Reviews related to : Android
Android hails from Google's software stable and is currently the strongest competitor to Apple's iOS in the smart-phone market. While things might change with the advent of the latest Windows technology, Microsoft have a huge gad to bridge. Unlike it's competitors Android is built on an Open Source software framework which provides a lower cost of entry for phone manufacturers. Samsung and HTC are the current market leaders in Android phones currently pitting the Samsung Galaxy SIII against the HTC One X. Who will win?
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.
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.
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.
Last year I told you about a Pixel 5 and if the advertising is correct the Pixel 6 is available so why should I now get the look at the Pixel 4XL. On the face of it a phone launched at least two years ago would be well past its sell by date. After a few days of use I was offered an upgrade to Android 12 so Google certainly do not consider it past it. Yes more recent phones offer more from their cameras but I still took some excellent pictures and videos.
The Google Pixel 4 XL measures 15.5x7.4x.7cm and weighs 186grams. The viewable screen is 14.5x7cm which gives the notional imperial diagonal measurement of 6.3inches in QHD with a 9:19 arrangement. The display can be up to 90Hz. The screen is Gorilla Glass and supports up to 16.7 million colours. I had not got round to checking which version of Android it had on arrival but I assume it was Android 10 but as stated this soon became Android 12.
This phone folds horizontally across the centre of the screen it means when open you are able to have 6.7 inches of depth in a single view. When your finger moves across the central area of the screen there is a little resistance and if you look closely at the darkened screen you can see the crease in the screen, however does this affect anything else?
The Flip 3 from Samsung measures 8.2x7.2x1.3cm when closed, weighs 186 grams, flip it open and the first figure becomes 16.4cm. The viewable screen is 6.4x15.6cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 6.7 inches. The screen display is 1080x2340.
The latest offering from Vodafone to cross my desk is the Motorola Edge 20 Pro, this SmartPhone feels nice and well balanced in your hand and comes supplied with a silicon back and sides cover. While the face is of course shiny black it remains almost mirror like as finger marks do not tend to show, the back is a shimmering midnight blue.
The Motorola Edge 20 Pro measures 15.5x7x.8cm apart from the rectangular area top left of the back which takes it to close to 1cm thick, however with the cover that increase is almost negated, the units weight is 186 grams. The viewable screen is 15.3x6.5cm which give the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 6.67inches and a screen refresh rate of 144Hz and a screen size of 1080x2400 pixels.
As smartphones enter the 5G environment, Fairphone joins the trend.
Fairphone, the Dutch social enterprise, has just announced the launch of its latest device. This is the Fairphone 4 5G which comes with the claim of being more sustainable, repairable and a socially responsible device.
Oppo are an upcoming company who hit the UK a few years ago, they made a big splash with small well positioned adverts at Wimbledon and other such events. Of course all this would mean nothing if their phones were not up to scratch. This is one of a range of recently released offerings.
The Oppo Find X3 Pro measures 16x7.4x.8cm the last figure expands to 1cm around the cameras on the back top left of the unit, unlike other units this one champers the edges around the cameras. The on/off button is on the right, the base has speaker, microphone, USB ‘C’ connection and the SIM entry point. The left side has buttons for volume down and up. The top is clear. The viewable screen is 15.2x6.8cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 6.
Samsung are one of the most popular brands of Android Smartphones. As with most recent Smartphones the main advances are made with the cameras and for that reason you could say this is a camera phone as a lot of people no longer bother to carry a camera day to day.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra measures 16.1x7.2x1cm the last figure is at the large camera area top left .2cm less for the rest of the thickness, it weighs 225 grams. The viewable screen is 7x15.7cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 6.8inches. The screen resolution is 3200x1440 and can display 16 million colours. Going around the outside has the volume rocker and below that the on button both on the right side. The base has speaker USB ‘C’ (USB 3.
Developed in Spain, a new smartphone arrives to tempt users.
While not as convenient as a smartphone when it comes to portability, a tablet can provide various useful for those in a more sedentary environment.
When I think of Alcatel my thoughts tend to veer towards the company's brand of smartphones. However smartphones are not the only product bearing the Alcatel brand. The company also produces tablets that would appeal to users. One such offering is the Alcatel IT 10 Smart device. I have been looking at this particular tablet over the last few weeks. Decked out totally in black, the IT 10 Smart tablet has dimensions of 255 x 155 x 9.4 mm (W x H x D) and weighs in at 415g.
This is the latest SmartPhone to cross my desk loaned from Vodafone. I remember when Oppo first arrived in the UK and you saw their name at Wimbledon and I am sure most people had no idea who they were, I noticed it this year at The Queens tennis and I am sure more now know they are a mobile phone company.
It is 15.8x7x1cm the last figure the thickness is where the line of three cameras are slightly proud of the back. The unit weighs 186grams; the viewable screen is 15.1x6.8cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of just under 6½ inches. The screen resolution is 1080x2400. Going around the outside has the on/off button on the right side, the base has speaker, microphone, USB ‘C’ port and SIM entry point.
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