Samsung Galaxy Note 6 will have USB Type-C connector, rumor says

At this point Samsung is just a few months away from unveiling the Galaxy Note 6, so understandably the number of rumors regarding it is starting to rise.

The latest mumbling says in no uncertain terms that the successor to the Note5 will have a USB Type-C port, which will thus make its first ever appearance in the Korean company's portfolio. It will replace the ever-prevalent microUSB connector. What isn't as clear is which standard Samsung will use alongside the port itself - USB 3.1 or an older one.

Anyway, if Samsung wants to continue its VR push (and there's no reason not to), then it will also have to release a new Gear VR headset alongside the Note 6. That's because the current Gear VR connects to your Samsung phone via microUSB. The new Type-C connector in the Note 6 will therefore require an updated headset.

So far we've heard that the Galaxy Note 6 will have a 5.8-inch QHD Super AMOLED touchscreen (which might be curved), 6GB of RAM, Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 823 SoC running things, the 12 MP rear camera from the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge (though improved somewhat), and a 4,000 mAh battery. It will be water and dust resistant.

Source

iPhone 7 will have 3.5mm headset jack after all, latest leak says

So far almost every rumor that's talked about the upcoming iPhone 7 has mentioned that Apple's next smartphone will get rid of the 3.5mm headset jack, instead relying on the Lightning port for audio transmission. This has been repeated so many times that by now it's pretty much accepted as fact - but that may not have been wise, as it turns out.

Today a leaked shot purportedly showing the iPhone 7's innards comes to contradict all of those previous reports. That's because the part shown does in fact feature the connection to the 3.5mm headset jack, even if overall it looks pretty different to what's been used for the iPhone 6s.

And that in itself raises some questions about the (unverifiable) authenticity of this leak. Needless to say then, don't take this for granted just yet. Still, if this part does belong to the iPhone 7, then the rumors of the headset jack's demise have been false.

The Apple iPhone 7 could be waterproof and it might sport a touch home button. Its antenna lines are apparently going to be redesigned for a more streamlined look. The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are due to be outed at Apple's annual fall event.

Source (in French)

First Samsung Galaxy Note 5 rumors hint at crazy 2K or 4K screen

Now that Samsung's Galaxy S6 is out of the gate, the Internet's attention is gravitating towards Samsung's bigger flagship: the Galaxy Note 5. Samsung typically busts out the new Note in September at IFA, but the very first rumors about the phablet are already out, and we expect to see a whole lot more of them ahead of its launch.
Here's what we know so far.

Same jumbo screen with 2K or 4K clarity

Samsung's screens are known for being very bright, colorful, and bold. The Galaxy S6 upped the ante with a super high resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels, which is typically referred to as a 2K screen. SamMobile suggests that the Galaxy Note 5 may also have a 2K resolution, but Samsung could also bump the screen up to 4K.
Related: Read our Samsung Galaxy S6 review
If Samsung gives the Note 5 a 4K screen, it would be one of the very first smartphones with that kind of resolution. Of course, the higher the resolution, the more energy the screen will suck from the battery, which is something that typically upsets users. The screen will be Super AMOLED, as usual, and is likely to be the same size as the Note 4's 5.7-inch screen.
Samsung is also expected to reboot the Galaxy Note Edge when it introduces the Note 5. The curved screen is rumored to measure 5.4 or 5.5-inches, and sport two edges. It's unclear whether the edges will be substantial and useable like they were on the first variant, or if they'll be pretty, but useless, like those on the Galaxy S6 Edge.

The processor may be Exynos, Snapdragon, or both

Samsung is currently testing a variety of processors, SamMobile's source says, so it's unclear which chip the company will decide to use in the end. Reports peg Qualcomm's Snapdragon 808 as the chip that may power the Note Edge 2, but there are two Samsung Exynos processors in consideration, too.
TheExynos 7422 may power the Note 5, and if it does, it will offer an all-in-one solution (ePoP), which combines the CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, and modem on one chip. Another alternative is the Exynos 7430, but it sounds as though that processor isn't ready for use in a mainstream device just yet.

Camera possibilities and more

The Note 5's camera and other specs remain in shadow, but the Edge 2 may have a 16-megapixel back camera with OIS and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. Of course, these are early spec reports, so it's possible that the cameras will be entirely different. Another weird spec possibility is offering a Note Edge 2 model with just 16GB of internal storage, which seems unlikely to be true.

A Way to Get Much-Higher-Resolution Selfies

A startup called Light uses a cluster of small camera modules to create top-notch photos. First stop: Your smartphone. 

A rendering of what a smartphone containing a Light camera might look like from the back.

Most digital cameras are limited by a key aspect of their design: they have one lens and one image sensor. Light hits the lens and is directed at the sensor to produce a picture. A photography startup called Light is not making most digital cameras, though.
Rather than hewing to this one-to-one ratio, Light aims to put a bunch of small lenses, each paired with its own image sensor, into smartphones and other gadgets. They’ll fire simultaneously when you take a photo, and software will automatically combine the images. This way, Light believes, it can fit the quality and zoom of a bulky, expensive DSLR camera into much smaller, cheaper packages—even phones.
Light is still in the early stages, as it doesn’t yet have a prototype of a full product completed. For now it just has camera modules whose pictures can be combined with its software. But the startup says it expects the first Light cameras, with 52-megapixel resolution, to appear in smartphones in 2016.
Light plans to announce a deal on Tuesday with Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer. Foxconn is licensing Light’s technology for use in mobile devices and is investing an undisclosed amount in the company. (Last year, Light raised $9.7 million from investors including Bessemer Venture Partners and Charles River Ventures.)
Light is taking advantage of radical declines in the cost, weight, and size of optics that have happened as smartphones took over the cell phone market and, for many people, became their go-to camera. Unlike costly camera lenses that are made of glass, most smartphone camera lenses are made of plastic that’s stamped from molds. It is a much cheaper process, but the quality of images may not be as good. And you rarely see optical zoom squished onto a smartphone camera. Instead such devices use digital zoom, enlarging a portion of the image.
I got an inkling of what Light is up to in its office in Palo Alto, California, where an open-face metal box roughly the size of a rearview mirror sat on a conference table. It contained an array of 16 camera modules with focal lengths of 35, 70, and 150 millimeters, and tiny cables sticking up in the air like tadpole tails. The modules are operational, I was told, and were meant to show the kind of array the startup envisions being used in self-driving cars or home security cameras.
Each module was laid on its side, and I could see how light would come in from above, reflect off a mirror, and travel down the lens barrel to an image sensor.

An array of Light’s small camera modules could make it cheaper to fit high-resolution images into relatively small electronics, like smartphone and surveillance cameras.

The idea, Light cofounder and chief technology officer Rajiv Laroia explains, is that when you take a picture with a Light camera it’s taking several pictures at the same time from slightly different perspectives (though it won’t show them to the user). The level of zoom that the user selects determines which modules will fire when he takes a picture, and where the mirror contained in each module moves to capture light. It could aim for light straight ahead, or off at an angle, for instance. The resulting shots are then digitally combined in a way that emulates a much bigger camera lens.
The software should also make it possible to adjust the focus on photos after they’ve been taken—a trick that also is possible with a camera from Lytro (see “10 Breakthrough Technologies 2012: Light-Field Photography”). Lytro does this, however, by placing an array of lenses atop one image sensor.
Light didn’t show me any working camera arrays, though I did see an image of one of the company’s engineers that was shot with a test array of four eight-megapixel sensors and combined with software. In a close-up of her face, her hair and the background were quite sharp.
Getting this kind of clarity on a smartphone may satisfy shutterbugs, but it also would likely require the devices to be chunkier. Light says that embedding its camera module in a smartphone would make the overall device about as thick as a current smartphone in a case—running counter to the ever-slimmer trend for handsets. And it’s likely to make phones more expensive, too. Light CEO Dave Grannan expects a camera using Light’s technology to add about $50 to $60 to the bill of materials for the phone, which is much higher than the cost of the cameras on current high-end handsets like the iPhone 6 Plus or Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.
David Brady, leader of Duke University’s imaging and spectroscopy program and CEO of a camera-array company called Aqueti, says Light’s idea is a good one, though a number of companies have so far failed to commercialize similar technology.
He also points out that there’s currently no good way for the average person to share very high-resolution photos, which generate very big files. Though you may take a photo today with an eight-megapixel camera, when you post it on Facebook, your friends will see a much lower-resolution image.
Still, he says, “There’s no question what they’re doing is the future of cameras.”

Samsung Galaxy A3 review

 

 

Following the sleek, high-priced Galaxy Alpha, Samsung offers a brace of similar, but considerably cheaper handsets with the Galaxy A3 and A5. The A3 costs less than half the price, but do the compromises made on the make it still too expensive?
Like the Alpha, the Samsung Galaxy A3 has a slimline metal body, measuring just a sliver under 7mm and weighing in at a feathery 115g. The slimness is a little bit of a cheat however, since the camera lens protrudes at the back. There are slots in the side for a nano SIM and, unlike the Alpha, a microSD card too (up to 64GB to add to the 16GB on board) but there's no option to get to the battery, since the back is fixed.

Screen & Chassis

The 4.5-inch Super AMOLED display may have dropped the resolution to a sub-HD 960x540 pixels (245ppi) but it still looks impressively vibrant and the loss of detail isn't glaring. For this size of screen it's a perfectly fine compromise.

 Software & Processor

The A3 is running Android 4.4.4 KitKat with the usual Samsung TouchWiz interface and extras, while the quad-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz and backed by just 1.5GB RAM is a serious step down from the Alpha. Our AnTuTu benchmark test gave it a result of 21,529 -- a little more than half the pricier phone's score. In practise however, the difference was less pronounced, since it's a generally nippy little mover as long as you don't overload it with apps. If you do, you'll start to notice some slow down and delay. Nothing to worry too much about, and it may well be a compromise worth making for the serious drop in price.

Conclusion

For those charmed by the style and specifications of the Samsung Galaxy Alpha, the Galaxy A3 is a mostly successful attempt to give you the best bits on a budget. The screen isn't quite as detailed, the processor isn't quite as powerful, and the main camera isn't quite as good (though the front-facing one is better). But it's a great-looking, pocket-friendly device with a well-executed component set that justifies its mid-range price.

Samsung Galaxy S6 vs. HTC One M9

The last two generations of HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S were separated by the looks versus practicality debate. Samsung's revamped design erodes this difference, while HTC stepped up its camera game.

HTC once ruled the Android world, but has since been supplanted by Samsung. Still, last year the companies' trajectories were reversing once again - Samsung's streak of record profits ended, as did HTC's streak of quarters in the red.
This lit a fire under Samsung to change the foundations of its design. The new slender body of metal and glass is a big step forward from the Galaxy S5. It wasn't a sudden reboot though, Samsung iterated the design first with the Galaxy Alpha then with the Galaxy Note 4 to make sure the Galaxy S6 comes out great.
Now HTC is the one stuck in a design rut, the HTC One M9 is a second rehash of the original HTC One design. Some (HTC designers and fans alike) will claim you can't improve on perfection. Looks aside, the One M9 misses out on some trendy hardware as well - QHD screen, fingerprint reader, wireless charging.
HTC did make the jump to 2160p video capture and even overtook Samsung in still resolution with a 20.7MP sensor. We'll have to see if that's enough.
To warm things up here's the blow-by-blow of the "specs on paper" round.

Samsung Galaxy S6 over One M9

• Bigger screen diagonal: 5.1-inch vs. 5.0-inch screen
• Higher resolution screen - 1,440 x 2,560 vs. 1,080 x 1,920px
• Optical image stabilization for the camera
• PayPal-certified fingerprint scanner
• Thinner and lighter - 6.8mm and 138g vs. 9.6mm and 157g
• Heart rate and blood-oxygen (SpO2) sensors), barometer
• Wireless charging (market dependent)
• 5MP selfie with QHD video vs. 4MP/1080p selfie camera 

Samsung will not have any issues in presenting the Galaxy S6 as a brand new, much improved device. The design is new, the screen is QHD, the camera has optical image stabilization, the fingerprint scanner is an improved design and so on. That said, it's making a bet that the majority of consumers don't care about expandable storage and removable batteries.
HTC ad star Robert Downey Jr. will have more explaining to do. The design is the same, the screen is the same, there's no fingerprint scanner, the stereo loudspeakers are an old perk and so on. The PR team can crow about the high-resolution camera with 2160p video. The old UltraPixel isn't dead, it's now serving selfie duties - great for low-light shots from a night out.

Samsung Galaxy S6 and the HTC One M9 getting ready for a fight
Of course, both phones are built around new and powerful chipsets. Samsung went its own way to leverage its manufacturing advantage - while the basic design isn't too different, the 14nm process keeps the chipset running cool. Snapdragon 810 on the other hand has had difficulties keeping cool, which reduces its performance potential.
With all that HTC can still claim to have the more premium design and the better loudspeakers, while Samsung will point to the thinner, lighter chassis and sharper screen. Consider this a preview of what's on the next page, the hardware comparison.
Update, April 3: we wrote this article using a pre-release Galaxy S6, but we received a retail unit and re-ran all the tests. The pages have been updated to reflect that - battery life and benchmarks improved, while the camera, display, audio quality and loudspeaker are

Archos 50 Diamond: Emerald cut

It's the first time we have an Archos smartphone for review here at GSMArena but it isn't the first time we hear the French maker's name. For years now Archos has been churning out tablets with good specs for a reasonable price. They make phones too and you can find them subsidized by carriers in many countries.
The Archos 50 Diamond is the company's flagship phone at the helm of its portfolio. Its highlights include the 5" 1080p IPS LCD on the front, the 16MP camera on the back and the 64-bit Snapdragon 615 chipset and 2GB of RAM inside. The 50 Diamond also boasts dual SIM abilities out of the box without compromising its microSD card slot.

Together the main specs round off a reasonable upper midrange handset that can challenge competition from Samsung, HTC and China for the hard-earned cash of buyers. Perhaps one of the more important aspects of the Archos 50 Diamond is that it runs vanilla Android 4.4.4 KitKat out of the box catering to Google-purists that would otherwise cringe at yet another Android skin that contradicts Google's design aesthetic.

Key features

• 5" 1080p capacitive IPS LCD with 440ppi
• Physical home, back and menu buttons that don't take away from screen-estate
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 chipset with dual quad-core processor: 1.5 GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 plus 1.0 GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, Adreno 405 GPU, 2GB of RAM
• Vanilla Android 4.4.4 KitKat with no bloatware
• • 16MP AF camera with extensive settings for sharpness, white balance, etc.; 1080p@30fps video capture
• 8MP front-facing camera
• 16GB of built-in memory; microSD card slot
• Dual SIM (dual stand-by); LTE Cat.4, NFC, Bluetooth, FM radio; microUSB 2.0 port, MHL, USB host
• Active noise cancellation with a dedicated microphone
• 2,700mAh battery; Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 support (an extra certified charger needed)

Main disadvantages

• Doesn't ship with Android Lollipop but the update is already in the works
• Non-removable battery
• Tall for a 5-incher

The Archos 50 Diamond review unit we received is the flamboyant lime-colored unit but there is a more subdued black variant as well. The popping color could sway the younger audience and maybe some die-hard Borussia Dortmund fans too (if soccer is your thing to begin with).
Archos is aiming the 50 Diamond as a capable device that could be easily associated with Google's Android more than with Archos - hence the choice of UI. You're most likely to find the device on specific retailer's shelves or mostly on your carrier's website.

Archos 50 Diamond press photos
While not a rival to the high-end smartphones of 2015, the Archos 50 Diamond looks to be a perfectly capable upper-midranger. At around € 250 at the moment it's also an affordable phone that would be good for multimedia consumption thanks to its good chipset, ample and high-res screen and ample storage due to the microSD expansion. It's also a good phone for users with the need for dual SIM and also LTE connectivity for a reasonable price.
The 16MP camera also sounds promising and packs 1080p video recording - which is still more than fine to have.
So stay around as we delve into the hardware prowess of the Archos 50 Diamond.

Firefox OS smartphones now shipping in Africa

Just over a month after Firefox OS arrived in South Africa, Mozilla launched a device running its open source mobile OS in other parts of Africa, too.

 

Dubbed Orange Klif, the 3G device runs on Orange's mobile network, and was made available for purchase in Senegal and Madagascar this past week.
“We are pleased to partner with Orange to bring the mobile Web to users in a substantial number of new growth markets across Africa and the Middle East," said Mozilla CTO Andreas Gal. “I’m also thrilled to see how the imminent arrival of Firefox OS has created excitement in the local Mozilla communities.”

vivo Xshot review: Shot in the dark

Another Chinese flagship but with a twist. If vivo rings a bell at all, it's most probably the X5Max, the world's slimmest phone. Not a bad thing to be known for but vivo isn't just about looks. This Chinese maker isn't a discounter either - vivo is more like Oppo, less like Xiaomi.
It is a limited lineup where most of the recent models do stand out in one way or another, helping vivo build a reputation as a premium phone manufacturer. vivo is known for experimenting with imaging and audio technology and using components that you don't get every day in phones made in China. The vivo Xplay3S was cheered by audiophiles and the Xshot we're about to review is a flagship cameraphone.
The vivo Xshot is an exquisitely built phone with premium finish, formidable specs and a camera setup which almost puts it in a league of its own.



The vivo Xshot is available in two versions. One is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 SoC, with four CPU cores clocked at 2.3 GHz, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The other, lighter version packs a Snapdragon 800, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of inbuilt memory. Other than that, the two handsets are identical. Both variants are typical 2014 flagships - which isn't necessarily a criticism. After all, the vivo Xshot was released last summer. Similar to a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, with a duly adjusted price.

Key features

• 5.2" 16M-color 1080p IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen
• Quad-core Qualcomm MSM8974AA Snapdragon 801 or Snapdragon 800 at 2.3 GHz, 2/3 GB RAM and Adreno 330 GPU.
• 13MP camera with 4K video, OIS, f/1.8 and dual-tone flash; 8MP, wide (84 degree) front-facing camera with LED flash and 720p video.
• Dedicated two-stage camera shutter button.
• 16GB of built-in storage and a microSD card slot
• LTE Cat. 4 (150Mbps), Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, GPS/GLONASS receiver, Bluetooth v4.0
• Standard 3.5mm audio jack
• Accelerometer, proximity sensor, gyroscope and compass
• Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
• 2,600mAh non-removable battery

Main disadvantages

• Stuck on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
• Non-removable battery of rather small capacity
• No WiFi ac support
• UI can be confusing at times, suffers from bad translation
• No Full HD video on front-facing camera, despite the 8MP resolution

Graphics are courtesy of Adreno 330, so quite a lot of computing power there as well. The Xshot is equipped with a 5.2-inch IPS LCD panel, of Full HD resolution and 424ppi. It is sharp and clear, but quite reflective at times.
The camera setup though is undoubtedly the main entry on the specs sheet. The Xshot packs an ambitious 13MP sensor, complete with a f/1.8 aperture, optical image stabilization and 4K video recording capabilities. This one should be able impress at low-light shots and we can't wait to take it out for a spin.
The front-facing shooter is very nice as well at 8MP and it even has its own dedicated LED flash, so selfies should also come out quite nice as well.
The vivo Xshot is a single-SIM LTE-enabled smartphone. It runs what is technically Android, but about as custom as it gets. vivo's own custom version of Android is called Funtouch OS. The version is 1.2 and is based on Android 4.3, so there is definitely room for improvement there. Other than that, the GUI is really gorgeous and clean with a distinct Apple vibe, but not too much, like we've seen in so many other Chinese phones. vivo has thrown in a few nice air gestures and a timeline of user interactions, but there are still some rough edges to polish.

Charge test: Battle of the fast chargers

Smartphone batteries piggybacked on the growing screen size to go up in capacity to support both the screen and faster chipsets. Slower to deplete, the new batteries also proved slower to charge so manufacturers tackled the issue with new standards.
USB 2.0, the most popular charger at the moment typically puts out 500mA. Gradually manufacturers started bundling more powerful chargers, going over 2A in some cases. USB 3.0 offers a bit more power than the older standard, but its wide adoption in smartphones is not happening anytime soon.
Both manufacturers and chipset makers were not content with this and developed their own standards. We'll be testing solutions from Qualcomm, Oppo, Samsung and Intel (the last two seem to use Qualcomm's tech). We also have two iPhones in the mix even though Apple doesn't have an official fast charge solution.



There's a common standard on the horizon too - while USB 3.0 failed to take hold on mobiles, the USB Type-C connector might prove more successful. Reversible and capable of carrying more power - up to 3A at 5V for 15W total it looks to have what it takes. It's still larger than 2.0 connectors though, so we'll see if it will play nice with the ongoing struggle to make smartphones as slim as possible.
This matches the power from the Quick Charge 2.0 standard, though the latest USB standard also has an optional Power Delivery profile that can push up to 100W. That's intended for laptops and monitors, but the profile also has a number of lower steps which may one day land on phones and tablets.
We may or may not see USB Type-C mobiles this year, but it's clear that the current chargers will survive. Some of them fundamentally change the battery, Oppo for example splits it into multiple cells that are charged separately.
Since these charging standards work best when the battery is close to empty, we started with a fully depleted battery and wrote down the charge every five minutes. The phones were off initially and we powered them on after the first five minutes.
We'll compare all the phones together, but we'll also cover each phone's performance individually.
If you're new to charging tech, we researched each one we are testing and summarized our findings on the next page. You can quickly get acquainted or skim it and go to the following page for the showdown.

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Samsung Galaxy E7 review: Easy touch

  In a bid to bring the A series' new-found premium design language to the masses, Samsung's E-lineup has managed to maintain the same looks. Lower-grade hardware and entirely plastic build have helped keep the price down, but if you don't look too hard it's still an upmarket smartphone.

 

The design aesthetic of the E7 is unmistakably Samsung - a mix of the Galaxy A7 and the Galaxy S flagships before the Galaxy S6 came along.
The metal frame of the A7 has been replaced by plastic, emulating the looks, but not exactly the feel. On the other hand, the rounded corners are more of a throwback to the S5 than the sharper A7 styling.
A downgrade in the specs was also to be expected and the Galaxy E7 is powered by the lower-midrange Snapdragon 410 as opposed to the snappier Snapdragon 615 inside the A7. The 2GB of RAM is intact though, so not all corners have been cut.
Samsung's Super AMOLED display is also on the keep list, albeit in a more affordable 720p resolution. And if you thought that the E7 will skimp on battery capacity you're wrong, as it comes with a 2,950mAh battery, actually an upgrade over the more expensive Galaxy A7.

Key features:

• Quad-band 2G, quad-band 3G and multi-band 4G, LTE Cat.4 support for download speeds of up to 150Mbps
• 5.5-inch 720 x 1,280 pixel Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
• Android 4.4.4 KitKat with Samsung's TouchWiz on top
• 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 chipset with quad-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A53; Adreno 306 GPU
• 2GB of RAM; 16GB of storage, expandable via microSD up to 64GB
• 13MP main camera with autofocus and LED flash; video recording up to 1080p@30fps
• 5MP front camera, video recording up to 1080p@30fps
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct and hotspot; Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP; NFC (model-dependent)
• GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS
• FM radio with RDS and recording
• 2,950mAh battery capacity

Main disadvantages:

• 720p stretches pretty thin on 5.5 inches by today's standards
• No Gorilla Glass protection on the display
• Battery is not user-replaceable
• Android 4.4.4 is not the most recent Android version; Lollipop is in the pipeline though

The OS update is a shortcoming that's fixable and, with Lollipop reportedly on the way, we'll not hold it against the E7. The screen resolution isn't that big of an issue either and offers decent pixel density for the price segment. The non-removable battery may not be a deal-breaker, but the versatility and future proofing of a user-replaceable battery is an undeniable advantage.
What's difficult to come to terms with is Samsung's decision to omit the Gorilla Glass protection, and aftermarket measures should be taken to protect your device, which is hardly the best option.

 

 

Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge video review

Today you are witnessing history in the making. We've chosen the Galaxy S6 and the S6 edge to be the subjects for our first ever video review. It certainly isn't our first ever video, but it sure is the first video that we've put so much effort and creativity.
If you've already read our regular Galaxy S6 and S6 edge reviews, you may be wondering what this is doing here. Well, it's popcorn time today as we've prepared the first ever video version of our trademark reviews. One thing's for sure - you've never seen us do a phone review like this before.
Don't miss dropping us a line whether you'd like to see more of these in the future. Any suggestions will be well appreciated too.

LG G4 preview: A second encounter

Introduction

LG G4 takes the manufacturer's smartphone game up a notch. In addition to being the hardware powerhouse we've come to expect from an LG flagship smartphone, the gently curved device adds a touch of bona fide luxury to its arsenal via optional genuine leather back covers.

With LG G4, the Korean giant has focused on three key aspects - design, display, and camera, and the last two could as well be the best available on a smartphone at the moment. The 5.5" Quantum IPS has pro-grade color accuracy, while the 16MP f/1.8 camera offers an array of manual controls to take photography to the next level.
In a bid to stay away from the controversial Snapdragon 810 chipset, LG has instead chosen to use the Snapdragon 808. This chipset was announced along with the Snapdragon 810 as its more affordable alternative. Instead of a total of 8 cores, it comes with only 6. The choice of chipset, the only slight curvature and the lack of a self-healing will certainly put under strain the sibling relations as in some respects the recently released LG G Flex2 is even better equipped than the flagship.

Key features

• 5.5" QHD Quantum IPS display (2560 x 1440 pixels); 538ppi; Gorilla Glass 3
• Android 5.1 Lollipop with LG UX 4.0
• 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 MSM8992 chipset; Dual-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A57 & quad-core 1.44 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU, 3GB RAM
• 32GB of built-in memory; microSD card slot; 100GB of Google Drive for 2 years
• 16MP main camera with f/1.8 lens; 1/2.6" sensor; 3-axis OIS; 104MP panoramas; full manual controls; 4K video recording @ 30 fps
• 8MP front-facing camera with 1080p video capture
• Cat. 6 LTE (up to 300Mbps); Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac; Wi-Fi Direct; Bluetooth 4.1 with A2DP; apt-X, GPS/GLONASS receiver, Stereo FM with RDS
• microUSB v2.0 port with SlimPort 4K support; USB Host
• 3,000mAh removable battery
• Optional genuine leather back covers

Main disadvantages

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 doesn't offer flagship performance
• No water or dust resistance

At a quick glance, the LG G4 shapes up to be a dream come true for Android power users. Its removable battery and memory card slot are a rare sight in a flagship smartphone these days - most major players in the field have skipped one of the two, or both features altogether.


Developed in-house by LG, the 16MP main camera and the 5.5" QHD Quantum IPS display of the G4 are poised to take on the heavyweights in the segment. Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box on the other hand, is pleasant surprise - the build is reserved mostly for Nexus hardware for the time being.
Most importantly, LG has spent a great deal of time boosting the luxury appeal of its flagship smartphone. The leather backs feel as great as they look, so it will certainly draw the interest of a whole new crowd of potential customers.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 is the biggest question mark in the LG G4 - it's not clear whether the six-core chipset delivers the right tradeoff between performance and heating and early benchmarks show it certainly doesn't deliver top-tier flagship performance.
Following next is an unboxing of the LG G4, followed later by a closer look at its design and build quality.

Samsung Galaxy S6

How big of an impact can a small change have? The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge has only the extra screen curves compared to the vanilla Galaxy S6, but these two phones couldn't feel any more different - it's a difference that you can readily feel when you hold them in your hand.

Different, and yet the same, the two Galaxy S6 phones share some of the best components available, tied together with software built on new philosophy to match the new hardware ideology.

Here's the recap of the key specs and disadvantages and... please, pardon the deja vu feel.

Key features

• Curved screen, thin (7mm) profile, premium dual-glass design reinforced by a metal frame
• 5.1" Super AMOLED of QHD (1440 x 2560) resolution, class-leading ~577ppi, Corning Gorilla Glass 4
• Exynos 7420 64-bit chipset, octa core processor with four 2.1GHz Cortex-A57's and four 1.5GHz Cortex-A53 cores, Mali-T760 MP8 GPU, 3GB of RAM
• Android 5.0.2 Lollipop with TouchWiz and Samsung Pay
• 16MP camera, f/1.9 aperture, 4K video recording, LED flash, optical image stabilization
• 5MP front-facing camera, f/1.9 aperture, 1440p QHD video, HDR
• 32/64/128 GB of built-in storage (64GB comes as standard issue on some markets)
• Active noise cancellation via dedicated mic
• New generation of fingerprint scanner
• LTE Cat.6, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, GPS/GLONASS/Beidou, NFC, IR port, Bluetooth 4.1, ANT+
• Heart-rate sensor, barometer, SpO2
• Built-in wireless charging (Qi/PMA)
• 2,600mAh battery

Main disadvantages

• Pricier than its sibling, with only the curved screen to show for it
• No water or dust protection
• No user-replaceable battery
• No microSD slot
• No FM radio
• No stereo speakers

Samsung spun off a whole new Galaxy line, the A (or Alpha) series, to practice making phones with proper metal frame and then got back to the drawing board and came out with the new design language of the Galaxy S6 family. Combining the metal frame with a dual-glass build (front and back) is certainly not the most novel design solution but it's one that works well and it's a first for Samsung's smartphones.

And despite being their first attempt at this design approach, the Galaxy S6 came out borderline perfect - perhaps lacking on novelty, but excelling in implementation. The Galaxy S6 edge however takes it even further for those who want something that much more special. It comes with an off-the-chart novelty factor and is rightfully priced higher than the regular Galaxy S6.

    
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge official images

But is this sort of a difference worth the hefty price premium? A tough question, indeed, unless you reside in one of those markets where the Galaxy S6 edge will be selling with 64GB of storage as a base version, partly making up for the outrageous markup. But even then, you sure are getting a lot more than a mere storage upgrade for the extra money.

Join us on the following pages as we explore the hardware differences between the two and discuss the added value of the curved screen.

Samsung Galaxy A7 goes official with 6.3mm metal unibody

Samsung Galaxy A7 goes official
with 6.3mm metal unibody

Samsung Galaxy A7 is finally official. The metal-
clad smartphone with optional dual-SIM
functionality will be available at the end of Q1
this year in two different chipset configurations.
The Galaxy A7 will feature a 64-bit Qualcomm
Snapdragon 615 SoC or 32-bit Exynos 5430
solution. Both chipsets feature octa-core CPU
(1.5GHz quad A53 + 1.0GHz quad A53 for the
Snapdragon 615 and 1.8GHz quad A15 + 1.3GHz
quad A7 for the Exynos 5430).
Both versions of the smartphone will offer 2GB of
RAM and 16GB of built-in memory. A microSD
card slot for further expansion will also be
available.
Samsung Galaxy A7 packs 5.5” HD Super
AMOLED display. The rest of the device’s specs
include 13MP main camera, 5MP front-facing
unit, and full connectivity suite headed by Cat. 4
LTE.
The smartphone boots Android 4.4 KitKat with
TouchWiz UI. An update to Android 5.0 Lollipop is
naturally in the works.
Physical measures of the Samsung Galaxy A7 are
151 x 76.2 x 6.3 mm, while its weight tips the
scale at 141 grams. A 2,600mAh battery powers
the device. The handset is the slimmest offering
with metal unibody to date.
Samsung Galaxy A7 will be available in dark blue,
white, or gold color schemes. The Korean giant
promises a “competitive price point” for the
device.

CES 2015: Huawei Honor 6 & Huawei Honor 6 Plus hands-on

Huawei did not miss its chance for a bit of
marketing at this year's CES. And although
nothing really eventful happened in terms of
announcements the Chinese manufacturer took
pride in its current device lineup and showcased
what it has to offer in terms of mid to high-end
smartphones.
The devices that made their way to the Huawei
booth at CES 2015 are the Huawei P7, Huawei
Mate7, as well as Huawei Honor 6 and Honor 6
Plus. A new device announcement would have
been greatly valued, but is seems that like many
others Huawei has also decided to hold off
information on anything they might have in store
for a later moment in time, perhaps MWC, who
knows.
Browsing the exhibition, we saw the well-known
Huawei P7 and the Huawei Mate7, which we have
already reviewed in detail. For those of you who
want to take a peak and read out two cents on
the pair, the Ascend P7 review is here, while the
Huawei Mate7 review is here.
The two Honor smartphones that Huawei brought
along to Las Vegas are definitely a nice sight as
the devices are fairly newer that the
aforementioned two and we have not been able
to get our hands on either of them up to this
point. We took the opportunity and played around
with the Honor 6 and Honor 6 Plus for a while and
we have some impressions to share.