5 Features That Could Disappear from Future Smartphones

Some common features on smartphones may disappear as technology advances. One example is charging ports, which should disappear soon and make way for induction chargers, which work wirelessly. The movement is similar to what happened with the P2 input for wired headphones, which disappeared from cell phones due to the popularization of Bluetooth headphones. Physical SIM card slots may also cease to exist as eSIM technology, virtual chips, advances. With that in mind, the TechTudo listed five features that could become obsolete and be replaced in the coming years. See below.

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1 of 7 See 5 features that could disappear from future smartphones — Photo: Mariana Saguias/TechTudo See 5 features that could disappear from future smartphones — Photo: Mariana Saguias/TechTudo

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1. Front camera cutout

Smartphone design has changed significantly in recent years. With the growing desire of most consumers for models with large screens, any component that gets in the way of fully viewing the display tends to disappear over the years. This is the case of the front camera, which has been taking up less and less space on the screens of more recent models.

Soon the selfie camera cutout should disappear completely. The trend is for the next models to feature a camera under the display, as in the case of the Galaxy Z Fold 5. Samsung’s foldable sensor is still far from satisfactory, but the technology is expected to evolve over time and bring better quality.

2 of 7 Galaxy Z Fold 5 has a front camera under the display — Photo: Isadora Lima/ TechTudo Galaxy Z Fold 5 has a front camera under the display — Photo: Isadora Lima/ TechTudo

Another possibility is that cell phones of the future will follow the example of the Motorola One Hyper. In it, the selfie camera is behind the screen and rises according to the user’s needs.

3 of 7 Space for the front camera of the Motorola One Hyper — Photo: TechTudo Space for the front camera of the Motorola One Hyper — Photo: TechTudo

2. Wired charging port

The wireless charging port may appear less frequently or even go away in the future. It is expected that the same movement that occurred with the P2 input for headphones, currently absent in most cell phones due to the popularization of models via Bluetooth, will occur with the charging port. In this case, the culprit would be wireless (or induction) charging for smartphones, which renders the wire useless. The alternative is also more practical, as most chargers can charge two cell phones simultaneously.

Induction charging works with the charger connected to a socket and the cell phone close to it, ideally at a maximum distance of 4 centimeters. Despite not being a recent product, portable chargers have not been very well accepted by the public so far. The main reasons are the charging power, which reaches a maximum of 15W, and its price, which starts at R$68. On the other hand, there are wired chargers with a power of 25W for much more affordable prices.

4 of 7 Charging port for a Samsung cell phone — Photo: Katarina Bandeira/TechTudo Charging port for a Samsung cell phone — Photo: Katarina Bandeira/TechTudo

3. Physical buttons

Physical buttons are among the common features on current cell phones that are expected to disappear soon. Just like the menu buttons and the front camera cutout, the removal of all the buttons should bring benefits to the models’ design, such as increasing the display area. The volume and on/off buttons are necessary in emergency situations, such as forcing the cell phone to restart if it freezes and restoring the smartphone.

However, some recent features make the screen more reliable, without allowing accidental touches that increase the volume or restart the smartphone, for example. There is also the possibility of using pressure-sensitive panels. There are prototype phones with a buttonless design, so there’s a good chance the technology will become good enough to power mainstream smartphones within a few years.

5 of 7 “button” iPhone is considered outdated — Photo: Anna Kellen Bull/TechTudo “Button” iPhone is considered outdated — Photo: Anna Kellen Bull/TechTudo

4. SIM Card Slots

SIM card slots could also disappear from smartphones in a few years. Even though they are present in practically all cell phones that arrive in stores, there are already digital cards that have performed the same function for a long time. Unlike the traditional SIM, which requires purchasing a different chip for each telephone line and manually inserting it into the smartphone, with eSIM the process is much easier.

This is because cell phones compatible with eSIM come with the technology integrated into the motherboard. This way, if a user wants to have a new telephone line, they only need to integrate it virtually, by scanning a QR Code. In addition to providing greater practicality, the method eliminates the risk of the chip suffering physical damage or being lost.

6 of 7 Example of traditional SIM chip — Photo: Filipe Garrett/TechTudo Example of traditional SIM chip — Photo: Filipe Garrett/TechTudo

Today the three largest telephone companies in the country (Claro, Vivo and Tim) offer the virtual chip, and the main smartphone manufacturers already have models compatible with the technology. To find out if your cell phone supports eSIM, consult the model’s technical data sheet.

5. Applications

It’s hard to imagine smartphones without apps, but they could also be threatened with extinction in the future. Although today it is necessary to have an app to perform functions such as playing games, making bank payments, purchasing from e-commerce, editing videos, among others, the German company Deutsche Telekom wants to change that. In partnership with the Chinese Qualcomm, it is developing a cell phone without any application and that uses only Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The model, named T Phone, must work entirely based on voice commands made to AI. For now, the cell phone is just a prototype and there is no plan for it to be made available to the general public. Deutsche Telekom has not yet explained how it will get rid of third-party software.

7 of 7 Applications on Android cell phones — Photo: Reproduction/Mariana Saguias Applications on Android cell phones — Photo: Reproduction/Mariana Saguias

With information from All Perfects Stories e Telekom

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2024-03-03 19:18:28
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