Reviews related to : Smart Phones
Term referring to high-end mobile phones that have integrated business applications such as email, simple document management. Typified by Symbian, Microsoft Mobile OS and (less so these days) PalmOS. All serious phone manufacturers are represented in this space including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG and Motorola.
This is the latest foldable screen Smart Phone from HONOR. Instead of the idea of a tiny phone enlarging to normal size this offering from HONOR starts as normal size and opens like a normal book to increase to double the size.
In its folded condition the measures 15.5x7x1.5cm the last figure at the 4.5cm round 3 cameras and flash unit on its back. Open it so the camera is now on the right back and its 14.5cm wide this gives a diagonal imperial measurement of very close to 8 inches. Its weight is only a little more than most standard phones at 237 grams.
This is one of the latest offerings from HONOR and it is currently available from Vodafone with SIM for an excellent 24 month offer.
The Honor 200 Lite measures 16x7.5x.6cm, the exception is the area on the back near the top a 5x4cm rectangle containing the three cameras and the LED flash that is 1cm thick. The total weight is 168grams. Going around the outside has volume up and down rocker and the on/off button and fingerprint scanner on the right. The base has speaker and USB 'C'. The left side has SIM entry point near the top. The top is clear.
This is the latest offering from Emporia, this company are best known for Smart Phones suitable for older people as they do not assume you know how to use it and as an added bonus they have an emergency button on the back that circles though up to five friends/neighbours and relatives until an answer is received.
The measures 16-5x7.5x1cm and weighs 210 grams. The corner to corner measurement is 6.58inches. It has a 2.3GHz Octa-Core processor and has 128GB of memory and 6GB RAM. It runs Android 13 and has a 4,900mAh battery. The front facing selfie camera is 8MP while the three vertical in line cameras on the rear boasts a 50MP main camera. The power button is also a fingerprint reader for ease of access.
For those who do not want a full size screen but still want to use everything that a modern Smart Phone has and the help that older people and those whom this is their first Smart Phone need this offering from Emporia may fit the bill.
The measures 13.5x6.5x.7cm and weighs 159 grams. This smaller size may suit those with smaller hands as a larger Smart Phone may be difficult to balance easily. Boot up once setup is complete is only 21 seconds so this might encourage people to turn it off at night.
While the vast majority of younger people are perfectly happy with 'bare' Android phones those 'more mature' and those of 'retired' age who may only have used a basic Nokia type phone to make a receive calls. These people still need assistance when doing more online.
This offering from Emporia looks like any standard recent phone, it has great photo and video taking capacity and from a distance no one would know the user is getting more support to do things like getting online and working with the likes of 'What's App' and indeed many other Apps. The measures 16x7.5 x less than 1cm and weights 210grams. The right side on/off button, the base has USB 'C' connector for charging and more. The left side volume up/down rocker and SIM entry point.
Joining the ever-increasing ranks of smartphone models is the Sony Xperia I V handset which has been keeping out reviewer company.
I must admit to a certain element of surprise when offered the opportunity to review a particular Sony smartphone. The model in question was the Sony Xperia 1 V whose launch has been announced nine months ago, which some might regard as a hefty chunk of some phone models life span. But once the initial burst of surprise departed I was ready to take on the task of checking the capabilities of the Sony Xperia 1 V product when put to the test.
It looks like any standard 15x7cm phone both in size and weight however it unfolds to become almost 15x14cm to give a much larger surface viewing area. So when folded the display is the front and the units three cameras are the back. When unfolded the right of the back are the cameras the left of the back is blank while what was the inside becomes the double sized front.
At the widest bit the is only just over .7cm wide, this increases to 1.2cm at the top left where the three cameras are in a vertical line, the total weight is 240 grams. This is the first foldable phone I have seen that does not seem to be thicker at the fold and therefore when your finger moves over it there is no disturbance. When viewing in the unfolded state you have a wider view and still have 20:9 aspect ratio. Folded or unfolded the refresh rate is still up to 120Hz.
This mid-range offering from Honor is the latest to cross my desk. Based on the recent Honor 90 it’s a bang up to date offering for those whom a full priced unit is out of reach.
The measures 16.55x7.3x.7cm apart from the area back top left where the cameras are which is 1.2cm, the unit weighs 180 grams. Going around the outside has the volume rocker and on/off buttons on the right. The speaker and microphone are on the base split by the USB ‘C’ connection which is not only for charging but also allows easy access to remove photos and videos. The left side has SIM entry point. .
This is the latest offering from Honor the Magic5 Pro. Like almost all recent mobile phones the emphasis is on the cameras and what they can do both in photo and video mode. Not so long ago a units cameras were hidden away in one corner of the back, now they are spread out, here they are in a large circle taking the top 6cm of the phones back.
The dimensions of the Honor Magic5 Pro are 16cm tall, 7.5cm wide and 1.2cm thick at the cameras. The unit weighs 207 grams. The diagonal imperial measurement of the screen is 6.8inches. Boot up is a very respectable 21 seconds while shutdown is only 3 seconds. By default it wants to use gestures but it’s easy enough to change to the older back/home/show all. The right side has volume up/down and on/off buttons.
This is the latest Smart Phone from a new company to me. POCO is the gaming arm of Xiaomi who I have reviewed phones from in the past. The M5 can switch refresh rates Video 30Hz or 60Hz, Gaming 60Hz or 90Hz and Scrolling at 30-60-90 Hz. Overall the cost of this POCO offing is not very much at all.
The POCO M5 smart phone measures 163x77x10mm in its supplied case that protects the back and sides, it weighs 222grams. Going around the outside has the volume rocker and the on/off button on the right side. The base has speaker and microphone with the USB 'C' charge point in between, this can also be an OTG device. The left side has SIM entry point. The top has 3.5mm socket for headphones or earphones and a further microphone.
A problem shared can be a problem solved as happened with this product.
Recently I reviewed the Murena One smartphone. This review is accessible at . While I was reasonably happy with most aspects of the smartphone with its additional layer of privacy protection, I did encountered a particularly annoying problem regarding the delivery of email messages to the phone.
This is the latest offering to cross my desk; it is a SmartPhone that takes the screen right to the edge of the display. Like most recent quality SmartPhones it is all about the cameras and here they are amazingly good. The rest of the phone is also rather nice.
The Honor Magic5 Lite measures 15.7x7.5x.7cm and it weighs 177 grams. The viewable screen is 15.5x7.2cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 6.67 inches. The screen resolution is 2400x1080. As supplied to me there is 6GB of RAM + 5GB Turbo, 128 GB of storage and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor. For those who need it the USB ‘C’ connection also supports an OTG (on the go) storage device. This phone came with Android 12 and Magic UI 6.1.
Another recent offering from Emporia a company that produces phones that look normal while offering extra assistance for those of us over 65 who may or may not be retired. Early assistance phones tended to look rather different and while they offered the assistance needed some were reluctant to use them as they were embarrassed.
The Emporia Smart.5 measures 5x7.5x.8cm and weighs 174grams. The viewable screen is 12.4x6.2cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 5½inches. The screen is 1440x720 pixels. The Home screen is half an image of your choosing at the top and four larger buttons for the lower half, Phone, Email, Photos and Notifications. Swipe left and you get a further eight large icons these fill the screen in two columns of four.
The CES show in the USA is where a lot of technology gets launched however the show made a big thing of not inviting certain big players this year as their support for Ukraine holds firm. There are still a good number of new offerings around launched at about the same time but not actually in the CES show. Technically this SmartPhone was launched in 2022 but only now have I been offered one to review.
The Honor 70 Smart Phone with 5G access measures 15.8x7.4x.7cm and weighs 180grams. The viewable screen is 15.5x7cm which gives notional diagonal imperial measurement of 6½inches, but as this phones screen goes over the edges the claim is 6.67inches. The screens resolution is 1080x2400 pixels. There are no side borders and only tiny ones top and bottom. The Selfie camera is mounted centre of the top of the screen. The rear cameras are in two circular 2.
Having recently reviewed the best phone I have ever used and then one that any other company apart from Google would have consigned to the bin 18 months ago this was always going to be, shall we say, difficult. In the past I have reviewed several other Honor offerings, so to be as fair as possible I took a good bit longer before presenting my thoughts.
The Honor Magic 4 Lite measures 16.5x7.5x.8cm and weighs 192grams. The 6.8 inch display is 1080x1980. The right side has the volume rocker and recessed below this the on-off button. The base has the USB ‘C’ connector for charging and data transfer via an OTG device, also a microphone and SIM entry point. Both the left side and top are clear. The rear is dominated by a raised circular Matrix at the top end which contains its three cameras and LED flash.
Not everyone wants the latest or biggest phone that can take fantastic photos in near darkness. What they do want is something that can make and receive calls and take the odd photo or three and browse the Internet while out and about for things like when will that bus or train arrive and possibly will it ever rain again in my lifetime. So perhaps a solid reliable phone like this Google Pixel 4A, while this is well over two years old it still gets updated to the latest version of Android.
The Google Pixel 4a measures 14x6.7x.7cm and weighs only 144 grams; its viewable screen is close to 6 inches, the screen is 1080x2340. Going around the outside has the on/off button and volume rocker on the right side. The base has speakers, and USB ‘C’ for charging, or data transfer and microphone. The left side is free and the top has 3.5mm socket for earbuds or headphones. The back has its camera and LED flash top left in a 1.7cm square raised area.
As with most recent SmartPhones it is all about the cameras. Here one of its four cameras is an amazing 108MP. However with 5G those who download a lot to their phone are also able to do this with minimal delay. So what has this latest offering got to make you choose it apart from of course the extremely powerful camera that it has?
It is 16x7.5x1cm the figure at the top left of the back where the cameras are, it weighs 207 grams. It comes with Android 11 and MIUI 13 which sits on top of the Android operating system and while I was testing it loaded the Android security update for July ’22. It comes with 128GB of storage and around 32 GB is used. There is 8GB of RAM. It has an Octa Core Media Tek Dimensity 920 Processor. The display is 6.67 inches and has a 120Hz refresh rate to the 2400x1800 display, 395PPI.
Having recently reviewed another Find X5 device that had what I considered a ‘strange’ feature I was more careful when I did the setup and this unit did not have it, however as it also did an update to the ‘Color Overlay’ of the Android operating system this could have been why it now works as I would consider all phones should function.
The Oppo Find X5 Pro measures 15x7.4x1cm the last figure at the camera bump top left of the back, it weighs 219 grams. Going around the outside has the on/off button on the right side; the base has speaker, USB ‘C’ for charging and the SIM entry point. The left side has volume down and up buttons while the top is clear. The back has a slightly raised area top left and instead of it being raised it is sloped up. The viewable screen is 7.
Having just told you about a very unusual phone the Samsung Fold I expected my next to be more normal the initial setup seemed to go OK but here a cautionary tale do read the choices carefully and I must admit I did not and so after two days trying to switch it off I conceded and started again and read the choices more carefully now I do have a normal phone.
I am aware few regularly turn their phone off but there are occasions when a phone call is unacceptable yes you can set to vibrate but some forget and switching off is failsafe. I have no idea who would not want the ability to switch off but answer one choice wrongly during setup and that is what you get. Even so it’s on/off key and volume up at the same time so no danger of doing it by mistake.
This can be considered two phones in one, ‘folded’ it’s a little narrow compared to most recent offering, ‘unfolded’ you need large hands or a flat surface to lay it on. Having told you about the Samsung Flip last year here is its big brother the Samsung Fold.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 measures 15.5x6.5x1.2cm folded and when opened it is 15.5x12.5x.7cm it weighs 273grams. The stated figures say you have a 7.6 inch main display and a 6.2 inch closed display. The right side has volume rocker with on/off button below it. The base has USB ‘C’ microphone and speaker. The left side is the hinge; the top has microphone and speaker. The right side of the other half has the SIM entry point.
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