Tech Grid

                                                                        Credit: Getty images for Samsung Samsung received a lot of hate due to the performance disparity between last year's Exynos 990 and the Snapdragon 865 which were used in Samsung flagships. The Exynos not only lacked performance in CPU and GPU department, but also was not power efficient and had thermal issues compared to the Snapdragon 865. Even the Snapdragon model clicked better pictures due to its better Image Signal Processor (ISP). Samsung has listened to our complaints last year and has introduced the new Exynos 2100 this year in their S21 series. The chip has the same cores and core configuration as the Snapdragon 888, but all the cores are clocked at higher frequencies than the 888. They are using the latest Mali G78 GPU from ARM f...

Apple is said to release a whole bunch of new tech in 2021 ranging from Apple silicon powered macs(and even pros) to iPad with mini LED displays and even something which could lead to a port less iPhone someday in the future. Here's a list of many of the new tech that Apple may launch in 2021 and some of the things that Apple might be working on to release in the distant future. Macbook Pro                                                                                                   Credit: Future Publishing/Getty Images The latest M1 macbook air and macbook 13 are two very powerful machines in terms of CPU performance. Those laptops have the best battery in any laptop period, Apple is currently working on a 14 inch and 16 inch  macbook ...

                                                                                               Credit: Photographer: NinaWestervelt/Bl Last year, Samsung started to manufacture an ultra model along with its mainline flagships within the S-series and Note series. But, the S20 ultra rather than having big numbers in it's spreadsheet didn't deliver as much as expected from an ultra phone. The S20 ultra had focusing issues on it's giant 108MP sensor and the features that was used to market the phone didn't have any functionality like the 100X zoom. Moreover, Samsung's Exynos controversy along with all the other issues and a mammoth price tag of $1400 made the ultra, the least sold flagship from Samsung in 2020. Samsung resolved many of the issues with the...

Samsung is back with the new flagship Exynos 2100 SoC for high-end Samsung devices. Last year's Exynos 990 was a disaster considering it's performance was no where near it's rival, the Snapdragon 865. Samsung received a lot of  hate for using two SoCs on their flagship devices based on different regions around the globe, and for both SoCs not having similar performance, considering you have to pay the same price for the product. The Western, Chinese and Korean markets were shipping with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 865 chipset while the rest of the world was stuck with Samsung's own Exynos 990 which was inferior to the 865 in every way. It was like Samsung was selling two different phones based on the region with the same name and hardware except the SoC. Well, Samsung's answer to last year's failure is the the new Exynos 2100 which they are really proud of that it gets it's own launch event. The Exynos 2100 is a 5nm chipset which has a 30% CPU and  40% GPU upg...

Whatsapp has changed a lot since it was acquired by Facebook back in 2014, however in 2021 Whatsapp has introduced a new set of privacy policy changes that is a concern for users worldwide in terms of privacy and data security. Whatsapp is deeply integrated into our daily lives and is the most popular messaging app on a smartphone. But since these changes brought by Facebook in Whatsapp privacy policy, users may stop using the app for good due to security and privacy concerns.  What data does Whatsapp collect from it's users? Whatsapp collects personal data such as mobile number, profile photo, app usage timings and several other pieces of data for its functioning, but the new 'terms of use' says that Whatsapp now collects your about info, IP address, phone model, OS, time zone, status updates, group info, payment info from Whatsapp pay etc. It shares these data with Facebook to bring more personalized ads in Facebook or Facebook owned Instagram.  Speaking of ads, in the ea...

Samsung is all set to launch the new Galaxy S21 series on January 14th this year. But are the new phones worth the upgrade over last year's S20 lineup or even the S9s of 2019? Many doesn't think that the new S21 lineup has any new prominent features that will make users to wait in lines for the new devices. Samsung has also dropped some features on the S21 and S21+ plus to make the ultra model more appealing and for users to spend that extra cash.  The main feature drop that will make users think twice before upgrading to the new S21 and S21+ is the removable of the micro SD card slot. The phones are capable of 8K video recording that eats a ton of storage, even the 4K video also consumes a lot of storage and Samsung's decision to remove the SD card slot might steer some customers away from the S21 and S21+. But the ultra has an SD card slot, making it's mammoth price(not finalized)  look ok.  Another spec that has been dropped from the S21 and S21+  is Quad HD displ...

OLED displays are always superior to LCD displays in terms of color reproduction, contrast ratios, brightness etc. This year's iPhone 12 lineup uses an OLED display on all 4 phones compared to only the Pro models which received an OLED display last year. A Youtube channel called Phonebuff showed the advantages of an OLED display compared to LCD in terms of battery using the latest iPhone 12 and last year's iPhone 11.  OLED displays can individually turn of each pixel to save battery when not in use which is not possible on an LCD display. The video shows an iPhone 12 in dark mode vs an iPhone 11 in dark mode to show the advantages of an OLED display. They also show another iPhone 12 in light mode to compare the battery usage of the display when using dark mode compared to light mode. In conclusion, the iPhone 12 in dark mode beats the iPhone 11 by 13 % even while having a smaller battery than the iPhone 11. The dark mode iPhone 12 also beats the light mode iPhone 12 by 9%. The ...

We saw a lot of new smartphones in 2020 even amid the pandemic. Here's a lost of smartphones that will be lunched in first quarter 2021. Samsung S21 series Samsung will be launching three new S series flagships this January, the S21, S21+ and the S21 ultra. The phones have a big design refresh  from last year's S20 series and leaks suggests that the cameras get a big upgrade this year. The S21 ultra will get S-Pen support making it the first phone apart from the Samsung Note series to support a stylus, however, the S-Pen will not be included in the box. OnePlus 9 series OnePlus usually launches their phones in May or April, but this year they will be launching the 9 series this March. OnePlus 9 series will consist of the regular 9 , the 9 pro and an unusual 9 lite. The company is launching lite phone among their flagships for the first time and the lite will sport last years flagship specs. However, the 9 and 9 pro will have a serious camera upgrade since OnePlus is working wit...

The current Antutu benchmark topper, the Mate 40 pro+ from Huawei was beaten by IQOO 7 powered by the Snapdragon 888 chipset. The device scored 752,935 points also beating the Qualcomm Reference device powered by the 888 chipset. IQOO 7 had 12Gb of LPDDR5 ram and 256Gb of UFS 3.1 storage. The benchmark was run by a prototype, so performance bumps can be noticed in the retail unit of the IQOO 7. The device also has a 1080p 120hz OLED display. The battery is a 4000mah cell and comes with 120W superfast charging. The device will be unveiled on January 11, 2021.  

Vivo X60 and X60 pro to sport Samsung's new Exynos 1080 chipsets and is available for pre-order in China. International availability is not confirmed yet. Another variant, the X60 pro+ will be announced in January with the Snapdragon 888 chipset. The X60 has 1080p OLED 120hz display with HDR10+ support. The device has 8Gb of ram and comes in 128Gb and 256Gb storage options. The battery has 4,300mah capacity and supports 33W fast charging. The cameras consists of a 48MP main sensor, a 13MP 2X telephoto lens and a 13MP 120-degree FoV ultrawide lens which also doubles as a macro lens. Coming to the X60 pro, the device is available with 12Gb of ram and 256Gb of internal storage. The camera system gets a spec bump with an 8MP 5X periscope zoom lens along with other lenses same as the X60. The device has a 4,200mah battery with 33W fast charging. Both the devices has a 32MP selfie shooter.  Both the phones have the 5nm Exynos 1080 and comes with Android 11 with Origin OS on top. The pric...