HTC U Ultra & Play Bring AI and Audio: Hands On

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Dragan Petric

HTC marked a new year with a new smartphone series, simply called “U,” and its design deviates from just about everything else we’ve seen from HTC.

The HTC U comes in two varieties. The more powerful, larger (and more interesting) HTC U Ultra has a 5.7-inch display and many flagship features, although HTC was reluctant to call it as such (suggesting HTC has something else lined up for Mobile World Congress in Barcelona).

HTC U Ultra

The HTC U Ultra itself has three distinguishing features: an exceptionally credible finish and rounded glass unibody; a secondary display set above the main screen, which combines HTC Sense Companion with a form of AI; and U Sonic sound, which provides personalized sound output.

HTC smartphones have long had impressive builds, interesting software, and high-level sound reproduction. By improving them, it seems HTC is moving slightly beyond the evolutionary updates that have marked its recent spate of flagships.

The smaller device, HTC U Play, is a typical upper mid-range smartphone. Think of it as a compact version of the HTC U Ultra. But interestingly, its 5.2-inch display is about the same size as 2016’s flagship, the HTC 10.

HTC U Ultra Build

The HTC U Ultra’s finish rivals the best in the market, and its glass build feels impressive in hand. It is slightly, with a curvature increasing towards the sides (like on a car windshield). This unique curve provides greater resistance to drops, according to HTC as does the Gorilla Glass 5 surface (64GB) and Sapphire glass (128GB version). Also according to HTC, the phone’s unibody features five glass layers, with colors that flow over from one nuance to another, depending on the angle. HTC’s dubs this aesthetic Liquid Surface, and it’s available in blue, pink, white and black.

HTC U Ultra Liquid Surface

The only flaws we noticed in our hands-on time were the all-glass build is fingerprint magnet, and both smudges and dust are easy to spot. Fortunately, they are easy to wipe off without leaving streaks. HTC representatives claim it took two years to develop this finish. In that time, they also came up with a beautifully pretentious name: Optical Spectrum Hybrid Deposition.

The physical Home key sits under the display, next to the capacitive Back and Menu keys. The bottom sports the USB Type-C connector, and there is no 3.5mm audio input. Just like the iPhone 7, the device comes with a set of headphones that connect via USB Type-C, along with a short USB Type-C-to-3.5mm adapter.

HTC U Ultra Display and AI

HTC U Ultra has a 5.7-inch QHD Super LCD 5 display (1440 x 2560), resulting in a density of 513 pixels per inch. This is a little less than the smaller HTC 10, which has the same resolution. That said, no objections can be made about the imaging sharpness, color interpretation, saturation, contrast sustainability or display.

The secondary display is an important novelty, even if it’s suspiciously similar to the LG V10 and V20’s second-screen implementation. At 2.05 inches, it has a 16 x 1040-pixel resolution, which displays various shortcuts and functions, depending on the context or current smartphone task.

HTC U Ultra secondary display

In stand-by, it serves as a UI for HTC’s personal AI assistant, dubbed the HTC Sense Companion. AI is a trend, one of those new technologies device makers are aggressively insisting upon, so it’s no surprise to see HTC jump on board. According to HTC, this “personal assistant,” which gets smarter with use thanks to the so-called deep learning technology built into the HTC Sense Companion, briefs users on the important information at the right time, similar to Google. How useful is it? We’ll have to wait for a full review to find out.

HTC equipped the U Ultra with four microphones, which are always active. Users can address the phone with a question or a task without have to shout, or hold the phone up to their face. It’s very similar to Amazon Alexa, and HTC confirms it will support multiple languages in the near future.

HTC U Ultra Audio

The HTC U Ultra’s third key feature is USonic. This audio technology adjusts the sound playback mode to the individual’s hearing. The packaged headphones feature a so-called ultrasonic beam that scans the user’s unique ear architecture, creating a personalized profile based on the readings. This, all according to HTC reps, and it justifies the 3.5mm audio port omission. The standard headphone input isn’t capable of forwarding ultrasonic beam information.

As far as the sound playback sans headphones, the HTC U Ultra is similar to the HTC 10, with lower frequencies coming out through the bottom speaker, and higher frequencies through the call speaker.

The rear-facing camera is also similar to the HTC 10’s, at least according to specifications. It too has a 12-megapixel resolution, 1.55-micrometer pixel size, phase/laser autofocus, optical image stabilization, and an f/1.8 lens. Unfortunately, both the camera hardware and software weren’t functional on our demo unit, so we can’t comment on picture quality.

Other HTC U Ultra specs include the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821, 4GB of RAM, and a 3000 mAh battery. This seems slightly unworthy of a flagship model at a time when the competition is announcing models with the recently-revealed Snapdragon 835. The price is flagship level, however, costing $749 when it hits the market in March.

HTC U Play

HTC U Play looks like a smaller HTC U Ultra. It has the same materials, and it’s even available in the same colors. Still, this is a 5.2-inch phone with a Full HD display, resulting in a pixel density of 428 ppi. It’s equipped with Mediatek’s octa-core Helio P10 processor and 3GB of RAM (32GB capacity), or 4GB RAM (64GB capacity). The microSD card slot can be used for another SIM, while the device has a 2500mAh battery. The rear-facing camera has 16 megapixels, f/2.0 lens, OIS, and a phase autofocus.

HTC U Play

HTC U Play also comes with four microphones and HTC Sense Companion support, but it lacks the secondary display. It’s also equipped with USonic technology and it also does not have a 3.5-mm audio input.

HTC U Play back panel

The post HTC U Ultra & Play Bring AI and Audio: Hands On appeared first on Brighthand.com.

Sony Xperia XZ Review: Another Solid Xperia

Posted on November 16, 2016 by Dragan Petric

The Sony Xperia XZ smartphone is eye candy thanks to its credible build and recognizably square design. It’s Sony’s latest flagship, which is a touch more advanced than previous Xperias, and nearly in line with other flagships from HTC, Samsung, and Apple.

Looking at the specs, it has a Full HD 5.2-inch display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, 3GB RAM, 2900mAh battery, nearly pure Android OS 6.0.1, and waterproof body, as well as a 23-megapixel rear camera and 13-megapixel selfie camera.

Sony Xperia XZ Build & Design

Sony Xperia XZ

All Sony Xperias look the same thanks to a modern and minimalist design, characterized by very sharp edges. The Sony Xperia XZ is no exception, and this model is one of the most attractive flagship smartphones on the market, thanks also in part to its finishing materials.

The entire front surface of the Xperia XZ is covered in glass with slightly rounded edges, which naturally fuse to a frame crafted out of polycarbonate plastic. The back sports the so-called ALKALEIDO metal.

This is a very smooth aluminum created by the Japanese Kobe Steel. It provides an exceptionally pleasant feeling in hand, and an elegant reflection. Unfortunately, this metal is also a fingerprint magnet.

The last few Xperias lacked IP68 certification, but it’s fortunately back with the Sony Xperia XZ, meaning it’s both dust and water proof. It also has USB Type-C connector and a power key that contains a fingerprint reader. Interestingly, it’s not active on the US versions.

The Xperia XZ is a bit chunkier than other flagships, measuring 5.75 x 2.83 x 0.32 inches. It weighs 5.68 ounces, which is identical to the HTC 10, and somewhat more than the Galaxy S7. Both have similarly-sized displays.

The phone sports speaker and microphone perforations above and below the display, while the logo, front-facing camera and ambient sensors are also located above. There are no capacitive keys. The rear camera lens rests perfectly flat and in line with the device’s back surface, LED flash and laser autofocus sensor.

Sony Xperia XZ top

Sony Xperia XZ bottom

The sides are minimalistic and the bottom includes just the USB Type-C connector, while the upper portion has the 3.5mm audio jack and the secondary ambient microphone. The left side includes the nanoSIM and microSD card case with a waterproof cover, while the right side holds the Power key at thumb’s height and the volume rocker under it, which has been placed rather unnaturally. The designated camera key is even lower.

Sony Xperia XZ side and buttons

Sony Xperia XZ SIM tray

Sony Xperia XZ Display

Sony Xperia XZ back panel

With a Full HD resolution (1080 x 1920 pixels), the Sony Xperia XZ has less pixels than other flagships with QHD panels, but it still manages an impressive 424 pixel-per-inch density thanks to its relatively small 5.2-inch display. That’s plenty sharp, and though the Sony Xperia XZ trails behind others on paper, it’s near impossible to spot the difference in real life.

Its best characteristic is the above-average contrast, particular in the darker portions of the spectrum. It delivers a highly credible black. This contrast is also sustainable at wide viewing angles, and combines with the display’s immaculate brightness to cut through sun glare as well as any other high-end smartphone.

A closer look at the display reveals a tiny issue with color interpretation, present in the colder portions. Blue tones seem insufficiently saturated and seep into colorlessness, meaning that light blue looks white and dark blue looks gray. It’s tough to notice at a glance, mostly because the warmer parts of the spectrum draw more attention and are used more often in games and media.

Sony Xperia XZ Performance

The Sony Xperia XZ sports the Qualcomm quad-core Snapdragon 820 chipset, which has two Kyro cores running a 2.15 GHz clock and two Kyro cores running a 1.6 GHz clock, with Adreno 530 graphics.

The same can be found in the HTC 10 and Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. Unlike those, the Sony device has 3GB, not 4GB of RAM, while some newer flagships sport 6GB. It ships with a nearly pure version of Android 6.0.1.

Sony Xperia XZ Android 6.0.1

It’s debatable whether all that extra RAM adds any tangible benefit at this point. For Sony’s part, the difference isn’t all that apparent in the benchmarks.

Looking at GeekBench 3, our Sony Xperia XZ review unit scored 2140 in the single-core test. This is approximately the same as Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, and a bit less than the HTC 10.

It scored 5398 on the multi-core test, which is much more than HTC 10, and less than Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. When everyday experience is considered, this chipset configuration is more than good enough.

The Sony Xperia XZ supports LTE Cat.9 standard and offers maximum download speed of 450 Mbps, and 50 Mbps for upload. The device does not come with FM radio activated, which is odd, given that most Sony Xperia models have it.

Sony Xperia XZ Battery Life

The Sony Xperia XZ has a 2900mAh battery, and tests show above average sustainability for this type of phone. At times, performance is better, and poorer at other times, compared to the competition.

For example, talk time on our Sony Xperia XZ review unit is double the iPhone 7’s. But streaming Full HD videos over Wi-Fi kills the batter in about 7 hours and 31 minutes. This is slightly less than what iPhone 7 offers. Continuous web browsing drains the battery in a little more than 9 hours.

The Xperia XZ supports Qualcomm’s latest quick-charging standard, Quick Charge 3.0, as well as Sony’s Qnovo Adoptive charging, which cleverly assesses the user’s habits and times the charging process accordingly. According to Sony, this prolongs its life for a few hundred cycles.

Sony Xperia XZ Camera

Sony Xperia XZ camera

Sony improved certain elements in its 23-megapixel sensor, previously seen on Xperia Z5, Xperia X, and Xperia X Performance. The camera features a 24mm ultra-wide lens (in units equivalent for 24mm film) with f/2.0. Instead of optical imaging stabilization, it uses the Active SteadyShot technology, with five-axis balancing, but only when shooting in Full HD resolution. Otherwise, it has three-axis balancing.

The camera has the so-called laser autofocus, which is in fact based on infrared (not laser), and is particularly useful for quick focusing in the dark. In addition is has predictive autofocus, which fixes on subjects in motion, and the standard hybrid contrast/phase auto focus. It also has an infrared RGBC-IR sensor for environmental light color temperature, intended for precise automatic white color balance.

Our Sony Xperia XZ review unit took above-average pics. They have great detail, mostly due to the big resolution, which brings some noise with it, evident when zooming in.

Software noise reduction is automatic in night shots, and is unrealistic and/or surreal at times, again, evident when zooming in.

Ultimately, the Sony Xperia XZ takes stellar daytime images, which measure up to those by any rival flagship. Its night images are a shade poorer.

The 13-megapixel offers a speedy 22mm wide angle selfie lens with f/2.0. This alone is enough to snap some of the best output for a front-facing camera, rivaling other flagships.

Sony Xperia XZ Review Conclusion

It costs between $650 and $700, unlocked, for 32GB. As we’ve noted, that’s expensive considering the excellent options available for half as much. But expect to pay the same for a 32GB Galaxy S7 and 32GB iPhone 7.

The Sony Xperia XZ doesn’t match those phones on paper, but it does in user experience. This is a fine phone with an outstanding design, as well as decent performance, battery, and imaging quality.

Pros:

Great design and finish
IP68 certificated
Decent battery autonomy
Fluid performance

Cons:

Low-light pics noisy
Fingerprint reader is not active in USA
No FM radio

The post Sony Xperia XZ Review: Another Solid Xperia appeared first on Brighthand.com.

Sony Xperia X Compact Review: Best Small Android Smartphone

Posted on November 8, 2016 by Dragan Petric

With its compact Xperias, Sony owns the small-yet-sweet Android smartphone market. It has a simple formula: the similar top-shelf hardware from the large flagship model, but with a display smaller than five inches. No other device maker uses the same tactic, so there’s no competition for Sony.

Sony Xperia X Compact

Amidst this, Sony presents its Xperia X Compact, the most powerful smartphone smaller than five inches… but with poorer specifications than the flagship Xperia, diverging from Sony’s traditional take.

With a 4.6-inch HD display, Sony Xperia X Compact sports a Qualcomm hexa-core Snapdragon 650, along with 3GB RAM, a 23-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front camera, Android OS 6.0.1 (Marshmallow), and a 2700mAh battery.

Compared to last year’s model, the Xperia Z5 Compact, the new Xperia X Compact no longer has the IP certificate and is not waterproof. However, its starting price is cheaper, coming in at about $400.

Find out more about this small Android smartphone in this Sony Xperia X Compact review.

Build & Design

Sony’s recognizable, strictly squared design, is the dominant aesthetic. Like all its predecessors, the Sony Xperia X Compact is a bit chunky, which is not surprising, given that it crams a lot in a smaller-screen device.

Sony Xperia X Compact back

It measure 129 x 65 x 9.5 mm (5.08 x 2.56 x 0.37 inches) and weighs 135 grams (4.76 ounces), making it nearly identical to last year’s model. It features a policarbonic unibody, meaning it’s entirely solid plastic. Its texture mimics ceramics on one side, giving the phone a highly modern appearance, but it’s a fingerprint magnet.

It is a shame Sony Xperia X Compact is not waterproof, given that this was a differentiator. In order to cut the price, Sony clearly had to compromise. Granted, it’s smaller and easier to hold than a larger smartphone, likely reducing the risk of dropping it in water. Still, this is the first Sony compact smartphone that can’t take photos underwater, at least not without a special case.

The phone’s back is uniform and only includes the camera lens and a single LED flash, located in the upper left corner, while the front includes stereo speaker perforations above and below the display.

The upper perforation is used as a speaker for making phone calls, while the phone’s primary microphone is hidden in the bottom perforation. The front-facing camera lens is located above the display, along with the ambient light sensor, while the notifications LED is in the corner. The control keys are a part of the rather busy user interface.

Sony Xperia X Compact bottom

Sony Xperia X Compact top

The phone’s bottom houses the USB Type-C connector with USB 2.0, not 3.0 standardization, while the upper portion includes the 3.5-mm audio input and a tiny secondary microphone. The left side has a cover for the nanoSIM and microSD card drawer, while the Power key with a built-in fingerprint sensor is located at thumb’s height on the right (except for the US market version, as the fingerprint sensor is not active). The volume control rocker is located under it, in a rather unnatural place, and there’s a dedicated camera launch button even lower. This key is actually redundant, as in the past it served to launch the camera and snap underwater pics (touchscreens don’t work under water).

Sony Xperia X Compact power and camera button

Sony Xperia X Compact SIM tray

Display

Measuring 4.6 inches diagonally, the Xperia X Compact display has an HD resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, resulting in a density of 319 pixels per inch. This may not seem a lot by today’s standards (high-end Android smartphones routinely top 500+ ppi); however, the imaging looks absolutely sharp. Sony has cleverly chosen ‘just’ HD resolution for this compact phone, because the display is too small for a sharper display to make much difference, while much is gained when it comes to saving processor and power resources.

The Sony Xperia X Compact’s IPS LCD features Sony’s Triluminous technology, which is another name for a Quantum dot panel. This emphasizes colors, with more saturation and a more sustainable contrast. Indeed, when it comes to color saturation, this device is not that far behind phones with AMOLED screens, as it provides very vivacious imaging, with warm accents. In a similar fashion, the device cuts through direct-sunlight glare well, faring better than the flagship Xperia X.

On the other hand, Sony’s X-reality engine, which post-processes photographs, produces odd results, with unnatural exposures and unnaturally interpreted colors. Thankfully, X-reality can be manually turned off, and Sony offers RGB sliders for tweaking the white balance. The Xperia X Compact also has ambient sensors for automatic white balance, but manual tweaks can typically produce better results.

Performance

Xperia X Compact’s chipset is newer, but still less potent, than the one featured on last year’s Xperia Z5 Compact. It’s Qualcom’s hexa-core Snapdragon 650 with four Cortex-A53 cores, running a 1.4GHz clock and two Cortex-A72 cores, running a 1.8GHz clock (the Z5 Compact has the octa-core Snapdragon 810). Still, the Xperia X Compact is one of the most powerful compact smartphones, while the latest octa-core Snapdragon is probably overkill for such a small display and resolution, as well as the battery. It has to be small enough to fit into the compact body, remember.

With all this, the new Xperia X Compact comes with Adreno 510 graphics (not the Adreno 430 chip) and still has 3GB of RAM, along with 32GB memory storage, complete with the microSD card slot. Looking at the benchmarks, specifically GeekBench 3, our Sony Xperia X Compact review unit scored 1512 on the single-core test, and 3820 on the multi-core. In practice, the phone offers a completely fluid experience, nearly indistinguishable from the larger Xperia flagship.

Connectivity

Regarding connectivity, it supports LTE Cat.6, meaning it can download at 300 MBps and upload at 50 Mbps. It also supports dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2 and NFC. It is nice that the phone comes with built-in FM radio and if you have a PlayStation 4, you can use your phone as a mobile console, because games can be streamed on its display via PS4 Remote Play.

Battery Life

The 2700mAh battery offers more than enough juice to keep the Xperia X Compact running. Streaming HD videos with display brightness set to the max, our Sony Xperia X Compact review unit lasted a full 9 hours and 59 minutes. Anything more than 8 hours is good.

With average use, the our Sony Xperia X Compact review unit lasted about two days between charges.

In addition, the device includes the Qnovo adaptive charging technology, which automatically monitors electrochemical processes in the battery cells, adjusting charging parameters in order to extend battery life. At least in theory, this extends the overall battery life by reducing charge cycles.

The Xperia X Compact also has Battery Care technology, with spots charging patterns and adapts accordingly, again, in an effort to prolong overall battery health.

Camera

Thankfully, Sony didn’t compromise on the Xperia X Compact’s 23-megapixel rear-facing camera. The camera features a 24-mm ultra-wide lens (expressed in units equivalent for 24 mm film) with f/2.0. Instead of optical image stabilization, it uses the Active SteadyShot technology, but solely for recording Full HD videos. This is the first Sony smartphone camera with the so-called laser autofocus, which is especially useful for quick focus in the dark, as well as quick white balance adjustments. There’s also an LED flash next to the camera, as well as a prediction focus which locks on moving objects, following their movements.

All this results in our Sony Xperia X Compact review unit snapping pics with above average quality. Thanks to the high resolution, the pics have an exceptional detail level. As an unfortunate side effect, zoomed images have excessive noise, but this can be fixed with resolution reductions.

Sony’s algorithms are great for touching up images, especially those taken in the dark. It typically results in an impressive, if unrealistic, picture. Precise color interpretation and moderate saturation help to blunt that negative effect, however.

In sum, daylight images rival anything taken by a flagship (iPhone 7 Plus, Samsung Galaxy S7 edge), while night shots are a notch below.

The front 5-mega-pixel camera offers average results, neither particularly good nor bad, while it’s interesting that it has the equivalent of a 22-mm ultra-wide lens.

In terms of video, it records up to 1080p at 60 fps. It’s the same story with quality: recordings are rich in detail. A great white balance and realistic color saturation give videos a high dynamic range. This might be one of the best smartphone for video output.

Sony Xperia X Compact Review Conclusion

Sony Xperia X Compact

The hardware keeps the Sony Xperia X Compact out of the flagship space, but it’s still one of the best devices smaller than five inches on the market. Its long-lasting battery deserves the most praise, and we also like its modern design, attractive display, and decent performance.

We just wish it was waterproof.

Pros:

Very good battery autonomy
Modern design
Display cuts through outdoor glare very well

Cons:

Not waterproof like Sony’s previous compact Xperias
Dedicated camera key is redundant
USB Type-C connector supports USB 2.0, but not 3.0

The post Sony Xperia X Compact Review: Best Small Android Smartphone appeared first on Brighthand.com.

Huawei nova plus Review: Looks Great & Performs Well, But Pricey

Posted on October 24, 2016 by Dragan Petric

Here’s the Huawei nova plus formula: upper mid-range hardware packed in a metal unibody with a flagship finish. That’s not different from other handsets from China-based makers, which typically balance price, performance, and the right cut corners well. The only difference is that as an established brand, Huawei wants more money for its device.

Huawei nova plus

Huawei nova plus is a larger of the two novas, and it sports a 5.5-inch Full HD display, Qualcomm octa-core Snapdragon 625 chipset with 3GB RAM, a 16-megapixel rear camera, an 8-megapixel front camera, and a 3350mAh battery. It ships with Android OS 6.0.1 and Emotion UI 4.1.

It’s a mid-range handset according to the spec sheet, with a set of positive features that just about make up for its shortcomings. Accept that, and it won’t disappoint.

Build & Design

The Huawei nova plus has a sanded metal unibody, which comes in three colors (Prestige Gold, Mystic Silver and Titanium Grey). Combined with 2.5D glass in the front, the Huawei nova plus is convincingly one of the most attractive smartphones Huawei has ever produced, and one of the most elegant 5.5-inch phones on the market.

Unfortunately, the premium impression is tainted by the fact that the display doesn’t feature a protective layer. This makes it less scratch-proof than most rival phones, at least on paper. Still, it feels fantastic when held in hand, with a slightly rounded back surface. It weighs 160 grams (.35 pounds), and measures 152 x 76 x 7.3 mm (5.98 x 2.98 x 0.29 inches).

The display dominates the front, and takes up a solid 72-percent of the overall surface. Oddly, it feels ‘rubbery’ under the fingers, with greater friction than expected. This is likely due to the rounded edges and the fact Huawei did not use any special coating for the glass. The upper and bottom rims are thin, housing only a Huawei logo, while the control keys are capacitive and take up a part of the user interface. There is a speakerphone for making calls above the display, as well as the front-facing camera and ambient light sensor.

The back includes the bulging camera lens. Interestingly, the nova plus remains stable when placed down, and the bulge doesn’t cause it to rock left and right. This makes the bulge less of an issue. There’s a fingerprint sensor under the camera, which is concave and works very well – it’s very fast and easy to feel straight away. This is definitely one of the best fingerprint sensors in general.

Huawei nova plus top edge

Huawei nova plus bottom edge

The phone’s lower side includes stereo speaker perforations with the USB Type-C input in between; while the upper side holds just the 3.5-mm audio jack and a tiny, secondary microphone for cancelling environmental noise. There’s a rather slim power key at thumb’s height on the right side, with the equally slim volume rocker above it. The left side houses a two nanoSIM card drawer, with one slot serving double duty for microSD cards.

Huawei nova plus power button and volume rocker

Huawei nova plus SIM tray side

Display

The Huawei nova plus has a 5.5-inch Full HD IPS display (1080 x 1920 pixels), which is common with mid-range devices. This results in more than comfortable density of 401 pixels per inch, and no one should complain about its imaging sharpness. The screen’s above average contrast is also praiseworthy, mostly because of its very dark black tones. In fact, its contrast is a primary reason the nova plus display is better even than the manufacturer’s current flagship, Huawei P9, in average light.

The colors have average saturation, which differs from other smartphones with large IPS displays. Those usually push saturation, and have more vivacious imaging. With the nova plus though, this is primarily because its display is not very bright.

And that’s why sun glare causes major issues. Contrast loses a lot of its sustainability, and averagely saturated colors blend together. Here, the P9 is better, and glare resistance one of the primary differentiators between the flagship and the mid-range.

Performance

Huawei nova plus Android OS 6.0.1 and Emotion UI 4.1.

The Qualcomm octa-core Snapdragon 625 chipset was a good pick for the nova plus on paper, with its eight Cortex-A53 cores running a 2.0GHz clock, aided with Adreno 506 GPU and 3GB of RAM. The Huawei nova plus comes with 32GB of memory storage. Unfortunately, the 64GB memory storage and 4GB RAM model is only available in China, where it is sold under the name Huawei G9 Plus.

In practice, this chipset functions solidly, with satisfactory speed and no hints of slowing down over time (and a nova plus loaded with apps). Unfortunately, benchmarks don’t measure this, and betray how well it runs. Running GeekBench 3, the device scored 941 in the single-core test, and 4922 in multi-core test. The flagship Huawei P9 scored 1812 and 6550 on the same tests, respectively.

It ships with Android OS 6.0.1 and Emotion UI 4.1.

Connectivity

Looking at connectivity, the two SIM card setup is less than ideal. Only one offers a 4G connection, while the other is limited to 2G data transfer speed, and doubles as the microSD card slot. The 4G connection card transfers data according to the Cat.7 standard, meaning it provides a maximum speed of 300 Mbps for downloads and 150 Mbps for uploads. The device supports FM radio through an app, which is praise-worthy (most smartphones support FM, but few activate it), as it’s becoming rare these days.

Battery Life

The Huawei nova plus has a 3340mAh battery, and because its display and chipset aren’t particularly demanding, it has decent battery life, too. It is possible to watch Full HD videos with the display brightness set to the max for nearly 8 hours, while the phone should be recharged every other night with average usage.

It is praiseworthy that the user can choose between three power management modes. The usual one is simply called Standard, meaning it uses the optimal ratio of hardware performance for any task. Performance mode removes processor limitations, with no regard to battery savings. And Ultra Power Saving prolongs battery autonomy for several hours, but with a clear drop in the phone’s performance.

Camera

Huawei nova plus rear camera and fingerprint sensor

Huawei thinks the nova plus has an ace that’ll differentiate it from the competition: a couple of above-average cameras. Specifically, the Huawei nova plus has a 16-megapixel rear camera with a dual-color LED flash and optical image stabilization, with f/2.0, hybrid autofocus and PDAF+ contrast detection. It sounds powerful; however, in practice, it’s average, producing the kind of photos you’d expect from a mid-range device.

Specifically, the Huawei nova plus shoots exceptionally beautiful images in daylight, complete with correct exposure, realistically saturated colors, and plenty of detail (which we expect in a 16-megapixel camera). However, at night, and even with Huawei’s Super Night Mode, pics lose most of their detail. Focusing is also very difficult in low light. It either takes too long, or loses focus all together.

To be fair, the Huawei nova plus produces outstanding night pics shot up close, thanks to its solid flashes, which also make it great for selfies. The front-facing camera sports 8 megapixels, as well as OIS. Of course, also has Huawei’s robust beauty filter, which is either a plus or easily ignored, depending on your selfie preference level.

In terms of video, the rear camera records 4K clips at 30 fps, which is a high-end spec for a mid-range device. As with the images, the video quality is good during the day and at night with a static subject shot up close. Full HD recording is also limited to 30 fps. It’s a shame it can’t record Full HD at 60 fps (this is a limitation of the chipset).

Huawei nova plus sample HDR photo

Huawei nova plus sample photo

Huawei nova plus Review Conclusion

The Huawei nova plus has an excellent design and fantastic finish. This convincing craftsmanship is its chief selling point. The display, chipset, and camera performance are just good enough not to drag it down.

Unfortunately its price, €430 (about $472) is relatively steep, considering China-based mobile makers like ZTE, Xiaomi, and LeEco full flagships for the same money. However, Huawei is a more established brand outside China, and offers established reliability. For some users, that’s enough to justify the price.

Pros

Design, finish and craftsmanship
Excellent display contrast
Above average battery autonomy
One of the best fingerprint sensors in the world

Cons

High price-to-performance ratio
Poor display visibility when exposed to direct sunlight
Display has no protective layer
Poor low-light camera performance

The post Huawei nova plus Review: Looks Great & Performs Well, But Pricey appeared first on Brighthand.com.

Sony Xperia XZ and Xperia X Compact Hands On

Posted on September 6, 2016 by Dragan Petric

Sony Xperia XZ

Sony launched its last flagship, the Xperia X, just six months ago. And here we are at IFA in Berlin where Sony just launched its next “best” device, the Xperia XZ. Furthermore, Sony launched a compact smartphone with flagship features, the Xperia X Compact.

Both phones offer an attractive and modern design, which may be the biggest selling point, but we are used to this from Sony. What truly matters, however, is that they have been significantly improved compared to predecessors when it comes to camera quality, battery and performance.

The Sony Xperia XZ comes with a 5.2-inch Full HD display. After it left an impression last year at IFA with a 4K-toting Xperia, Sony really lessened the specs, below even QHD.

This was a good call, as our hands-on time revealed it impossible to find a flaw in imaging sharpness, color interpretation or contrast sustainability. The only objection can be made due to the slightly thick display bezel, but this can easily be forgiven when the highly aesthetic Sony Xperia XZ is held in hand.

Interestingly, Sony has also revealed a new finish for this smartphone, which is made of an aluminum alloy called ALKALEIDO. It feels pleasent, is very shiny, and shrugs off fingerprints and smudges. The physical buttons now include a dedicated camera key, and the Xperia XZ is waterproof, unlike the Xperia X. Also, this Xperia sports USB Type-C.

XZ 2 XZ 5

Inside, the phone sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820. Indeed, it ‘only’ has 3GB of RAM, which is a quarter less than what we expect from flagships. But with this hardware, display quality, and exceptionally pure Android OS, we can more easily see past this.

XZ 4 The rear camera tops out at 23 megapixels with f/2.0. Sony developed a new IMX300 sensor for Xperia XZ and its latest compact model, which it claims offers a more efficient autofocus system and uses color detection, phase detection and laser assistance for measuring the distance of the object. It also features intelligent object movement tracker. Sony named all of this Triple Image Sensing, emphasizing the autofocus speed. There is no optical image stabilization, but it features a gyroscope that stabilizes the image according to 5 axis. The front-facing camera is also an impressive 13 megapixels

Xperia XZ’s battery has 2900 mAh, which is slightly more compared to Xperia X, but it does have a quick-charge option based on the Quick Charge 3.0 standard. It also features adaptive charging for use mostly at night when it’s plugged in for a longer period of time, which Sony claims prolongs the battery’s overall life cycle. Up to 90 percent of the battery is recharged faster while the remaining 10 percent is recharged slowly, until the morning hours, which should double its shelf life, at least according. The phone will be available in October.

Wait. There’s more … or less

The smaller Sony Xperia X Compact has a 4.6-inch display with a 720p resolution. It’s equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 650, which is a hexacore chipset, and it also has 3GB of RAM, just like the larger model. The rear-facing camera is identical, with 23 megapixels, while it has a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. Xperia X Compact’s battery has 2700 mAh capacitym, and also supports the Quick Charge standard. It too supports USB Type-C.

X Compact 2 X Compact 3

Unfortunately, the Sony Xperia X Compact isn’t waterproof, unlike Sony’s previous compacts. Still, it’s a small smartphone with near-flagship specs, and that alone makes it unique.

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Huawei Brings Premium to the Mid-range with Nova and Nova Plus: Hands On

Posted on September 6, 2016 by Dragan Petric

Huawei Nova Plus

Huawei came to IFA in Berlin to launch its brand new mid-range smartphone series, Nova. To be precise, it revealed a 5-inch device simply called Huawei Nova, as well as the larger, but otherwise identical, 5.5-inch Huawei Nova Plus. Above all, Huawei touted the Novas selfie abilities and reasonable price.

Thus, Huawei Nova and Nova Plus sport Full HD displays, surrounded by an aluminum unibody, and up-to-date design, with slightly rounded display edges.

They both feel premium in hand, with an above-average finish. Though underneath the aluminum, they are certainly in the midrange.

They feature a Qualcomm octa-core Snapdragon 625 running a 2.0 GHz clock. The smaller Nova has 3GB RAM, while the larger one comes with 4GB. The starting models both have 32GB of memory storage, while Huawei will offer 64GB versions. Both also support microSD expansion, with the microSD card slot also serving as a second SIM card slot. Both also have Huawei’s fingerprint sensor, which we’ve found to be one of the fastest and most reliable on any device.

Huawei Nova

Both smartphones have an 8-megapixel front-facing camera, and feature the odd “PerfectMakeup” mode. The name says it all. The feature essentially uses software tweaks to eliminate blemishes and craft the perfect selfie, which is why Huawei representatives pointed out several times during the presentation, the Nova smartphones will especially appeal to female buyers.

Yep, it’s groan worthy. But don’t let that deter you. Huawei has pushed smartphone camera tech with its Honor 8 and recent P9. To that end, the rear-facing camera is either 16 megapixels (Nova Plus), or 12 (Nova). Both record 4K videos.

During our brief hands-on time from IFA, we came away most impressed with the display. Both Huawei Nova and Huawei Nova Plus have very bright displays with highly saturated colors. They are almost surreal. Touch seemed responsive, though contrast sustainability might present issues. View the devices from a wider angle and not directly, the contrast is significantly poorer.

Huawei representatives boasted about a very sustainable battery on both models. Nova has a 3020mAh battery, while Nova Plus includes a 3340mAh battery. They reassured attendees that the batteries on both smartphones offer twice the autonomy a the iPhone 6S. Specifically, the battery offers two days of intense work without the need to recharge.

Interestingly, the back of the phones do not resemble each other, as the specifications would suggest. The back of the smaller Huawei Nova follows in the design footsteps of the Nexus 6P line, with darkened plastic stripe on the back with a camera hidden away. The Huawei Nova Plus has a bulging camera located in the middle of the rear surface, right next to the fingerprint reader – just like on the Mate series.

Rear of Nova

Rear of Nova Plus

It’s tough to test the camera in a setting like IFA. But they were both quick to respond and offered the kind of imaging quality that matches better mid-range phones, or average flagship ones. This means that they are a slightly poorer than the latest Samsung smartphones or iPhone 6S in terms of realistic color interpretation, visibility of details and dynamics. However, the selfie camera is above average for this range on both smartphones (makeup effect or not). Both the Nova and Nova Plus actually seems a step up from the flagship P9, if quick impressions are anything to go on.

Both smartphones will be available next month throughout the globe. Huawei Nova will start at 399 euros in Europe, and Huawei Nova Plus will start at 429 euros. Given Huawei’s recent record they may cost the same in dollars if they ever come to the US.

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HTC 10 Smartphone Review: Much-Needed Improvement

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Dragan Petric

There are such slim differences between flagship smartphones that device makers can’t get away with compromise. Just ask HTC, which has a history of compromising its flagships, and a sinking market share to show for it.

This means HTC’s 2016 flagship, simply called 10, needs to be more interesting, attractive and desirable. HTC played the all or nothing card, making what it believes to be the ultimate phone. Where HTC once lagged behind the competition, the HTC 10 smartphone now matches or surpasses in most cases.

It sports the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, along with 4GB of RAM, a 5.2-inch QHD display, redesigned body (finally!), 3000mAh battery, QuickCharge 3.0, excellent built-in DAC, 12-megapixel UltraPixel camera (again, finally!), selfie-camera with OIS, and HTC’s Sense UI largely purified of unnecessary bloatware. Of course, HTC 10 has its flaws as well, but those simply make the HTC 10 an excellent smartphone, rather than a perfect handset. Get the full run-down in this HTC 10 review.

Build & Design

The HTC 10 represents a big step up from the HTC One M9.

The HTC 10 smartphone represents a big step up from the HTC One M9.

HTC handsets have long had credible, modern, and robust designs, mostly with a metal unibody. The HTC 10 smartphone is not an exception. HTC nailed the balance keeping things just familiar enough to maintain the brand, with changing enough to suggest the HTC 10 is a new product. In hand, it’s clear that this is a premium-class smartphone, even more so than with other flagships from 2016.

In designing the 10, HTC mustn’t have been too occupied with crafting an ultra-thin device. The HTC 10 is rather chubby and heavy for a 5.2-inch phone, measuring 5.74 x 2.83 x 0.35 inches, and weighing 5.68 ounces. Its weight is noticeable in hand, mostly due to the metal build that HTC carved from a single piece. This, despite the fact it’s dual-textured, with smooth edges and a sanded back cover. It’s not dust or water resistant, unfortunately.

The front houses the camera, speaker for making phone calls, notification LED, and several sensors above the display, while the Home key sits under the screen with its built-in fingerprint reader. The entire surface is covered with Gorilla Glass 4 and has slightly rounded rims. The fingerprint reader also awakens the phone from stand-by mode and is exceptionally fast and sensitive. This also makes it easy for the user to activate it by accident. But fortunately, the feature can be turned off. The capacitive Back and Tasks keys are located along the bottom display edge as well, and are not on-display icons as found on other Android smartphones.

The HTC 10 is relatively thick and heavy.

The rear houses the camera lens, LED flash, and the “laser” focus (despite HTC’s label, it’s actually infrared), as well as the HTC logo. The upper portion holds an audio jack, and a black plastic cover which enables antenna signals. It looks like HTC ditched the IR blaster, which was typically located here on previous HTC flagships. The lower portion includes the USB Type-C connector, speaker, and secondary microphone. The Power key, volume rocker, and the nanoSim card slot are located on the right side, while the left side only reveals the microSD card slot.

The HTC 10 has a USB Type-C input.

Display

The HTC 10 has a slick metal unibody.

The HTC 10 smartphone features a 5.2-inch QHD Super LCD5 display (1440 x 2560 pixels), resulting in density of 564 pixels per inch. LCD5 offers richer colors than classic LCD, and this is evident in the more vibrant areas of the spectrum, which appear fuller and feature a more intense saturation. As the case was with the previous HTC models, pastel colors remain emphasized by default, but HTC included software calibration tools for tweaking.

The HTC 10 imaging is very pleasant, generally speaking. It offers immaculate sharpness, as expected, high brightness, and above average contrast. Black tones are very dark, but whites could be whiter. Glare presents the biggest issues, and other flagships do a better job of cutting through direct sunlight.

Response time is noteworthy, coming in at just 120ms. That makes the HTC 10 the fastest in the world. This extremely fast response is more apparent in direct comparisons with rival devices than when experienced on its own, which is to say it’s easy to dismiss the benefits. But it does combine with the other HTC 10 features to achieve the smartphone’s high level of usability and user satisfaction.

Performance

The specs are top of the line, as far as 2016 smartphones are concerned. The phone features Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 820, with two cores running a 2.15GHz clock and two running a 1.6GHz clock, all equipped with Adreno 530 graphics, 4GB of RAM and 32GB or 64GB of memory storage. Its memory storage can be expanded with microSD cards up to 2 TB.

Its power is unmistakable in real usage, as well as benchmark results. The HTC 10 smartphone scored 2362 (single-core) and 5259 (multi-core) in the Geekbench 3 test, rivaling output from the Samsung Galaxy S7, iPhone 6s, and LG G5.

Battery Life

The 3000mAh battery provides only average autonomy. On our HTC 10 review unit, the battery enabled 6 hours and 59 minutes of video streaming over Wi-Fi with the display brightness maxed out. Most rival devices best this by about 10%. With regular use, the device will have no trouble lasting from early morning until late in the evening on a single charge.

When it does need a charge, it can go from dead to 80% battery in 30 minutes thanks to Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0. It also stays cool during charging, unlike previous versions of the technology.

Camera & Sound

HTC 10 UltraPixel camera

Previous HTC flagships had rear camera performance that paled in comparison to rival device output. So HTC did the right thing with the HTC 10 to address this deficiency. The device now comes with the so-called UltraPixel 2 rear camera, with the maximum resolution of 12 megapixels. UltraPixel is a term HTC introduced three years ago that signifies the camera sensor has larger photosensitive cells, technically 1.55 micrometers in the case of the HTC 10. These larger cells have more surface area to capture light, and perform better than smaller cells in low-light situations. Samsung did something similar with the S7 and S7 edge. Furthermore, the camera is equipped with f/1.8, OIS, and “laser autofocus” (which again, is based on an infrared).

Needless to say, the HTC 10 smartphone camera is measurably better than the HTC One M9 camera. This is mostly evident with night photography, and other low-light situations. Here, you see above-average detail and below-average noise. That, combined with the sharpness and color interpretation boosts the HTC 10.

It isn’t perfect, though. Photographs suffer poor dynamic range by default (especially those taken at night). Granted, the Google Play Store is full of apps that can fix this, but it’s enough to keep the HTC 10 camera a step below the LG G5 and the new Samsung Galaxies

We typically don’t put much stock in smartphone sound output. But good sound output can make a decent handset better, and the HTC 10 is great in this category. We’ve long praised the BoomSound speakers as being the best or the mobile device bunch, and now the HTC 10 features an integrated 24-bit DAC (digital-to-analog converter) and headphones amp. It will take a decent set of headphones to hear the benefit, but it’s there.

Sample Picture

A photo taken with our HTC 10 review unit

Software

Our HTC 10 review unit shipped with Android OS 6.0.1 (Marshmallow), along with HTC’s Sense UI. HTC developed the latest Sense UI in collaboration with Google, with the benefit being no redundant apps. For instance, the Gmail app is the only email client and Chrome is the only web browser. This is great, as it reduces app clutter (a common Android complaint), and we hope other device makers follow HTC’s lead.

The HTC 10 also has Apple AirPlay support for wireless streaming to AirPlay speakers and Apple TV. While other Android OS phones supported AirPlay before HTC 10, it relied on external apps, and it was always poorly executed. The HTC 10 has AirPlay support integrated at a system level, which makes streaming multimedia content from the phone utterly simple and intuitive.

Conclusion

Of all the 2016 flagships, the HTC 10 takes the biggest step forward from its 2015 predecessor. To be fair, it had a lot of room there, given how stunted the line had become in recent years.

Given that the competition stepped up its game this year, the HTC 10 smartphone cannot fairly be called the best flagship on the market. Taking into account all its features and flourishes reveals that it’s close though, and much closer than it was at this point in 2015.

Pros:

Credible and modern metal unibody
Exceptional performance
Sense UI eliminates redundant apps
Great audio

Cons:

Battery only average
Thick and heavy considering the display size
Lacks water and dust resistance

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LG G5 Review: Excellent Camera, Modular Design

Posted on May 31, 2016 by Dragan Petric

LG changed its game plan with the G5, emphasizing design practicality and innovation over aesthetics and finishing touches. This is best represented in the LG G5’s Magic Slot that makes this a partially modular Android smartphone by expanding it functionality with external accessories. Compared with the HTC 10, and new Samsung S7 handsets, the LG G5 is not the most attractive device. But that Magic Slot makes it one of the most interesting handsets on the market.

The LG G5 has a dated look, but modular design.

Thankfully, LG didn’t ditch everything from its previous G smartphones, including the G4’s excellent rear camera. The G5 actually has two of them: the same 16-megapixel camera we loved on the V10 model, along with a wide-angle 8-megapixel camera that’s just a notch below in terms of photo quality.

As if that weren’t enough, this device also sports the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset, 4GB of RAM, Android OS 6.0.1 (Marshmallow) and a replaceable 2800 mAh battery.

LG is betting that features and specs matter more than looks when it comes to the G5. But is it any good?

Build & Design

We have never written this about a G-series smartphone, but the G5, at least a first glance, is bland. It has average dimensions and weight for a 5.3-inch phone (5.88 x 2.91 x 0.30 inches, 5.61 ounces), a metal unibody, and regular button placement (an unwelcome departure from the LG trademark of back-mounted buttons).

The LG G5 has a Gorilla Glass 4 front.

The G5’s front surface is covered with Gorilla Glass 4, from the top all the way down to the Magic Slot. The glass is slightly rounded near the upper side edges, which is unique only to the G5 (rounded glass on the edges is common and sometimes called “2.5D”). The curvature serves no purpose apart from aesthetic concerns. Although the relatively sharp front and side edges suggest multiple pieces, the entire body is crafted out of a single piece of metal (apart from the removable module, of course). This makes the LG G5 feel like a credible device. This is the only unibody smartphone with an interchangeable battery.

In addition to the LG logo on the removable module, the front side also includes the front camera, speaker, notification LEDs, and several sensors. The back side includes the dual rear camera, which protrudes from the back surface into a bump that also holds the LED flash and “laser” autofocus sensor (infrared to be precise). The fingerprint reader is situated under the camera, which doubles as the power button.

The phone’s lower side includes the USB-C slot, primary microphone and speaker perforations, while the upper houses the secondary microphone for ambient noise reduction, the 3.5mm audio jack, and infrared transmitter. The right side holds the nanoSIM and microSD card slot, while the volume control keys are situated on the left side. The Magic Slot release key also sits here, and it works immaculately. When pressed, the module pops out slightly, enabling the user to easily pull it off. Reattaching it only requires a simple press until it audibly clicks. The Magic Slot is just as well-built as the phone around it.

The LG G5 has a large camera bump.

A single USB Type-C input handles charging.

Display

With its 5.3-inch IPS QHD display (1440 x 2560 pixels), the LG G5 has a high density of 554 pixels per inch. Image sharpness is exquisite and the contrast is praise worthy. Looking just at the pure black and white tones, the screen matches AMOLEDs found on other devices.

Too bad it has poor maximum brightness. Perhaps this is why LG included an “Assertive Display” algorithm intended for viewing the device in direct sunlight. It’s an adaptive display technology found on other devices with similar chipsets. It works well enough, and it keeps glare from overwhelming the G5 display.

We’ll praise the G5 for color interpretation. Colors are exceptionally well saturated and accurately interpreted, albeit with a slight emphasis on pastel tones. Most people will find this pleasant for everyday use, but those who prefer more intense color and surreal image quality will be disappointed that LG did not enable the option to manually adjust the color settings. That aside, the G5’s colors are some of the best on the market, if not the best.

Like the V10, the LG G5 has the Always On option. Unlike the V10, which uses its additional display panel, the G5 actively displays the time and date smack in the middle of the display when the phone is on stand-by. Just like the case was with previous iterations of the G series, a double tap awakens the phone.

The display isn’t entirely praiseworthy, though. The display bezel is very large and the G5 does not have physical Android keys to occupy the space (they are on-screen capacitive keys). This is the tradeoff for a modular design.

Performance

The LG G5 has Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 820 chipset with a quad-core Kyro processor (2 x 2.15 GHz and 2 x 1.6 GHz), Adreno 530 graphics and 4 GB of RAM. This combination offers exceptional fluidity during use and make it the fastest phone — or at least one of the three fastest phones — on the market, as of this writing. In testing, the device did not overheat with long use, even when playing graphically demanding games and video content, over both 4G and Wi-Fi.

On the Geekbench 3 benchmark, the LG G5 scored 2322 on the single-core test and 5354 on the multi-core test. This is in line with the other early 2016 Android flagships.

Overall, the LG G5 is runs well and should prove reliable, which allay fears of G Flex and G4 owners struck with the infamous bootloop that bricked the smartphones.

Battery Life

The LG G5 ships with a 2800mAh battery. The Camera Plus module (which includes a photo grip) includes a 4000mAh battery. Nevertheless, the basic battery is good enough, besting the V10 and G4 output by 10%. We were able to stream full HD video for 8 hours and 5 minutes on a single charge, which matches most of the flagships from 2015. By comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge lasted 10 hours and 48 minutes, which is outstanding.

The LG G5 supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 protocol, which replenished the battery up to 80 percent in 30 minutes in our tests. Of course, you can always squeeze out more juice by turning off the Always On display feature. LG officially claims Always On uses less than 1 percent of battery capacity per hour, but we showed about a 15% difference during our informal battery tests.

Camera

LG G5 dual cameras

If the modular design doesn’t pull you into the G5, the camera will. Two cameras, in fact. One is the same 16-megapixel we loved in the LG V10, which comes with F/1-8 and a field of view at 75 degrees. The second camera has 8 megapixels, F/2.4, but an exceptionally wide angle with a field of view at 135 degrees. LG has managed to secure very clever and creative collaboration between the two cameras with its decent camera software. The smartphone switches between the two cameras depending on the zoom level, and also allows users to manually choose certain shots.

This combo enables various effects. Pop-out Picture enables simultaneous shooting of both rear cameras with one image representing the background and the other the foreground. An effect is then applied to the background (blur, fisheye, vignette), and effects can be combined. Multi-View makes it possible for both, or even all three cameras, to simultaneously record videos or shoot photographs. It is also possible to choose a layout on which the images are then arranged.

Both back-facing cameras are equipped with a laser autofocus (infrared, to be precise) and 3-axis optical stabilization, while the 16-megapixel camera offers fantastic results. Image detail is abundant, even in poor lighting. The cameras offer highly precise exposure, color saturation, and excellent sharpness. It’s certainly one of the best smartphone cameras on the market, perhaps only second to the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge.

The 8-megapixel camera does not offer the same level of detail, or poor lighting performance. But it’s very practical for daily wide-angle recordings. The captured angle width is very impressive, perfect for panoramas. And users will need to make sure that the shot does not include their fingers as well.

Video recordings taken with the rear cameras are some of the best ones taken with a phone. Full HD and 4K are available at 30fps, with a high level of visible details. The same goes for the 8-megapixel selfie camera with f/2.0, which is among the top front-facing cameras on the market and can record Full HD video clips at 30fps.

Sample Photos

8-megapixel wide-angle lens

16-megapixel, regular lens

Pop Out sample

Conclusion

The LG G5 is one of the most powerful smartphones on the market. Its camera and innovative modular design are appealing, as is its powerful and stable chipset.

It’s not the most attractive phone in the world, though. In fact, it looks like a flagship from years past, when style was not a primary concern. But some may see this as a geekish touch worthy of its innovative feature set.

The only remaining question is whether LG continues to push the modular design with new and exciting accessories. As it stands, the LG G5 is an excellent smartphone. With new accessories expanding functionality, it will be that much better.

Pros:

Modular design innovative
Fantastic camera set and software
Exceptionally fast performance

Cons:

Dated look
Poor display brightness
Large display rim

The post LG G5 Review: Excellent Camera, Modular Design appeared first on Brighthand.com.

Huawei P9 Smartphone Review: A Step In The Right Direction

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Dragan Petric

Huawei is no longer chasing the competition. With the P9, it has a flagship that matches the most powerful devices on the market. The P9 is also an evident improvement compared to its predecessors, especially with its rear-facing camera.

The Huawei P9 smartphone has two 12-megapixel rear cameras, which it cosigns with Leica. One is monochromatic and the other is color, putting the P9’s camera output on the same level as Samsung’s latest, at least on paper.

The smartphone sports a 5.2-inch IPS-NEO LCD with Full HD resolution, octacore HiSilicon Kirin 955 SoC, Android OS 6.0 (Marshmallow) with Huawei’s Emotion UI 4.1, as well as the 3000 mAh battery, and several design options featuring various materials.

The spec sheet suggests a very impressive smartphone. It’s too bad there are some shortcomings, as you’ll see in this Huawei P9 review.

Build & Design

Huawei P9 smartphone back panel

It is clear at first glance the Huawei P9 is a premium smartphone. Its industrial design is familiar to the line, and while it’s not the most inspired look, the P9 is still a very elegant, modern and credibly constructed smartphone. It seems exceptionally light and slim for a 5.2-inch device, even though its dimensions (5.71 x 2.79 x 0.28 inches) and weight (5.08 ounces) are ordinary.

P9 comes in several colors, depending on the material. There’s a ceramic P9 (white), sanded metal P9 (gold) and an aluminum P9 (various shades of gold and silver). Regardless of the finish, our only objections, which the P9 shares with many other devices, is that it’s a little too slick when held.

The front of the phone includes the Huawei logo, situated under the display, along with the phone speaker and 5-megapixel camera above the display. The P9 is buttonless, with the capacitive control keys on the display itself. The display is Gorilla Glass 4, and sports 2.5D glass. Its edges are slightly rounded, offering a pleasant feeling while swiping.

The back features two plastic antenna stripes, with the slimmer of the two located along the lower portion, with the thicker located on the upper. That upper portion also houses two rear cameras, LED flash and the Leica logo. The fingerprint reader sits in the middle. As we’ve stated before, Huawei has one of the most consistent fingerprint readers on the market.

The Huawei P9 has a USB Type-C input.

The bottom edge includes the speaker, 3.5-mm audio jack, as well as USB Type-C slot. That means your old microUSB accessories are useless without an adapter. USB Type-C is the certain future, and is becoming much more practical as it is symmetrical. The upper edge only houses the secondary microphone. The left side of the phone includes the nanoSIM and microSD card slots, while the right side holds the volume rocker and the power key at thumb’s height.

Display

The Huawei P9 is a 5.2-inch Android smartphone.

The 5.2-inch Huawei P9 smartphone runs Android 6.0.

With most flagships pushing Quad HD or even 4K, Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels) is not the top end of the spectrum,. But on the Huawei P9 smartphone’s 5.2-inch display it results in a density of 423 pixels per inch, and that’s more than enough for an exceptionally sharp image. The device has an IPS-NEO LCD display, which is characterized with evidently better contrast sustainability than a regular IPS; however, we found that the basic contrast is still not on the same level as other devices on the top of the market, like the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge.

To be precise, black tones should be slightly darker, while white tones have a dirty hue to them. The colors are well saturated, but are not precisely interpreted by default. Fortunately, Huawei included the option of manually calibrating colors to its display settings.

Overall brightness is exceptional, and can cut through overhead glare as well as almost any smartphone. We give the iPhone 6S, Samsung Galaxy S7 and Lumia 950 the edge over the P9, however.

Performance

Hisillicon Kirin 955 is one of the first chipsets to use Cortex-A72 architecture. Its performance is approximately 15 percent better per megahertz than those offered by Cortex-A57 cores, and is much more energy efficient. Kirin 995 has four such cores running a 2.5 GHz clock and four Cortex-A53 cores running a 1.8 GHz clock. According to synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores in the same park as contemporary SoCs from rival camps. On the Geekbench 3 benchmark, it scored 6550 on the multi-core test and 1812 on the single-core test. By comparison, the Galaxy S7 edge scored 5454 and 2061, respectively. The model with 32GB of memory storage offers 3GB of RAM, while the 4GB model secures 64GB. Kirin 995 supports four 2G frequencies, seven 3G frequencies and eighteen 4G frequencies. The device will have no trouble operating on all global mobile networks.

It is a shame then that the graphics performance from the Mali-T880 GPU is far poorer. The Huawei P9 smartphone performs fluidly during all tasks that don’t rely on its GPU, but it struggles running demanding games. To get around this, the P9 features a ROG power saving mode that reduces the display resolution to 720p (HD). Its primary task is to lessen battery demand, but better game performance is the added benefit (or a compulsory solution).

Battery

The 3000mAh battery is solid. P9 offers above average autonomy for a 5.2-inch smartphone, particularly during stand-by, when it requires exceptionally low power. Playing HD videos with maximum brightness enables 7 hours and 30 minutes of continuous playback. The Huawei Mate 8, with its larger battery, lasted just 37 minutes longer.

The rapid 2A USB-C charger ships with the phone, which recharges the battery up to 40 percent in just 30 minutes. Battery life can be extended by switching to Ultra Power Saving mode or the mentioned ROG mode.

Software

Huawei P9’s Android OS 6.0 (Marshmallow) and Emotion UI 4.1 combine Goggle software platform with slight iOS impersonation. The greatest difference between pure Android and Huawei’s UI is the lack of an app drawer. All apps are arranged across the home screens (there are up to 18 Home screens), just like on iOS. Of course, the applications can be grouped into folders as well.

Some of the more likeable quirks are the option of using rotating cover photographs for the lock screen (a different image displayed every time), turning the camera on from stand-by mode by double-clicking the volume down button, and other iOS-inspired swipes and shortcuts. We like Emotion UI, and those that don’t can turn to the Google Now launcher, available in the Play Store, for a more stock Android experience.

Camera

The Huawei P9 has a dual Leica-camera setup.

The two rear Leica cameras are the P9’s most interesting feature. Both feature identical 12-megapixel Sony sensors, with one monochromatic and the other in color. The monochromatic sensor doesn’t recognize colors as it lacks the Bayer filter. The tradeoff is that it receives three times the light, and it can take excellent photographs in dark settings. They are black and white, but they feature little to no noise.

The double back-facing camera enables other great photographer options. The device ‘knows’ how far the objects are from the phone, and it is possible to add a high-quality optical background defocus effect. What’s more, live-previews are also possible, making the P9 the only smartphone to offer this feature.

The P9 also has hybrid autofocus, which includes laser autofocus too, while the software offers three predefined color capture modes in collaboration with Leica. These include Standard, Vivid Colors and Smooth Colors, which come with the Leica-specific shooting sound. Standard mode offers usual color interpretation; Vivid Colors powerfully saturates the warmer areas of the spectrum; while Smooth Colors offers something in between.

Images look great, especially compared to Huawei’s previous handsets. Compared against other flagships, the P9’s photographs offer comparable exposure and detail level with well-lit day shots, while night shots taken with the color camera are a step below. Night shots taken with the monochromatic camera are better in this regard, however, but remember, they are black and white. The P9 is in many ways the artist’s smartphone camera.

The P9 doesn’t fare so well with video. It lacks 4K recording, and its overall output is anemic. And the camera software is confusing. So many options are not easily accessible, and Huawei does little to inform users some of the options are just a swipe up or down in landscape mode away. Finally, the 5-megapixel selfie camera is average, offering a gimmicky “facelift effect.”

Sample Photos

Conclusion

Huawei has been trying to shed its reputation for low-end and mid-range handsets, and the P9 represents a step in the right direction with its technological innovations, features, and above-average realization. The draw is undoubtedly the exceptionally creative and high-quality rear camera, while the solid battery, premium finish and intuitive user interface add to the appeal. The poor GPU, display contrast, and video output hinders the overall experience, but the Huawei P9 smartphone still gets the important parts right.

Pros:

Dual rear camera is very creative
Credible build
Solid battery
Intuitive Emotion UI

Cons:

Poor GPU performance
Display lacks contrast
Confusing camera software
No 4K video recording, while Full HD video lacks quality

The post Huawei P9 Smartphone Review: A Step In The Right Direction appeared first on Brighthand.com.

HTC 10 Preview: HTC Finally Got it Right, Maybe

Posted on April 14, 2016 by Dragan Petric

HTC is playing it safe with its new flagship smartphone, simply called HTC 10, and finally giving fans exactly what they want.

In fact, with its up-to-date specifications and advances from 2015’s flagship, the HTC One M9, the HTC 10 has potential to be the flagship for Android OS enthusiasts, as it matches the competition, and in some cases exceeds it. The HTC 10 could also mark HTC’s return to the smartphone market big leagues.

Build & Design

Compared to One M9, the 10 introduces a different and more modern design. HTC has managed to both maintain the recognizable HTC style, and still design a handset that’s aesthetically innovative. Its metal unibody features two textures – sanded down and rounded in the back, as well as smooth edges with a rectangular slope. This provides a high level of ergonomics and a premium effect.

Perhaps in a nod to market trends, the display has slightly rounded edges, very slim right and left rims, and capacitive keys on the bottom to the left and right of the physical Home key, which doubles as a fingerprint sensor. HTC finally ditched the front logo, relocating it to the rear, better equalizing the real display surface and the actual surface.

All physical control buttons sit on the right portrait side, while the serrated Power key is now easy to identify by mere touch. The only design qualm we have is with the rear-facing camera lens, as it protrudes slightly in relation to the back surface. That aside, the HTC 10 is a great-looking smartphone.

HTC 10 SIM tray

HTC 10 power button and volume rocker

In addition, HTC representatives claim they have performed over 10,000 crash, scratch, corrosion, and bend tests, as well as exposed the device to low and high temperatures. HTC devices are already famous for physical reliability, and that should not change with the HTC 10.

Display

HTC 10 has a 5.2-inch Super LCD5 display with 1440 x 2560 resolution.

HTC 10 features a 5.2-inch Super LCD5 display with 2K resolution (1440 x 2560), which is a significant step up from its predecessor. This results in density of 564 pixels per inch. HTC claims the display offers 30 percent more colors than classic LCD. Indeed, we noticed intense saturation on the brighter portion of the spectrum. However, pastel coloring is still evident, which is something we’ve noticed with past HTC smartphones. This does in no way result of unrealistic interpretation, however. Quite the opposite in fact, HTC 10 imaging is extremely pleasant, offers immaculate sharpness, great brightness, and a sustainable contrast. Black tones are very dark, while white tones could be a bit brighter. But overall the display matches other devices in this class.

Interestingly, HTC boasts that the display response time is just 120 milliseconds, which makes it the fastest device in the world according to this specific criterion. In practice, you’ll only feel this exceptionally fast response when compared against another device. In everyday use, it’s not noticeable.

Performance, Battery, & Charger

The HTC 10 is supremely equipped on the inside. It sports the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and Adreno 530 graphics, with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of data storage. It also has a microSD card slot with support for capacity up to 2TB. In our brief hands-on time with it, the HTC 10 performed fluidly as expected and remained cool.

HTC claims its 3000mAh battery offers up to two days of autonomy, provided average use. With intense use and frequent fiddling about, using various antennas and the camera, the device will always make it until the end of the day, they claim. If true, we won’t complain that the HTC 10 is a bit chunky in the middle, most likely on account of the battery.

The HTC 10 supports one of our favorite technology features, Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0, and ships with a quick-charge adapter. This means you can charge your battery about 80% in just 30 minutes.

And finally, the HTC 10 supports USB Type-C, the most recent and reversible USB standard.

Camera

Previous HTC flagships had cameras that left much to be desired, which is why we’re happy HTC put much focus on the HTC 10 camera. This Android smartphone has a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera, officially called an UltraPixel 2 camera.

UltraPixel camera sensors have larger pixels, with each measuring 1.55 micrometers on the HTC 10. That’s larger than the 1.4 micrometer pixels found the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge and S7, which operate on the same principle: larger pixels are better in low light. HTC claims that its new sensor picks up 136 percent more light than One M9, and it pairs with an f/1.8 aperture lens, OIS, laser autofocus (which is actually based on an infra-red beam and not laser) and an optional 0.6-second focus, which is 3x faster compared to One M9.

The HTC 10 has a much-improved camera.

The HTC 10 camera has a 12-megapixel sensor.

We tested the HTC 10 against the iPhone 6S Plus, comparing the images taken indoors. Indeed, the images are approximately the same when it comes to the sharpness, the level of details, color interpretation, exposure. It should be noted that the iPhone 6S Plus does not have the best camera on the smartphone market (the S7 and S7 edge hold that distinction of this writing), but it’s near the top. If HTC managed to match it, then they’ve remedied the one feature that dragged down previous HTC flagships more than any other.

Speakers

HTC has equipped the 10 with Boom Sound Hi-Fi sound edition, which includes a dual speaker (one in the lower part of the phone and the other in the same perforation as the call speaker), offers 24-bit DAC and, as HTC claims, 50x less sound distortion than the Samsung Galaxy S7 and 8x less noise. The device ships with Hi-Res Audio headphones, and the sound was truly impressive in our limited testing. Sound quality was one thing HTC got right with previous HTC One handsets, and we’re happy to see that continue here. This is also the first Android smartphone to support AirPlay for streaming to AirPlay-certified speakers and Apple TV.

Software

Good news: HTC’s latest take on Android is clutter free, with some power-management optimizations for better battery life. Still, there are two nifty software additions.

First, the new HTC Sense comes with the so-called Freestyle themes, as well as icons and widgets that can be placed anywhere on the desktop. This frees them up from the traditional Android grid and size constraints, allowing users to create their own individual chaos. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s unique to the HTC 10.

Second, this is one of a few devices that does not ship with redundant applications. It does not have both Google and HTC applications for image galleries, camera, and web browser. In fact, there are no two apps that serve the same purpose. Of course, many native applications can be replaced by others via the Play Store, but sticking with Google apps keeps the HTC 10 cleaner than some rival devices, which have many duplicate apps that simply can’t be deleted.

Improved Flagship

The HTC 10 is an extremely improved flagship compared to the last year’s model, and it has features that make it a contender in a very competitive market. There are no major gimmicks here, just a solid Android smartphone, which is what we loved about the new Samsung Galaxies. We look forward to taking a closer look when we have a review unit, but until then we are impressed with what HTC did with its latest Android device.

The HTC 10 is now available for preorder for $699 and is expected to ship next month. It is coming to Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, but not AT&T. An unlocked version sold by HTC will work on that network, however. It will be available in black and silver in the US, while a gold HTC 10 will be available in other markets.

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LG V10 Review: A Different Kind of Flagship

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Dragan Petric

The LG V10’s innovative display, finish, and camera – as well as its above average sound output – combine to match the competition’s flagship models. Think of it as tweaked LG G4, a device that attracts early adopters who appreciate the type of superior engineering and advanced features that may or may not find a place in the larger market.

LG V10

The superior features in question are the V10’s two front-facing displays (one of which is constantly active), two selfie cameras, an entirely new build material, and AKG’s in-ear headphones.

Looking past the prominent characteristics, the LG V10 has much of the same hardware as found on the LG G4, with slight upgrades to match the V10’s “geeky” spirit. The 5.7-inch QHD display (compared to the G4’s 5.5-inch) and the secondary 2.1-inch status display combine with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 808, 64GB memory storage (32GB on G4), and 4GB of RAM (3GB on G4).

The LG G4’s excellent 16-megapixel rear camera returns, but the V10 has new advanced software, providing more creative options shutterbugs, while two 5-megapixel cameras adorn the front – one wide angle for group shots, the other with a narrow field of view for head shots. As with other high-end LG smartphones, the V10 has a 3000mAh battery.

Build and Design

LG V10 doesn’t look as modern as its features suggest, and with dimensions measuring 6.20 x 3.12 x 0.34 inches (159 x 79 x 8.6 mm) and weighing 6.7 ounces (192 grams), it’s one of the biggest and heaviest handsets available. Still, it leaves a credible first impression due to its detail-oriented finish, and it’s evident that this is a premium model. The LG calls the V10’s build material “Dura Guard,” and it’s essentially stainless steel covered with a chrome-oxide layer. This enables the chrome to “self-heal” surface scratches when that layer reacts with oxygen.

LG V10 camera and rear panel

The rear battery lid is covered with Dura Skin, an elastic material akin to silicone. LG claims it’s twice as resilient to scratches as plastic and ten times more scratch resistant than aluminum. The material’s soft surface not only enables a strong grip but also helps the V10 obtain MIL-spec (MIL-STD-810G) shock protection; so you won’t have to worry about this smartphone if you drop it on the floor or if you’re out in the freezing cold. That said, the LG V10 is not waterproof, despite its rugged body.

The front side also sports the smaller secondary display, located above the main screen. Its left side has been ‘cut off’ in order to leave room for two selfie cameras, while the very top holds the phone speaker. Position and ambient lighting sensors sit right next to it. LG branding resides under the display, and all Android nav buttons are onscreen. The left and right display rims are relatively thick compared against modern smartphones.

The familiar LG control button layout rests on the back. The power button now doubles as a fingerprint reader, located between the volume keys, making LG V10 the first LG smartphone with this feature in recent memory. The rear camera’s lens is situated above the volume keys inside a large ring, which unfortunately does not provide the camera glass with any protection, as well as the dual LED flash, laser autofocus module, and the color specter sensor.

The microUSB 2.0 port is located at the bottom of the smartphone, along with the speaker and the 3.5-mm audio jack, connected to the 32-bit Hi-Fi DAC. The smartphone sports with three microphones, enabling several levels of ambient noise reduction, and supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 (charger included), which can charge up to 50 percent of the battery in just 40 minutes. Finally, the V10 ships with a fantastic set of QuadBeat headphones, tuned by AKG, a highly respectable audio company.

LG V10 side

Display

Secondary smartphone displays are nothing new, but LG’s implementation is unique. The main 5.7-inch IPS display features 1440 x 2560 pixels, resulting in a density of 515 pixels per inch. The second, smaller display has a 2.1-inch diagonal with a 160 x 1040 pixel resolution, and sits in the upper portion of the display, acting as an extension. Notice it’s 400 pixels less than the main screen, as its left portion is cut off to make room for the front-facing cameras.

LG V10 secondary display

While both displays are physically part of the same panel, they have separate controls and back-lighting systems. This makes it possible for the smaller display to act as an always-on status screen with an insignificant power drain. Due to the fact they are a part of the same panel, both displays offer identical characteristics in terms of brightness, color reproduction, and contrast.

Technically, this is the same display found on the G4, but LG V10 offers a slightly better contrast with darker black tones. The trade-off is that the LG V10 has a slightly weaker maximum brightness setting compared to LG G4. This shouldn’t bother LG V10 users in day-to-day use, as it’s only discernible when the two handsets are compared side by side.

The display is as sharp on any other on the market, thanks to its high pixel density. The colors are vibrant yet realistic instead of the overly saturated colors typically found on AMOLED displays. Contrast is great and provides a wide viewing angle, which helps mitigate the effects of direct sunlight glare.

Second Display

Here’s the defining feature. It functions as a feed with shortcuts to settings, toggles, and applications. It’s accessible with a swipe to the side, even when the display is off. It’ll also display the weather, date, and notifications by default. The secondary screen also features contextual controls for apps like the music player, and it can also be personalized to display the user’s name and a short message.

The secondary screen also functions as an excellent multitasking aid, given that it offers recently-used app shortcuts. Consider it Alt-Tab for Android. In a similar fashion, the smaller screen can also serve as a Taskbar and set to include frequently-used tools like the screenshot creator.

Performance

The LG V10 is basically a LG G4 on steroids, and LG buffed things accordingly. LG went with the Snapdragon 808, and not the 810, which might have been more appropriate for a flagship had it not given G Flex 2 owners fits with overheating issues (the 820 has since surpassed the 810). It added 4GB of RAM instead of the G4’s 3GB, and 64GB storage instead of 32GB. Rounding things out is an Adreno 418 graphic unit.

LG V10 doesn’t shatter any benchmarks, offering similar performance to top-range devices, and just slightly better than the G4. In practice, the smartphone provides an absolutely fluid performance with normal tasks, but we found the V10 takes its time rendering graphically demanding games.

Battery Life

All LG flagships have the 3000 mAh battery going back to the G2. With the V10, it doesn’t provide as much autonomy. Streaming full HD video drained the V10 after 7 hours and 15 minutes, which is a notch below average for this type of phone. We found it necessary to charge after a day and a half of regular usage

The secondary display can be turned off in order to save some power, but we found this to have a minor impact given its size.

Camera

LG G4 had one of the best cameras when it launched, and the V10 takes it a step further, upgrading it with software. It features the same 16-megapixel sensor with OIS and f/1.8 lens, as well as the so-called laser autofocus (actually infrared and not literally laser) and the ambient color sensor, enabling above-average color interpretation even in poor lighting.

The software now allows more control for elements like white balance, exposure compensation, ISO and shutter speed, while also offering complete manual focus. It also has a histogram and shoots RAW images. The two front-facing cameras each have 5 megapixels. One has an 80-degree lens, while the other is intended for group selfies with a 120-degree angle. This is cute, but not all that useful.

Photo and video quality is identical to the LG G4’s, which means it’s pretty good. It was one of the best last year, but has since been surpassed by the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge.

Sample Pics

LG V10 sample pic

Conclusion

The LG V10 is built for technology buffs who like their hardware to be both unique and different. This is a special kind of flagship, appealing almost directly to developers and the tech savvy. It’s also a pretty good smartphone in its own right, with an excellent camera, impressive performance, and a fine display.

Pros:

Exceptional camera and camera software
Secondary screen proves useful, particularly for multitasking
Unique and credible build materials
Comes with great headphones and exquisite DAC

Cons:

It’s big
Body rugged, but not waterproof
Battery only slightly above average
Chipset a bit below flagship

The post LG V10 Review: A Different Kind of Flagship appeared first on Brighthand.com.

HTC One X9 Ditches iPhone Design for More Familiar Looks: Hands On

Posted on February 24, 2016 by Dragan Petric

HTC revealed three stylish new Desire series smartphones at Mobile World Congress, but the real star was the One X9, an upper-range model with a spec sheet to suggest it’s the successor to the HTC One A9. You know, the one that looks like an iPhone.

The HTC One X9 ditches the One A9’s iPhone-inspired design.

For the new X version, HTC walked back from its Apple-inspired design, turning to the recognizable HTC look and feel.

HTC One X9 features a 5.5-inch Full HD display (1080p), MediaTek octa-core Helio X10 SoC, 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of storage (with a microSD card slot), 3000 mAh battery, stereo speakers, Dot View case, 13-megapixel rear camera with OIS and a dual-LED flash, as well as a 5-megapixel selfie camera.

The One X9 has a metal finish reminiscent of HTC’s more powerful models, complete with a unibody construction and rounded edges. It also feels solid, and actually quite heavy. It weighs .37 pounds and measures .31 inches thick, making it heavier and thicker than the 5.5-inch Samsung Galaxy S7 edge.

The display has a 401 pixel-per-inch density, which is sufficiently sharp but below the 500+ ppi counts found on other Android flagships. The contrast is above average, with very dark black shades and almost pure white tones. Contrast sustainability is also praiseworthy as the phone offers exactly the same imaging regardless of the viewing angle. The colors are a bit unsaturated, but this could be because the brightness seems a bit lacking at its brightest setting.

The HTC One X9 has an excellent metal build.

MediaTek’s octa-core chipset proves a surprisingly good pick for Full HD and Android 6.0 devices, even if it won’t break any benchmark records. We expect the One X9 to run well long after it’s first powered on, stuffed with apps. The memory capacity is also sufficient, as is the 3000 mAh battery.

On the other hand, the camera gives us pause. We tested the One X9 at the Barcelona show in difficult and dynamic lighting conditions, and the camera took a long time to focus, the images lacked that pleasant dynamic range more commonly associated with mobile photography. To be fair, the show floor at Mobile World Congress doesn’t lend itself well to decent photo output. More to the point, if One A9’s camera is anything to go by, the One X9’s camera should still provide above average results. However, it will be well behind the pack if measured against the direct competition.

The HTC One X9 should ship out by early March, but there is no word on pricing. Meanwhile, we await word on the next HTC flagship, the M10. It’s expected in April, with hopefully a bit more originality than previous iterations.

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Sony Xperia X, XA and X Performance: Hands On with the “Almost” Flagship Smartphones

Posted on February 24, 2016 by Dragan Petric

Sony is good at keeping a secret, as it surprised attendees at Mobile World Congress with three new mid-range models: the Xperia XA, Xperia X, and Xperia X Performance.

The Sony Xperia X Performance has a sanded metal back panel.

All three Xperias share the same square design, similar to all Xperias going back to the Z series. They all have 5-inch displays and ship with Android OS 6.0. As for differences, the Xperia X and X Performance have a 23-megapixel camera each, just like Xperia Z5, while Xperia XA has ‘just’ a 13-megapixel camera.

Similarly, Xperia X and X Performance come with a metal body (with the Performance sporting sanded metal), while the simplest Xperia XA has a plastic body. Both the X and X Performance have a 1080 Full HD display, while the XA has a 720 HD display. All three Xperia models have slightly rounded display edges, which is something we are used to seeing on only premium phones or the most powerful mid-range devices.

Finally, the entry model, Xperia XA, features MediaTek’s octa-core MT6755 processor and 2 GB of RAM, the Xperia X has Qualcomm’s hexa-core Snapdragon 650 and 3 GB of RAM, while Xperia X Performance comes with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and 3 GB of RAM, which matches Sony’s current flagship model the, Xperia Z5.

Similar Xperia-ence

We tested all three devices in Barcelona, and came away with positive impressions. The Xperia X Performance is just a notch below the other flagships at the show, the LG G5 and Samsung S7 and S7 edge. However, the X Performance lacks the innovative design of the G5 and Edge display that defines the more expensive of Samsung’s latest.

The Sony Xperia X has a plastic build.

The Xperia X Performance’s sanded metal build and pastel colors give it a very modern look that combines well with its spec sheet. It seems to match the Z5 outside of the design, and that’s a good thing. We praised the Z5 for its fluidity, display quality, and camera output.

The Xperia X is also an attractive smartphone – maybe one of the best-looking in the mid-range market with its smooth metal and sleek dimensions. Its display and camera match the Xperia X Performance (and Z5), but it’s noticeably less powerful overall, something we detected during our time with it.

That’s not to suggest it runs poorly. It should handle day-to-day tasks with ease. As should the Xperia XA. Though, when strained with demanding apps and sites, the XA show its limits. But what it lacks in power, it makes up in style. The XA turned many heads at MWC with its cheerful colors, solid plastic, and slim display rim. The only thing that is slightly worrying is that the photo quality is not on the same level as the more powerful Xs.

It’s heartening to see Sony introduce mid-range smartphones that are closer to flagships than not. The new Xperias may not have the novelty of a modular phone or curved display with VR support, but as basic smartphones for getting things done, they impress.

The post Sony Xperia X, XA and X Performance: Hands On with the “Almost” Flagship Smartphones appeared first on Brighthand.com.

HTC One A9 Review: More Than an iPhone Clone

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Dragan Petric

The HTC One A9 is proof HTC can change. After sticking by the previous HTC One design for too long, which may have cost HTC market share, the company has embraced market trends for 2015’s second flagship.

The HTC One A9 looks like an iPhone.

Certain A9 features surpass even the first flagship, the One M9. Yes, this is a less powerful device hardware-wise; but its design, a blatant copy of the iPhone 6s, is a definite improvement.

HTC One A9 features a metal unibody and a 5-inch 2.5D Full HD display, and is one of the first non-Nexus devices to launch with Android OS 6.0 (Marshmallow). It is driven by Qualcomm’s octa-core Snapdragon 617, and it is equipped with a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with OIS, 4-megapixel UltraPixel selfie-camera, and 16 or 32 GB of internal memory, which can be expanded with microSD cards. It also includes a 2150 mAh battery and an attractive price in the US, but a much steeper price in Europe.

Build & Design

The HTC One A9 design stands out with a most peculiar feature. HTC flattened the rounded unibody back of its previous build (which goes back all the way to 2013’s HTC One M7) making the device look more like the latest iPhone than any other previous HTC model. Two slim plastic strips along the top and bottom of the rear surface enable appropriate antenna reception, adding to the resemblance (to be fair, this was originally an HTC quirk, before Apple made it a recognizable iPhone feature). On the other hand, the 2.5D display (the screen’s glass edges are slightly rounded, which can result in a seamless and pleasant-looking display edge), is a popular Apple feature, and pushes the A9 very close to being an iPhone clone.

Despite this, or maybe because of it, the device features an exceptionally high level of finish, seems solid, credible, and reliable. Its similarity to the iPhone is uncanny, as the lower side of the device includes speaker perforations, microUSB slot and the audio connector, which are lined in the opposite order than on iPhone 6/6S. At least here, HTC has Samsung beat, which arranged the bottom side of its Galaxy S6 identical to that of iPhone 6/6S.

The HTC One A9 has its speakers on the bottom.

The upper side of HTC One A9 is bare, apart from a matte plastic plate laid across the entire width of the device, clearly covering another antenna. It’s a shame HTC ditched the IrDA port found here on the previous One models. The left side of the handset holds nanoSIM and microSD card slots, while the right side includes the volume rocker and the power key (complete with a very pleasant texture), located at thumb-height.

The HTC One A9 power button has a pleasant texture.

Another feature “borrowed” from rivals Samsung and Apple is a physical home key, with the HTC One A9 sports right under the display. Capacitive keys for Back, Home and Task are also located on the very display, taking up screen space at the bottom of the user interface. This make the home button redundant, and is an odd thing considering the Samsung Android phones don’t have on-screen keys.

The HTC One A9 back includes the camera lens with a LED flash, located in the center of the upper portion of the phone, along with the HTC logo, sitting just below it.

Apple iPhone clone or not, the still phone is fantastic. It’s easy to use with just one hand and it feels solid. This is a premium device. Even if it is unoriginal, we have no objections. It’s great, and that’s good enough. It weighs only 5.04 ounces, and measures 5.74 x 2.79 x 0.29 inches, which seems optimal, and even natural, for a 5-inch phone.

Display

With a 5-inch Full HD AMOLED display (1080 x 1920 pixels), HTC One A9 has a density of 441 pixels per inch. It’s AMOLED, so you know it has an impressive contrast and excellent sharpness. Full HD is ideal, as anything more than 441 ppi on a 5-inch smartphone is overkill. The display is a deal-maker, especially compared against devices with similar specs.

The display has two color settings: AMOLED, with overly saturated colors, which is striking and characteristic for this display technology; and sRGB, with more precise colors. We’ve seen a few phones embrace a software fix to the AMOLED saturation, and here it works well. Users should be pleased.

The One A9 has great viewing angles, and it does a great job cutting through glare. In fact, it’s one of the best on the market at this. It’s virtually impossible to find a shortcoming when it comes to the display.

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Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Review

Posted on January 2, 2016 by Dragan Petric

To mark the arrival of Windows 10 Mobile, Microsoft has two new premium devices: the Lumia 950 and the Lumia 950 XL. While the name suggests that only size separates the two, the XL has a more powerful chipset, cooling system, and a slightly larger battery, making it the true flagship of the bunch.

The Microsoft Lumia 950 XL has an excellent AMOLED display, but lousy build quality.

With Windows 10 Mobile and support for Windows Continuum through the Microsoft Display Dock, Lumia 950 XL features a 5.7-inch AMOLED QHD display covered in Gorilla Glass 4, 20-mega pixel BSI PureView rear camera, 5-megapixel selfie-camera, Cat. 6 LTE radio, and a 3340 mAh battery. Inside, it sports an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset with Adreno 430 graphics and 3 GB of RAM, and includes 32 GB of internal storage along with a microSD card slot. The Lumia 950 XL is also available as a dual-SIM device.

As of this writing, it’s available starting at $650.

Build & Design

Unfortunately, this Lumia 950 XL betrays Nokia’s near sacrosanct reputation for well-built devices. Both phones feature a plastic rear cover that looks cheap, and both have thick display rims. All navigation keys are on the display, meaning there is a centimeter of unused space under the screen. Both the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL look out of place next to the current flagships, like the iPhone 6s and Galaxy Note5. This is not a design fit for a device with this price and these specs.

The display glass has exceptionally sharp edges, for no apparent reason, as does the back cover towards the corners. This, despite the fact it’s slightly rounded in order to provide better ergonomics. This is why Lumia 950 XL doesn’t feel comfortable to hold. This design is more in line with the first phablets that hit the market several years ago.

The front bares the Microsoft logo above the screen, along with the telephone speaker and the selfie-camera, while the rim below the display is wasted space. The back includes the rear camera bulge and the triple LED flash, complete with the Windows logo underneath. Also on the front, the speakers and pinhole mics for ambient noise reduction.

The microSD and nanoSIM card slots (or two nanoSIM slots of the dual-SIM model) sit under the removable rear panel, along with the removable battery. That means that the Microsoft Lumia 950 XL does not have a unibody, which makes for a thicker device. It’s 8.1 mm (0.32 in) thick, and measures 152 x 78 mm (5.98 x 3.09 in). Its mass is average for a 5.7-inch phone: 165 g (5.82 oz). There’s always a tradeoff between the utility of a replaceable battery with the thinness of a unibody design. We won’t complain about this element of Microsoft’s decision here.

The power button is located on the right side, in an embrace between a two-piece volume rocker. The camera shutter button is somewhat lower. The phone’s upper side houses the 3.5-mm audio jack in the center, while the bottom side includes the USB Type-C connector. Lumia 950 XL is one of the first phones to ship with USB Type-C, but we expect many more in 2016.

Display

The 5.7-inch Lumia 950 XL has a QHD resolution that offers an exceptional density of 515 pixels per inch, which, as expected, results in fantastically sharp imaging. This is an AMOLED screen, the kind we gush over in Samsung smartphone reviews. Those excellent impressions apply here thanks to the vibrant colors and sustainable contrast.

The black tones are very dark, the whites are very bright. This is a bright display with large viewing angles. It’s one of the best we’ve tested at cutting through bright sunlight and glare.

If there is a complaint, it’s with color accuracy, which is a common issue with AMOLED. Given AMOLED’s popularity, most seem to dismiss it, but eagle-eyed users will notice that the colors shift a bit to the greener part of the spectrum. This creates an almost pastel effect that when matched with AMOLED-style saturation; resulting in a very cheerful, and almost silly, cartoon-like aesthetic.

But that’s nitpicking. There are better displays on handsets, but Lumia 950 XL’s display is exceptionally good.

The post Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Review appeared first on Brighthand.com.

Author: Dragan Petric

HTC U Ultra Build

HTC U Ultra Display and AI

HTC U Ultra Audio

HTC U Play

Sony Xperia XZ Build & Design

Sony Xperia XZ Display

Sony Xperia XZ Performance

Sony Xperia XZ Battery Life

Sony Xperia XZ Camera

Sony Xperia XZ Review Conclusion

Build & Design

Display

Performance

Connectivity

Battery Life

Camera

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Build & Design

Display

Performance

Connectivity

Battery Life

Camera

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Build & Design

Display

Performance

Battery Life

Camera & Sound

Sample Picture

Software

Conclusion

Build & Design

Display

Performance

Battery Life

Camera

Sample Photos

Conclusion

Build & Design

Display

Performance

Battery

Software

Camera

Sample Photos

Conclusion

Build & Design

Display

Performance, Battery, & Charger

Camera

Speakers

Software

Improved Flagship

Build and Design

Display

Second Display

Performance

Battery Life

Camera

Sample Pics

Conclusion

Pros:

Cons:

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