That’s right, we’re talking about an unfounded, unsubstantiated concept smartphone. And the “HTC 11” is certainly a concept to behold of within itself.
So, what does this concept from Chinese social media site Weibo contain? A 5.5-inch quad HD screen, a Snapdragon 835 processor with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, an 8-megapixel selfie camera and a dual-camera system (both sensor at 12 megapixels of resolution), a 3,700mAh battery with Quick Charge 4.0 support and a bezelless design.
Unlike this phone’s competitors, we have heard little from the industrial supply chain about the HTC 11 — no recent rumors about its name, its parts, its design. The 11 may actually be to the “Ocean” concept leaked months ago that showed off a device similar in design to the HTC 10, but featured no physical buttons and touch-receptive siderails that complemented a revised Sense UI software interface. Three devices may come with that design paradigm.
Tech circles have been left wondering how real anything from HTC can be nowadays. We can only provide a generic “time will tell” platitude, but we don’t even know how much time the company will stack before it releases the damn thing.
That’s right, we’re talking about an unfounded, unsubstantiated concept smartphone. And the “HTC 11” is certainly a concept to behold of within itself.
So, what does this concept from Chinese social media site Weibo contain? A 5.5-inch quad HD screen, a Snapdragon 835 processor with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, an 8-megapixel selfie camera and a dual-camera system (both sensor at 12 megapixels of resolution), a 3,700mAh battery with Quick Charge 4.0 support and a bezelless design.
Unlike this phone’s competitors, we have heard little from the industrial supply chain about the HTC 11 — no recent rumors about its name, its parts, its design. The 11 may actually be to the “Ocean” concept leaked months ago that showed off a device similar in design to the HTC 10, but featured no physical buttons and touch-receptive siderails that complemented a revised Sense UI software interface. Three devices may come with that design paradigm.
Tech circles have been left wondering how real anything from HTC can be nowadays. We can only provide a generic “time will tell” platitude, but we don’t even know how much time the company will stack before it releases the damn thing.
One of those OEMs is said to be Huawei subsidiary Honor. A trip to its Chinese site these days will lead you to a splash GIF, showing off a world of mysticism and whatnot, along with teaser text to expect big things with the “Honor Magic” on December 16.
Now, what could Honor be talking about? And why is Honor, not Huawei, bringing this concept phone to us?
Well, it’s believed by Weibo tech talkers that Huawei wanted to reduce its risk in introducing what’s rumored to be a phone that has a curved display from Samsung, a battery that fills up halfway with five minutes on the charger and, most importantly, no camera nor speaker on the device body. It set the launch of this “Magic” apart from the company’s more traditional Mate 9 releases and moved its domain to the edgier Honor brand.
We’re not entirely sure if we’re talking about a complete ecosystem of modular, attachable accessories. Perhaps these limited accessories are freewheeeling (and none of those factors are mutually exclusive from each other), but if the rumors pull through, then we are definitely out of the range of the Moto Z.
Sit tight, this is going to be a crazy December… at least, in China.
The Pixel XL has become a fairly polarizing device in our comments. There’s a lot of the Google DNA which Nexus fans enjoyed, but it’s packaged up in a softer aesthetic, and it arrives with a more premium price tag.
Hardware & Design
Google’s design here gets a lot right. Looking at some of the things folks are apt to complain about on other phones, Pixel features a subtle wedge shape, thicker at the top than at the bottom, which helps provide enough room to sink the camera flush with the rear plate while keeping a thinner feel in the hand.
Using it for a couple weeks, we never could shake the vibe from our first impressions video. This glass panel on the rear still feels incongruous with the rest of the phone’s rear. Our “Really Blue” phone has a definable edge where glass meets metal. It’s clear this was built to deliver a unique look, but for how nice the satin finish is on the rest of the phone, the glass just feels out of place in the hand.
We are happy to see a company playing with a bold color option though. Pixel joins the Huawei Honor 8 as the only other phone people have asked me about while using it out in public. Blue is really eye catching, and Google made the right choice here with a third color option which stands out from various flavors of black, gray, and silver.
The most derided part of this look though has to be these front white borders. White edges certainly call more attention to the use of space. The phone still features a respectable screen to bezel ratio, but with no hardware on the front, we can understand why some feel this is wasted space. The height of the Pixel XL is close to that of the Huawei Mate 9, a phone which features a significantly larger display, yet we don’t benefit from any additional features like stereo speakers or hardware navigation controls.
Display
Speaking of that screen, this is a very good AMOLED display, but overall it feels a bit basic. There doesn’t seem to be the high brightness or high contrast burst mode found on some competitors. In what we can measure for brightness, Pixel fell behind the Galaxy S7, and just edged out the iPhone 7 Plus, but ultimately it’s up in the tier of “easy to read” screens when out in daylight.
As this is a consumer focused phone, accuracy seems to have taken a back seat to popping the color for a more dramatic look. There aren’t any color profile adjustments to be found in the normal settings, but the developer settings houses an sRGB mode which adjusts color temperature and saturation for a more accurate display. It doesn’t reach the accuracy of the Galaxy S7 or iPhone 7, but it helps take the edge off the aggressive saturation.
Fingerprint Sensor
Moving the sensor to the rear of the phone provides some ergonomic benefits, especially for using a larger device one handed. A person with average or smaller hands won’t need to shift the phone at all to turn on the display and unlock. The scanning process is quick and accurate. It rarely misread our fingerprint.
Google also provides a finger swipe gesture to drop the notification shade. It’s a trick we’ve seen before, but is again appreciated for preventing any additional grip readjustment when on the go.
Software
The big draw for prospective Pixel purchasers is of course this software. Android 7.1 with Google’s customization running on top. We’ve covered the Nougat basics in numerous other videos, and we’re really enjoying the multitasking and notification shade improvements.
Google adds a new gesture for pulling up the app drawer which is keen. It cleans up the look of your bottom dock, eliminating the need for a drawer shortcut, and giving you one extra spot to drop a shortcut.
The biggest update though is the new Google Assistant. I’m not one to often rely on voice search, but Google Assistant is another important step towards more organic and conversational voice search. We’re hoping this forms the backbone of Google’s future connected device strategy, like Android Auto and Google home. Over our weeks using the phone however, once the novelty has worn off, if users weren’t fans of voice search before, Assistant does little to really change a consumer’s perspective on talking to a phone. It’s certainly an improvement, and we’re always happy for progress, but we’re still far from that magical science fiction style voice interaction.
Performance
The software discussion wouldn’t mean much though were it not for this insane UI performance. We’ve never used an Android which felt this consistently snappy and responsive. Pixel benchmarks well enough for it’s slightly under-clocked CPU, but there’s obviously been a focus on optimization. Google’s approach to Android 7.1 brings us our first taste of an Android phone which truly competes against the UI feel and fluidity found on Apple products. This alone is a significant enough improvement to the user experience for us to recommend the Pixel XL as a daily driver.
With some complaints regarding RAM management from more aggressive use, our more anecdotal testing has shown consistent performance for daily tasks, social media, and light to moderate gaming. We’ve seen several app tests and benchmarks pushing the Pixel to its limits, and sure, playing four games at a time will cause apps to be ejected from memory, but that just isn’t something we’re apt to do often.
The Pixel XL represents a terrific platform for mobile gaming. More demanding titles like Oblivion run impressively smooth. Marvel’s Future Fight is poorly optimized for Android and Qualcomm chipsets, yet we’re treated to reasonable performance with only minor stutters and lags at high quality. If you play older titles or casual games like Candy Crush, Pixel will have no issues driving those games.
Daydream
We should also briefly discuss Daydream, Google’s next generation step to improve virtual reality powered by our phones. The Pixel does a wonderful job driving 360 degree videos and VR games, but this phone will run scary hot after a short time in the headset. It’s physically uncomfortable to hold after about ten minutes of VR gaming. The experience never seems to suffer, and the phone maintains fluid frame rates, but we wouldn’t blame those who might be apprehensive about running a phone this hot while it’s cradled so close to your eyeballs.
WiFi & Cellular
We’re happy to see some terrific radios on board. Wi-Fi performance was neck and neck with the Galaxy S7, just edging out the LG V20 in maintaining a connection with my router at the edges of my home.
We should also take a moment here to talk about carriers. Sure, TV commercials will tell you that this is ONLY ON VERIZON, but we picked up this phone with Project Fi in mind, especially for some recent international traveling. The Pixel XL was our main travel companion on a recent trip to Munich, where it performed like a champ.
With the exception of one drop out in Germany which required a reboot, the Pixel XL proved to be a better travel companion than the Nexus 5X used for IFA earlier this year. Back in the United States, juggling between T-Mobile and Sprint’s networks, I was happy to find stronger signal in my neighborhood than on Verizon. Maybe Big Red’s network really is facing a challenge in competing against both Sprint and T-Mobile?
Camera
Now, moving to the camera, we have the most complete examination of pixel photo and video performance in our separate real camera review, but to recap, Google delivers one of the best HDR modes we’ve ever seen. We’re treated to stellar slow motion video, and genuinely excellent stabilization in most shooting scenarios.
Unfortunately, our unit was subject to some terrible flaring, sometimes visible during daylight conditions. The software stabilization can get twitchy during panning, and in shaded daylight conditions we start to see a lot of ghosting from longer shutter speeds. That ghosting only exacerbated when you shoot video at night.
We’re also disappointed to only see (or hear rather) mono audio recording while shooting video. This wouldn’t be our top pick for folks who like to record live music, or want to do any photojournalism work from their phone.
This is ultimately a very good camera, especially for those folks who only shoot full auto, but it completely ignores people who would prefer more control over their composition. Google’s various HDR modes are formidable, but always-auto software processing means you’re never quite sure exactly what the camera might do. If you shoot a landscape photo, you don’t know if that HDR effect will kick in and crush the exposure on clouds, making white fluffy clouds look more like storm clouds.
The same happens from the selfie camera. A slight change in angle and we see different auto processing in color and white balance.
The software stabilization will aggressively crop your video after you shoot. You can’t ever really trust that you’re framing your shot properly without some part of your subject getting cut off. In the below photo, the phone screen showed the tops of the two taller trees. The video output resulted in this crop.
In addition to those software concerns, the lens flare defects knock it out of Google’s assertion that this is the best camera ever.
In chatting about the camera, many have pointed to the perk that you get unlimited full quality Google Photo storage from the phone. This is nice, but for photos, Google already allows unlimited storage for up to 16MP images and 1080p video. I use it to back up all of my iPhone photos as iCloud is unnecessarily expensive. The main perk might be for folks who shoot a lot of UHD video, which I do, but this isn’t a feature we would necessarily point to as a purchasing motivator.
Audio
The audio situation is something of a disappointment.
The bottom firing speaker is about par for the course when compared to other bottom firing solutions, but the headphone playback falls far behind most of the competition. The amp is on the quiet side, and quality numbers for noise level and dynamic range fall behind numerous competitors.
We also have a more in depth look at audio performance in our Real Audio Review, but it would seem Google opted not to incorporate more HTC DNA here, which is a shame.
Battery
Lastly, looking at battery life, the Pixel is a solid all day performer. Under moderate use we were consistently able to make to dinner time with some room to spare. Looking at our media test, streaming 30 minutes of HD video over WiFi at 190 Lux, the phone drained approximately 5% of its battery, which is right in line with similarly specced Android flagship phones.
Recharge times are upper mid-pack, 30 minutes on the include charger resulted in topping off the battery 37%.
Conclusion
So let’s wrap this up, where does this leave us with Google’s Pixel XL?
There’s a lot to like here. Google is making a second attempt at a first impression. For folks most concerned about software performance, we think they’ll be very pleased with what they get. Seriously. The Pixel XL is a screamer when paging around the UI.
Does that performance warrant the new premium price however? That’s a tougher question to answer. Similarly expensive phones are arriving with better lifestyle features like enhanced durability, better audio, or larger batteries with faster charging. Other competitors this year can often match or best many of the Pixel’s benefits for a lot less cash. This was a great year for phones around the $400 price point. In many markets, Google faces incredible competition from devices at almost half the price.
We’re very excited by the idea of a platform where Google controls the hardware and the software. We certainly see the benefits of proper optimization, but at this price we were hoping to see more risks. Anything which might help Google differentiate from the competition or justify a premium label, as the Nexus is now properly retired. We’ve also pointed to the rushed production schedule on this device, and how that seems to have affected camera quality, while forcing Google to omit features like water resistance.
Whether the performance and the promise of timely updates are worth it is a question only you and your wallet can answer…
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In the run-up to the official Android Nougat update for the OnePlus 3 and 3T, the company has announced its Open Beta 8 program. The software package basically provides a preview of what OxygenOS will look like with Android Nougat on the OnePlus 3. The package, if you’re curious, is available at our source link.
Major line items in this update are new designs for the notifications (which allow for Direct Reply) and settings menu. You can also manually toggle the screen’s DPI and trigger multi-window view. You’re also able to switch up which icons you see on the status bar, what you can switch out on your app shelf and Quick Launch more apps.
In addition to the typical stability and performance issues, you may also find Android Pay unusable. And if you end up wanting to go back to the official Marshmallow build, you’re going to have to contact customer support for the image that you must flash on.
In at least the tech world, Black Friday has come forward by a few days or, in some cases, even several weeks. No more is it just a deals day for us as it is a four-day weekend chock full of savings you can get around to. Oh, and there’s a little breadcrumb trail of discounts leading up to the big shebang, too.
You know who made a bigger deal about Black Friday sales than the US this year? Amazon.co.uk. That site had weeks of featured discounts under that banner.
We’ve been covering all these deals and we have quite a few more to talk about as a few Cyber Monday press releases have just begun to pop up. But since most of these campaigns have been lumped in to include both Monday and Tuesday anyways, we’re going to give you a little taste of what you might be able to find for deals as of this post, all of these are guaranteed to go through Sunday, November 27 or later — exceptions will be duly noted.
With that, let’s start from the top end of mobile and move our way down. We’ll give you links to extensive US carrier deals near the end.
Top-end
The Google Pixel really shouldn’t be on sale at this point, but we have to mention the crazy $400+ discount on Verizon. That said, you’ll have to be on a device payment plan with the carrier.
No real deals have popped up for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, though if you’re going the unlocked route (no US warranty), you can find S7 units at around $530 and S7 edge units near $600: Amazon / Newegg / B&H
All versions of the Moto Z (Play, Force, Droid and unlocked) is best served with a Hasselblad True Zoom or Insta-Share Projector Moto Mod on the side, at $250 off list.
LG has distributed deals through carriers, including tablet add-ons and a free pair of B&O Play H3 earbuds for the V20.
The HTC 10 is $200 off while the One A9, One M9 and other accessories are at deep discounts.
Mid-range
The Honor 8 is going $100 off in both of its storage options: 32GB for $299.99 and 64GB for $349.99.
The ZTE Axon 7 and Axon Mini are also going for $50 off, too, at $349.98 and $299.98, respectively.
BlackBerry has cut the prices of the PRIV, DTEK50 and BB10 devices to well under $300.
Budget
Believe it or not, last year’s flagship is this year’s low-cost champion, as the unlocked LG G4 sets you back $250 across retailers like Amazon, Newegg and B&H, free leather covers occasionally included.
No Honor 5X love? Not yet, but after selling the Full HD 5.5-incher for $120 several months ago, you have to figure Amazon is again cooking up something special… and extremely time-sensitive.
The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 with an Intel Core i5, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage is $200 off at $799.
The Surface Book is also on discount in two models. They are the Core i5/8GB/128GB ($250 off) and the Core i5/8GB/256GB/dGPU ($400 off).
The Huawei MateBook is going for $200 off if you grab a Portfolio Keyboard or $300 if you get the board, the MatePen and the MateDock.
Not in the mood for Windows? The Huawei MediaPad M3 is $50 off on Amazon at $249.
Amazon‘s hot Fire tablets start at $33.33 for the 7-inch versions. The Kindles start at $49.99.
Other Notes (incl. carriers)
AT&T, not really in a position to divvy deals out for the S7, is bundling several Galaxy S6 models with the Gear S2 and the Galaxy Tab E for free. Those two devices need to be on service contracts.
Sprint has its exclusive HTC Bolt for half-off today and Black Friday, now at $300. Also through the 25th, you can grab a free LG TV with the purchase of the G5 or V20. You can also get five lines for the price of two through December 1.
Verizon is also posting up to $200 discounts on new Android phones priced $400 or more and $200 gift cards per new line activated today and tomorrow.
The Google Home smart speaker is $30 off pretty much anywhere you can purchase it.
That’s not to do Amazon, however. Its own Alexa-powered speakers are going for at least 20 percent off, starting with the Echo Dot at $39.99.
The HTC Vive (typically $799) and the HP Envy 750 bundle ($1,499) are both $100 off, in stores or online. At the Viveport, you can get $5 app bundles and half-off 20 various titles. The deals begin at 2:59am Eastern on Friday.
Select Huawei Watch models are $200 off, wherever you can find them (here’s a Google Shopping link for you to sort out which model and store you want it from)
We hope you have a pleasant Thanksgiving and a safe, fun time shopping this weekend. And the next few weeks. Don’t forget to buy ugly sweaters on your way out!
If you’re not too busy this Thanksgiving or Black Friday and still want a Pixel, you’ll be fighting doorbusters all the way to the Verizon store as the carrier has recklessly decided to discount the new Google phone.
It’s only been out for a month and here we are, talking about a major discount. How big? Get a 32GB Pixel for $10 per month for two years ($240 total) or a 128GB for $15 per month ($320). We’re talking at least a 53 percent cost cut from normal pricing, here.
For those who want a concession prize, you can also get $200 off any Android phone priced $400 or higher. You just need to add a line or sign up for a new account at Big Red between November 24 and 27. Even if you just want an upgrade on your own line, you still get $100 off the same lineup.
Plus, starting tomorrow and going on through the 28th, you can get a Google Home from the carrier for $99.99 before the price jumps to its standard $129.99.
Of course, whether or not you want to be stuck with Verizon as your carrier of choice is under your discretion.
All screen, no chin. The Xiaomi Mi MIX got us closer to the bezelless dream than ever before. But hey, maybe we can just be there. Wouldn’t that be a nice Christmas gift?
Well, notorious Weibo tech blogger KJuma may have hit some gold… or it could be a fake-out to ruin a whole holiday season.
Take a good long look at these renders, purporting to show off a device from Xiaomi competitor Meizu and tell us if you can feel anything going on? No perceptible buttons or ports, — because any dent, hill or hole is just plain unsexy on a “best looks” render — just screen. An edgy bezel, but screen, nonetheless. And then there’s that date: December 24.
So, what now? The wait. If there’s further development on this front, we’ll pass it along to you. But we bet that if this is all we hear about this device, you probably won’t be getting anything on Christmas Eve. In other words, all sham, no wow.
The challenge for Chinese manufacturer Lenovo is progressive. PC and tablet sales continue to sag worldwide while the smartphone market seems to be peaking at this point. But it has been able to struggle through its second fiscal quarter with multiple innovative if somewhat gimmicky product launches.
Revenue compares 8 percent poorer from a year ago to $11.2 billion. While the number is up 12 percent from the sequential quarter, that number compares to a 14 percent gain from last year. There was net income of $157 million, compared to a loss of $714 million last year.
Income from PCs in North America bucked the market trend, growing 14.7 percent year-to-year and 5.2 percent worldwide. Gaming sales jumped 36 percent, detachable solutions rose 52 percent while so-called “millennial” or affordable PCs tripled.
The company was happy to proclaim that Motorola is now able to make some major stat gains including sequential volume — up 25 percent in general and 39 percent for Moto-branded phones. Operating margins inched up by 4 percent from last quarter while average sales price stepped up by 18 percent annually. Units-wise, 14 million smartphones were sold, a 25 percent annual improvement with most of it in the Asia Pacific and Indian regions.
While the Mobile Business Group reported a 12 percent decline in revenues, the unit is expected to “turn around” by mid-2017.
Market research firm GfK has published third quarter sales numbers for the smartphone market. Globally, richer regions have been less interested in the pocketables while poorer and developing regions are still quite interested in them. Sales revenues, though, are just a bit more positive.Global unit sales jumped 7.5 percent year-over-year to 353.3 million while revenues surged nearly 9 percent to US$103.8 billion. North America saw a 1 percent drop in sales while Western Europe only saw a 1 percent gain. ...
In addition to today’s “#MysteryMoto” “leak” and multiple reports on the HTC Bolt, Evan Blass has been busy working the HTC Ocean beat. Apparently, that concept video was floating around is still being considered a “real” ...
The LG X power has made its way into the news again in the United States, this time on US Cellular.The mid-ranger with a 4,100mAh battery and an otherwise modest spec sheet is available for $149.99 prepaid or a total of $210 in 20, 24 or 30 monthly installments. As a note to Sprint nabbing a ...
The brilliant minds of the vast internet community have come together to think up a futuristic, but realistic product idea in the mobile space and all those ideas have been judged.Now, manufacturer ZTE is ready to head into the second phase of Project CSX — “Crowd Source X,” where the “X” means “any mobile device.”Almost 400 submissions poured in during a month of discussion before the list got winnowed down to a round of 20, then a top three. All of those ...
