Earlier this week, a report from DisplayMate put the Galaxy Note7, Samsung’s latest flagship phablet, through its rigorous testing process.
In the end, and as eloquently as the publication can put it, the Galaxy Note7 basically beat out everything else around it, and the phablet has the best overall display, and highest-performing display, of all the smartphones out there right now.
Basically, Samsung beat Samsung in this race, with the Galaxy Note7 replacing the Galaxy S7 from earlier this year.
I need to make a point here, before we go any further. When it comes to LCD displays, Apple wins in this category. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus launched with plenty of recommendations and accolades from DisplayMate, and as far as LCD displays go for smartphones, Apple is leading the pack.
But it wasn’t until the Galaxy Note7 shoot-out that I realized there probably is a real weight to the “best LCD display” category when compared to the “best overall display” category. Basically, DisplayMate doesn’t shy away from pointing out that Samsung’s displays continue to be the best display overall, while Apple has the best displays in this one particular area.
For some that’s probably good enough, especially those who only use iPhones and don’t plan on ever using anything else. Which is perfectly okay! After all, the hardware isn’t the most important part – it’s just one part. Software plays a role, too. After all, if you don’t like using the software on a phone, it doesn’t really matter how great the hardware is.
I used a Galaxy Note7 last weekend, and I liked it. There are some elements that I don’t, and I wish that Samsung would just use stock Android for some of them, but TouchWiz has definitely come a long way. And after watching videos on the phone, and playing around with everything, the report from DisplayMate only made my trepidation towards owning the phone disappear even further. The fact that Samsung supports 4K right now is one thing, but the additional component of supporting High Dynamic Range (HDR) for colors is beyond impressive to me.
Is there a lot of 4K/HDR content out there? No, there isn’t “a lot” of it, but it’s growing, and it’s growing at a rapid pace. HDR10 and Dolby Vision are here, and they make our movies look so much better on our in-home displays. The fact that the Galaxy Note7 can provide HDR support is huge in my book.
Ultimately, though, it got me thinking about the way Apple has relied on its Retina and Retina HD display technology. I don’t have any problem admitting that for most customers this is good enough. But I don’t want Apple to live by the “good enough” principle anymore. Because there are people out there that can see, and want to see, better colors and higher resolutions.
Rumor has it that Apple is going to adopt OLED technology into its iPhone lineup in 2017, and I honestly believe that’s going to be the case. OLED has come a long way, and I don’t have any doubt that Apple sees it as a viable technology now – especially considering the technology is in its Apple Watch. However, at the same time, I don’t expect Apple to go out of its way to show off OLED technology, either.
When Apple does finally introduce OLED tech into its displays, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s basically starting over. Level 1 stuff, basically, where Apple will have to improve upon itself year over year, only to keep playing catch up.
Samsung has shown that it’s reached Level 10, or maybe even beyond that, at this point. With the Galaxy S7, and now with the Galaxy Note7, we’re looking at the most ridiculous displays to date.
Apple’s not going to start at this point with the 2017 iPhone – at least, I don’t believe they will.
That isn’t to say that the OLED display technology that Apple uses in its iPhone lineup won’t be great. I’m sure Apple will sell it as a huge step up when compared to the LCD panels they used in older iPhones – as well they should! After all, those upgrading will probably see a benefit. But for the folks who have been using Samsung devices, and especially those who picked up a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy Note7 this year, next year’s iPhone might not seem all that appealing.
What would really surprise me about Apple and the iPhone 7 this year? If the company made a point to release technology that isn’t just “good enough” anymore. We’ve seen it over the years with the likes of 16GB storage, for instance. It’s “good enough” for a lot of people, so why change it? Well, you change it because a lot of people would benefit from it. And staying on the iPhone 7, they better show me some real, concrete benefits to switching to Lightning headphones instead of using 3.5mm headphones. There’s certainly a case to be made that the listening experience will change in a good way, so I’m hoping Apple’s making this change for the better — not just because it can.
Work from the top-down, Apple, not the other way around. Impress people with the hardware features, as well as the software features. We should not have had to wait for a 1080p HD panel on an iPhone until the iPhone 6 Plus – and we’re still missing it on the iPhone 6/6s! – just because Retina/Retina HD is good enough for most people.
And here’s why Apple should want to work from the top-down – everyone benefits. The folks who want to brag about specs can do that, and even show it off, while those who don’t care still get to benefit from it, whether they can see it/hear it/feel it or not. Putting a display with a resolution of 1440×2560 in an iPhone only makes the phone better, not worse. The same can be said for devices with more storage, or more RAM, or . . . You get the picture.
Here’s where I should note that Apple would have to contend with battery life if they put a display of that resolution in one of their iPhones, and obviously a lot of people wouldn’t trade what battery life they get for a higher resolution display. I’m probably one of those people — but I also think battery life should just be better in general in 2016, so I’m the old guy yelling at clouds when it comes to this particular topic.
Yes, Apple likes to wait. Apple waits until it’s good and ready to launch something, anything, the rest of the market has already adopted. Bigger smartphones took Apple many years to adopt. Apple still uses 16GB as a base storage, despite the fact it promotes features that use up a ridiculous amount of storage (like 4K video recording), but may finally be ditching that as an option with the iPhone 7.
Waiting is fine – as long as whatever it is you release is comparable to the competition that’s already been doing it for so long.
I might be the outlier here, but I think a lot of you might relate to where I’m coming from, with one aspect of the iPhone lineup or another. It might not be displays, but it could be camera (low-light photos, for instance), or RAM, or storage, or wireless charging, or what have you. How would you like to see Apple change this pattern in the future?
