Smartphone Product Reviews And News
Smartphones are like miniature super computers in your pocket these days, with the ability to get serious productivity work done or kick back with some media consumption and gaming on the go. Smartphones are also more and more serving as life moment-capturing devices with fantastic digital still image shooting and video recording capabilities. Want to know what's the best hardware or latest news for Android or iOS? Tune in here...
The rate at which the industry is pumping out smartphones these days is staggering. Even more impressive is the rate at which truly outstanding phones are shipping, even from names that weren't significant just a few years ago. BLU, Xiaomi, OnePlus, and ASUS (just to name a few) have all produced handsets in recent months that rival the best...
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Back in early January, during our coverage of the Consumer Electronics Show, we gave you all a first glimpse of the Asus ZenFone 2. For those unfamiliar with the ZenFone 2, it is an Intel-powered smartphone, rocking Android Lollipop, that’s compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile, and other cellular networks that utilize...
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Calling the smartphone market "mature" is likely misguided, even if you consider its increasing saturation levels. In the U.S., however, much has changed over the past half-decade, but more important perhaps is what has become commonplace. While the initial players all jockeyed for their share of the smartphone pie, companies such as Kyocera...
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Relationships. Some go the distance. Others are of a more mercurial nature, such as the one between me and my iPhone. As much as I loved my iPhone, I've always found iOS to be somewhat immature and not quite serious (a problem that plagues most Apple-produced software), which probably explains why my eye has wandered towards Android phones...
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LG officially lifted the veil on their G4 flagship Android phone this week and the buzz has been fairly strong in anticipation for how it measures up versus stiff competition from Samsung and Apple. LG's display prowess is well known, along with their ability to pack a ton of screen real estate into a smaller frame...
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About a year ago, we were in a similar spot. We had the latest Galaxy smartphone in hand, rand were comparing it to rivals from LG, Motorola, Apple, and Sony (just to name a few). Twelve months have passed, and as fate would have it, we've got yet another pair of Galaxy phones in the labs. This time, however, Samsung's got something that clearly...
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As has become the norm in the smartphone era, major manufacturers are seemingly expected to launch a new version of their flagship phone annually. On top of that, the average consumer clearly expects greater improvements and features with each successive release. It’s a tall order to meet such demands on an annual...
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In the past couple of years, the high-end Android smartphone market in the US has largely been dominated by Samsung, LG, and HTC. Although Sony continues to compete in the mobile market, Verizon Wireless customers haven’t seen a Sony-branded phone since the Xperia Play in 2011. As you may recall, the Xperia Play didn’t sell as well as Sony...
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This is one of those times when it feels great to finally see a product get announced, as it feels like we've been waiting forever for this one. Today, at Mobile World Congress, Samsung took the veil off of its much-anticipated Galaxy S6, and also the Galaxy S6 edge.
As has been heavily rumored, the S6 foregoes the...
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ASUS is a relative newcomer to the smartphone market in the US, but they have had worldwide presence for quite some time. Overseas customers have long enjoyed access to devices such as a giant 7-inch smartphone that makes American phablets look tiny by comparison. Even though most consumers are no longer put off by holding up 5 -...
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This might not come as a huge surprise, but researchers have confirmed that our intense mobile use has affected our brains - but don't worry, there's no proof here that it's for the worse. Both the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich believe that the way we interact with our mobile devices could prove extremely useful for research, since it
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We applaud companies willing to push the envelope with innovative new design approaches. Sometimes their efforts aren't rewarded with complete market acceptance, but unique features and hardware that attempt to blaze new trails in existing markets, are always interesting to say the least. In a way, the Galaxy Note Edge fits...
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Samsung announced today that it has begun volume production of its 8Gb LPDDR4 memory chips, with expected commercial shipments in 2015. The announcement is noteworthy for a number of reasons. First, one of the most important characteristics of a modern mobile device is its battery life, and moving to a new memory...
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Large screen smartphones, a.k.a. phablets, are expected to account for nearly 25% of all smartphone shipments this year. Given the popularity and prevalence of these large-screen devices which includes LG’s G3, Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4, and HTC’s One Max, it’s not surprising that Google is...
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Samsung deserves much of the credit for ushering in today’s trend of large-screened smartphones, often referred to as "phablets." Whether you’re a fan of big smartphones or not, there is a no denying that the original Samsung Galaxy Note set the stage for the battles currently being waged in the smartphone market. If larger-screened devices...
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It feels like only yesterday that we were whipping up last year’s holiday gift guide, but somehow a full year has passed and we’re staring yet another winter in the face. Don’t fret, though — just because you haven’t prepared for this season doesn’t mean that you’re hung out to dry. As the technology behind smartphones, tablets, and laptops...
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When Motorola introduced the Moto X last year, the company was owned by Google. In our hands-on review of the first-generation Moto X, we pointed out that the collaboration between Motorola and Android engineers led to an incredibly sleek device and a good user experience. Although the first-generation Moto X didn’t have quite as...
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So you've been tempted by Apple's new big, beautiful 5.5-inch computer-in-your-pocket known as the iPhone 6 Plus. I mean if you're going to get a new smartphone, surely anything labeled "Plus" by Apple must be all that and a bag of Fritos, right? And #bendgate? You couldn't care less about what a few clumsy...
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When introducing the iPhone 6 Plus, Apple described it as the “biggest advancement in iPhone history.” Naturally, the use of “biggest” was quite intentional, a pun almost. Prior to 2014, Apple’s entire iPhone line had only ever had two screen sizes: 3.5-inch and 4-inch. Those sizes were perfectly acceptable...
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Here's a PSA from your favorite tech website (HotHardware, of course!): Verizon Wireless is now offering Advanced Calling 1.0 across its nationwide network on select smartphones. Advanced Calling is more commonly known as Voice over LTE, or VoLTE, with Verizon's offering a first-generation service suite available on...
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Today, Apple unveiled the upcoming iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, ending months of speculation over whether or not the company would ever move to larger screens or higher PPI. The answer, it turns out, is yes -- the iPhone 6 will pack a 4.7-inch screen while the iPhone 6 Plus has a 5.5-inch screen. Resolution on the iPhone 6 is...
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Yesterday at its Unpacked Event in New York City, Samsung announced a couple of new high-end smartphones and a companion virtual reality headset, namely the Galaxy Note 4, the Galaxy Note Edge, and the Galaxy Gear VR. Just in case you missed the initial announcement, the Galaxy Note 4 features a 5.7-inch Quad HD...
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