EMZETT.Smartphones
In short: Mobile phones with a full-fledged computer operating system, internet access and app ecosystem — today far more of a universal device than a pure telephone.
In more detail: Technically, smartphones are complete computers in miniature form: their own processor (usually a SoC — System on a Chip, combining CPU, GPU and other components into one chip), RAM, storage and various sensors (GPS, camera, NFC).
In Depth
The SoC as the central building block
The central building block of a smartphone is the SoC (System on a Chip) — instead of spreading the CPU, graphics unit, memory controller and other functional blocks across separate components on a circuit board, as in a classic desktop PC, an SoC combines them onto a single silicon chip. This saves enormous amounts of space and energy — shorter internal paths between functional units mean lower electrical resistance and thus less waste heat, which is crucial given the tiny available space and limited battery capacity of a smartphone (without active fan cooling).
ARM architecture instead of x86
Almost all smartphone SoCs are based on the ARM processor architecture instead of the x86 architecture of classic PCs — ARM was designed from the ground up for energy efficiency rather than maximum raw performance, with a considerably leaner instruction set (RISC principle: Reduced Instruction Set Computer) compared to x86 (CISC principle: Complex Instruction Set Computer). Apple has made this efficiency pay off so successfully with its own A- and M-series chips that they’re now also used in laptops (MacBooks), where they outperform x86 chips on many efficiency metrics.
Integrated additional functions
A modern smartphone SoC integrates far more than just computing power: a graphics processor (GPU) for screen display and 3D calculations, a cellular modem for network connectivity (4G/5G), an image signal processor (ISP) for processing camera images directly while shooting (exposure adjustment, noise reduction, HDR compositing of several exposures), and often a dedicated unit for AI calculations (Neural Processing Unit, NPU) for tasks like facial recognition, voice assistants or computational image enhancement, which would be too slow or too power-hungry on the main CPU.
Sensors as a distinguishing feature
Additional sensors turn the device into a highly integrated all-purpose tool: GPS for location (often supplemented by other satellite systems like Galileo or GLONASS for higher accuracy), an accelerometer and gyroscope for motion and orientation detection (e.g. for automatic screen rotation or game controls), an ambient light sensor for automatic brightness adjustment, and NFC for contactless communication over a few centimetres, for example for mobile payments or pairing with other devices by tapping. This combination of computing power, connectivity and dense sensor technology has made the device, far beyond its original purpose as a “mobile phone for calling”, the most important everyday computer for many people.
See also: Tablets, Telephones, NFC