Technical Glossary (1935 terms)

Standardized hardware and benchmark definitions across smartphones, laptops, CPUs, GPUs, SoCs, and tablets.

cycle life — The number of full charge cycles a battery is expected to deliver before capacity drops noticeably. [ BATTERY ]
dac quality — How well a digital-to-analog converter turns digital audio into sound. [ AUDIO ]
daily use — Daily use describes typical everyday operation of a device. [ GENERAL ]
dark mode — A theme using dark backgrounds to reduce eye strain and save power on OLED. [ SOFTWARE ]
data transfer — Moving files between devices over a port or cable. [ PORTS ]
data transfer speed — How quickly data moves between a storage device and the host, in MB/s or GB/s. [ STORAGE ]
dead pixel — A pixel that remains permanently black and does not light up. [ DISPLAY ]
deal — A deal is a temporary price reduction or promotion. [ GENERAL ]
degrees — Degrees measure angles, used for viewing angles and screen curvature. [ GENERAL ]
degrees Celsius — Degrees Celsius is the temperature unit used in tech specifications. [ GENERAL ]
deltaE — A color accuracy score; lower deltaE means more accurate color. [ DISPLAY ]
depth camera — A camera that measures distance to enable portrait blur and 3D effects. [ CAMERA ]
design — Design is the planned look, feel, and function of a product. [ GENERAL ]
design language — A design language is a brand's consistent visual style across products. [ GENERAL ]
design score — A Design score is a 0-100 DeviceBenchmark rating for that aspect of a device. [ GENERAL ]
developer preview — An early build released for developers before a public beta. [ SOFTWARE ]
device — A device is a piece of hardware such as a phone, laptop, or tablet. [ GENERAL ]
die — The individual piece of silicon that contains a chip before packaging. [ CHIPS ]
digitizer — The sensor layer that detects stylus or touch input. [ DISPLAY ]
dimensions — Dimensions are a device's size measurements, usually width, height, and depth. [ GENERAL ]
dimming zones — The individually controlled regions of an LCD backlight that enable local dimming — more zones mean finer contrast control. [ DISPLAY ]
discontinued — Discontinued means a product is no longer produced or sold new. [ GENERAL ]
discount — A discount is a reduction from a product's regular price. [ GENERAL ]
disk — A storage drive, either a spinning hard disk (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD). [ STORAGE ]
display benchmark — Instrumented tests of brightness, color, and response. [ BENCHMARK ]
display chip — A display chip drives or processes the image shown on screen. [ CHIPS ]
display engine — A display engine prepares and sends images to the screen. [ CHIPS ]
display output — Display output is the pipeline that sends images to a screen or external display. [ CHIPS ]
display quality — A general measure of a screen's brightness, colour, contrast, sharpness, and motion. [ DISPLAY ]
display scaling — Enlarging interface elements so text and controls stay legible at high pixel densities. [ DISPLAY ]
display score — A Display score is a 0-100 DeviceBenchmark rating for that aspect of a device. [ GENERAL ]
distortion — Unwanted alteration of an audio signal, heard as harshness or muddiness. [ AUDIO ]
dock — A hub or station that adds ports and power to a laptop or phone. [ PORTS ]
dock connector — A dedicated connector used only by a matching dock or accessory. [ PORTS ]
dongle — A small adapter that adds a port or feature to a device. [ PORTS ]
double-press power — A shortcut that opens the camera by double-pressing a button. [ CAMERA ]
downgrade — A downgrade is moving to a lower-specification option. [ GENERAL ]
download speed — How fast data can be received over a network connection. [ CONNECTIVITY ]
doze mode — An Android power-saving state that sleeps background activity when idle. [ SOFTWARE ]
dramless SSD — An SSD without onboard DRAM that buffers through host memory instead, cutting cost. [ STORAGE ]
drive bay — A slot inside a computer or enclosure that holds a storage drive. [ STORAGE ]
driver update — A software update for a graphics driver that can fix or improve games. [ GAMING ]
dual 5G standby — A mode where two 5G SIM lines stay connected at the same time. [ CONNECTIVITY ]
dual LED flash — A two-tone flash mixing warm and cool LEDs for more natural colour. [ CAMERA ]
dual SIM — Supporting two SIM profiles at once, physical or eSIM. [ CONNECTIVITY ]
dual aperture — A lens that can switch between two aperture settings. [ CAMERA ]
dual apps — Running two copies of an app for two separate accounts. [ SOFTWARE ]
dual camera — A phone with two rear cameras, such as a main and ultrawide. [ CAMERA ]
dual connectivity — Using two radio links at once, such as 4G and 5G, for better throughput. [ CONNECTIVITY ]
dual rank — A memory module with two ranks of chips, often giving slightly better performance. [ MEMORY ]