Top 5 upcoming smartphones to look forward to

The launch of new smartphones is a never ending cycle and at times it can be really hard to keep up with the ton of variants and models released in quick succession by a single manufacturer. 2012 so far has been a great year for smartphones, especially Android phones as ICS has really changed the game for Google and have taken their mobile OS one notch higher and closer (or perhaps level) to Apple’s iOS. While there are plenty of phones on the horizon, we’ve narrowed down five of the favourite picks that we feel are worth waiting for.

Apple iPhone 5
No phone wish list is complete without Apple’s iPhone and this year, we hope to see a completely revamped iPhone unlike last year’s 4S. As of now, all the information we have is purely speculative but if it were to be true, then we may see Apple break away from the 3.5-inch screen for a larger one. The phone needn’t be bigger as the current iPhone has quite a thick bezel all round so even if they just shave it off like Samsung did, they can fit a larger screen in the same form factor. There’s also talk about the phone having a quad-core Exynos SoC from Samsung, although Apple will put their branding like A6 or something. We may also see Apple return to a metallic chassis for the iPhone 5 instead of the glass back.

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Will it really change the game?

This is a rough estimate of what the iPhone 5 could look like in terms of specs:

• 4-inch capacity touchscreen display with a 1280 x 720 pixel resolution (364ppi)
• LTE, 3G, EDGE/GPRS, NFC and Wi-Fi capabilities for net access
• GPS, GLONASS with A-GPS support for Maps
• Bluetooth with A2DP and proprietary dock connector
• 8MP BSI camera sensor with LED flash and secondary camera up front for FaceTime
• 16/32/64GB internal

Sony Xperia Mint LT30
The Mint will be Sony’s next flagship offering after the Xperia S. Based on what we know about it so far, it could very well be a renamed Xperia GX, that Sony released for the Japanese market back in May 2012. The GX features a curved arc-like design and from the looks of it, doesn’t have any physical buttons. It will also sport a 13MP camera so photography will the USP of the Mint. Besides being slim and light weight, it will also have the usual set of smartphone goodies like NFC, Wi-Fi, powerful SoC , 1080p recording, etc.

Their next flagship

Here are some of the specifications of the Xperi Mint that we know of so far:   

• 4.6-inch capacity touchscreen display with a 1280 x 720 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS and Wi-Fi capabilities for net access
• GPS with A-GPS support for Google Maps
• Bluetooth with A2DP and USB 2.0 (Micro)
• 13MP camera with LED flash and secondary camera up front
• FM radio
• 16 or 32GB internal memory, expandable via microSD card slot

Samsung Galaxy Note 2
Samsung obviously weren’t happy with the fact that the Note is a very uncomfortable phone for most, which is why they are going to make it even more uncomfortable the second time around. The Note 2 is said to have a 5.5-inch display, which is bordering on tablet territory. Still, the Note is hugely popular which means there must be a lot more sasquatches masquerading as people, than we thought. The reason we are waiting for this is because it will be the first phone to break the HD 720p resolution as it’s rumoured to have a 1680 x 1050 resolution. This gives it a crazy 360ppi so text and images should be super sharp, just like reading an actual magazine. 

Getting bigger by the year

This is what the phone/tablet should look like:

• 5.5-inch Super AMOELD touchscreen with a 1680 × 1050
• 4G LTE, EDGE, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, NFC
• GPS possibly with GLNONASS and a-GPS support
• Bluetooth possible v4.0 with USB and hopefully USB-on-the-go
• 8/12 megapixel AF/Touchfocus camera with full HD video recording and playback
• A front facing camera for video calls and chats
• Possibly a 64GB edition, along with 16GB and 32GB versions all with expandable support
• MHL for AV out

Motorola Atrix HD
The Atrix HD is a souped up version of the Droid Razr XT910 that should launch internationally very soon. Motorola have swapped the Super AMOLED screen for a larger TFT LCD display with an HD resolution. It will be powered by the more efficient Qualcomm MSM8960 SoC which includes a dual-core Krait CPU and an Adreno 225 GPU. The phone will also be just 8.4mm thin and will feature the DuPont Kevlar on the back panel. The phone has been announced for US carriers and should be hitting other countries as well in the coming months.

Looks promising

Here are some of the highlights of the Atrix HD:

• 4.5-inch capacity touchscreen display with a 1280 x 720 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS and Wi-Fi capabilities for net access
• GPS with A-GPS support for Google Maps
• Bluetooth with A2DP and USB 2.0 (Micro)
• 8MP camera with LED flash and secondary camera up front
• FM radio
• 8GB internal memory, expandable via mciroSD card slot up to 32GB

Asus Padfone
This is probably going to be one of the most expensive phones of 2012 and perhaps the most interesting as well. With the Padfone, you’re not only getting a phone but also a tablet as the phone will ship with a dock that turns into a tablet once you insert your phone in it. This is very smart actually as it gives you two devices in one. However, the launch of the Padfone has been delayed due to the shortage of Qualcomm S4 chips so once that’s sorted out, we could get a rough launch date for the Padfone. This extra time also gives Asus the opportunity to test out Jelly Bean on the hybrid phone, so it may just launch with the latest version of Android, which is always nice.

A different concept

Here are some of the highlights of the Padfone:

• 4.3-inch capacity touchscreen display with a 540 x 960 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS and Wi-Fi capabilities for net access
• GPS with A-GPS support for Google Maps
• Bluetooth with A2DP and USB 2.0 (Micro)
• 8MP camera with LED flash and secondary camera up front
• FM radio
• 16/3264 GB internal memory, expandable via microSD card slot up to 32G