Phonandroid wishes you a happy new year 2022!
On behalf of the entire Phonandroid team, I extend our best wishes to you for 2022! We hope that this New Year brings you all that there is best, and that it will make us forget these last two years of health crisis which we could have done without regret.
The whole Phonandroid team wishes you a very, but a very happy new year 2022! Joy, happiness, health, prosperity, wealth… We wish you all the best for the next twelve months (and beyond!). Like last year, 2021 will have been marked by the health crisis, which seems decidedly interminable. We hope that the end of the tunnel is not very far now. Because the world of tech, like the others, has borne the brunt of the pandemic.
Shortages of components, postponements of product releases, trade fair cancellations, price increases, behind-the-scenes scalpers… It is difficult for manufacturers to succeed in offering us new products that keep all their promises on time. And yet, some have successfully completed the exercise! Here is a summary of the releases and announcements that marked us in 2021. And if you think that we have forgotten some, do not hesitate to discuss it with us and to leave us a small comment at the bottom of the page, that makes always happy to see that more and more of you are reading us and coming to discuss on the site.
Smartphones: charging speed, photos and design are the watchwords of 2021
Despite a rather gloomy year in terms of innovations, smartphone manufacturers have managed to amaze us in more ways than one. There is no doubt that the foldables have managed to perform brilliantly. Prices are starting to drop, technology is now better controlled … As a result, Samsung has managed to renew its two foldable smartphones by putting us full view. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 really have it all, both in terms of performance, their screen and their IPX8 certification. Special mention to the Z Flip 3, which takes advantage of a small footprint and which did not fail to seduce all the people around us.
The other manufacturers are not left out, since Oppo has delivered an almost perfect smartphone across the board: the FindX 3 Pro was one of the real good surprises of the year and remains, more than 9 months after its release. , the most balanced model of 2021. And what about Xiaomi, which literally blew us away with its Mi 11 Ultra, a power monster with a superb screen, or with its 11T Pro and its ultra fast charging of… 120 W ? We have done the test, and we can assure you that the smartphone is indeed able to recharge in just 17 minutes.
Finally, let’s salute Google’s efforts to make its Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro smartphones that are unlike any other, and which are the first to take advantage of a chip designed entirely by Google. Love it or hate it, we can’t remain indifferent to this design that pushes the boundaries. Not to mention the fact that both smartphones are certainly among the best cameras around. We just hope that Google will manage to solve the small bugs that have ruined the lives of some users of the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro.
Steam Deck delayed, but OLED Switch is on schedule
If it is still so difficult to get an Xbox Series X or a PS5 more than a year after their release, Nintendo took advantage of the shortage of its competitors to launch a new version of its portable / home console. The OLED Switch benefits, as its sound suggests, from an OLED screen, which offers much better contrast and unmatched image quality for a laptop. It also benefits from an internal storage doubled compared to the 1st generation, a better autonomy, a new really well thought out stand and two more powerful speakers. In short, without being a brand new console, the OLED Switch easily replaces in the hearts of gamers that we are the 1st model because of its many advantages.
But above all, we can not wait to see the Steam Deck, the portable console from Valve which was due to arrive at the end of 2021, and whose release has finally been postponed until February 2022. The device should not only allow you to play to Steam’s impressive repository (but only Proton compatible games), but also offer the possibility of installing third-party software and even other operating systems. As a result, we should be able to install games from stores like the Microsoft Store, GOG’s Battle.net, the Epic Games Store, etc.
Microsoft surprises with the release of Windows 11
If there is one announcement that we weren’t expecting at all at the start of 2021, it is the release of Windows 11. Announced last June, this version of the operating system is full. new features, while remaining in the continuity of Windows 10. The Settings application has a facelift, Explorer has undergone a good facelift … While the taskbar and the Start menu (now call it Start screen) take advantage of new possibilities. However, the launch of the OS was not smooth, since the operating system requires a TPM 2.0 chip, a component that is lacking in older PCs. Microsoft has however revised its copy and announced that the operating system can now be installed on a machine without the famous chip.
Despite a few annoying bugs in the first few weeks after its release, Windows 11 has finally fixed its issues. After 3 months of intensive use since the version released on October 5, 2021, we can say it: Windows 11 is stable and well thought out, and it works just as well on a very recent machine as on a 10 year old PC. And being able to launch Android apps without relying on third-party software is a real treat. Strongly that this feature is available in the next version of the operating system and that it is no longer the preserve of users of the Windows Insider program.
