Specifications of Smartphones - Network Types - Part 1

What Network band is your smartphone on?

1. CELLULAR FREQUECIES

A key part of any mobile phone specification is its operating frequency bands. The supported frequency bands determine whether a certain handset is compatible with a certain network carrier.

The cellular frequencies are the sets of frequency which ranges within the ultra high frequency band that have been allocated for cellular phone use. All cellular phone networks worldwide use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum designated as ultra high frequency, or "UHF", for the transmission and reception of their signals. The ultra high frequency band is also shared with television, and Bluetooth transmission

The first widespread automatic mobile network was in the 450 MHz band (NMT-450). As mobile phones became more popular and affordable, mobile providers encountered a problem because they couldn't provide service to the increasing number of customers. They had to develop their existing networks and eventually introduce new standards, often based on other frequencies. The GSM standard, which appeared to replace NMT-450 and other standards, initially used the 900 MHz band too. As demand grew, carriers acquired licenses in the 1,800 MHz band.

Some NMT-450 analog networks have been replaced with digital networks using the same frequency; however, some carriers received licenses for 450 MHz frequency to provide CDMA mobile coverage area.

Many GSM phones support three bands (900/1,800/1,900 MHz or 850/1,800/1,900 MHz) or four bands (850/900/1,800/1,900 MHz), and are usually referred to as tri-band and quad-band phones, or world phones; with such a phone one can travel internationally and use the same handset.

The actual frequency used by a particular phone can vary from place to place, depending on the settings of the carrier's base station.

Generally speaking, lower frequencies allow carriers to provide coverage over a larger area, while higher frequencies allow carriers to provide service to more customers in a smaller area.

2. GSM FREQUENCY BANDS

2G bands (850MHz to 1,900 MHz)

2G, first introduced in 1992, is the second-generation of cellular telephone technology and the first to use digital encryption of conversations. 2G networks were the first to offer data services and SMS text messaging, but their data transfer rates are lower than those of their successors. 

Under 2G Bands there is GPRS and EDGE.

           

GPRS                   

General Packet Radio Service is a packet-switching technology that enables data transfers through cellular networks. It is used for mobile internet, MMS and other data communications. In theory the speed limit of GPRS is 115 kbps, but in most networks it is around 35 kbps. Informally, GPRS is also called 2.5G.

EDGE                   

Enhanced Data for Global Evolution (also known as Enhanced GPRS or EGPRS) is a data system used on top of GSM networks. It provides nearly three times faster speeds than the outdated GPRS system. The theoretical maximum speed is 473 kbps for 8 timeslots but it is typically limited to 135 kbps in order to conserve spectrum resources. Both phone and network must support EDGE, otherwise the phone will revert automatically to GPRS.

EDGE meets the requirements for a 3G network but is usually classified as 2.75G.

3G Bands (850MHz to 2,100 MHz)         

3G networks succeeded 2G ones, offering faster data transfer rates and are the first to enable video calls. This makes them especially suitable for use in modern smartphones, which require constant high-speed internet connection for many of their applications.

3G is loosely defined, but generally includes high data speeds, always-on data access, and greater voice capacity.

The high data speeds are possibly the most prominent feature, and certainly the most hyped. They enable such advanced features as live streaming video.

There are several different 3G technology standards. The most prevalent is UMTS, which is based on WCDMA (the terms WCDMA and UMTS are often used interchangeably).

UMTS

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation wireless network technology which allows speeds of up to 2Mbps.

UMTS is based on the WCDMA technology, which is why these terms have become interchangeable.

WCDMA

Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) is a third-generation (3G) wireless standard which allows the use of both voice and data and offers data speeds of up to 384 Kbps.

WCDMA is also called UMTS and the two terms have become interchangeable.

Some parts of the WCDMA are based on GSM technology and the networks are designed to integrate the GSM networks at some levels.

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Specifications of Smartphones - Size, Resolution and Protection

SCREEN SIZE        

The industry standard way of representing display sizes is publishing their length in inches. 

The screen-to-body ratio is a measure which relates to the size of the screen bezels. 
The BIGGER the ratio, the SMALLER the bezels are, meaning the DISPLAY takes up a larger area on the device's front.
Having a smartphone said to be 5 inchs doesn't necessarily mean you have a full 5inch screen for usuage

The Display to body ratio is a simple data that tells you how much of the surface the screen represents when compared to the whole device. 

For example, a device with a ratio of 50% would have as much body surface visible from the front as it has screen surface.

On the other hand, a device with a 100 ratio would have no visible body when looked at from the front.

Calculate the screen size. Enter your smartphone details:

SCREEN RESOLUTION

The industry standard way of representing screen resolution is publishing the number of pixels that form the two sides of the display rectangle. 
Usually, the display side that sits at the bottom when you hold the device in your hand is cited first. 
For the older alphanumeric displays the screen resolution is shown in screen lines or characters per screen line instead. In this case since there will be more pixels per an inch-long line of pixels on the smaller display, the image will look subjectively clearer and more detailed. 
The pixel density which is measured in pixels-per-inch (ppi) is very important.

An increased pixel density allows for more detail to be shown. 
Displays with a higher pixel density will give clearer and sharper images.

When choosing your next smartphone, it’s important to look at the pixel density on the display. 

A smartphone with low pixel density may give poor-quality images. 

Text legibility will also be limited – particularly on webpages where text is small. 

On smartphones with a higher pixel density, the legibility of text improves and further details can be seen in a photo or video. A high-end smartphone should have a pixel density of at least 300ppi.

However, a higher resolution uses more battery power and more processing power.

Calculating PPI  or you can simply install CPU-Z and check the Device tab

resolution definitions

Resolution Definitions are also often referred to by the smaller number of the pixel measurement. Eg:

1    1)    HD is sometimes called 720p,

2    2)    Full HD gets called 1,080p

3    3)    QHD is called 2K or 1,440p

4    4)    Ultra HD is called 4K  or 2,160p

HD

HD stands for high definition. HD simply means a pixel measurement of 1,280 x 720 pixels.

No matter how large the screen is, as long as the pixel measurement remains at this measurement, it's an HD display.

As you can probably tell, the smaller the HD screen the higher the pixel density and, theoretically, the better the picture.

So simply having an HD display doesn't mean much, as it will produce a very different image on a 5-inch screen from a 10-inch screen and a 4.3-inch screen.

Full HD

Full HD measures 1,920 x 1,280 pixels.

Again, the pixel density will depend on how large the screen diagonal is.

With smartphones at the 5-inch mark, the pixel density sits around 440 ppi, while on a 5.5-inch screen that number drops to 400 ppi.

Quad HD or 2K

QHD stands for Quad HD, which is four times the definition of standard HD.

The pixel measurement for QHD is 2,560 x 1,440 pixels.

A 5.5-inch QHD display has a pixel density of 538 ppi.

4K or Ultra HD

4K comes from the larger of the two pixel measurements. 4,096 pixels in 4K and only 3,840 pixels in Ultra HD.

Ultra HD is 3,860 x 2,160 pixels and 4K is 4,096 x 2,160. Both definitions frequently get shortened to 2,160p and the pixel difference is relatively marginal.

SCREEN PROTECTION

As touchscreen displays are growing larger in recent years, the need for enhanced scratch resistance and protection of the screens created the demand for usage of screen covers of increased resistance including chemically hardened glass.

Corning's Gorilla Glass is a popular brand of hardened glass used for high-end handset in the mobile industry.

Additionally, manufacturers has started applying oleophobic coating on top of its screens to make finger smudges less of an issue.











Credit: wikipedia, gsmarena, Androidpit

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Specifications of a Smartphone - PPI

Pixels Per Inch (PPI)

Working out the pixel density, or pixels-per-inch (ppi) of a device can give a good indication of how clear the screen of a smartphone can be.

Having a large device does not mean you will have a super-high resolution. Large screen devices will have a much lower ppi because the pixels are spread across a much larger area.

Calculating PPi

PPI refers to the number of pixels spread across the surface area of the screen, but because screens are measured diagonally it's not as straightforward as multiplying the pixel count going across the device by the number down and then dividing by the diagonal measurement.

The thing with ppi is that the larger the screen, the lower the ppi. This is because a larger screen means the individual pixels have to be larger to fill the space.

CALCULATE THE PPI OF YOUR SMARTPHONE

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Specifications of a smartphone - The Chipset

The Chipset

Mobile phones run on so-called embedded chipsets, which are designed to perform one or a few dedicated functions, often with real-time computing constraints. 
They are embedded as part of the complete device including hardware and mechanical parts.

The ever popular smartphones are equipped with more advanced embedded chipsets that can do many different tasks depending on their programming.

Thus their CPU (Central Processing Unit) performance is vital for the daily user experience and people tend to use the clock rate of the main CPU that's in the heart of the chipset to compare the performance of competing end products.

The clock rate of a processor is only useful for providing performance comparisons between computer chips in the same processor family and generation.

As mobile gaming is increasingly gaining popularity, users have become more aware of the various types of GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) chips that come as part of the mobile chipsets and sometimes even consider their performance when making buying decisions.

CPU (Central Processing Unit)
Also known as a processor - is an electronic circuit that can execute computer programs. Both the miniaturization and standardization of CPUs have increased their presence far beyond the limited application of dedicated computing machines. 

The clock rate is one of the main characteristics of the CPU when performance is concerned. Clock rate is the fundamental rate in cycles per second (measured in hertz, kilohertz, megahertz or gigahertz) for the frequency of the clock in any synchronous circuit. 

Engineers are working hard to push the boundaries of the current architectures and are constantly searching for new ways to design CPUs that tick a little quicker or use slightly less energy per clock. This produces new cooler CPUs that can run at higher clock rates.

The clock rate of a processor is only useful for providing comparisons between computer chips in the same processor family and generation.

Clock rates can be very misleading. Clock rates should not be used when comparing different computers or different processor families. Rather, some kind of software benchmarks should be used.

Smartphones are equipped with more advanced embedded chipsets that can do many different tasks depending on their programming.

The performance of the CPU that's at the core of the chipset is vital for the daily user experience and the general computing performance of the smartphone. 

Graphics Processing Unit

The GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is a specialized circuit designed to accelerate the image output in a frame buffer intended for output to a display.

Modern smartphones are equipped with advanced embedded chipsets that can do many different tasks depending on their programming. GPUs are an essential part of those chipsets and as mobile games are pushing the boundaries of their capabilities, the GPU performance is becoming increasingly important.

Below is a list of top 10 GPUs you will find in most smartphones:

1. Adreno 330

Right now adreno 330 is the world fastest gpu for mobile phone. It is inbuilt in Snapdragon™ 800 Series Processors. Its speed can push to 3.6 gig pixels per seconds that’s why it is the fastest gpu for android in the world right now. So we can clearly say that it is the number one GPU available in market for android. 

2. SGX544mp3

The SGX544MP3 a clock speed of 533 MHz. 

3. SGX554mp4 

It has almost the same performance as SGX554mp4. This graphical processing unit is quad core but still Sgx544mp3 is slight better than this.

4. Adreno 320

Qualcomm has announced that this GPU using new and very high performance coding architecture and it’s 4 times better than adreno 225. 

5. Mali T604

First time it was used in Exynos 5 and Mali t604 is the 1st Midgard architecture GPU for arm. It is 5 times better than other previous mali graphic processors and it can go to single core to quad core.

6. SGX543mp3

This graphic processor has 3 core as its shows in its model name mp3. This GPU performing on higher clock frequency than SGX543mp2. 

7. Adreno 305

Adreno 305 is single core graphic processor but better than all the previous GPU made in adreno series. 

8. Adreno 225

Adreno 225 has used in msm8960 chipset with unified shader architecture and its supports dx9. Adreno 225 and 220 almost same but there is little difference in performance due to clock frequency speed. Adreno 225 runs on 400MHz whiles Adreno 220 run on 266MHz. 

9 Mali 400

It is the most used GPU for budget tablet and budget mobiles. The graphical performance of this GPU is capable of running some casual games. 

10 Adreno 220

It's inbuilt in MSM8260 /MSM8660 chipset the adreno claim that it can perform 88m triangles per/s. It is also a nice GPU for budget phone and it can play casual games like angry bird and temple run etc. The adreno also claim that adreno 220 performance 2 times better than adreno 205. 

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Specifications of Smartphones - The Platform (OS)

Platform (The Operating System)

Every mobile device runs an Operating System. 

The most popular OS's for mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) are:

• Apple's iOS
• Google's Android

Down the ranks there are:

• RIM's BlackBerry OS
• Microsoft's Windows Phone.
• Symbian

Symbian held its top position for years but its market share has been slowly fading away ever since touch-operated smartphones became the norm and Symbian failed to deliver an intuitive touch UI (User Interface).

Almost ten years ago, Microsoft's Windows Mobile was a strong player too, offering the first touchscreen smartphone experience with the PocketPCs powered by their OS.

Today mobile devices with a proper OS are called smartphones and users have a wide choice of applications, such as games, productivity apps, communication or social media apps, digital maps, etc.

Standardized operating system platforms make it possible to provide a consistent user interface (and experience) across devices from different hardware manufacturers.

Yet, Android smartphone manufacturers like to customize the user experience so each offers a slightly modified version of the stock Android UI.

While the major players these days are clear, over the years we've seen the emergence of numerous mobile OS projects including but not limited to:

• Palm's webOS
• Samsung's Bada OS
• Nokia's Maemo OS
• Nokia's MeeGo OS
• LiMo OS, Tizen
• BlackBerry's Playbook OS
• Jolla's Sailfish OS and
• Mozilla's Firefox OS.

Android Versions History:

• Cupcake (1.5)
• Donut (1.6)
• Eclair (2.0–2.1)
• Froyo (2.2–2.2.3)
• Gingerbread (2.3–2.3.7)
• Honeycomb (3.0–3.2.6)[a]
• Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0–4.0.4)
• Jelly Bean (4.1–4.3.1)
• KitKat (4.4–4.4.4, 4.4W–4.4W.2)
• Lollipop (5.0–5.1.1)
• Marshmallow (6.0–6.0.1)

Apple IOS Version History:

• iPhone OS 1
• iPhone OS 2
• iPhone OS 3
• iOS 4
• iOS 5
• iOS 6
• iOS 7
• iOS 8
• iOS 9

Credit : GSMArena and Wikipedia

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Specifications of Smartphones - The Display Unit

The Display

There are lot of display types used in mobile phones. They can be either color or monochrome. Monochrome displays on the other hand can be alphanumeric or graphic.
Alphanumeric displays can show only symbols with a constant size, while graphic displays can show fonts of different sizes and animations.

The color displays usually are

• CSTN - Colour Super Twisted Nematic, 
• TFT - Thin Film Transistor
• TFD -  Thin Film Diode
• LCD - Liquid Crystal Display
• SLCD - Super Liquid Crystal Display
• OLED - Organic Light Emitting Diode
• AMOLED - Active-Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode
• IPS - In Plane Switching
• Retina

There are also two types of touchscreen displays - capacitive and resistive, which are both based on TFT technology.

The Touchscreen

CAPACITIVE OR RESISTIVE

CAPACITIVE touchscreens work by sensing the electrical properties of the human body, while RESISTIVE ones operate by sensing direct pressure applied by the user.

Capacitive touch sensors are used either as buttons or on touchscreens. They work by sensing the electrical properties of the human body instead of pressure and generally they don't work with a stylus so they don't allow handwriting recognition.
However, capacitive touchscreens feel more sensitive than their resistive counterparts.
Capacitive touch screens are also considered more durable than resistive touch screens.


The RESISTIVE type can be activated by pressing not only with human skin but also with a stylus and thus allow handwriting recognition input.
Resistive touchscreens operate by sensing direct pressure applied by the user. It can be activated by pressing it not only with a finger but also with a stylus.

A resistive touch screen consists of a touch layer placed on top of a standard display. The touch layer normally includes two transparent electrical layers separated by a small gap.
Pressing the display's surface causes the two separate layers to come into contact, which creates an electrical connection that can be sensed and located.

Display Types

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)

A liquid crystal display is the most common display type among mobile phones because of its low power consumption and good image quality. LCD is made up of an array of liquid crystals that get illuminated by a back-light. They are generally easy to read, even under direct sunlight.

However, this back-lighting means that blacks tend to appear gray and LCDs therefore have less contrast than other display technologies.

Some of the types of LCD displays are STN, TFT and TFD.
STN offers low cost and low power consumption, but low image quality.
TFT features greater image quality and response time, yet its displays are more expensive and need more power.

Three other types of LCDs are Transmissive, Reflective, or Transflective.
Transmissive displays offer nicer image quality in low or medium ambient light, while
Reflective ones work best in bright ambient light.
Transflective displays combine the best of both.


Super LCD (SLCD)
Super LCD (SLCD) is a display technology used by numerous manufacturers for mobile device displays. It is mostly used by HTC, though Super LCD panels are actually produced by S-LCD Corporation.
Super LCD differs from a regular LCD in that it does not have an air gap between the outer glass and the display element. This produces less glare and makes the user feel "closer" to the display itself. Super LCD's benefits also include lower power consumption and improved outdoor visibility. Super LCD has been succeeded by the newer Super LCD2 displays.


CSTN - Color Super Twisted Nematic
Super Twisted Nematic (STN) is a type of LCD display technology. STN is black and white while CSTN is the color version. (C)STN displays are used on lower end devices.
Typically an STN display has worse image quality and response times than a TFT LCD, but is cheaper and more energy efficient.


Thin Film Transistor
TFT is one of the best Liquid Cristal Display technologies in terms of image quality and response time. However, it also consumes more power and is more expensive.
TFT, like TFD, is an active-matrix technology. This means a transistor is located next to each pixel, allowing it to be turned on and off individually. This ensures faster response time and greater contrast.


Thin Film Diode
TFD is a kind of Liquid crystal display (LCD) technology. It is an active-matrix technology which means that a diode is situated next to each pixel making it possible for the pixels to be turned on and off individually. This allows a quicker response time and more contrast than passive-matrix technologies.
TFD takes the excellent picture quality and the fast response of TFT displays and combines them with the low power consumption and cost of the STN ones.


Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED)
A display technology that consists of small dots of organic polymer which emit light when charged with electricity.
OLED displays have several advantages over the LCDs. They are thinner, lighter, brighter, need less power, have better viewing angles, contrast and response time for video and animation. OLEDs are also cheaper and easier to manufacture.
On the other hand, LCDs offer better legibility in bright ambient light.

As opposed to LCD panels, which are back-lit, OLED displays are 'always off' unless the individual pixels are electrified. This means that OLED displays have much purer blacks and consume less energy when black or darker colors are displayed on-screen. 

Active-Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode
Active-matrix OLED displays provide the same performance as their passive-matrix OLED counterparts, but they consume significantly less power.
This advantage makes active-matrix OLEDs well suited for portable electronics where battery power consumption is critical.
AMOLED displays have a very fast refresh rate but on the down side are not as visible in direct sunlight.

Screen burn-in and diode degradation due to their organic nature are other factors to consider.

On the positive side, AMOLED screens can be made thinner than LCDs as they don't require a back-lit layer and they can also be made flexible.

Difference between AMOLED and Super AMOLED

Super AMOLED displays reduce the thickness of the screen by integrating the touch response layer with the display itself.

Super AMOLED displays handle sunlight better than AMOLED displays and are also better on power consumption. 

In-Plane Switching
IPS (In-plane switching) is a screen technology for liquid crystal displays (LCDs).
IPS is a further improvement on TFT LCDs whereby the way the crystals are electrically excited is different and the orientation of the crystal array is rotated. This orientation change improves viewing angles, contrast ratio and color reproduction which were the limitations of TFT LCDs. 
Energy consumption is also reduced compared to TFT LCDs.
Although IPS is better than TFT LCDs they are also more expensive when put on a smartphone.

Retina

Retina is another marketing term, this time from Apple. A Retina display is not defined by any particular characteristic, other than that it is supposedly of sufficient resolution that the human eye can't discern pixels at a normal viewing distance.

This measurement obviously changes depending on the size and resolution of the display.

credit : Gsmarena and Wikipedia

Specifications of Smartphones - SIM

What Is The SIM type?

The SIM is a small circuit board which is placed in any GSM phone in order to identify it to the carrier. A SIM card is internationally identified by its Integrated circuit card identifier (ICC-ID) which is engraved on the body of the card. They are also identified by the carrier from its International mobile subscriber identity (IMSI).

A Subscriber Identity Module or Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card contains

• a unique serial number (ICCID – Integrated Circuit Card Identifier),
• International Mobile Subscriber identity (IMSI) number,
• security authentication and ciphering information,
• temporary information related to the local network,
• a list of the services the user has access to, and
• two passwords: a Personal Identification Number (PIN) for ordinary use, and a Personal Unblocking Code (PUK) for PIN unlocking.

A subscriber identity module (SIM) is a removable smart card for mobile phones. SIM cards store the required information to identify the mobile device. It also contains data required for voice encryption to make listening in on calls almost impossible (except when the wireless carrier itself is doing the eavesdropping).

In this way the customer ID (and personal number) is tied to the SIM card and not to a certain mobile phone. This allows for a seamless interchange of the same SIM card between different GSM mobile phones.

SIM cards also serve as storage for SMS messages and the user's contacts. Current SIM cards can store up to 250 name/number pairs and up to 50 SMS text messages.

The SIM card cannot store multiple numbers per contact or other more complex information. This means that if you copy your contacts info from the phone memory to the SIM memory, contacts get broken up into as many entries as there are numbers for each individual contact and discards the other information.

All GSM phones and most iDEN phones require a SIM card to operate. There are certain types of phones (CDMA, TDMA, AMPS) that do not use a SIM. Instead, the required data is programmed directly into the phone.

The SIM cards come in four standard sizes:

· Full-size (85.6mm × 53.98mm × 0.76 mm)

· Mini-SIM or standard sim (25mm x 15mm x 0.76mm)

· Micro-SIM (15mm x 12mm x 0.76mm)

· Nano-SIM (12.3mm × 8.8mm × 0.67mm)

The first to appear was the full-size or 1FF (1st Form Factor), the size of a credit card (85.60 mm × 53.98 mm × 0.76 mm). 

It was followed by a mini-SIM or 2FF (2nd Form Factor), which has the same thickness but is 25 mm long by 15 mm wide, with one of its corners cut to prevent misinsertion. 

Next came micro-SIM or 3FF (3rd Form Factor), with dimensions of 15 mm × 12 mm.

In 2012 the nano-SIM or 4FF (4th Form Factor) was introduced, which measures 12.3 × 8.8 × 0.67 mm. 

Nano-SIM cards can use adapters to gain compatibility with devices with Micro-SIM and Mini-SIM slots.

A Micro-SIM card can also be fitted in Mini-SIM slot with an adapter.

There are two numeric passwords associated with a SIM card. One is the Personal Identification Number (PIN) that the user must input each time they start the device (this can be turned off via the phone settings).

When entering the PIN number the user has only three input attempts. If all three are incorrect, the card gets locked and a PUK (Personal Unblocking Key) must be entered in order for the card to work again. Only ten attempts to enter the PUK are permitted before the card is permanently locked and made unusable.

Credit : Wikipedia and Gsmarena

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