6 Dated Smartphone Hardware You Might Want to Acknowledge Now

These smartphone hardware aspects are rare or even extinct now.

| Published: Thursday, December 29, 2016, 18:43 [IST]

These days, smartphones have become even smarter. You can see many new technologies emerging in smartphones continually. Eventually, the days when budget smartphones didn't have enough storage, proper battery life, etc. are gone. Right now, there are impressive features such as fingerprint sensors, front-facing flash and more.

6 Dated Smartphone Hardware You Might Want to Acknowledge Now

Despite these improvements, users find that there is a lack of innovation in the smartphone arena. However, we can't rule out the fact that there were a few inclusions in the smartphones those were pretty useful in the everyday life of the users.

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Today, we will see a list of five hardware aspects of smartphones that are dead or almost on the verge of dying. Take a look at these dated smartphone hardware aspects from below.

Micro USB port

With the introduction of USB Type-C port on smartphones, the micro USB port is losing its glory. The reason is that the USB Type-C cable can be easily plugged into the port as it is reversible, whereas the USB cable lets you fumble to find the correct side, especially when you are sleepy or if its dark. Eventually, many smartphone manufacturers are ditching the micro USB port on their phones.

IR blaster

The 2016 smartphone flagships such as Xiaomi Mi 5, Samsung Galaxy S7, etc. lack an IR blaster, which was seen in the previous generation phones. Basically, an IR blaster helps you control any electronic device such as TV, air conditioner, music system, etc. that can be controlled by an IR remote. This way, a phone with an IR blaster can help you convert your phone into an universal remote control. These days, we don't get to see many smartphones, especially the high-end ones having this feature.

Xenon Flash

Xenon flash is a popular feature seen in the camera-centric smartphones. Earlier, this feature was a part of many handsets, but it gradually faded away as the makers didn't give much importance to it. The reason could be that Xenon flash consumed a lot of power or the LED flash is able to perform better.

Micro SD card slot

Earlier, phones came with micro SD card slots that let them use memory cards to store their data and files, and keep the internal storage space free. However, these days, most phones lack one such hardware feature. The reason is that the manufacturers can make more money with various storage capacities of their phones instead of offering a card slot for the users to expand the storage. The other reason could be the idea of keeping their phones as thin as possible by cutting out on this feature. But, this feature isn't dead as many models are still launched with support for expandable storage.

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FM Transmitter

The FM transmitter is a feature that is seen in feature phones. With this hardware component on your phone, you can wirelessly beam audio playing on your phone to any FM receiver. Moreover, this is a simple feature when it comes to usage. You just need to set a frequency and keep the device close to an antenna or receiver.

Thermometer

Nokia 5210 launched in early 2000's featured a thermometer that helps you know the actual ambient temperature. Later, the Galaxy S4 came up with such a feature in the form an inbuilt temperature sensor. However, this feature was never seen again in any smartphone that was launched in the past three years.