7 Features Android Smartphones Had Before iPhone

Samsung and other Android manufacturers have a reputation for copying Apple (hence the wave of devices with iPhone X-like notches). But it’s unfair to not point out the times where it worked the other way around.
It’s no stretch to say that the iPhone really paved the way for the modern smartphones we know today. Barring Face ID, which has little in common with the rudimentary facial recognition systems before it, here are several features that Apple seems to have "borrowed" from popular Android devices.
7 OLED Displays
The iPhone X was the first Apple flagship to sport an OLED display. With Apple on board, it’s safe to say that OLED displays are quickly becoming the industry standard — and for good reason. But that doesn’t mean that Cupertino wasn’t late to the party.
Since even before 2010, many Samsung devices have featured OLED displays. And that’s a trend that’s continued throughout the Android ecosystem. In the last couple of years, it’s been rare to see an Android flagship without an OLED.
6 Qi Wireless Charging
For a period of time last year, it seemed that Apple would forego Qi wireless charging in favor of its own tech. A technology that, at the time, was rumored to support long-distance charging. The 2017 iPhone lineup disproved that, since they adhere to the Qi standard.
This was the right move for Apple to make. As an open standard, Qi has the potential for democratizing wireless charging everywhere. But like the other items on this list, Qi wireless charging was a feature first adopted by Android devices.
5 Dual-Lens Camera
These days, dual-lens camera setups are often the mark of a premium handset. Smartphone makers are increasingly equipping their latest and greatest flagships with the platform — from the newest iPhones to the latest Galaxy devices (and there are even rumors of three-lens systems to come).
Many of these OEMs will try to claim that they were the first. But, as Engadget reported two years ago, the first true dual-lens camera on a mobile device wasn’t even a smartphone — it was the Samsung SCH-B710, released in 2007. It took until 2011 for smartphones from the likes of HTC and LG to first adopt the tech.
4 Edge-to-Edge Design
The iPhone X is, in Apple’s words, “all-screen.” But while the 2017 flagship may be the first iPhone to sport slim bezels and an edge-to-edge display, it was far from the first smartphone to adopt the now-common signature design.
A wave of Android makers first pioneered the edge-to-edge display, from Samsung and LG to Chinese firms like Xiaomi. But the honor of the first phone to move in this direction is probably the now-forgotten Sharp Aquos Crystal, which was released in 2014.
3 Water Resistance
Since their debut, iPhones have not been friends of liquid. It was only Apple’s iPhone 7 and 7 Plus lineup — which launched in 2016 — that actually introduced some measure of protection against the elements, with IP67 dust- and water-resistance.
But Sony’s Xperia series have long been marketed as “dust and water proof” devices. And basically all of Samsung’s flagship devices have had some measure of IP-rated protection since the Galaxy S5 handset was first released in 2014. On this matter, Apple lagged behind quite a bit.
2 “Hey Siri”
Apple first implemented “Hey Siri” functionality on its iPhone 6s in 2015. At the time, it was pretty basic — and only worked when the phone was charging. It’s improved since then, but despite its flaws in its early development, it actually wasn’t the voice-activation feature.
The Moto X, released all the way back in 2013, was the first smartphone to feature an always-listening trigger phrase for a digital assistant. The phone would automatically wake up when a user said “Ok, Google” — a phrase that has now spread to most handsets equipped with Google’s Assistant.
1 Raise and Tap to Wake
The Moto X (from the previous slide) was also among the first smartphones to feature a raise-to-wake feature. And while the iPhone 5s was the first to sport a motion coprocessor, it took until iOS 10 and the iPhone 6s for Apple to introduce Raise to Wake.
Similarly, Apple’s Tap to Wake came about on the iPhone X — making it easier to access the phone or quickly view the screen with the lack of a Home button. But LG first debuted a similar feature, called KnockON, on its 2013 G2 smartphone (which was adopted by other Android manufacturers in the years since).