Technical Glossary (1935 terms)

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

• launch — A launch is the release of a new product to market. [ GENERAL ]
• launcher — The Android app that draws the home screen and app drawer. [ SOFTWARE ]
• leaderboard — A ranking of players by score, time, or performance. [ GAMING ]
• leather back — A leather back is a rear panel covered in leather or a leather-like material. [ DURABILITY ]
• legacy port — An older port kept for compatibility with previous-generation accessories. [ PORTS ]
• lens — The optics that focus light onto the image sensor. [ CAMERA ]
• lens flare — A light artifact caused by reflections in the lens. [ CAMERA ]
• light mode — A theme that uses light backgrounds for the interface. [ SOFTWARE ]
• lineup — A lineup is the full set of models in a product family. [ GENERAL ]
• live wallpaper — A wallpaper with animation or motion on the home screen. [ SOFTWARE ]
• local dimming — A technique that dims sections of an LCD backlight independently to deepen blacks and raise contrast, common in HDR displays. [ DISPLAY ]
• location permission — An app permission granting access to device location. [ SOFTWARE ]
• location services — System features that determine a device's location. [ SOFTWARE ]
• lock screen — The screen shown before a device is unlocked by the user. [ SOFTWARE ]
• low battery — A state where a device has little charge remaining and enters power-saving behavior. [ BATTERY ]
• low blue light — A display setting that reduces blue light output to ease eye strain, especially at night. [ DISPLAY ]
• low latency — Memory or storage that responds in very little time, important for responsiveness. [ MEMORY ]
• low latency mode — A mode that reduces input delay for more responsive play. [ GAMING ]
• low light — Conditions or modes aimed at shooting in dim light. [ CAMERA ]
• low-band — The lowest cellular frequencies, offering wide coverage but slower speeds. [ CONNECTIVITY ]
• low-end — Low-end describes budget, entry-level products in a market. [ GENERAL ]
• low-latency mode — An audio mode that minimises delay for gaming and video. [ AUDIO ]
• low-light video — Video recording in dim conditions, a demanding test of a camera. [ CAMERA ]
• lux — Lux is a unit of illuminance, measuring light falling on a surface. [ GENERAL ]
• macOS — Apple's desktop operating system for Mac computers. [ SOFTWARE ]
• macro lens — A lens designed for extreme close-up photography of small subjects. [ CAMERA ]
• magnetic connector — A port that attaches and detaches with magnets, such as Apple's MagSafe. [ PORTS ]
• magnifier — An accessibility tool that zooms in on the screen. [ SOFTWARE ]
• main sensor — A phone's primary camera sensor, usually the largest and best. [ CAMERA ]
• manual controls — Camera settings such as exposure and focus that the user adjusts by hand. [ CAMERA ]
• manual focus — Adjusting focus by hand rather than relying on autofocus. [ CAMERA ]
• materials — Materials are the substances a product is built from. [ GENERAL ]
• matte display — A screen with a diffusion coating that reduces glare. [ DISPLAY ]
• max camera support — Maximum camera support is the highest sensor resolution a chip can handle. [ CHIPS ]
• mechanical drive — A hard disk drive (HDD) that stores data on spinning magnetic platters. [ STORAGE ]
• memory allocation — How a system assigns RAM to apps and processes as they run. [ MEMORY ]
• memory bank — A group of memory chips addressed together on a module or board. [ MEMORY ]
• memory channel — A path between the CPU and memory; more channels mean more bandwidth. [ MEMORY ]
• memory controller — A memory controller manages how a chip reads and writes RAM. [ CHIPS ]
• memory frequency — The clock speed at which memory operates, expressed in MHz and tied to bandwidth. [ MEMORY ]
• memory leak — A software bug where an app fails to release memory, slowly consuming RAM. [ MEMORY ]
• memory module — The physical stick or chip package that holds DRAM. [ MEMORY ]
• memory speed — How fast memory can transfer data, set by its type and frequency. [ MEMORY ]
• micro-USB — The small USB connector widely used on devices before USB-C. [ PORTS ]
• microarchitecture — The internal design of a processor family (e.g., Zen 5, Raptor Lake). [ CHIPS ]
• microcode — Low-level CPU instructions that control how a processor executes commands. [ CHIPS ]
• microphone — The audio input used to capture sound for video and calls. [ CAMERA ]
• microphone permission — An app permission granting access to the microphone. [ SOFTWARE ]
• microphone quality — How clearly a device's microphones capture your voice. [ AUDIO ]
• microphones — The number of microphones for calls and recording. [ AUDIO ]