The pandemic changed our relationship with our phones, and Samsung's upgrading accordingly

The pandemic changed our relationship with our phones, and Samsung's upgrading accordingly

The COVID-19 pandemic required us to to work, attend school and socialize from home -- meaning our tech reached a new level of importance in our lives. Although the lockdowns are over, the time we spent at home in 2020 gave Samsung plenty of ideas for how the smartphone experience could be improved.

Those takeaways surface in One UI 4, Samsung's next major software update, which rolled out earlier this month starting with the Galaxy S21 series. 

"We looked at preexisting features and understood what was receiving more usage because of the pandemic and we reinforced that," Hyesoon Sally Jeong, Samsung's vice president and head of framework research and development, told CNET via a translator. 

The update largely focuses on improving areas like privacy, ease of use, personalization and communication, elements that Samsung noticed had become particularly important as many people began spending more time on their phones during the shutdown period. It's another example of the broader shift that's occurred across the tech industry as companies began tailoring their products to facilitate remote work and socialization.

Read more: Apple iPhone 14 Max, Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and other exciting phones to look out for

One such feature in Samsung's update is the ability to record audio and video during conference calls, an addition that was inspired by remote learning. "We realized that our users might want to record the audio or video while they have remote interactions with their teachers or students," Jeong said. "So teachers might want to record the audio or video conference to monitor the lessons or sessions they had taught to students." 

But perhaps the biggest change that influenced Samsung's strategy when designing One UI 4 was the increased amount of time we've spent on our smartphones. A recent study published in the JAMA Pediatrics Journal found that screen time doubled among teenagers during the pandemic, not including virtual learning. 

As such, Samsung is trying to make its smartphones easier to look at for long periods of time with cosmetic updates coming in One UI 4. "In terms of visual design, we made a lot of design-related decisions based on the key principle of comfort," Hyun Kim, head of Samsung's core user experience group, also said to CNET via a translator. "Because screen time increased, comfort for your eyes [and] reducing eye fatigue has become more important than ever before."

The company made aesthetic changes to its software such as reducing the number of colors in the user interface and adjusting the size and layout of fonts. It also worked with Google to enable screen dimming that's darker than what was previously possible when using the phone in low light environments. Samsung's emoji pair feature -- which lets you send two emojis at once -- was also sparked by the way we relied on our phones for communicating and socializing in 2020.  

Read more: Google is still no Samsung, but the Pixel 6 might change everything

Samsung's software update is just one example of the pandemic's lasting impact on the way tech companies design and develop their products. That influence can be seen in Apple's iOS 15 software, too. One of the update's headlining features is SharePlay, which lets you easily watch movies and TV or listen to music with others over FaceTime. Such functionality would have been particularly handy during the shutdown period when many people were seeking ways to hold virtual movie nights over Zoom. 

CES 2021 also showcased the best efforts of tech companies to make products that reflected lifestyle changes caused by the pandemic. In addition to Razer's high-tech face mask and a temperature-taking doorbell, we also saw laptops with better cameras that were seemingly designed for remote work.

Aside from the additions mentioned above, One UI 4 also brings features like a new privacy dashboard, the ability to choose whether to share your precise location with apps, more uniform widgets with rounded corners and more color palettes for customizing your phone's theme. The software is now available for the Galaxy S21 lineup and will be coming soon to older Galaxy S phones, Galaxy A phones and Samsung's foldable devices and tablets.

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Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4 Is Too Expensive and That's the Point

Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4 Is Too Expensive and That's the Point

Among the devices revealed at its Unpacked event last week, Samsung showed off its new flagship Galaxy Z Fold 4 foldable phone, which packs improvements like better multitasking software, a slimmer design and a more durable body. One thing Samsung didn't change is the sky-high $1,800 price tag -- which few consumers can likely afford. But that exclusivity is exactly why the Fold 4 exists. 

It may seem perplexing to keep the Z Fold 4 at about twice the price of other premium phones when Samsung wants foldables to become more mainstream, as CEO TM Roh said during Unpacked. I argued that price cuts would be the best way Samsung could combat Apple this holiday season. Since Samsung is holding steady with the Z Fold 4's price, it's clear the company is content to keep it a niche device that's out of reach for all but the most deep-pocketed consumers.

The Z Fold 4 sits atop a strata in which it has no real rivals. It's essentially a Ferrari amid Mercedes and BMWs. Creating that level of exclusivity is entirely the point, giving Samsung an exciting and aspirational product that generates buzz and interest in the entire lineup. Chipping a few hundreds dollars off its price won't make a difference, said IDC Research Director Nabila Popal.

Keeping the Z Fold 4 at $1,800 is "the right move, in my opinion, even if it won't be affordable to the masses," Popal said.

This dynamic, which runs counter to the idea that a lower priced foldable may spur interest in the category, is one of the predicaments this whole area faces. Foldables occupy an exciting niche of the phone business, which has seen an endless parade of drab metal and glass slabs come through for more than a decade. But the high price tag keeps them from really breaking out. 

The only answer is to slowly build up the market and interest through a combination of exciting, but less attainable, options like the Z Fold 4, and the comparatively affordable $1,000 Z Flip 4.

Samsung is hoping the Z Fold 4's dynamic design -- which is still impressive in person -- gives the company a pop ahead of Apple's own event next month and generates excitement about foldables in general. 

Samsung is relying on the Z Flip series to sell the vibe of foldables, transitional phones that alter their shape. And Samsung has work to do, because they're still scarce in the wild, with research firm IDC estimating that a bit over 7 million foldables shipped in 2021 compared with 1.3 billion smartphones sold last year.

From a market perspective, the small volume the Z Fold 4 could get may help Samsung gain back some of the global share of high-end phones, as Apple sells seven of every 10 $800-and-up premium phones globally. 

Screenshot by CNET

No price cuts while parts are expensive

Though price cuts would help Samsung make its foldable phones more mainstream, the company may have little choice but to keep its prices static. Unlike truly mainstream products, like Samsung's Galaxy S series, which have flat displays and components used in many other smartphones, the small volume of foldables sold every year have specialty parts.

"That means the very specialized components required ... are still only produced in small quantities and therefore are likely still very expensive," Technalysis Research analyst Bob O'Donnell said.

That leads to a chicken-and-egg problem that impacts every specialty device: Parts can't get cheaper until they're made at scale, and there's no point in making them at scale while consumers buy too few of the pricey devices using those parts. That's the reason so few phone-makers are making foldables, including Apple, O'Donnell said.

"We can't really ignore the fact that the supply chain is not really ready for an Apple-level product, and that's part of the reason Apple hasn't [made a foldable] either," O'Donnell said.

Samsung is splitting the difference with the Z Flip 4, a clamshell foldable that has half the footprint of a "flat" smartphone when it's closed, yet unfolds to show an inner screen as large as any regular phone's display. Samsung sees the Z Flip 4 as an "entry device" that turns bold buyers into foldable lifers, an on-ramp for consumers to eventually upgrade to the bigger, pricier Z Fold line. 

Samsung says the Z Flip is the better-selling series, accounting for 70% of the company's foldables shipped, but both devices serve different demographics. The Z Flip is stylish but ultimately just a shrinkable version of a typical 'flat' smartphone, not a junior edition of the productivity-enhancing Z Fold devices that unfold into tablet-size screens.

More foldables are being sold every year, and IDC predicts shipments will grow to 25 million foldables in 2025. Whether that's enough volume to enable cheaper foldables is tough to forecast. Samsung has at least gotten creative with offering foldables with more value. 

Facebook on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.

Screenshot by CNET

Cheaper foldables through trade-ins and carrier deals

The industry is working to make foldables a thing. You can get a Galaxy Z Fold 4 for less than $1,800 through Samsung's generous trade-in values and various carrier deals. Samsung retains its elite price tag, carriers get more customers signed on to their services, and customers  get their hands on the next evolution in phones.

Samsung's trade-in deals knock $1,000 off the list price of a Z Fold 4 if you send in your older Z Fold 3, Z Fold 2 or this year's Galaxy S22 Ultra. But trade-in values are still pretty generous for the original Z Fold or other flagship Samsung phones from the last few years. Apple's priciest phones also get decent trade-in value, but you'll get barely anything for phones from Google, Motorola, LG or OnePlus.

Carriers can also save you money on the Z Fold 4, with Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile offering varying trade-in deals to lower the price by up to $1,000. Verizon also offers $800 off a second Z Fold 4 after buying a first, should your household need two foldables.

The other option is to wait for Black Friday or the holiday season, when Samsung may introduce new deals to discount its foldables. 

Just don't hold your breath for Samsung to discount its most premium mobile device. Unlike the Z Flip 3, which got a $150 price cut once its successor was revealed this week, the Z Fold 3 has the same $1,800 price on Samsung's website that it had when it launched a year ago. With high parts prices, years of R&D to recoup, and a lack of competition, there's not much pressure for Samsung to lower its prices.

Samsung is "leading in this space at the moment and can afford to charge a premium before other Android players ramp up in this space, and perhaps even Apple in a couple of years," Popal said.

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Samsung Galaxy S Aviator (U.S. Cellular) review: Samsung Galaxy S Aviator (U.S. Cellular)

Samsung Galaxy S Aviator (U.S. Cellular) review: Samsung Galaxy S Aviator (U.S. Cellular)

If you're a loyal U.S. Cellular customer, you've likely come to grips with the carrier's lack of high-end smartphones. With the Samsung Galaxy S Aviator, the scrappy Chicago-based wireless provider hopes to counter Verizon Wireless and AT&T with an LTE and well-designed Android device. Though it wears the Galaxy name, however, the Galaxy S Aviator doesn't quite measure up to Samsung's other Galaxy-branded handsets such as the Galaxy Nexus or even Galaxy S II.

Design
Despite its high-flying name, the Samsung Galaxy S Aviator is not a flagship device, but really a midrange smartphone that sits somewhere between the original Galaxy S and last year's Galaxy S II. As a result, I didn't expect to be wowed by the Aviator's plastic style, but after spending some time with it, I like its solid build quality and how its attractive curves and beveled edges tightly hug its big 4.3-inch screen.

The phone's Super AMOLED (800x400-pixel) display is surprisingly nice to look at, too, with vibrant colors and deep blacks. This was even true when stacked up against the higher-resolution HD Super AMOLED (1,280x720-pixel) screen on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Granted, my test movie, "The Godfather," was 720p, but both phones produced comparably vibrant colors and sharp details.

Measuring 5.1 inches tall by 2.7 inches wide by 0.46 inch thick, the phone's black slab shape isn't as trim as the Galaxy S II's (4.96 inches by 2.6 inches by 0.35 inch), its main rival on U.S. Cellular. The Aviator's extra girth feels good when gripped, especially for larger hands like mine. A power key placed on the right side is within easy reach, as is a volume bar on the left. Rounding out the phone's connections are a standard 3.5mm headphone jack for wired headphones and an HDMI port to connect to HDTVs and monitors.

Above the screen is a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera which is lower than the Galaxy S II's (2 megapixels). The Aviator's main 8-megapixel sensor and LED flash on back, however, are on par with its slimmer sibling. I also like the feel of the Aviator's back battery cover that sports a matte-black finish, which does a decent job of repelling fingerprints. Removing the thin cover reveals a 16GB microSD card and LTE SIM card you can access without disturbing the phone's 1,600mAh battery.

Features
Running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the Samsung Galaxy S Aviator offers the typical Android experience. There are seven home screens, which you can populate with widgets and app shortcuts to your heart's content. By default, the phone showcases Samsung's helpful weather widget, Yahoo News, YouTube, plus a smattering of other staple apps across its main screens.

Google's services are well represented in the Aviator's app tray, with Gmail, Navigation, Talk, Play Books, and YouTube software preloaded. Basic music and video players are onboard, as well. Useful third-party apps include Kindle, Amazon MP3, and Audible audio book software. Of course, you'll need an account or with these services for the apps to be worth your while.

Samsung also installed its Media Hub entertainment store on the Galaxy S Aviator. The app offers a selection of current movies and TV shows for download to rent or buy. The selection actually looks better than solutions offered by other handset makers, namely HTC and its Watch application. For instance I was able to find the first season of "Caprica" (I don't care what anyone thinks, it's a great show) in the Samsung Media Hub, which was missing from HTC Watch. Of course, I could stream it for free via the Netflix app, which I have a subscription to.

Like other Galaxy handsets, Samsung also overlays its TouchWiz interface on top of stock Android. Aside from its weather app powered by AccuWeather and Media Hub store, which sells Movie and TV show rentals, I couldn't find other flashier TouchWiz functions usually installed on the Samsung Galaxy S II. These include Live Panel Widgets, which increase functionality depending on their size, or zooming in and out of images and documents by tilting the phone while touching the screen with both thumbs.

Camera
The 8-megapixel camera is another of the Samsung Galaxy S Aviator's bright spots. Indoor test shots of still life were clear with crisp details and accurate color, even under fluorescent lighting. Moving outdoors, the Galaxy S Aviator had no trouble snapping colorful shots in strong sunlight at a nearby park. The green leaves, and red and purple flowers were vibrant, and shadow details weren't lost since images were correctly exposed.

With a maximum resolution of 720p, video I captured with the Galaxy S Aviator was acceptable, though a bit soft and not as clear as from phones capable of full 1080p HD quality. The handset did pick up ambient sounds, such as birds chirping and splashing water.

Performance
The Samsung Galaxy S Aviator's Android 2.3 OS is pushed along by an outdated single-core 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird processor complemented by 1.44GHz of internal memory. As you'd expect, these basic specs resulted in pokey mobile performance. I often experienced stutters simply swiping through the Aviator's home screens, and opening apps lacked the pep I typically see on modern dual-core Android devices.

Running the Linpack Android (single thread) test application confirmed my suspicions, with the Galaxy S Aviator turning in a low 16.2 MFLOPS completed in a long 5.17 seconds. By contrast, the HTC One S (T-Mobile) blazed through the same task in 0.82 second and notched a high score of 102.4 MFLOPS (single core).

Sadly, I was unable to verify Galaxy S Aviator's 4G credentials since U.S. Cellular's LTE network is not currently available in New York City. A U.S. Cellular representative explained that the closest LTE region to me was located in Portland, Maine. Now Maine is a glorious state and Portland a truly excellent city with some of the best microbreweries in the world, but that's just too long a drive, my friend.

Additionally, the Aviator roams on Sprint's CDMA EVDO network here in New York, and the data speeds I clocked using the Ookla Speedtest app were decidedly 3G. Average downloads came in at a molasses-like 0.58Mbps; I measured upload speeds at a faster 0.93Mbps.

Samsung Galaxy S Aviator call quality sample Listen now:

Call quality on U.S. Cellular's roaming network was pleasing, though, and calls I placed were clear and static-free. People on the other end also reported that my voice was easy to hear, but they quickly identified that I was calling from a cellular phone. The Aviator's earpiece doesn't get very loud, either, nor does its small speaker placed on the back side.

Samsung rates the Galaxy S Aviator's 1,600mAh battery to provide 12 days of standby time and a usage time of 5.5 hours. On my anecdotal tests, the phone played video for a full 8 hours and 58 minutes before shutting down.

Conclusion
If you're perplexed by the $199.99 Samsung Galaxy S Aviator and where it fits into U.S. Cellular's roster of smartphones, you're not alone. The device features a great screen and everything users need for a basic Android experience and 4G LTE data where you can find it. Yet, its sluggish performance and steep price give me pause. A better deal would be to spring for the Samsung Galaxy S II, which for the same price offers dual-core processing but without 4G.

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