dimanche 7 août 2016

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 review





KEY FEATURES

  • 5.7-inch, quad-HD Super AMOLED display
  • Octa-core CPU
  • 4GB RAM
  • 64GB internal storage
  • microSD expansion
  • S-Pen
  • Android 6.0.1
  • Fingerprint and Iris scanner
  • USB-C
  • Fast and wireless charging
  • 3,500 mAh battery
  • IP68 water resistance
  • 153.5 x 73.9 x 7.9mm, 169g
  • 12MP camera, f1.7 aperture
  • 5MP selfie camera
  • Manufacturer: Samsung
  • Review Price: £749.00
The 12-megapixel camera has large Dual Pixels that let in more light, and the wide f/1.7 aperture makes it surprisingly easy to achieve shots with lovely bokeh, where the background blurs out and you’re left with the subject in focus.
Testing a camera in a demo room is tricky, but from what I've seen the Note 7 should perform just as well as the S7 and S7 Edge. The camera app opens almost instantly with a double-tap of the home button, and it’s got all the tricks you’d expect – 4K recording, auto-HDR, slow-mo and much more.
Like the Galaxy S7 Edge before it, the Note 7 is an absolutely stunning phone, with curved edges making the display melt into the metal rim.

The 5.7-inch screen is big, but the Note 7's curved back makes it easier to hold than the iPhone 6S Plus and Nexus 6P – though you’ll probably still need two hands to use it most of the time.
My only gripe with the design is the phone's glass back, which, if it’s anything like those of the S6 and S7, won't be the toughest around. I’ve been using a Galaxy S7 Edge for the best part of four months and the back cracked quite dramatically in the top corner after a single tiny drop.
The 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display only comes with that Edge-style curvature – there’s no ‘flat’ option like there is with the S7. It’s still quad-HD too, not 4K like the rumours suggested, but in my mind this isn't a big deal. 4K on mobile is overkill and the Note 7's screen is one of the best phone displays I've ever used, if not the best. Colours are bright, but not oversaturated, text is crisp and blacks are inky.
The screen also comes with new ‘Mobile HDR’ tech. Mobile HDR is a riff on the high-dynamic range feature that makes high-end televisions look so good. It gives you increased contrast and brightness, with a wider differentiator between light points and dark points.

During my demo I was told you’ll be able to use HDR when watching videos on Amazon Prime, but it wasn’t confirmed whether it’s a benefit of the screen itself or if the selected app can simply harness the screen's capabilities better. The display didn’t look noticeably brighter than the one on my S7 Edge, but I didn’t get to try out any video. I'll just have to wait until I get a full review model before I can test out Mobile HDR.
The iris scanner is another exclusive feature that beefs up the Note 7's security. There’s a small sensor above the display that, once set up, will read your eyes and unlock the phone. It sounds simple, but I doubt I’ll be using it instead of the fingerprint scanner.

During my tests I found the scanning process to be a little slow, and I could open the phone quicker with my thumb than my eye. You have to turn the screen on, press the home button and wait for it to scan your eye before it unlocks. I'm also concerned it won't work very well for people with glasses – the person demoing it to me had to repeatedly remove his specs to get it to work – and that it'll struggle in poor light.
The biggest Galaxy Note 7 feature, and the thing that really sets it apart from the S7 Edge and pretty much every other phablet, is the S Pen. If you’re new to the Note series, the S Pen is a stylus that fits snugly into the bottom of the phone, popping out when you want to jot down a note. I've never been a fan of styluses, though – they seem unnecessary when my finger is good enough to jot notes and navigate menus.
But I know a lot of you love the S Pen and for existing fans it's a great stylus with a bunch of really nice abilities. It’s slim and sturdy, and it’s water resistant just like the phone. Pop it out and a menu will appear, highlighting all its functions. The most basic is jotting down notes, but its 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity make it great for arty drawing too.
The S Pen has some other tricks, too. Hover over text and you can instantly translate it, or press down on a YouTube video and you’ve got yourself a GIF. Cooler still, bring out the pen while the display is off and you can write a note on the blank panel.
The Note 7's battery is actually smaller than the one in the 5.5-inch Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, measuring in at 3,500mAh rather than 3,600mAh. It's a small difference, but I've found the S7 Edge’s battery life to be wildly inconsistent, so I have some initial concerns about the Note 7's. Thankfully there’s Fast Charging on board – both wired and wireless – and this is the first Samsung phone to utilise USB-C, which was a surprising omission from the Galaxy S7.
That does mean, though, that the Note 7 won’t work with your old Gear VR, but – surprise! – Samsung has you sorted. It’s selling an updated Gear VR with a USB-C port that comes in a sleek black colour and has an improved design. It’s also much comfier to wear, thanks to a toughened foam wrapping and more customisable headstrap. There’s also an external port, so in theory you can plug a Galaxy Gear 360 directly into the headset.
Software has always been a sore point on Samsung devices, due to their use of the TouchWiz UI. I feel like I say this in every Samsung review, but the Note 7 has the cleanest TouchWiz UI layer yet. It’s sparser than before and a lot of the annoying bright colours have been replaced with pastel shades. The default apps are a lot cleaner, and the icons are less childlike.
A particularly nifty software feature is the Secure Folder. This is far more than just a folder that’s locked away behind a passcode, as it actually acts as a separate OS. Throw the Twitter app in there and it’ll be a clean install, letting you add a completely new account. It’s backed up by Samsung’s Knox software and can be secured by a fingerprint, iris, password or passcode. I can see this being useful to not only hide your secret second personality on Twitter, but to also, ahem, conceal those pictures you don’t want to accidentally scroll through in a business meeting.

EARLY VERDICT

In many ways, the Galaxy Note 7 isn’t a huge step beyond what Samsung already offers. There’s been no great leap forward in display resolution, processor power, RAM or battery capacity. Even so, this feels like it could be the must-have phone of 2016.
It's a gorgeous phablet that instantly catches your eye with its sloping sides and minimal bezels. Hold it and it feels fantastic. It might be big, but I never felt like I was going to drop it. The screen is stunning too, and it's going to be as fast as anything on the market.
I said this in my Samsung Galaxy S7 review, but Apple needs to do something exceptional with the iPhone 7 if it hopes to compete with Samsung in 2016.


Samsung galaxy j7 review




Samsung's J-lineup may be following the Galaxy S and A-series from a respectful distance - but is in perfect lockstep in terms of upgrades. While the flagship pair and the upper midrange A-series are understandably grabbing the global headlines, the Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) was first announced for a number of Asian markets.
The affordable J-series are betting big on India - where the big-screened ringleader has been a popular choice. However, we found the original Samsung Galaxy J7 quite capable of making a splash in Europe too, and it didn't disappoint.
Less than a year later, the new generation is out and it looks perfectly happy with simply putting a proven formula to work.
The Galaxy J7 (2016) gets a new metal finish, a bigger battery and Marshmallow on top of a more recent, and slightly more capable, chipset. All welcome upgrades for the most prominent of the J-series but that's all Samsung could afford and stay on budget.
Just like the original, the 2016 model is offered in two versions on different markets: you can get either a Snapdragon or an Exynos chipset. The difference is negligible though, considering they both have eight Cortex-A53's.
Here go the rest of the specifications at hand.

Key features

  • Dual-SIM, Dual Standby capability, microSIM
  • 5.5-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen of 720p resolution and 268ppi
  • Exynos 7870 ; octa-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A53; Mali-T830 GPU
  • 2GB of RAM, 16GB of inbuilt storage, microSD slot (up to 128GB)
  • 13MP main camera with f/1.9 lens, LED flash, 1080p@30fps video recording
  • 5MP front camera with LED flash, f/2.0 lens, 1080p@30fps video recording
  • Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with TouchWiz
  • LTE Cat.4, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n; Bluetooth v4.0; NFC, GPS, GLONASS, microUSB 2.0 port, USB host
  • 3,300mAh removable battery
  • Plastic back, metal frame

Main disadvantages

  • No noise canceling mic
  • Only 2.4GHz Wi-Fi
  • No MHL (but USB OTG is supported)

Curiously, the very first announcement of the Galaxy J7's 2016-edition revealed a 1080p screen bur we can now officially confirm that this version of the phone will only be available in China.
The rest of the specs are more or less identical between the 2015 and 2016 editions. Obviously, the quality of selfies is still an important selling point, so the Galaxy J7 (2016) packs an updated 5MP front-facer with a fast f/1.9 aperture and an LED flash.
Overall, the Galaxy J7 (2016) seems like a small step forward for the J-series, but if Samsung found the right bits to tweak, we may be looking at simple and affordable package that just got better.
As usual, we get the review underway with the unboxing and hardware overview and hope to find out soon

Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) 360-degree spin

One issue we had with the original J7 was that it used Samsung's old design language. Now that the new aesthetic introduced by the Galaxy S6 flagships is finally becoming available to the lower ranks, the Galaxy J7 (2016) is narrower, shorter and only a tad thicker than its predecessor at 151.7 x 76 x 7.8mm. And it packs a bigger battery as well.

nterestingly enough, the larger capacity hasn't come at the expense of weight, and due to improved materials and lighter components, the new Galaxy J7 is a gram lighter than the outgoing model.

Hardware overview

Just like the Galaxy J5 (2016), the bigger J7 comes with a new design compared to its predecessor. The plastic build of old makes way to a new, more stylish metal frame. To be fair, there's still plastic to be found but the back cover sports a tastefully done brushed metal finish that works pretty well.
There's a subtle camera bump, but it's not much of an issue. The ensemble including a LED flash and a speaker grille is well designed.


The Galaxy J7 (2016) display has a fair bit of bezel, but nothing that gets in the way. Below the screen, Samsung's traditional home button is surrounded by a capacitive Task switcher on the left and a Back button on the right.
Above the display, there's a front-facing camera on the left with the LED flash unusually positioned on the opposite side. In the center, there's an earpiece and a proximity sensor. Sadly, like in the smaller Galaxy J5 (2016) an ambient light sensor is missing here.
Handling the Galaxy J5 (2016) is a pleasure. If five and a half inches of screen diagonal aren't too much for you, the metal frame and solid weight make up for a pretty nice feel in hand.

Samsung galaxy j5 review


The Galaxy J5 (2016) is the centerpiece of the company's mid-range portfolio for the year. With its predecessor becoming a huge hit in developing markets, the company really needs the 2016 model to come out good and help keep Chinese makers at bay.
A quick glance at the specs sheet shows that Samsung followed the "If it's not broken, don't fix it" saying to the letter. With the internals mostly unchanged, Samsung chose to focus on the design instead, hoping that the metal body will help its offering stand out.

You also get a bigger battery and the screen grew by .2", but that's mostly it with other changes being so minor that they mostly fall in the adjustments category. Here's the full scoop.

Key features

  • Aluminum frame around plastic body with an exchangeable back cover
  • 5.2" Super AMOLED display of 1280 x 720px resolution; 267 ppi
  • Qualcomm MSM8916 Snapdragon 410 chipset; quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU; Adreno 306 GPU; 2GB of RAM;
  • 16GB of built-in memory; microSD card slot (up to 128GB)
  • 13 MP main camera with f/1.9 aperture; phase detect autofocus; LED flash; face detection; 1080p video recording
  • 5MP front-facing camera with f/1.9 aperture; LED flash
  • Cat. 4 LTE (150/50Mbps); Wi-Fi b/g/n; Bluetooth 4.1; GPS/GLONASS/BDS; microUSB; NFC
  • 3100mAh Li-Ion battery, user-removable

Main disadvantages

  • Entry-level chipset
  • No noise canceling mic
  • Only 2.4GHz Wi-Fi


The metal frame gives you a piece of mind as well as a nice feel in the hand. We'd certainly appreciate a bit of premium feel in an otherwise mid-range offering. However, it would mean nothing if it comes at the expense of proper smartphone experience. And since Samsung didn't feel the need to change the processing power from the previous generation Galaxy J5 we'd be sure to carefully check that. Perhaps supplying the newer Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and bumping the RAM to 2GB is all it took to keep the J5 (2016) relevant.

Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) 360-degree spin

As we said, the Galaxy J5 (2016) packs a slightly larger display than its predecessor and this has resulted in slightly larger footprint. The phone stands at 145.8 x 72.3 x 8.1 mm, so the good news is Samsung managed to keep the thickness of the phone almost unchanged despite the increase in battery capacity.

Hardware overview

The Galaxy J5 (2016) comes with a much needed design overhaul - gone is the generic plastic, which was sturdy but not quite premium looking or feeling, to be replaced by a nicely crafted metal frame. In short, you wouldn't have bought the first-gen Galaxy J5 for its looks. The story with this new one is different.
The frame is chamfered at the front and back while the sides are finished in the phone's main color. They're also flat, for better grip. At first sight, you can't really tell that it's metal, though.
At the back, the plain plastic cover of yesteryear is replaced by one that imitates brushed metal. While there's a camera bump, it's not irritating. We like how Samsung tastefully designed the main speaker grille next to it, too. The LED flash on the right side of the camera has the same cutout like the grille.

Up front, the Galaxy J5 (2016) display is surrounded by some bezel, but nothing overboard. Below it, there's Samsung's traditional home button surrounded by a capacitive Task switcher on the left and a Back button on the right.
Above the display, there's a front-facing camera on the left with the LED flash unusually positioned on the opposite side. In the center, an earpiece, and a proximity sensor sit between them. Sadly, there's no ambient light sensor here.
  Handling the Galaxy J5 (2016) is a pleasure. Its metal frame and higher than average weight make up for a pretty nice feel in hand.

Samsung galaxy j2 review





Samsung is flying high on the wings of its flagships success, but it hasn't turned its back on the entry-level market. The Galaxy J2 is the latest affordable smartphone by Samsung, having its sight on strengthening Samsung's push for low-end market dominance. The Galaxy J5 and the more distant Galaxy J1 were rather successful previous endeavors in this segment and history is quite likely to repeat itself with the Galaxy J2. If our readers' immense interest is to be the judge of that, Samsung is ought to pop the champagne early.
The Galaxy J2 follows a simple recipe - cut corners wherever possible, but keep user experience as solid as possible. Samsung has been in this particular kitchen far too long and this latest dish isn't undercooked.
It all starts with a solid foundation that is the in-house made Exynos 3475 chipset and 1GB of RAM. This configuration runs Android 5.1.1 Lollipop effortlessly and secures 4G data speeds - although it does skimp on the FullHD video recording. The user experience is delivered on a 4.7" Super AMOLED panel - an adequate size for a 2015 smartphone and you know us - we're suckers for AMOLED technology.
Where the Galaxy J2 falls short is the resolution of the said screen. It is a qHD one (960 x 540 pixels) and we sure hope it's not a deal breaker in this price range. Let's check out what else you're getting for the money.

    Key features

  • 4.7" Super AMOLED display with qHD resolution; 234ppi
  • Samsung Exynos 3475 chipset; quad-core 1.3GHz Cortex-A7 CPU; Mali-T720 GPU; 1GB of RAM
  • 5MP main camera with a LED flash, auto-focus; 720p video capture at 30fps
  • 2MP front-facing camera, 480p video at 30fps
  • TouchWiz UI on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
  • 8GB of built-in storage; microSD expansion slot
  • Dual SIM, LTE Cat.4, Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, FM radio, microUSB
  • Dual-microphone active noise canceling
  • 2,000mAh removable battery

     Main disadvantages

  • Unremarkable, derivative design language
  • Low resolution screen
  • Connectivity lacks dual-band Wi-Fi

The Galaxy J2 suffers from similar drawbacks as many of its competitors in the low-end smartphone market. Nevertheless, the Super AMOLED display is a welcome upgrade from the previous generation Galaxy J1. The user experience is possibly further enhanced by Android 5.1.1 Lollipop running on the modest, yet decent enough Exynos 3475 chipset.

Charming customers with a solid user experience and a familiar Samsung build quality won't be enough, though. In this segment price is king and the company isn't fresh out of college to ignore that so the Galaxy J2 is competitively priced on its target Asian markets at around $125/€110.
Join us as we're about to explore the Samsung Galaxy J2 further and see if it's the bestseller in disguise some are pitching it to be.

samedi 23 juillet 2016

zte nubia z7 max review




Nubia Z7 is another flasghip from Nubia after the Nubia X6 this year, there are some serious improvements and the new Z7 is a serious smartphone that should serve to cement ZTE’s reputation as a world-leader in high-end smartphone design. It has been worth the hype and the wait and what follows is why.
1 The Build-Up
The Nubia Z7 is the new, long-awaited flagship from ZTE, following on from the competetive Nubia X6 . Since the announcement of the Z7 there have been teasing photographs released and even an online questionnaire trying to get people to guess the specs of the Nubia Z7, generating a buzz without giving much away. The teasing can stop now though, because it is finally available and with all the hints and obscure photographs forgotten, what do we actually have left? Is there anything special underneath all the intriguing marketing ploys? Well it turns out there are a series of phones, not just the one. The Nubia Z7 Max and Z7 Mini have been released simultaneously. For this review though, we’ll focus on the Nubia Z7 flagship only, and yes, it is actually pretty special.
2 Appearance
Firstly the Nubia Z7 a well-designed smartphone, with the teaser pictures being an accurate portrayal of the square shape and metallic sides, it looks a bit like an iPhone or an Ascend P6/P7. The black front and black back cover give the phone a very stylish look

There’s the (now customary) red ring around the camera and enter button we’ve come to expect from ZTE too. The camera is set deep into the phone, with no protrusions, making the viewpoint better and giving the smartphone a better look and feel. Overall the appearance manages to be uncluttered, sleek and distinctive at the same time, quite an achievement and making a very attractive smartphone. It’s quite slim too, only 8.5mm thick, making it light for it’s size and easily carried around, the cover has a good feel too and it doesn’t get marked by fingerprints easily and not too slippery in the hand.
The Nubia Z7 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor, which while acceptable, is a bit of a let-down. Most of us already have a quad-core smartphone, and people are now expecting octa-core from new flagships. There are already many octa-core flagships on the way that the Z7 will have to compete with so this may well be an issue. Why not wait a few more months and take your pick from the range of octa-core devices available instead? The processor isn’t terrible, just nothing new, and performance shouldn’t suffer too much; it is a pretty capable piece of kit and there’s plenty of RAM for it to play with (3GB). The GPU is a Adreno 420, and there’s 32GB ROM too, which is expandable through MicroSD so there’s no problem storing a lot of your games or other large files. If you’re intending to download a television series, go right ahead.
The display is a lovely 2560 x 1440 resolution 5.5 inch screen, given it a truly impressive pixel count (445 PPI) and making gameplay and video playback HD quality. It is the first phone to have a RAM-supported auto-refresh function for its 2K screen. All this is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, which keeps the screen safe from scratches and cracks, which is great, it would be a tragedy to have all this capability and ruin it with screen damage. There aren’t any better display packages on the market at the moment and if this feature is something you look for then you won’t go far wrong here.
There is also a developed User Interface, with the Android 4.4 Kitkat overlayed with the Nubia UI, which has been upgraded to Nubia 2.0. Without using the phone it is hard to tell whether this makes a massive difference but it will be interesting to see what the new features and tweaks are in this newer interface.
3 Camera
One major bonus of the Nubia Z7 is the 13MP OSI optical Vibration Reduction rear camera, purported to have taken this picture of the Milky Way with the help of a star tracker. It supports a f/2.0-f/22 aperture and its photo software is the new Neo Vision 4.0.  This is a great camera, which also benefits from OIS optical stability function and LED flash, so for people who take a lot of photos, this would be a huge advantage. The front camera is 5 MP, which is perfectly fine for a front shooter.
 4 Verdict 
The Nubia Z7 is a good phone with some great features making some great progress from its predecessor the X6. For those who require a good camera and excellent display, you won’t find much better available on the market. With the only let-down being the quad-core processor, and this not being poor, just not brilliant, the phone itself is definitely a triumph. For the price tag you’re getting a very well-designed and powerful device that really is a flagship to take notice of, especially if camera and display are your thing. It is these areas where the Z7 excels, and there really isn’t anything available at the moment that can beat it.

vendredi 22 juillet 2016

Huawei Honor V8 KNT-AL20 review





Description

1. Dual Back Cameras, Fingerprint Identification
2. 5.7 inch TFT incell capacitive 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution screen
3. EMUI 4.1 base on Android 6.0 OS
4. Kirin 950 Octa Core 4*Cortex A72 2.5GHz + 4*Cortex A53 1.8GHz + micro smart core I5 CPU, Mali T880 GPU
5. Power by 3500mAh high battery
Specification:
General
ModelHonor V8 KNT-AL20
DesignBar
SIM QuantityDual SIM
SIM TypesNano SIM Card
CPU Processor8 Core
RAM4GB
ROM64GB
External memoryTF card up to 128GB (not included)
Additional FeaturesNFC, OTG
Display
Screen Size5.7 inch
Screen TypeTFT
Resolution2560 x 1440 pixels
Camera
Camera Quantity3
Front Camera8.0MP
Back Camera12.0MP x 2
Video recordingYes
Media Format
AudioMP3AACWAVMIDIWMAFLACOGGAMRRA
VideoWMV3GPMP4RMVBASFRM
PicturePNGBMPGIFJPEG
E-bookPDFDOC
Battery
Battery Capacity3500mAh
Talk time25-25.5 hours (Theoretical)
Standby time437.5-454.5 hours (Theoretical)
Dimensions & Weight
Size157.00*77.60*7.75mm
Weight170g
Package Weight
One Package Weight0.52kgs / 1.14lb
Qty per Carton30
Carton Weight15.40kgs / 33.95lb
Carton Size42cm * 37cm * 37cm / 16.54inch * 14.57inch * 14.57inch