches. With always on, you can keep the clock and upcoming activities on your calendar in the foreground without ever touching your device.
Apple’s Senior Vice President of Marketing Greg “Joz” Joswiak says the iPhone 14 Pro’s Super Retina XDR display uses LTPO technology, allowing the display to run at a higher refresh rate. slower than 1Hz while using less battery. That achievement goes to Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra, released earlier this year and using the same display technology.
Apple is still to be commended for its efforts
Apple’s iPhone 14 launch didn’t just recycle Android features in every way. The A16 Bionic chip that’s included in the iPhone 14 Pro is a powerhouse of a mobile processor and should continue to reign supreme in the smartphone realm, except Google manages to topple it with the release of the Pixel 7 later. in this year.
Compared to the Galaxy S22 Ultra, which only has 1,750 nits of peak brightness, the Super Retina XDR display has a peak luminance of 2,000 nits. SOS Emergency Satellite Service is normally only available on bulky satellite phones, but it now offers iPhone 14 users a method to contact emergency services in case they run into a difficult situation in a remote area of the United States or Canada. In addition, the TrueDepth front camera will allow for a more realistic bokeh effect in your selfies.
Despite this, it’s always prudent to maintain some skepticism whenever a tech company touts its products.
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