Technical Glossary (1935 terms)

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

• standard lens — The main wide-angle lens on a phone, with a natural field of view. [ CAMERA ]
• standby time — How long a battery lasts while a device sits idle but powered on. [ BATTERY ]
• static contrast — The ratio between the brightest white and darkest black a display can show at the same time. [ DISPLAY ]
• stock Android — A near-unmodified version of Android with minimal additions. [ SOFTWARE ]
• storage benchmark — A storage benchmark measures read and write speeds of a drive. [ BENCHMARK ]
• storage expansion — Adding storage capacity through a card slot, external drive, or open bay. [ STORAGE ]
• storage memory — Flash storage used to hold data persistently, as opposed to volatile RAM. [ MEMORY ]
• storage option — A storage option is one of the capacities a product is sold in. [ GENERAL ]
• storage usage — How much of a device's storage is in use by apps, media, and system files. [ STORAGE ]
• streaming quality — The audio quality delivered by a music streaming service. [ AUDIO ]
• street price — The street price is the actual price retailers charge. [ GENERAL ]
• stress test — Sustained heavy load to test stability and cooling. [ BENCHMARK ]
• stuck pixel — A pixel permanently showing one colour regardless of the image. [ DISPLAY ]
• stutter — Stutter is brief hitches that interrupt otherwise smooth gameplay. [ GAMING ]
• stylus — A pen input device for precise drawing and writing. [ DISPLAY ]
• sub-pixel rendering — A text-smoothing technique that uses a display's individual sub-pixels to sharpen edges. [ DISPLAY ]
• subject detection — Recognising subjects such as people or pets to focus automatically. [ CAMERA ]
• subpixel — The red, green, or blue element that makes up a pixel. [ DISPLAY ]
• successor — A successor is the next model that follows a product. [ GENERAL ]
• supply chain — A supply chain is the network that makes and ships a product. [ GENERAL ]
• support — Support covers the help and updates a maker provides. [ GENERAL ]
• surround sound — Multi-channel audio that places sound around the listener. [ AUDIO ]
• sustainability — Sustainability is reducing a product's environmental impact. [ GENERAL ]
• sustained clock — The clock speed a chip can hold over time without throttling. [ GAMING ]
• sustained performance — Performance held over long gaming sessions before throttling. [ GAMING ]
• sustained write — An SSD's write speed after its cache fills, revealing true endurance and speed. [ STORAGE ]
• swap — Using part of storage as virtual memory when RAM runs low, which is much slower. [ MEMORY ]
• talk time — How long a battery lasts during continuous voice calls. [ BATTERY ]
• teardown — Disassembly of a device to assess design and repairability. [ DURABILITY ]
• tearing prevention — Techniques that keep the display and GPU in sync to avoid screen tearing. [ DISPLAY ]
• tech stack — A tech stack is the set of technologies a product is built on. [ GENERAL ]
• telephoto zoom — Optical magnification using a dedicated telephoto lens. [ CAMERA ]
• temperature test — A temperature test measures how hot a device gets under load. [ BENCHMARK ]
• tethering — Sharing a device's internet connection with other devices. [ CONNECTIVITY ]
• text clarity — How crisp and readable text appears, set by pixel density and sub-pixel layout. [ DISPLAY ]
• texture — An image mapped onto a 3D surface to give it detail. [ GAMING ]
• texture filtering — Techniques that keep textures sharp when viewed at angles or distances. [ GAMING ]
• texture quality — How detailed the surface textures in a game appear. [ GAMING ]
• theme — A set of colours and styles applied across the interface. [ SOFTWARE ]
• thermal durability — A device's ability to operate in hot or cold environments. [ DURABILITY ]
• thermal management — How a device controls heat to sustain performance. [ GAMING ]
• thermal throttling battery — Reduced charging or performance when a battery gets too hot. [ BATTERY ]
• thermals test — A thermals test records temperatures and throttling under sustained load. [ BENCHMARK ]
• thickness — Thickness is a device's depth, usually measured in millimeters. [ GENERAL ]
• throughput — The actual data rate achieved over a connection in real conditions. [ CONNECTIVITY ]
• tie — A tie is a comparison result where devices end evenly matched. [ GENERAL ]
• time-lapse — A video made from frames captured at long intervals. [ CAMERA ]
• time-lapse video — Video made from frames shot at long intervals and sped up. [ CAMERA ]
• timer — A countdown that delays the shutter after you press it. [ CAMERA ]
• timer camera — A camera mode that delays capture by a set countdown. [ CAMERA ]