Mobile valuables: the clamshell family. Mobile Device Architectures: Mobile Confrontation

Meizu M8 lite smartphone: the company's most budget model with a practical polycarbonate body

Budget Meizu M8 lite is the simplest of the manufacturer’s large family of smartphones. It has a nice, neat and practical body of small dimensions, but this is perhaps its only advantage. A smartphone is very inexpensive, and you can forgive a lot for this, but even in this price range there are models that are ready to offer much more. No matter how hard you try, it is impossible to find reasons to choose Meizu M8 lite if you have, say, the ZTE Blade V9 Vita, which has both the Qualcomm platform and NFC, and all this for the same 9,500 rubles.

LG G7 fit smartphone: a “simplified flagship” with an excellent screen and good sound

The model has an excellent high-resolution screen for its level, excellent sound, a wide range of communication capabilities and a rather attractive, neat and strict appearance. With performance, apparently, the developers are up to something, since the smartphone manages to slow down in games. The autonomy also let us down - in this segment the buyer is used to more. The camera is at a good average level. In general, the smartphone is quite good, but in this price segment it is not difficult to find worthy competitors. However, the LG G7 fit has reliable dust and water protection that meets military standards as an ace up its sleeve.

Huawei P30 and P30 Pro: first look at the new flagships

These smartphones have already been called the best camera phones in the world, at least at the time of their presentation. Huawei P30 and P30 are definitely the main mobile news of March 2019. We were one of the first to meet them and talk about the main features.

Huawei P Smart 2019: a beautiful smartphone on a powerful platform at a reasonable price - the best in its niche

Huawei P Smart 2019 in official Russian retail is sold for 14,770 rubles. The price does not go beyond the psychological barrier of 15 thousand, while the device is based on the latest and very powerful hardware platform Kirin 710, which is chic for a budget device. powerful platform, but also a large, bright high-resolution screen, as well as excellent communication capabilities, including support for dual-band Wi-Fi and full NFC. Average (in a good way) cameras, average (decent) battery life, good sound in headphones, catchy and bright body - the combination of all this makes this model, perhaps, best choice in its price range. There are minor oversights and flaws, but for such hardware at a price of less than 15 thousand rubles, a smartphone can be forgiven a lot.

Flagship smartphone Samsung Galaxy S10+: powerful, handsome, excellent in everything

U Samsung Galaxy S10+ has almost no flaws: a high-quality huge screen, the body is not only beautiful, but also lightweight, comfortable for the hand, with new unusual colors, plus the most powerful hardware platform with a large number modern wireless interfaces and very high autonomy. And of course, very good cameras; frontal - just like a reference. However, the smartphone costs 77 thousand rubles. Huawei certainly has something to answer: the same Mate 20 Pro is no less magnificent in everything, and costs 17 thousand less.

Panasonic KX-TU150: a simple mobile phone with large buttons and SOS function

The Panasonic KX-TU150RU phone sells for 3 thousand rubles. It is suitable for older people who have difficulty using touch screens, as well as for children so that they are not distracted by games and social networks. At its modest price, the device allows you to make and receive calls, as well as get in touch with a simple press of one button. The downsides include a noisy speaker and unintuitive controls with confusing menus. Among the advantages are a reliable ergonomic case, a contrast screen, large buttons with clearly visible backlit icons, support for two SIM cards, as well as an emergency call function, useful for a child or an elderly person who finds himself in a difficult situation.

Asus VivoWatch BP: smartwatch with a medical twist

Asus has released to the Russian market smart watch VivoWatch BP. The model, judging by the name, continues the line started in 2015 by the first VivoWatch, but it has little in common with its predecessor - as well as with smart watches from other manufacturers. In fact, Asus has entered the territory of medical gadgets by “teaching” its device to measure not only pulse, but also blood pressure. Other key features of the new product include a very long battery life (more than a month on one battery charge), built-in GPS and a transreflective screen, that is, non-fading, economical and only becomes brighter in bright light.

Nokia 3.1 Plus smartphone: the most affordable Nokia model with pure Android OS and high battery life

In official Russian retail, Nokia 3.1 Plus (in a version with 32 GB of memory) was offered for 13 thousand rubles for quite a long time, but by spring the price dropped to 10 thousand. For comparison, Nokia 5.1 Plus during the same time fell in price from 15 to 13 thousand, so practically the same, and in some ways even superior to it (for example, the presence of NFC) Nokia 3.1 Plus seems to be a much more interesting offer. At the same time, the hero of the review cannot be compared in terms of performance, communication capabilities, sound and screen with the Huawei P Smart 2019, so the reduction in price could not have come at a better time, because compared to this Huawei smartphone (14,800 rubles) the majority competitors turn pale and ask for a lower price niche. For 10 thousand Nokia 3.1 Plus may well interest buyers not only among fans Nokia brand, although almost its only advantage is a clean Android OS without “garbage”.

Yandex.Phone: an overrated middling phone with built-in voice assistant Alice

Yandex.Phone officially now costs 14 thousand rubles. What explains such a high price is not entirely clear. It is not supported by either the weight of the brand or the hardware; we have before us a “redesigned” model of the Chinese smartphone Arima Z2, which is sold much cheaper. Perhaps the marketers were counting on a six-month subscription to Yandex.Plus services, including music and movies, included in the price. However, such a price, perhaps, is not justified by either a six-month subscription, or outdated hardware, or modest autonomy, or, especially, mediocre quality cameras. The whole “uniqueness” of a smartphone is not even the presence of its own voice assistant, which you can easily install on any other Android device, namely the ability to work in the background.

Fitness bracelet Xiaomi Mi Band 3: waterproof and large screen

One of the most notable devices of 2018 in the wearable electronics market is the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 fitness bracelet. The Chinese company offered an impressive combination of price and capabilities, which, coupled with a large fan base, ensured excellent sales: in three months - more than 5 million units. Let's figure out why Mi Band 3 is so good and compare it with its competitors.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 3: an unusual top-level smartphone in a slider form factor

The model has already been presented in Russian retail, the price starts from 32 thousand (model blue on average, for some reason, it costs more), so the device, frankly speaking, is not cheap. However, this is a flagship smartphone with great cameras, performance, screen, set of communication modules, but with average sound and autonomy. In general, there is something to pay for here, but still Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 cannot be clearly perceived as a balanced flagship product; this is clearly a device for those who are tired of the same type of all-in-one pocket assistants and are ready to overpay for the opportunity to have something different “ beaten."

Honor Magic 2 smartphone: slider with six cameras - only for the Chinese market

Honor Magic are smartphones for geeks, devices that are maximally saturated with all the latest technical solutions, produced in small batches to “test” the interest of users. Sensing the emerging fashion for sliders, the manufacturer instantly picked up the trend and released its own version of this kind of device in defiance of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 that interested many. Unfortunately, official sales of Magic 2 in Russia are also not planned, but such an unusual device from a famous brand certainly deserves its own detailed review.

Huawei at MWC 2019: a real foldable smartphone and powerful laptops

The Chinese Huawei became the headliner of the MWC 2019 exhibition. Their folding smartphone with a flexible screen, the Mate X, was not the first in the world, having missed out on the Samsung Galaxy Fold, but the first that exists in reality and that you can touch (which is what we did). We'll talk about the main new product, as well as the laptops and modems that Huawei presented at MWC.

Xiaomi Mi 9 and Mi Mix 3 5G: first impressions of the new flagship and updated slider

Xiaomi, on the “zero” day of the MWC exhibition, presented the next generation of the flagship Mi line, number 9, as well as the Mi Mix 3 slider, upgraded with support for 5G networks. They do not fold - this is a minus. Are there any advantages? We'll tell you in our preliminary review.

Meizu 16 smartphone: a slightly simplified and cheaper version of the flagship

Meizu 16 officially presented on Russian market, a modification with 64 GB of flash memory now costs 27 thousand, which is quite good for a device that differs from the flagship only in slightly less power, lack of stereo speakers and support for some LTE frequencies, but otherwise looks just as decent. Meizu 16 looks especially good against the backdrop of much more expensive Huawei/Honor products. The model is balanced, uses fresh hardware, with noticeable disadvantages - perhaps the lack of NFC, so this is a very interesting option for choosing in the upper middle price segment, where at this price Meizu 16 is one of the clear favorites.

Huawei Nova 3 smartphone: somewhere between the mid-range and top segments...

The official price for Huawei nova 3 in Russian retail was 30 thousand rubles, and although after the New Year it dropped to 27 thousand, it is obvious: Huawei has stopped pleasing Russians with affordable prices, believing that “they will buy it anyway.” There is nothing unique about nova 3; appearance, hardware, cost - everything is at the level that has already become familiar to Huawei/Honor. The smartphone is not bad in its own way, but we couldn’t find any “zest” in it. We expected increased autonomy with such a battery, but these expectations were not met, and the camera doublets were not impressive.

Tecno Camon X smartphone: flash master

Tecno smartphones are still offered on the Russian market at quite reasonable prices: in official retail the cost of Tecno Camon X is only 13 thousand rubles, while the fashion model Tecno Camon 11, mentioned more than once in the review, is offered for 9 thousand. Considering the availability of official support, these are very reasonable prices. It is clear that even the “flagship” of the family, Tecno Camon X, although it is the most technically advanced among its brothers, is not amazing at the general level with its capabilities. And yet, for little money, the buyer of Camon X receives a smartphone with support for all LTE frequencies in demand in Russia, very decent battery life, cameras, screen and sound that are satisfactory for not too demanding users.

Huawei Mate 20 lite smartphone: a balanced solution with good functionality

Huawei Mate The 20 lite is inevitably compared to its direct counterpart, the Huawei 8X. That one is a couple of thousand rubles cheaper, but at the same time less interesting. At the hero's today's review The screen is of better quality, the body is sleeker, there is a USB Type-C connector, there is a dual front camera, battery life is a little better. In general, for the money the device turned out to be very interesting; it is not inferior even to top-end devices in almost anything except shooting quality. But a smartphone with top cameras You can’t buy it for 20 thousand now. In all other respects, even with regard to the power of the hardware platform, the Huawei Mate 20 lite was a success for the manufacturer.

ZTE Blade V9 Vita smartphone: affordable model with dual camera, face unlock and even NFC

In official Russian retail there are two modifications of the ZTE Blade V9 Vita: with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of ROM for 10 thousand rubles, and only a thousand more expensive - with 3/32 GB. A smartphone with a fashionable screen geometry, an extremely pleasant thin, relatively compact and practical body, on a fast Qualcomm platform for a budget level, and even with NFC - this is practically a gift.

Honor 8X smartphone: a relatively affordable model with good capabilities

Although Honor 8X is not as cheap as possible (in official Russian retail, the younger model (4/64 GB) costs 18 thousand rubles, and the older one (4/128 GB) costs 20 thousand), it is still able to justify its cost due to at least excellent for this level of hardware platform and large high-quality screen. The sound in the headphones, the quality of shooting, battery life are at a quite satisfactory, although not top, level, and the communication capabilities are generally excellent. Of course, there are many competitors for a smartphone at this price, especially from Xiaomi, but for budget-conscious fans of the Huawei and Honor brands, the 8X model is current moment one of the most interesting due to the optimal combination of price and capabilities.

Asus ROG Phone: a powerful gaming smartphone with a wide range of additional accessories

Abstracting from the very high price, we can say that Asus ROG Phone is very good even by market standards flagship smartphones: it has a top-end hardware platform, a catchy appearance that attracts the attention of others, a high-quality screen, and excellent sound. The communication capabilities of the device are also maximum. As for cameras and autonomy, everything is at an average level, there is nothing special to brag about. The smartphone, of course, is not for everyone; it is aimed at the gaming audience, and this device, with the addition of gaming accessories, fulfills this functionality 100%.

Review of the Tecno Camon smartphone line: models X, 11 and CM

The best thing about Tecno smartphones is that they all cost less than 15 thousand rubles. Today we will talk about three interesting models of the Camon line from 8999 to 12999 rubles, which are united by an attractive design, a convenient software shell and good selfie cameras.

Tecno Camon 11 smartphone: an affordable device with an impressive design and a high-quality selfie camera

In official Russian retail, the price of Tecno Camon 11 at the time of preparation of the review was 9 thousand rubles. For a smartphone with an impressive catchy design, good ergonomics and a large screen with fashionable geometry, this is not bad, considering the presence of certified support. The cameras here are good for their level, the front one is absolutely excellent, the sound is tolerable. The screen has a low resolution and a notch, but otherwise it's good. The smartphone cannot boast of performance and memory capacity; this is purely a budget level, but communication capabilities, although not rich (some users may not have enough Wi-Fi support 5 GHz and NFC), but still meet the necessary requirements. As an inexpensive mobile assistant, like other Tecno products, Camon 11 is quite suitable for the undemanding buyer.

Compared to last year's model, there have been no noticeable improvements in the hardware configuration of the BlackBerry Key2. A beautiful organizing phone with a functional keyboard for specific needs, without much emphasis on the multimedia component, remains what it was. It is clear that the BlackBerry Key2 is not a special device for everyone, so it is not entirely correct to evaluate it from the point of view of only the technical characteristics and quality of the camera. And yet, these “not everyone” would also probably like to get a higher quality camera, a more impressive screen and much better battery life for that kind of money. However, for those who need a hardware keyboard, there are no alternatives on the mobile market. And since there is no competition, then development proceeds at a leisurely pace.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro smartphone: a solid, balanced mid-range device

Xiaomi Redmi Note The 6 Pro differs very little from the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5, and not all differences, admittedly, are for the better. It is unlikely that a huge cutout in the screen, for example, can be considered a successful change, the very appearance of which neutralizes (eats up) the increased display area of ​​​​the new model. In terms of the main hardware components, the smartphones are identical, and the higher resolution of the front camera does not take the updated model to a new level of photography: the class as a whole is still the same. Autonomy has deteriorated slightly; NFC was never added. At the same time, Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro costs more than Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 at the start - 18 and 20 thousand rubles for modifications of 3/32 GB and 4/64 GB, respectively, while Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is “ basic configuration“The price has now fallen in official retail to 13 thousand.

Oppo RX17 Pro: a beautiful smartphone with a waterdrop notch and a variable aperture camera

Externally, the device is magnificent: a large, bright AMOLED screen covering almost the entire front panel with a small drop-shaped notch, a beautiful body, and its two versions differ not only in color, this is wonderful. However, if you dig deeper, you can find shortcomings in almost every component: the screen has not only all the advantages, but also all the disadvantages of AMOLED technology, and is also wide color gamut not adjusted; the sound is good, but there are no powerful stereo speakers; the cameras are very good, but it seemed to us that their level was lower than that of the flagship devices from Apple, Samsung and Huawei; Smartphone batteries charge very quickly and provide high autonomy, but it is still not record-breaking. Perhaps there is not the slightest complaint about the set of wireless communications, but we can immediately remember the absence of a minijack for headphones. In short, we have before us a high-quality upper-mid-level smartphone, but not a flagship.

We are all used to seeing Android on the headlines of attractive advertising posters, which demonstrate nice design and convenient functionality. But this was not always the case. I will say more - Android was not always designed to control the sensor. Read below to learn how the most popular operating system emerged from nowhere.

Early 2000s: the failure and development of Android

Andy Rubin

The very first version of Android. Touch screens have nothing to do with it

It is noteworthy that until the very last Google moment(and previously Android Inc) did not have a prototype device on which the latest platform would be installed. A list of technical characteristics required for Android work, was compiled only by 2006. Here's what it looked like at that time: an ARMv9 processor with a frequency of at least 200 MHz, GSM support (3G is not required, but desirable), a minimum amount of RAM of 64 MB, flash memory of 64 MB, a slot for miniSD memory cards. There should have been a separate key for the camera, plus its resolution - at least 2 megapixels. Screen resolution of at least 240x320 pixels (QVGA), displaying 262,000 colors and higher. Wireless data transfer standards – Bluetooth 1.2, Wi-Fi, GPS (the last two are optional, as is Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR). A QWERTY keyboard is desirable. As you can see, there is no talk about touch screens at all, but at that time Apple has already was preparing the first iPhone, which will be shown to the whole world in January 2007. And by 2006, touchscreen phones appeared from the famous mobile technology manufacturers Samsung and Nokia. Why this sequence of events? The fact is that the engineers who developed Android OS did not think about the hardware of the devices, they simply did not know how to correctly create a prototype and did not understand the device market. Here are some prototypes that Android engineers proposed:

Google is looking for a smartphone manufacturer for its OS

Motorola RAZR v3

Steve Jobs introduces the first iPhone

Android development in 2007

HTC Dream - the first touch Android device

Google Sooner is the first push-button Android device. A look at early Android OS

Now let's talk more about the platform itself.
The basis of the new system for those times was Google Search, which controlled all actions and launched instantly. The status bar in the first Android OS samples was not the same as it is now. Instead of notifications, you can see a list of applications installed on the device. I won’t talk about other applications, just look at the screenshots and you’ll understand everything yourself.

I will also say that this device was used as a test device to check the operation of many applications and the OS as a whole.

Conclusion

Mobile valuables: the clamshell family

In order to understand what the new section will be about, let’s look in the dictionary and remind ourselves what “value” is and what it is actually eaten with. Let me briefly and freely tell the essence of the issue: “value” is a term used in philosophy and sociology to denote human, cultural and social meaning certain actions and objects. It is also very useful to include the concept of price and value here. Barter relations have long since sunk into oblivion, and modern man a reasonable person has long been accustomed to buying and selling, if not everything, then a lot.

What are mobile values? This is why we appreciate our irreplaceable assistants in life – mobile phones. Form factor, the presence of multimedia functions, the ability to use the Internet and check email, “smartphone”, in the end, cost and design - these are the criteria on which we base when choosing our next “friend”. And how well we build the hierarchy of values ​​determines how good the final choice will be.

Form factor is one of the main mobile valuables. After all, very often, when we come to the salon for another purchase for ourselves or as a gift for someone, first of all we choose a phone based on whether it is a candy bar, a clamshell or a slider. Therefore, today we will build on this and talk about representatives of the “clamshell” family, to which phone manufacturers have been paying less and less attention lately. We will look at six completely different representatives of the clamshell family, which are the best in three main price segments, in order to make the choice easier for those who are choosing a phone in this category.

Samsung M300

I can't help but start with this model. Let it be on the market for a long time. Which, by the way, is one of the advantages - the model has been tested by time and by the user, and the price has dropped to a more than adequate level. Even if it has already been discontinued, it can still be found in many salons, not to mention online stores.

“Why is she so good?” - you are probably wondering. This ultra-compact (only 80 mm in height and just over 40 in width) clamshell does not contain all the modern functions and does not even have just a good mp3 player or a passable camera. On the contrary, this phone does not support the mp3 format at all, and the maximum that the VGA camera will allow is to use a photo as a background image. But this phone will fit comfortably into the smallest woman’s hand, and the abundance of body colors will allow you to choose exactly the one that will complement your image and will best match your favorite handbag or nail polish. By the way, it’s worth noting that dark blue is quite suitable for young people.

The phone will also please you with the presence of a built-in FM receiver and the quality of the screens: the internal one is very bright and clear, which is rare for phones in this price category, and the monochrome external one displays the time and other service information well.

As a result, we have an essentially ordinary phone, which, nevertheless, stands out from other budget Samsung representatives of this form factor. Samsung M300 is the golden mean between many models without an external display (which is unforgivable for a clamshell and makes it extremely difficult to use) and more expensive and, accordingly, more functional solutions. That is why it is a pity that Samsung is not introducing a successor for this model, focusing its attention on higher-cost, technologically powerful models of a completely different level.

Nokia 2760

Another inexpensive flip phone that will be discussed is the Nokia 2760, which, unlike the Samsung M300, is not going to leave the market anywhere. Recently, Nokia has not pleased us with solutions in this form factor. And if different models The Korean manufacturer has about a dozen in the budget segment alone, while the Finns, unfortunately, have one, maximum two in different price categories.

This is one of the reasons why Nokia 2760 is quite popular. However, functionally the model is already one step higher than the Samsung M300. The FM radio, which is also present here, has added support for mp3 melodies, as well as a Bluetooth wireless profile, with which you can exchange data with other phones and even connect a wireless headset. The only thing that darkens such a rosy picture is the lack of a memory card slot. To store pictures, melodies and other information, the user is allocated only about 10 MB of built-in memory.

The design of the phone is nothing special. This is a classic budget representative of Nokia, similar to a number of other models from the company. It has a fairly large keyboard, an external monochrome display with blue backlighting and a color internal display capable of displaying up to 65 thousand colors. This phone also has several color options, or rather three. These are Smoky Gray (gray), Velvet Red (red) and Sandy Gold (golden).

With the departure of the M300, this model will perhaps become one of the best flip phones under 3 thousand rubles, for which you get the classic Nokia design, suitable for both young and older generations, and a good price-functionality ratio.

Motorola U9

Motorola has always done well with folding phones. Just look at the RAZR v3 alone in different guises, which has gained popularity all over the world and become so iconic that even now, 4 years after the appearance of the first model, its logical successor Motorola v3i is quite successfully sold.

But today we will not talk about this model, but about the first clamshell in the mid-price segment - Motorola U9. At first glance at this model, it becomes clear for whom it was created: the bright colors of the case, an interesting design, the mirror surface of the top flip, and the initially greater predisposition of the fair sex to folding beds than the stronger sex, makes this solution ideal for girls, young women and women.

However, the phone's hardware is also not inferior to competitive solutions. There is an mp3 player (and, unlike most non-musical solutions of the company, there is an equalizer), and excellent quality screens, both internal, striking with bright and rich colors, and external, whose animated screensavers have become the calling card of the model. And the standard characteristics for this price category: 2 mpks. camera, support for MicroSD memory cards and Bluetooth 2.0 profile with the ability to connect a wireless stereo headset.

Unfortunately, in Russia there is a rather biased and largely unjustified negative attitude towards Motorola products. The arguments usually cited are the illogical menu and the “slowness” of the phones themselves. The menu, as you know, is a matter of habit, and understanding it, like the phone of any other company, is not difficult. And the problem with the speed of the interface and applications was completely resolved with the introduction of the new MotoMAGX platform, one of the representatives of which is the model discussed in this part of the article. Therefore, Motorola U9, thanks to its excellent balance of design, functionality and price, is one of the strongest solutions on the market in its niche.

Sony Ericsson W380i

If all that we considered above were phones aimed mainly at the female sex, then this model is a full-fledged youth-oriented product. The versatility of the model is also facilitated by the shape of the phone - here the manufacturer abandoned the rounded edges, which makes the phone somewhat strict. However, in combination with the currently available colors - Magnetic Gray (gray with turquoise accents), Champagne Black (black with gold accents) and Electric Purple (purple with lilac accents) - the design turns out to be interesting and bright.

Another important advantage of the model is the use of matte plastic, which, unlike the cases of most devices on the market, does not leave fingerprints from the slightest touch. Thanks to this, the owners of the model will not have to bother themselves with constant wiping or put up with a stained phone. Also, as a representative musical line company, the model is equipped with player control keys, which can be found on the top panel. This way, you can always start the player or change the song without wasting time opening your phone.

Ultimately, we get an interesting youth solution that has an original design, thoughtful controls and all the currently relevant functions: an mp3 player and radio, a camera, support for memory cards and a Bluetooth profile. What else do you need for a good phone?

Motorola RAZR2 V8

The predecessor of this model, namely the Motorola RAZR V3, was already briefly mentioned above. I think there is no point in going into more detail, since we have all, in one way or another, encountered the legendary clamshell from Motorola.

The basic design idea from the first model of the RAZR line was carried over to its second birth. The thin (12 mm thick) folding bed cannot leave anyone indifferent who picks it up. This is also facilitated by the tactile sensations of the phone: the traditional use of metal in the case, together with high-quality assembly, without the slightest hint of play, do their job.

Another plus is the large and comfortable keyboard and the large, partially touch-sensitive external display, which allows the user to control the player and read messages without opening the device. A considerable amount of built-in memory (2 GB), a 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth support and good hardware complement the technical characteristics of the model. However, it is worth understanding that the model is not designed to become a functional monster. This is largely an image solution for those who want a comfortable, stylish and well-thought-out folding bed. And the V8 Luxury Edition model with a body plated with 18-karat gold and snakeskin is the ideal solution for those who are not satisfied with the now banal solutions from the Nokia 8800 line.

Samsung G400

If the clamshell from Motorola could be called more of an image solution and attributed to the lack of strong technical characteristics, then the model from Samsung offers excellent functionality in addition to the classic design.

Having initially created a direct competitor for the V8, Samsung went further and equipped its model with an even larger one (2.2 inches) external display and a 5 megapixel camera. In addition to its impressive size, the external display is fully touch-sensitive, and its operation is thought out to the point that you can change the time and date display variations by simply swiping, without opening the phone and without searching for this function in the settings. And this is not to mention the basic capabilities of turning on the player/radio, launching the camera and viewing pictures and videos.

Also exclusively positive emotions makes it possible to use the camera without opening the device, using external screen as a viewfinder. All in all, most emotions from the model are reflected precisely on the external display, and this is not surprising: this decision This is new and original for the market and has not been seen in products of this class before. All this makes the Samsung G400 an excellent choice for those who want a clamshell device with the latest and greatest features from a renowned manufacturer.

Nokia N76

The choice of this model for consideration is quite justified on the one hand, but on the other hand, I did not want to do this until the last minute. The fact is that the Nokia N76 deserves respect only based on the fact that at the moment it is the only smartphone in a clamshell form factor. Moreover, the model in question is in quite high demand, and lately it has become increasingly difficult to find. As a result, my advice would be quite expected to run headlong to the nearest salon, grab this model from the counter and, with a sense of accomplishment, walk home with a calm and measured step.

No! No and no! This won't happen! In this article, we looked at the best-in-class devices, those that are the optimal compromise between price, quality, design and technical components. Buying a Nokia N76 is in most cases a purely emotional purchase. A beautiful (relative concept, and in this case I do not agree with this), thin, large clamshell from Nokia - this is how the device is perceived by most people. And whether this model is not a smartphone, but regular phone, her popularity wouldn't be much less.

Moreover, the model contains a number of shortcomings. The battery capacity is only 700 mAh, and this is for a smartphone equipped with large external and internal displays. Unlike most multimedia smartphones from the N-series, Nokia N76 has only one speaker; as a result, the call volume leaves much to be desired. Finally, this phone is simply inconvenient to use for those who are used to listening to music on their mobile - try opening the phone without removing the headset from the jack. Unfortunately, this is impossible to do; the player control buttons located under the external display come to our aid, but what to do when we want to take a call or use other functions of the almighty smartphone?!

It is for the reason stated above that I believe that the model in question is on a par with phones such as the Samsung G400 and Motorola RAZR2 V8, and is in many ways inferior to them. The only thing we can do is wait for a new solution from Nokia and hope that it will be more optimal, thoughtful and can be considered the best in its class, not only because of the lack of an alternative.

What's next?

With manufacturers reducing the share of clamshells in their line of models, it may seem that this form factor is gradually dying out and will soon disappear from store shelves altogether. It's actually not all that sad. Nokia, for example, will present two interesting solutions this fall: the 7070 Prism and 6600 Fold models.

As the name suggests, Nokia model The 7070 is a continuation of the famous Prism line, which currently consists of the 7500 and 7900 models. In addition to them, the next model is being introduced, which is designed to become one of the best-selling clamshells in the budget price segment.

Having skimped on features (the phone does not have an external display, wireless profiles or even a radio), Nokia decided that an interesting and memorable design could maintain interest for this model. Most likely this will be the case, emotional purchases still take place, and the lack of alternatives (Nokia 2760 can be ignored, since these are completely different phones in perception) in the family of phones of this company will push many to purchase this phone.

Despite the index, the Nokia 6600 Fold is a much stronger solution. Just look at the phone's auto-unfold button; many users who wanted to change their old 6131 to a new folding phone were very sorry that the treasured button was missing from following models companies. Now they, as well as everyone else, have a choice.

Among other things, the phone has a stylish, modern design, an interesting solution is a hidden external screen, which is used for the first time in Nokia phones, and tap control, which makes the model similar to the latest phones in the 8800 line. A set of up-to-date functions in the form of support for 3G, 2 mps. camera, mp3 player, radio and Bluetooth wireless profile complement the technical characteristics of the Nokia 6600 Fold.

As a result, we have a strong solution, both from a technological point of view and in terms of design, which will hit the shelves of communication stores very soon and will become one of the favorites when choosing folding phones in the middle and high price segments.

In this article we looked at the best, in subjective opinion, devices in different price categories. We can conclude that even despite the gradual loss of interest in clamshells, this form factor remains large number amateurs, and manufacturers take this into account when releasing new models for different categories of users. So it’s too early to talk about the extinction of this form factor.

The Palm OS family of operating systems are mobile pioneers

Palm OS is one of the first mass-produced operating systems for handheld computers. Around the same time, PDAs received the name PDA - personal computer. digital assistant. Palm OS appeared in 1996, but much earlier the handwritten text input method was invented, which formed the basis of Palm OS. Palm OS is used primarily to produce PDAs and Treo smartphones. Treo smartphone models are distinguished by the presence of a QWERTY keyboard and touch screen; naturally, they have a calling module, which expands their capabilities, like a PDA. Of course, the presence of a touch screen in Treo allows them to be classified as communicators, but palmOne has a different opinion - it is the company that positions Treo as smartphones, but we will talk about the classification in the next part of our article.

The most popular version of Palm OS is Garnet 5.4, this version is used in almost all modern Palm PDAs and communicators. The big advantage of Palm OS is its excellent address book and organizer, which have no equal in any other OS, which is not surprising - after all, Palm was created as a portable database. A distinctive feature of all devices based on Palm OS (except Treo and TX) is a separate area from the screen for drawing entered characters. Work with MS Office documents is supported, and this function is quite well developed, even better than that of Microsoft Windows Mobile. Finally, a negative feature of Palm OS is problems with switching encodings (KOI-8, Unicode, Win-1251) and incomplete multitasking, for example, you can start listening to music in the background (thus, only one application can be displayed on the screen, but what else is needed user?).

The standard Palm OS package contains the following basic applications: Documents To Go for working with Office documents(Word, Excel, Power Point), Calendar, Contacts, Calculator, File manager, Internet browser (developed based on NetFront), Mail program(which knows all the main protocols and supports several boxes), Real One player, Video and photo viewer, various utilities. Palm is perfect as an e-book reader; in conjunction with a mobile phone it can access the Internet, it will help control household appliances, acting as a remote control, it will replace a cheat sheet, it will allow you to quickly edit a Word document when there is no computer nearby, you can even use it to measure volume and distance. It’s not surprising, since the owner of Palm has access to third-party developers.

Symbian operating system family

Symbian operating systems today compete quite successfully with the Windows Mobile platform. Symbian is more friendly to the technically untrained user. Symbian operating systems are divided into two groups: the first, developed by Nokia, is called Series 60 (as is additional options– S80 and S90), the second is a version for UIQ communicators with touch screen support and is used by SonyEricsson.

Series 60 Family is a platform based on Symbian OS and designed for mobile phones. This platform was developed by Nokia and is used in smartphones; Lenovo, LG, Samsung and Panasonic also use this platform. The Series 60 mobile platform is divided into Editions depending on the version. Each edition, in turn, can have feature packs. Below is a table of the different Series 60 editions.

A distinctive feature of the Series 60 platform is its multimedia focus and maximum telephone functionality - you don’t even have to think about the fact that the phone has an operating system. Already in the standard package there are excellent editors for photos and videos, not only Real Player is provided, but also Flash Player for playing Flash videos (implemented in WM by a third-party program). Additional software is written using SDK (Software Development Kit) - a set of tools for developing programs (libraries, documentation, OS emulator for PC), due to which it is very stable and compatible with the platform. All Series 60 programs are written using the C++ and Java MIDP programming languages. To install on a device, C++ programs are packaged into SIS files, written in Java - into JAR and JAD files. Installing SIS applications for Series 60 3 Edition is complicated by the program signature system (needed to ensure greater stability). However, Symbian still does not have the same extensibility and buildability as Windows Mobile, which makes it the most stable platform.

An additional bonus of the S60 platform is a huge variety of games written specifically for it. This situation has arisen thanks to the well-known gaming smartphone Nokia N-Gage, based on the Series 60.

Thanks to all these features, the S60 platform has gained great popularity among the vast majority of users who choose a smartphone.

Series 80 and other Symbians of this branch– the Series 80 platform is not very different from the S60; it is used on a limited number of devices – Nokia 9xxx series business communicators (9300, 9500).

Supports high resolution wide screen and some specific business functions (working with by email, for example), and all control is carried out from the keyboard (there are two of them: QWERTY and digital). The form factor of the communicator is a side clamshell, which is why the device when unfolded resembles a microlaptop, and when folded it resembles a hypertrophied phone.

Series 90– the main platform for touch screen devices from Nokia is the 7710 communicator.

The difference is a slightly redesigned OS interface and support for a touch screen (usually with a resolution of 640x200 pixels).

S60 Touch is a recently announced platform. There is little information about this platform yet, but it is known that the S60 Touch will feature the ability to control fingers (touching and moving fingers across the screen) while maintaining stylus control.

What is also original is that, according to some reports, the S60 Touch will support haptic feedback - that is, you will not only see your every action, but also feel it.

Symbian UIQ family. The generation of operating systems UIQ (User Interface Quartz) is intended for communicators with a touch screen and differs from the S60 mainly in the graphical shell. This platform is used on Sony Ericsson smartphones, the version currently used is UIQ 3.0, which is based on Symbian 9.1. A special feature of the P9xx series devices built on this platform is the presence of a flip - a folding keyboard that covers part of the screen, while the communicator becomes a smartphone, since the touch screen panel is turned off. Opening the flip enables the screen's touch capabilities and the phone becomes a full-fledged touchscreen communicator. Resolution 320x240 is supported. The M and W series devices do not have a flip and are similar to regular communicators with a large screen.

A special feature of the UIQ 3.0 platform is a fairly large set of software and applications installed on the smartphone by the manufacturer. In fact, everything you need to get the job done is here.

• Opera 8.0 browser
• RSS reader (Internet news)
• Picture viewer (viewing and simple editing of photos)
• Sound Recorder (sound recording)
• Quick Office (P990i)
• PDF+ (P990i PDF reader)
• Notes
• Tasks (task manager)
• Business Card Scanner (business card scanner, uses a built-in camera, but does not support Russian language)
• Media Player (multimedia player)
• E-mail Client (working with email)
• MusicDJ (creation and editing of MIDI melodies)
• Calendar (calendar organizer)
• File Manager (working with files and programs)
• Calculator
• Unit converter
• Timer
• Stopwatch
• World time

Although many of the necessary programs are installed, they will only be enough for the first time, then you will still have to look for third-party software. And here the main disadvantages of Symbian UIQ appear: firstly, there are a small number of programs for this platform and most of them are paid. Therefore, UIQ is intended for those who have no particular desire to install third-party programs on their phone - the standard software is well made, but there are problems with extensibility. Secondly, the platform has problems with stability; new firmware, of course, corrects the “dampness”, but it is still far from complete stability. Thirdly, the options for customizing the interface are very weak; you can only change the color and shape of the buttons. Although the ability to change the interface is reserved for cellular operators who are in no hurry to take advantage of this opportunity. Fourthly, SonyEricsson smartphones only support Memory Stick memory cards, which are not as attractively priced as the competing SD format. In general, Sony is again going its own way.

Separate and original. Mac OS X and iPhone

On everyone's lips, in many's heads. Probably many of you have become or want to become a “victim” aggressive marketing, having bought today the already iconic iPhone from Apple. Sales of the device started in America on July 29, 2007, and the iPhone was tied to one of the US mobile operators, which made the phone impossible to operate in other countries. Today this binding is no longer possible thanks to various tricks that unlock the device. The iPhone is based on a special Mac versions OS X, with the interface adapted for working with fingers. This innovation became the main feature of the phone.

A special feature of the device is a large touch screen that occupies almost the entire front panel and only one key; all control is carried out by touching and moving your fingers across the screen, all this makes the smartphone seem alive. Today there are practically no programs for smartphones from Apple, and the SDK for the platform has not yet been made public, so third party programs there is no need to expect. Although, of course, the device has very high potential. The smartphone is based on ARM processor 620 MHz, screen resolution 480x320, GSM850/900/1800/1900 supported, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, EDGE, 2MP camera, lithium-ion battery 8 hours of talk time/250 hours of standby, dimensions 115x61x11.5 mm, weight – 135 g.

Standard functionality includes basic telephone capabilities.

• Calls, conference calls, no voice control, the main feature is visual voicemail, working with US carriers, you can manage messages voicemail right in the phone interface.
• SMS is implemented as a dialogue.
• Ring tones are sold in the iTunes Store; installation of regular melodies is not provided, but is possible using third-party software.
• The multimedia player resembles that of the iPod, but it can do much more, and the large screen makes it possible to watch movies in high quality.
• The Internet is possible thanks to EDGE and Wi-Fi, as well as the built-in Safari browser. There is no Flash technology, however, it is the fastest browser among all mobile devices.
• operating room Mac system The OS provides future options for easily porting Macintosh programs to the iPhone. Perhaps then we will get one of the most successful communicators, but for now these are just plans for the future.

Some little-known operating systems

In addition to the operating systems for mobile assistants that we have already described today, there are also little-known operating systems, for example, Linux or Blackberry.

Linux– used in PDAs from Sharp. These are Zaurus models, little known here in Russia. Of course, this is not a full-fledged Linux. Yes, the Linux kernel is used, but the OS shell here is completely different and is far from compatible with “big” Linux.

The shell Sharp uses is called Qtopia. The second feature of the OS from Sharp is the simplicity of the interface and operation (unlike the desktop version of Linux), so you don’t have to be an expert to master “Zavra”. In general, this platform is very popular in Asia; it is not very widespread here in Russia, so it is not of particular interest, except perhaps for technomaniacs who are not averse to having fun with various equipment and exploring new possibilities.

At a special event before CES 2018, AMD released new mobile processors and announced desktop chips with integrated graphics. And Radeon Technologies Group, a structural division of AMD, announced Vega mobile discrete graphics chips. The company also revealed plans to switch to new technical processes and promising architectures: Radeon Navi graphics and Zen+, Zen 2 and Zen 3 processors.

New processors, chipset and cooling

The first Ryzen desktops with Vega graphics

Two Ryzen desktop models with integrated Vega graphics will go on sale on February 12, 2018. The 2200G is an entry-level Ryzen 3 processor, while the 2400G is a mid-range Ryzen 5 processor. Both models dynamically boost clock speeds by 200 and 300 MHz from base frequencies of 3.5 GHz and 3.6 GHz, respectively. In fact, they replace the ultra-budget models Ryzen 3 1200 and 1400.

The 2200G has only 8 graphics units, while the 2400G has 3 more. The frequency of the 2200G graphics cores reaches 1,100 MHz, and the 2400G is 150 MHz more. Each graphics unit contains 64 shaders.

The cores of both processors have the same code name as mobile processors with integrated graphics - Raven Ridge (literally Raven Mountain, a rock formation in Colorado). But nevertheless, they are connected to the same LGA AMD AM4 socket as all other Ryzen 3, 5 and 7 processors.

Reference: Sometimes AMD calls processors with integrated graphics not CPU (Central Processing Unit, English Central processing unit), and APU (Accelerated Processor Unit, English. Accelerated processing unit, in other words, a processor with a video accelerator).
AMD desktop processors with integrated graphics are marked with a G at the end, after the first letter of the word graphics ( English graphics). Mobile processors from both AMD and Intel are marked with the letter U at the end, after the first letter of the words ultrathin ( English ultra-thin) or ultra-low power ( English ultra-low power consumption) respectively.
At the same time, you should not think that if the model numbers of the new Ryzen begin with the number 2, then their core architecture belongs to the second generation of the Zen microarchitecture. This is not true - these processors are still in the first generation.

New Ryzen mobiles with Vega graphics

Last year, AMD already brought the first mobile Ryzen to the market under the codename Raven Ridge. The entire Ryzen mobile family is designed for gaming laptops, ultrabooks and tablet-laptop hybrids. But there were only two such models, each in the middle and high-end segments: Ryzen 5 2500U and Ryzen 7 2700U. The junior segment was empty, but the company corrected this right at CES 2018 - two models were added to the mobile family: Ryzen 3 2200U and Ryzen 3 2300U.

AMD Vice President Jim Anderson demonstrates the Ryzen mobile family

The 2200U is the first dual-core Ryzen CPU, while the 2300U is quad-core as standard, but both run four threads. At the same time, the base frequency of the 2200U cores is 2.5 GHz, and the lower 2300U is 2 GHz. But with increasing loads, the frequency of both models will rise to the same level - 3.4 GHz. However, laptop manufacturers can lower the power ceiling, because they also need to calculate energy costs and think through the cooling system. There is also a difference in cache size between the chips: the 2200U has only two cores, and therefore has half the cache of levels 1 and 2.

The 2200U has only 3 graphics units, but the 2300U has twice as many, as well as processor cores. But the difference in graphics frequencies is not so significant: 1,000 MHz versus 1,100 MHz.

The first mobile Ryzen PRO

For the second quarter of 2018, AMD has planned the release of mobile versions of Ryzen PRO, enterprise-level processors. Characteristics mobile PRO identical to the consumer versions, with the exception of the Ryzen 3 2200U, which did not receive a PRO implementation at all. The differences between desktop and mobile Ryzen PRO are in additional hardware technologies.

Ryzen PRO processors are complete copies of regular Ryzen, but with additional features

For example, TSME, on-the-fly hardware encryption of RAM, is used to ensure security (Intel only has software-intensive SME encryption). And for centralized management of a fleet of machines, the open standard DASH (Desktop and mobile Architecture for System Hardware) is available. system devices) - support for its protocols is built into the processor.

Laptops, ultrabooks and hybrid tablet-laptops with Ryzen PRO should primarily be of interest to companies and government agencies that plan to purchase them for employees.

New AMD 400 series chipsets

The second generation of Ryzen relies on the second generation of system logic: the 300th series of chipsets is replaced by the 400th. The flagship of the series, as expected, was the AMD X470, and later simpler and cheaper sets of circuits, such as the B450, would be released. New logic improved everything related to RAM: reduced access latency, raised the upper frequency limit and added headroom for overclocking. Also increased in the 400th episode throughput USB and the processor's power consumption has improved, and at the same time its heat dissipation has improved.

But the processor socket has not changed. The AMD AM4 desktop socket (and its mobile non-removable version AMD FP5) is a special advantage of the company. The second generation has the same connector as the first. It will not change in the third and fifth generations. AMD promised, in principle, not to change AM4 until 2020. And for the 300 series motherboards (X370, B350, A320, X300 and A300) to work with the new Ryzen, you just need to update the BIOS. Moreover, in addition to direct compatibility, there is also reverse compatibility: old processors will work on new boards.

At CES 2018, Gigabyte even showed a prototype of the first motherboard based on the new chipset - the X470 Aorus Gaming 7 WiFi. This and other boards based on X470 and lower chipsets will appear in April 2018, simultaneously with the second generation of Ryzen on the Zen+ architecture.

New cooling system

AMD also introduced the new AMD Wraith Prism cooler. While its predecessor, the Wraith Max, was illuminated in a single color red, the Wraith Prism features motherboard-controlled RGB lighting around the perimeter of the fan. The cooler blades are made of transparent plastic and are also illuminated in millions of colors. Fans of RGB backlighting will appreciate it, and haters can simply turn it off, although in this case the point of buying this model will be negated.

Wraith Prism - a complete copy of Wraith Max, but with backlighting in millions of colors

The remaining characteristics are identical to the Wraith Max: direct contact heat pipes, programmable airflow profiles in overclocking mode and virtually silent operation at 39 dB under standard conditions.

There is no information yet on how much the Wraith Prism will cost, whether it will come bundled with processors, or when it will be available for purchase.

New Ryzen laptops

In addition to mobile processors, AMD is also promoting new laptops based on them. In 2017, the HP Envy x360, Lenovo Ideapad 720S and Acer Swift 3 models were released on mobile Ryzen. In the first quarter of 2018, the Acer Nitro 5, Dell Inspiron 5000 and HP series will be added to them. They all run on last year's mobile Ryzen 7 2700U and Ryzen 5 2500U.

The Acer Nitro family is all about gaming machines. The Nitro 5 line is equipped with 15.6-inch IPS displays with a resolution of 1920 × 1080. And some models will be equipped with a discrete Radeon RX 560 graphics chip with 16 graphics units inside.

The Dell Inspiron 5000 line of laptops offers models with display diagonals of 15.6 and 17 inches, equipped with either hard drives or solid state drives. Some models in the line will also receive a discrete Radeon 530 graphics card with 6 graphics units. This is a rather strange configuration, because even the integrated graphics of the Ryzen 5 2500U have more graphics units - 8 pieces. But the advantage discrete card may be in higher clock speeds and separate graphics memory chips (instead of the RAM section).

Price reduction for all Ryzen processors

Plans until 2020: Navi graphics, Zen 3 processors

2017 was a completely turning point for AMD. After years of troubles, AMD completed development of the Zen core microarchitecture and released the first generation of CPUs: the Ryzen, Ryzen PRO and Ryzen Threadripper family of PC processors, the Ryzen and Ryzen PRO mobile family, and the EPYC server family. In the same year, the Radeon group developed the Vega graphics architecture: Vega 64 and Vega 56 video cards were released on its basis, and by the end of the year, Vega cores were integrated into Ryzen mobile processors.

Dr. Lisa Su, CEO of AMD, assures that the company will release 7 nanometer processors before 2020

The new products not only attracted the interest of fans, but also captured the attention ordinary consumers and enthusiasts. Intel and NVIDIA had to quickly counter: Intel released six-core processors Coffee Lake, the unplanned second “so” of the Skylake architecture, and NVIDIA expanded the 10th series of video cards based on the Pascal architecture to 12 models.

Rumors about AMD's future plans accumulated throughout 2017. Until now, Lisa Su, CEO of AMD, has only noted that the company plans to exceed the 7-8% annual rate of productivity growth in the electronics industry. Finally, at CES 2018, the company showed a “road map” not just until the end of 2018, but right up to 2020. The basis of these plans is improving chip architectures through the miniaturization of transistors: a progressive transition from the current 14 nanometers to 12 and 7 nanometers.

12 nanometers: second generation Ryzen on Zen+

The Zen+ microarchitecture, the second generation of the Ryzen brand, is based on the 12-nanometer process technology. In fact, the new architecture is a modified Zen. The GlobalFoundries manufacturing standard is being converted from 14nm 14LPP (Low Power Plus) to 12nm 12LP (Low Power). The new 12LP process technology should provide chips with a 10% performance increase.

Reference: The GlobalFoundries network of factories are former AMD manufacturing facilities that were spun off into a separate company in 2009 and merged with other contract manufacturers. In terms of contract manufacturing market share, GlobalFoundries shares second place with UMC, significantly behind TSMC. Chip developers - AMD, Qualcomm and others - order production both from GlobalFoundries and other factories.

In addition to the new technical process, the Zen+ architecture and chips based on it will receive improved AMD Precision Boost 2 and AMD XFR 2 (Extended Frequency Range 2) technologies. In mobile Ryzen processors you can already find Precision Boost 2 and a special modification of XFR - Mobile Extended Frequency Range (mXFR).

The second generation will include a family of Ryzen, Ryzen PRO and Ryzen Threadripper PC processors, but there is no information about a generation update yet mobile family Ryzen and Ryzen PRO, and server EPYC. But it is known that some models of Ryzen processors will have two modifications from the very beginning: with graphics integrated into the chip and without it. Entry- and mid-level models Ryzen 3 and Ryzen 5 will be released in both versions. And the high level Ryzen 7 will not receive any graphical modification. Most likely, the code name Pinnacle Ridge (lit. sharp mountain ridge, one of the peaks of the Wind River Range in Wyoming) is assigned to the core architecture for these particular processors.

The second generation of Ryzen 3, 5 and 7 will begin selling in April 2018 along with the 400 series chipsets. And the second generation of Ryzen PRO and Ryzen Threadripper will be late until the second half of 2018.

7 nanometers: third generation Ryzen on Zen 2, discrete Vega graphics, Navi graphics core

In 2018, the Radeon group will release Vega discrete graphics for laptops, ultrabooks and laptop tablets. AMD does not share any special details: it is known that discrete chips will work with compact multi-layer memory like HBM2 (integrated graphics use RAM). Separately, Radeon emphasizes that the height of the memory chips will be only 1.7 mm.

Radeon exec shows off integrated and discrete Vega graphics

And in the same 2018, Radeon will transfer graphics chips based on Vega architecture from the 14 nm LPP process technology directly to 7 nm LP, completely jumping over 12 nm. But first, new graphics units will be supplied only for the Radeon Instinct line. This is a separate family of Radeon server chips for heterogeneous computing: machine learning and artificial intelligence - the demand for them is ensured by the development of unmanned vehicles.

And already at the end of 2018 or the beginning of 2019, ordinary consumers will wait for Radeon and AMD products on the 7-nanometer process technology: processors based on Zen 2 architecture and graphics based on Navi architecture. Moreover, the design work for Zen 2 has already been completed.

AMD partners are already familiarizing themselves with Zen 2 chips and will create motherboards and other components for the third generation Ryzen. AMD is gaining such momentum due to the fact that the company has two teams “jumping” over each other to develop promising microarchitectures. They started with parallel work on Zen and Zen+. When Zen was completed, the first team moved to Zen 2, and when Zen+ was completed, the second team moved to Zen 3.

7 nanometers “plus”: fourth generation Ryzen on Zen 3

While one AMD department is solving the problems of mass production of Zen 2, another department is already designing Zen 3 at a technological standard designated as “7 nm+”. The company does not disclose details, but indirect data suggests that the process will be improved by complementing the current deep ultraviolet lithography (DUV, Deep Ultraviolet) with a new hard ultraviolet lithography (EUV, Extreme Ultraviolet) with a wavelength of 13.5 nm.

GlobalFoundries has already installed new equipment for the transition to 5 nm

Back in the summer of 2017, one of the GlobalFoundries factories purchased more than 10 lithographic systems from the TWINSCAN NXE series from the Netherlands ASML. With partial use of this equipment within the same 7 nm process technology, it will be possible to further reduce power consumption and increase chip performance. There are no exact metrics yet - it will take some more time to debug the new lines and bring them to acceptable capacity for mass production.

AMD expects to begin organizing sales of chips at the 7 nm+ standard from processors based on the Zen 3 microarchitecture by the end of 2020.

5 nanometers: fifth and subsequent generations of Ryzen on Zen 4?

AMD has not yet made an official announcement, but we can safely speculate that the next frontier for the company will be the 5 nm process technology. Experimental chips based on this standard have already been produced by a research alliance of IBM, Samsung and GlobalFoundries. Crystals using a 5 nm process technology will no longer require partial, but full use of hard ultraviolet lithography with an accuracy above 3 nm. This is exactly the resolution that the TWINSCAN NXE:3300B lithography system from ASML purchased by GlobalFoundries provides.

A layer one molecule thick of molybdenum disulfide (0.65 nanometers) exhibits a leakage current of only 25 femtoamps/micrometer at 0.5 volts.

But the difficulty also lies in the fact that at the 5 nm process it will probably be necessary to change the shape of the transistors. The long-proven FinFETs (fin-shaped transistors, from English fin) may give way to promising GAA FETs (shape of transistors with surrounding gates, from English gate-all-around). It will take several more years to set up and deploy mass production of such chips. The consumer electronics sector is unlikely to receive them before 2021.

Further reduction of technological standards is also possible. For example, back in 2003, Korean researchers created a 3-nanometer FinFET. In 2008, a nanometer transistor was created at the University of Manchester based on graphene (carbon nanotubes). And in 2016, Berkeley Lab research engineers conquered the sub-nanometer scale: such transistors can use both graphene and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). True, at the beginning of 2018, there had not yet been a way to produce an entire chip or substrate from new materials.