Lost a game because of the smartphone’s lost connection? It happens, and it happens a lot more often than you think. However, it’s more to just an unstable network. How you hold your smartphone plays an important role when it comes to connection.
When playing a game, the usual go-to position would be holding it in landscape. Your hands are wrapped around the top of the frame, while your ring of little fingers support the bottom. Many don’t realize, your hands are covering exactly where the Wi-Fi antennas are traditionally placed, and it affects the most important thing – the Wi-Fi reception. This is often known as the death grip.
HONOR engineers discovered this issue early on and began researching a viable solution. After performing countless user tests and experimentation, they finally came up with “AI Triple-Antenna Wi-Fi”. The HONOR View20 is the first phone to use this technology.
Triple-antenna design
Since the problem is caused by users blocking the antennas with their hands, engineers began by studying how users hold their phones. They analyzed and combined the data from over 10,000 users to create thermal maps of users’ grip for both portrait and landscape mode. The darker the spot on the map, the stronger the grip on that part of the phone, meaning more interference.
By looking at the first map (portrait), you can see the entire top part of the phone is white, meaning there is no interference. This works perfectly for the earliest design where the antennas were placed at the top.
But when you turn it sideways to play a game or stream a video, both antennas are blocked by your hands..
HONOR engineers quickly realized they needed to think outside the box. Their solution was to place an additional square antenna in the center.
Adding another antenna may sound like a simple solution, as it would mean there would be better reception and you won’t accidently cover them all. However, for it to work, they need to be strategically placed, as signals are easily affected by metal.
Engineers realized that not only do they need to avoid the dark spots on the maps, but they need to avoid the metal hardware inside as well. After a detailed analysis, thousands of experiments, and prototyping, the engineers created the most efficient design.
Kirin 980 and AI computing
However, breaking out of the death grip takes more than just upgraded hardware. An algorithm is used to determine the most optimal antenna combination at all times and switches between them accordingly. If there are too many antennas, more computing needs to be done, and there is the potential of your phone switching between the antennas too often, slowing your Wi-Fi down even more.
The HONOR View20 takes full advantage of the new Kirin 980 Dual-NPU’ AI computation abilities, creating an entire set of algorithms just for handling the triple antenna.
Here’s how it works –
- The system is automatically activated when you use your phone in landscape mode, calculating which combination of antennas have the best reception.
- Once it detects the signal weakening for the two main antennas (top and bottom) it enables the third antenna to boost the signal. This isn’t merely a mechanical switch.
- In the event when router Wi-Fi signal is weak, switching antennas on HONOR View 20 can make your connection worse and reduce battery life unnecessarily. But this wouldn’t be a problem as the HONOR View20’s AI is able to determine the cause of the weakened signal and ensure the phone stays connected.
This is just part of the package. The HONOR View20 also has all new 48MP Ultra Clarity mode, a TOF 3D Camera, and world leading Liquid Cooling System.
The HONOR View20 launched in January 2019 and has been making headlines ever since. The smartphone has received the title of “Best Selling Flagship Smartphone” in Senheng, one of the leading independent retailers in Malaysia, and sold 1,000 units in just its first weekend of sales start during HONOR Malaysia’s largest roadshow event in 1 Utama Shopping Centre.
For more information on the HONOR View20, head over to HONOR’s official e-commerce website and information portal at http://hihonor.com/my. Updates can be found at the official Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/HonorMY/.
