Taking a look back at seven days of news and headlines across the world of Android, this week’s Android Circuit includes Samsung’s Galaxy S22 breaks records, the S22 Ultra faces problems, Pixel 7 details leak, the big Pixel design secret, Oppo’s Find X5 flagships, reviewing the RedMagic 7 gaming smartphone, and what Android features should iOS have?
Android Circuit is here to remind you of a few of the many things that have happened around Android in the last week (and you can find the weekly Apple news digest here).
Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Breaks Records
Following the launch of the Galaxy S22 family, Samsung will be happy to see that the order books are filling up nicely and breaking records along the way. Its home country of South Korea has seen over one million pre-orders:
"ZDNet reports that over 1.02 million Galaxy S22 units were pre-ordered by eager South Koreans, with over 300,000 units being sold on day one. The last smartphone to achieve the feat was the age-old Galaxy S8 series. Even the foldable Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 came close. The report rounds things off by stating that the Galaxy S22 Ultra was the most sought-after model, accounting for over 60% of the pre-order figures. It doesn’t mention wait times, but it is unlikely that Samsung will keep fans in its base of operations waiting for too long."
(SamMobile).
Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra Problems
Questions are being asked about the performance of some Glaxy S22 Ultra handsets, specifically those that are running Samsung’s own Exynos 2200 system-on-chip. Reviewers and those purchasing in the initial wave are reporting display issues, significant lag, and high battery use on their devices. XDA’s Adam Conway:
"Exynos chipsets aren’t exactly known for being the best of the best, and it’s entirely possible that Samsung was considering canceling it entirely. As it stands though, this €1300 flagship phone is borderline unusable. Apps sometimes crash (including the CPU Throttling Test the first time I ran it), apps take multiple seconds to load, and multi-tasking is a nightmare. I’m not the only person to have issues either, as Nils Ahrensmeier of TechnikNews has complained that the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is “very laggy”, along with Nicolas La Rocco of ComputerBase‘s complaints that the phone is stuttery and slow at times."
Samsung has acknowledge the display issues and that these will eb addressed in a future software update. There has been no mention on the potential issues that could be limited to the Exynos chipset.
Google Leak Confirms New Pixel Details
Google’s developer preview of Android 13 - 2022’s update to the mobile operating system - has revealed a number of details about the next Pixel handsets. The presumptively named Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are on their way:
"First, Android 13 revealed that the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are being developed internally at Google under the codenames ‘Cheetah’ and ‘Panther’. For those keeping track, this represents a shift. The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro codenames were Oriole and Raven while historically every previous Pixel had a name related to sea life. So Google is now switching codename categories with each new Pixel release. "
(Forbes).
The Big Pixel Design Secret
We’re also seeing the first leaks of the Pixel 7 design, and it won’t come as a surprise that the camera bar still features. There’s a good reason for that, as Max Weinberg explains:
"Wanna know something fun? The camera bar was designed to be that large specifically so they could keep that design language for a few years and be able to fit new camera tech in there. They can fit newer, better, bigger sensors and LiDAR without a redesign"
(Twitter).
Oppo’s Big Move
This week saw Oppo announce its flagship Find X5 and Find X5 Pro handsets. Sporting 8 GB or 12 GB of memory, and storage up to 512 GB all backed up by the SnapDragon 8 Gen 1, these are notable smartphones in 2022’s marketplace.Both the Find X5 and Find X5 Pro come with the same camera lenses, but it’s the new MariSilicon X chipset found in the Pro handset that makes things interesting:
"But the real story is found under the hood, where the Oppo Find X5 series debuts the MariSilicon X chip that the company announced last year. That chip allows Oppo to take image and video processing to a new level. Oppo says the chip can improve low-light HDR in big ways, especially when it comes to video recording. A “4K Ultra Night Mode” lives in the Camera app for that purpose. If MariSilicon X delivers even a fraction of the added focus that Google’s Visual Core chip brought to Pixels, it’s sure to be a great addition."
(9to5Google).
The Magic Of Mobile Gaming… In Red
The power of Android means that everyone has a gaming machine in their pocket. But those looking to fully unlock mobile gaming need more from their smartphones. What are the keys to unlocking mobile gaming ? Staying cool and having enough battery power for a long gaming session. Nubia’s answer to this challenge is its new RedMagic 7 gaming phone, which I reviewed earlier this week:
"On the battery front, you have 65W charging out of the box for the battery, although at 4500 mAh the battery feels under capacity. I suspect that is the balancing act needed to have more internal volume both for the cooling systems, which include conductive copper foil, vapour chamber cooling, and perhaps most obviously, a cooling fan that runs at a variable speed to move more air through the system… as well as an RGB ring of lights around the housing to show it in operation if you have the higher specced model.
(Forbes).
And Finally...
Another fun discussion over on Reddit this week, as the community asks which features Android should adopt from iOS; and which features iOS really needs to be inspired by from Android. User Movieboy711 started it all:
"Apple apps integrate really well into other Apple apps. For example, I can set a reminder that will show up when I message someone using iMessage. Apple Notes, Reminders, iMessage, Calendar, and Facetime all work really well with each other. It would be great if Google can do this with their services. They always try then forget that the service exists and makes a new one instead."
(Reddit).
Android Circuit rounds up the news from the Android world every weekend here on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any coverage in the future, and of course read the sister column in Apple Loop! Last week’s Android Circuit can be found here, and if you have any news and links you’d like to see featured in Android Circuit, get in touch!
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Android Circuit: Leak Confirms Pixel 7 Pro Details, Galaxy S22 Ultra Problems, Oppo’s Find X5 Debuts - Forbes
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