Not content to sit on that success, Samsung has announced via its blog that the Galaxy S4 (Review | Pictures) will be available in four more colours: Blue Arctic, Red Aurora, Purple Mirage and Brown Autumn. The Blue and Red will be available this summer, with the other two colours coming later.

Samsung Galaxy S4 was unveiled back in March carrying White Mist and Black Forest colour options. The phone sports a 5-inch full-HD screen with a resolution of 1080×1920 pixels, and pixel density of 441ppi. It is powered by 1.6GHz Exynos octa-core processor and comes with 2GB of RAM.

Samsung has no plans to launch the 32GB and 64GB variants of the S4 in India as it believe the microSD card slot for expanding the storage will suffice. The Galaxy S4 sports a 13-megapixels rear shooter and a 2-megapixel one on the front. The Galaxy S4 also offers more camera features including dual-shot, employing the use of both front and back camera, an eraser shot mode to remove people from photos, and a Cinemagram like feature called Cinema Photo, among several other tricks.

Samsung Galaxy S4 was later launched in India carrying a price tag of Rs. 41,500.

Recent attacks broke into news organisations' accounts, such as the Financial Times and the newswire service the Associated Press (AP).

One tweet sent from AP's hacked account said President Obama had been injured.

Some attacks have come from political organisations, notably the Syrian Electronic Army, which appears to act in support of President Assad's government.

It claimed credit for hacking several news organisations, including AP.

Two-step
Twitter product security head Jim O'Leary said that despite the new security plans, users should start out with a strong password:

“Of course, even with this new security option turned on, it's still important for you to use a strong password and follow the rest of our advice for keeping your account secure.”

Twitter said the new system would allow users to opt in to a two-step system that would require a verification code for each sign-in.

Mr O'Leary said this would be simple: “You'll need a confirmed email address and a verified phone number. After a quick test to confirm that your phone can receive messages from Twitter, you're ready to go.”

A message would then be sent to the account holder's mobile phone with a verification code to log in with. Businesses which run a Twitter account managed by several people will have to find a way of sharing texts from a single mobile number to take advantage of the facility.

Other security breaches suffered by Twitter included one in February, when 250,000 users had their passwords stolen in an attack.

News organisations including the BBC were warned by Twitter last month to tighten security in the wake of the high-profile hacks, one of which got into the BBC's weather feed.

The phone is the cheapest quad-core processor phone available in the market at this point in time. However, it has 512MB of RAM so it probably won't be one of the smoothest performing ones.

The Lava 458q features a 4.5-inch screen with a resolution of 480×854 pixels. It runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, the latest iteration of the operating system.

The phone sports an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a VGA front facing camera. It offers 4GB of internal storage expandable via microSD card. The phone offers 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity options. The Lava 458q has a 2,000mAh battery.

It would be available across all major online and offline retail stores.

Earlier this month, Lava had launched Iris 455 and Iris 405 smartphones. Priced at Rs. 8,699, the Lava Iris 455 sports a 4.5-inch 540×960 pixels capacitive display and runs Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). It is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor along with 512MB of RAM. The smartphone packs in 4GB of internal storage, which can be expanded by another 32GB via microSD card and connectivity options include 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. The Lava Iris 405 is priced at Rs. 7,499 and comes with a smaller 4-inch 480×800 pixels display. It is also powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor and runs Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean).

Lava 458q key specifications

• 4.5-inch display with a revolution of 480×854 pixels
• 1.2GHz quad-core processor
• 512MB RAM
• 8-megapixel rear camera
• VGA front facing camera
• 4GB internal memory, expandable via microSD card
• Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
• 2,000mAh battery

For the past two years, Microsoft's Xbox 360 has outsold its rivals. But it's been eight years since that machine came out, and Microsoft is the last of the three major console makers to unveil a new system. In those eight years, Apple launched the iPhone and the iPad, “FarmVille” rose and fell and tablets began to threaten desktop computers, changing how people interact with games and beyond.

Now, the stakes are high as Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are all using their latest machines not only to draw gamers but also to command the living room. The goal is to extend their reach beyond loyal legions of hardcore gamers and to become as important to our lives at home as smartphones have become to our lives on the go.

Don Mattrick, Microsoft's president of interactive entertainment business, said the company has spent the past four years working on an “all-in-one home entertainment system.”

At an hour-long unveiling at the company's Redmond, Wash., headquarters on Tuesday, Microsoft executives used voice controls to switch back and forth seamlessly between watching live TV, listening to music, playing a movie and browsing the Internet – all while running apps for stuff like fantasy football and Skype chats on the side of the screen.

“It really extends the home entertainment experience,” Gartner analyst Brian Blau said.

He said the console seems to appeal to “more than just a core gamer in the family” and should be of interest to all types of audiences, from sports players to TV viewers to those who are “social and want to share things.”

The Xbox One unveiling follows Nintendo Co.'s launch of the Wii U in November and Sony Corp.'s tease in February of the upcoming PlayStation 4. Each of the new consoles has shifted away from simply serving as gaming machines, as they incorporate streaming media apps and social networking features.

People will be able to connect their cable or satellite set-top box and watch TV through the Xbox One. It will have its own channel guide and allow viewers to change channels by voice command.

Senior Vice President Yusuf Mehdi demonstrated how the console switched quickly between channels after saying show names such as “Mary and Martha” or commands like “watch MTV.” His voice command of “What's on HBO?” brought up the channel guide for HBO.

“No more memorizing channels or hunting for the remote control,” Mehdi said.

The interface for the TV goes well beyond the functionality in the Wii U, which still requires users to press buttons to change the input source on the TV. Xbox One seamlessly flipped between games, movies and TV shows with voice commands.

In addition to the console, Microsoft unveiled a new version of its camera-based Kinect system with better motion and voice detection, including the ability to recognize faces, tell if you're smiling or talking and gauge your heart rate. In a demonstration, the new sensor detected up to seven people in front of it. Microsoft said the new Kinect will be included with the Xbox One and is deeply integrated into the system, but it won't necessarily always be watching users in their living rooms.

“There's the ability for you to manage the privacy settings so you can turn it off,” Marc Whitten, Microsoft's chief product officer of interactive entertainment business, said in an interview in his office after Tuesday's presentation. “Just like the 360, the biggest thing for us is that you are in control of your privacy.”

The company also introduced a more ergonomic Xbox controller, with a slightly different layout from the Xbox 360 controller and trigger buttons that vibrate. The new console will also add the ability to play Blu-ray discs, matching what Sony has in its older PlayStation 3.

The Xbox One won't require a constant connection to the Internet, but having it will be useful for many of the gaming and entertainment features. The Xbox has been popular largely because of its Xbox Live service, which lets users play games online with other players with annual plans that cost as much as $60 a year.

“The box wants to connect to the Internet,” Whitten said. “That said, we understand the Internet is flakey. It doesn't always work. We want to make sure you can still play your games, watch movies and watch TV if the Internet is down.”

Despite talk that Microsoft might restrict the use of games previously owned by others, the company confirmed that the Xbox One will indeed play used games, but it didn't provide details on how that would work. It said games for the Xbox 360 won't work on the new system because the underlying technology is different, though the company said it will continue to make games for the older machine. Whitten said the Xbox 360 “is going to be incredibly vibrant for some time to come.”

Among the games previewed for Xbox One were the military shooter “Call of Duty: Ghosts” from Activision Blizzard Inc., soccer extravaganza “FIFA 14″ from Electronic Arts Inc. and racing simulator “Forza Motorsport 5″ and time bender “Quantum Break,” both from Microsoft Game Studios. Microsoft said more games will be shown at next month's E3 video game conference in Los Angeles.

The company said there will be more than 15 games available exclusively on the Xbox One in its first year, eight of them new franchises. In recent years, the Xbox has been the exclusive home to such popular gaming franchises as sci-fi shooter “Halo” and alien shoot-'em-up “Gears of War.”

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said Tuesday's presentation was more general than what Microsoft will likely give at E3, where games will be central as thousands of game industry insiders, bloggers and journalists gather for the annual industry conference.

“They didn't focus on games,” he said. “They focused on everything else.”

That everything else includes a multiyear agreement between Microsoft and the National Football League to develop new interactive viewing experiences for pro football games through such products as the Xbox One and Microsoft's Surface tablet computer. Fans will be able to watch games, chat with other fans, view statistics, access highlights in real time and gather fantasy information about players and teams – all on a single screen. For those who prefer multiple screens, fans can get an even deeper experience on mobile devices such as tablets.

Microsoft is also branching into creating original content beyond games, following the trend of other technology companies such as Amazon.com Inc. and Netflix Inc. Director Steven Spielberg will produce a TV series based on the “Halo” games.

The original Xbox debuted in 2001, and its high-definition successor premiered in 2005. The Xbox represents a small fraction of Microsoft's overall revenue, but it is an important consumer-facing business for Microsoft and offers a way to direct traffic to other Microsoft-owned services, including Skype. Microsoft's stock fell 23 cents, or less than 1 percent, to close Tuesday at $34.85.

Nintendo kicked off the next generation of gaming in November with the launch of the Wii U, the successor to the popular Wii system. The Wii U features an innovative tablet-like controller, though its graphics is on par with the previous-generation Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo said the console sold just 3.45 million units by the end of March, well below expectations.

Sony was next, teasing plans for its upcoming PlayStation 4 – without showing the actual box – at a February event in New York. The reaction to that console, which featured richer graphics and more social features, was mixed. The PS4 is expected by the holidays.

Microsoft didn't waste any time showing off the Xbox One console, new Kinect sensor and Xbox controller at the beginning of Tuesday's presentation.

The Sony Xperia L is a mid-range device that screams Sony from the first look. And in a world filled with affordable mid-range Android devices design is of paramount importance. In this case, the Xperia L is an elegant phone, featuring a noticeable inward curve and a beautiful diffused LED light strip at the bottom that lights up whenever you have notifications pending.

With a 4.3 inch screen the Xperia L is a compact handset, great for single handed operation. It has no huge ambitions when it comes to performance or camera quality, but for some a smooth overall experience in the interface might be enough. Is there more to the Xperia than it appears on the surface, though? Read on to find out.

Design:

The Xperia L has the very distinct for Sony concave shape we have first seen in the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc. It adds an extra flare of elegance but is also practical as it makes it harder for the device to slip out of the hand. Overall the device feels solidly built. In terms of physical dimensions, it has this prolonged hexagon shape that makes it look a bit larger than the typical 4.3-inch smartphone. The soft-touch plastic back makes it pleasant to hold.

All of the physical buttons are located on the right hand side: the new round power button that sticks out a bit, a volume rocker above it and a dedicated camera shutter key on the bottom. On the back there is an 8-megapixel camera with a single LED flash.

Screen:

The 4.3-inch screen is a welcome break from the large 5-inch and bigger screens of today as you can actually operate this device with just one hand. Sony uses the Android on-screen buttons for navigation. That means they do take up a bit of those 4.3 inches, so in reality there is less room for icons and other usable content.

At 4.3 inches diagonal and with a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels the screen is not amongst the sharpest ones out there. Pixel density comes at the mediocre 228ppi.

Viewing angles are fairly average and when you tilt the device you’d notice colors losing their saturation. Even without tilting the device though colors look a bit bleak and that is especially noticeable in the blacks that tend to look greyish rather than pitch black. Brightness is sufficient for outdoor use especially if you manage to get the device at the right angle to avoid reflections.

The acquisition is expected to be announced as early as Monday.

The deal was a “foregone conclusion” and was unanimously voted for by the board, tech blog AllThingsD reported, citing sources close to the matter.

If confirmed, it will be CEO Marissa Mayer's largest deal since taking the helm of Yahoo in July 2012.

Neither Yahoo nor Tumblr responded immediately to requests for comment.

Under the terms of the acquisition, Tumblr would continue to operate as an independent business, the Wall Street Journal said, citing unnamed sources familiar with the situation.

The company is currently run by David Karp, a 26-year-old New Yorker who founded Tumblr in 2007, and he is expected to remain in his role.

Analysts say that by acquiring Tumblr, Yahoo will gain a larger social media presence and enhance its ability to attract younger audiences in its battle with internet rivals Google and Facebook.

Premium price

Ms Mayer, a former Google executive, has already made a number of small acquisitions since taking over at Yahoo, but the Tumblr deal is expected to be the biggest.

A $1.1bn price tag would represent a significant premium on Tumblr's $800m valuation when it last raised money from private investors.

Tumblr combines elements of blogging with social networking, and its simple design has attracted millions of users since its launch.

According to its homepage, it now hosts 108 million blogs, with a total of 50.7 billion posts.

It also has a significant presence on mobile devices.

But despite its fast-growing user base it has struggled to make money, and has traditionally resisted advertising.

It announced that limited use of adverts would be rolled out in April last year, but made just $13m in revenues for 2012, according to a report by Forbes magazine.

It is unclear whether a deal with Yahoo would result in more adverts on Tumblr.

Yahoo remains a giant in the internet world, with around 700 million visitors to its website every month. The majority of its revenues come from advertising.

But it has limited mobile reach and lags behind Google in the search engine rankings.

It also shed more than 1,000 jobs during 2012 and has long been divided over whether it should focus on media content or on tools and technologies.

That chip is paired with 2GB of RAM and up to 64GB of flash storage. The Clover Trail chip has Intel GMA 3650 graphics, driving the 1280 x 768 WXGA multitouch display.

Connectivity includes WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, and a micro USB 2.0 port; there’s also a microHDMI output for hooking up an external display. A 2-megapixel webcam is also included.

That Bluetooth connection could be used for hooking up a wireless keyboard, but Acer will also offer a detachable keyboard dock into which the Iconia W3 will slot. The snap-on ‘board is wider than the tablet itself, which means Acer can include full-sized keys.

Acer will offer two variants of the W3, at least initially. The W3-810-27602G03nsw has 32GB of flash storage, while the W3-810-27602G06nsw doubles that to 64GB. Either way, that’s not huge for a Windows 8 tablet; Microsoft’s Surface Pro, for instance, starts off at the 64GB level, and offers 128GB as a more expensive option.

Exactly what the W3 will cost is still unclear at this stage. However, it’s possible that the small tablet will make its official debut in a few weeks time at Computex, held in early June.

Introduction:

When it came to Windows Phone from Nokia, it was pretty obvious that AT&T received the most love out of the major four wireless carriers. Back last fall, however, Verizon finally saw its first Windows Phone from the Finnish company in the form of the Nokia Lumia 822. Needless to say, it was regarded as a special occasion, seeing that Big Red’s Nokia lineup prior to the arrival of the Lumia 822 was non-existent. Even though it proved to be a great mid-ranger, especially with its fantastic $99.99 on-contract price point right from the get-go, it really wasn’t that super spec’d Nokia Windows Phone that diehard smartphone addicts crave – and when you look at it on paper, it paled in comparison to AT&T’s Nokia Lumia 920.

Fear not people! That’s because Verizon Wireless is getting its own variant of the 920, which should no doubt put Nokia’s name near the top of the ladder within the carrier’s Windows Phone selection. At its core, the recently announced Nokia Lumia 928 might seem like a subtle variant of the version that AT&T has been selling for some time now, but there are some notable differences that should make Big Red’s customers feel proud they’re getting something new. Most importantly, though, it’s priced aggressively at $99.99 on-contract to try and lure people away from some other recent entrants in the space. Armed with Nokia specialties such as a PureMotion HD+ display and PureView camera, it’s a small sampling of what this Windows Phone is packing along for the ride, but ultimately, it’s all about the real world performance that matters the most.

The package contains:

microUSB cable
Wall charger
Start Guide
Important Consumer Information Guide
Global Support Calling Card Guide
Product Safety & Warranty Information

Design:

Physically, it doesn’t surprise us that the Lumia 928 has the same distinct design DNA we all know and love by now. However, it makes some minor improvements that are noticeable over the Lumia 920, as it’s both thinner (0.4” thin) in profile and lighter (5.7 oz) in weight. Looking at it from its sides, we do recognize its thinner frame, which is partly due to the tapered design that’s been employed by many other contemporary handsets of late. However, despite its skinnier appearance from its sides, it progressively gets thicker towards the middle section of the chassis – and eventually flattening out. From the front, it looks a bit one-dimensional with its straight hard lines and 90-degree corners, which doesn’t particularly make for the best ergonomics when it’s held in the hand.

Constructed out of the same polycarbonate material from before, the Lumia 928 has the same sturdy feel in the hand just like the 920, but it’s still fairly weighty over other flagships we’ve been seeing. Meanwhile, the high gloss finish of the body makes it more susceptible to finger prints and smudges, but thanks to the white color of its casing, it does a better job of masking them. Overall, it’s not the most dazzling design we’ve seen, but at least it’s moving in the right direction of shaving off some stuff here and there to make it an incremental update.

In standard Windows Phone fashion, the Lumia 928 is sporting the same trio of Windows Phone buttons we’re accustomed to seeing below its display – the back, start, and search buttons. Naturally, they’re space away from one another to minimize accidental presses, but the backlighting on them is weak. On the other side, we spot its earpiece, light/proximity sensors, and front-facing 1.2-megapixel camera that’s enabled for 720p video recording.

Taking a tour around its edges, it’s quite clear that they’ve stuffed all of the handset’s physical buttons on its right side. Specifically, we find the power button, volume control, and two-level shutter key for quick access to the camera at any time when it’s long pressed. With all of them, they’re raised and have a distinctive feel, but they’re not as springy as we’d like them to be. Both the left and bottom sides of the phone are completely barren, but the top edge is home to the SIM tray, 3.5mm headset jack, noise cancelling microphone, and microUSB port for charging/data connectivity.

Sure to entice those individuals that take pride in snapping photos on the go, the Lumia 928 features an 8.7-megapixel PureView camera with Carl Zeiss f2.0 lens, optical image stabilization, and 1080p video recording. The Lumia 928 gets also gets a Xenon flash – to brighten up those shots when it’s just simply too dark for the camera, by itself, to deliver a balanced final product. Still, we’ll reserve our final thought in the camera performance a little bit later.

Display:

For us, it was a big departure to see the Lumia 920 opting to use an IPS LCD panel instead of the AMOLED we’ve been seeing used by Nokia’s devices since their Windows Phone venture, however, we see it back on this one. To be specific, it’s a 4.5-inch PureMotion HD+ 768 x 1280 (WXGA) AMOLED display with Nokia’s ClearBlack filter and Corning’s Gorilla Glass 2 on top of it. So what’s the end result? Frankly, it’s typical of almost every AMOLED panel we’ve scoped out in the past – such as delivering saturated colors, wide viewing angles, and surprisingly enough, decent outdoor visibility as well. On paper, its resolution pales in comparison to most of its rivals, but nevertheless, it’s detailed enough at a pixel density of 332 ppi to make fine text in the web browser visible from a normal viewing distance.

Even though we’re nearing the summer season, the display on the Lumia 928 also features a super-sensitive panel that can recognize touch with gloves on. By default, the panel’s sensitivity is set at low in the display settings, but after setting it to high, it’s able to precisely recognize our touch and swipes. As much as we’d like to see at least 1080p resolution here with the Lumia 928’s display, we’re not all too bummed out because our eyes wouldn’t be able to differentiate it unless we’re looking meticulously up close to it. Don’t worry, it’s still an incredible looking display from all angles.

Interface:

What’s there to say about the Windows Phone 8 experience with the Nokia Lumia 928? Well, nothing really, because it’s the same platform experience we’ve seen time and time again. As always, the main drawing element of Microsoft’s platform is the dynamic looking live tiles on the start screen that gives the UI a bit of animation and pizzazz – and at the same time, it’s what distinctively separates its look from other rival platforms. As for the rest, it’s all the standard fanfare we’ve been exposed to with all the previous Windows Phones before this, so expect to find that Modern UI look sprinkled into nearly every aspect of the platform.

Being a Nokia Windows Phone, though, the Lumia 928 gets treated to the numerous Nokia branded apps that other Windows Phones from other manufacturers don’t see. Quite frankly, these apps drastically enhance the functionality of the smartphone to propel it over other Windows Phone from say, HTC and Samsung, that are on Big Red’s lineup. To be more specific, the listing consists of Nokia Drive, Nokia Music, HERE Maps, and HERE City Lens – and that’s not mentioning the handful of photo centric apps that it carries (more on that later).

Time after time, we continue to notice how Nokia’s set of Windows Phones appear to get the love from Microsoft, which is the case here with the Lumia 928. In fact, the arsenal of enhancements that these Nokia branded apps offer justifies succinctly how this smartphone offers more bang for the buck when it comes to merely the experience.
Functionality:

Well, as much as some people would like to see variation amongst the core set of organizer apps in Windows Phone 8, the consistency in the platform makes it easy to jump from one device to another. Therefore, when it comes to checking out the calculator, calendar, and people hubs on the Lumia 928, it doesn’t differ whatsoever to other past Windows Phones.

Being given plenty of real estate to work with, thanks to its 4.5-inch display, we have little issue typing away with its on-screen keyboards – whether it’s the portrait or landscape one. After using many different Android keyboards and the iPhone one, it’s always refreshing to go back to using the Windows Phone offering, seeing that it’s accurate, responsive, and boasts one of the best auto-correct features out there.

Considering that this is blessing Verizon’s lineup, it surely gets its fair share of preloaded apps from Big Red. Looking through the listing, it’s the usual crew that we find so commonplace with any other Verizon smartphone, so it includes things like My Verizon Mobile and VZ Navigator. Along for the ride as well, we find other third party apps such as CNN, ESPN, NFL Mobile, and The Weather Channel.

Processor and Memory:

When we see many Android smartphones packing mighty quad-core processors nowadays, some might be thinking that something is terribly wrong when a Windows Phone such as this one is running only a dual-core one. To tell you the truth, the Lumia 928 is utilizing the same processor as the Lumia 920 from before – a dual core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus MSM8960 processor coupled with 1GB of RAM and an Adreno 225 GPU. Indeed, it’s not the most demanding piece of silicon, but regardless of that, the end result is the same. Simply, the phone performs handsomely with nearly all tasks, as every action is accompanied with that tangible level of responsiveness that the platform is known to deliver.

For the price and all, we can’t complain about its 32GB of internal storage, which basically boils down to 29.12GB out of the box. As much as it would’ve been nice to see expandable storage, that tally is sufficient enough for most people.
Internet and Connectivity:

Showing off consistency amongst Windows Phones in general, the Lumia 928 follows in suit to the others before it, since it features speedy 4G LTE connectivity combined with the flawless execution of Internet Explorer. In addition to the fast page loads we see with complex web sites, navigational controls and page rendering on the fly are also intact – so the experience is simply gratifying!

A few years ago, we rarely saw global ready devices from Verizon’s litter, but it’s becoming all too commonplace nowadays. Considering that the Lumia 928 is global ready, since it works on the CDMA bands domestically and GSM abroad, you’re sure to stay connected everywhere – plus, you get 4G LTE connectivity. For a Windows Phone, it’s packed with connectivity amenities such as aGPS, Bluetooth 3.0 with EDR, 5GHz 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, NFC, hotspot functionality, and wireless charging.

Camera:

On the surface, the camera UI is pretty much stock Windows Phone 8, which is uncluttered with most of the controls and icons positioned towards the right edge of the interface. In addition to using the shutter key to control its focus, it also features the always handy touch focus system as well, which also seems to adjust the exposure as well. Perusing the lens options in the camera app, there are three that add some much-needed variety to an otherwise straightforward shooting experience:

Smart Shoot: Essentially, it captures a series of photos and enables us to merge different aspects of the image, such as faces, so that that we’re given the best image possible. Also, there’s a remove function that comes in handy if you’re in a busy area with people randomly appearing in the shot. It’s definitely a nice addition, but it requires just a tiny bit of work on our part to deliver the best shot.

Panorama: Just like many other smartphones, it stitches a series of photos to get a panoramic shot. Thankfully, the process is a breeze to handle, since bubbles in the UI point us towards the correct direction to steer the smartphone.

Cinemagraph: Yet another camera feature that requires some tinkering to get the best results, cinemagraph allows us to add “movement” to different areas of our taken shot – so the result is similar to an animated gif.

So let’s get down to it! You know, the kind of raw picture quality we can draw from its 8.7-megapixel PureView camera, which features Carl Zeiss optics, an f2.0 lens, and optical stabilization. For starters, the Lumia 928’s PureView camera is incredible when it comes to snapping macro or portrait shots – in perfect lighting conditions, of course. In fact, there’s a nice bokeh effect that becomes prominent, which then focuses most of the attention and detail on the subject. For landscape scenery shots, we’re again happy with the balanced results, since it’s sharp in tone and colorful, but if we take a closer look, we recognize that fine details appear a little speckled.

By now, we’re well aware how this is advertised as a phenomenal thing to use under low lighting situations, since its f2.0 lens combined with optical image stabilization, allows it to draw more light from the environment. So how wonderful are the results? Well, we’ll mention that shots are significantly brighter than what most other smartphones can produce, but at the expense of casting softer details and a little bit of noise. It’s not terrible, and we appreciate its ability to draw out some details that are otherwise lost.

Proving itself as a contender in the still shot category, the Lumia 928 also manages to closely do the same in the 1080p video recording quality department. However, there are still some minor distracting elements that sometimes stand out – like its speckled-like details, sensitive/jumpy exposure, and long time to adjust focus. On the other hand, the biggest attention grabber is its optical image stabilization, which so happens to wonderfully cast a flowy, yet pleasing appearance to the entire package. The captured sound is also of very high quality compared to other phones.

Multimedia:

Jumping to the music player, which is typical Windows Phone fashion, it’s still visually pleasing seeing that it employs many of the elements in the platform’s Modern UI. In contrast, there’s also Nokia Music, which is an alternative for those who prefer streaming functions. Cranking its volume level to its highest, there’s no shortage of pounding tones emanating from its speaker, but there’s a subtle amount of crackle that can be heard.

Supporting different video codecs out of the box, like DivX, H.264, MPEG-4, and Xvid, it’s wonderful watching high-definition 1080p videos in all of their glory on the Lumia 928. Naturally, its vivid colors, large real estate, and strong brightness output help to contrast its smooth playback.

Software:

To expand upon some of the handset’s app goodies that we mentioned briefly earlier in the review, we have the following highlights about some of them.

Starting with Nokia’s HERE City Lens, it’s one of those apps that are great for sniffing out local points of interests. Being an augmented reality app at its core, we find it extremely useful to visualize nearby locations with it.

With Nokia Drive and Maps, the two are here for all our navigational needs. Therefore, whether it’s searching for an address or getting voice-guided directions, the apps are extremely useful in getting us around. To be honest though, Nokia Drive isn’t as comprehensive compared to other dedicated GPS apps (think Navigon or Magellan), but at least it has the basics to get us from point A to point B in one piece.

And lastly, there’s Nokia Music for those who want to surround themselves with an array of music. One part a free radio station service, similar to what you’d experience with Pandora, Nokia Music also provides us access to any purchased content that are bought from Microsoft’s Music Store. Additionally, it integrates a bunch of social networking aspects to its functionality, like sharing songs you like on Facebook or reading about tweets regarding specific artists.

Call Quality:

Nokia Lumia 928 Review
Through the earpiece, voices are more than audible thanks primarily to its strong output – albeit, there’s just a small hint of muffle with the quality. Despite that, conversations as a whole is more than bearable on both end of the line, since our callers didn’t have any difficulty comprehending us. Better yet, the noise cancellation feature works exquisitely well, as our callers couldn’t even distinguish the difference with our voice under windy conditions. Switching to the speakerphone, it delivers nearly the same results with its near deafening output.
Battery:

Stuffed with a 2000 mAh battery, the Nokia Lumia 928 produces nearly the same amount of battery life we got out of the Lumia 920. Fully charging its battery and using it strictly as a mobile hotspot with LTE connectivity, it produced a little under 9 hours before it was dead. On another occasion, using the handset with our normal usage, which consists of mostly web surfing, text messaging, and sending emails, it produced 15 hours of juice. For an LTE enabled device, it isn’t bad at all, but it’s nowhere close to the class leader in the Motorola DROID HD MAXX.

Conclusion:

Somehow in the back of our minds, we can’t help but think about why it took so long for the Lumia 928 to arrive – even more when it’s essentially a remodeled Lumia 920, which AT&T customers have been presented with since the fall of 2012. Granted, it’s nice that it’s finally here and complements Big Red’s existing Windows Phone lineup, especially when it’s flaunting a tantalizing price point of $99.99 with a 2-year contract, but it just seems, you know, late to the game. Despite that, it’s undoubtedly the best Windows Phone that’s on the lineup – for now, that is. Who knows when we’ll see another Windows Phone, but let’s not think ahead of ourselves right now, seeing that the Lumia 928 is a wonderful offering that delivers the goods in making it a very well-rounded choice for those conscious on a budget.

PROS

• $100 on-contract price
• Slightly thinner & lighter design
• Balanced camera quality
• Nokia specific enhancements

We are not big fans of the vague word that is ‘fragmentation’ around here, especially when it is applied only to Android. Matter of fact is fragmentation is present in many forms on Apple’s iOS as well. However it is also true that the situation with uniformity of experience and updates on Android could be much much better.

Yesterday, Google made a huge step towards that in two ways. The first one is that it did not announce a new Android version. The second one was the most exciting news of the night for gadget lovers – the 'Nexus' edition of the Samsung Galaxy S4 was announced with pure stock Android and without Samsung’s TouchWiz skin.

But at the same time, this was also a step down in terms of uniformity. This was touted to be a “Nexus experience” in a non-Nexus device. However it is not exactly that. The Samsung Galaxy S4 is a great device but it differs from Nexus devices in one key area – it does not use on-screen buttons. Right now all current Nexus devices have on screen button – the Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 are all without physical navigational button.

Introducing the ‘Nexus’ Galaxy S4, though, Google breaks that uniformity. The lack of on screen buttons is not a major segmentation in anyway – it mostly makes accessing Google Now harder and changes little besides that. But it is segmentation, a slightly different ‘Nexus’ experience.

Will we miss the quick access to Google Now? For us personally, the freed space from the missing on-screen buttons is welcome news – we love every pixel and don’t want it go to waste for on-screen buttons. For others it might be different. But now that Google sells the ‘Nexus’ Galaxy S4 on the Play store, it will finally have a way to tell which one users prefer.

Introduction

There are a lot of Sony fans out there, and all of them are ready to swear by the awesomeness of the Xperia Z. However, are those numerous fans supporting Sony because they believe in the Xperia Z, or simply because the Sony brand strikes a chord with them? We guess it's both, but here's what – we here at PhoneArena respect Sony, just as much as we respect Samsung. We'll put both of their latest flagship smartphones, the Xperia Z and Galaxy S4 , to test and see which one's going to finish with a higher score!
Design

Between the two, the Sony Xperia Z is the more striking smartphone in terms of visuals. Its rectangular shape gives it a strict and stylish appearance that comes to show that this phone isn't joking. At the same time, though, the rectangular shape actually makes the phone rather bulky and difficult to hold. In addition, the sharp edges framing the front and back sides of the body also contribute to the unpleasant feeling when holding the phone. That said, we do appreciate the glass exterior of the Xperia Z, which is much more ambitious than the plastic casing of the Samsung Galaxy S4.

Plastic or not, though, the Galaxy S4 is a champion among similarly sized phones, when it comes to comfort when using the phone. Being equipped with a similarly large display, the Galaxy S4 feels much smaller and lighter than the Xperia Z, which is a great achievement on Samsung's part. Of course, it'd be up to every customer to decide for themselves, but we prefer the compact and comfortable design of the Samsung Galaxy S4, regardless of its plastic exterior. It's just that the Xperia Z is cool, but not cool enough to make us willing to make a compromise with its bulkiness.

Display

Nowadays, it's just not cool if you're a smartphone and you don't have a 5” display with full HD resolution. And while both of these phones have this feature, we tend to prefer the screen of the Galaxy S4 over the one of the Xperia Z. In our opinion, the Super AMOLED panel of the GS4 is superior thanks to its higher contrast, more vibrant colors and much better viewing angles. The LCD screen of the Xperia Z just isn't lively enough to make us want to keep staring at it.

Resolution-wise, everything is top-notch, even with the Galaxy S4's PenTile matrix. With such high pixel densities, both displays look extremely sharp and detailed.

Interface and Functionality

Coming straight with Android 4.2.2, the Galaxy S4 has an advantage over the 4.1-powered Xperia Z. Not that Sony will not update its handset past this version, but we can't be sure when this would happen. Meanwhile, Samsung has been doing a pretty decent job with the software updates even for its older phones, so we guess the Galaxy S4 will be very well supported.

There's an even greater difference when we compare the GS4's and Xperia Z's custom user interfaces. We generally like both, but if we have to choose only one of them, it would be Samsung's TouchWiz Nature UX, as it's very responsive and features a ton of custom goodies. Not that Sony's UI is bad – it actually has some pretty cool touches, but seems to be a bit more shallow compared to the feature-packed Samsung UI.

Processor and Memory

In this category, the Samsung Galaxy S4 has the benefit of sporting a newer processor – the Snapdragon 600. The Xperia Z is left running the last-gen Snapdragon S4 Pro, which doesn't mean that it's underpowered. The S4 Pro is still a very capable chipset that will deliver superb performance in games and other applications. If you notice some lag in the menus of the Xperia Z, it's due to the lack of optimization and not the hardware.

Both smartphones are armed to the teeth with 2GB of RAM, but it's a different story when it comes to internal storage. The Galaxy S4 is much more versatile in this respect, as it comes in 16, 32 and 64GB versions, each sporting a microSD card slot. The Sony Xperia Z is also equipped with a microSD card slot, but is only available with 16GB of built-in memory.

Camera

As you might expect, both the Galaxy S4 and the Xperia Z are quite capable in the camera department. It's once again the GS4, though, that takes the cake as the more versatile handset, thanks to the multitude of shooting modes and other features that wait to be experimented with.

What's of bigger importance, however, is the quality of the photos and video that the phones can record. As a whole, we find the Galaxy S4's 13MP camera to be slightly better than the Xperia Z's 13MP camera. The images coming from the GS4 are sharper, without having more noise at the same time. Aside from that, exposure and color reproduction tend to be quite similar on both.

Moving indoors, the Galaxy S4 increases its lead even further by delivering more natural colors, with better clarity and smaller amount of noise. The Xperia Z's shots aren't too bad as well, but colors get strangely altered and overall pretty much every aspect of its photos is inferior to what's coming out of the GS4.

1080p recording is another area where the Galaxy S4 shows its superiority. While both phones deliver some pretty impressive footage, the one from the Xperia Z is a bit smoother lacks some of the finer details visible in the SGS4's clips.

Multimedia

As we said earlier, both devices have 5” displays, which is great, but the Super AMOLED of the Galaxy S4 is better suited for video playback, as it has a higher contrast and more saturated colors. In addition, viewing angles are also better on Samsung's flagship.

Call quality

Samsung Galaxy S4 vs Sony Xperia Z
Neither the Galaxy S4, nor the Xperia Z are exceptionally good as far as call quality goes. The Z's earpiece tends to sound a tad better than the one of the S4, but not drastically. Conversely, the microphone of the Xperia Z is even worse than the one of the Galaxy S4. As Elton John once sang, “it's a sad, sad situation”… to see these powerhouses fail miserably in the call quality test. Actually, the Galaxy S4 works OK, it shouldn't give you much trouble, but it's just downright unimpressive.
Conclusion

There's no doubt that the Sony Xperia Z is one very capable smartphone. It has a pretty cool appearance and can easily execute whatever task you want. Still, the Samsung Galaxy S4 seems to be the more appealing handset overall. Its design may not be anything to write home about, but it's compact and comfortable to hold, despite the presence of an equally large 5” screen. When it comes to features, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is once again the better-equipped handset thanks to the multitude of user experience enhancements delivered by the latest TouchWiz Nature interface.

Sony has definitely created one powerful device with the Xperia Z, but they'll have to do even better than that if they want to be a real challenge for the best in the industry. Improving their designs from practical standpoint and enhancing their user experiences would be great places to start from.

Introduction

HTC One vs Sony Xperia Z
Sony Xperia Z and the HTC One will be one of the main flagship competitors this season, so a thorough comparison is warranted to help you choose.

The HTC One flaunts novel ideas like the UltraPixel camera and stereo speaker system at the front, to which the Xperia Z responds with a thin and light waterproof body, so which one is for you? Read on to find out…
Design

The phones weigh about the same, but One is shorter and narrower than the Xperia Z, which should help for better one-handed control, if its pretty aluminum unibody wasn't so slippery compared to the rubberized edges of Sony's phone, that allow for a much better grip. Moreover, the rubbery feeling of the Xperia Z has a perfectly good reason to be there, as the phone is waterproof, if you are looking for rugged before pretty, and still thinner than the One, despite the watertight body.

HTC, however, has graced the One with a timeless precision-cut aluminum chassis that sticks out like a sore thumb in the sea of plastic Androids. Not only that, but we get two amplified stereo speakers at the front, and also an IR blaster integrated in the power/lock button up top.

This same button Sony has placed in round metal form on the right where it belongs, directly under your thumb, while you have to stretch each time to reach it on the One. The overly thin volume rocker of the Z, however, is right smack in the middle of the right side, making it uncomfortable to feel and press, compared to the jagged one-piece metal key of the HTC One.
Display
Both handsets sport Full HD 1080×1920 pixels displays, with the HTC One having a slight edge in pixel density, as it sports a 4.7” panel, compared to the 5-incher on the Xperia Z. The pixel densities, however, are more than you need, and not the main advantage of the HTC One's display before the screen on the Xperia Z.

The colors and contrast of the 5” panel in the Xperia Z look much worse than on the HTC One. Even when looked at head-on, the Xperia Z exhibits washed-out tones and pretty greyish blacks in comparison to the vibrant colors and high contrast ratio of the One. Tilt the Z even a little, and the picture becomes significantly paler and even more washed-out, whereas the One sports one of the best viewing angles we've seen on a mobile display. Thus the screen on HTC's phone excels in everything compared to the one in the Xperia Z, save for the all-important brightness category, where both phones are pretty close, with a slight advantage of the HTC One in terms of outdoor visibility.

Interface and functionality

The phones run Android 4.1.2, and Sony has reworked the former Timescape UI a bit to highlight its new Socialife app integration, merging your social networking activities with other info feeds and local reminders in chronological order.

HTC, however, has introduced a similar feature called BlinkFeed, which curates topics of your choosing for relevant news on one of the homescreens, seamlessly integrating them with your Facebook and Twitter updates, as well as calendar entries and reminders in a Flipboard style pattern.

It has also completely redone the Sense 5.0 interface on the One, making it simpler, more minimalistic, yet still upholstering every menu and submenu you have on the phone, for the most sophisticated and uniform-looking manufacturer overlay out there.

Processor and memory

The One is ran by the newest generation Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor, clocked at 1.7 GHz, whereas the Sony Xperia Z sports Qualcomm's previous-best quad-core – Snapdragon S4 Pro at 1.5 GHz – which easily explains why the One scores almost double in synthetic benchmarks.

Both phones, however, run Android and chew through apps with ease, and have 2 GB of RAM for having many open at once. Many, as long as it's up to nine, said HTC, and again restricted the number of apps that can run simultaneously – from seven to nine this time – arranged in a pretty but limiting 3×3 grid, accessible when you double-tap the home key.

Sony starts you off wit 16 GB, while HTC gives 32 GB of internal memory, but the Xperia Z has the significant advantage of offering a microSD slot for easy storage expansion on the cheap, protected by a tight rubber flap.

Internet and connectivity

Using browsers on such large high-res displays is a joy, and both phones have no issues scrolling, panning around and zooming with ease while surfing the Interwebs. Sony, however, just uses Chrome that comes with Android Jelly Bean, which is not the fastest rabbit in the hat, and doesn't support Adobe Flash, whereas the HTC browser even has a handy on/off key in the drop-down menu for the times you run across a site with Flash.

The One and the Z sport integrated baseband radios that support LTE networks, where available, but also 42.2 Mbps HSPA+ downloads, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS, DLNA and NFC, the works. The HTC One has the added advantage of an infrared beamer at the top, that allows you to control the TVs and set-top boxes around you from the phone.

Camera

Sony Xperia Z sports a 13 MP Exmor RS camera sensor, whereas HTC put its foot down and ended the megapixel war with the so-called UltraPixel camera – about 4 MP in count, but with optical image stabilization, and having 2 micron pixels that are twice larger than the ones in the Xperia Z, though its sensor is the same physical size.

The interfaces that front these camera modules are intuitive and easy to use on both handsets, with numerous scene modes and color effects to choose from. Sony has the upper hand in scene selections offering separate ones even for shooting food or pets, if you are willing to bother. Both handsets have the stills and video shutter keys on one and the same screen, so you don't have to switch – a feature that debuted with the HTC One series initially.

HTC, however, offers more exotic ways to spice up your footage, like the Zoe software that automatically merges pics, video and music with special effects for a memorable collage. The One also offers slow-motion video, as well as Fast HD video capture with 60fps.

The photos from the Xperia Z come out a mixed bag – it sometimes produces very good details, and sometimes all gets lost in noise-reduction and processing. The color saturation and contrast are higher than in reality, but not to the point of gaudiness.

The HTC One produces a more natural color representation and often captures as much detail as the Xperia Z despite the much lower megapixel count. We didn't notice any glaring white balance or exposure measurement omissions from any of the handsets.

Indoors the Z performs well, capturing enough light to tell the details, and doesn't overexpose the bright spots as magnificently as your average handset. The HTC One has the natural advantage of an OIS mechanism inside that allows slower shutter speeds without blur, thus taking in more light, and the night scenes look as if they are taken on a cloudy afternoon compared to the Z. It does overexpose the light sources, however, to the point of strong halo effect around anything bright.

In video recording the HTC One also has an advantage. While both phones shoot 1080p video with 30 fps, and are able to do HDR footage, the OIS mechanism inside the One makes us wish every flagship came with one – it produces ssmooth, shake-free footage with distinct highlights and excellent sound in all circumstances.

Multimedia

The galleries on both the HTC One and the Xperia Z are in the usual grid format with thumbnail previews of your pics and videos, and sport basic photo editing built directly into the interface. Pinching the tiled grid on the HTC One, however, just sifts through the thumbnails chronologically, as an alternative to scrolling, whereas on the Xperia Z pinching can zoom the thumbs down to a single picture preview or back up to the tiled thumbnail grid.

Sony uses its famed Walkman branding for the music player, and has graced it with a pretty minimalistic interface that goes out of your way visually when you listen to something. The Xperia Z sports equalizers and sound modes that can be accessed directly from the app, whereas the music player of the HTC One offers just the Beats Audio preset when you plug in the headphones, or are listening to music through the dual speaker system at the front.

The loudspeakers on the HTC One are amplified and pump out strong and clear beats in stereo, whereas the traditional single speaker on the rear that the Xperia Z has, sounds somewhat muffled and distorted.

Both handsets play 1080p videos with ease, but the Xperia Z supports all popular formats from the box, whereas you'll be slightly inconvenienced having to download a 3rd party app to watch DivX videos on the HTC One.

Call quality

HTC One vs Sony Xperia Z
The Xperia Z doesn't shine with voice quality in the earpiece, producing sound with average strength and clarity that is not up to par with flagship expectations. The HTC One, on the other hand, uses its amplified boom box at the front top for an earpiece, whose loud and clear output ranks up with the best out there.

The noise-canceling microphones on the handsets separate your voice from the background noise successfully, yet the setup the HTC One mics have manages to relay clearer and more recognizable voices to the other end.

Battery

The phones have sealed batteries with almost equal capacity – 2300 mAh for the One vs 2330 mAh for the Xperia Z – but HTC doesn't give official talk times for the One. Sony, however, claims 5.5 hours of video playback for the Xperia Z, which is a tad below the average endurance, whereas 3rd party tests peg the HTC One at about eight hours, yet overall both phones should last you through the day with moderate to heavy usage, and day and a half to two days if you are gentle on the screen time.
Conclusion

All in all, it shouldn't be a tough pick between the HTC One or the Xperia Z for you. Sony's flagship might look a bit rough around the edges, compared to the sleek aluminum One, but there's a perfectly good reason for that – its waterproof chassis will be a godsend for many a careless or outdoorsy owner, and it is easier to hold and operate with one hand with the rubberized sides.

If you are the type that babies their handset, though, the HTC One will offer a better screen, faster processor, stellar audio experience, IR blaster and superior video capture, on top of what the Xperia Z delivers. Both handsets cost around the same, and are likely to keep value in a similar manner, so it mostly depends on whether you need the elements-proofing of the Z, or the extra features of the One.

Introduction

This is it, the most epic Android face-off for the first half of 2013. The Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One are coming out at about the same time to go ahead and have it out with one another. When the Galaxy S4 and One are in the same room, there sure ain't much love in the air, which is going to make this fight all the more interesting. Which side will you take? Wait till you've read our comparison!
Design

Isn't it obvious? The Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One have a completely different understanding of design. On one hand, we have the light, plastic body of the GS4, and on the other – the heavy, metal one of the One. Both have their pros and cons. The Galaxy S4 certainly doesn't feel like a premium smartphone, but is light, compact and comfortable to hold. In contrast, the HTC One has that expensive feel to it, but is bulkier and not as comfortable to use.

Overall, though, it shows that HTC has paid much more attention to the design of its product. The One has an impressive appearance and every small detail like the physical buttons function like they are part of a quality, expensive product, which they are. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S4 has a blander appearance and none of its physical features manage to be particularly exciting, with the sole exception of the fact that Samsung has managed to fit such a big display in such a compact phone (for today's standards).

Display
Speaking of displays, both devices are equally impressive in this respect. On one hand, there's the enhanced Super AMOLED screen of the GS4, with its high contrast and lush colors, and on the other – the Super LCD 3 display of the One, which is more natural and also quite vibrant. The HTC One is also more visible when used in bright daylight, thanks to its higher brightness. Viewing angles are very good on both devices, but we seem to prefer the HTC One, as it retains the normal tones of its colors, whereas the Galaxy S4 is quick to degrade color quality as we start to tilt the handsets.

At 5 inches, the Galaxy S4's display is slightly bigger than the HTC One's 4.7 inches, but the difference isn't really that noticeable. Activities such as video watching are super-entertaining on both handsets.

Interface and Functionality

Both smartphones come with Android Jelly Bean, but the GS4 has an edge as it features the very latest version, 4.2.2, out of the box, while the One is initially equipped with 4.1.2. That doesn't mean that HTC One users will be missing much in terms of Android features, but the more important thing is the vast difference between the custom user experiences found on both devices.

HTC and Samsung have worked hard to create new features, which they hope to attract the attention of customers with, however, they have once again gone in completely different directions. On the HTC One we have the new BlinkFeed interface, which takes center stage in the new UI. Think a Flipboard kind of interface used to display stuff like news and updates from your social networks. Besides BlinkFeed, you can also have a typical Android UI with icons and widgets.

The Galaxy S4 has a refined version of last year's TouchWiz Nature UX, which is one of the best Android UIs out there. It's a typical Android style interface, with multiple pages, icons and widgets, but it's an especially well-crafted piece of software that runs fluidly and offers numerous unique features like Multi-Window and Smart Stay. To cut a long story short, the Galaxy S4 offers more features and goodies than the HTC One, but it's safe to say that HTC has polished its offerings a bit more, so it's once again up to the user to decide if they prefer the versatility of the Galaxy S4 or the fewer, but more refined offerings in the HTC One.
Messaging

The HTC One has a slightly smaller screen, but its on-screen QWERTY keyboard has a somewhat better layout, as typing on it feels a bit easier compared to the cramped keyboard of the GS4. The GS4's keyboard as a whole is quite spacious, after all there's a big 5” screen, but the keys are too many and are a bit small for our taste. Meanwhile, there's practically no space between the keys of the HTC One, but that makes them bigger. In the end, you can get a wonderful typing experience with each device, as you can always use a customizable third-party keyboard.

Processor and Memory

The Galaxy S4 comes in two versions – one with Snapdragon 600 CPU and one with Exynos 5 Octa CPU, depending on the market. We're testing the one with Snapdragon 600, which is the same chipset in use by the HTC One as well. Both devices are armed with 2GB of RAM and the Adreno 320 GPU, and both run perfectly smoothly, as you would expect from cutting-edge smartphones these days.

The HTC One comes in 32 or 64 GB flavors, with no option to expand that storage through a microSD card. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S4 is once again being more versatile by coming in 16, 32 and 64 GB versions, all of which featuring a microSD card slot for even more storage.

Camera

The GS4 and HTC One are great camera phones, with lots of settings and options for you to tweak. The HTC One has the unique Zoe mode, which captures short video footage along with each shot, making for an impressive multimedia experience when viewing. The GS4 has a bunch of special features of its own, like Drama Shot, Sound and Shot, Story Album and so on, which can prove useful in certain situations. Here it shows once again the difference in the way both companies work. While both the HTC One and SGS4 have photo album creation features, the albums you can create with the One tend to be very cool, while the Galaxy S4's Story Album is simply laughable. At the same time, though, the GS4 offers more goodies, which makes it more versatile and feature-packed than its opponent.

The higher resolution of the Galaxy S4 definitely gives it an edge when it comes to details. You'll be able to see much more in the photos of the GS4 than in those of the One. The GS4 also takes pictures that are a bit livelier, with higher contrast and slightly more saturation. The HTC One, on the other hand, excels when it comes to exposure. There were some shots that we took that appeared overexposed on the GS4, but were alright on the One.

Indoors, the HTC One isn't bad, but is easily overshadowed by the superior resolution and color reproduction of the Galaxy S4.

Both the Galaxy S4 and HTC One record satisfying 1080p video footage. While we prefer the slightly higher sharpness of the HTC One, however, the Galaxy S4 does excel when it comes to noise and overall stability. We tend to like the sound captured by the mic of the GS4 more, as it's louder and cleaner than that of the HTC One, which is quieter and sounds a bit muted in comparison.

Multimedia

Both handsets are perfect for activities like video playback and gaming. The Galaxy S4 has the benefit of the slightly bigger screen, while the HTC One makes up for it with its loud stereo speakers.

Call quality
Call quality is one area where the HTC One easily gains the upper hand with the deeper and more natural tones that it's able to emit through its earpiece. Its microphone also seems to be more capable, as our callers reported a clearer sound with it. As you can imagine, the stereo speakers of the One are much better than the single one of the Galaxy S4, which struggles to reach the same volume and depth levels.
Conclusion

These are the two Android phones of the year, or at least for the first half of the year. While the HTC One X lost the fight against the Galaxy S III last year, it looks like HTC has better chances in 2013.
The HTC One is equal to the Galaxy S4 in many aspects, and where it feels inferior to the Samsung, it manages to make up for it with something else. The HTC One looks and feels like an expensive product, which isn't something we can say for the Galaxy S4.

The Galaxy S4, however, has its own advantages. Its uninspiring design is actually surprisingly comfortable to hold and use. Its dimensions feel significantly smaller, while its weight is lighter.

With the Galaxy S4, Samsung is continuing its quest towards complete domination over the land of Android, transforming the colorful, chaotic jungle into a profitable industrial area. With the One, HTC proves that the former contract manufacturer does deserve its place among the leading smartphone companies. There really cannot be a better phone between these two, as both are successfully countering each other with their own unique assets.

Introduction

Released in the middle of 2012, the Google Nexus 7 by Asus remains a worthy competitor in the small tablet space. Armed with more than decent hardware and an ultra-aggressive price tag, the Nexus 7 is not to be taken lightly, not even by more ambitious products such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0.

Samsung's new tablet is entering a very interesting market. Between super-affordable, yet potent tablets like the Nexus 7 and more premium offerings like the iPad mini, will the Galaxy Note 8.0 and its S Pen find a way to capture a decent share for themselves?

Let's see how the Note 8.0 can handle its opponents of the affordable type, namely the Google Nexus 7!
Design

Although the Nexus 7 is the smaller tablet, as it only features a 7-inch display, it strangely isn't more comfortable to hold and carry than the Galaxy Note 8.0. Quite the contrary, we find it easier to hold the Note 8.0 with just one hand (like a small notebook), and then even swipe left and right using the thumb of the same hand. We find it harder to replicate this on the Nexus 7, as it starts to fall from our hand.

We attribute this to the slipperier type of plastic used for the Nexus 7, as well as the more ergonomic shape of the Galaxy Note 8.0.

In terms of weight, both tablets are almost exactly the same, but as we said, the Note 8.0's shape and materials make it the more comfortable tablet to work with.

Display
While the Nexus 7 features a 7” display, which is as small as you would want to get when it comes to small tablets, the Note 8.0 naturally comes with a slightly larger, 8.0-inch screen. The difference isn't small, as everything on the Note 8.0's screen looks bigger and easier to read.

Both devices have the same resolution: 800×1280 pixels, which means that the Nexus 7 has a slightly higher pixel density, making things look a bit clearer. Still, we actually find it easier to read text on the display of the Galaxy Note 8.0, as it finds a better balance between sharpness and size.

Color tones, however, are somewhat more natural-looking on the Nexus 7, as those on the Note 8.0 seem to gravitate heavily towards the colder side. As far as visibility and comfort go when using the tablet in very bright or very dark lighting conditions, the Galaxy Note 8.0 easily takes the first prize as it can get both brighter and dimmer than the screen of the Nexus 7. One complaint we have about the screen of the Nexus 7 is that it actually can't get very dim, which makes reading in the dark a bit of a pain.

Interface and Functionality

One area where the Nexus 7 will always have the upper hand is software updates. As you can imagine, Google's tablet is running the latest Android OS, while the Galaxy Note 8.0 launches with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. To tell you the truth, we don't see this as a major drawback for the Note 8.0, because there aren't any groundbreaking features in Android 4.2. In addition, the Note 8.0 features Samsung's TouchWiz Nature UX which is a wonderful custom user interface that adds many cool features to the platform. On the other hand, having the latest OS version running on your device is always a plus.

Messaging

We seriously prefer the on-screen keyboard (and size) of the Nexus 7 – it makes for a more comfortable typing experience. The keys of the Note 8.0's keyboard seem to be on the smaller side, which makes them harder to work with. Of course, that's easily remediable by installing a third-party keyboard from the Play Store.

The Note 8.0, however, has another input method, which the Nexus 7 lacks, and it's the S Pen. With the Note 8.0, you can take hand-written notes, and surprisingly, the experience is very good. Thanks to its integration with Wacom technology, writing with the pressure-sensitive S Pen feels almost as if you're writing with a real pen.

Processor and Memory

Always wanting to have its own opinion about things, Samsung has used its own quad-core chipset, the Exynos 4412, in the Galaxy Note 8.0. It's neither the newest, nor the fastest processor around, but it does an excellent job powering the Note 8.0. Meanwhile, the Asus Nexus 7 features the Nvidia Tegra 3 SoC, which is also very snappy and manages to deliver a fluid performance.

If we have to compare how the two tablets run, we'd say that the Note 8.0 delivers a slightly smoother, more consistent experience than the Nexus 7, but the reasons for that seem to be hidden in the software of the Nexus 7, rather than the hardware.

In addition, the Note 8.0 also has more RAM – 2 GB compared to 1 GB in the Nexus 7, and it comes in 16 or 32 GB storage options as well as a microSD card slot for additional memory. In comparison, the Nexus 7 can be found in 8, 16 and 32 GB options, but without microSD card support.

Internet and Connectivity

There's no doubt that the Galaxy Note 8.0 is the better tablet when it comes to internet browsing. Samsung has decided to keep the enhanced ICS browser, which is still much faster compared to mobile Chrome – the default browser in the Nexus 7. In addition to being faster, Samsung's browser also has support for Adobe Flash Player, which is still heavily used across the internet. Sure, you can also get Flash with some third-party browser on the Nexus 7, but the experience will be inferior. You can also install Dolphin Browser on the Nexus 7, which will be about as fast as the browser on the Note 8.0, but it won't support Flash.

The 3G-enabled version of the Nexus 7 brings support for HSPA+ 21.1 Mbit/s down and 5.76 Mbit/s up. The Note 8.0 is not much different, as it's equipped with an equally fast radio. However, we wouldn't be surprised if some US carriers announce plans to carry the Note 8.0 soon, and then we can be pretty much sure that those models will support LTE.

Camera

Well, the photos you can take with the Galaxy Note 8.0 sure aren't perfect, but they are something. With the Nexus 7, there isn't a rear-facing camera, so you can't really take pictures. We suppose you can use the modest front-facing to take some kind of shots with the Google tablet, but that will come nowhere near what you'll be able to achieve with the Note 8.0.

For the most part, the images taken with the Galaxy Note 8.0's 5MP camera feature natural colors and a decent amount of details. The exposure is not perfect (sometimes the photos come out a tad dark), but it gets the job done. The Note 8.0 can also record 720p video, which isn't exactly full of sharp details, but is much better than nothing.

Multimedia

Naturally, the Galaxy Note 8.0 is better suited towards video watching with its bigger and brighter screen. The speaker of the Note 8.0 is also noticeably stronger, making for an overall better multimedia experience.

Conclusion

There can be no two opinions here – the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 easily trumps the Google Nexus 7 by Asus in every aspect… as it should, because it comes out almost a year later!

The bigger screen, S Pen, superior browsing, reading and multimedia experiences are enough to tip the scales in favor of the Note 8.0 here, meaning that it's easily the better tablet of the two.

However, it also comes at a much higher price. When you think about it, the Nexus 7 is also one very capable tablet that can do many of the things the Note 8.0 does, although not as satisfyingly. In the end, if you are looking for a good tablet at a very affordable price, the Nexus 7 may be all that you need. On the other hand, if you're really searching for an amazing tablet experience and are ready to shell out some additional cash, don't think twice about it – just go for the Galaxy Note 8.0.

Introduction
The HTC One and the Nokia Lumia 920 look drastically different. The One runs on Android and the Lumia 920 is a Windows Phone handset, HTC went with sleek and light design while the Lumia 920 is a large and heavily built device. But with all those differences there is one thing that makes them nearly direct competitors, and it’s their cameras.

The PureView camera with a Carl Zeiss lens on the Lumia 920 takes big pride in its low-light performance, and Nokia has been throwing around images shot at low light showing how much better it is than the competition. The HTC One is also throwing a punch at the competition, showing off the superior low-light performance of its UltraPixel camera.

But which one of the two captures better low-light (and overall) images? And which one is the better all-around device? Read on to find out.
Design

The HTC One is a truly gorgeous device. Two aluminum slabs come together in a slim package with a slight curve on the back that makes it lay comfortably in the hand. HTC has paid meticulous attention to detail – chamfered edges for convenience, a volume rocker made out of patterned aluminum, a large, stylish camera eye on the back. The One is sleek, only 9.3mm, and lightweight too at 143 grams.

The Nokia Lumia 920 is its near complete opposite. It is also well built and feels decidedly solid in the hand, however it is plain big, bulky. It does feature a pillow shape design that makes it ergonomic to hold, but it measures a considerable 10.7mm thick and weighs a whopping 185 grams.

Display

With the HTC One and Lumia 920 we are looking at two of the best displays out there. The HTC One features a gorgeous 4.7-inch 1080 x 1920 pixel Super LCD3 display. It’s stunningly sharp. The pixel density comes at 468ppi and that means no perceivable jagged pixels at all.

The Nokia Lumia 920 on the other hand comes with a 4.5-inch PureMotion HD+ screen with a lower resolution of 768 x 1280 pixels, that works out at a density of 332ppi. The HTC One is clearly the sharper display, but the Lumia still goes for that ‘Retina’ resolution so small details like fine text also look good although not as smooth.

In terms of colors, both devices have great, vivid screens with excellent contrast. Nokia uses its ClearBlack filter that lowers reflection and delivers deep blacks and excellent contrast. It is also slightly brighter than the One, and with its lower reflections that makes it more usable under direct sunlight. Viewing angles on both are excellent, but the HTC One does a little bit better at the most extreme angles.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Nokia Lumia 920 also comes with a super sensitive display that can be used with your gloves on and even with a pen, or other objects. That’s a nifty feature for those living in colder climates which the HTC One does not have.

Interface and Functionality

The two devices are worlds apart in terms of interface. Android’s 4.1.2 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 5.0 on top is all about customization and a wealth of tweaks and setting. The Lumia’s Windows Phone 8 offers very limited customization options – the color of tiles and there is only a clunky list view for your app drawer. The app gap is also huge, Windows Phone still lacks some essential apps, and when it comes to games the difference is easy to spot.

With Jelly Bean, Android has a perfectly smooth-running interface, and one rich in options. Sharing is system-wide and supported for all third-party apps, you have a huge variety in applications. Customization options are rampant. Multitasking happens in real-time and Google’s Voice Search is extremely quick and accurate. Those are all areas where Microsoft needs to catch up.

To Windows Phone’s advantage come its deep social network integration and out of the box free Microsoft Office and Nokia Drive offline navigation. Nokia’s little app additions like Mix Radio also add a lot of value to Windows Phone.

Processor and Memory

Launched nearly half a year ago, the Nokia Lumia 920’s processor looks paltry against the HTC One’s modern silicon.

The One wows with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chip with 1.7GHz quad-core Krait 300 processor, Adreno 320 graphics, and 2GB of RAM. Tech geeks caring only about the specs will be quick to notice the huge difference. The Lumia 920 comes with a paltry dual-core Snapdragon S4 with the processor running at a maximum of 1.5GHz per core, and 1GB of RAM.

Both systems run smooth (and props to Microsoft for its well-optimized Windows Phone platform), but when it comes to games and the actual future proof status of both devices, the HTC One clearly leads the way.

Internal storage is 32GB for the basic models of both devices, and neither have expandable memory.
Internet and Connectivity

When it comes to browsing, both phones support 4G LTE connectivity and both have big displays. Since surfing the web is mostly about reading, though, the stunningly sharp display on the HTC One gives it a slight edge here.

What’s more, the HTC One comes with a very versatile and capable browser that offers a wealth of options like Adobe Flash support, desktop site mode, incognito mode and saving articles for later offline reading. It’s based on Android and that also means a huge selection of quality browser including Google’s Chrome with its abundant syncing capabilities. Both Android browsers performed brilliantly, flawlessly handling scrolling and zooming, and not stuttering when you open even a ton of tabs.

In contrast to the plentiful choice on Android, the Lumia 920 with Windows Phone has an extremely limited browser selection. Mobile Internet Explorer is a good browser, but it does lack Flash support and it does not offer the depth of options you can find on the HTC One’s stock browser. It has a ton of limitations too – only six tabs are allowed at maximum, the tab switching mechanism is clunky and there is no incognito mode.

Camera

Camera is where competition between the two devices heats up. The HTC One features a 4.3-megapixel UltraPixel camera with a single LED flash, and the Nokia Lumia 920 has a 8.7-megapixel PureView camera with a Carl Zeiss lens. Both cameras are with a wide, f/2.0 aperture, but the actual images differ a lot.

In daytime, colors on the Lumia 920 are overblown to absurdity, they look unreal. Even in well-lit conditions there is some noise and overall images look a bit soft. The HTC One captures much more realistic tones, but images are not perfect either – while sharp around the edges, they look smudgy in single-tone areas.

For night images, both cameras have the advantage of capturing a lot of light. The Nokia Lumia 920 does much better when light is scarce, capturing realistic colors and with balanced noise levels. The HTC One captures sharp well-lit photos with little noise, but it has the tendancy to burn brighter spots of image in low light and in certain conditions colors were yellowish.

Both devices come with front facing cameras that are made for use in video calls and little else. The HTC One’s front-facing camera is also a wide-angle one, so more information fits in the frame at closer distances.

For video, both come with optical image stabilization (it seems to be working slightly better on the Lumia 920) which we appreciate. Both record at 1080p and 30 frames per second, and there are no skipped frames. Daylight colors are again just over the top on the Lumia 920, it looks punchy but far from reality, while the HTC One has a more accurate color representation.

In low-lit situations the HTC One is the definite winner. It captures much more light. While video on the Nokia Lumia 920 is dim, very hard to watch, you can easily watch footage shot at identical conditions on the One. Take a look at the video sample below which sums it all up perfectly.

Sound recording on the HTC One is simply a different world than most other smartphones – it’s that much better. The device has dual-membrane microphones that clear up a lot of the noise, and not just that but recorded sound is rich at both the high tones and deep at the low ones. It is the perfect device to record videos with sound from concerts and loud parties.

The Lumia 920 also captures surprisingly deep bass, but lacks that fullness the HTC One unveils at the higher tones. We should say, though, that the Lumia 920 outperforms most other smartphones so it is great on its own. In comparison with the HTC One it just doesn’t stand a chance, though.
Multimedia

With large, sharp and vivid display both devices are perfectly well suited for watching videos on the go or listening to music. Both play back 1080p videos in various formats with ease.

For image consumption, we are impressed with the gallery of the HTC One which not only integrates pictures from your social networks like Facebook, but also has a ton of cool features like the capability to automatically create movies out of your footage and stills. The Lumia 920 comes with less bells and whistles in that regard, but the vivid screen makes watching images on it a pleasant experience.

The real difference comes with sound from the loudspeaker. The HTC One is a small revolution in sound quality on smartphones, setting a new standard. Both are very loud but sound on the HTC One stereo speakers is so much fuller at both the bass and high tones.

Call Quality and Battery Life
There are no huge issues with the calling quality on either the HTC One or Nokia Lumia 920, but the HTC One has the edge here. Sound in the earpiece is almost equally loud and clear on both.

Outgoing quality is better on the HTC One, with better noise cancellation and wind noise reduction, so it is easier to focus on the clear and natural sound, while callers reported hearing us a bit muted from the Lumia 920.

At an era of large displays, battery life is always an issue and while the HTC One comes with a larger 2400mAh battery and the Lumia 920 features a 2000mAh juicer, in reality both last around a full day of average use and struggle to last into the second. Both batteries are not user-replaceable, but the Lumia 920 comes with support for wireless charging, a nice extra.

Conclusion

HTC and Nokia are in a somewhat similar positions with the One and the Lumia 920. HTC’s ailing financials pushed it to deliver its best, and for Nokia the Lumia 920 is an equally important, flagship Windows Phone device.

The HTC One is the more recent device of the two, and while it won’t be an apples to apples comparison (they run on different platforms), it outdoes the Lumia 920 in almost every department. Screens are comparably good, but with a sleek, refined design, much more capable processor, an amazing sound output and recording, and a good camera, the HTC One has the definite edge.

Introduction:

Introduced at last year’s CES, the SuperTooth Disco 2 differed greatly from its predecessor, as it employed a very stylish modern design that made it stood out over most other typical speaker designs. At the time, it was mentioned that the Disco 2 would offer some sort of stereo support, but unfortunately, that feature didn’t quite make it to the final product. Well, it’s finally here in another variant called the SuperTooth Disco Twin, which consists of two 16-watt Bluetooth speakers for true stereo left/right support. Some might think of it to be a novelty, but we’ll see whether or not it’s something that’s noteworthy enough to distance itself from SuperTooth’s last offering.

Design:

Frankly, there’s nothing different with the design of the SuperTooth Disco 2 from the previous effort, sad to say. We would’ve liked to see just a subtle change, but that’s not the case here. Nevertheless, we’ll still give it to the folks over at SuperTooth for having one of the modern looking designs out there to bless a speaker – especially when its outline is similar to that of a vase. For the most part, the speakers are comprised out of sturdy plastic, but upon holding them, we’re a little bit shocked to find that they’re somewhat weighty. It’s not a bad thing, since it merely adds to the solid build quality. Certainly, the aesthetics of the speaker help to draw out some of its finer characteristics, such as its harmonious lines, but as we’ve noted clearly already, there’s absolutely nothing new with it.

Along the top surface of the Disco 2, we’re once again greeted to its six physical buttons – these include the power, volume up, volume down, track forward, track reverse, and pause/play. Aside from the power button, which is recessed, all of the other buttons are lined up and flush to the surface. Despite the indistinct feel, they have an adequate amount of spring when pushed – plus, backlighting on them is aplenty.

On the façade, hidden behind the fabric grill, there are two speakers putting out a total of 16 watts – while in the rear, the bass reflux system helps to accompany its output with its subtle amount of bass. Considering we have two speakers with this setup, the SuperTooth Disco Twin essentially pumps out 32 watts of total RMS audio power. Finally, along the bottom edge of the rear, its power jack, LED light, and audio-in port are all situated in plain sight.

Performance:
Pairing up the SuperTooth Disco Twin is an effortless process. Well, we didn’t have any issue pairing it up to a Samsung Galaxy S4 and an iPhone 5, as it’s able to maintain its Bluetooth connectivity as far away as 30 feet. Upon turning on the master left speaker, it automatically connects to the paired smartphone – while the right speaker is connected as soon as it recognizes that the master one is powered on. Essentially, audible voices announce “left” and “right” as soon as they’re both in sequence.

It’s not much of a problem to some people, but we do realize that there’s a latency issue with the SuperTooth Disco Twin. If you’re not aware, it’s quite common amongst Bluetooth devices – wherein there’s a delay in its response. For example, if we’re typing something on the Samsung Galaxy S4 or iPhone 5 using their on-screen keyboard, the clicking sounds coming out of the SuperTooth Disco Twin are delayed slightly.

Knowing that this is essentially the SuperTooth Disco 2 from last year, its audio quality remains largely the same – albeit, there’s now a higher level of volume output, seeing that there are 2 speakers. Regardless of that, it still doesn’t quite have the same commanding presence of the original SuperTooth Disco speaker. However, it’s nice to find that there’s stereo support, which is made more prominent the further away we have the two speakers from one another. As a whole, the SuperTooth Disco Twin delivers some pungent audio that sounds most pleasant in the middle volume setting – whereas at the loudest, it can sound a tiny bit strained.

Battery:

Instead of worrying about having to charge a single device, we’re now faced with having to deal with two. Rather than having a single wall charger that can charge to two simultaneously, each one relies on its own separate wall charger – so yeah, it would’ve been useful to combine the two somehow. Still, with our normal usage, which consists of playing music at the middle-high setting, we’re able to get roughly 7 hours of playback before they’re tapped out.
Conclusion:

So let’s do the math here folks! Last year, the SuperTooth Disco 2 sported a price point of $100 when it launched. This time, with the SuperTooth Disco Twin, which consists of two speakers, you’re basically paying for an extra speaker. Altogether, the $200 price tag of the entire set seems a bit pricey considering there isn’t anything particularly new with the SuperTooth Disco Twin, except for its stereo support of course. Indeed, it’s a nice addition that we rarely find in portable Bluetooth speaker sets, but we were hoping to get more than that to differentiate it enough from SuperTooth’s previous offering.

PROS

• Stereo support
• Modern design
• Good battery life

Born on May 8, 1920, in Bronx, New York, Saul Bass was interested in designing and arts since a young age. He attended night classes for his passion and began his career in 1940 with Hollywood by doing print work for film ads. His luck changed when he designed a film poster for Otto Preminger's 1954 film Carmen Jones. Otto was impressed by Saul Bass’ work and requested him to design the entire opening credits of his movie.

Saul Bass took the opportunity and realised the amount of creativity that one could experiment with during the opening and closing credits. Before Bass, the opening and closing credits of a movie were pretty mundane being reflected off a curtain which would be lifted before the first scene. Bass changed the entire way Hollywood looked at the credits of a movie.

Bass’ fame came with his title sequence for Otto Preminger's The Man with the Golden Arm. The movie was based on a controversial subject and Bass took the opportunity to create a title sequence as hard-hitting and innovative as the subject of the movie. Bass provided title sequences for most popular directors and even did the title sequences for Alfred Hitchcock’s movies.

Vertigo, Psycho, Grand Prix, Good Fellas, etc are some of the movies for which Bass created the opening credits.

Bass also designed movie posters that were used extensively in advertising. His technique for the posters was the same as that of the rolling credits. Using the visual medium to give a glimpse into the story, Bass designed the posters evoking an interest in the movie content.

Apart from movie titles, Bass also created logos for most of America’s logos. He created logos for Japanese companies as well. Bass passed away on 25th April 1996. Though no more, his ideas still live on and design techniques are still considered to be revolutionary and inspire many budding designers in the movie industry.

The short one minute doodle takes one through a journey of Bass’ most remembered posters and credits. The video doodle encompasses Bass’ journey in short 60 seconds.

Introduction:

Pantech is well known for its mid-level and budget friendly smartphones; one of the newest being the Pantech Perception, which is currently available from Verizon Wireless. But unlike the Pantech Breakout and Marauder before it, the Perception has been updated with a larger 4.8” Super AMOLED display, 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, and an 8MP camera, while maintaining a 2-year contract price of $99.99. While this is a good price-point for consumers, other higher-end phones that came out last year can now be purchased for around the same price, such as the Samsung Galaxy S III ($99.99) and the Motorola DROID RAZR HD ($49.99), which makes the price of the Pantech Perception appear not as attractive.

Included in the retail package is the Pantech Perception smartphone, 2020mAh battery, wall charger with microUSB cable, and user guides.
Design:

Even though the Pantech Perception is slightly larger overall than the Samsung Galaxy S III, its corners and edges are more square and not as rounded, making it feel less comfortable in the hand when held for long periods of time. However, the overall appearance of the materials used on the Perception gives the device an attractive look, and we appreciate that the rear battery cover is matte and slightly textured, instead of being glossy and slippery.

Above the display is a standard 2MP camera, while on the left side is the volume rocker, and on the right is the power/lock key, which are easy to find since they are raised and slightly rounded from the surrounding edges. Up on top is a 3.5mm headset jack and an out-of-place microUSB port, as we believe having it near the bottom of the device would make more sense. Around on the back is the 8MP autofocus camera with LED flash, and removing the battery cover will allow access to the microSD memory card slot and 4G SIM slot.

Display:

We are glad to see that the Perception comes with a nice sized 4.8” Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 720×1280. As to be expected with Super AMOLD screens, colors are fully saturated with black-levels being pure. Text is also sharp and clear. But when used in direct sunlight, we found the screen is quite hard and hard to view.

One thing to be mindful of is that since the Perception lacks capacitive control buttons under the display, it uses on-screen soft keys, similar to the Motorola DROID RAZR HD, which does take away some of the display’s real estate (about 0.30”). Some people prefer the on-screen keys, while others like dedicated capacitive buttons – as it comes down to personal preference.

Interface:

Our main disappointment with the Pantech Perception is that it comes running Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich. That would have been fine a year or two ago, but in 2013 there really is no excuse for it not to have Android Jelly Bean, as even the LG Lucid 2 comes with Jelly Bean. Hopefully we will see this on a future software update.

With that in mind, the Pantech Perception uses a layered skin over Android, similar to what we saw last year on the Pantech Marauder. There is both a standard mode and a starter mode, depending on how comfortable you are using the device, as the starter mode has larger icons and text and quick tips to walk you through different features. The app drawer can also be changed to view your apps by different groups, alphabetically, or by downloads. There is also a nice selection of widgets, such shortcuts, calendars, clocks, photo albums, and weather.

Missing are any type of themes, which we usually see on LG and HTC devices, but you can select 3 different colors (white, green, or black) for use with the phone’s dialpad.

Naturally, the Pantech Perception does well with the included Android core apps, such as E-Mail and Gmail, contacts, and calendar. A few other apps included are Color for Facebook, Document Viewer, IMDb, NFL mobile, Real Racing 2, Shark Dash, Slacker, Verizon Tones, VZ Navigator, and Zappos.

Processor and Memory:

Running things on the Pantech Perception is a Qualcomm 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 processor with 1GB of RAM. This allows the device to be plenty quick when opening apps, and there is no noticeable lag when moving between the home screens.

As you can see from the benchmark tests, the Perception does well compared to other dual-core phones, such as the LG Lucid 2, Motorola DROID RAZR M, and Samsung Galaxy S III.

We are glad to see that the Perception comes with 16GB of internal memory, though only 9.6GB is left available for use out of the box. But if you happen to need more room, you can always install a microSD memory card up to 32GB.

Internet and Connectivity:

The Perception comes equipped with a standard web browser, though you can install Chrome or Dolphin if you desire. It renders pages just fine, with kinetic scrolling and pinch-to-zoom working without a hitch.

Since the device makes use of Verizon’s 4G LTE data network, we used the Speedtest.net app and were able to get 15 Mbps downloads and 5 Mbps uploads, with a signal reception of -102dBm. Naturally, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 is supported. We were also glad to see that the Perception comes with Global Roaming capabilities, for use with GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz and UMTS/HSPA 900/2100 MHz while overseas.

Camera:

As most of you know, more megapixels don’t always translate to a better quality picture, and this is the case with the Pantech Perception. Even though it comes equipped with an 8MP autofocus camera, every image that we took regardless of light level looked soft, grainy, and almost blurry at times. We made sure the lens was clean, and that the tap-to-focus was working. But as you can see, the results aren’t anything great, and even color reproduction is dull and lifeless.

For video recording, the Perception is capable of Full HD 1920×1080 at 30 frames per second. But again, the video looks hazy instead of sharp and crisp, and colors are lacking. Needless to say, we are quite disappointed when it comes to the camera on the device.

Multimedia:

The music player is easy to use with tabs across the top for accessing songs, albums, artists, genres, folders, playlists, ratings, and most played. The sound produced through the rear speaker is loud enough, and the different equalizer and bass boost options do help some, though using wired earbuds are the way to go.

Playing videos on the 4.8” Super AMOLED screen look great, with eye catching color and plenty of contrast. We were able to play MP4, H.264/263, DivX and Xvid files up to 1080p resolution without any issue.

Call Quality:
The voice quality while using the Pantech Perception is a mixed bag. Even though voices on our end were plenty loud, they sounded “sharp and digital” instead of sounding natural. People that we called also said that we sounded more digital on their end, and they could easily tell we were using a cell phone. The 1X signal was a bit below average with only -98dBm of signal reception showing.
Battery:

Even though the 2020mAh battery on the Pantech Perception is larger in capacity than the one that came with the Pantech Breakout and Marauder, it is still a bit less than we would like to see. The specs says it can provide up to 11 hours of usage time or 11 days of standby time, but during our testing we were only able to get 8.5 hours of continuous talk time, or about 1 day of mixed usage on a full charge – meaning you’ll have to charge the device nightly.

Conclusion:

If we were back in January, the Pantech Perception would be a halfway decent mid-level smartphone for the price. But as we mentioned earlier, with higher end devices from last year being discounted down to under $100 on-contract, it is really a tough sell for the Perception. Even though we like its 4.8” 720p Super AMOLED display, overall styling, and ease of use, the poor camera quality and digital-sounding call quality is holding it back – not to mention it comes running Android Ice Cream Sandwich instead of Jelly Bean. At this point, the Samsung Galaxy S III or Motorola DROID RAZR HD can be purchased for the same or less than the Perception, yet offer a higher quality device and experience.

PROS

• Attractive appearance
• 4.8” 720p Super AMOLED display
• Global Roaming capable

Introduction
The HTC One and the Nokia Lumia 920 look drastically different. The One runs on Android and the Lumia 920 is a Windows Phone handset, HTC went with sleek and light design while the Lumia 920 is a large and heavily built device. But with all those differences there is one thing that makes them nearly direct competitors, and it’s their cameras.

The PureView camera with a Carl Zeiss lens on the Lumia 920 takes big pride in its low-light performance, and Nokia has been throwing around images shot at low light showing how much better it is than the competition. The HTC One is also throwing a punch at the competition, showing off the superior low-light performance of its UltraPixel camera.

But which one of the two captures better low-light (and overall) images? And which one is the better all-around device? Read on to find out.
Design

The HTC One is a truly gorgeous device. Two aluminum slabs come together in a slim package with a slight curve on the back that makes it lay comfortably in the hand. HTC has paid meticulous attention to detail – chamfered edges for convenience, a volume rocker made out of patterned aluminum, a large, stylish camera eye on the back. The One is sleek, only 9.3mm, and lightweight too at 143 grams.

The Nokia Lumia 920 is its near complete opposite. It is also well built and feels decidedly solid in the hand, however it is plain big, bulky. It does feature a pillow shape design that makes it ergonomic to hold, but it measures a considerable 10.7mm thick and weighs a whopping 185 grams.

Display

With the HTC One and Lumia 920 we are looking at two of the best displays out there. The HTC One features a gorgeous 4.7-inch 1080 x 1920 pixel Super LCD3 display. It’s stunningly sharp. The pixel density comes at 468ppi and that means no perceivable jagged pixels at all.

The Nokia Lumia 920 on the other hand comes with a 4.5-inch PureMotion HD+ screen with a lower resolution of 768 x 1280 pixels, that works out at a density of 332ppi. The HTC One is clearly the sharper display, but the Lumia still goes for that ‘Retina’ resolution so small details like fine text also look good although not as smooth.

In terms of colors, both devices have great, vivid screens with excellent contrast. Nokia uses its ClearBlack filter that lowers reflection and delivers deep blacks and excellent contrast. It is also slightly brighter than the One, and with its lower reflections that makes it more usable under direct sunlight. Viewing angles on both are excellent, but the HTC One does a little bit better at the most extreme angles.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Nokia Lumia 920 also comes with a super sensitive display that can be used with your gloves on and even with a pen, or other objects. That’s a nifty feature for those living in colder climates which the HTC One does not have.

Interface and Functionality

The two devices are worlds apart in terms of interface. Android’s 4.1.2 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 5.0 on top is all about customization and a wealth of tweaks and setting. The Lumia’s Windows Phone 8 offers very limited customization options – the color of tiles and there is only a clunky list view for your app drawer. The app gap is also huge, Windows Phone still lacks some essential apps, and when it comes to games the difference is easy to spot.

With Jelly Bean, Android has a perfectly smooth-running interface, and one rich in options. Sharing is system-wide and supported for all third-party apps, you have a huge variety in applications. Customization options are rampant. Multitasking happens in real-time and Google’s Voice Search is extremely quick and accurate. Those are all areas where Microsoft needs to catch up.

To Windows Phone’s advantage come its deep social network integration and out of the box free Microsoft Office and Nokia Drive offline navigation. Nokia’s little app additions like Mix Radio also add a lot of value to Windows Phone.

Processor and Memory

Launched nearly half a year ago, the Nokia Lumia 920’s processor looks paltry against the HTC One’s modern silicon.

The One wows with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chip with 1.7GHz quad-core Krait 300 processor, Adreno 320 graphics, and 2GB of RAM. Tech geeks caring only about the specs will be quick to notice the huge difference. The Lumia 920 comes with a paltry dual-core Snapdragon S4 with the processor running at a maximum of 1.5GHz per core, and 1GB of RAM.

Both systems run smooth (and props to Microsoft for its well-optimized Windows Phone platform), but when it comes to games and the actual future proof status of both devices, the HTC One clearly leads the way.

Internal storage is 32GB for the basic models of both devices, and neither have expandable memory.
Internet and Connectivity

When it comes to browsing, both phones support 4G LTE connectivity and both have big displays. Since surfing the web is mostly about reading, though, the stunningly sharp display on the HTC One gives it a slight edge here.

What’s more, the HTC One comes with a very versatile and capable browser that offers a wealth of options like Adobe Flash support, desktop site mode, incognito mode and saving articles for later offline reading. It’s based on Android and that also means a huge selection of quality browser including Google’s Chrome with its abundant syncing capabilities. Both Android browsers performed brilliantly, flawlessly handling scrolling and zooming, and not stuttering when you open even a ton of tabs.

In contrast to the plentiful choice on Android, the Lumia 920 with Windows Phone has an extremely limited browser selection. Mobile Internet Explorer is a good browser, but it does lack Flash support and it does not offer the depth of options you can find on the HTC One’s stock browser. It has a ton of limitations too – only six tabs are allowed at maximum, the tab switching mechanism is clunky and there is no incognito mode.

Camera

Camera is where competition between the two devices heats up. The HTC One features a 4.3-megapixel UltraPixel camera with a single LED flash, and the Nokia Lumia 920 has a 8.7-megapixel PureView camera with a Carl Zeiss lens. Both cameras are with a wide, f/2.0 aperture, but the actual images differ a lot.

In daytime, colors on the Lumia 920 are overblown to absurdity, they look unreal. Even in well-lit conditions there is some noise and overall images look a bit soft. The HTC One captures much more realistic tones, but images are not perfect either – while sharp around the edges, they look smudgy in single-tone areas.

For night images, both cameras have the advantage of capturing a lot of light. The Nokia Lumia 920 does much better when light is scarce, capturing realistic colors and with balanced noise levels. The HTC One captures sharp well-lit photos with little noise, but it has the tendancy to burn brighter spots of image in low light and in certain conditions colors were yellowish.

Both devices come with front facing cameras that are made for use in video calls and little else. The HTC One’s front-facing camera is also a wide-angle one, so more information fits in the frame at closer distances.

For video, both come with optical image stabilization (it seems to be working slightly better on the Lumia 920) which we appreciate. Both record at 1080p and 30 frames per second, and there are no skipped frames. Daylight colors are again just over the top on the Lumia 920, it looks punchy but far from reality, while the HTC One has a more accurate color representation.

In low-lit situations the HTC One is the definite winner. It captures much more light. While video on the Nokia Lumia 920 is dim, very hard to watch, you can easily watch footage shot at identical conditions on the One. Take a look at the video sample below which sums it all up perfectly.

Sound recording on the HTC One is simply a different world than most other smartphones – it’s that much better. The device has dual-membrane microphones that clear up a lot of the noise, and not just that but recorded sound is rich at both the high tones and deep at the low ones. It is the perfect device to record videos with sound from concerts and loud parties.

The Lumia 920 also captures surprisingly deep bass, but lacks that fullness the HTC One unveils at the higher tones. We should say, though, that the Lumia 920 outperforms most other smartphones so it is great on its own. In comparison with the HTC One it just doesn’t stand a chance, though.
Multimedia

With large, sharp and vivid display both devices are perfectly well suited for watching videos on the go or listening to music. Both play back 1080p videos in various formats with ease.

For image consumption, we are impressed with the gallery of the HTC One which not only integrates pictures from your social networks like Facebook, but also has a ton of cool features like the capability to automatically create movies out of your footage and stills. The Lumia 920 comes with less bells and whistles in that regard, but the vivid screen makes watching images on it a pleasant experience.

The real difference comes with sound from the loudspeaker. The HTC One is a small revolution in sound quality on smartphones, setting a new standard. Both are very loud but sound on the HTC One stereo speakers is so much fuller at both the bass and high tones.

Call Quality and Battery Life
There are no huge issues with the calling quality on either the HTC One or Nokia Lumia 920, but the HTC One has the edge here. Sound in the earpiece is almost equally loud and clear on both.

Outgoing quality is better on the HTC One, with better noise cancellation and wind noise reduction, so it is easier to focus on the clear and natural sound, while callers reported hearing us a bit muted from the Lumia 920.

At an era of large displays, battery life is always an issue and while the HTC One comes with a larger 2400mAh battery and the Lumia 920 features a 2000mAh juicer, in reality both last around a full day of average use and struggle to last into the second. Both batteries are not user-replaceable, but the Lumia 920 comes with support for wireless charging, a nice extra.

Conclusion

HTC and Nokia are in a somewhat similar positions with the One and the Lumia 920. HTC’s ailing financials pushed it to deliver its best, and for Nokia the Lumia 920 is an equally important, flagship Windows Phone device.

The HTC One is the more recent device of the two, and while it won’t be an apples to apples comparison (they run on different platforms), it outdoes the Lumia 920 in almost every department. Screens are comparably good, but with a sleek, refined design, much more capable processor, an amazing sound output and recording, and a good camera, the HTC One has the definite edge.

Introduction

If this isn't the biggest rivalry in the mobile industry right now, we don't know what is. Samsung and Apple have been battling each other for years now, both on the market and in court. Just like that, the Samsung vs Apple clash has grown into one of the biggest rivalries the tech world has ever seen. Right now, the two companies stand on pretty much equal footings, and we're can't be sure yet as to which one will emerge victorious.

This situation is easy to explain. Both Apple and Samsung produce wonderful products. Let's take, for example, the Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5! Both are amazing smartphones with their own strengths and weaknesses. Obviously, neither can claim to be better than the other, but if we look closely, we can identify the areas where one has an advantage over the other and vice versa. Surprise, surprise – that's exactly what we'll do right now.
Design

Apple is a company that pays a lot of attention to the design of its products, and it absolutely shows with the iPhone 5. One of the best looking phones on the market today, the iPhone 5 is beautiful, light, compact and premium. It has that aura of something expensive and sophisticated.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy S4 is the exact opposite. Samsung's handset is made of thin plastic and doesn't feel as the expensive product that it is. Still, it's an awesome design in its own way, because it's actually quite compact for a smartphone with a 5-inch screen. The rounded edges and smooth, glossy plastic make it comfortable to hold and use, despite the considerable dimensions. Well, of course, the iPhone 5 is the more practical phone, but we do appreciate the effort that Samsung has put into making the GS4 as small as possible. We can't think of any other smarpthone with such a large display that feels so small and comfortable to hold.

If you watch a lot of video, or if you play a lot of games on your phone, then chances are you'll be better off with the giant, 5″ display of the Samsung Galaxy S4. Apple increased the screen size to 4″ with the iPhone 5, but that's still significantly smaller than what the Samsung can offer.

Both screens are simply gorgeous, but the iPhone 5 is really something special in this department. Its display manages to be both super-vibrant and very natural-looking at the same time. The Galaxy S4, on the other hand, is also spectacular, thanks to its great contrast levels and saturated colors, but it can't quite match the true-to-life image of the iPhone 5, even when you tone things down a bit using the special screen mode preset for the purpose.

Viewing angles tend to be better on the iPhone 5 and so is outdoor visibility, thanks to the higher brightness output of its display. The iPhone 5 can also get darker than the Galaxy S4, which makes it more suitable for use at night (in the dark).

Interface and Functionality

The Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5 are two very different handsets when it comes to their physical designs, but they are even more different in terms of software. The S4 is equipped with the latest Android OS – 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, and has Samsung's TouchWiz Nature interface on top which customizes the whole experience and adds numerous unique features like Smart Stay, Dual Shot, Air View and many more, some of which useful, others – not exactly. The GS4 runs very fluidly and is highly customizable. The main virtue of its software is that you can do whatever you wish with it. Still, Samsung is working hard to take Android to another level – the level where its software will be a full-featured service that no one would want to alter, as it'll function almost as seamlessly as a closed, curated system like iOS. Even in its current state, it's safe to say that TouchWiz offers a more polished, refined and feature-rich experience than stock Android.

No matter what you're doing with it, though, Android is Android, meaning that it's a bit more complicated and difficult to master, compared to the iPhone 5's iOS platform. If you need a truly intuitive and efficient experience that just works, without the tons of options and settings present in Android, then you'll be better off with an iPhone. If you're a geek, though, or simply a person who likes to tinker with the software on their device a lot, Android will be the more suitable playground.
Processor and Memory

It's practically useless to compare the processors of phones running different operating systems, but we'll do so anyway. Actually, no. We won't be comparing them, we'll just talk about them.

Between the two, it's the Samsung Galaxy S4 which is the more specs-focused handset. It's armed with either the quad-core 1.9 GHz Snapdragon 600 chipset, or the octa-core 1.6 GHz Exynos 5 Octa chipset, depending on the market. Both are very poweful and should deliver buttery-smooth performance. System memory on the GS4 is 2GB RAM.

The iPhone 5 isn't much of a specs monster, but it's just as responsive. The processor ticking inside it is the dual-core 1.3 GHz A6, while system memory is 1 GB. Since iOS is such a well-optimized platform, which is very efficient when it comes to system resources, it also runs at breath-taking speeds with minimal slow-down. The same goes for the third-party applications that you can run on both handsets.

The Galaxy S4, however, is a bit more versatile with regards to storage memory. Samsung's flagship comes in 16, 32 and 64GB variants, but it also has a microSD card slot for additional storage. The iPhone 5 comes in the same storage configurations, but lacks the option to install a microSD card.
Internet and Connectivity

The iPhone's Safari browser revolutionized mobile browsing, and continues to blow us away with its blazing-fast performance. The Galaxy S4, on the other hand, also features a wonderful browser – no, it's not Chrome, but Samsung's own Android browser, based on the code from Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. That browser is significantly faster than Chrome and also supports Flash Player, which is its main advantage over the iPhone 5's Safari. In the end, both handsets deliver an exceptional browsing experience, but the Galaxy S4 isn't shy to take things a step further thanks to its support for Flash content.

Both the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S4 can run on LTE networks, as well as HSPA+ with downlink speeds of up to 42.2 Mbit/s down. In addition, both feature Bluetooth 4.0, but only the GS4 has an IR blaster, which allows you to use the handset as a remote control for your television.

Camera

All iPhones and Galaxy S phones have had wonderful cameras, and that remains true for their latest editions, the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S4. However, there are some fundamental differences in terms of the camera experience. The Galaxy S4, being a Samsung device, features all kinds of settings, shooting modes, effects and so on for you to play with. The iPhone 5, on the other hand, has a super-simple approach to imaging. Beyond the option to press the camera shutter, it offers you just three other settings – HDR, Grid, and Flash.

Regardless of the complexity of their user interfaces, both devices take wonderful images. Thanks to their higher, 13MP resolution, the shots from the Galaxy S4 pack some additional detail that isn't visible in the images of the iPhone 5. Furthermore, the Galaxy S4's photos tend to be more realistic in terms of colors. Apple's device usually tends to saturate things a bit too much. Photos from its 8MP camera often look cool, but not very natural. Exposure is better with the iPhone 5, as the Galaxy S4 overexposes some areas from time to time.

Indoor shots come out pretty good with both phones, though the Galaxy S4 has an advantage thanks to its bigger resolution, and slightly better LED flash, which allows it to take better photos in dimly-lit environments.

It's very hard to pick a better camera-phone when it comes to 1080p video recording. While the Galaxy S4 camera captures slightly sharper footage, which we like, that comes at the expense of having more noise, which we don't like, but overall, the difference isn't too noticeable. Sound recorded through the GS4's microphone sounds better, as it's louder and clearer, whereas the one from the iPhone 5 sounds quieter and a bit muffled.

Multimedia

If you plan to use your smartphone for multimedia-centric tasks, such as video playback and games, the Galaxy S4 is undoubtedly the better choice due to its larger, 5” display. Not that you won't like watching video on the brilliant iPhone 5 screen, but the experience will be much more enjoyable and comfortable with the GS4.

Call quality
The Apple iPhone 5 easily beats the Samsung Galaxy S4 in the call-quality department. The iPhone 5's earpiece is clearer and the voices get transmitted to the other end with strong, deep tones. All in all, the Galaxy S4 isn't a particularly good phone when it comes to sound during calls, as neither its earpiece, nor its microphone can offer a decent quality.

Conclusion

The Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5 are two amazing smartphones. Interestingly, they manage to be amazing in their own, unique ways, which prevents us from choosing an ultimate winner. The Galaxy S4 is extremely versatile, has a ton of interesting features and a beautiful 5″ display that is just perfect for video playback and gaming.

Meanwhile, the iPhone 5 is almost as capable, thanks to the multitude of quality applications available for it, and there's just something special about the simplicity of iOS. It really just works. Many activities won't be as fun or as comfortable to do as on the GS4, due to the iPhone 5's smaller screen, but you'll be surprised at how polished and competent this phone feels.

It all comes down to what type of user you are. Are you a geek or a tech-savvy person who demands a large screen and extreme control over their computing devices? Grab the Galaxy S4 and don't look back! Are you a user who's into technology, but values exquisite design, simplicity and fine-tuned experiences? Get an iPhone – it's still unbeatable in those areas.

While the HTC One has been selling like the proverbial hotcakes, the problem for HTC is that the Samsung Galaxy S4 is selling even better than its rival. While the former has been available since April 19th, the latter has been available from some carriers since April 27th. Even with the nearly two week head start that the HTC One had, the device has been outsold by the Samsung Galaxy S4 which also has had limited distribution. And while you might defend the numbers by saying that Verizon, the nation's largest carrier, isn't offering the HTC One, Big Red is not releasing the Galaxy S4 until the end of this month.

As for returns, a reliable source inside a Sprint store says that the HTC One has been returned because of dead pixels and blown-out speakers, although he was quick to note that it has yet to become a major problem. Still, fewer Samsung Galaxy S4 units have been brought back to the store. Another thing in favor of Korean based Samsung is the company's larger marketing budget. A new ad for the flagship model was just added to the prime time television rotation.

Introduction:

Announced at MWC 2013, which took place this February, the Nokia Lumia 720 seemed like a promising mid-range smartphone. Now that the handset has visited our office in all of its retail glory, we're eager to see if this Windows Phone junior can really be a worthy competitor to the Android horde.

So, what is it that could make the Lumia 720 feel special compared to all the good mid-end smartphones out there? Well, if you're looking for some kind of hidden feature or secret weapon, you're in for a disappointment. However, that doesn't mean the Nokia Lumia 720 isn't a remarkable device. Quite the contrary – we find it to be one of the better Windows Phones that we've ever used. Why? Well, read on and find out!
Design:

Industrial design has always been one of Nokia's stronger sides, and the wonderful Lumia 720 is yet another prove of that. This is actually one of the best Nokia designs we've seen. Unlike most other handsets by the Finns, the Lumia 720 stands out with a rather thin body at just 9 mm. It's also quite light at 128 g. Comparing this to Nokia's current flagship smartphone, the Lumia 920, the 720 is definitely the more appealing handset, because it retains the 920's strong sides like the high-quality polycarbonate and stylish appearance, but is also thinner and lighter, which makes it noticeably more comfortable to hold and use.

As you can imagine, the physical keys situated around the sides of the handset are all very well made. The are made of zirconium and have a high-quality feel to them. Pressing the keys, including the two-step camera shutter on the lower right, is flawless. And since this is Nokia, we expect the keys to be quite durable, though that will certainly depend on the way they are used.

An interesting detail about the Lumia 720 is that it's available in a bunch of colors: white, red, yellow, cyan and black. Note that only the white version is made of glossy plastic, while all the others use a matte finish, but thankfully, this particular finish feels much better than the soft-touch coating utilized by HTC's Windows Phone 8X or 8S.

Display:
If you've been hoping to find one of those fancy 1080p screens on the Lumia 720, forget about it. Since it's a mid-range model, some corners had to be cut by Nokia in order to keep the price as low as possible. At first, it might be a little disappointing to know that the resolution is just 480 x 800 pixels, but then again, we should keep in mind that it's a 4.3” display, so the quality isn't really that bad. In fact, with Windows Phone's sizable text fonts, you'll rarely be irritated by any jaggedness.

One thing we really appreciate about this ClearBlack LCD display is that it is easily visible when viewed outdoors. It's actually just as visible as the iPhone 5, which automatically propels it to one of the top spots in this category. Not too shabby for a mid-ranger, huh? What's more, viewing angles and colors are also spectacular and up there with the very best. Thinking about it, the colors might be just a bit on the warmer side, but all in all, they are quite accurate and appealing.

Another feature of this display that you won't find in any many of its competitors is the ability to use it with gloves, fingernails and other conductive objects. Obviously, this can prove to be quite useful in many different situations, so it's a feature that's definitely good to have. We can only hope that more manufacturers will start employing such kind of super-sensitive touch technology.

Interface and Functionality:

What? If you've been expecting our enthusiastic tone to continue through the Interface part as well, you're in for a small disappointment. Not because there's something wrong with the Lumia 720 itself, but because we're simply treated to the same old Windows Phone UI, which is different from the competition, but not necessarily in a good way.

The Nokia Lumia 720 runs Windows Phone 8, so you have a full home screen of differently-sized Live Tiles to enjoy. As always, the whole OS is based around a number of hubs, such as Office, Music+Video, Games, People and so on. If you haven't seen a Windows Phone device before – these hubs are basically big, advanced applications that house various functions and options of similar type.

Overall, Windows Phone 8 is an OK operating system. It gets the job done, although the assortment of third-party applications in the Store is still light-years behind those of the iOS App Store and Android Play Store, though Microsoft is making progress. The WP 8 user interface looks good in all of its simplicity and uniform layout, but we have to admit that we can hardly find anything that it does better than its competitors. Yes, it does things differently, but does that make it better than iOS or Android? No. The Live Tiles look good, but do they look better than iOS's icons or Android's widgets? Not really. In the end of the day, Windows Phone 8 is a good operating system that is still struggling to find an area where it can be better than its rivals.

Messaging:

Typing on the Lumia 720's onscreen QWERTY keyboard is a joy. Windows Phone 8 has a very convenient keyboard layout, and the phone is just the right size. Our only complaint with regards to the keyboard is that the landscape one doesn't take up the full width of the screen, which would have made typing even easier.

The Hotmail email application works very well. You can easily switch between all email, only the unread mail, flagged or urgent. We had absolutely no problems with the the setup of various types of accounts, but one thing we'd like to see Microsoft do is to come up with some form of easy switching between inboxes, because right now you either have to work with a unified inbox, or return to the homescreen and open a new inbox from there.

Processor and Memory:

The facts that the Lumia 720 is a mid-end smartphone and runs Windows Phone mean that we shouldn't expect any wonders in the specs field. Leaving any surprises for some other time, the Lumia 720 comes with a dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus chipset, clocked at 1 GHz. The GPU is the Adreno 305, while the RAM is no more or less than 512 MB. While these figures might seem scary to some Android smartphone users, we should note that the Nokia Lumia 720 runs very smoothly, without any performance issues. The handset should have no problem running the more demanding applications out there.

The handset comes with 8 GB of internal memory, which is a good amount for such a phone, but it also offers a microSD card slot for additional store.
Internet and Connectivity:

We've said it before that Internet Explorer in Windows Phone 8 is a wonderful browser. Thankfully, it continues to keep this status valid in the Nokia Lumia 720, as the handset delivers a great browsing experience. The only thing that hampers the experience here is the low resolution, which makes smaller text somewhat difficult to read. It's not such a big deal, though, and if you aren't too picky in this respect, the Lumia 720 will serve you well. Things like scrolling and zooming are executed very well with minimum delay.

Connectivity-wise, the smartphone should be able to achieve HSPA speeds of 21.1 Mbit/s down and 5.76 Mbit/s up in optimal conditions, which means that you'll never be able to reach them, but you knew that already. There are Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0 on board as well.

Camera:

The camera of the Nokia Lumia 720 is pretty weird. It's neither 5MP, nor 8MP. It's a 6.7MP shooter with an LED flash. The Windows Phone 8 camera interface takes the middle ground between the simplicity of something like iOS, and the richness of Android, for example. What this means is that there are standard settings like ISO, exposure and white balance, but don't expect anything too fancy. Of course, that could be a good or a bad thing, depending on the type of user that you are.

At first, we were pleasantly surprised by the lush colors and decent sharpness visible in the Lumia 720's photos. It was then that we noticed the crazy amount of noise in the sky, and keep in mind that the images were taken in a beautiful spring day, without a single cloud in the sky. Obviously, the 720's camera is far from perfect, but we do enjoy the photos it captures, as they have good contrast, nicely-saturated colors and decent amount of detail. Sure, there's quite a bit of noise, but that's not a deal-breaker in our opinion.

As we said, Nokia had to cut some corners, and one of them is related to the camcorder functionality, as the Lumia 720 can only record 720p video. Generally, the recorded video is OK, once again treating us to jolly colors, nice contrast and so on, though it's not the sharpest one, as you can imagine.

Multimedia:

The Lumia 720 is not the ideal phone to watch movies on, but it gets the job done. With a 4.3” WVGA display, the watching experience is by no means bad, but you might want to look for something with a bit more resolution (and size), if you plan on watching a lot of stuff.

We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the loudspeaker that the 720 is equipped with. Although it's covered by just a single, small grill on the back side, it's actually very loud, and remarkably clean, if listened to on a moderate volume setting.

Call quality:
Nokia has been doing a pretty good job when it comes to call quality with its phones, and thankfully, the Lumia 720 is not an exception. The earpiece certainly isn't the best one we've heard, but it is above average, with a decent loudness and likeable quality. The microphone is not quite as good, but it's still average at least.

As we said in the previous section, the loudspeaker is definitely one of the better ones we've heard with its loud and clear tones, so it's perfectly well-suited for conversation.

Battery:

Equipped with a 2000mAh battery, the Nokia Lumia 720 is sure last through at least two days of moderate use. If there's one advantage to Windows Phone, it's that the platform is very well optimized in terms of system resource requirements. About 13 hours of 3G talk-time or 21 days of stand-by is what the 720 should be able to deliver, which is a pretty decent result.
Conclusion:

We didn't see this one coming, but here it is – Nokia has come up with a wonderful mid-range smartphone. But don't imagine some kind of crippled experience when we say “mid-range.” The Lumia 720 is a very well-rounded smartphone with an appealing design, good camera and speakers, as well as an excellent screen. Sure the resolution can't match the HD wonders we have in premium smartphones, but it's not that bad.

The Windows Phone 8 platform is the Lumia 720's biggest weakness. The operating system isn't bad, but we're just having a bit of a hard time convincing ourselves that it has something more to offer than iOS or Android. If you don't mind it, though, we see absolutely no reason why you shouldn't pick the Lumia 720, especially when it comes at such a great price.

Nokia has covered pretty much all price points with its Lumias, with the 520 and 620 being even cheaper, but if you plan on going that way, keep in mind that you are going to get what you're paying for. We also don't encourage you to purchase the Lumia 820, because it simply lacks the finesse of the 720. Yes, it has a slightly better processor and a bit more RAM, but specs don't really matter much when real-life performance speaks otherwise.

PROS

• Likeable design
• Great screen quality
• Good battery and speaker

Introduction:

The LG Optimus L7 II is an affordable Android mid-ranger that brings a lot to the table with a spacious 4.3-inch display and a huge battery. You can also argue that a 4.3 inch device is around the perfect size for single-handed use and that also comes to its advantage.

The Optimus L7 II comes in a single (the Optimus L7 II) and dual-SIM versions (the Optimus L7 II Dual), and we have the dual-SIM one for review here.

Of course, by making this a relatively affordable device, LG had to cut some corners and in this case the cutting happened in silicon as the dual-core processor of the Optimus L7 II seems underpowered and can’t handle the load it’s given perfectly smooth.

If you don’t mind a little lag here and there, you’ll get rewarded with plenty of features and an excellent Optimus UI on top of Android Jelly Bean.

In the box:

USB wall charger
USB to microUSB cable
Headphones
User manual

Design:

The two biggest Korean phone makers, Samsung and LG, are actually very similar in their design approach. Samsung is now a name that is largely associated with plasticky feeling gadgets, and LG is walking in its footsteps. The Optimus L7 II is a representative of this uninspiring trend featuring a white or black patterned plastic back.

The build quality is fairly sturdy, though, with no screaking parts. On the front, there are four capacitive buttons that bring memories of old Androids. In this case, the fourth button is one dedicated to switching between one of the two SIM cards you can use with this device.

On the right side is the lock key, and on the left a volume rocker and the standard for LG customizable Quick button. Finally, on the back there is an 8-megapixel camera with a single LED flash.

The 4.3-inch IPS 480 x 800 pixel (WVGA) display has great viewing angles and rich, saturated colors. In terms of colors, this is one of the better displays we have seen, especially at the not so stellar price of this device. Its resolution works out to a pixel density of around 216ppi which is below the 300ppi quantifier for “retina” displays. This means that you can see slight pixelization in the icons and you need to zoom in a bit for all text to be perfectly legible.

We like the fact that you can easily adjust brightness right from the notification shade. This is welcome for the outdoors when you often need to pump up brightness for better visibility.

Interface:

The handset ships with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, one version short of the most up-to-date Android version. It’s heavily skinned, though, as companies like LG try to differentiate with their own experience on top of Android.

LG has done a good job with its Optimus UI 3.0 skin. It adds a ton of little tweaks and improvements all over Android. We’d say that the skin has this general happy-cartoony look that we for some reason associate with Asia and might feel a bit juvenile to westerners. LG has gone for the easily legible and large-sized LG SmartGothic font that also adds a bit to that. There is no denying the skin is fun and functional, though, and text is easily legible in the menus.

The fun part of it comes from the cartoony icons and rich customization options. LG includes four themes in the Optimus UI (Optimus, Biz, Cozywall and Marshmallow) that transform the visuals with not just different background but also whole new sets of icons. LG is also the only company to allow landscape orientation in the Android home screen.

The notification shade on the LG Optimus L7 II is rich in options yet not too packed with icons and toggles. It consists of a single row of side-scrollable and customizable shortcuts and a brightness level controller below it.

Like Samsung with its S apps (S Planner, S Health and so on), LG bundles its handsets with a suite of “Q apps.” The Q here stands for quick and those apps include QMemo that allows you to jot on top of what you see on your screen, QTranslator, a real-time translator that scans text using your camera, and QSlide for multitasking. All of those are neat little additions, and we especially liked QTranslator.
Dual-SIM Functionality:

The Optimus L7 II features a dual-SIM hot key, a dedicated capacitive button right on the front of the device that allows you to quickly switch between SIM cards, a decision that makes a lot of sense for those who use the function daily.

The dual-SIM functionality itself is extremely well done. There are two different color schemes throughout all of the menus indicating which SIM card is in use. For instance, by default, the primary SIM card is represented in blue, while the secondary one is magenta. This means that in text messages the send button would have the color of the active SIM card, a simple way to show which card you’re using.
The cards themselves are not hot swappable, you need to remove the battery to switch cards.

Processor and Memory

A 1GHz dual-core processor with 768MB of RAM might sound good on paper but then again this turns out to be a Cortex A5 based chip and it cannot provide enough oomph for a lag-free experience.

Stutter is way too obvious in way too many places on this device. And while we wouldn’t want to be too harsh to a mid-ranger like the Optimus L7 II and we don’t expect it to run the latest games, we do expect to get a smooth experience in the main menu and when switching between home panels. In reality, you get a slight but pretty constant stutter in almost every place – locking the screen, pulling the notification shade and navigating around the device.

Here is how this phone scores on some popular benchmarks:

The device ships with 4GB of internal storage, expandable via microSD cards of up to 32 gigs. Out of the 4 gigs, only 1.78GB are available to the user so you’d definitely want to get a card for more storage space.

Internet and Connectivity:

The LG Optimus L7 II connects to the web via 3G supporting downlink speeds of up to 7.2Mbps or Wi-Fi.

LG bundles both Google Chrome and its own Android browser in the handset and both have their own strengths. Google Chrome has brilliant cross-device syncing capabilities, and LG’s Android browser is also extremely versatile. When scrolling and zooming around pages there is a slight stutter, but the same lag is also present all through the device. Neither browser supports Flash.

In terms of connectivity, the handset also supports Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 and GPS.

Camera:

The Optimus L7 II features an 8-megapixel auto-focus camera with a single LED flash. Images we captured turned out a bit on the soft side with color burning in some areas, but generally fairly well and with sufficient amount of detail.

We have to highlight the burst shot feature that is a rarity for mid-range devices, but is here on the L7 II. It allows you to take 6 quick continuous shots – perfect for sports events or other occasions with fast moving objects.

LG’s camera interface is also really convenient. The company has gone for large, distinct icons and bundles in its Cheese shutter that fires the camera whenever you say a keyword like “Cheese” or “Smile”.

The depth of the interface would please enthusiast camera photographers too – it has ISO and white balance settings, along with scene modes and color effects.

Video recording is a bit of a disappointment, though. The camera cannot capture 720p HD video – instead video recording maxes out at 480p at 30 frames per second. Colors were mostly in check, but we noticed a few skipped frames here and there. There is also a VGA front camera, good for video conferencing and little else.

Multimedia:

The vivid 4.3-inch display is a perfect asset for video playback, and LG capitalizes on that adding DivX/Xvid support out of the box. Moreover, the video player is rich in options allowing you to stream videos via DLNA with one touch and play back videos in a separate window on top of what you are already doing (so you can say text and watch a video at the same time).

Music output is also loud and clear via the rear loudspeaker. The music player is straightforward, simple yet rich in options allowing you to browse your collection by songs, artists, albums and genres. It supports playlists and has folder view for those of you who prefer to manually play back their music from folders.

Call Quality:
Call quality is of topmost importance for a dual-SIM handset that most people buy with the notion of doing a lot of talking. Good news here is that call quality is pretty good.

The earpiece gets very loud at the maximum level and would be easy to hear in noisy environments. Turn it down a bit for maximum clarity. The microphone is also loud and clear if we had to nitpick we’d say voices sound a tiny bit sharp, but generally we’re happy with the call quality.
Battery life:

One of the biggest assets of the LG Optimus L7 II is its huge 2450mAh battery with a talks time of 12 hours and a half. It’s not like any other battery out there – LG is using SiO+ instead of the standard Lithium Ion compound.

This enhanced version of Li-Ion batteries is still researched but so far it seems the consensus is it brings a 6% improvement in capacity at the same size.

In reality, being a dual-SIM handset with bigger power draw, the Optimus L7 II needs that extra boost. It easily lasts through a day, and we’d even say for the average user it would last two days.

Conclusion:

The LG Optimus L7 II is a dual-SIM handset at heart, meant for developing markets where the feature is hugely appreciated. It arrives for a relatively affordable price of $280 off contract (280 euro in Europe), right at the start of the mid-range segment.

The handset does not lack competition from Chinese vendors which often have superior specs but none of the software polish. Samsung is also offering a decent and slightly cheaper alternative with the Galaxy S Duos, but it runs on the dated Android ICS and has an inferior camera.

After spending a few days with the device, it is easy to like it for its just-right-size 4.3-inch screen, great dual-SIM implementation and battery, as well as for its nice and functional Optimus skin. We wish LG had nailed the performance side better – the device simply feels underpowered right now, and lag throughout the menus spoils the otherwise good impressions. If you don’t mind that constant slowdown, though, the Optimus L7 II might be just the right device.

PROS

• Awesome interface
• Great dual-SIM implementation
• Vivid display
• Convenient for single handed use
• Enormous battery
• Great longevity

Introduction:

Making a radical impact on today's smartphone market is no easy task, but Sony is hoping to succeed by taking a slightly different approach than its rivals. While most manufacturers have their time and resources focused on a single high-end device, the Japanese tech giant is delivering its one-two punch in the form of the slim and shiny Sony Xperia Z and its less fabulous and non-water-resistant, but (presumably) less expensive Sony Xperia ZL.

On paper, the Sony Xperia ZL is very similar to its fashionable cousin. It is equipped with a 5-inch, 1080p screen, powerful quad-core processor, 13MP camera, and LTE connectivity – factors that land it right into the high-end category. The Sony Xperia ZL, however, is being advertised as more compact than its competitors while its battery has a slightly bigger capacity than the one inside the Xperia Z.

But the competition on the smartphone battlefield is nothing short of fierce. It usually takes far more than just specs to turn a flagship into a bestseller – outstanding features, well-executed software, and attractive design are pretty much mandatory traits. Does the Sony Xperia ZL have any of that? Well, it is time to take it for a spin and find out!

In the box:
Wall charger
microUSB cable
MH-EX300AP wired headset with extra ear gels
User guide and other papers

Design:

If we had to describe the Sony Xperia ZL using one single word, that would be “boring”. Sure, the smartphone has adopted some visual cues from its sleeker cousin – the Xperia Z, but it is thicker and far less appealing with all that matte plastic used in its construction. As a result, the Xperia ZL simply lacks that “wow” factor we've come to expect from top-of-the-line smartphones nowadays.

Something that the Sony Xperia ZL is supposed to stand out with is its small footprint. Looking at numbers alone, it should be one of the most compact 5-inch smartphones in existence, with over three quarters of its front side occupied by its large screen – an impressive technical achievement that must be noted. But in reality, the difference between holding the ZL and one of its 5-inch rivals is not as striking as Sony wants you to think. Actually, using the Sony Xperia ZL would have been much more enjoyable if its corners weren't so pointy. And yes, it is still uncomfortable to operate using one hand only, but that's a common trait for all phones of that size.

On the bright side of things, we're extremely pleased with how much grip the textured, soft touch back plate provides. What's more is that absolutely no fingerprints stick to the back so it looks clean and pristine pretty much all of the time. The physical buttons are another detail executed flawlessly – they are all exposed well and easy to access, while the camera shutter key isn't prone to accidental presses.

Display:

Just like many other high-end Androids, the Sony Xperia ZL comes with a 5-inch display offering an outstanding resolution of 1080 by 1920 pixels. The high pixel count is undoubtedly the most awesome thing about the smartphone's screen as the level of detail it provides is superb – even the finest lines of text are always sharp, while graphics are extremely smooth and pleasant to look at.

Using the Sony Xperia ZL on a bright, sunny day isn't much of a problem once the screen sets its brightness up to the maximum. The device's outdoor visibility is comparable to that of other high-end handsets available today.

Sadly, the display's viewing angles are far from impressive. Tilting the phone to the side results in a drastic color degradation and loss of contrast. Speaking of contrast, that's another thing that the screen could have had more of. Well, actually the Mobile BRAVIA 2 engine improves image quality a bit, but the feature is active only when viewing photos and videos in the gallery or the video player.

Interface and functionality:

Android 4.1.2 comes running out of the box on the Sony Xperia ZL. This may not be the most up-to-date version of the operating system, but it's fairly recent so we'll take the handset as it is. Eventually, the ZL will get updated to Android version 4.2, but a specific date has yet to be announced.

As the case is with Sony's other Android handsets, the platform's UI has been heavily modified both in terms of appearance and functionality. And to tell you the truth, we're happy with what Sony has done to it. Unlike most Android devices from other makers, the Xperia ZL comes with several themes pre-loaded, differing by accent color and set of wallpapers used for the lock and home screens. Speaking of wallpapers, it is nice to see that there's over a dozen of them thrown in to match your mood and taste.

Overall, the user interface is very pretty, but it's also quite practical. For example, the selection of so-called “small apps” is a handy addition – think of them as simple applications that run in a small window of their own, hovering above the UI. These include a timer, calculator, notes, voice recorder, and an app that lets you use the phone's built-in infrared blaster – not a whole lot, but more of them can be downloaded for free from the Play Store.

When it comes to widgets, you get the usual set included with Android 4.1, but a few handy tools by Sony have also been thrown in. Among them is a widget for easy access to contacts you've recently called, a couple of social networking widgets, toggle buttons for a number of the phone's functions, and a notes widget.

The only thing we can't get over is the glitchy lock screen. If your swipe is too slow, then the screen won't even bother to unlock itself, which can be very frustrating.

We have no complaints whatsoever about the on-screen keyboard. In fact, we have to give Sony a thumbs up for adding a keyboard that is so smart and customizable. The user is free to tweak its layout and skin, while the list of additional languages for typing is very long indeed. And yes, with its large, easy to press buttons and built-in word prediction that “speaks” multiple languages, typing on the virtual keyboard is an effortless task.

Software:

Socialife is an app present on the Xperia ZL, provided courtesy of Sony. Think of it as a hub that aggregates your social networking feeds under one roof. Of course, Facebook and Twitter are supported, but you can also add YouTube and Google Reader subscriptions to the list. The app may come in handy for heavy social networking users, but its visual presentation leaves room for improvement.

With the Remote Control application you can use the built-in IR blaster to control a TV, set-top box, or home theater system. As you might expect, we gave it a try and we were pleased by how easy the app is to set up and use.

Sony Car is the app you'll need if you ever intend to use the Xperia ZL while driving (even though you probably shouldn't). Basically, it serves as an interface with large, easy-to-press buttons, providing shortcuts to apps you might need, such as the GPS navigation or the music player.

Performance and memory:

With a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro SoC running at 1.5GHz, the Sony Xperia ZL sure has the raw processing power to be a flawlessly performing smartphone. And to no surprise, the benchmark scores we got with it were nothing short of impressive. 3D games – even the most demanding available on Android, run smoothly despite the screen's high resolution. Apps launch instantly and switching between them happens in the blink of an eye thanks to the 2GB of RAM that are on board. Choppiness is a very rare event on the Sony Xperia ZL, occurring only if there's something going on in the background or if there are a gazillion widgets loaded on all its home screens, so if perfomance is what you value the most, chances are that you won't be disappointed.

There are 11.73GB available to the user out of the phone's 16GB of storage, which is not bad, but nothing out of the ordinary. If you intend to carry a lot of media on your Sony Xperia ZL – photos, videos, music and such, then sooner or later you'll have to expand the phone's storage capacity using a microSD card.

Internet browser and connectivity:

Surfing the web using the Sony Xperia ZL is a pleasure not only because the Chrome browser has no troubles rendering even the heaviest of web sites, but also because there's a large screen to view entire web pages on, and its high resolution means you'll be able to read even the smallest of fonts. Since this is Chrome we're working with, our desktop bookmarks and opened pages are accessible on the phone, and vice versa.

As far as connectivity goes, there seems to be nothing missing. Both LTE and HSPA+ networks are supported, in addition to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and NFC. There's even an FM Radio included – a feature sometimes overlooked on high-end smartphones nowadays.

Camera:

The Xperia ZL is outfitted with the best smartphone camera module Sony has to offer – the 13-megapixel Exmor RS with short start-up times and rapid burst mode. In fact, the camera needs less than 2 seconds to take a shot even from the lock screen – just hold down the dedicated shutter key and aim. Alternatively, this button can be set to only launch the camera interface instead of immediately taking a picture.

Speaking of the camera interface, we like it for the numerous shooting modes, image filters and settings it allows us to set. What we don't quite like, on the other hand, is that the so-called “Superior Auto Intelligent” mode can be unpredictable and downright twitchy at times, although it usually produces very good results. Novice users will most likely be better off sticking to it, while experienced photographers might want to switch to the Normal mode.

We took a bunch of daytime shots with our Sony Xperia ZL and they all looked great – not perfect, but well worthy of being printed out and hung on a wall. We do have a few complaints, one of them being the camera's tendency to smear fine details and the other being those weird purple shadows produced around edges, but unless photos are being viewed at 100% zoom, these imperfections aren't bothersome at all. Indoor photos look a bit less impressive as their colors are somewhat inaccurate, but at least the LED flash is capable of providing a decent amount of illumination.

Videos are captured in great detail – all the way up to 1080p resolution. They are very smooth, generally free of digital noise, and with clear stereo sound. To make videos look better in tricky lighting situations, the camera offers HDR video mode for capturing a broader fraction of the dynamics range.

As awkward as it may seem, the front-facing camera is located in the lower right corner of the smartphone's front. As a result, the user appears as if they are watched from below during video calls, not to mention that fingers can easily obstruct the camera's field of view by accident.
Multimedia:

Sony has ditched the stock Android gallery and replaced it with one of its own called Album. And it's a great one indeed – with thumbnails that can be resized and photo being grouped by date taken. Photos and videos can be shared with other devices over Wi-Fi straight from the Album app.

The Sony Xperia ZL comes with the Walkman application, which is probably one of the nicest stock music players we've tried recently. Its interface is organized in a simple yet practical manner and it is loaded with all necessities, such as the lock screen controls and home screen widget. What's more is that it can automatically download music information and album art, in case it is missing. And if that's not enough, there's a ton of audio enhancements, such as an equalizer, bass booster, virtual surround, stereo enhancer, normalizer, and the xLOUD option, which considerably boosts the volume of the built-in speaker.

Call quality:
Regular phone calls made using the Sony Xperia ZL are of average quality. Voices are sufficiently loud both through the earpiece and on the other side of the line, but for some reason, the sound is also a tad muffled on both ends. At least the secondary microphone does a good job at obliterating background noises.

Battery:

With its 2370mAh battery, the Sony Xperia ZL can deliver 10 hours of continuous talk time or 500 hours of stand-by – figures that other handsets can top, but still a decent result nonetheless. The battery's longevity can be extended with the built-in Stamina mode, which disables the phone's power-hungry features whenever they aren't needed. Note that the smartphone's battery is sealed and cannot be swapped if required.

Conclusion:

If the Sony Xperia Z was Batman, then the Sony Xperia ZL would be Robin – a less exciting sidekick, yet a superhero nonetheless. At first we were a bit underwhelmed by the latter's lack of visual appeal, but the more we used it, the more we got used to its peculiarities, so we eventually grew quite fond of Sony's new device.

Note that the Sony Xperia ZL is not a smartphone for those who value fashion over functionality. Rather, it is a capable multimedia device meant to be used extensively, not admired behind a glass window. It delivers nearly flawless performance with its powerful, quad-core processor, while its 13MP will capture those precious moments in great clarity.

Of course, checking out some of the Sony Xperia ZL alternatives before actually getting one would be a wise move. The first one that comes to mind is the Xperia Z, which is just as capable, but it is better looking and resistant to water damage. An even better, but a tad pricier choice would be the Samsung Galaxy S4, which is currently one of the best smartphones money can buy. If you're a fan of premium materials, then HTC One is the handset to try, although you'll have to settle with a slightly smaller screen.

PROS

Fast quad-core processor delivers great performance
Camera launches fast even from lock screen
IR blaster
CONS

Boring design
Awkward front-facing camera placement
Sharp corners make it feel less compact than it is

Introduction:

The Samsung Galaxy Young Duos is at the bottom low end of the Android spectrum – an extremely affordable device that offers the functionality of a smartphone without such bells and whistles like a premium display, good camera and ultra-fast processor.

Now that we know all the things it’s not, it’s worth pointing out what the Galaxy Young comes with, and that’s a 3.3-inch screen, a 1GHz processor and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. It’s also much more compact than the current crop of high-end devices, and comes with the benefit of dual SIM card support to lower your monthly bill.

But how does it stack up against the rampant competition on Android and other smartphones? We’re about to find out.
Design:

The Galaxy Young is a compact little youngster. A typical Samsung device, it’s of course made of plastic. It fits comfortably in the hand with its rounded edges and has a surprisingly solid build and feel given its light weight of just 4 ounces (112 g). It’s a chubby little thing measuring 0.49 inches (12.5mm) but while that would be a huge disadvantage for a larger device, for the compact Galaxy Young it’s not much of a drawback. The handset comes in three colors. There is a white, metallic silver, wine red and a deep blue version.

When it comes to buttons, the layout is again standard for a Samsung phone – a big elongated home key in the center and two capacitive keys (back and menu) around it. On the right hand side is the lock key and on the left is the volume rocker. The device charges via a microUSB port on the bottom and the headset jack is on top.

Screen:
The Galaxy Young features a 3.3-inch LCD display with a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels. That works out to a low pixel density of 176ppi and hence – noticeable pixelization. The resolution might seem low – and it is – but it’s a step up from last year’s low-end Androids featuring an even worse 240 x 320 pixel screens.

The display supports only 262k colors and you’d notice this when looking at borders between contrasting colors that do not flow smoothly. Viewing angles are also pretty narrow and the screen washes out at an angle. All of this makes along with the reflectance of the display makes it far from ideal for outdoor use.

The handset does not support automatic screen brightness setting. Luckily, Samsung’s TouchWiz skin makes it easy to change the screen brightness level from the notification pull-down.

Interface and Functionality:

Good news is the Samsung Galaxy Young features a fresh flavor of Android and that is 4.1 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz Nature UX on top. The TouchWiz Nature UX is a smooth and functional skin adding more usability to stock Android. Little things like creating folders in the app drawer and attaching your location in text messages are just two of the novel features in Samsung’s new skin.

When it comes to the contacts book and basic functionality with the TouchWiz UI you can just swipe a contact’s name to the right to directly call, or swipe to the left to send a text message, which is convenient.

Dual-SIM card support on this device allows you to easily lower your monthly bill by using two SIM cards for data and calls and with Android you can select which card to use as the default for say data usage and calls.

Functionality is also boosted by the presence of Google Now, with all blows and whistles of the smart card-based notification system like automatically notifying you about the route home, recent games of your favorite sports team and so on.

Processor and Storage:

With a single-core 1GHz Cortex A5 processor and 768MB of RAM, the Galaxy Young can hardly impress anyone, but what it can achieve is a mostly smooth performance. We’re saying mostly because the experience is not flawless – there is a stutter every now and then.

Internal storage is set at 4GB of which less than 2GB are available to the user. Luckily, you can expand storage via microSD cards of up to 64 gigs.

The LG Optimus F5 offers some of the proprietary LG features seen on higher priced models like the LG Optimus G Pro. Chief among them is QSlide, which lets you use two apps at once by making one transparent and the other one solid. Using the bar slide, you can change which app is appearing solid and which one is 'see-through'. You can use Live Zooming to zoom into any specific part of a video. With VideoWiz you can be the director of video taken with the handset's camera by adding sound and music straight from the phone, along with other enhancements. And QTranslator lets you snap a picture of text in a foreign language and have the words, sentences and phrases translated. The feature accepts 44 different languages and translates them into one of 64 languages.

No word was mentioned as to price, but we should have some updated info on that as soon as Monday.

Introduction:

Mobile gaming is increasingly becoming fierce as traditional gamers are making their smartphones as their gaming console of choice. Obviously, most of the current titles for mobile have been optimized for touch, but as some hardcore gamers can attest, sometimes they don’t quite provide the same level of enjoyment and control – even more when touch controls occupy the majority of on-screen space. Well, here comes the Bluetooth enabled Moga Pro to the rescue, as it intends to give us mobile games that console like experience with its ripe control and ideal button layout

Design:

No need to agonize over the cramped confines of your smartphone’s display, mainly because the Moga Pro is a console quality controller. Yes, you heard right folks, it’s a gamepad that’s ideal for all of our gaming requirements. Looking at it, one can’t help but think about some of the distinct console controllers out there – like the XBOX 360 and PS3 ones. In fact, it looks and feels like the PS3 controller, but its control layout takes its cues from the XBOX 360 one. Surprisingly, it’s extremely comfortable to hold and use over an extended amount of time, as its plastic body helps to minimize its overall weight. Indeed, it might seem hollow, but its construction seems solid to endure some of the punishment we sometimes give our gamepads over frustration in playing a game.

Armed with dual-analog sticks for precise controls, they have a solid amount of resistance as we move them around – while at the same time, they’re outfitted with a rubbery soft touch feel to give our thumbs a good grip. With the directional pad, we can’t complain too much about it, since it’s raised and responsive too. Rounding things out on its façade, we have four circular sized action buttons that have a fair amount of travel, but even better, they have some backlighting so we’re able to see them even in the dark – albeit, it’s activated by pressing the recessed button on its underside.

Around its shoulders, we have two analog triggers and two shoulder buttons – just like the XBOX 360 gamepad. Smacked in between them, is the Moga Pro’s microUSB port to charge its internal battery. Now, the unique aspect of the Moga Pro is uncovered as we lift the central front panel, which introduces us to the adjustable Moga Arm. Essentially, we’re able to place our smartphones in it, which is nice and all, but it’s wonderful because it firmly keeps it in place as well. Naturally, we can use the Moga Pro independently if want by using the included stand, which can accommodate tablets.

Overall, this is without a doubt the best designed gamepad we’ve seen thus far for mobile. Heck, it’s nearly identical to the ones used by traditional consoles, so that we’re quickly able to adapt and use it comfortably with a bunch of games right out of the box.

Performance:

Testing out the Moga Pro with a handful of games that include modern 3D titles such as Dead Trigger, SG:DeadZone, N.O.V.A. 3, and Vendetta Online, we’ll be the first ones to vouch its undeniable usefulness. Instead of using those pesky touch controls, which clutters up what we can see on screen, the Moga Pro frees things up – giving us enough real estate to enjoy the action on our smartphone’s display. For first person shooters, the Moga Pro shows its worth as we’re able to rely on the dual-analog sticks for precise controls. To tell you the truth folks, first person shooters benefit most using the Moga Pro, as one analog stick controls our movement, while the other lets us rotate our view. Even better, the various main buttons, shoulder buttons, and analog triggers help to keep it simple and clutter-free most of all!

Conversely, the Moga Pro also works well with old school games – such as PAC-MAN, R-TYPE, and Another World. Yet again, it’s the benefit of having that uncluttered view with the interface that really proves to us the timely worth of having a gamepad.

In order to make the most out of the Moga Pro, you’ll need to check out the optimized games that are recommended by the Moga Pivot App. There’s a switch hidden under the Moga Arm, which allows us to place it in either off, A, or B modes. Placing it in A mode enables us to use the Moga Pro with the handful of titles that have been optimized by the developers – whereas B modes places it into the Human Interface Device (HID) profile. Using this particular mode broadens the Moga Pro’s worth to other gaming titles that haven’t been necessarily optimized to make use out of the gamepad. Sure, there are some challenges in getting it to work on other titles outside of the ones mentioned in the Moga Pivot App, but it’s nonetheless possible.

We’ve always dreamed about transforming our smartphones and tablets into home gaming consoles, especially when they have the hardware and growing ecosystem to appease hardcore gamers. Well, the Moga Pro does just that because we’re able to connect to a Samsung Galaxy S III through Bluetooth, which is connected to an HDTV via an MHL adapter. With this specific setup, we’re able to sit back on the sofa and enjoy everything on the big screen – though, the only issue that we find is with latency. Specifically, we notice delays in registering our controls from the Moga Pro, which isn’t surprising considering it’s something we expect with an MHL connection to the television set.

Battery:

Battery life is superb with this thing, considering that we’ve gone well over 10 hours of game play without having to charge it. And considering that this is super lightweight, it impresses us that we’re to get a fair amount of game time with it. However, it would’ve been nice if there were some kind of indicator built into the Moga Pro, to allow us to visually see how much juice is left. Regardless of that, there are no concerns about much else

Conclusion:

Absolutely something that’ll surely keep hardened gamers content, the Moga Pro is affordable enough to own at $50 a pop. Sure, it’s slightly higher than some of the console gamepads out there, but considering the benefits that we get out of it in the mobile front, it’s a cost that we believe is justified in more ways than none. For starters, this is the gamepad that we’ve been waiting for – it’s lightweight, has great battery life, and most of all, it gives us an uncluttered experience with our mobile games. On top of all of that, the control scheme is familiar to what we’re used to having on a traditional console, so there’s very little adjustment needed in getting comfy with it. Ultimately, if you’ve agonized over touch controls on several titles, you’ll be ecstatic that it’s going to be a thing of the past once you start using the Moga Pro. So if you’re serious about gaming, don’t hesitate to pick up this essential piece of gear! You won’t be disappointed because it moves mobile gaming towards the correct direction

The Z10 is BlackBerry's first fully touchscreen smartphone – it has no physical keys or buttons for navigation. Great news for anyone who, like me, could never get on with the tiny keys of the iconic physical Qwerty keyboard associated with BlackBerrys. It means that BlackBerry has made a phone which is in direct competition with the iPhone, Android devices and Windows Phone handsets.
The overall design of the Z10 is clean and simple; it closely resembles the iPhone 5 with straight edges and rounded corners. The front looks almost exactly like the back of the iPhone 5 but with a screen while the rear looks like a plastic version of the iPhone.

The Z10's rear cover is slightly rounded at the edges making it more forgiving and comfortable in the hand than the iPhone. The rubbery texture made up of tiny dimples is very similar to that of the Nexus 7.
Unlike other smartphones on the market there are no physical, or even touch sensitive, buttons on the front of the Z10. All navigation is done with gestures on the touchscreen. There is a power button on top, while volume and mute buttons reside on the right hand side.
It's slightly bigger in size at 66x130mm and we measured the Z10 at a pretty slim 9.2mm. The handset is nice and light at 135g.
The Z10 really is the BlackBerry iPhone. It comes in black or white colours.

BlackBerry Z10: Build quality

For a phone that will cost you from around £36 per month on a contract we're not overly impressed by the build quality of the Z10. With a predominantly plastic chassis the phone just has a distinctly cheap feel. We don't like the fact the rear cover is thin and flimsy, even if it does save a few grams of weight.
Furthermore, if you give the Z10 a light tap numerous internal parts give a rattling sound which doesn't exactly shout 'fine engineering'.
This would be something understandable for a budget Android smartphone but we're dealing with BlackBerry's flagship model which has to compete with the best models on the market.
The Z10 lacks the premium feel which a flagship device simply has to deliver.

BlackBerry Z10: Hardware and performance

BlackBerry has opted for a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 2GB of RAM for the Z10's engine room. The dual-core chip might sound very mid-range since most top end smartphones have a quad-core processor plus there are 8-core chips on the horizon.
We don't see this as a problem, though, as long as it can cope with what is thrown at it then all is well. In our time with Z10 this does seem to be the case. The BlackBerry 10 operating system is nippy and shows no signs of lag. We'll talk more about the OS in the software section.
Browsing the web is particularly speedy, as BlackBerry said it would be. The relatively slow result of 1710ms in the SunSpider JavaScript test doesn't reflect the browser's performance. It wasn’t flawless though as we experienced some glitchy grey areas when double tapping to zoom on the PC Advisor website.
There's no obvious support for Flash – as default it's turned off in the settings with no indication it's there at all. There's a dedicated BBC iPlayer app in the BlackBerry World app store but this simply opens the browser.

At 4.2in the screen on the BlackBerry Z10 is quite small when you compare it to the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the wave of 5in and larger handsets which will be coming out this year. The size hasn't bothered us so far; it's big enough to comfortably browse the web, use apps and watch video content.
The screen size coupled with the resolution of 768×1280 gives the BlackBerry Z10 the highest pixel density of a phone we've reviewed. At 355ppi it beats the Nokia Lumia 920, iPhone 5, HTC Windows Phone 8X and Sony Xperia S. However, there are Full HD smartphones on their way this year which will ellipse this figure.
It's hard to find fault with the BlackBerry Z10's screen. At 355ppi it's not really a surprise that text and images look crisp and clear. Colours are vibrant, contrast is good and there's plenty of brightness should you need it. Our main concern is how quickly the display gets dirty with finger print marks, there's clearly no kind of oleophobic coating on the Z10.
There's only one model of the Z10 so you'll have to be ok with 16GB of internal storage. Unfortunately, before you even go downloading some apps, adding music and taking some snaps, a total of 4GB, a quarter of the storage is already used up by the BlackBerry 10 operating system.
Luckily there is a microSD card slot which accepts up to 64GB cards so this situation can at least be improved, albeit at an extra cost.
Most smartphones just have a microUSB slot and headphone port now but the Z10 has an additional Micro HDMI port – handy if you like connecting your phone to a larger display. Inside there is dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and NFC which is what we've come to expect from a high-end smartphone.
The Z10 also supports 4G LTE mobile networks. So even if you don't want to use EE, still the UK's only 4G network, the Z10 will be compatible when others are rolled out. However, we've noticed that the 800MHz spectrum (one of the two frequencies being auctioned in the UK currently) isn't supported which could cause problems.

BlackBerry Z10: Cameras

The Z10's main camera is 8Mp with an LED flash, BSI (back side illumination), a dedicated ISP (image signal processor) and a F2.2 lens. The rear camera can record video in up to Full HD 1080p quality.
So far our photos seem alright, but nothing more. You can select anywhere on the touchscreen to focus and then take a picture. The Z10 has a mind of its own with this method but fortunately you can use either volume button to operate the shutter. Here's a sample image from the Z10 (click to enlarge).

There are much higher quality cameras available on the market; the iPhone 5 and Nokia Lumia 920 are two that spring to mind.
The main show off feature of the Z10's camera is Time Shift. By taking numerous snaps in one go, you can adjust the whole image or individual elements like someone's face. It's a nice feature but don't be fooled into thinking it's new; the Nokia Lumia smartphones have a similar thing called Smart Shoot.
We like the editing software built in to BlackBerry 10 which allows you comprehensively edit and tweak your pictures. You can crop, rotate, adjust settings like white balance and add Instagram-style filters and borders.
We tested out the front facing 2Mp camera by having a video chat in BBM Video (a new feature of BlackBerry 10). The camera shoots video in 720p quality and we thought it looked pretty good.
BlackBerry Z10: Software

The Z10 is the first smartphone to launch with the all new BlackBerry 10 operating system. The firm decided to build a new OS rather than adopt a third party one such as Android or Windows Phone.
As we mentioned earlier, the Z10 has no physical buttons or touch sensitive soft keys for navigation so everything is done with gestures. Depending on your previous experience this can be a bit baffling.
BlackBerry 10 has quite a lot in common with the PlayBook OS; navigation is similar but the layout is different since the screen is portrait. We found it a little confusing at first but it really doesn't take long to learn the gestures and get acquainted with where everything is.
There is a main home screen which is blank until you launch an app. Once you have, open apps are shown in small windows with four on the screen at any one time with the most recent at the top. We would have like a way to rearrange the windows or pin favourites so they don't move off the screen.
Tapping an app opens it and swiping upwards from the bottom of the screen navigates back to the home screen. Apps always remain running unless you hit the small X button to close them.
A traditional app menu sits to the right of the main home screen so is only a swipe away. Swiping from the top of the screen brings up phone settings or options if you have an app open.

Last but not least is the BlackBerry Hub which sits to the left of the main home screen. This is an all-in-one inbox and notification centre for all your accounts – email, text messages, calls, voicemail, BBM and social networks. It shows everything in one feed but you can select individual accounts if that gets too confusing.

In BlackBerry 10 you're never far away from the Hub, and we like that. Swiping from the bottom of the screen minimises what you have open and shows you notifications on the left – the number of new emails for example. You can then choose whether to open the Hub by swiping to the right, swipe back down to return you your app or go straight up to head to the home screen.

Another big feature of BlackBerry 10 is the keyboard. The more you use it the better it can predict which words you need to construct your sentence. Suggested words are spread across the keyboard and choosing one involves flicking it upwards with a satisfying swipe. So far we really like it.

BlackBerry World is the new name for the app store and at launch it has 70,000 apps to choose from, according to the firm. There are also games, music and movies on offer while magazines are available from the BlackBerry Newsstand.

The Z10 has apps like Facebook and Twitter pre-installed but there are some big names missing from BlackBerry World. Amazon Kindle, Skype, National Rail and Whatsapp are just a few although BlackBerry says many of the top names are 'committed' to getting apps onto the store.

It still seems that developers very much prioritise the Android Google Play Store and the iOS App Store, and we can't blame them.

Overall we like BlackBerry 10, after a short amount of time getting used to it, it's very easy and simple to use. Although there we've not seen any lag yet the slow animation time on transitions can give a sense of lag.

BlackBerry 10 is good, however it doesn't go beyond what is already available in the form of iOS and Android. It has merely caught up and presented similar features in an alternative way.

For a more detailed look at BlackBerry's new operating system take a look at our BlackBerry 10 review.

BlackBerry Z10: Battery

The BlackBerry Z10 has a removable battery pack with a capacity of 6.7Wh (1800mAh), lower than most. BlackBerry says it will last up to 13 days on standby and 10 hours talk time.

We got about what we expected from the Z10 which was no more than a day of battery life. It's a shame that it’s a smartphone that you'll have to charge every night, many of the top smartphones last a couple of days. We were hoping it might be an area where BlackBerry could offer something more.

The design and build quality of the Z10 just makes it seem like a cheap plastic iPhone to us. Hardware is reasonable with the screen being the stand out feature and the BlackBerry 10 software makes this the most attractive BlackBerry smartphone to date. However, given the price, the iPhone or a decent Android handset is still a preferable option.

MSI’s marketing materials waffle on about the CX61’s ‘tapering silhouette… evocative of F1 racers’. But, with its built-in Blu-ray Disc drive, the MSI CX61 measures a chunky 38mm thick and weighs a hefty 2.5kg. This is not a laptop that you’re going to casually sling over your shoulder in a backpack every day.

That said, the weight wasn’t unusual until recently for a model with a 15.6in screen. And the display of the MSI CX61 is one of its stronger features, providing a bright, sharp image with full-HD 1920 x 1080 pixel count.

It also has a welcome anti-glare coating and a wide viewing angle that will work well for watching video at home or running PowerPoint presentations in the office.

The speakers are a cut above average too – there’s a metallic twang on higher frequencies, but the bass is enough to add a welcome firmness to the overall sound quality.

We must take MSI to task for its keyboard and trackpad design. The keyboard feels solid enough, with plenty of travel on the keys and room for a separate, full-size numeric keypad. However, the single Windows key is located to the right of the Space bar, which some people may find hard to get used to.

Aa set of cursor keys are squeezed onto the right-hand side of the keyboard, with the end result being an off-centre Space bar, leaning noticeably more to the left of the keyboard.

The trackpad is rather small – just 75 x 45mm – with two narrow buttons beneath it. Less nimble-fingered users may not find the MSI CX61’s ergonomics at all to their liking.

Originally launched last summer, this latest version of the CX61 steps up from a dual-core Intel Core i5 processor to a quad-core Core i7-3630QM running at 2.4GHz, along with 8GB memory, 1TB hard disk, and an nVidia GT 645M graphics card in addition to the standard Intel integrated HD 4000.

That comes in at a reasonable £700, and you can cut that to £612.00 if you’re happy to settle for a DVD drive.

The 5400rpm hard drive lets the side down a bit, contributing to an unremarkable score of 3046 points when running the PCMark 7 benchmark.

You also notice the speed of the drive when booting the MSI CX61 0NF. It boots into the Windows 8 Start screen in just 15 seconds, but takes another 30 seconds or so to gather its thoughts and properly launch any other application. Once it’s got its act together, that Core i7 processor provides enough power to handle a wide range of applications, including demanding photo- or video editing.

It can also handle a spot of casual gaming too. Running Batman: Arkham City at 1920 x 1080 was a struggle, but dropped to 1280 x 720 pixels we got 25fps on High graphics settings, and 35fps on Low.

The cooling fan kicks out some warm air when using the nVidia graphics during gaming sessions, but wasn’t loud enough to be annoying or obtrusive over the Batman soundtrack.

Battery life isn’t great – just three hours of streaming video when using best-case integrated graphics in power-saving mode.

Mobile gaming is increasingly becoming fierce as traditional gamers are making their smartphones as their gaming console of choice. Obviously, most of the current titles for mobile have been optimized for touch, but as some hardcore gamers can attest, sometimes they don’t quite provide the same level of enjoyment and control – even more when touch controls occupy the majority of on-screen space. Well, here comes the Bluetooth enabled Moga Pro to the rescue, as it intends to give us mobile games that console like experience with its ripe control and ideal button layout.

Design:

No need to agonize over the cramped confines of your smartphone’s display, mainly because the Moga Pro is a console quality controller. Yes, you heard right folks, it’s a gamepad that’s ideal for all of our gaming requirements. Looking at it, one can’t help but think about some of the distinct console controllers out there – like the XBOX 360 and PS3 ones. In fact, it looks and feels like the PS3 controller, but its control layout takes its cues from the XBOX 360 one. Surprisingly, it’s extremely comfortable to hold and use over an extended amount of time, as its plastic body helps to minimize its overall weight. Indeed, it might seem hollow, but its construction seems solid to endure some of the punishment we sometimes give our gamepads over frustration in playing a game.

Armed with dual-analog sticks for precise controls, they have a solid amount of resistance as we move them around – while at the same time, they’re outfitted with a rubbery soft touch feel to give our thumbs a good grip. With the directional pad, we can’t complain too much about it, since it’s raised and responsive too. Rounding things out on its façade, we have four circular sized action buttons that have a fair amount of travel, but even better, they have some backlighting so we’re able to see them even in the dark – albeit, it’s activated by pressing the recessed button on its underside.

Around its shoulders, we have two analog triggers and two shoulder buttons – just like the XBOX 360 gamepad. Smacked in between them, is the Moga Pro’s microUSB port to charge its internal battery. Now, the unique aspect of the Moga Pro is uncovered as we lift the central front panel, which introduces us to the adjustable Moga Arm. Essentially, we’re able to place our smartphones in it, which is nice and all, but it’s wonderful because it firmly keeps it in place as well. Naturally, we can use the Moga Pro independently if want by using the included stand, which can accommodate tablets.

Overall, this is without a doubt the best designed gamepad we’ve seen thus far for mobile. Heck, it’s nearly identical to the ones used by traditional consoles, so that we’re quickly able to adapt and use it comfortably with a bunch of games right out of the box.

Performance:

Testing out the Moga Pro with a handful of games that include modern 3D titles such as Dead Trigger, SG:DeadZone, N.O.V.A. 3, and Vendetta Online, we’ll be the first ones to vouch its undeniable usefulness. Instead of using those pesky touch controls, which clutters up what we can see on screen, the Moga Pro frees things up – giving us enough real estate to enjoy the action on our smartphone’s display. For first person shooters, the Moga Pro shows its worth as we’re able to rely on the dual-analog sticks for precise controls. To tell you the truth folks, first person shooters benefit most using the Moga Pro, as one analog stick controls our movement, while the other lets us rotate our view. Even better, the various main buttons, shoulder buttons, and analog triggers help to keep it simple and clutter-free most of all!

Conversely, the Moga Pro also works well with old school games – such as PAC-MAN, R-TYPE, and Another World. Yet again, it’s the benefit of having that uncluttered view with the interface that really proves to us the timely worth of having a gamepad.

In order to make the most out of the Moga Pro, you’ll need to check out the optimized games that are recommended by the Moga Pivot App. There’s a switch hidden under the Moga Arm, which allows us to place it in either off, A, or B modes. Placing it in A mode enables us to use the Moga Pro with the handful of titles that have been optimized by the developers – whereas B modes places it into the Human Interface Device (HID) profile. Using this particular mode broadens the Moga Pro’s worth to other gaming titles that haven’t been necessarily optimized to make use out of the gamepad. Sure, there are some challenges in getting it to work on other titles outside of the ones mentioned in the Moga Pivot App, but it’s nonetheless possible.

We’ve always dreamed about transforming our smartphones and tablets into home gaming consoles, especially when they have the hardware and growing ecosystem to appease hardcore gamers. Well, the Moga Pro does just that because we’re able to connect to a Samsung Galaxy S III through Bluetooth, which is connected to an HDTV via an MHL adapter. With this specific setup, we’re able to sit back on the sofa and enjoy everything on the big screen – though, the only issue that we find is with latency. Specifically, we notice delays in registering our controls from the Moga Pro, which isn’t surprising considering it’s something we expect with an MHL connection to the television set.

Battery:

Battery life is superb with this thing, considering that we’ve gone well over 10 hours of game play without having to charge it. And considering that this is super lightweight, it impresses us that we’re to get a fair amount of game time with it. However, it would’ve been nice if there were some kind of indicator built into the Moga Pro, to allow us to visually see how much juice is left. Regardless of that, there are no concerns about much else.

Conclusion:

Absolutely something that’ll surely keep hardened gamers content, the Moga Pro is affordable enough to own at $50 a pop. Sure, it’s slightly higher than some of the console gamepads out there, but considering the benefits that we get out of it in the mobile front, it’s a cost that we believe is justified in more ways than none. For starters, this is the gamepad that we’ve been waiting for – it’s lightweight, has great battery life, and most of all, it gives us an uncluttered experience with our mobile games. On top of all of that, the control scheme is familiar to what we’re used to having on a traditional console, so there’s very little adjustment needed in getting comfy with it. Ultimately, if you’ve agonized over touch controls on several titles, you’ll be ecstatic that it’s going to be a thing of the past once you start using the Moga Pro. So if you’re serious about gaming, don’t hesitate to pick up this essential piece of gear! You won’t be disappointed because it moves mobile gaming towards the correct direction.

Introduction:

The Google Nexus 7 has been tearing up the scene for close to the better portion of the last year now, but as some of us sometimes forget, it’s an Asus manufactured tablet. Riding high on the success, Asus is hoping to emulate the same with its latest budget oriented 7-inch tablet in the Asus MeMO Pad, however, the Nexus 7 has raised the benchmark in the space. Perhaps, the MeMO Pad’s even lower price point of $150 might win over skeptics, but it surely needs to impress on all fronts to remotely be deemed as a worthy adversary.

The package contains:

microUSB cable
Wall Charger
Quick User Guide
Important Safety and Handling Information

Design:

Modest to say the least, it’s surprising that the Asus MeMO Pad mirrors the design of the Nexus 7, which isn’t a bad thing per se. Relying on a similar rigid patterned rear casing that has a subtle matte finish, it’s able to maintain a very clean finish. Carrying it around isn’t much of an issue, too, considering its undoubtedly comfortable to grasp with even a single hand, but it’s minutely wider and thicker than it close sibling. Overall, the design isn’t stylish or the most ornate, but rather, for something so cheap, we can’t complain too much about the package.

In saving cost, the tablet forgoes having a rear camera, and instead, we’re only presented with a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera that’s mainly reserved for video chatting. Also, there are no capacitive Android buttons with this, because they’re incorporated with software interface.

Checking around the edge of the tablet, we find all the usual suspects we’re accustomed to seeing – these include the power button, volume control, microphone, 3.5mm headset jack, and the microUSB port for charging/data connectivity. Interestingly enough, we’re so stoked to find an always-useful microSD card slot as well, which is something lacking on the Nexus 7.

Like we said, there’s no rear camera on this 7-incher in the rear. Well, the only thing we do find is its noticeable Asus logo and speakerphone grill.
Display:

Ugh, now we know why this is so cheap when it comes to pricing – it’s because the display is downright abysmal. Specifically, it features a 7-inch 1024 x 600 LCD display that’s just painful to look at! To be exact, its resolution is significantly lower than others in the same category, with below average pixel density of 170 ppi. Making matters worse, is the fact that colors simply look bland, which doesn’t help with the poor viewing angles. Therefore, it’s nearly impossible to view outdoors with the sun present. So yeah, it’s mighty ugly, which is unfortunate.

Interface and Functionality:

Something that’s surely going to be appreciated by Android aficionados, the MeMO Pad is running a mostly stock Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean experience. However, their presence is still seen throughout the UI in places like the notifications panel, and the various widgets they throw in. Furthermore, it’s nice to see that they’ve tweaked the multi-tasking portion of the experience, with its accessible widgets that are overlaid on top of anything you’re doing. As a whole, though, the majority of the available widgets aren’t as useful as other, but nevertheless, it’s just nice to have them on hand.

As we’ve noted already, the mostly stock experience of the tablet means that the core organizer apps are the ones we’re familiar using on other Android devices. Still, Asus again mixes things up with its own home brewed stuff, like the Asus Studio, which is a hub for most of the multimedia content on the tablet.

Seeing that this is a 7-inch tablet, we don’t have much of an issue using the on-screen keyboard – though, it’s the portrait one we’re using more, as our fingers are able to encompass the layout entirely. In landscape, it’s tougher to try and use it normally, seeing 7-inches is simply too cramped to type swiftly and with little mistakes along the way.

Processor and Memory:

Yet again, we find ourselves lamenting heavily over this tablet, mainly because its performance is a test of patience. Running a super outdated 1GHz single-core processor coupled with 1GB of RAM, we instantly recognize its sluggish nature in nearly every operation. On top of the choppy performance, it even shows its datedness when it comes to some simple tasks, such as opening up apps, which is accompanied by a noticeable amount of delay.

Needless to say, we can’t expect too much storage space with a $150 tablet, but it’s wonderful to find the MeMO Pad packing along a microSD card slot as well, which does nicely to complement its 8GB of internal memory.
Internet and Connectivity:

Having trouble executing even the most basic of tasks, the web browsing experience on the Asus MeMO Pad is affected tremendously. In fact, not only does it take an excessive amount of time loading up web pages, but its rendering is painfully slow – so much so that it hinders the experience to the point that it we’re put off by it altogether. Finally, other aspects of the experience, such as pinch zooming and kinetic scrolling, are also affected heavily by the dated processor.

At the moment, the Asus MeMO Pad is only available in Wi-Fi form – with a low likelihood of finding cellular connected ones down the road.

Hardly a shocker, there’s only a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera that we recommend for video chatting only, since its still image quality is grainy and lacking any sharpness to make you look somewhat presentable on camera. Aside from that, there’s nothing much else to mention about it.
Multimedia:

With the stock experience it’s no surprise to find the Google Play Music app on board with this one. By now, we’re familiar with the presentation, but with the audio quality, it’s decent enough to endure at the loudest setting – well, it can sound a little unpleasant due to some of its sharpness.

In this day and age, most tablets are more than ideal for watching videos and movies. However, that’s not the case here, seeing that the display quality is absolutely the most distracting part about it. With its bland looks and sometimes choppy performance, it doesn’t necessarily help to keep our eyes affixed to it.

Battery:
Who knows why, but this single-core packing, low-res display tablet is somehow terrible in the battery life department. In fact, its fully charged 4270 mAh battery doesn’t even permit us 10 hours of normal usage, which is maddening considering the pitiful specs in tow.
Conclusion:

Don’t let its $150 cost fool you, just because it fulfills that age old adage of “you get what you pay for.” Sure it’s cheap, but there’s good reason for that. Naturally, its outdated specs and low-res display make it extremely obviously, but its molasses slow performance makes the experience extremely unbearable at times – justifying that cheap is cheap. Still, if you’re the kind of person with a lot of patience, you might not mind its arduous performance, but if not, stay far away from this. Somehow, it might end up being thrown across the room due to frustration.

By the end of this year, Verizon will have VoLTE capable phones available and a commercial launch of the service will begin early next year. If this schedule remains intact, and we have every reason to expect that it will, it will mark a milestone in which the carrier’s incumbent 3G/EV-DO network could consider itself on borrowed time.

Of course, it will be years before we see the lights turned off on the 3G network, but by eventually converting subscribers to an all IP solution, the role of traditional telephony in a cellular network will then cease to exist. By handling everything like data, traditional circuit-switched services will no longer be needed.

Ms. Palmer said that Verizon is currently ironing out the details to install wideband codecs across the LTE network to ensure proper quality-of-service (QoS) for clear voice calls over the data network. By October we can expect to see the first VoLTE capable phones, and starting in 2014, the first devices without CDMA radios will make an appearance.

Samsung fan-site, SamMobile, believes that thanks to this, the Note III will have a thickness of just 0.31″ (8mm). In contrast, the Note II is 0.37″ (9.4mm) thick. An additional bonus is said to be the presence of a bigger battery, due to the thinner display panel, though that seems a bit strange, since if Samsung decides to fill the newly freed space with more battery, then how is the device itself going to be that much thinner? We wouldn't be surprised if Samsung goes for some kind of middle ground, with a slightly thinner Note III and a slightly bigger battery.

Another characteristic of this new plastic OLED would be that it's very, very tough. This kind of display is actually being called “unbreakable” by some, though we all know that there are few things in this world that our clumsy hands cannot break.

Now for the bad news. The unofficial sources report that the Galaxy Note III will be introduced at IFA 2013, which takes place from September 6 to September 13, with launch scheduled for Q4. Having in mind the Note II's pre-IFA 2012 launch last year, this bit of information does sound somewhat plausible.

Getting a phone unlocked and off carrier means you don’t have to sign any type of contract and use the device on any GSM carrier like AT&T and T-Mobile in the States, and also internationally. Let’s make it clear that this is not the developer’s edition with unlocked bootloader we saw go on sale earlier.

Purchasing through HTC’s online storefront you get the usual 1 year limited warranty, and also shipping happens quickly, within 24 hours. You also save on taxes (except for those in California and Texas). Hit the source link below to check out the details of HTC’s online offer.

Introduction:

The Fujitsu Stylistic Q702 is an 11.6-inch hybrid tablet/notebook computer running a full blown Windows 8 on an Intel Core i3 or i5 chip. That makes it a truly outstanding performer, clearly targeting business, and it even offers optional 4G/LTE support to sweeten the deal.

Looking at the spec sheet alone, you’d easily mistake the Fujitsu Stylistic Q702 for an ultrabook, and rightly so. The device features not just an Intel Core chip, but also a solid-state disk drive of up to 128GB capacity. Being a hybrid, it comes with an attachable keyboard dock, turning it into a fully-featured notebook and boosting battery capacity significantly.

A jack of all trades, the Stylistic Q702 aims to be both a tablet and a notebook, and that’s when its ambitions start to seem like too tall of an order. At 11.6 inches it stretches the tablet form factor limits, and on its own it can only last around 5 hours, half of even the worst Android and iOS alternatives.

In the box:

Wall charger
Driver, manual, utilities, recovery discs
Stylus accessories
Cleaning cloth

Design:

Design on the Fujitsu Stylistic Q702 is bland at best. At worst, it’s absent. As much as we like having a Core i5 chip, as much as we like ports and buttons, there are some compromises that have to be embraced in order for the tablet form factor to work, and that would be our main perspective here. As a tablet, the Stylistic Q702 is too huge to be usable. What’s worse it’s so heavy we could use it as a warm-up weight (it weighs nearly 2 pounds – 1.87lbs or 850 grams to be exact!). The awkward 11.6-inch screen is too big to hold in one hand and when you try to do that you’d naturally hold it diagonally to somehow balance the excruciating weight. You can hold it with two hands, but then you’d need to constantly lift one of your hands to flick-scroll through say pages in an ebook because you simply cannot do this with only your thumb.

Build quality is okay, but far from impressive. Despite Fujitsu’s claims for a ‘solid magnesium cover,’ the tablet feels like any other matte plastic tablet.

The Stylistic Q702 is an abominable 13mm, or more than half an inch, thick. That extra thickness frees space for all sorts of buttons on the sides and Fujitsu has them all there, just in case. There is a USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and a full-sized HDMI port. Then you have a 3.5mm jack, a separate opening for a mic, a separate toggle for turning Wi-Fi on and off, another toggle to power the device on and off. Then, you have a volume up and down buttons, and a screen rotation lock key (all too recessed to be comfortable to press). On the back you have a fingerprint scanner, and even a strap loop. With only a couple more additions, it could compete with a Swiss knife!

The irony of it all is in the name – Fujitsu somehow decided to name a bulky device with little style Stylistic Q702…

Screen:

The Fujitsu Stylistic Q702 features an 11.6-inch touch screen. It is a matte panel with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. On such a large screen in a tablet form factor where the device is supposed to stand much closer to your eyes than say a notebook, jagged pixels are definitely noticeable in a bad way.
We like the matte screen, but glare is still an issue outdoors (less than on a glossy screen, but still). Under direct sunlight, the display is barely visible, due to its weak brightness. Fujitsu uses an AH-IPS panel here, and while this sounds good on paper, viewing angles are not that wide and definitely start to wash out a lot at more extreme angles. The overall color representation seems muted, with washed out colors, lacking in sharpness almost as if you are looking at a blurred, bleak mirror-image. The air gap between the cover glass and the actual LCD display is also huge.

The display comes with a dual digitizer supporting both pen and finger input. It is of course capacitive, with 10-finger multitouch support and worked perfectly well with touch.
Keyboard dock:

The 11.6-inch tablet can dock into the keyboard (it costs $269 in addition to the price of the tablet), to transform into a notebook. The tablet clicks easily and snugly in the dock via a sturdy latch mechanism.

The keyboard station itself is much more solid than the tablet. It is made out of aluminum with a brushed metal finish. Keys on the chiclet keyboard seem a bit cramped at first, but turned out surprisingly comfortable to use. Still, those with larger fingers will definitely have an issue with their small size. The touchpad is too small, and you have to install additional drivers to enable gestures on it. Even with them on, it feels much easier just reaching for the touch screen for the simpler gestures.

The dock comes with a removable battery pack that adds a whopping 6 hours of longevity. This brings the total to a respectable over 11 hours when you use the Stylistic Q702 as a notebook. It also even further enriches the port selection adding an ethernet port, another two USB ports and even a VGA port for your old external monitor.

In the dock is also a stylus that easily pops out. It’s been said before and we’ll repeat it again – sketching on such a hybrid device actually makes a lot of sense. The experience is great with the touch optimized Windows 8, and a stylus definitely adds a lot of value to this type of devices.

Interface:

The Fujitsu Stylistic Q702 comes with a full blown Windows 8, back-compatible with all your Windows 7 and earlier apps. Windows 8 brings the live tile-based “Modern” UI for touch-friendly navigation, while keeping the “desktop mode” known from notebook/desktop computers.

The new ‘Modern’ user interface takes some getting used to as a lot of things are not immediately obvious. The gesture-based navigation boils down to swipes: a swipe up or down brings up a contextual menu, and a swipe from the right brings the Charms bar which also changes depending on the context. That last bit is a bit surprising, and it takes some getting used to that the settings button on the Charms bar will offer different settings depending on the app.

Once you master the new interface, you’ll inevitably start looking for apps. You won’t find them. In the nearly half a year since Windows 8 launched, Microsoft has only slightly improved its app position. A decent free Twitter or Facebook app is hard to find. We do have to mention, though, that Windows 8 comes with deep native integration of social networks.

The native apps work well. The mail app for instance offers a very convenient sectioned layout with emails auto-fitting the screen. Setting up email, contacts and the calendar and syncing with popular services like Google’s cloud is a breeze.

Processor and Memory:

The Fujitsu Stylistic Q702 comes in a variety of models varying by hardware. Starting from $1,099 for a Sandy Bridge Core i3-3217U running at up to 1.8GHz on Windows 7 and ending at $1,669 for a Sandy Bridge Core i5-3427U vPro running at up to 2.8GHz and Windows 8 Pro.

The unit we test is powered by Windows 8 with Intel Core i5-3427U vPro, Intel HD 4000 graphics, 4GB of DDR3 RAM and an impressive 128GB solid-state disk drive. The processor clock speed is set at 1.8GHz, but with Intel’s Turbo Boost 2.0 technology it can go as far up as 2.8GHz. That is some serious muscle, and it comes for an equally serious price of $1,399 (with the keyboard dock included).

When it comes to the subjective performance, we’d say that Windows 8 runs mostly smooth on this machine. Moreover, it is capable of running heavy-duty legacy apps like Photoshop and even video editing applications.

We have to also mention the device did crash on us a couple of times, leaving us frustrated staring at a frozen screen. We had to restart it, losing all the unsaved work.

Internet and Connectivity:

If there is one thing we love about the Fujitsu Stylistic Q702 is its SIM card support and 4G LTE connectivity.

Windows 8 allows you to install any browser you want – Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, or whatever. It all works perfectly fine, with Adobe Flash running hassle-free on the Intel chip. Scrolling, pinching to zoom, everything browser-related is a buttery smooth affair.

Camera:

This hybrid tablet/notebook has both a front HD Webcam recording 720p videos and perfect for video conferencing and a rear 5-megapixel autofocus rear shooter.

Shooting anything serious on such a bulky tablet/notebook is absurd, but both cameras are more or less a necessity for Skype, and that’s what justifies their existence.

Image quality is far below mediocre, with stills turning out soft, low on detail and with poor dynamic range. For emergency camera situations (cats gone mad, unicorn apocalypse?), though, it should be fine.

Multimedia:

With a plethora of apps for playing back movies and music, codec and format support is brilliant on this device. It plays everything you throw at it from MKV files to DivX/Xvid-encoded clips with no stutter. The interface of the default video and music applications on the Modern interface is simplistic and clean, and media playback via the built-in speakers is moderately loud and clear.

If you plan on using this device to watch a lot of movies, though, it's definitely not the best fit. It is too large and heavy to hold comfortably for an hour and has a bleak screen.

Battery life:
Battery life is quoted at around 5 hours, and that’s around what we got at best when using the Fujitsu Stylistic Q702. Docking in in the keyboard dock adds another 6 hours of longevity, and overall when docked it’s fairly long-lasting at nearly 11 hours.

While the battery on the tablet itself is not removable, the one on the keyboard is and that’s one big plus.

Conclusion:

An expensive device with top notch hardware, ironically, the Stylistic Q702 is bland on style and too big and heavy to be a decent tablet. It has a poor battery life and a bleak screen. It is not a good notebook either – at a price of a premium ultrabook, it’s thicker and less versatile, with a cramped keyboard. Trying to kill two birds with one stone, the Fujitsu Stylistic Q702 succeeds at neither.

If you are looking for the productivity of a Core chip in a device that can be used as a tablet, right now most of the alternatives are almost as bulky as the Stylistic. Your best bet however would be the much better designed Microsoft Surface Pro which also comes cheaper. For a truly portable tablet, though, Android and the iPad right now look much better.

PROS

• Good productivity with Ivy Bridge chip, running any computer app
• A wealth of ports
• 4G LTE connectivity

Introduction

It was clear right from the start that the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 and the Apple iPad mini will be direct competitors. Both devices are fighting for almost exactly the same customers – those who're on the lookout for a tablet, but a compact one. One that you can carry easily with you and hold like a real notebook.

But with two wonderful products like the Galaxy Note 8.0 and the iPad mini, the choice you have to do will surely not be easy. Both have valuable and different assets that will make you ask yourself which one to get… again, and again, and again… Let's see what we can do to help you with your choice!
Design

Let's start by comparing the external designs of the Note 8 and iPad mini! The two manufacturers have clearly chosen completely different paths when it comes to the design. The Note 8 has a glossy-plastic construction which feels good to the touch and makes the device easy to hold even with one hand only. Meanwhile, the iPad mini has a premium body made of metal. Apple's device is equally comfortable to hold. Don't be fooled by the thinner side bezels of the iPad mini. That won't cause any accidental presses because Apple has tweaked the device in such a way that it won't detect your thumbs (resting on the bezels and part of the screen) as presses. This will work in about 9/10 cases, which is about the same success rate you'll get with the wider bezel of the Note 8.0.

Both tablets are quite thin, though the iPad mini pushes this to the extreme. Apple's tablet is just a bit lighter – it weighs 312 grams versus 338 grams for the Note 8.0, but the difference in weight is pretty much negligible.

Display

Both devices use LCD TFT screens, but there's some noticeable difference between the two. Apple's product features a 7.9” screen with a resolution of 768 x 1024, while the Note 8 has an 8” screen with a slightly higher resolution of 800 x 1280 pixels. This difference may not seem so big, but it's just enough to make things on the Note 8's display a bit easier to read.

Color tones on the iPad mini, however, are more natural, as those on the Note 8.0 tend to gravitate towards the colder side. Viewing angles, brightness and outdoor visibility all seem to be pretty similar, but the Note 8.0's screen can become dimmer, which is very handy when one's using the tablet in the dark.

Interface and Functionality

If you thought the external designs of the two devices are different, wait til you see the operating systems! As you might expect, the Note 8.0 is loaded with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and Samsung's TouchWiz UX, while the iPad mini has the latest iOS version.

The differences are obvious – while the Galaxy Note 8 has widgets, many customization options, and overall one of the best user interfaces available on Android, the iPad mini has a simplistic interface consisting of an icon grid – not particularly fun and entertaining, but super efficient and easy to use.

Out of the box, the Apple iPad mini has a better QWERTY keyboard – it's a actually a superb keyboard. Meanwhile, the Note 8.0's one isn't exactly marvelous, in fact we find it to be mediocre, but the good news is that you can still install a better, third-party one and tweak it to your liking.

Internet and Connectivity

iPad mini has a wonderful browser, there's no doubt about that. Safari is super smooth and very responsive, but the Note 8.0 is almost equally responsive and even manages to beat the iPad mini in terms of performance in some situations. In addition, it also supports Adobe Flash Player, which is not available on the iPad mini. As you can imagine, there are still tons of sites online which utilize Flash for one thing or another.

Throw in the superior screen resolution of the Galaxy Note 8.0 and it easily becomes the better device with regards to web browsing.

The iPad mini is already available with the three biggest US carriers – AT&T, Verizon and Sprint, and it supports 4G LTE connectivity to make the most of these guys' networks. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Note 8.0 is yet to get announced by US carriers. For the time being, we're only aware of the international model, which packs HSPA+ connectivity. Theoretically, the iPad mini should be able to establish a faster connection even when used on an HSPA+ network, but it isn't certain if this would happen in a real-life situation.

S Pen

A Note 8 feature that is nonexistent on the iPad mini is the S Pen, which works very well and allows you to take hand-written notes comfortably. There's a lot of custom software on the Note 8.0 which makes handwriting work very well, and it certainly is a wonderful feature that gives the Note 8.0 a certain degree of uniqueness.

Camera

Both the Galaxy Note 8 and the iPad mini come with 5MP cameras, but the images from the iPad mini come out slightly better. In most situations, you'll have a pretty hard time telling the difference between the two, but there are some instances where the iPad mini manages to expose its shots better. In addition, indoor photos have much more natural colors with Apple's tablet.

The iPad mini also has the advantage in terms of video recording. Its 1080p video footage has a noticeably higher amount of detail, compared to the 720p video recorded by the Note 8.

If the camera performance of your tablet is important to you, you should keep in mind the iPad mini's superiority in this aspect.

Multimedia

We're of the opinion that the Samsung product here will be better suited for watching video, because its screen has a wider aspect ratio. In addition, the open nature of its platform allows you to easily transfer your media files to its internal memory and start watching, while the same process is a bit more complicated with the iPad mini, as you have to go through iTunes syncing.

The speakers of the two tablets are almost equal in terms of loudness, with just a sight advantage for the iPad mini. However, Apple's tablet also produces a clearer sound, which makes listening to music or video watching a bit more pleasant.

Conclusion

Both tablets obviously have their pros and cons. While the iPad mini has a more stylish casing, the Galaxy Note 8.0 features an S Pen and a higher resolution. While the iPad mini is superior in terms of software ecosystem and camera, the Note 8.0 has a highly customizable OS, allowing you to tweak it to your liking.

The main point here is that the Galaxy Note 8.0 and the iPad mini are two very close competitors, which offer their own unique features that make them both equally relevant and worthy of their relatively high price tags.

Introduction

It is evident from the design and screen size that the LG Optimus G Pro is shooting for Samsung Galaxy Note II's market niche, so a heavyweight fight between the two is warranted from the get-go.

The G Pro so far has been announced in two versions – the 5.5” one for Korea we use for the comparison, and a 5” one for Japan's DoCoMo spring lineup. LG also said it will be arriving to North America in Q2, but didn't specify which exactly screen size will make it.

One of the numerous virtues of the Note II is that it houses a stylus as an alternative input method to take better use of the giant display, while the G Pro doesn't have one. Has LG managed to make it sufficiently tasty to fight on equal footage with the versatile Note II? Read on to find out…
Design

Both phones sport 5.5” displays, but the Optimus G Pro is lighter and more compact than Samsung's wide Note II, thanks to the minimum side bezel. LG has gone with a more narrow, elongated chassis, which is easier for one-handed navigation. If it wasn't for the back Android key that LG slapped on the left, and you almost drop the G Pro each time it has to be used with one hand, that is.

Other than the width, the two phones look almost identical, save for the much narrower home key underneath the G Pro display. They both have faux metal side rims, tactile volume rockers on the left and power/lock keys on the right, and both sport plastic removable back covers, which let you swap the battery, or add extra storage. LG blinged the back a bit more with a pattern on the plastic cover, and a large metal ring around the camera lens, and that's that.

The Note II might sport a stylus tucked in a silo at the lower right, but the Optimus G Pro also introduces two differentiating pieces – a physical QButton on the left, which lets you launch any app on the phone you've mapped to it, and an infrared sensor at the top to control your TV, AC, home stereo and the like. Which features are more important here depends on personal preferences, as you might have waited for a long time to bring it back to that annoying bartender that switches the channel in the middle of the football game.

The two 5.5” screens aren't created equal, as the G Pro sports 401ppi density on account of the 1080×1920 pixels of Full HD resolution, whereas the Note II has 720×1280 display with 265ppi. The Full HD resolution in the G Pro looks marginally nicer if you are a screen purist. However, thanks to the large screen size, the Note II also displays fine text (e.g. in the internet browser) well.

The screen technologies are very different, so the IPS-LCD of the G Pro features much more natural, toned down colors than the oversaturated ones reproduced by the Note II, and which ones you like is a matter of taste. The G Pro has a very good contrast rating, which is still no substitute for the deep blacks of the Super AMOLED display, while both technologies sport very good viewing angles.

The Optimus G Pro has a sufficiently bright display for decent outdoor visibility, but the Note II carries the brightest AMOLED Samsung has produced to date, so when we add the low reflectance, things are about equal in the sunlight visibility department.

Interface and functionality

We get LG's usual Optimus UI and Samsung's Nature UX overlays on top of the Android 4.1.2 interface. Both offer connectivity toggles and brightness adjustments in the notification bar, but LG kicks it up a notch with a full landscape mode for the Optimus UI, which Samsung doesn't offer.

Samsung, on the other hand, handles multitasking much better via the multi-window mode that lets you split the big display and use any two apps at once, complete with a hovering keyboard on top. LG has the QSlide apps function, which lets you pin one or two apps like the calculator, video player or the browser, in pop-up windows, floating over any screen underneath. The QSlide apps can be activated from the notification bar slide, resized and made transparent, but there are only seven of them in total.

The Note II's S Pen stylus is another formidable advantage here, as it lets you doodle or handwrite on the display with precision, and also intros AirView functionality that previews a picture or selects a link before you've even touched the display.

LG counters with two features the Note II doesn't have, like the QRemote app that uses the IR blaster to control the electronics around, and the QButton that lets you map any application to it, like the camera for example, then use it as a physical shutter key.

Processor and memory

The Optimus G Pro flaunts the newest generation quad-core Qualcomm chipset – 1.7 GHz Snapdragon 600 – while the Note II has a quad-core Exynos 4412, clocked at 1.6 GHz. The newer Qualcomm design has the upper hand in benchmarks, but in reality you won't notice any of the two phones to be underpowered around the interface or apps.

Both LG and Samsung have graced their handsets with 2 GB of RAM, but the basic Note II comes with 16 GB of storage plus a microSD slot, while the G Pro is more generous with 32 GB of internal memory in addition to the card slot.

Internet and connectivity

There are two excellent fast stock browsers on the G Pro and the Note II, which are a joy to use at this screen size, and both allow you to sideload Adobe Flash. Samsung's S Pen again adds additional functionality in the browsing sessions, though, as it lets you quickly crop a section of the website, for instance, and share it in various ways.

The Note II offers 4G LTE and/or HSPA+ connectivity, depending on the carrier, though at slower 21.1 Mbits than the G Pro, which on top of that has a more versatile integrated multi-band 4G radio. We also get all flagship staples like Wi-Fi, Wi-fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS, DLNA and NFC, while the G Pro tops it off with Miracast.

Camera

The Optimus G Pro offers a 13 MP camera on the rear, while the Note II goes with an 8 MP unit. Both phones offer HDR shots, but with LG the wide dynamic range footage applies to video capture as well. Samsung's camera app interface sports more scene presets and color effects than the Optimus UI, but LG counters with tasty options like virtual 360 degrees panorama stitching, as well as a Dual Recording video mode, that captures footage with both the front and rear cameras at once, picture-in-picture style

The Optimus G Pro produces well-defined and accurate photos, which, however, look bland compared to the contrasty images outed by the Note II. Both phones have spot on white balance measurements that don't introduce weird casts into the frame.

Indoors the Note II makes a tad sharper and more natural-looking photos, whereas the G Pro sometimes casts cold hues over the image.

Both phones can capture Full HD 1080p video with 30fps, and do it without skipped frames or excessive artifacts. The Note II uses a slightly higher contrast in processing, making the footage more appealing, and it also musters the low-light settings a tad better.

Multimedia

Both picture and video galleries have a few tricks up their sleeves, and we don't mean their built-in picture editing. Samsung, for instance, splits the screen in two, with the folder structure on the left, and the content on the right, taking advantage of the large display to make navigation easier. LG, on the other hand, offers a handy thumbnail zoom function that rescales the thumbs size by pinching with your fingers directly in the gallery interface.

Samsung's music player lets you select equalizer presets and sound modes from within the interface, while LG only has a Dolby Mobile surround switch for headset mode, but features a handy YouTube button that takes you to an automatically created video playlist of the song currently played. The loudspeakers on both handsets are not some exceptional performers, but do the job comparatively loud and clear.

Both the Optimus G Pro and the Galaxy Note II sport excellent functional video players with plenty of settings like pop up play function, loop and subtitle support, as well as zoom during playback. The phones also support any popular format out of the box, and the footage looks gorgeous on the large displays. Of course, when you load a Full HD movie, the G Pro will show it in its full glory, but the deep blacks and saturated colors of the Note II make every footage appear so vibrant that you might dismiss the hardly perceivable at normal viewing distance differences between HD and Full HD definitions.

Call quality
The Galaxy Note II sports better voice quality in the earpiece than the hollow and somewhat muffled sound from the G Pro. We've got noise-canceling mics on both, though, which weed out the ambient sounds, and send our voice across the ether in a clean and recognizable form.
Battery

The G Pro and the Note II sport almost equal battery capacities – 3140 mAh vs 3100 mAh. Those large Full HD displays have shown they aren't the power vampires they were cracked up to be, due to their modern production tech, so we can expect top-notch endurance from both handsets. The phones would last you at least a weekend with moderate usage, and also sport batteries that are easily swappable if you need more juice when you are away from outlets.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Note II has an ace up its sleeve amongst the big-screen phones in the form of an S Pen stylus, which offers a much more precise input than your fingertips. How useful is having another input method like that is up to personal preferences – our quick poll not long ago showed that about a third of respondents think the S Pen is indispensable on everyday basis, while the majority put it in the “nice to have” category.

The brilliant Full HD display and powerful new chipset of the Optimus G Pro arrive in a more compact chassis to boot, and this could sway people looking for a giant screen phone, depending on the price tag; when we add the mappable QButton, plus the handy IR blaster LG has equipped the Pro with, it becomes at least as compelling.

Yet Ming-Chi Kuo – a KGI Securities analyst who has been keeping a close eye on Apple products for a while, predicts that the “iPad 5″ will bring a drastic improvement in that aspect. In fact, its weight might go as low as 500 or so grams, which would make the next iPad about 25% lighter than the current model.

Using a smaller battery might be one of the ways Apple would bring the iPad's weight down. The iPad 4 packs a 3-cell battery with a capacity of over 11 000mAh, while its successor is expected to be equipped with a 2-cell battery of 8500 to 9000mAh. Yet that will not necessarily reduce the device's battery life. The brains of the iPad 5 (or whatever it's called) may be a next-gen A7X system-on-a-chip, which is likely to be more energy efficient, all the while being powerful enough to deliver excellent user experience. Using IGZO display panels with smaller backlight LEDs would also help with keeping the tablet's weight low.

Furthermore, the analyst expects Apple to reduce the 9.5-millimeter thickness of the iPad by up to 2 millimeters. That may be achieved by using a thinner battery cell, but also by implementing slimmer display panels. The iPad 5 will most likely adopt the iPad mini's design and may have a slimmer bezel on both sides of its screen.

When will Apple announce the next iPad iteration officially isn't yet clear, but that isn't stopping those Chinese accessory makers from manufacturing iPad 5 protective cases for it.

Introduction:

Already taking a stab at the so-called “Facebook phone” in devices like the HTC ChaCha and Salsa, which merely employed dedicated Facebook buttons for quick access to certain functions of the app, veteran smartphone maker HTC is once again taking helm in delivering the next Facebook phone. This time, however, Facebook as a company in itself is taking a more profound leadership with this latest venture, seeing that there’s an overhaul with the actual Facebook experience. Tagged as the first phone to offer the all-encompassing Facebook experience, the HTC First seems like the no-brainer device for hardcore Facebook users, but will it have enough uniqueness to call its own, so that it’s a compelling choice over other devices that are bound to also get treated to the new Facebook Home experience?

The package contains:

microUSB cable
Wall Charger
nano-SIM removal tool
Quick Start Guide
Product Safety and Warranty Guide

Design:

Always known to deliver the goods when it comes to design, we have to hand it to HTC yet again for concocting a very minimalist and compact design with the HTC First. No, it’s not as stylish as the HTC One, but regardless of that, we appreciate it for its sturdy construction and pancaked look – meaning, everything is simply flush with nothing protruding out of it. Sporting a bezel that’s rounded to offer a pleasant grip in the hand, which is further complemented by its soft touch matte finish, we’re still trying to process that this thing is packing along a once perceived to be large sized 4.3-inch display. It’s big enough to enjoy, but not too big or heavy (124 gr) to hold. Better yet, it’s wonderful to know that the HTC First is available in different colors from the onset to give consumers a level of choice that not too many handsets in its price category are subjected to.

Along the bottom of the display, we’re presented with the usual trio of capacitive buttons – the back, home, and menu keys. By default, the home button jumps us back to the main screen of Facebook Home, but it can also get us back to the standard home screen when Facebook Home is disabled. Other functions of Android, such as accessing the multi-tasking pane and Google Now, are done by double tapping and long pressing the home button respectively. Above the display, there’s an unusual sized 1.6-megapixel front-facing camera that’s capable of shooting 720p video.

Taking a tour around the edges of the HTC First, there’s nothing particularly out of character, as it sports a power button, volume control, 3.5mm headset jack, noise cancelling microphone, microUSB port for charging/data connectivity (no video-out), nano-SIM slot, and microdots that hide away its standard mic and internal speaker. Despite the flush feel of its power button and volume control, it’s nice to find a springy response with them.

On the back side, we continue to see the consistency with the HTC First’s flat design, as the f2.0 lens of the 5-megapixel auto-focus camera and LED flash are flush with the surrounding area. Just like many things nowadays, it features the predictable 1080p video recording. Depending on your taste, you might not like the closed design of the HTC First, which means there’s no access to the battery. At the same time, we’re somewhat not too surprised by the lack of a microSD slot with this one, as it’s increasingly something we’ve been seeing from HTC’s lineup.

Display:

Wrapping our heads around the fact that the HTC First is sporting a fine looking 4.3-inch 720 x 1280 S-LCD 3 display, we’re humbled most that it contributes to a very pocket-friendly handset. Indeed, it’s not as captivating or jaw dropping as other recent displays, but it’s effective enough for our eyes to handle. At a pixel density of 341 ppi, it’s undoubtedly detailed enough to give everything that tasteful level of clarity, and at the same time, we can’t complain about its neutral color reproduction. However, its brightness output isn’t strong enough to repel the harsh glare of direct sunlight. Nevertheless, we’re content with the overall package. It’s big, but not too big. Also, it’s not too overpowering to the point that it’s taking away from the star of the show – the new Facebook Home experience.

Interface and Functionality:

Unlike those other previous attempts at “Facebook phones,” the HTC First seems like it’s succeeding where others have failed. And why’s that you say? Well, rather than giving us a dedicated Facebook button to update our status, which is what we’ve seen with the HTC Salsa and ChaCha previously, Facebook Home is basically more of an in-your-face presentation of Facebook. Believe us when we say that we dig the dynamic way of how Facebook Home replaces the traditional lock/home screen of Android, by aggregating posts from our news feed in a stylish slideshow presentation. Frankly, we appreciate this level of connectedness, but there’s simply one flaw that we find – it doesn’t discriminate in what is shows. To be more specific, it’s those provocative photos that Facebook friends post, that come up the instant we turn on the device. Needless to say, it can make for some hurried excuses when you’re trying to explain it to someone who happens to take notice of it.
In addition, we’re given some basic functions from within Facebook Home – such as liking a post by simply double tapping the screen, commenting, and viewing some notifications. However, for a Facebook experience, we still don’t find it comprehensive enough, which is especially strange seeing that we’re still finding ourselves running the actual Facebook app to check-in, posts photos, and update our status. Regardless of that, hardcore Facebook users will appreciate the new Chat Heads features that Facebook Home offers, which layers the profile pictures of friends we’re talking to on Facebook Messenger. As a whole, it’s a nice start for the in-your-face style of Facebook Home, but after several days of usage, it soon becomes a bit stale – thus, we find ourselves going back to the regular Facebook app for additional functionality

Don’t want to be bothered by Facebook Home? Well, you’re in luck because we can disable it completely under the Facebook Home settings. Interestingly, the HTC First is running a vanilla Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean experience under it all, which some will no doubt appreciate. Beside Facebook Home, there’s nothing out of the ordinary with the rest of the experience, since all of the core organizer apps are the ones we’re familiar using already.

After being accustomed to using smartphones with super-sized displays, we find ourselves fumbling a bit trying to adjust back to typing on the modest 4.3-inch display of the HTC First. Thankfully, we’re soon able to maintain our usual rate of input, despite the smaller sized buttons of the stock Jelly Bean keyboard.

Processor and Memory:

Armed with a dual-core 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 CPU coupled with 1GB of RAM and anAdreno 305 GPU, it’s not the beefiest spec’d device on the block, but it’s honestly effective enough to deliver an acceptable performance. Naturally, it handles most basic tasks effortlessly, but every now and then, it’s not too surprising for us to experience some kind of stutter or delay with its performance. Like we said, the hardware isn’t terrifying, seeing that the benchmark results validates it.

Increasingly something that’s been common with most of HTC’s portfolio of late, the HTC First lacks expandable storage via a microSD card slot. Therefore, we’re a bit more cautious on what we save, since we’re left with only 11.96GB of free space out of the box.

Internet and Connectivity:

Fortunately, even with the modest hardware under the hood, the HTC First delivers a bang up job with the web browsing experience. Sporting 4G LTE connectivity, there’s little waiting needed for complex pages to load up. Better yet, navigational controls with the Google Chrome browser are predictably smooth and fairly instantaneous.

Being a GSM smartphone, it’s something that’s compatible to work with most of the GSM networks around the world – and it helps that 4G LTE connectivity is in tow! Beyond that, it’s outfitted with the usual array of connectivity features that are commonly available. Specifically, the listing includes aGPS, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, mobile hotspot functionality, and NFC.

Camera:

Certainly regarded as ample sized in this day and age, the HTC First is packing a 5-megapixel auto-focus camera with an f2.0 lens. Sadly, we can only recommend using it for outdoor shots taken under sunny conditions. Sorry to say it folks, but it fails to impress us with its soft details, poor handling of dynamic range, bland color reproduction, and its overall washed out look. Don’t hold your breath for better results under low lighting, seeing that things become even more grainy and softer.

At the same time, we’re also not convinced by its 1080p video recording quality as well, seeing that we’re most distracted by the constant presence of artifacting when we’re panning – whether it’s slow or fast, it’s a nagging thing to see all the time.

Multimedia:

Relying on the good ol’ Google Play Music app, it’s the same old music player interface we know and love – so yeah, there’s nothing that jumps out too much with it. Behind the microdots, its internal speaker is surprisingly equipped at pumping out robust tones that maintain a pleasant level of clarity – even at the loudest volume setting!

Out of the box, the HTC First supports a wide selection of video codes that include DivX, H.264, MPEG-4, and XviD. Running our customary 1080p video trailer, its performance is steadfast with barely an ounce of strain being evident throughout the playback.

Call Quality:
Aside from the slight amount of crackle heard with voices through the ear piece, calling quality is pretty good with the HTC First. On the other end of the line, our callers have no issue trying to comprehend our voice. Finally, we didn’t find any issue trying to use the speakerphone with our conversations.
Battery:

Stuffed with a 2000 mAh battery, which isn’t user accessible, the battery life of the HTC First will undoubtedly vary depending on your connectivity. With 4G LTE, it’s able to churn out a little over 8 hours of heavy usage before it’s completely tapped. On the flip side, strict HSPA+ connectivity permitted us over 15 hours with normal usage, which consisted primarily of surfing the web, checking out Facebook, sending emails, and replying to text messages.

Conclusion:

Knowing that other smartphones are going to be blessed with the new Facebook Home experience, we can’t tell you to go out and buy the HTC First strictly for that experience. Instead, we recommend it most for its affordable $99.99 on-contract cost with its vanilla Android experience (once Facebook Home is disabled) and minimalist design. As for the Facebook aspect of the smartphone, it’s decent starting point that undeniably will satisfy those who live and breathe Facebook on a daily basis. In the end, though, its dynamic approach to the way our news feed is delivered on the lock/home screen soon becomes worn out and overstays its welcome, as we soon find ourselves going back to the usual Facebook app for that deeper level of connectivity.

PROS

• Minimalist design
• Modest price point
• Dynamic presentation of Facebook Home
• Vanilla Android experience

Introduction:

Around this time last year, we reviewed at the original LG Lucid, which was designed to be an inexpensive basic smartphone. Now with the introduction of the new Lucid 2, we’re seeing a bump in specs, such as a larger qHD display, more advanced Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor, Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, and even a higher capacity battery. The LG Lucid 2 is currently free with a 2-year Verizon contract.

Included in the retail package is the LG Lucid 2 VS870 smartphone, 2460mAh battery, wall charger with detachable microUSB cable, and user guides.

Optional accessories that are available purchase separate include a wireless charging pad, wireless inductive battery cover, desktop media charging dock, and a vehicle mount.

Design:

The LG Lucid 2 fits comfortably in the hand, thanks to its compact size, similar to the Motorola DROID RAZR M, and is fairly lightweight at only 4.55 oz.

The overall design of the LG Lucid 2 is a bit more stylish than the original, combining both curved and straight edges, with only a small amount of silver on the sides. Also gone is the slipper plastic, and instead the battery cover is textured, which provides an improved grip.

Below the display is the standard row of capacitive buttons for back, home, recent apps, and settings, and on the bottom edge is the microUSB port. Along the left side is the volume rocker, and on the right side is the power/lock key, all of which are easy to find by touch alone since they are raised from the surrounding plastic. Up on top is the 3.5mm headset jack, and the 5MP camera and LED flash are on the back. Removing the battery cover will allow access to the 4G SIM slot and the microSDHC card slot that supports 64GB memory cards.

Display:

With high-res displays going from 720p to 1080p over the past year, some might feel that the one on the LG Lucid 2 is a bit outdated. While this may be true when it comes to high end phones, the 4.3” qHD AH-IPS display on the Lucid 2 with 540×960 pixel resolution does a fine job. There is plenty of fine detail with text and images looking sharp, good color reproduction, as well as being bright enough to view outside. Our only complaint is that the viewing angles are limited, meaning any off-axis viewing will see a drop in saturation and contrast.

Interface and Functionality:

Running on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, the LG lucid 2 comes with a similar Optimus UI layer over it, as what we’ve seen on the LG Spectrum 2. It does a good job of making the interface attractive and easy to use, along with 7 home screens, app drawer, and a nice selection of widgets.

For those new to Android, there is also a Starter Mode, which provides larger text and icons, as well as helping tips to guide you through using the interface.

Also on board are four Themes to choose from (Optimus, Adventure, Fancy, and Monsterland). Not only do these change the desktop wallpaper, but the icons as well. And for even more customization, there is also an option to change the wallpaper that is used in the apps drawer.

Naturally, the Lucid 2 does well with the included Android core apps, such as E-Mail and Gmail, contacts, and calendar. Also on board is Richnote allowing you to notate any image, and SmartShare which lets you stream content to a DLNA device.

Other included apps are Amazon Store, Amazon Kindle and MP3, Audible, IMDb, Polaris Office, Verizon Tones and Video, VZ Navigator, and Zappos.
Processor and Memory:

Since the original LG Lucid came with a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 processor, we’re glad to see that the Lucid 2 comes with a dual-core Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 processor. Though we find it interesting that even though the specs say it is 1.2GHz, both AnTuTu and Quadrant identify it as being 1.5GHz. Regardless, the Lucid 2 is plenty fast, and the 1GB of RAM also help speed things along.

As you can see from the test below, the LG Lucid 2 does quite well with benchmarking apps when stacked next to other dual-core phones, such as the Motorola DROID RAZR M and the Samsung Galaxy S III..

Even though the LG Lucid 2 comes with 8GB of internalmemory, only 3GB is available to the user. Though you can install a microSDHC memory card up to 64GB in size for added storage space.

Internet and Connectivity:

As with several other phones these days, the LG Lucid 2 relies on Google Chrome for its web browser. It works well on the device, as scrolling & zooming are smooth and effortless, and web pages are properly rendered. Yeah, we know that Adobe Flash is not supported, but with most sites making the change to HTML5, we didn’t have too much of an issue. Naturally, you can install other browsers if you wish, such as Dolphin.

When we used the SpeedTest.net app on Verizon’s 4G LTE network in our area, we were able to get up to 25 Mbps downloads and 11 Mbps uploads, and had a signal strength of -100dBm. Also supported is Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz, 5GHz), and Bluetooth 4.0.

Camera:

We found that the included 5MP camera on the LG Lucid 2 does slightly better than the original LG Lucid. Images that we took outside have a bit more detail to them, as well as natural looking colors, but still appear relatively soft, instead of sharp and crisp. This trend continues for indoor shots, as with lower light levels produce even softer looking images. The LED Flash does illuminate a room well, but it causes the image to have a yellowish hue.

For recording videos, the Lucid 2 is capable of Full HD 1920x1080p resolution at 30 frames-per-second. Colors were pleasing, and the exposure was accurate, but again the detail was not as sharp as we would like.

Multimedia:

The music player is pleasing is easy to use, with tabs across the top for songs, albums, artists, genres, playlists, and folders. Though it does lack some eye candy that we’ve seen on LG’s higher-end Optimus line. When playing music through the rear speaker, there is plenty of volume, but we noticed that low and mid tones are missing, which causes music to should shrill and lacking in fullness. Using a pair of earbuds will solve this, but we still wish there were equalizer settings to bring lower tones out.

Even though the Lucid 2 has a 4.3” qHD display, videos played just fine, and were nice and smooth, supporting MP4, H.263/264, DivX and XviD with resolutions up to 1080p. DLNA is also supported, as well as SmartShare, to allow for easy streaming and viewing between multiple devices.

Call Quality:
The LG Lucid 2 provides good quality, much better than the “muffled” sound we experienced with the original Lucid. This time around, calls sound clear and full, with plenty of volume on our end. People that we called also said that we sounded clear and natural of their end. Though 1X signal strength was a bit low, showing 2 bars with a signal of -94 dBm.
Battery:

One nice surprise is that the LG Lucid 2 comes with a standard battery of 2460mAh, which is larger than most other smartphones in this category. This was able to provide us to 12 hours of continuous talk time on a full charge, or about 3 days of mixed usage. While this is not as much as the 17 hours of talk time the Motorola DROID RAZR HD MAXX can get with its massive 3300mAh battery, it is still a noticeable improvement over the original LG Lucid that came with a measly 1700mAh battery and 8 hours of talk time.

Conclusion:

Since the LG Lucid 2 is currently available for free with a 2-year Verizon contract, there is a lot to like about the device. It is small and lightweight, making it easy to carry around, the 4.3” qHD display is a nice size with clear text and images, the user interface is well laid-out and easy to use, not to mention the device has good call quality and a larger capacity battery. We do wish that the camera/video recording was a bit better, as well as the music player, but for this price, it’s hard to complain.

Software version on the reviewed unit:
Android: 4.1.2
Kernel: 3.4.0-gabdc9b6
Build: JZO54K
Software: VS87010B

PROS

• Free with contract
• Pleasing size
• Good specs and plenty fast

Introduction

With the Lumia 920, Nokia entered the world of dual-core flagship phones graced with HD displays, where Apple’s iPhone and many Androids have been dwelling for a while.

Thus the Finns had to create a compelling argument besides those two obligatory features to fight against the iPhone 5 and said Androids, as they would be its main competition for the hearts and minds of consumers this holiday season.

Apple introduced the bravest overhaul to the iPhone so far with the 5th edition, shattering its 3.5” screen dogma, and Nokia logged its first 4.5” phone with more than one processor core, so in a sense both the iPhone 5 and the Lumia 920 are not a simple evolution of what had been before in the iOS and WP universes. Which one pulled it off better? Read on our comparison to find out…
Design

There’s no arguing that the iPhone 5 is one of the most compact and premium material smartphones out there, built out of glass and aluminum alloys. Nokia, on the other hand, threw every top features it was capable of in the Lumia 920, including an OIS camera, resulting in a both thick and heavy chassis, made of polycarbonate in various color choices, and zirconium for the well-situated side keys and the camera plate.

This burly impression from the Lumia 920 holds true in comparison with larger screen phones like the top Androids, too, not only with the iPhone 5. Actually Nokia’s phone is just a 1.5 ounce heavier than the previous iPhone, for instance, yet it’s the combination of heft and girth that will catch you by surprise given today’s smartphone design standards.

Still, the tapered back makes the Lumia 920 ergonomic to handle, and its stocky, durable build makes it more suitable for careless owners, whereas the iPhone 5 finds itself in a case very often to escape nicks and scuffs. Just don’t expect easy one-handed operation from the Lumia 920, especially in comparison with the much smaller iPhone 5.

Display

We are looking at perhaps the two best mobile LCD displays with the iPhone 5 and the Lumia 920. The iPhone sports a 4” in-cell touch panel with 640×1136 pixels of resolution, making the pixel density the excellent 326ppi, whereas the Lumia 920 has a 768×1280 pixels display, with nearly the same density, at 332ppi.

Both exhibit very nice images, with the iPhone having almost perfectly calibrated color representation, whereas the Lumia 920 displays slightly more saturation.

The screens are very bright, north of 500 nits, which, coupled with their low reflectance ratio makes them easy to see outside, even under direct sunlight. Nokia employs its ClearBlack filter technology to achieve the low reflectance, which makes it seem a tad dimmer and as if with an extra coating compared to the in-cell touch panel of the iPhone 5. Both phones have top-notch viewing angles from all sides, though the Lumia 920 dims slightly more when you tilt it vertically.

Nokia has employed Synaptics-based touchscreen tech to allow operating the display with gloves, pens and other objects, which comes very handy in harsher weather conditions.

Interface and functionality

Both iOS and Windows Phone are more restricted compared to Android, but WP8 introduced resizable homescreen tiles, mass storage mode and 3rd party apps lockscreen info display, upping the ante against iOS.

There is still no unified notification center there, but the contacts integration with Facebook, Twitter and so on in the People hub is second to none, and one of the best WP features. Windows Phone does many things differently than iOS (or Android), so there is a somewhat steeper learning curve. You have to slide your finger down from the top of the screen to display the carrier signal and Wi-Fi networks strength, which are not displayed at all times like with iOS, or have to hold the arrow in the music player to fast forward or back instead of sliding the progress bar, as you are used to. Once you’ve mastered the kinks, it proves to be a rather fresh and colorful UI approach, which, with the uncluttered displays and minimalistic fonts is pretty unobtrusive.

Where iOS and Windows Phone 8 are very much alike is with the heavily managed approach to multitasking. You can see a list of recently run apps by holding the back key in WP8 to see their screenshots, or double-tap the home key of the iPhone 5 to see the same list in icon form, but the phones quickly suspend them in memory then outright kill, allocating resources according to the workload, so you don’t have to watch the list, manually jinx apps and so on. The downside is that you can’t just switch back to that calculator you used three days ago, still languishing in memory with your last equation, like with Android, for instance.

The app situation is in favor of iOS, whereas you often find that some services you are used to that don’t yet have dedicated apps for Windows Phone. Nokia tries to compensate with exclusive apps like its free offline voice-guided navigation, which is superior to what you’d find on the iPhone, or the Mix Radio option, which streams Nokia Music tunes for free to your handset.

The iPhone strikes back with its Siri natural language assistant, whereas the TellMe-based voice recognition of Windows Phone 8 is more limited in nature.

Processor and memory

A 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 is what we find in the Lumia 920, and a 1.3 GHz dual-core Apple A6 in the iPhone 5. Apple’s processor is manually designed by Cupertino, whereas Nokia uses off-the-shelf Qualcomm SoC, but both devices are very, very fast, having no trouble navigating their respective interfaces, or running any 3rd party app or game out there.

There is 1 GB of RAM in the phones, and, as we mentioned before, they manage the multitasking heavily, so you never feel running out of memory.

The basic internal storage amount is 16 GB for the iPhone 5, and 32 GB for the Lumia 920, but you can get iPhones with up to 64 GB of internal memory, though it won’t be cheap.

Browser and connectivity

The browsers are very snappy and fluid, with Safari throwing in extras like the Reader mode which strips the article from fluff and only presents easy to perceive text. Internet Explorer on the Lumia 920, while very fast, ran into problems with some sites that were heavy in JavaScript, and we couldn’t set flight dates on a travel website, for example.

Both handsets sport LTE radios, combined with 42.2 Mbps HSPA+ basebands, as well as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (4.0 in the case of the iPhone), A-GPS and DLNA. The Lumia 920 throws in NFC support, too.

Introduction:

History buffs be aware! Some of us might forget it, but 2008 surely turned out to be a banner year in the history of smartphones. At the time, BlackBerry smartphones were hotly sought out by people for both their consumer and enterprise features, but when Android officially launched on a device in the fall of 2008, it signaled a changing of the guard of some sorts. Fast forward to the present, the Samsung Galaxy S III has seemingly become the prized darling for the mature platform – while the BlackBerry Z10 is intent on starting yet another revolution of its own. Will BlackBerry’s flagship have what it takes to sway people from the mighty features set found with the Samsung Galaxy S III?
Design:

Knowing the size disparity between their displays, we’re somewhat surprised to see that the Galaxy S III is just a teeny bit larger in footprint than the Z10. Interestingly enough, the Samsung Galaxy S III is both skinnier and lighter too. Holding them in our hands, we’re still digging the design of Sammy’s baby more than the Z10 – primarily due to its rounded corners, which delivers a more natural feel in the hand. Indeed, their build qualities are similar to one another, since they sport all-plastic bodies that are clean looking, but it’s ultimately the Galaxy S III getting the nods with its more comforting and approachable design.

Taking a tour around their bodies, it’s quite evident that they share many commonalities – like their 3.5mm head jacks, standard microphones, noise-cancellation mics, microUSB ports for charging/data connectivity, earpieces, light & proximity sensors, and LED notification lights. However, we prefer the Galaxy s III’s set of physical buttons, the power and volume control, since they’re more distinguishable to the touch – whereas, it’s flatter in feel with the Z10. Still, we appreciate that the Z10 offers easy video-out functionality with its separate microHDMI port, which is better than purchasing an additional MHL adapter for the Galaxy S III.

On the front, the Z10 is packing along the slightly higher 2-mgeapixel front-facing camera – while the Galaxy S III has a 1.9-megapixel one. Flipping them over, they’re outfitted with 8-megapixel auto-focus cameras with LED flashes, which can shoot videos in 1080p. Sharing yet another commonality, we love that they feature removable rear covers to gain access to their batteries and microSD card slots.

Display:

Everybody appears to be going BIG with their displays, but that’s not quite the mentality we see yet out of BlackBerry’s camp. Then again, it’s a matter of personal preference. With the BlackBerry Z10’s 4.2-inch 768 x 1280 LCD display, it’s no doubt sharp looking with its pixel density of 356 ppi, but seriously folks, it’s not all that evident to the naked eye versus the larger 4.8-inch 720 x 1280 Super AMOLED panel of the Galaxy S III – and that’s despite its PenTile matrix arrangement! In terms of colors, they’re more on the neutral side with the Z10, but you can’t quite forget about the wow factor established by the vibrant and saturated tones produced by the Galaxy S III’s display. Outdoors, there’s no question that the Z10 is more viewable.

Interface and Functionality:

Without question, power users will undoubtedly gravitate to the depth of features found with the TouchWiz Nature UX experience running on top of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on the Galaxy S III. Simply, Android has the polished touch in both the visual and navigation department – even more when it’s sporting the better personalization too. From its vast set of useful widgets to its live wallpapers, it’s a joy to know that users can modify the experience to their liking. Well, it’s not to say that the BlackBerry 10 experience doesn’t stand a chance, especially considering this a v1.0 platform we’re talking about here, but it’s clearly going to have an uphill battle trying to convince power users to make the switch. For what it’s offering out of the gate, BB10 clearly emphasizes visual presentation with its various animations and transition effects, and has its own way on going about navigating around the platform.

Diving deeper to some of the core functions of both platforms, it’s obvious that Android is the more mature OS. Plainly, it’s very evident in the way the lockscreen and notifications system is handled by the Galaxy S III. Not only can you quickly launch specific apps directly from the lockscreen, but we’re also greeted with other tangible information – like notifications, weather details, and social networking statuses. With the Z10, we’re only given the bare essentials, the time, date, notifications, and access to the camera. Moreover, we prefer how notifications are handled by Android, as they’re accessible by swiping down the top bezel to expose its panel, which is easier than the gesture heavy process that’s required to get into the BlackBerry Hub. We won’t get into all the small details, but again we see a disparity between their maps (Google Maps vs BlackBerry Maps) and voice control services (Google Now vs BB10 voice control).

At the very least, we’re able to get by using their respective email apps, but of course, Gmail on the Galaxy S III is undeniably more equipped to handle our power needs. Strangely though, despite the larger screen real estate with the Galaxy S III, its on-screen keyboard layout is similar in footprint to what’s seen on the Z10. Quite frankly, we’re enamored by how well the BB10 on-screen keyboard works against the Samsung keyboard. Typing the old school way, we find ourselves faster with our rate of input with the Z10 – even more when it offers the better auto-correct feature.

Processor and Memory:

Everywhere we turn, it’s noticeable that the two platforms employ some pleasing eye candy with their presentations. And with that, we’re glad that their performances are equally on par to one another – though, intensive live wallpapers can sometimes slow down the Galaxy S III. Regardless of that, they execute all tasks with the same level of smooth performance. Would you believe that these two are running the same chipset? A dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus processor coupled with 2GB of RAM.

Nowadays, 16GB of internal storage is the minimum expectations amongst high-end smartphones – and that’s the tally we see with these two. Thankfully enough, we’re able to supplement their capacities seeing they sport microSD card slots as well.
Internet and Connectivity:

Speeds aren’t an issue with these 4G LTE enabled smartphones, therefore, complex web pages load in a jiffy. Making things even more enjoyable with them, they’re able to render stuff on the fly almost instantaneously, navigational controls are superbly tight, and they offer support for Adobe Flash to give us that desktop-like experience. All in all, you really can’t go wrong with either of them.

Lucky for all of us, these two prized devices are manufactured in both GSM and CDMA flavors – while offering 4G LTE connectivity too. Likewise, they’re packed with all of the modern connectivity features we expect to find, such as aGPS, Bluetooth 4.0, 5GHz 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, mobile hotspot functionality, and NFC.

Camera:

In general, both handsets offer acceptable quality with shots takes outdoors. However, the more we look deeper into each shot, we begin to notice that there’s more sharpness seen with the fine details of the Galaxy S III’s results – whereas, background details tend to be more dull with the Z10. At the same time, there’s some vibrancy splashed onto the images captured by the two, but there’s a subtle amount of saturation with the Z10 photos. Indoors under less lighting, it’s a strange result, as the Z10 is better at delivering the brighter shots – then again, their LED flashes are potent to light up the scenery.

Between the two, we’re digging the 1080p video recording quality of the Galaxy S III more because of the consistent amount of visual clarity it’s able to maintain throughout its recording. With the Z10, it’s marred by some distracting artifacting elements that speckle its fine details, but then again, it’s not 100 percent perfect with Sammy’s device, as voices tend to sound distorted.

Multimedia:

Primarily due to the cooler looking 3D carousel of the Google Play Music app, we prefer the Galaxy S III’s music player over the predictable and complacent appearance of the one on the Z10. Paying attention to audio quality, their volume outputs are nearly identical – albeit, cleaner tones are more evident with the Galaxy S III. And lastly, we like how there are various equalizer settings available with Galaxy S III to better enhance its quality.

Playback performance is smooth and crisp with both smartphones, but seeing that the Galaxy S III has the wow factor with its larger and more vibrant display, it’s the preferable choice for watching high-definition videos. Furthermore, the pop up play feature of the Galaxy S III is pretty neat in the fact that we can multi-task while watching a video.

Call Quality:
Love talking a lot on the phone? Well, if you do, then you’ll be glad to know that you can go with either device, since voices on both ends are audible, noise-free, and clean toned. However, all is not perfect in the speakerphone department, as the Z10’s output is strained in tone – while the Galaxy S III tends to exhibit some over-sharpness with voices.
Battery:

Bigger screens tend to be battery hogs, but in this comparison, we actually find the Galaxy S III to put out the better battery life. Of course, we can argue that it can be attributed to its larger 2,100 mAh battery, but in any event, we’re able to get by through a day of normal usage with it. In comparison, the 1,800 mAh battery of the Z10 allows us only 10 hours of normal usage before it requires a recharge.

Conclusion:

Can BlackBerry do what Google did to it back in 2008? Although some might be quick to draw a foreseeable demise to BlackBerry, there’s still hope, of course, especially when Google made it on top. Needless to say, it’s funny in how some things turn out. No one said it would be easy to start fresh (again), but as long as BlackBerry can push out timely updates to enhance its new experience, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, but then again, we all know how webOS turned out.

So what device should you call your own right now? Seeing that these two are priced at $200 on-contract, it’s not all that difficult to point out the extensive set of features you’re going to get with the Samsung Galaxy S III. From the various software enhancements attached to its TouchWiz Nature UX experience, to the way Android as a whole adheres to the needs of power users, there’s a whole lot of bang for the buck put out by Sammy’s flagship. Still, if you opt to go with the BlackBerry Z10, there are some compromises that you’re going to make. It’s not perfect, obviously, but when there’s a minimum expectation, it’s hard to find valid arguments to point out the Z10’s superiority. Nevertheless, there’s always hope, hope for a better tomorrow.

LG has been making some pretty good moves lately, first releasing the notable Optimus G, and more recently the Optimus G Pro – a powerful phablet device with a large 5.5″ screen and the Snapdragon 600 processor. However, since LG simply markets the Optimus G Pro as its best smartphone right now, we're just going to go ahead and compare it to Samsung's best smartphone, which is the Galaxy S4. This is not StarCraft II, but we promise you, guys, this Korea vs Korea battle will be just as intense!
Design :

Although pretty similar in design language, we think that the Galaxy S4 has a definite edge in the appearance department. Both handsets are made of glossy plastic, which we like, though the characterstic texture on the back of the Optimus G Pro is a bit too expressive for our taste. Still, it's worth noting that we're testing te Korean variant of the Optimus G Pro, so that design element may not be preserved in the U.S variant.

In terms of size, LG has done wonders with its phablet, which sits surprisingly comfortably in the hand thanks to its super-thin bezel. However, the same thing is also true for the Galaxy S4, which has a super-thin bezel of its own, and given its smaller screen, it's even more comfortable to use. Naturally, the GS4 is also lighter, which should be taken into account if you plan to be wearing it in your pocket.

Display :

OK, so obviously the Optimus G Pro has a significantly bigger display at 5.5 inches, and that's something the Galaxy S4 can't change. What the GS4 can do, however, is to offer a more true-to-life AMOLED display than LG's IPS LCD. It used to be the other way around, with AMOLEDs struggling to compete with LCDs in the colors department, but something must have gone seriously wrong in the making of the Optimus G Pro's display, which is visibly colder-looking than the one of the Galaxy S4. Viewing angles are also better on Samsung's device, as the G Pro is quick to lose some precious contrast and brightness when looked at an angle.

However, the Optimus G Pro does have the brighter screen, which makes it easier to view outdoors. At least that is one area where LCD are still unsurpassed.

Interface and Functionality :

Samsung has added a lot of neat features to its latest TouchWiz Nature interface, and while not all of them will be useful, some are definitely good to have. LG, on the other hand, has also worked on its software experience lately, making it more customizable and feature-rich, but in our opinion, Samsung's software is superior all things considered. Both in terms of pure handling, user experience, and custom features.

The Android version in the Galaxy S4 is also newer than that in the Optimus G Pro, as Samsung's flagship is running Android 4.2.2, while the G Pro has Android 4.1.2, which is still OK, when you think about it.

Internet and Connectivity :

Both handsets are incredibly proficient when it comes to web browsing. The Optimus G Pro does have a slight edge when it comes to reading, as its bigger screen makes things a bit more easier on the eyes. The custom browsers of both smartphones are quite good, although we tend to prefer the Samsung one more, as it seems to be a bit more polished in terms of the whole user experience.

The Optimus G Pro is yet to come to the global and U.S. markets, but you can be sure that when this happens, it's going to have LTE. The same thing goes for the Galaxy S4, and overall, both handsets are packed with a full range of connectivity features, but hey, if you've ever fancied controlling your TV using your phone, the Galaxy S4 should be your choice as it also has an IR blaster, which allows you to do just that.

Processor and Memory :

The Galaxy S4 and Optimus G Pro will be using the same chipset in most markets, which is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600. In some markets, though, the GS4 will have the Exynos 5 Octa CPU, which is expected to be even faster.

Both handsets perform very well, though the Snapdragon 600-powered Galaxy S4 does manage to achieve better scores in the benchmarks than its competitor, hinting that its software might be better optimized as a whole. Imagine what the GS4 with Exynos 5 Octa is going to do!

When it comes to storage space, the Galaxy S4 is a bit more versatile, as it comes in 16, 32 and 64GB versions, while the Optimus G Pro is only available with 32GB of internal storage. Both handsets sport a microSD card slot for memory expansion, which is much appreciated.

Camera and Multimedia :

The Optimus G Pro's 13MP camera is by no means bad, but the one of the Galaxy S4 is a bit better. The Optimus G Pro's images tend to pack a bit less detail and are somewhat noisy and slightly more washed out compared to those of the Galaxy S4. In addition, colors with the GS4 are just a bit livelier.

Indoors, the Galaxy S4 once again manages to take the more detailed photos, with more natural colors, especially when the LED flashes start to kick in.

The good news is that both handsets capture wonderful 1080p video, we don't have any remarks in that respect.

Call quality :

Neither handset performed particularly well in the call quality test. Both earpieces sound loud enough, but also quite digital. The same is true for their microphones, as our callers weren't exactly fascinated by the sound quality on their end. Their loudspeakers also aren't perfect, but the one of the Galaxy S4 tends to sound a bit more clearly.

Conclusion :

Do we even have to say anything here? It's all clear as day – the Galaxy S4 easily wins this comparison with its supreme design, screen, better camera quality, as well as way better user experience.

LG has certainly done a very good job with the Optimus G Pro's design and all, but they'll just have to do even better than that if they want to have a chance of overthrowing the market leader. By the looks of it, the area where LG should focus most is the software, because, sure, their phones are very customizable and all, you can change icon sizes, colors and so on, but really, what matters most is your core experience, because not everyone's keen on personalizing every small detail in their phone. So, LG just has come up with a beautiful UI that's contemporary and fun to use, because customers sure ain't buying LG phones for their gimmicky features. Now, we don't say that each and every feature by Samsung is worth your while, but overall, most of Samsung's custom software just makes more sense than what LG's doing.

Introduction

Let's face it – Nokia has been struggling to become relevant again for the last few years, and even with Windows Phone 8, it's still having a lot of trouble gaining any real traction. Meanwhile, Samsung has been enjoying increasingly bigger profits thanks to its efforts in the Android market. The two companies have recently switched their places, as Samsung has become the biggest cell phone maker, and Nokia has been left licking its wounds and trying to come up with a comeback plan. Well, that plan was Windows Phone and the best Nokia has managed to do with it is the Lumia 920. As Samsung has just introduced its newest flagship, though, the Galaxy S4, we think it'll be more than interesting to see how the biggest phone makers by volume stack up against each other.
Design

Could the Galaxy S4 and Lumia 920 be more different as far as design is concerned? Hardly! Samsung's device is made from a somewhat flimsy feeling plastic, although in theory, it should be polycarbonate, which is the same as what the Lumia 920 uses for its construction. However, Nokia's handset feels much sturdier and more durable than its opponent. This has come at a price, though, as the Galaxy S4 is definitely the slimmer, lighter and more compact smartphone of the two, which is a big deal, considering that it also has a larger screen.

And by larger, we mean 0.5″ larger, which is not a small thing. Not only that, but the GS4 also has a higher resolution display – 1080p vs 768p, so it's a lot sharper too, although image quality with the Lumia 920's display is also very good.

The Lumia 920 sticks to the tried and true LCD IPS technology, while Samsung is counting on its Super AMOLED, but don't worry, that's not the oversaturated and cold AMOLED that we once had in Samsung's phones. Well, it could be, but it can also look a lot more natural now thanks to a couple of screen profiles that Samsung has built in. Even then, the screen of the Lumia 920 is just superior in terms of overall quality.

The Lumia 920 is not super-bright, but it's still a bit brighter than the GS4, and that makes it a bit easier to view outdoors. Meanwhile, its colors appear more natural-looking, as they have that warm and balanced appearance. The GS4 is not far behind, though, and it also has its 1080p resolution to make up for the areas where it loses.

Interface and Functionality

OK, so Windows Phone 8 may not be the hero operating system Microsoft hoped it would be, but it's still a viable alternative to Android and iOS. We have to admit, though, that Windows Phone 8 is the more difficult platform to approach, due to its radically different user experience. Whereas, Android has more of a standard icon and widget-based concept, Windows Phone's homescreen has these live tiles, which are something of a cross between icons and widgets, and it also has a non-traditional structure, which is based around different hubs like People, Music+Video, Games, Office and so on. So it will probably take you a bit more time to get used to WP8, which is OK, but the thing is – is it worth it to go through the trouble of learning Windows Phone? Well, our answer is yes, but only if there's some specific feature of the Lumia 920 that you absolutely love, because in terms of pure software layout and capabilities, Android 4.2, especially with Samsung's TouchWiz on top, in our opinion, is far more versatile and superior to Windows Phone 8 as an operating system.

Messaging

Smaller screen or not, the Lumia 920 comes with a better QWERTY keyboard, which makes typing somewhat more intuitive and faster. Sure, you have that extra row of numbers with the GS4, but the keys are smaller, and don't feel particularly spacious even when typing in landscape mode.

Still, with the GS4 you have the option to install some other QWERTY keyboard that may prove to be just the right one for you, whereas that freedom is not there with the Lumia 920, which isn't such a big issue, because, as we said, its built-in keyboard is great.

Internet and Connectivity

The Nokia Lumia 920 has an amazing browser with Internet Explorer 10. It may not be as fast as the one in the Samsung Galaxy S4, but we certainly appreciate all the fine details that have been polished to perfection by Microsoft, like the double-tap zooming, perfect text size boosting and user-friendly scrolling.

Still, the awesome browser in the Galaxy S4 has a few tricks up its sleeve as well. How about Flash support? That's one thing you'll never get with the Lumia 920's Internet Explorer. However, reading may not be as easy with the GS4, as it doesn't seem to have noticed how the other browsers around it tend to artificially increase certain fonts in order to ease reading.

Processor and Memory

There is no doubt that the Galaxy S4 is the real specs monster among these two smartphones. Samsung's flagship comes with either Snapdragon 600, or Exynos 5 Octa, depending on the market, while the Lumia 920 is equipped with the last-gen dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus. System performance will be just fine with both handsets, though the Lumia 920 will certainly not be as future-proof as the GS4 with regards to third-party apps, and especially 3D games.

The Galaxy S4 is also far more versatile when it comes to storage space, as it comes in 16, 32 and 64 GB variants, and it also has a microSD card slot, whereas the Lumia 920 only comes with 32 GB of storage with no option to expand that.

Camera and Multimedia

Expectations towards the camera of the Lumia 920 have always been high, and for the most part, it has failed to live up to them. This is exactly what we observe now that it competes with the 13MP shooter of the Galaxy S4. Interestingly, Samsung doesn't really praise the camera of the GS4, but it's really so much better than that of the Lumia 920.

To start with, the Galaxy S4 features tons of different shooting modes and options, and while we don't really think that all of them will prove to be useful, some of them might come in handy in certain situations. The Lumia 920 isn't exactly free of any settings, but it can't really compare with what the Galaxy S4 offers..

That would have been OK, if the quality of the Lumia's images was better than that of its opponent, but that is not the case. The Galaxy S4 captures much more detail in its 13MP shots, and it also keeps noise levels at bay, while noise is easily seen with the Lumia 920 when shooting in cloudy conditions, for example. In addition, the Lumia 920 tries to get some liveliness in its shots by boosting the contrast and altering the colors, but it doesn't really do it right, and the Galaxy S4 remains much closer to reality in those aspects. Pretty much the same observations are valid when taking images indoors, in low-light conditions.

In terms of 1080p video recording, the Lumia 920 doesn't fascinate us with anything as the video itself has a bit of a high contrast, but its optical image stabilization (OIS) more than makes up for that as it makes all camera movements appear very smooth and pleasant – none of that constant trembling that's visible when recording video with the Galaxy S4, which lacks any OIS technique. As far as pure image quality is concerned, though, the GS4 once again takes the cake, maybe with the exception of extremely low-light recordings.

Call quality

Surprise, surprise, neither phone is particularly good for carrying out conversations, as both of their earpieces sound somewhat… bad. The Galaxy S4 does manage to slightly edge the Lumia 920 in that respect though, and the same thing goes for its loudspeaker, which, although far from perfect, tends to be noticeably clearer than that of its opponent.

Conclusion

Well, it's been another action-packed face-off, and we think it's clear already which device we think is the superior one here – it is the Galaxy S4! Sure, its appearance isn't as fancy and the construction isn't as sturdy as those of the Lumia 920, but that's about where the Nokia's advantages end.

Samsung's handset is definitely the more convenient phone to use, as it's much lighter and thinner, while at the same time it packs a significantly larger display. But that is not all. The Galaxy S4 also has a much better camera, and when we turn our attention to the software experience, that's where the Galaxy S4 easily gains the upper hand as it simply offers so much more, both in terms of custom, built-in features and third-party apps. Microsoft has certainly nailed a number of things in Windows Phone, including the web browser and QWERTY keyboard, and then we have Nokia's free offline turn-by-turn navigation, but those things aren't nearly enough to save the Lumia 920.

With all of that in mind, it seems that the only thing that remains for us is to wait for Nokia's next flagship smartphone, and then see how close it's gotten to successfully competing with the most fearsome Android phone around.

Introduction

The Samsung Galaxy S III was an absolute smash-hit in 2012. Few were the Android smartphones that dared to challenge it, and even fewer were those that stood any chance at all. However, time has once again proved that nothing lasts forever, as we're now 2013, and the good old GS III is now much less impressive than it was a year ago. But that doesn't mean that another company is to steal the crown from Samsung. Nope. Sammy has been refining and improving its billion-dollar formula, and the results of its efforts are evident in the Galaxy S4 – a handset that seems absolutely worthy of succeeding the wonderful Galaxy S III.

OK, so the Galaxy S4 is an amazing smartphone worth every penny, but there certainly are a lot of folks out there who are still rocking the GS III. Should those guys think about upgrading to the GS 4, or are they OK with their GS IIIs for another year? Enough questions! Let's go get ourselves some answers!
Design

We've all heard people say that the GS III and GS4 are almost identical in terms of external design. Well, this is so not true! OK, the Galaxy S4 is certainly in the same style as the Galaxy S III, but it is significantly better. Not only does it look better, but it is actually a bit narrower and a bit thinner than its predecessor, while sporting a bigger screen at the same time! This alone is an extraordinary achievement by Samsung. And as we said, it actually looks way better with its thinner bezel, more symetric design and better key layout.

Other than that, both devices are made of pretty much the same plastic material, which should be polycarbonate, though whatever it is, it sure isn't very tough, so you'll have to be extra careful with both of these guys.

Both handsets have the same key layout, and unfortunately, the Galaxy S4's keys do not feel any better than those of its predecessor, so no major construction upgrades here. Samsung has also decided to keep its favorite touch-sensitive Menu and Back keys, positioned to the left and right of the Home button below the screen. We actually tend to like this configuration, as it doesn't take up precious screen space.

Display

Even though the Galaxy S III's display looked amazing last year, it's now somewhat weird compared to the 1080p panels that start to overtake the market this year. That includes the screen of the Galaxy S4, which is so much better than the one of its predecessor. Not only is it higher-res, but it also boasts more natural colors that are still vibrant, but not to the point of being artificial and unpleasant.

It's not like the GS III's display is bad, even by today's standards, but the one of the GS4 is better in every aspect.

Interface and Functionality

At first, it'll be hard to notice any difference between the two handsets as far as the user interface (UI) goes. That is because both are using Samsung's TouchWiz Nature UX, but the GS4 is indeed a bit more refined. The new flagship is also based on Android 4.2.2, so it has all the latest goodies of the OS. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S III isn't far behind, as it's currently running Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bea, and it'll probably get updated past that.
For the time being, though, there will be a number of features that you'll be able to use only with the Galaxy S4. Here's a list with all of them:
Fun

Dual shot – This new camera feature makes for some interesting stories, mainly because it compiles videos by recording content with the front and rear cameras. It’s neat because you can tell a story about what you’re trying to shoot in the video.
Sound & Shot – This is simple – it just allows us to record up to 9 seconds of audio when we snap a photo. Therefore, when we preview it in the gallery, it’ll play the recording when we look at it.
Drama Shot – Always wondered how professional photographers snap those cool photos of someone diving into a pool? You know, the ones where it shows in the photo the step-by-step moment? Well, the drama shot feature relies on multi burst to take various photos of something in motion, and then complies them together in a single shot.
Cinema Photo – Now this one is really cool, it’s like having a photo that you can honestly say you’re “feeling the moment.” Basically, it’s like making a GIF image on the smartphone. As the handset is capturing images, we can select what elements to animate and what others we want to keep stationary.
Story Album – The name says it all! It’s a feature that lets us stitch together a story album using pictures, time, place, weather, and more.

Relationship

S Translator – You guessed it folks, the Galaxy S IV makes it super convenient to translate stuff on the fly. Incorporated into a variety of apps, like ChatON, messaging, S Translator app, and email, language barriers will be a thing of the past with this new S Translator feature.
Group Play – There are to aspects of Group Play. First, there’s the ability to allow the smartphone to pair with other Galaxy S IVs so they can conjure up a powerful sound system with its new Share Music feature. Come to think about it, the entire thing kind of reminds us of daisy chaining. Lastly, the Galaxy S IV allow for more social engagement when it comes to playing games. Specifically, optimized versions of Asphalt 7 and Gun Bros 2 allow multiple Samsung Galaxy S IV smartphone to play collaboratively.

Life Task

Air View – Yup, the Note’s Air View feature has somehow magically arrived on the Galaxy S IV – and boy does it impress on many levels. We’ve already talked about its usefulness and the display’s accuracy, but Sammy has an optimized version of Flipboard that allows us to hover our finger over its tiles to get a preview. Of course, the feature works in many other places – like previewing email and calendar appointments.
Air Gesture – Holy smokes! So what’s Air Gesture? Simply, it’s a basic version of Kinect for the Microsoft XBOX 360, but for smartphones (SGSIV in this case obviously). At its core, Air Gesture is touchless commands for the Galaxy S IV and breaks down to three commands – Air Browse, Air Jump, and Air Call Accept. In the browser and email apps, we can wave our hand in a downward/upward motion to tell the phone to scroll up/down. Likewise, we can “swipe” through photos in the gallery by waving our hand over the display in the appropriate direction. Yeah, it’s super neat, but not all apps support it. Instead, most of Sammy’s set offer it, but not others like Chrome or Gmail. Unfortunately though, there’s no air gesture for “pinch zooming.”
Smart Pause – It’s hard enough remembering a storyline when watching a movie on a phone, especially when we decide to do something else aside from watching it. Well, with Smart Pause, the handset knows when we’re not looking. Therefore, it’ll automatically pause the moment our eyes are no longer affixed to the display, but it’ll resume once we look back at it.
Smart Scroll – Using a combination of looking with our eyes and some tilting action, we can scroll through various content in the web browser and email app.
Samsung Optical Reader – No one likes having to manually input business card information into their phones, so that’s why we’re given the Samsung Optical Reader. Snap a business card, it’ll automatically retrieve the pertinent content and convert it digitally for us. Also, it works to decipher QR codes.
WatchON – Seeing that the handset is now sporting an IR blaster, WatchON is the one stop hub for all our television program needs. Not only can we control, select, and viewing programming, it also has a cool video on demand feature.

Life Care

S Health – Fitness junkies will surely appreciate S Health the most, since it tracks and measures various physical activities – eventually giving us detailed statistics about our fitness regimen. From counting the steps we’ve take to the amount of calories we’ve consumed for the day, S Health is the central spot where we can monitor our healthy lifestyle. Heck, it can even tell us if the temperature and weather conditions are conducive to our health. Oh yeah, did we mention it can also monitor sleeping patterns?
Samsung Adapt Sound – In its attempt to be self-aware, the Samsung Adapt Sound will automatically adjust some of the handset’s settings based on what we’re doing. For example, if we’re reading a book in the dark, it’ll adjust the contrast and brightness to make it easier on our eyes. Another scenario pumps up the two so that it provides for an enticing video watching experience. Rather than doing it ourselves manually, it’s nice to see the handset doing it automatically for us.

Messaging

The built in keyboard of the Galaxy S4 is slightly different than that of its predecessor in that it has an additional line of numbers. This makes it more versatile and practical, but makes the keys a bit smaller than those of the GS III. If you are used to typing in landscape, though, this won't be such a problem. Not that typing with the GS4 is hard or anything, but… yeah, sometimes you might find the keys to be a bit smallish.

One update that we guess the Galaxy S III will eventually get is the new ChatON service which is avialable in the Galaxy S4. Its new key feature is the three-way conferance video call option. Nothing major to miss here for GS III users.

Internet and Connectivity

The Galaxy S4's advantages in this category are mostly due to its superiority in the hardware department. The slightly larger, 1080p screen makes reading a bit better, as everything is just so, so sharp and fine. It actually bothers us because last year we said that you can hardly notice an individual pixel in the 720p screen of the Galaxy S III. Now, we realize how wrong we've been, as the screen of the Galaxy S4 is so much better. But! Of course, that doesn't mean that the GS III's display is bad. Quite the contrary, it's still great for reading, browsing and so on, it's just that the GS4, with its Full HD screen, makes things look even more awesome!

When it comes to features, both handsets have LTE support, but the international GS4 steps things up a notch with its HSPA+ 42.2 Mbit/s support, whereas the GS III only has HSPA+ 21.1 Mbit/s. Another thing that the Galaxy S4 has that the GS III doesn't is an IR blaster.

Processor and Memory

Internationally, the Galaxy S III comes with the quad-core Exynos 4412, which is happily ticking at 1.4 GHz. The Exynos version has the Mali-400/MP4 GPU. In the U.S., the GS III comes with the dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus with two Krait cores at 1.5 GHz with Adreno 225 GPU.

The GS4, on the other hand, has the Snapdragon 600 CPU in most markets. The Snapdragon 600 is aquad-core chipset running at 1.9 GHz, and it also comes with the Adreno 320 GPU, which is much better than that of the GS III. In some markets, the Galaxy S4 will come with the Exynos 5 Octa CPU, which we presume will be better than the Snapdragon 600 version, but that's just guessing right now, because we haven't had the chance to play with it. Anyways, the Exynos 5 Octa is an octa-core CPU withtwo powerful A15 cores running at 1.6 GHz, and two low-power A7 cores running at up to 1.2 GHz, used for less demanding tasks in order to save power.

As you can guess, the Galaxy S4 is much faster than the GS III, it absolutely crushes the benchmarks and is as fast as you can get right now. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S III has a similar performance most of the time, as long as you aren't making it run tons of stuff at the same time.

System memory-wise, both the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S III come with 2GB of RAM, but the international GS III is an exception here as it only has 1GB of RAM, so keep that in mind if you are planning on getting the GS III right now – it may not be the best handset for multitasking.

The internal memory options are the same for both smartphones – they both come in 16, 32 and 64 GB variants, and both of them have microSD card slot, allowing you to easily expand your phone's storage, if need be.

Camera and Multimedia

Samsung has attempted to improve the camera of its flagship series, but has it succeeded in that? Well, the GS4 does have many new features, like Drama shot, Sound and shot, Dual shot and What-not shot, but really, we're sure that most folks out there will just stick to using the Auto mode.

There's an old saying that megapixels aren't everything, but they certainly help. That's indeed the case here with the Galaxy S4's 13MP camera, which manages to pack so much more detail into its shots, compred to its predecessor's 8MP camera. Not only does the GS4 take sharp photos, but it also manages to remain relatively noise-free. Other than that, the images will look somewhat identical most of the time, but we notice that the Galaxy S4 does tend to capture a bit more lively and well-exposed photos in certain situations.

Strangely, we find the Galaxy S III's 1080p video footage to be a bit better than that of the Galaxy S4, as it is somewhat sharper-looking. The other things like colors and exposure seem to be identical, but the video from the Galaxy S III feature a bit more detail. Of course, there's still time for Samsung to issue a software update and try to fix that, but for the time being, the GS III seems to have a slight edge here, though the difference isn't really big. On the other hand, the microphone of the GS4 does a better job recording the sound, so you can be sure that your videos will sound better if they are recorded with the Galaxy S4.

Call quality
Both handsets fail to impress us when it comes to sound quality during calls. In fact, the Galaxy S III may be sounding just a tad better than its successor, with slightly more natural voices coming through its earpiece, but of course, that depends on a lot of factors. The microphones of both devices aren't anything to write home about, as they simply manage to deliver a strong, but high-sounding signal.

Pretty much the same goes for their loudspeakers. This is one area where Samsung hasn't bothered to upgrade much, as both the GS4 and GS III have decent loudspeakers, with good strength, but nothing close to something like the stereo front speakers of the HTC One, for example.
Conclusion

OK, so the Galaxy S4 may not be a tremendous upgrade over the Galaxy S III, but it sure is a better smartphone. The new flagship excels in many areas, including its exterior design, the screen, which is now 1080p, the updated UI with latest Android version, 13 MP camera and a host of new software features.
All of these feature upgrades make sure that you're having a a better experience while using the handset, not only in specific situations, but also while doing completely basic things like calling, messaging, getting notifications and so on. We gues this is why Samsung continues to get more and more influential in the smartphone market, as the company's high-end phones not only have state-of -the-art hardware, but also an increasingly better user experience, which you can never get with specs alone.

But let's get back to our comparison and try to answer the question that we asked at the start – should Galaxy S III owners think about an upgrade? Well, it sure isn't a simple question, which means there isn't one ultimate answer. If you have spare money, and having the latest gear is always a top priority for you, then just go ahead, sell that aging Galaxy S III and get the GS4! In any other case, we think that the Galaxy S III is still competent enough – from hardware to software. The screen is big, the processor is fast, the experience is wonderful… plus it will probably get an update to the next version of Android, so for the time being, it looks like you won't be missing much at all, should you stick to the Galaxy S III.

And that's certainly not the case if you happen to be rocking something older, like the Galaxy S II, for example. In that case, don't hesitate – just do yourself a favor and grab the Galaxy S4. It's tons better!

Introduction

Mid-range Android phones are a dime a dozen these days, so it takes something special to make one stand out. Kyocera decided to get rid of the earpiece. We’re listening…

The Kyocera Torque stands out to begin with, thanks to its ruggedized design including Military Spec 810G and IP 67 certification. What really caught our eye though was what Kyocera is calling Smart Sonic Receiver technology. This eliminates the traditional earpiece, and transmits sound directly into your tissues meaning you should be able to hear clearly in loud environments. Is this new technology enough to make the Kyocera Torque a winner? Read on to find out.
Design:

As far as rugged devices go, the Kyocera Torque is relatively small. It comes in at just 14mm thick and feels much more comfortable to use than other rugged devices out there thanks to a significantly smaller bezel. The sides are encased in a durable plastic housing, and the back is texturized with plenty of grip.

The Torque features a 4” IPS 480×800 WVGA display, which isn’t the highest resolution but readability and viewing angles are good. The display is slightly recessed from the bezel to protect it. Below the display are physical navigation buttons integrated into the housing below; though it runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, Kyocera has changed out the recommended app switcher button for menu. Along the sides you’ll find a large Direct Connect button, as well as a volume rocker and physical camera key. On top the covered 3.5mm headset jack is flanked by the power and speakerphone buttons, and down below is a covered microUSB port.

Ruggedness:

The Torque meets Military Spec 810G for dust, shock, vibration, temperature extremes, blowing rain, low pressure, solar radiation, salt fog and humidity, and the IP 67 certification ensures it can stand up to water jets and submersion for up to 30 minutes in 1 meter of water. The only physical openings on the phone are the battery door, which has a locking mechanism, the aforementioned covered ports and the large front facing speakers at the bottom.

The Torque performed as advertised, withstanding all of our durability tests. Despite several drops on concrete from increasing heights the Torque refused to stop working, or even show a scratch. We doused it in water, then dunked it in 2 feet of water for half an hour and the Torque came out working just as well as when we put it in.

Software:

The Torque runs on Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwitch, but Sprint was quick to point out that they are working on bring Jelly Bean to the device. Currently, the Direct Connect service is not compatible with the newer version of Android, so the technical kinks must be ironed out first but it is good to see the carrier proactively addressing the situation.

As a Sprint ID device the Kyocera Torque runs a mostly vanilla build of Ice Cream Sandwich, just as we saw with the Kyocera Rise. You can of course download more ID packs, although in general the service has proven fairly niche with little actual benefit. Pre-installed apps are light too, with only 5 apps joining the standard Sprint and Google apps on the Torque.

Processor and Memory

Paired with a dual core 1.2GHz Snapdragon S4 Plus processor, 1GB of RAM and 4GB of memory the Torque moves along fluidly.

Connectivity

The Torque is Kyocera’s first 4G LTE device, and Sprint’s first LTE device with Direct Connect. However, we discovered that the phone is set to CDMA only by default, and when we enabled LTE the phone warned us that Direct Connect was not available while in LTE mode, even if LTE coverage isn’t available. We’ve contacted Kyocera and will update the review with their explanation. It packs all the connectivity options you’d expect from a modern Android device, including Wi-Fi, GPS, NFC and Bluetooth 4.0.

Camera

As you’d expect the Torque isn’t a multimedia powerhouse, but the 5 megapixel camera isn’t terrible. Colors are mostly natural and clarity is fine for Facebook, Instagram and the like. When viewed at full resolution, however, details are lost and things become very blurry. Low light performance was pretty poor, even with the LED flash, but that is to be expected. Videos can be recorded at 1080p, and like the camera results weren’t fantastic but were perfectly acceptable for a mid-range device.

Multimedia

Kyocera utilizes the stock Android multimedia players which perform just fine, but as usual there are a myriad of options in the Play Store to suit your needs.

Call Quality
Kyocera is the first manufacturer to bring tissue conducting technology to the US market, something they’ve dubbed Smart Sonic Receiver. Initially debuted with KDDI in Japan last year, this technology uses piezoelectric actuators to vibrate the entire display, which in turns transmits sound via both air waves and tissue conduction to the eardrum. The end result is clearer audio, in both quiet and noisy environments. Though it may seem like black magic, it actually works quite well and the technology was recognized “Best of What’s New” by Popular Science last November. The call quality is very good, and if you didn’t tell them the average user would have no idea of the special tech at play in the Torque.

Callers were also impressed with the Torque, saying it was one of the better devices we’ve tested and rating it 9/10. They said we sounded slightly muffled, but the call clarity was great. The Torque is the second Sprint device to support HD Voice, behind the HTC EVO 4G LTE, though the technology isn’t up and running on the network side in most markets.

Battery:

With a 2500mAh battery, the Torque claims up to 18.9 hours of talk time, an unprecedented number in the CDMA world. This is achieved using Kyocera’s Eco Smart mode and MaxiMZR, which turns off non-essential background data. Even if it is able to achieve half of that number it is quite impressive, and should last the average user at least a full day if not more.

Conclusion:

Despite being a mid-range Android device running an OS that is well over a year old, the Kyocera Torque is an amazingly advanced device. It is well designed, and passed our torture tests with flying colors. The Smart Sonic Receiver technology is nothing short of amazing, and we are still a bit in awe of the lack of a speaker. Call quality, battery life and OS performance are all very good. The Torque has a few drawbacks, mostly the fact that Direct Connect cannot be used while LTE is turned on, but overall this is a very good phone. For your everyday user looking for something a bit more durable, or for a construction worker who demands a phone that can take a daily beating, the Kyocera Torque is a phone worth looking at.

PROS

• Sturdy, durable design
• Smart Sonic Receiver technology and HD voice make for great call quality in any situation
• Hefty 2500mAh battery can give days of use

Introduction:

At first, it was pretty much slim pickings when it came to Windows 8 tablets, but now it seems as though they’re coming out steadily everywhere we look. Already relishing on some stellar tablets such as the Microsoft Surface Pro and Asus VivoTab Smart, we’re now checking out Lenovo’s offering in the ThinkPad Tablet 2. Not surprisingly, it’s sporting some of the distinct design characteristics that live up to the ThinkPad name, but more importantly, will it be able to entice consumers who are already bombarded with a decent selection of Windows 8 slates?

The package contains:

microUSB cable
Wall Charger

Design:

Glancing at the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2, there’s no arguing it stands out prominently for paying homage to the enterprise style that embodies the ThinkPad legacy. Certainly a compact (0.39” / 9.9mm thin) and lightweight (19.93 oz / 565 grams) slate, it’s something that doesn’t occupy much space in a backpack – making it travel friendly and easy on the spine! Sporting a black matte finish, it does a wonderful job to maintain its clean appearance, while at the same time, the rubbery-like surface sufficiently allows for plenty of grip with our hands. Throw in the fact that its construction is solid too, we can’t complain how everything meshes together seamlessly to make the ThinkPad Tablet 2 one of the more portable and solid Windows 8 slates out right now.

On the façade of the ThinkPad Tablet 2, there’s a flush Start button directly beneath the display – while the front-facing 2-megeapixel is seen on the opposite edge.

Pressing the tablet’s power button is a challenge in itself, seeing that it’s flush and rather indistinct to the touch. Fortunately, there’s no concern with its separated volume controls and screen rotation lock switch that are located on its right trim. Always useful and adding value to the ThinkPad Tablet 2, we’re pleased to find that it’s packing along a microSD card slot, SIM slot, mini-HDMI port, and a full-sized USB port. Needless to say, with that kind of arsenal in tow, it undoubtedly enhances its usefulness as a true laptop replacement. Also, there’s a proprietary docking port on the bottom edge that allows the tablet to connect with its optional keyboard dock.

In the rear, we find slots on both edges for its speaker grills – while its 8-megapixel auto-focus camera and LED flash, which has the ability to shoot 1080p videos, are positioned squarely towards the upper-middle section of the casing.

Lastly, much like other recent Windows 8 slates we’ve been scoping of late, it features a pressure sensitive stylus, which thankfully can be tucked away discretely into the slot that’s built into the tablet’s left edge.

Display:

It’s surely not going to win any awards, but the 10.1-inch 1366 x 768 IPS display of the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 is pleasant enough to accept. Needless to say, it doesn’t impress on paper with its 155 ppi pixel density, but frankly speaking, it’s more than sufficient when we’re viewing it from a normal distance away – though, we can clearly tell it’s not as sharp looking with fine details when compared to 10-inch 1920×1080 displays. On the colors side, it’s a bit reserved with its tones, but we're happy that its viewing angles are good enough to maintain its clarity. Unfortunately, with its low contrast and brightness, it doesn’t particularly handle outdoor conditions too well with the sun bearing down on it.

Pen & Digitizer:

Hardly a newcomer within the inner circle of Windows 8 tablets, the ThinkPad Tablet 2 also boasts a pressure sensitive digitizer pen – similar to what we’ve seen on other tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and Microsoft Surface Pro. As we revealed already, it’s wonderful that there’s a slot in the tablet itself to store the pen when it’s not in use, however, we find its sensitivity to be either hit or miss. Don’t get us wrong, it adds a lot of value since it acts as a mouse cursor to hover over various elements, but it just seems at times a bit wonky in registering various degrees of applied pressure.

Interface and Functionality:

By now, there are no surprises with the experience on this particular Windows 8 tablet, since Microsoft’s new platform is pretty much standardized between devices – so we get the same Modern UI on the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2. Being a Windows 8 tablet, instead of Windows RT, the ThinkPad Tablet 2 can run legacy Windows 7 “computer” apps, bridging the gap between a tablet and a computer. Aside from the stock set of apps that are normally found with all Windows 8 slates, Lenovo throws in a few from its stable, but to tell you the truth, they don’t necessarily add any depth to the experience. Rather, they’re basically portals to some of the surface functions of Windows 8. Specifically, we have Lenovo Settings that provides access to some common settings, the information and services offerings of Lenovo Companion, and finally the screenshot-crop app in Lenovo QuickSnip.

Yet again, we’re not surprised that the core set of organizer apps are nothing new to us. Therefore, whether you’re using the email or calendar apps, there’s nothing separating this from other Windows 8 slates.

More than effective for typing things up with its on-screen keyboard, we’re presented with the usual set of options that are standard with Windows 8, which include the full-sized and split style keyboards – with a hand writing recognition one as well to complement the experience.

Processor and Memory:

In keeping its price point from being too overbearing, the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 opts to employ a dual-core 1.8GHz Intel Atom Z2760 processor that’s coupled with 2GB of RAM and an integrated Intel HD SGX545 GPU. On the surface, it handles most processes with the same finesse as its Intel core i5 brethren, but it’s undoubtedly tested to its limits with legacy software in the desktop. Furthermore, it begins to show some level of sluggishness with more processor intensive tasks such as running 1080p videos.

Available in either 32GB or 64GB capacities, the actual out of the box figure for our 64GB review model tallies in at roughly 50GB. Always a comforting thing to know, we can supplement it thanks to the microSD card slot.
Internet and Connectivity:

No surprises whatsoever here folks, as Internet Explorer delivers the goods in the web browsing department. From its peppy page loads to its responsive navigational controls, we have no issues whatsoever with the experience. To top it off too, the digitizer pen helps to give us that mouse cursor-like control with various web page elements.

Armed with the usual assortment of connectivity features, such as aGPS, Bluetooth 4.0, and 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, it’s nice to know that you can get mobile broadband connectivity too, seeing that Lenovo has a variant that includes a Gobi 4000 radio for connectivity to AT&T’s LTE network.

Camera:

Brandishing an 8-megapixel auto-focus camera, which is undeniably above average amongst Windows 8 slates thus far, we’re quick to realize that there’s nothing impressive with the outcome. In fact, details are pretty much faint and indistinct looking – while colors are muted in tone. For some uncanny reason, there’s no way to manually turn off the LED flash, so it’ll automatically kick in whenever it deems lighting isn’t adequate. Naturally, we’d expect the presence of the flash to strengthen its quality, but it doesn’t add much since it casts a noticeable vignetting effect to the shot.

At the same time, 1080p video recording quality is also underwhelming to say the least. Some of the unwanted distractions with its quality include its flat details, slower 24 frames per second recording, distorted audio recording, heavy artifacting elements, and erratic focus adjustment.

Multimedia:

Again, there’s nothing terribly new to say about the music player, since it’s the same one used by all Windows 8 devices. Even though it’s packing stereo support with its two speakers, it sounds rather strained at the loudest setting – so placing it at the middle setting produces tones that are more pleasant.

Obviously, the display size is ample enough for our liking when it comes to watching videos. Unfortunately though, it buckles under the pressure when it comes down to playing 1080p videos. So much so that sluggishness and delays become rampant during playback.

Battery:

Sure, the ThinkPad Tablet 2 might not have the muscle power to outclass other tablets, but if there’s one benefit to using Intel’s Atom processor, it’s that you get extended battery life with it. No doubt one of its strong points, we’re able to consistently achieve 9 to 10 hours of normal usage out of its battery, which consists primarily of web surfing and sending emails.

Conclusion:

If we came upon the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 in a store and quickly glance over its specs sheet, we probably wouldn’t get too excited. And who would considering its low-res display and choice of packing an Intel Atom processor? As we’ve seen, though, the tablet is still equipped in providing us with the same experience as its beefier counterparts – well, it probably will take more time in executing the same tasks. Regardless, if we’re to look at the $579 base price (32GB, Wi-Fi only) of the tablet, there’s some good value when we take into consideration its travel friendly size, great battery life, and wealth of ports. A good alternative is the Asus VivoTab Smart which is even more affordable at $500 for the base model.

PROS

• Thin and lightweight tablet with full Windows 8 experience
• Great battery life

Introduction:

Just last month, we checked out the well-rounded performer in the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2, which did justice in the tablet market with its long withstanding ThinkPad brand. However, if you're still itching to save some money on a Windows 8 tablet, then the Lenovo IdeaTab Lynx might seemingly be the better fit. Looking at the two side-by-side, you'd be hard pressed to see any major differences in specs, but more importantly, let's cross our fingers and hope that the slightly lower price point of the Lynx doesn't compromise in the performance.
The package contains:

microUSB cable
Wall Charger
USB cable adapter
Quick User Guide
Important Safety and Handling Information

Design:

Sheesh! Talk about bland and boring here folks with the Lenovo IdeaTab Lynx. In fact, there's nothing too pretty with this one, as it feels hollow and cheaply constructed. Quite frankly, it doesn't help either when its plastic casing is on the brittle side of things – and the rigid pattern of the rear does little to give us a decent grip in the hand, essentially giving it a slippery feel. Yet, we do appreciate that it's light weight (1.4 lbs) and skinny (0.37″ thin) for its size, but its boxy figure and overall tasteless design doesn't give it the killer appeal of an actual lynx.

In accordance to its lower price point, not surprisingly, the Lynx is sporting a physical Start button below its display – as opposed to something touch sensitive. On the opposite side, there's a no-frills 2-megapixel front-facing camera that's enabled for 1080p video recording, which is the only one on this budget tablet.

Unfortunately though, everything around the tablet's trim is flush to the surface, making its physical buttons (power, volume control, and orientation lock) notoriously difficult to feel out. Regardless of that, it's comforting to know that this budget tablet is sporting the usual set of ports we'd come to expect on a Windows 8 tablet – these include the microHDMI port, microSD card slot, 3.5mm headset jack, microphone, microUSB port for charging/data connectivity, and left/right speakers.

Sure, we're thankful that Lenovo throws in a USB port adapter, but it means that we need to remember bringing it along for the ride all the time. Lastly, on the bottom edge, there are notches that allow an optional keyboard dock to attach to the tablet – albeit, it's an additional $130 cost, but does bring along 2 full-sized USB 2.0 ports and extra battery life.

Display:

As expected, there's nothing that jumps out too extravagantly with the Lynx's 11.6-inch 1366 x 768 IPS LCD display. Churning out a pixel density of 135 ppi, which is undoubtedly below the average nowadays, we're constantly finding ourselves doing some serious pinch zooming in the web browsers to properly see fine text. As for color reproduction, we can't complain too much seeing that it's a bit on the neutral side, but there's some noticeable bleeding around the edges of the display that becomes more prominent at certain viewing angles. Using it outdoors, its 400 nits of brightness does well to handle direct sunlight, but it does require some shielding every now and then. Yeah, it's sufficient enough to use, but like its design, it ultimately comes off as bland.

Interface and Functionality:

Depending on how you look at it, some might appreciate the fact that the Lenovo IdeaTab Lynx is as stock as it goes for Windows 8 slates, but at the same time, we wish there is more to discover with the experience. Nonetheless, it's the same experience you'll find on any other Windows 8 tablet out on the market right now. Just like everything else before it, the start screen is comprised out of those cool looking and dynamic live tiles. Surely appreciated, desktop mode brings us back to the tried and true look of Windows past – with legacy software support too!

Glazing over the tablet's core set of organizer apps, there's nothing out of the ordinary with their presentation and functionality, seeing they're the same ones commonly found with the platform.

Spacious indeed with its real estate, we're able to comfortably and effortlessly type away long messages with its on-screen keyboards. Becoming a staple at this point with all Windows 8 running tablets, its responsiveness and fantastic auto-correct feature helps to quicken our pace. Unlike its close family member in the ThinkPad Tablet 2, this model lacks the additional usefulness of some kind of digitizer stylus.

Processor and Memory:

Outfitted with the same internals used by the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2, the Lynx performs similarly. By no means a powerhouse, its dual-core 1.8GHz Intel Atom Z2760 processor coupled with 2GB of RAM and an integrated Intel HD SGX545 GPU, is effective enough to handle most non-intensive tasks – yet, it strains when it's pushed to the limits. So much so that signs of slowdown and choppiness begin to be apparent with heavy multi-tasking and playing 1080p videos.

Despite being graced with 64GB of internal storage, it's more like 32.5GB of free storage after all is said and done. Although it's chopped in half out of the box, it's nice to know there's a microSD card slot that's ready to supplement its capacity.

Internet and Connectivity:

It's more of the same here people in the web browsing department, considering that the Lynx is capable of delivering a fine experience with barely any fluff. Loading complex pages, rendering is pretty instant on the fly, which means kinetic scrolling and pinch zooming are both accompanied with that buttery smooth performance that we kind of expect. Beyond that, there isn't anything else that gives it an advantage over other Atom-based Windows 8 tablets.

At the moment, the Lenovo IdeaTab Lynx is being made available as an 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi only tablet – with no indication of other variants that might include cellular data connectivity. As for the rest, its other connectivity features include GPS and Bluetooth 4.0. Sorry folks, there's no NFC with this one!

Camera:

Nope, we're not at the very least sad to know this one is only brandishing a front-facing camera. To tell you the truth, if it helps to keep its price down, we'll tolerate the lack of a rear camera. Naturally, we can't have high expectations with the front-facing cam's quality, since it's pretty bare with the fine details and very grainy looking. Nevertheless, it's adequate for video chat, but not so much with self-portraits.

Multimedia:

Hello Windows 8 music player! By now people, it shouldn't surprise many to know it's the same old player we find on all other Windows 8 devices. Indeed, it relies heavily on the Windows 8 “Modern UI,” but the audio quality from its two speakers is pathetic. Not only are they dinky with the power output, but some audible levels of strain and distortion are noticeable as well.

More than sufficient for watching videos, since its size is spacious and that there's a decent amount of luminosity, the Lynx's only major fault is found with higher resolution videos. On one side, it's great that there's a wide support for various video codecs, but 1080p videos are simply too taxing to play for this tablet. Well, 720p videos and below have no issues at all with playback.

Battery:

Carrying along a 6800 mAh battery, combined with its battery efficient processor, the Lynx is able to give us a solid one-day of normal usage. Setting the brightness to its maximum and using it primarily for surfing the web and sending emails, we're able to easily get a day's worth of juice. Still, it's something you'll want to recharge nightly if you're a power user.

Conclusion:

Seriously, if saving money is all that you care about, there's no arguing that you'll be doing just that with the Lenovo IdeaTab Lynx. Despite its less than appetizing design combined with its entry-level specs, the Lynx is able to deliver the same level of performance as other Atom-based Windows 8 tablets. However, in making it a more competitive option, you'll need to fork over another $130 to make it a convincing netbook replacement – and that's on top of its $550 price point! Honestly people, the ThinkPad Tablet 2 seems to be a convincing option too at $679, seeing it's packing a rear camera, digitizer stylus, full-sized USB port, and an overall better design, but heck, the savings found with the Lynx might be enough to sway people to its gaze.

PROS

• Affordable price point compared to other Windows 8 tablets
• Great battery life
• Nearly zero bloatware

Introduction:

Out of all the major players in the tablet/laptop space, there’s no arguing that Lenovo has been relentless when it comes to having a deep portfolio. In the ultrabook department, its IdeaPad Yoga 13 has been a mainstream hit – especially with its intriguing convertibility aspect. Well, if you’re willing to settle with the Windows RT experience, while also saving some money and carrying around something more compact, the IdeaPad Yoga 11 might have the same level of appeal to keep you engaged. Just like its bigger sibling, the Yoga 11 has the gear to make it one of the more versatile Windows RT devices.

The package contains:

Wall Charger
Quick User Guide
Important Safety and Handling Information

Design:

Without a doubt, the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 jumps out most for its rarely seen multi-mode convertible aspect, which is a hallmark of the series. Visually, the Yoga 11’s interesting design scheme is further complemented by its sturdy construction, soft touch matte finish, and streamlined body. Compared to other Windows RT slates, the Yoga 11 is both thicker (0.61” / 15.5mm) and heavier (2.8 lbs / 1.27 kg), but we have to bear in mind that it’s packing along a full-sized QWERTY keyboard for added versatility. To top it off, we truly adore the various positions we can prop it in – essentially giving it some yoga-like moves. Ultimately though, it’s the unique flipping and twisting capabilities of the Yoga 11 that makes it a standout hit amongst the Windows RT crop.

Below the display, lying flush to the surface, is the tablet’s square shaped physical Start button – while the tablet’s sole front-facing camera, a measly 1-megapixel one, is perched on the opposite side.

Considering that the Yoga 11 is more laptop-like than tablet, it benefits from having an arsenal of ports. Around its edges, we find 2 full-sized USB 2.0 ports, a combo 3.5mm headphone jack, full-sized HDMI port, proprietary charging port, a full-sized SD card slot, and left/right speaker grills. In addition, there are a few physical buttons too, the power, orientation lock, and volume control, but unfortunately they’re all nearly flush and difficult to feel out.

Keyboard:

One step ahead of its Windows RT brethren, the IdeaPad Yoga 11 doesn’t require an optional keyboard to broaden its depth. Rather, it’s already there, ready and waiting! For those of us used to typing on a larger sized laptop, there’s some adjustment needed to get a good feel for the Yoga 11’s keyboard layout. However, after a bit of practice, we find ourselves moving relatively quickly. As for the keys, they’re slightly raised and bunched close to one another, but there’s a decent amount of travel with them. In addition to using the touchscreen, the trackpad also works well for a variety of navigational controls. Most importantly, it’s nice to find that the keyboard is deactivated when the Yoga 11 is propped up in its tablet and tent modes – though, it does feel a bit awkward feeling the buttons as we grasp the tablet with both hands.

Display:

Somewhat expected to say the least, we’re not terribly wowed by the 11.6-inch 5-point capacitive HD Glare Multitouch display, as details lack that sense of sharpness with its 1366 x 768 resolution. However, for most trivial things, such as surfing the web, it’s more than adequate for the job. Despite that, we have to admit that our eyes really take notice of its punchy color tones, which receive more vibrancy thanks to its 350 nit brightness. Viewing angles are good, but outdoor usage still requires some proper shielding from the sun.

Interface and Functionality:

After spending a great deal of time with the full blown Windows 8 experience, it’s surely something trying to get back into the swing of things with Windows RT. Actually, we almost forgot this is the Windows RT, mainly because on the surface, there’s nothing too ornate that differentiates the two. In fact, the Start screen is a familiar one with its dynamic live tiles – plus, the Windows Store is home to a growing list of apps. However, upon going into the desktop mode, we realize that there’s no support for legacy software, which is the single drawback of Windows RT. Regardless of that, it’s nice to see that Lenovo doesn’t add any bloatware out of the box, thus, keeping it as stock as possible. Oh yeah, it’s absolutely stellar to find Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 RT preloaded!

Going through the Yoga11’s core set of organizer apps, it’s the same usual suspects we’re adjusted to finding nowadays – so there’s nothing terribly new with any of them. From the calendar to mail apps, they all function as we’d expect.

Certainly, the best option for typing is to use the Yoga 11’s physical keyboard, but as an alternative with its touchscreen, we can also rely on the on-screen options as well – especially when we’re using it in tent or tablet modes. Spacious with its layout and responsive, it works as good as the physical one, so it’s a matter of choice on which one to stick with.

Processor and Memory:

Being a Windows RT device, the Yoga 11 relies on NVIDIA’s 1.4GHz quad-core Tegra 3 chipset coupled with 2GB of RAM and the NVIDIA ULP GeForce GPU for its processing might. For what it’s worth, it’s effective enough to handle most tasks, but it easily begins to show some strain with more processor intensive things. For example, it’s buttery smooth navigating across the Start Screen, but when we’re executing some heavy multi-tasking, such as using two apps in split view, its performance tends to stutter a tiny bit. Luckily, it’s never to the point frustrating.

Sure, it’s lugging around a 64GB SSD inside of its body, but when it’s all said and done out of the box, it translates over to roughly a little over 40GB of free storage. Nevertheless, the full-sized SD card slot and USB ports are there to supplement its capacity.

Internet and Connectivity:

By now, we might sound like a broken record, but the web browsing experience with Internet Explorer on the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 is wonderful, which is what we kind of expect from most Windows RT slates at this point. Quickly loading complex web sites, its top-notch performance is also evident in other navigational controls – such as instant page rendering, responsive pinch zooming, and fluid kinetic scrolling.

Strictly an 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi convertible, there’s no word if we’ll see variants outfitted with cellular data connectivity. Despite that, it’s sporting the typical set of connectivity features – like aGPS, Bluetooth 4.0, and HDMI-out functionality.

Camera:

Limited to snapping self-portraits and the occasional video-chatting session, there’s nothing great to say about the quality of its 1-megapixel camera. Obviously, it serves its purpose in those aforementioned tasks, but it also has the ability to shoot 720p videos as well – though, its quality isn’t something worth bragging about.

Multimedia:

Consistency is what makes Microsoft’s platform unique, so there are few differences with the core experience. So much so that the music player on the Yoga 11 is the same identical one used by all the other Windows RT tablets out there. Armed with left and right speakers, its output is on the weak side, but at least there’s no crackling or distortion at the loudest volume setting.

For some reason, it seems as though these NVIDIA Tegra 3 Windows RT devices handles 1080p video playback a lot better than some Intel Atom-based Windows 8 tablets. Not only does the Yoga 11 support the major video codecs, but it handsomely plays 1080p videos with minimal slowdown.

Battery:

After using the Lenovo IdeaPad extensively, we forget that we’re dealing with a Windows RT device here. Hiding away a 4-cell battery in its skinny chassis, the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 is able to effectively give us more than a solid day of normal usage with a fully charged battery. To tell you the truth, even power users will be impressed by its longevity!

Conclusion:

On the average right now, you can pick up the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 for approximately $600, which quite frankly, seems to be grossly expensive for a Windows RT device. However, when we add in the fact that it’s boasting an extremely usable keyboard, combined with its cool convertible aspect, the Yoga 11 is a great netbook replacement. Sure, you won’t be able to install legacy software, but if you’re looking for the basics, this will suffice for most things. Honestly people, with so much versatility packed into this netbook-like replacement, it’s certain to stand out amongst the existing crop of Windows RT devices that have been out on the market, due to its different form factor.

PROS

• Cool convertible aspect
• Great battery life
• Lots of useful ports

Introduction:

Windows 8 hybrids are a relatively new breed, but it seems like a whole lot of tech companies have one on the market already. That includes Acer with its Iconia W511 tablet, which we are about to take through its paces. It is a 10.1-inch slate powered by an Intel Atom processor paired with a dock that adds a physical keyboard and extra battery life. The device's specs can't really make it stand out, but it should be priced accordingly. But will the slate manage to prove itself as both a reliable tablet and a practical notebook substitute? We'll have the answer to that in a few moments!
In the box:

Wall charger
Micro USB to USB adapter cable
Cleaning cloth
User guide

Design:

Being a tablet made of cheap matte plastic, the Acer Iconia W511 won't make anyone go “wow” with its appearance. But the use of lightweight materials has helped with keeping its weight down to a satisfactory level. When it's by itself, the device ranks among the lightest 10-inch tablets with a weight of 580 grams, which makes the tablet comfortable to hold and use.

All of the tablet's physical keys are located in the upper right-hand corner – the volume rocker, the on/off button, and the key that locks the screen's orientation in place. All of them are well exposed so finding them with a finger is no trouble at all. Underneath the screen we have a capacitive Windows button used for accessing the system's Start screen. We're left with mixed feelings about this solution – it works fine, but the key is prone to accidental presses if the device is being held single-handedly from underneath.

In addition to the mandatory 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, the Iconia W511 offers a Micro HDMI connector, a microSD card slot, and a SIM card slot for cellular data connectivity. However, Acer skipped the full-size USB port, presumably to keep the tablet's thickness down. Instead, there's a microUSB port that you plug a special adapter cable (included in the set) into, and then you can hook up USB devices to the Iconia 511. That's not really a dealbreaker, especially since there's a proper USB port present on the keyboard dock, but carrying the said cable around all the time isn't convenient.

By the way, the two USB ports can be used simultaneously. You can connect all kinds of peripherals to them, such as thumb drives, a mouse, or a USB hub. You can even charge a smartphone in case you have its USB cable handy, which is neat.

Keyboard dock:

For an extra $100 or so one can buy an Acer Iconia W511 with a keyboard dock thrown in the set. That not only adds the convenience of having a physical keyboard for text input, but also increases the tablet's longevity dramatically as the accessory has an internal battery cell. In fact, the Iconia W511 will last through at least a whole day of heavy usage when docked.

Typing on the physical keyboard reminds us of the days when netbooks were all the rage. At first, its keys feel tiny and cramped together, but our fingers got used to their arrangement eventually. All keys are springy and have decent travel. Of course, you can't compare the experience to using a proper, desktop-sized keyboard, but in case we had a 25-page report to write for work or school, we'd much rather use what the dock keyboard has to offer instead of relying on any on-screen solution.

But while we're content with the physical keyboard and its usability, the touchpad that's also on the dock leaves a lot to be desired. At first it works just fine, yet after being used for 20 seconds or so, it goes bonkers, causing the cursor to move chaotically. Our quick online investigation shows that others have experienced the same issue with their units, so apparently we aren't dealing with an isolated case of a misbehaving touchpad.

Another thing we're bothered by is the docking mechanism that connects the Acer Iconia W511 and the keyboard dock. Connecting or disconnecting the two is easy-peasy, but the lock isn't tight enough, causing the tablet to wobble back and forth when moved or when the touchscreen is used, which is worrying, to say the least.

Acer has designed the Iconia W511 dock in a way that allows its sturdy hinge to rotate at a nearly 300-degree angle. That's referred to as “Presentation Mode” – the dock acts as a stand, with the keyboard facing downwards, which allows the touchscreen to be used comfortably while the device is placed on a flat surface. The dock is designed in a way that prevents accidental key presses when the tablet is used in such manner, in case you're wondering. If you'll be using the touchscreen interface to show off your sketches and designs to someone, taking advantage of this feature is recommended.
Display:

Although it is nothing out of the ordinary, the 10.1-inch IPS LCD display on the Acer Iconia W511 gets the job done. It has a relatively low resolution of 1366 by 768 pixels, which is typical for low-end Windows-based tablets, so small test can be a challenge to make out. On the other hand, its viewing angles and color accuracy are decent – likely superior to what you'd get out of a basic notebook/netbook, for that matter. Using the tablet outdoors is possible as its screen has a decent brightness output, but you'll have to cover it with your hand when the sun is shining right at it.

Interface:

The versatile Windows 8 Pro comes loaded on the Acer Iconia W511 – an operating system that's built to run not only on tablets, but on laptops and desktop computers as well. The OS is compatible with a vast array of legacy Windows applications, which is a huge benefit.

When the Acer Iconia W511 is turned on for the first time, about 10 minutes are needed for it to get set up for use. It is nice to see that a tutorial is played after the OS' first boot, explaining all the new touchscreen gestures implemented in Windows 8 – new users are advised to pay attention to it.

Once past that step, the user is introduced to the new Start screen and its Live Tile interface. This is where things get tricky for anyone who is not familiar with Windows 8 and its peculiarities. Closing apps, switching between windows, accessing the list of installed applications and the system settings – there are gestures assigned to each of these actions, so better get used to them. Even a tech-savvy user will need to spend an evening or two with their new device in order to get comfortable with its interface.

But the Start screen and its Live Tiles aren't the only way of interacting with the Acer Iconia W511. Alternatively, the classic Windows desktop can be used as it is available at the touch of a button. That isn't of much use, however, unless you're also using the keyboard dock, or a mouse. The classic desktop is anything but comfortable to use on a touchscreen with its tiny icons and menus.

The on-screen keyboard is usable indeed, save for the annoying fact that it doesn't always pop-up automatically when it's needed. With its multiple key arrangements, it can be used as a typical virtual QWERTY, occupying the bottom half of the screen, or in split mode, which is comfortable for typing whilst holding the tablet with both hands. In addition, typos get corrected automatically.

Software and functionality:

There's a long list of new features that are being introduced with Windows 8, and on it are the new hubs and apps accessible from the Start screen. The People hub, for example, is where you store information about your contacts. All of that data is synced with your Microsoft account, which is convenient since you'll have it backed up indefinitely. Also, by adding your Facebook and Twitter credentials, you can connect with your social network buddies as well. Too bad that the experience is a far cry from what a dedicated social networking client would deliver as the hub's functionality is limited only to some basic actions.

The stock Weather application is great as it provides detailed forecast information, not to mention that its interface is very pleasing to the eye. As one might expect, you can set it to pull weather data for multiple locations and its live tile updates automatically.

Keeping you up to date with the latest news from around the world is the Bing News app. There's also Bing Sports bringing you news about, well, sports, and the dedicated Bing search app that tells you what search terms are currently trending.

We must also note that Acer has added its very practical “Always On” technology to the Iconia W511 feature set. In a nutshell, that allows the device to pull updates from the internet even when it's on stand-by. That's why all your new emails and messages are synced and waiting as soon as you press that “On” button.
Processor and memory:

What runs under the hood of the Acer Iconia W511 is a dual-core Intel Atom chip – the Z2760 with a maximum clock of 1.8GHz when Burst mode is enabled. That happens automatically, whenever an app requires additional processing power, but only if the processor is running within its thermal specifications. 2GB of DDR2 RAM are also on board – just as much as we'd expect seeing on a machine of this caliber.

Performance-wise, the tablet runs well, as long as it isn't burdened with any heavy apps. Chances are that you'll rarely encounter any major hiccups if you stick to the Start screen and its apps, while many legacy applications will be feeling right at home in Desktop mode. Just don't expect any resource-hungry software like graphics or video editors to run smoothly. For that you'll need something powered by a Core processor.

The Intel Graphics Media Accelerator is powerful enough to run some basic games. We tested several popular titles from the Windows Marketplace, including a 3D strategy game, and it ran at high frame rates. Graphic-intensive games, however, are a no-go.

The Acer Iconia W511 comes with 64GB of on-board storage, but since half of that is occupied by the operating system and its recovery files, there's “only” about 32GB at the user's disposal. For some people, that will do just fine, but storing music, movies, or other large files on the device might be a problem. Thankfully, there's always the option to expand the tablet's storage using a microSD card of up to 64GB. In addition, a free SkyDrive account will get you several gigabytes of cloud storage that can be used for storing photos, documents, and other files you don't require having access to on a daily basis.
Web Browser and connectivity:

With the desktop-grade Internet Explorer 10 web browser, one can experience all that the web has to offer, including Adobe Flash content and Java applications. What's more is that the application is touch-optimized, meaning that navigation gestures like pinch to zoom and the likes are supported and work well. Performance issues are rare, occurring only when browsing heavy web pages. Sadly, although alternatives can be installed in case you aren't happy with the native solution, browsers like Chrome, Firefox and Opera don't support touchscreen gestures, which makes them harder to use without a pointing device.

While you'll probably connect to the internet over Wi-Fi most of the time, there's a 3G module built into the Acer Iconia W511. Just pop in a SIM card in there (with a data plan, of course) and you're good to browse the web wherever there's network coverage. Just keep in mind that you'll be limited to 3G speeds – those fancy 4G LTE networks are not supported. Another connectivity feature that's missing is GPS. NFC and Bluetooth, on the other hand, are present. As a side note, the device's cheaper, non-3G variant is known as the Acer Iconia W510.

Camera:

Here's why we often say that when it comes to digital cameras, megapixels aren't all that matters. Although the Acer Iconia W511 comes with an 8MP auto-focus main shooter, the photos that it takes are of average quality at best, with little fine detail and rather low dynamics range. Digital noise may also be an issue, especially if shooting indoors. On top of it all, the camera is noticeably laggy unless you're shooting at a low resolution setting. But since tablets in general aren't known for their photographic skills, we don't see the 8MP camera's mediocre performance as too big of a deal. All in all, the tablet's photos are good enough for sharing on social networks, and the quality of its 1080p videos is also acceptable.

The front-facing camera is what you'll be using for video chats. It offers 2MP of resolution and the quality of its images is okay, just don't expect your self-portraits to look fabulous. In low-light conditions, the image quality deteriorates significantly due to the heavy presence of digital noise.

While the camera interface is simple and easy to use, it offers little settings to tweak and no special shooting modes. You only get sliders for brightness, contrast, and exposure adjustments, as well as a timer and a resolution setting. Nevertheless, that's okay with us since when it comes to photography, the tablet probably won't be used as anything more than a last-resort camera.

Xbox Music is your default destination for playing your tunes, but it's less of a media player and much more of an audio store built-in. It allows one to browse for and purchase new music. Naturally, the software merges whatever audio files you have stored in the Music folder with your audio library. A neat feature is the integrated radio that streams music straight to your device, free of charge. Overall, the music player works, but we're not too happy with it as it lacks in features. Also, we wish there was a simpler way of enjoying our tunes without being reminded that we should buy more of them.

The Xbox Video hub is designed in a similar manner and allows you to browse through its huge catalog of movies and TV shows. Top titles are priced at about $17, but some of them can be rented for about $5. And yes, you are free to add your video files to its database

Whatever kind of video you throw at a Windows 8 device, chances are that it will play it, and even if a specific codec isn't installed, the user is free to download it manually. That's why we're not surprised to see that all our video samples are playable on the Acer Iconia W511. The Video player that's set by the Start screen, however, is unable to play back 1080p videos smoothly. For that you'll need to use Windows Media Player, which also comes installed, or a third media player of your choice.

Battery life:

Users who value battery life should be satisfied with the Acer Iconia W511 and its 3540 mAh battery. It will last for about 9 hours on a single charge – almost as much as an iPad or a high-end Android slate. Sure, other Windows-based tablets can do even better, yet a figure like that is still more than acceptable. When docked, the W511's battery life doubles to 18 hours, so no matter how hard you're pushing it, rest assured that the device will last you through at least a whole day of heavy usage.

Conclusion:

The Acer Iconia W511 is clearly aimed at tablet buyers on a tight budget, or simply people who aren't willing to spend too much on a Windows 8 hybrid device. It may look a bit uninspiring, but it's light, affordable and offers an adequate set of features combined with a decent battery life. Moreover, with it you get the complete Windows 8 experience with legacy app support and all that good stuff, while the Atom processor delivers performance, which users that aren't too picky will be fine with.

But while it is an okay Windows 8 tablet, we can't really recommend it as a notebook/netbook replacement. Something in the back of our heads is telling us that its build quality isn't as good as it should be, while the touchpad is downright pathetic. In case what you're really looking for is a productivity device, you might want to look elsewhere, or better yet, get yourself a proper notebook.

PROS

• 3G connectivity
• Full-blown Windows 8 with legacy app support
• Decent battery life
• Cheap for a Windows 8 hybrid