Phones

Small enough to fit into your pocket, a product from Sandberg proves that not all Android devices are created equal.

Google bought Motorola Mobility $12.5 billion in 2012 and has now sold it on to Lenovo for a mere $2.91 billion, retaining, however, a raft of valuable patents. The Moto X is the culmination of Google's breath of life into the previously moribund mobile phone pioneer. Chris Bidmead assess this final fruit of the transitory relationship.

Joining the like of Apple and Samsung in offering users both smartphone handsets and tablets, Sony latest release in the latter category is the Xperia Tablet Z. This is a 10-inch tablet running the Android operating system.

To paraphrase a certain cake company’s claim, “HTC designs some exceedingly nice looking handsets”. A prime example of this from the Taiwanese manufacturer is the HTC One offering. This product is a smartphone device which is the subject of this review.

In the past I have often asked to review HTC devices as they looked smart and had little extra bits of quality. My name never seemed to come to the top of the list, with this unit however I was offered it I did not even have to ask.

The Nokia Lumia 925 is a 4G premium phone which Vodafone is offering in both 16GB and 32GB versions. It runs Windows Phone 8.0 so that, as well as being a good all-round phone, it is ideal for those for whom compatibility with their desktop applications such as Microsoft Office is important.

This next product has been designed as a container to turn a smartphone into a more appealing educational tool.

Until now budget in the Smartphone market meant at least £200 and probably more. Here is one that launched SIM free at £139 or less. So does the new Moto G have it all at a price far less than others have offerings in the market?

Like the recently reviewed Moto G, the ZTE Blade V considers itself to be a smartphone for those on a limited budget.

Those of us into our forties or more will remember mobile phones like this in fact some even came with a brief case for the required battery. Here this tongue in cheek offering can be used for real or as a Bluetooth offering, however used it will be a talking point.

Many mobile phones tend to spread their net wide with regards to their functionality but this next handset is aimed mainly at the “hard of hearing”.

When considering a new smartphone, do you look for the latest, high price model with all the latest bells & whistle or check out the more economical models?

A European Phone and Tablet company that had a brief foray in the UK a few years ago, now they are back backed by the biggest name in chips in their phones Intel. So what has the Multiphone PAP5430 got to offer users?

Joining, what is already considered a heavily populated consumer marketplace, is the Prestigio Multiphone 5430 product. For those not familiar with the name of Prestigio, I should explain that this is a brand name of ASBIS, a component distributor based in Cyprus. While not one of the leading lights in the UK, the Prestigio brand has a higher profile in several other European countries.

Here I am looking at two different Doro phones. Doro are a company that started in land line phones and soon found their niche in supplying mobile phones for the hard or hearing and or those with limited sight at a reasonable price.

Sticking with the same name followed by a unique number does provide a manufacturer with an easy choice of options when it comes to naming its various products. One company that has taken this approach is Doro with its range of handsets designed with simplicity in mind. The latest of these products to come my way is the PhoneEasy 622 which adopts a clamshell style of appearance.

Asus are a company that I think of for computers and motherboards. So when the opportunity to look at a mobile phone from them it seems an interesting option. The name puzzled me for a moment until I related the ‘Pad’ part to a tablet.

The Prestigio Multiphone 5430 is a competitively priced Android smartphone. It is being launched into the UK market to capitalise on the recognition achieved by the brand with its range of tablets over the past year or so. It has a 4.3inch display and 8MP pixel camera and is targeted at those users who want the flexibility that an unlocked phone brings in the increasingly competitive tariff jungle.

Joining the Vodafone Smart family of handsets is the Smart Mini. This baby of the family is firmly entrenched in the budget market price category. This model is available for around £50 on a Pay as you Go (PAYG) basic. There is a choice of white, pink or black colour schemes with my review sample, supplied by Vodafone, being of the latter hue.

Always willing to help when I am on the look-out for a product to review, Vodafone’s PR agency sent me a couple of handsets on which one is the subject of this next review.

This is the latest in a line of Mobile Phones from Doro suitable for those with a hearing or seeing disability. It even now comes in a box little bigger than the phone itself, even the box is easy to get into for those with less dexterity.

As one of the original market leaders in the mobile phone sector, Nokia is now facing a massive battle from the forces of iOS and Android. As part of the Nokia offensive is a new Lumia model.

Doro are the biggest UK name in phones for the hard or hearing or those with limited sight. I have looked at at several designs and shapes over the years. So when one arrives with a new feature it immediately gets my interest.

Branching out from its normal target market of the older generation, Doro’s latest handset is aimed at those working and enjoying the outdoors.

It only takes a moment of carelessness to break one’s smartphone. A drop onto a hard surface that breaks the screen would result in a large repair bill and, even worse, one would have to manage without it while it was away being repaired. The Impact Shield multi-layer screen protector from Tech21 is claimed to offer the best available impact protection that doesn’t inhibit a device’s performance.

There are more smartphones currently taking up space on retailers’ shelves than you could shake a stick at. Many of the more high profile units tend to fall in the expensive category but that is not to say that the budget sector has been ignored by the various manufacturers (Apple apart).

This is the big brother of Motorola RAZRi sometimes called the XT890. Everything about it is larger the screen, the overall size and of course the weight, even the operating system is one point later than on the RAZRi.

A change is as good as a rest or so they say. Maybe that was the reasoning behind the decision taken by RIM to change its company name. In common with a number of other companies who have ventured along the same route, RIM is now known by its flagship product. As a result RIM is BlackBerry. The first product launched under this new nomenclature to reach me is the BlackBerry Z10. My review sample has been supplied by Vodafone.

This is the first dual SIM phone to cross my desk. Surprisingly – to me anyway – it is running quite an old version of Android at 2.35. Having two SIMs may avoid the huge number of people I see using two different phones.

Small, medium, large plus IOS, Android, Windows operating system are just some of the options to be taken into consideration when selecting a smartphone. Check out this model from Samsung.