by Harry Thomas My overall opinion of the South Korean tech giant has been fairly mixed over the years, from producing beautiful, high-tech, innovative products, to being a cheesy, saturated, and overrated company. But the past year has been rough for them, with the explosive Note 7 being one of the worst mobile situations I've seen in a decade. The company, from what I assume, have made a comeback this year to assure high standards of quality, but also hijack a lot of other smartphone brands by hoarding a vast majority of the new Snapdragon 835 processors that are available, until the Galaxy S8 release. Am I the only one who thinks this is disgusting?First of all, I just want to say "shame on you" to both Samsung and Qualcomm for making a deal that allows Samsung to own most of the processors that Qualcomm have available. It's not only selfish that Samsung has bought most of the stock, but it's also selfish that their future S8 is going to hold the long tradition of having two different CPU options.
There's no excuse as to why Samsung would need to purchase CPUs from another manufacturer when they already have their own. Exynos runs just as powerful as Qaulcomm's CPUs, so why bother with it? Just have one mobile processor available for every country you'll be selling your flagships in. Apple has their own CPU line just like you, Samsung. JUST STOP! What's made me rage about this the most is that they have decided to do this just before the Mobile World Congress. LG and other manufacturers like HTC have already announced that they will be using Qualcomm's Snapdragon 821 instead of the new 835, as there isn't enough stock left for them to purchase, which is annoying since these manufacturers are going to debut their latest flagships, which will be using CPUs from last year! We know Qualcomm and Samsung have a long history of CPU and mobile collaboration, and I fear that situations like this will arise for many years to come. Having an outdated CPU isn't all that bad, but if this continues, we may not see innovative internals from many other mobile companies in the future. In the meanwhile, all I can say to the other smartphone manufacturers is to either go with another CPU manufacturer... or perhaps create your own.
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by Joshua Askew With that mandatory pun out of the way, and the reveal presentation fresh in our minds, it’s time to look at why the Switch is the best possible move Nintendo could make in order to stay afloat within this ever changing gaming industry. Gamers have developed a love-hate relationship with the Japanese giants, who singlehandedly saved the video-gaming industry from the travesty that was ET. We all have fond memories of our first Nintendo games, and everyone remembers the first time they played Mario or The Legend Of Zelda, and yet Nintendo’s console market has bombed since the days of the Wii, with Nintendo surviving purely on 3DS sales and Smash players re-buying GameCube controllers. With lacklustre sales of the Wii U, Nintendo has made the seemingly risky decision of catering to the handheld and console markets with a single product. Whether this will pay off is another matter, but it has certainly caught the attention of the entire gaming community. The Nintendo Switch offers “console gaming on the go”, with the ability to use the device in 3 different play modes:
So you’ve picked up your Switch at the reasonable price of £279.99—much cheaper than both the PS4 and Xbox One at release—and you’re ready to play. You open the box and what do you find? Two really tiny controllers... The Joy-Cons, which come packaged with the Switch, just seem too small to be a viable controller, perhaps being aimed at children who may have struggled with the Wii remote in the past. Each Joy-Con features “HD rumble”, boasting an experience so realistic that you can feel and count ice-cubes clinking in a glass or marbles rolling around in a box, fun for the two or three mini games which will utilise this feature, but I’m unsure how third-parties will make use of this tech. Assuming you don’t want to use the Wii remote’s baby brother to play the Switch, you’ll have to fork over an additional £59.99 just for the privilege to use a normal controller. This isn’t the most unreasonable price, but it would be more desirable if there was a “Switch Pro” bundle which came packaged with the pro-controller. There is no word yet as to whether you will be able to use GameCube controllers with the Switch, but I remain hopeful, and if they ever bring Smash over to the console it will be a necessity! That said, you can connect up to 8 controllers to the Switch at one time, so Nintendo are once again making gameplay and party play the focus of the console, a rarity in the current gaming climate. The Nintendo Switch will launch on 3 March, and will include a dock, a pair of Joy-Con controllers (one left and one right, in either both grey, or one blue and one red), a Joy-Con grip (to connect the controllers together), wrist straps, a HDMI cable, an AC adapter, and the main console. When fully charged, the Switch will last 2–6 hours, most likely depending on brightness and the game which is being played, with Breath of the Wild supposedly lasting 3 hours. The Joy-Con controllers themselves have about 20 hours of battery life. The system will have 32 GB of internal storage, which can be expanded up to 2 TB with microSD XC memory card. 200 million units have shipped to retailers worldwide, and nearly all have been sold out, with Amazon and American retailer GameStop already being out of units. Should you have been lucky enough to get your hands on a Switch, you will have a selection of 5 games to choose from on launch day. No bundles have been announced yet, but 3 March sees the release of:
Post release, there are 8 confirmed first-party titles (including Xenoblade 2 and Super Mario Odyssey), 15 third-party games with a release date (including Skyrim and Sonic Mania), and 23 third-party games without a confirmed release date. EA did make an appearance at the Switch reveal presentation and confirmed… FIFA, so that’s nice, I guess, but Mass Effect: Andromeda, which was initially said to be on the Switch, has not been listed anywhere, making me question the overall processing power of the console. In my opinion, the Switch will either make or break Nintendo. By appealing to their console and handheld markets with one device, they will have either solidified themselves once more as gaming legends and icons, or dealt themselves a crippling blow they may not recover from. The fact that the consoles are selling out is a good sign, and Breath Of The Wild is definitely a system-seller, but i question how well it can compete against the PS4.5 and the Xbox One S, which are likely to dominate the console market. I honestly want Nintendo to do well, as they have been a major part of my gaming childhood and are truly the biggest gaming innovators of our time, with fun still being at the forefront of the company, but only time will tell whether this risk pays off.
PC's are at the center of being one the most essential peices of technology today. It has eveloved into many different product categories such as mobile phones, tablets, smartwatches, Gaming Consoles and many others. However, with gaming consoles. Just like mobile devices has taken a rivalry turn over the years between two argumentaive sides of whether PC gaming is better than Console gaming or vice versa. If you look at it in a hardwrae standpoint. It really comes down to budget with a pc gamer. While you have a well built gaming machine from Playstation or Xbox. The PC type gamer has a fast array of differnet budgets that they can use to build there PC. Here's my main point from this post. Everyone who play's video games...is a Gamer!Everyone who play's games is a Gamer! Me, You, your freinds, family! Anyone who plays video games is a gamer! It does not matter what or where your playing the game from, everyone is! You hear that PC Master race?!?!
Yes I am appointing this to PC gamers....not all.....but a majority. Where do you think the term, 'PC Master Race', come from? It's simply applying that PC gaming is above all. And you know what? I agree....... To some extent.... Yes PC gaming is heavely customizable. Heck you can run any OS as you like (unless its MAC OS, then....bad idea!) you can upgrade and install any specification you would like to go with it...the world is your PC!.....if that's how it goes? However! they do not get the beauty of a hassle free gaming lifestyle. This is why I switched to consoles. Although I enjoyed building PC's and I still do, I often found my self having to repair, look after and spend more money on a PC I had just built. This had constantly got my nerve with other friends having PC's themselves to play games on. When most of the time it was competition to who had the better specs to play a certain game better? This then turned into spending more and more money on not just hardwware but also accersories that I really just didn't need at all. It was all about getting that perfect frame rate on the highets settings. And so I switched to consoles. I found myself not having to upgrade anything. Everything I need was in one box. Ready to play as soon as I plug it in. HASSLE FREE! This also equired my love of console gaming with exclsuive titles that are straight down amazing! Tittles such as Uncharted, God of war and the last of us! There's even an Last of us 2 coming out! It's relaxing to be able to just sit on the couch, legs up, wireless controller on and play video games! Becuase playing video games is what it's all about. Not having to worry about how my PC ran or having to spend more time on the internet rather than the game it's self, trying to find higher end specs for my machine. I'm not saying you should not buy and build a PC for gaming. I mean you will deffinately learn a thing or two. But 'PC master race'....You really are not superiour to anyone else. So stop acting like it. Go play some video games! As it should be.
I had so many expectations from Chinese phone manufacture, 'one plus' on it's new and latest Flagship smartphone this year. No i'm not talking about the One plus 3. That's old news!
Today One plus unveiled the 'One plus 3T'.
It has everything you loved about the One plus 3 with an excellent up to date mobile processor from snapdragon's 821 model, new and improved rear and front facing camera(s), a brighter display and a whopping 3400 mAh battery, which is 13% bigger than it's predecessor and comes in a new space grade colour. On the software side it has a redefined Cyanogen mod layer with Android 7.0 nougat as the stock operating system (finally)
It has specs that match new Pixel phone by Google. (Which I will be giving my opinions on this Saturday) And your getting all this for only £399!!!
Only if I had any ;)
All around it is still the best budget smartphone you can buy today.
So what's with my tittle? Well....this is what me and several others on the Facebook event (that One plus hosted its event on) had hoped for. We hoped for a better display. Something more than 1080p. Yes its still Today's standards, but it would've been nice to see a display at least close enough to what Samsung would normally offer and still be cheaper. Not just brighter. As if the display isn't bright enough! We hoped for a smaller screen phone. The one plus X, had supported this and that is what I was waiting for when they mentioned the One Plus 2T or T-2? Yeah.....that's what One plus was leaking to us before the event. It seems although the name was a last minute change and that they completely decided to ditch the One Plus 2T/ T-2.
If they really thought that this was gonna be marketing strategy to hype up there audience.....GOD, THEY. WERE. WRONG!
All I kept seeing from the live stream ON FB!! (Not a press release at a venue, which obviously hint's that the event on FB is most probably only gonna be minor updates. Which it was....) Where hate emoji's. Yeah! I'm talking about Facebook's very own. one of these depressing fucks....
.....were literally flying of the screen. Loads of them! Too many to count in fact, from angry and pissed of fans of the One plus community.
Now, the presentation was really bad, and really off putting for some. But i'm not gonna get into that. We are talking about a phone here. Not analysing someone constantly looking at notes rather than interacting with there live audience. However, I asked my friend and current One plus 3 user, Paul Brown to tell me his thoughts on the One Plus 3T.
I have to agree with Paul on this. For the Extra *£70 you are not gonna tell the difference at all between the one plus 3 and the one plus 3T. And I really don't think it's worth it.
However, the one thing I would say you would notice the difference to in real world use would be the battery life. The snapdragon 820 has already got battery heating problems when doing heavy tasks such as gaming overtime. And the 821 is gonna work well when delivering that processing power and allowing the battery to go easy on it's self. But that shouldn't be such a problem considering the bigger battery. But is that really worth bragging over on getting?
Okay rant over about that!
So yeah, a lot of us, including me would've liked to of seen a 5" display phone from them. But unfortunately that never happened. Maybe they will deliver the 2T next year, but then that means smaller handed people like me, would have to wait a little longer maybe. The Third and last thing I wanted from this the most so badly and is one thing that's been putting me off about the One plus 3 apart from it's design dimensions is not having more LTE bands. What?! LTE bands? Yeah well, many people don't talk about this. But i'm gonna. Both the One Plus 3 and 3T phones are inconsistent with wireless bands. Both the one plus 3 and one plus 3T only have 8 LTE bands. Which is so bad for travel, as it hasn't got many bands to connect to for cellular access and is also bad for carriers. You won't be able to go with many carriers and you are limited to only a few here in the UK, including around the world when using the one plus 3 and one plus 3T. However, the reason real why i'm saying that it's inconsistent is not only that but also, both phones support dual sim card trays?!!!? If you are already limiting you users on LTE bands, then why have a dual sim tray? One Plus would be better off having a SD card slot included, instead of another sim card tray that most users probably don't even use. So more LTE bands would be ideal for a lot of users. Just look at the iPhone 7, with supporting 41! It looks pathetic from One Plus. Overall, if you are looking for a new smartphone under or around £400. Save £70 and go with the One plus 3 over the 3T. It's the same experience, you're saving money on the side, which is what one plus is all about. They deliver high end smartphones to customers that are on a low budget. But, if you really care about about having the best battery out there from a low budget high powered smartphone, then the One Plus 3T is your best bet!
When we hear about Android smartphones nowadays, most users think about Samsung?....Not sure why that may be, since there are many other companies that use the OS.
This is maybe because of Samsung having so many users having different smartphones using the OS in it's product category. But then again....who would want to use touch wiz. Some people may like it...and it's certainly gotten better over the past year. But, that's the one thing I hate when seeing these extraordinary Samsung devices, nowadays. (Count me out on the Note 7)
The touch wiz layer over android, makes Samsung devices look like an outdated IOS in my opinion.
However, times have changed since Android was first launched 8 years ago from the first nexus phone made by Samsung. We now have had nexus device's lead the market with simplified stock android experience, that we get today from what people are now calling the best android smartphone around right now. The 'pixel'.
This phone just looks like an ordinary smartphone or iPhone even. Doesn't look, gimmicky or exciting like a Samsung. But that's what sets this device away from the average consumer and the gimmicky tech nerds.
This phone's main competitor is the iPhone. Why? Well....unlike any other company, google releases that the mass market of consumers want a smartphone that just works and works fast and has an unbelievable camera. And the Google Pixel, delivers that. Its a phone made by google (with help on the design by HTC) Where they implement and optimise the software with the hardware, making this the fastest and intuitive android smartphone that money can buy right now. But thats it's weak point. The price. Coming from the nexus line, google has always delivered flagship smartphones that are affordable and run full stock android. However, the pixel may run stock android but the price is way to much for what your getting. It starts at £599 for the base 64GB model going up to the 128GB and comes in two sizes 5" 1080p display and a 5.5" QHD display. It's price competes with the iPhone line up. And that's a good and bad thing. It shows that google's products can be premium as well. But the bad thing is for nexus fans. Nexus fans have always enjoyed having a stock android experience from a flagship smartphone, without paying to much. And well...that's just not the case anymore for teh pixel. What does this phone offer?
So let's start with its design.
The pixel has this iPhone look design that i've held many times in the EE store and i gotta say, it's way more comfortable to hold than the iPhone. The fingerprint reader is at the back just like the nexus 6p. And there's a headphone jack thank god! However, the overall design, is dull and boring. There's noting chocking about it, it just looks like a normal smartphone. Reminds me of a cheap Chinese manufactured one to be exact. This massive chin you get at the bottom of the phone isn't pleasing either. But at least there's no camera bump! It's Amazing Camera
The Camera is amazing! The colours pop, but not to over saturated. EIS (electronic image stabilization) is stable but can at times occasionally stutter when compared to Optical. It shoot's in 60fps and even in 4k at 30fps. And all this is running with a 12.3mp rear and 8pm at the front.
This Phone even got the best DxO rating of 89! Making this best camera smartphone on the market right now. Which is a good job done by Google for those who care about camera quality these days. Here are some example shots.Specs:
Now before I get into the next and big feature if this phone. Here are the specs of this thing for all you spectacle geeks.
Source: Google
No i'm not talking about the "Okay Google" voice/now assistant. This is new!
and its literally called the Google Assistant. It's a feature that's exclusive to the pixel. And its a bit like google now, except that its AI and you can actually have a conversation with it and its super user to get where you need to be, set reminders, find photos, send messages and make calls. It's there just like Siri, except that it has Google service built right in. So you get the best of what google's search engine has to offer along side other google services. It what makes stock android feel even newer than it is with 7.0 nougat running in the back. And after testing this out in the EE store. I was blown away on how fast and responsive it is. It works like a charm. So to show you more about it, since there's loads more features to it. Here's a video of Google themselves giving us a demo of how it works.
My overall impressions of the phone, is that it's fantastic. I feel that its software is unique and the camera is mind blowingly awesome! However the build quality and price, does put me off. Is this best android smartphone to buy? The answer is Yes!
But if you want a phone under £600. Then look somewhere else. Ever since the introduction of smartphone's I have had this conception of having the latest and greatest gadgets that was cool, popular and exciting. And that mainly started with the introduction of the iPhone back in 2007. (I am using the iPhone as an example for this post, as it's a mainstream phone that many users have) It was a gadget that had potential of becoming something great and it succeeded up to many of today's standards of consumer desires. However for some like me, that is not the case anymore. I am not having a dig at Apple for replacing the headphone jack or the company not being the same as it was after Steve Jobs death. That's for another time. This is not even just about Apple! This is involve's all Tech companies that are ravaging our minds with product ads that show a fancy new gimmick featured gadget, that we somehow need? But in reality are just turning us into robots by controlling our demise to NOT live a courageous and communicative life. It's mainly got to do with why as a society all around the world we suddenly have the need to own the latest and greatest gadget that was pretty much the same iteration as of last years or the year before that, or the year before that. We seem to be spending more on the less and the same features from a product that we already own. I'll give you guys an example. My iPhone 6 which is my current daily driver as of today is just as powerful as any other flagship smartphone that we have seen today. Maybe I am over exaggerating on it being just as powerful than many flagships from this year....but it is dam close! Specs don't matter anymore!
As you can see above I compared both the single core scores and the multi core score of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 7. Both these devices are 2 years apart and the iPhone 7 has double the score. You maybe thinking right now, " The iPhone 7 is so much faster and handless application really well", and....you're right! "So what's your point?...." My point is 'REAL WORLD USE'. Smartphones, Tablets and Laptops/desktops...are simply fast enough from the day of purchase to handle whatever you throw at it. We all know that..... However! These devices slow down over time and its sometimes our fault because a lot of us in the world aren't tech illiterate to operate maintenance tasks on these machines. We don't leave them to rest there hardware and software, we don't clear out junk that we don't need, we don't optimise the CPU, GPU and RAM. The average consumer does not know or do that, because they are not tech illiterate and from the date of purchase, they expect it to just work for as long as they keep it. It really comes down to how well you take care of your device, that will determine how great on the performance side it will be overtime. But that's another thing! We don't keep these tech products. We replace them. And that's because they get slow and because it's not got the latest and greatest gimmicks. And that's what a lot of company's do. They slow down older generations of there products with there newest software overtime, as it's a marketing scheme to make the average consumer think, "Oh.......my phone/computer/tablet is slow...i'm gonna buy a new phone/tablet/ computer, so that I can run things faster" We need to be aware on how new software has an effect on our gadgets. And also....do you need that new gimmick to a smart phone? Just look at 3D touch. Are you seriously going to replace a phone that works perfectly with a new phone that has 1 new gimmick on it, just because it looks cool and its new. I mean if this new gimmick is going to help you a lot with what you do with your smartphone, then go a head. It's your money. I'm not telling you what to buy and what not to buy. I'm telling you to really think about what you are going to spend and if its necessary. Just don't complain not being able to pay your rent this month.......or next. Trust me! It feels so much nicer when you actually have a valid reason to replace your device. Because when you've had a device for such a long time and then suddenly need a new replacement, that latest and greatest gadget, whether it's a new smartphone that you just got, looks so much different, runs way more faster, takes fantastic photos and videos and has new features that are innovative and will hopefully impact your life in a good way. You will be more excited about having your new phone and more appreciative of how long your old phone lasted you for. Smartphones, tablets, computers and any other gadget, should have a life span of at least 4 or more years! It should! If for example you've paid £600 for a smartphone, you are gonna want to make that last! I mean, know i do. Heck! I'm hoping my iPhone 6, last's me as long as possible. It was a lot of money! I could travel to another country and spend a few nights there, rather than having the latest and greatest gadget thats the same as the next iteration of what you already have. It's a replacement you need. Not an Upgrade! This is something we should all be thinking about. Do we need to replace these devices? Because it's not exactly an upgrade.
An upgrade would be an upgrade in specs, whether that would be replacing the ram for more GB, upgrading the hard drive to a higher capacity, or upgrading the GPU and CPU, for better graphics and performance. It's not like most of the time we try and get our devices fixed either. A lot of the time consumers just by a new one or the latest to that predecessor. Think to yourself, the next time your device is broken. "I could get it fix and save more money...rather than buy a new one which will probably be the equivalent cost of going on holiday somewhere for the weekend." Now for carrier customers, I understand that a lot of you are on 1 - 2 year contracts with your smartphone or tablet. And your probably thinking right now, "well...once my contact ends I can get a new latest and greatest smartphone", That is true. But what are you really saving from it? It would be cheaper when your contract ends to Just go with a sim only plan and a insurance method. It was only just 4 months before writing this post, that I persuaded my family to keep hold of their smart phone and go with a sim only plan, on top of insurance, after there contract ends this year. It would save our family hundreds of pounds within the course of two years of a new contract. For example, my iPhone 6, 64GB, Three carrier contract includes all you can eat everything, minutes, texts and data for £54 a month. Hefty right? Well after my contract ends, i'm going with the giffgaf carrier sim only plan, with the same data plan as before, for £20 a month + insurance would probably be between £4- 7 a month. So therefore, I will be saving around £24 - 27 a month. That is £648 in a course of 2 years! That is the price of a high end smartphone! Almost the price for a really kickass computer. Or maybe that weekend holiday. Plus! phones and tablets are getting more expensive each year anyway, so of course as your next upgrade is due, you're probably gonna end up spending even more than you did 2 years ago. I know I have in the past. |