What does the vibrator do?
In a word.Its purpose is to help the phone achieve simulated vibration feedback, giving users tactile reminders in addition to sound (auditory).
But in fact, "vibration motors" can also be divided into three or nine grades, and excellent vibration motors often bring great leap forward to the experience.
In the era of comprehensive screen of mobile phone, excellent vibration motor can also make up for the lack of sense of reality after the physical button, creating a delicate and excellent interactive experience.This will be a new direction for mobile phone manufacturers to show their sincerity and strength.
Two categories of vibration motors
In a broad sense, vibration motors used in the mobile phone industry are generally divided into two types: rotor motors and linear motors.
Let's start with the rotor motor.
The rotor motor is driven by a magnetic field caused by an electric current to rotate and thus produce vibrations.The main advantages are mature technology and low cost.
It is because of this, the current mainstream of low-end mobile phones are mostly used by the rotor motor.But its downsides are equally obvious, such as a slow, jerky, directionless startup response and a poor user experience.
The linear motor, however, is an engine module that directly converts electrical energy into linear mechanical energy by relying on a spring mass block that moves in a linear form internally.
The main advantages are fast and pure start-up response, excellent vibration (multiple levels of tactile feedback can be generated through adjustment), low energy loss, and directional jitter.
By doing so, the phone can also achieve a tactile experience comparable to a physical button, and provide more accurate and better feedback in conjunction with relevant scene movements.
The best example is the "tick" tactile feedback produced when the iPhone clock adjusts the time wheel.(iPhone7 and above)
In addition, the opening of vibration motor API can also enable the access of third-party applications and games, bringing new interactive experience full of fun. For example, the use of Gboard input method and the game Florence can generate exquisite vibration feedback.
However, it should be noted that according to different structures, linear motors can be further divided into two types:
Circular (longitudinal) linear motor: z-axis vibrating up and down, short motor stroke, weak vibration force, short duration, general experience;
Lateral linear motor: XY axis vibrating in four directions, with long travel, strong vibration force, long duration, excellent experience.
Take practical products for example, products using circular linear motors include samsung flagship series (S9, Note10, S10 series).
The main products using lateral linear motors are iPhone (6s, 7, 8, X series) and meizu (15, 16 series).
Why are linear motors not widely used
Now that the linear motor is added, the experience can be greatly improved.So why hasn't it been widely used by manufacturers?There are three main reasons.
1. High cost
According to previous supply chain reports, the lateral linear motor in the iPhone 7/7 Plus model costs close to $10.
Most mid-to-high-end android phones, by contrast, use ordinary linear motors that cost around $1.
Such a large cost price disparity, and the pursuit of "cost-effective" market environment, there are several manufacturers willing to follow up?
2. Too big
In addition to the high cost, an excellent linear motor is also very large in size.We can see by comparing the internal pictures of the latest iPhone XS Max and samsung S10+.
It is not easy for a smartphone, whose interior space is so expensive, to keep a large footprint for vibration modules.
Apple, of course, has paid the price for a smaller battery and shorter battery life.
3. Algorithm tuning
Unlike what you might think, the tactile feedback generated by the vibrating motor is also programmed by algorithms.
That means not only do manufacturers have to spend a lot of money, but engineers also have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out how different physical buttons actually feel, and using linear motors to simulate them accurately, so that they can actually produce excellent tactile feedback.
Meaning of excellent tactile feedback
In the era of PC, the emergence of two interactive devices, keyboard and mouse, gives people more intuitive tactile feedback.
That sense of being "really in the game" has also given a big boost to computers in the mass market.
Imagine how quickly we could get to a computer without the tactile feedback of a keyboard or mouse.
So, to some extent, human computer interaction experience needs more real tactile feedback besides visual and auditory experience.
With the advent of the full screen era in the mobile phone market, the phone ID design has further evolved, and we previously thought that the big screen of 6 inches, can now be called a small screen machine.Take the flagship mi 9 se, a 5.97-inch screen.
We can all see that the mechanical buttons on the phone have been gradually removed, and the operation on the phone is increasingly dependent on gesture touch and virtual buttons.
The haptic feedback of traditional mechanical keys is becoming less useful, and the disadvantages of traditional rotor motors are being amplified.
Full screen evolution
In this regard, manufacturers that pay attention to user experience, such as apple, Google and samsung, have also successively combined virtual buttons and gesture operation with better vibration motors to provide tactile feedback experience comparable to or even beyond mechanical keys, becoming the best solution in the current era.
In this way, in the era of comprehensive screen of mobile phones, we can not only enjoy the visual improvement on the screen, but also feel exquisite and real tactile feedback in different pages and functions.
Most importantly, it also makes the electronic devices that accompany us for the longest time every day more "human" than just a cold machine.
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Post time: Aug-26-2019
