What is a superphone?: Everything you need to know

It is no secret that the cellphone market constantly works at reinventing itself. We have graduated from basic phones to feature phones and from feature phones to smartphones. The next level of phone evolution is known as the superphone.

So, what does a superphone have on offer? How is it different from a smartphone?

The most important thing one needs to know about a superphone is that it is not something very different from a smartphone; rather it is an update to the smartphone concept. It offers most of the same features as a smartphone but in a much higher capacity. While a smartphone is known to offer features such as an OS, apps and a UI, a super phone takes it to the next level.

The basic differences between both type of phones are many. While a smartphone has the capacity to support hundreds of apps, a superphone can support 100,000s of apps without burdening its processor.

Superphones are mostly touchscreen phones with a resolution of at least 480 x 320p while a smartphone display would comes with a resolution of at leas 160 x 120p. It might also come with physical buttons.

While a smartphone mostly supports 2G and 3G connectivity, a superphone should support 2G, 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi connectivity at the very least. In a smartphone a web experience is just an additional feature, while a superphone offers specialized web experience comparable to one on a tablet or a PC.

Other features of a superphone include inherent location awareness and user focused phone experience whereas in a smartphone, the user experience is controlled by the device manufacturer and the career the user opts for.

Superphones are touted to be the future of phones. A phone can be called a superphone only if it accommodates all the features listed above. Along with that, superphones are said to be an effective replacement for multiple devices such as a PC, a camera or a tablet.

Superphones typically offer at least a 1 GHz processor along with minimum 512 MB RAM. Additionally, they might offer an HD / 3D camera, a powerful battery (at least 1500 mAh) and the most advanced version of an OS available in the market.

The recently launched superphones include the HTC Evo, HTC Sensation and Samsung Galaxy S II. These phones offer features such as a 4.3-inch LED (or AMOLED) touchscreen display, 4G capability and a 1 GHz processor.

India is touted to get its own superphone – the Micromax A85 this month. This phone comes with features such as a 1 GHz Tegra 2 dual-core processor along with 512 MB RAM. In addition to that, it offers a 5-mega pixel camera and aGPS.