Is it just me, or has the smart phone market gone a bit quiet in the last few months?
Maybe that's what happens when one of the most anticipated devices of the year starts exploding in people's pockets.
In an unprecedented turn of events, suddenly lovers of phones with oversized screens were left with a lot less to choose from. Until now.
This could well be the moment Huawei has been waiting for. In the wake of the Note 7's spectacular demise, my feeling is Samsung users are still unlikely to cross to the dark side (iPhone). Google's Pixel XL models are an option, but they're an expensive option and I'm not sure how many people want to shell out $1400 plus for a relatively untested newcomer to the marketplace.
Meanwhile, Huawei has consistently been producing elegant, high-performance, non-exploding handsets for several years. The Mate 9 is clear evidence Huawei is more than ready to foot it with the biggest of the big boys.
There's small a list of things the Mate 9 is missing, but the list of things it's got going for it is a lot longer - and some of those things you won't find on another phone.
To start with, it's really pretty. Remember, this is a massive phone; the display is 5.9 inches. But because that screen stretches right to the very edge of the handset, it still fits easily in your hand. The curved back and noticeably bevelled edges make the Mate 9 even more comfortable still. It's super slim at the sides and the first phones available in New Zealand will be "Mocha Brown" in colour. This is not a dark brown, it's somewhere between gold and grey - very sophisticated.
The Mate 9 features the same innovative Leica camera as it's P9 predecessors, you know; the one with two lenses. This means amazing black and white options, as well as satisfactory low-light performance. However, as I found with the P9, the auto-shoot setting doesn't always produce stellar results and if you have the opportunity, you're probably better off fiddling with the settings to ensure the perfect shot. (At least those advanced settings are accessible with a simple swipe, and it's certainly worth the effort)
Sadly, Huawei still hasn't figured out how to charge wirelessly through a metal casing, but you do get genuinely fast charging via USB-C cable (that's the one that doesn't matter which way round you plug it in). The fast charger lives up to its name, especially considering the Mate 9's huge 4000mAh battery. It takes a battery that powerful to run a 5.9 inch screen and it was certainly interesting to note how easy it was to either save or waste power with a few tweaks (brightness settings, darker wallpaper etc). Don't worry, a long day's use is absolutely no problem on a full charge. The two days Huawei alludes to on its website is, as with any phone's publicity, pure hype. (Unless you just leave the phone in your pocket and never turn the screen on)
The Mate 9's fingerprint sensor is, without doubt, the best I've ever experienced. For starters, it's on the back, right where your index finger naturally sits. But it still works even if you pick up the phone sideways or upside down. Better yet, it turns the display on straight to your home screen, instantly. Even when my fingers were damp or greasy, I struggled to get the sensor to not work. Love it.
When it comes to the UI, Huawei has made some pretty significant tweaks. Yes, the EMUI interface is still installed over the top of the Android 7.0 OS, but now you can choose to tuck your icons away in an app drawer instead of being forced to scroll through screens and screens of apps and folders you hardly ever use (suck on that, iPhone users). But the real breakthrough is finally, FINALLY an over-sized phone comes with the native ability to display its home screen in landscape mode. Yes, my prayers (for years) have been answered at long last. Normally I'm forced to use Nova Launcher to set up a sideways home screen, but I didn't even install Nova on the Mate 9 - the new functionality let me customise everything quite satisfactorily indeed. In saying that, occasionally the Mate 9 was slow to recognise it had been unlocked in landscape mode and would require a little shake to straighten things out.
The Mate 9 even has a couple of secrets up its sleeve. While there's no on-board stylus as you'd find on a Sumsang Galaxy Note, you do still have the ability to multi-window, which is actually pretty useful on a screen of this size. The trick is how to activate it. I knew it was supposed to do it, I just couldn't see how. Eventually (on about the 3rd page of my Google search) I discovered something called a knuckle swipe. This unique gesture literally slices the display in half, allowing you to show and control 2 apps at once.
What I didn't know the Mate 9 could do is control my telly. It's been a while since I heard of any phone maker including IR capability on their handsets - Samsung stopped building it in years ago. I thought that was a weird decision, especially if you were already likely to be using your device to stream content to your home theatre. For some reason Huawei has brought that function back on the Mate 9, once again turning your phone into a universal remote. Good on them.
Huawei's now famous Kirin CPU keeps this phone working super fast, with a variety of options to improve download speeds. In short, the Mate 9 is designed to monitor the way you're using it and is supposed to actually speed up over time when other phones start to seem tired.
The display, while full HD, is not QUAD HD. No, don't worry - I don't really know what that means either. Apparently it may have limitations when it comes to displaying VR content. I'll consider this a limitation when I'm spending all day watching VR content. Till then, it looks fine to me.
Oh, it comes with a massive 64GB of storage as standard by the way, and you can use the dual sim tray to accommodate an extra microSD card if you should ever need more.
Sorry this review is so long, but this phone is really that good. I keep remembering more things I love about it - like the brilliantly intuitive keyboard or the easily accessible range of themes (I knitted my home screen its own festive jersey for Christmas). Yes, it's a significant jump in price ($300 more than the smaller P9), but I have no qualms claiming the Mate 9 is $300 better and it's still way cheaper than an iPhone 7 Plus.
No, the Mate 9 isn't waterproof, but it doesn't explode either. Huawei have successfully jumped into the ill-fated Note 7's gap and it might take Samsung a while to force them back out.
Click here for more information on the Huawei Mate 9
As big brand phone companies keep competing to boast the most sought-after device on the market, they continually add crazy features and high-spec components to turn your head. This means the prices seem to be going up and up too. Trouble is, it's so cool having the latest tech. If you can't justify a thousand-dollar-plus price-tag for something that could just as easily slip out of your pocket never to be seen again, Vodafone may have a solution...
The new Vodafone Smart 7 range features 3 options priced from $349 right down to - wait for it - $79. (With a fourth high-end model due for release next month)
For those of you who've dealt with pocket-change price-tag phones before, especially in-house branded devices, you've probably stuck with it for about a week before losing your mind and wishing you'd used the money for a down payment on "real" phone.
In my experience, anything under $150 means no storage, no processing power, no battery life, no screen size, no features and an obsolete operating system that won't run any of your favourite apps.
This is where Vodafone has seized the opportunity to offer something more... for less.
I've spent a fortnight comparing the Smart mini 7 with the Smart ultra 7 and there were plenty of surprises waiting for me - most of them good.
Each of these latest handsets from Vodafone were designed to run the latest Android build from the word go, even the Smart mini 7. So unlike most other budget phones, all your apps should function the same way they would on any other Android device.
Both phones I tried had good battery life, easily seeing me through the day, although I must point out, the Smart ultra 7 was much faster when it came to charging.
The Vodafone home screen launcher is pretty user friendly, not too different from what you'd find on a Google phone like the Nexus or using the Google Now Launcher. I could have done without the Google search bar at the top of every home screen though. I tried to find a way to turn it off but failed.
Both phones provided excellent sound quality over bluetooth connections and I was also impressed with the motion sensors; even the $79 phone was quick to respond when I changed from portrait to landscape and back again.
However, there's only so much you can expect from an entry-level phone at an extremely entry-level price.
It's all about storage. Call me Mr Cynical, but I've always been highly suspicious of the way devices are priced because of the amount of storage space they boast. I simply can't believe it costs that much more to manufacture a chip with 64GB capacity than a chip with 4GB. Yes, you read that right. The Smart mini 7 only comes with 4GB storage, which is mostly taken up with system files anyway. So unless you already have a microSD card to slot into it, you'll definitely need one for this phone to be any use to you at all.
At least it does have a memory expansion slot, so your 4GB phone can become a 36GB phone in seconds. But remember, there are certain limitations to using a microSD as your main storage partition. There's no problem saving all your photos, music and videos to your added memory space and you can install apps on it too. But I found any apps saved to the microSD lost the ability to run their associated widgets on the home screen. If you don't understand what I just said, then this won't be a problem for you.
On the other hand, the Smart ultra 7 sports a more respectable 16GB internal memory (still a little thin by 2016 standards, but quite usable on its own)
The Smart mini 7 ran smoothly enough on its quad-core processor but with only 512MB of ram, things certainly slowed down quickly once any multi-tasking was attempted. On the other hand, its big brother features an octacore processor (dual quad-core configuration) and a full 2GB of ram, so flicking from app to app posed no problems at all.
I wasn't very impressed with the camera experience on either device. I didn't expect great shots from the smaller phone - at just 2MP the quality was never going to be exhibition standard. But the 13MP camera on the Smart ultra 7 wasn't much chop either. Many of my images came out blurred and I had to reshoot them. The selfie cameras on both phones worked well enough, with the budget VGA version on the Smart mini 7 doing a surprisingly good job of my Periscope videos. I'm thinking if photography is really your thing, you might have to move up into a different price bracket.
Of course, the most obvious difference between these two phones is screen size. 1.5 inches doesn't seem like a big difference on paper, but in reality, you simply can't compare a 4" screen with the Smart ultra 7's massive 5.5" display. There aren't actually that many phones out there with a screen that big. It's full HD and not only looks way better than the tiny Smart mini 7, but feels a lot nicer to use as well.
In fact, the Smart ultra 7 feels great just sitting in your hand. The attractive metal frame combined with the textured back cover provide a solid touch which is also very classy to look at. The Smart mini 7 is certainly lighter, but its all-plastic casing really does make it look and feel like a cheaper phone.
Which it is of course. WAY cheaper. And yet it carries out most functions required of a modern phone admirably, making it a great choice if you need a temporary phone in a hurry, or perhaps a first smart phone for one of the kids.
Meanwhile, the Smart ultra 7 is easily $270 better, just on screen size alone. It looks equally as sophisticated as handsets priced a thousand dollars more and it does most of the things they do. Neither phone would be my first choice for photos, but if you're working to a budget, they're the smart choice.
Click here for more information on the Vodafone Smart mini 7
Click here for more information on the Vodafone Smart ultra 7
It seems like every time I review a new Meizu phone, I end up with the same conclusion; it's hard to beat the value for the money. This time I'm starting with that conclusion, because you won't believe what you can now buy for way less than $400.
The M3 note is so good in so many ways, it's really hard to know where to begin.
So let's just look at it for a bit. The brushed aluminium casing is slim and smooth, without being slippery to hold. Despite the large display, the handset isn't much bigger than many phones with smaller screens and the curved edges make it extremely comfortable in the hand.
The M3 note is light, surprisingly so. After all, it is a large phone. The metal casing means the phone still feels sturdy though. I've dropped it at least once with no visible side effects. (I should probably stop dropping phones. It's not really what they're designed for)
So, big tick for style. And another tick for screen size. I'm not sure how many other 5.5inch displays there are out there anywhere near this price. If there are any, I can pretty much guarantee they won't have the processing power behind them to effectively run a screen that big.
The Meizu M3 note does. In terms of colour, contrast and clarity, this is not the number one viewing experience on the market. But then, it's not $1200 either. And it's actually a pretty good display.
The M3 note's genuine octa-core processor provides an impressively smooth user experience. I swapped between various apps seamlessly and download and installation speeds were great. Meizu seems to be going to great lengths to improve its Flyme UI experience. Each time I use it, I find it more intuitive than the last. As I've mentioned before, there is only one navigation button at the base of the handset, but that single button handles a variety of operations depending whether you tap, press or swipe it.
It also serves as the fingerprint scanner which, on this device, I found very reliable. Unlike many other attempts from other brands, this scanner worked almost always, unlocking the handset very quickly.
The cameras are excellent without being outstanding, with a full array of settings and effects within easy reach.
Apart from its low price, there are two other features that really set the M3 note apart from the pack.
Firstly, customisation. Not only are there literally hundreds of theme packs available straight out of the box (You can even make this thing look like an iPhone. Why you would want to is another question entirely) You're actually allowed to root the M3 note for ultimate access to it's system settings and tweaks. There's no trick to it - it's just another setting on the phone. This is previously unheard of but will be welcome news to tech-tragics like me who can now fiddle around under the hood to their heart's content.
Secondly, the battery. At a whopping 4100mAh, it's the highest-capacity battery on the market. In theory, this means super long life. As usual though, the claims from the manufacturer don't quite live up to the reality. Meizu seems to think you might get 2 days standard use out of this device on a single charge. This may be true if all you did was turn it on and not connect it to any wifi or bluetooth devices. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't caught short by unexpected battery drain but I certainly wasn't looking at a 65% sign at the end of the day either. However, I certainly was impressed with how fast the battery charged. Not wirelessly though. Oh well.
What was definitely noticeable was the dramatic increase in power consumption once I connected a smart watch to this phone - and battery drain wasn't the only issue here. Meizu has made considerable progress "New Zealandising" its user experience, working hard to ensure many of our most popular apps work reliably with their devices. Unfortunately, it seems to have some way to go when it comes to non-Meizu accessories, in my case an Android-wear watch.
While I had no problem receiving notifications from the M3 note on the watch, almost nothing worked in the other direction. I couldn't start and stop music or video with the watch. I couldn't reply to texts or emails. And perhaps most frustratingly of all, none of my Google voice commands worked. Given this is the most efficient way to operate any Android-wear device, I think Meizu has got some homework to do if it wants to sell its phones to smart watch wearers.
On the other hand, little annoyances I had encountered on previous Meizu handsets, like Periscope crashing, have not only been sorted, but in cases like Periscope, it now runs better on the M3 note than on many other phones.
That's what has impressed me most about this device; Meizu's obvious commitment to providing the end-user with the experience we actually want. This is the antidote to Apple's insistence the iPhone knows best and you'll use it the way Apple wants you too.
As for the price. At the risk of sounding like an infomercial, you simply won't get more phone for your dollar.
Click here for more information and pricing on the Meizu M3 note
...then this review may not be anywhere near long enough, because what Huawei has achieved with the P9 is the revival of the camera-phone.
There was a time, surprisingly recently, when having a mobile phone with a camera in it was considered pretty revolutionary. Of course, I could never see the point of it. After all, why would you want to take sub-standard photos you can't develop, when you've got a perfectly good digital camera you always remember to take with you wherever you go?
I'm really quite an idiot sometimes.
For me, the moment of photographic singularity happened in 2013 when my phone's pictures of Disneyland turned out way better than the ones I was taking with the stupid standalone camera. I think that camera's been sitting on a top shelf gathering dust ever since.
Of course, these days unless at least one of your phone's cameras is providing images into the double-digit megapixel range, you're basically living in the dark ages and you should take a good hard look at yourself and start questioning why so much of the 21st century has passed you by.
Decent photo quality has become the minimum expectation from any phone, in any price range - but Huawei's latest partnership with Leica has taken things to a whole new level.
The P9 features an innovative dual-lens camera, one RGB, one monochrome. Apparently this allows you to capture more light and detail than ever before with every shot. The P9 has a very quick brain, which then stitches together the information from both lenses to create the perfect pic.
That's the theory.
The Leica photo technology in the P9 is unquestionably the most advanced I've ever encountered in a phone. In fact, it's so advanced, many of my first attempts were worthless flops. I soon realised how dependent I'd become on "auto-mode" and I was actually a little nervous about accessing the many different settings and effects available.
In fact, it was a very similar experience to my first fumblings with an Android phone after being bossed around by Windows and Apple all my life. Suddenly I had a phone that would work the way I wanted it to instead of the other way around. Initially that kind of freedom can be intimidating and terrifying. But once you stop limiting your expectations and actually take the plunge, technical liberation is only a few failed experiments away.
Like an Android phone, the Leica camera on the P9 doesn't tell you how to use it, it waits for you to decide what you want to do, then supplies the tools to make that a possibility. Obviously there are the usual automatic options too, but that seems like a waste given the long list of enhancements Huawei now puts at your disposal.
Why add effects after you take the shot, when you can frame the shot with the effects. White balance, selective focus, aperture settings are all just a swipe away. Even features like time-lapse, slow-mo, audio notes and document scanning are standard, not an extra suite of apps you have to download.
When set to its default settings, in Huawei's usual style I found the colours to be a bit too colourful and the light slightly too bright. But these are minor adjustments, now easily corrected.
I was also extremely impressed by the clarity of the video footage, even when using the selfie camera. (Although, no amount of "Beauty Mode" ever really seems to save my mug - that would be miracle technology)
Obviously, having the dedicated monochrome lens means you can now shoot in genuine black and white, this is no longer just an effect. Some shots looked so sharp I almost felt like a real photographer, not just an idiot with a phone.
There's more to the P9 than a fancy camera, although surprisingly, just like the P8, the lenses and flash still sit completely flush with the rear casing, once again creating a minimalist, sleek, modern effect. The P9 is so slim and smooth, it reminds me of one of those pieces of glass you see people using as phones in sci-fi movies. Huawei is getting scarily close to making that a reality.
Unfortunately, sleek, slim and smooth does mean slippery and I found this phone to be disturbingly droppable in my clumsy mitts.
Speaking of fat fingers, while it's nice to have those dual camera lenses tucked away so subtly on top left corner, they're so close to the edge I occasionally had to re-shoot my pics when I discovered my fingers had spilled into the shot. This thing is a delicate piece of tech and needs to be held gently.
Maybe that's why I also struggled with the motion sensors. Given the incredible speed of Huawei's Kirin CPU, (which impressed me so much in the Mate 8) I was constantly frustrated with the lag in changing profiles from portrait to landscape. In fact, sometimes I had to tap or shake the phone to get the display to respond - a bit of a letdown when everything else works so fast.
As we've come to expect from most flagship phones, a fast charger is included and the battery life is excellent. For the P9, Huawei have moved to a Type-C charging cable which means less fiddling around but of course I'd still prefer wireless.
Like the Huawei-manufactured Nexus from last year, and this year's Mate 8, they've stuck with the fingerprint sensor on the rear casing, which is definitely more ergonomic than under the home key... especially since the P9 doesn't have a physical home key. The fingerprint sensor can also be used to take photos, answer calls, stop alarms, browse photos and even show the notification panel with a downwards swipe. Tricky.
Unfortunately, Huawei seems to have done nothing to improve its stock email and messaging apps (both boring and basic) or its functional-but-that's-all EMUI interface, which is really just window after window of all your apps. I imagine if you're anything like me, you'll replace all these things with your preferred apps as soon as possible.
Those are just niggles though and even if the Leica camera technology wasn't a genuine point of difference, the P9 would still sit proudly amongst the hottest phones on the market today. Therefore if pictures are your priority, you need to take the Huawei P9 into serious consideration.
Click here for more information on the Huawei P9
For some time I have been extolling the virtues of non-Samsung/Apple smart phones in an attempt to get people to think outside the square in terms of unique features and value-for-money.
Recently I was impressed with the economy and versatility of Meizu's m2 and m2 note handsets. Although they weren't the flashest devices available, they weren't trying to be and were priced accordingly.
So what does Meizu have to offer at the top of its range?
The Meizu PRO 5 is as attractive as any high-end phone, straight out of the box.
In fact, even before you open the box, the presentation is very classy, featuring tailor-made packaging for charger, cable, manual etc. The PRO 5 has a metallic feel and look that sets it well above its m2 stable-mates and although it's a maxi-size phone, its precisely engineered rounded edges keep it comfortable to hold and easy to grip.
As usual, being a Meizu device, you'll have to familiarise yourself with the slightly unusual Flyme interface, which is based solely around one central Home button instead of the more familiar 3-button set-up found on other Android phones. Meizu seems to have finessed the latest iteration of Flyme quite a bit, as I found it far more accurate and user-friendly than during my previous experiences, especially when swiping up to access open apps running in the background.
In saying that, taking a couple of minutes to get used to the Flyme O.S. is pretty much the most complicated thing about the PRO 5.
There is next to no pre-installed bloatware and very few unprompted reminder notices. It's basically a 5.7inch blank slate with a high-powered CPU waiting to do your bidding.
This is a massive advantage for those of us prefer to set things up just the way we like them - maybe we have a preferred mail client or perhaps a specific keyboard app that stores our typing preferences in the cloud.
On the other hand, if you like to be told exactly what to do and feel nervous about using anything other than the stock, factory-fitted email, messaging and calendar apps, you may end up feeling a little restricted and underwhelmed.
The email app on the PRO 5 is very bare-bones indeed, with no option for a split-screen landscape display which is unforgivable on a device with such a large screen.
The same applies for the stock messaging app, which again only displays in profile which once more, severely limits the size of your on-screen keyboard.
This is frustrating, because the keyboard itself is one of the best I have used. Normally I install SwiftKey so I can immediately access my preferred colour scheme and prediction settings, but the PRO 5 keyboard let me do all that just as efficiently so I kept it.
Like the stock email and messaging apps, the standard browser is also very no-frills, although this you CAN set to display widthways. I still opted for Chrome in the end. It seemed to work faster and it was already installed anyway.
Mechanically speaking, the PRO 5 functions very well indeed, available in either 3GB or 4GB chipset options. You'll also get twice the storage with the 4GB variant too, although you can use half the dual-sim slot for an SD card if you're not switching between networks.
Either way, you get memory and storage to burn, which means very fast operation and effective multi-tasking.
The 1080P screen is clear and sharp - not the brightest I have used, although you do have the option of adjusting the colour temperature to your individual preference.
The 21MP camera did not blow me away to be honest, but then the last couple of cameras I've used have really redefined how phones can take pictures in low light so when the PRO 5 only did an okay job of birthday candles, it left me a little ho-hum.
The battery life equation was interesting. The charge lasted really well until I started connecting bluetooth devices, then I could only squeeze out about a day's worth before recharging. On the bright side, the fast charger the PRO 5 ships with is genuinely quick, so if you can find a few minutes to top up somewhere along the way, that'll probably get you through easily enough.
Ultimately, I found the PRO 5 looked like a $1200 phone, it worked like a $1200 phone, but it didn't quite have the in-built features we've come to expect from a phone in that price-range.
Which is perfectly fine, because it's not in that price range; it's $300-$400 cheaper. Besides which, most of those other features you can just download from the app store.
If the PRO 5 is Meizu's first real attempt at high-end, I can't wait to see what comes next.
Click here for pricing and more information on the Meizu Pro 5
It's that time of year. Which smart phone will set the standard the rest will have to strive for?
Last year, Samsung was the clear winner with the Glaxy S6 Edge. Not just a better phone, but a better looking phone, featuring its breakthrough curvy screen.
So this year the expectations were high, but where could Samsung go from the high standard they'd already set?...
Wait, isn't that just a picture of the S6 and the S6 Edge? Nope, these are the new ones. Besides, if you were really paying attention, you would have noticed the difference in screen size. Unlike the S6 and the S6 Edge, the s7 Edge is a bit bigger than the S7.
Oh god, this is getting confusing already.
Like both the S6 and S6 Edge, the S7 still sports a 5.1" display. The S7 Edge's screen measures 5.5 inches. Just to muddy the waters even further, Samsung's Galaxy S6 Edge Plus (Perhaps the longest name of a phone ever) had a 5.7" screen.
What this all means is the only straight swap is the S7 for the S6. Why is the S7 Edge bigger? I can only speculate. Firstly, while the curvy screen looks totally sexy, I do feel like it leaves you with less usable surface on your homepage and I actually find it more difficult to control full-screen apps like games and video playback when some of your on-screen controls disappear around the corner. That's the practical theory. The other rumour floating around is the possible release of an XL Edge model at the end of the year; maybe even a full 6 inches to match Huawei's Mate 8.
But the real question is, apart from screen size, what's the difference between this year and 2015?
Well the good news is, Samsung have swallowed their pride and put back the 2 great features they took off us last year; we've got our SD slot back and they've made the phones waterproof again.
This means two major points of difference between the S7's and any iPhone.
Let's look at the storage issue first. While many of us have made the first tentative steps towards moving our photo, video and music libraries into the Cloud, accessing that via your phone (especially in New Zealand) still comes at a stiff price. (yes, I'm talking the actual price of data) That means the more storage you can plug into your phone, the less reliant you are on a decent 3g/4g connection to show someone your holiday snaps or play them your new favourite song.
The other reason you may decide the 32GB on-board storage doesn't quite cut it is Samsung's innovations in 3D virtual reality. Use any of their recent devices in concert with a set of Gear VR goggles and you'll soon discover 3D games and movies take up more than their fair share of storage. Introduce a 128GB SD card into the equation and memory space becomes a non-issue.
Both the S7 and the S7 Edge carry an IP68 water and dust resistance rating. (This is even better than the reasonably indestructible S5) What's more, unlike the Galaxy S5, there's no longer any pesky rubber plug to keep the charging port watertight. That also means no annoying reminder message to put that plug back in to keep the phone sealed, every time you disconnect your charger. Great work, Samsung. You've taken a fantastic feature and made it better than before.
Of course, both these handsets charge wirelessly, this is something Samsung has committed to for a while. Even better, the S7 and S7 Edge charge even faster than last year's models - and they were pretty darn quick. The battery life has also been extended and I'm now at the point where I've seen so many phones with great batteries it's not really worth mentioning unless they under perform.
This is all terrific news for Samsung fans and compelling reasons to consider an upgrade - and I haven't even begun on the features the new phones have we didn't ask for because we didn't know we needed them.
The camera for example. I think I can figure out what Video Collage and Slow Motion modes do. But what's Virtual Shot for? And I'm not sure I even dare to try Hyperlapse.
Not to worry, none of these things are compulsory. All you need to know is both camera's are better than ever. The auto-focus works faster than ever due to something Samsung has labelled "dual pixel" technology, and the phones take excellent pictures in all kinds of weird lighting conditions without having to use "Hyperlapse" mode at all.
The Galaxy S7 Edge brings us a new range of shortcuts that appear just along it's... edge. You can quickly access favourite contacts, apps, news and sports stories. You can even set up various notifications to appear subtly along the edge when the screen is locked with a sneaky finger swipe. A lot of this stuff seems designed specifically so you can still use your phone during meetings without anyone noticing. Pretty tricky. Pretty awesome.
The S7 and S7 Edge are also liquid cooled, just like high-end gaming PC's.
I couldn't tell.
The S7 and S7 Edge have new zoopy-doopy CPU's which work way faster than those sluggish 3GB chips from last year. (Yes, I'm being sarcastic about the sluggishness. They were awesome)
Trouble is, I didn't really notice that either.
I guess I would have noticed if things had got hotter and slower though, and that is certainly not the case.
So don't be fooled. While the S7's certainly bear a striking physical resemblance to their 2015 predecessors, there are plenty of solid reasons to trade up - even if some of those reasons (SD slot and water/dust resistance) were the same reasons you didn't take the plunge last year.
The best phones in the world are now just a little bit better.
And they're still the best.
Click here for more information on the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge
We expect technology to improve.
There is no clearer illustration of this than the evolution of the mobile phone. With each new release, we expect more advances in connectivity, display size and clarity, camera functionality, battery life, storage capacity and sheer computing power.
We expect a few surprise features along the way... maybe it's water-proof. Maybe it charges wirelessly. Maybe this time it won't bend when you put it in your pocket.
We expect each new phone to work faster than the one before.
But I never expected this...
The Huawei Mate 8 is one of those phones that makes you do a double take... when you first see it in the box, when you first hold it in your hand and ultimately when you fire it up and make it actually do something. (So that's at least 3 double takes)
It is so incredibly fast.
I don't just mean, "Oh yeah, I guess that seems to work a bit better than the last one."
I mean, "Wait... did that app just install in about a second? That can't be right."
But it is right. So right. The Mate 8's Kirin 950 CPU, combined with a healthy 3GB of ram is not just incrementally faster, the speed of operation is absolutely, significantly noticeable. This of course means more reliability, no glitches, no crashes and the ability to do many things at once, effortlessly.
But unadulterated speed is not the only breakthrough Huawei has achieved with the Mate 8. Let's talk battery life. There's a massive 4000mAh battery in this thing which, to coin a phrase, just keeps going and going and going. But don't think that just because the battery is big it takes a big amount of time to charge, quite the contrary. The Mate 8 ships with a fast charger that can get you from 0-100 in just a couple of hours. Unfortunately, Huawei still hasn't jumped on my wireless charging bandwagon, so the Mate 8 may only be nearly perfect.
Remember, this is a full 6-inch display we're dealing with here, amazingly sharp and bright too, but the extra battery capacity copes with these demands with plenty in reserve. If you're currently carrying a combination of chargers, cables and extra power banks around with you just to get you through the day, this phone can solve those issues in one fell swoop.
The screen is remarkably vivid and between it's size, definition and the processing power behind it all, I was really impressed when viewing 3D content with a pair of VR goggles. The image was smooth and clear, with none of the "chicken wire" effect I've experienced from other handsets' displays.
Although the screen is about as big as you'd ever want to get on a handset, the phone does not feel at all clumsy or difficult to hold. This is probably due to its extreme slimness, combined with the subtle curve to the metallic back casing. It's classy to look at and there's a lot of attention to detail, for example; even though there's only a mono speaker, there are two grills at the base to keep everything looking symmetrical.
Many of the Mate's best features have been borrowed from Huawei's version of the latest Nexus. The most obvious of these is the fingerprint sensor positioned on the back for your forefinger, rather than under the Home key on the front like most other phones. This is a much better scenario ergonomically speaking, because you're finger naturally sits there, as opposed to the somewhat dodgy balancing act required to position your thumb at the bottom of your phone if you're holding it with one hand.
For those of you not familiar with Huawei's stock interface, EMUI, there's really no need to worry. It sits somewhere between the Google launcher and iOS and it's pretty simple to pick up. But the real breakthrough on the Mate 8 OS is finally, FINALLY the home screen can flip into landscape mode. Seriously, what other way would you want to hold a device with a 6" screen? The Mate 8 also offers a few new gestures to navigate around, like sliding your knuckle across the phone to enable split-screen mode. I'm not sure this is a massive time-saver, but it's fun to do.
The main camera is a whopping 16MP and captures the same super-bright images owners of previous Huawei phones will be used to. The front facing (selfie) camera takes 8MP images. Insane. Who wants to see themselves in that high a definition? Anyway, it's there if you want it.
You will be pestered by suggestions to optimise your battery life by closing down background apps, but I consider this more helpful than annoying, especially when you can tell the phone not to ask you again. Amazingly, the alarm still works when you turn the phone off. This is important to note if you've left it in a house of sleeping wives and children and gone to work at 3:30am. The consequences of an unexpected alarm going off at that time are... serious.
It's very difficult to find fault with this phone. It is unquestionably the fastest I have ever used and it has the longest battery life of any modern smart phone I've encountered.
The Mate 8 is like a high performance sports car, the question is, will consumers want to pay a premium price for a handset that isn't a Samsung or an iPhone?
Perhaps this time they will. After all, nobody ever bragged about driving a cut-price sports car.
Click here for more information about the Huawei Mate 8.
Over the last couple of years, we've learned it's not just Samsung and Apple who make decent smart phones. We've seen quality devices and innovations from manufacturers like Sony, LG and Huawei too, the latter even leap-frogging some of the "bigger" names in certain features.
But here in New Zealand we still only get a fraction of the story. Due to the small size of our market and the domination of 2 major mobile suppliers, we're not being exposed to some brands that have just as much merit as what Vodafone and Spark want to sell you.
Meizu is one of those brands.
Before trying the m2 and the m2 note from Meizu, I'd never even heard of Meizu, let alone seen or used one. Turns out, Meizu makes a pretty good phone.
The first thing that stood out for me was how light these handsets are. Both feature a polycarbonate all-in-one body design that was so light, it had me wondering if they'd left the battery out. They hadn't, it's just I've become so conditioned to all the glass and metal surrounding some of the latest high-end phones, I'd forgotten how liberating and durable a plastic casing can be. Picking these handsets up reminded me of the Galaxy S3 I used to own, although no removable back here so these phones are significantly more streamlined and slimmer.
There are the fairly standard power and volume buttons situated on the side, although I found it strange these were placed on opposite sides on the two phones. This is really weird given the m2 and m2 note are physically identical in every other way (apart from the screen size, obviously)
Other than that, there's only one button at the bottom of the screen - standard for you iPhone users but a bit freaky if you're an Android guy like me. After all, the m2 nd m2 note are still Android devices, so what's happened to the Go Back and Menu buttons?
That's where Flyme comes in; Meizu's own user interface. You navigate around these phones by swiping across the home button, as well as pushing it. Swipe left to go back. Swipe up to show running applications.
The home screen layout itself is beautifully boring, no bells or whistles unless you add them yourself. There's almost no bloatware to be found on these phones out of the box. No offers of subscription music services or personalised magazine and news feeds you never asked for.
Both phones feature a 13MP rear camera, which is very high-spec for this price range, while the 5MP forward facing camera uses something called FotoNation, which is supposed to enhance your selfies to make them look better than ever. I usually just end up looking like me, which is always a slight downer.
Both phones have excellent battery life - not the best I've experienced but definitely better than most. While there's no wireless charging option, Meizu does supply a fast-charger which is another advantage.
The laminated screen is not the brightest, sharpest or highest definition around, but I was immediately impressed with how black the blackness was. (I'm sure there's a technical term for that, it's something LG always goes on about)
For those of us familiar with Android devices, it's easy to be lured into a false sense of security when you first try to operate the m2 or the m2 note. But controlling everything by twiddling your thumb over the home button does take a while to get used to. Once you do get used to it though, it becomes very intuitive and I found it hard to change my new thumb habits once I went back to my more familiar 3-button setup.
As usual, neither the stock home screen or email app works in landscape mode, even on the m2 note, which boasts a 5.5inch display - certainly big enough for me to want to use it sideways more often than not.
Putting these two devices through their paces, I noticed the difference wasn't just half an inch of screen space. The octa-core processor of the m2 note out performed the quad-core capabilities of the smaller m2 pretty noticeably. (Did you catch my pun? note-iceably?... Never mind) Multi-tasking was a lot more convincing on the m2 note, and there was the odd thing I couldn't get to work at all on the m2, like the Gear Manager plugin for my smart watch. None of these issues were a major concern, but given the price difference between these two sub-$300 phones is only about 50 bucks, I'd definitely recommend shelling out a bit more for the m2 note unless you have a major aversion to large screen phones.
And that's the crucial factor here, budget. These Meizu contenders are too well priced not to consider when you're shopping around, especially if your teenager is trying to talk you into the latest "big name" handset priced over a thousand dollars. You just know they'll drop it out of their schoolbag on the second day and crack the thing. Give one of these polycarbonate phones a go and they might be surprised at the functionality.
They'll certainly be impressed with how light they are to carry around.
There's one final feature that really sets the Meizu phones apart, especially in New Zealand; dual sim capability. By taking advantage of two networks at once, you can also take advantage of extended coverage and specific offers and plans. That's why you won't find either of these two phones in either of the big phone stores. They're not keen on having their competitor's sim cards nestled beside theirs in the same phone. But if you are, it might be time to have a play with a Meizu.
Click here for information and pricing on the Meizu m2
Click here for more information and pricing on the Meizu m2 note
It's not every day your mother is the one who puts you on to a new and exciting piece of technology. So it was with some trepidation I decided to research her query about a phone she'd heard about from one of her friends.
"A smart phone for oldies," - her words, not mine.
I found it. I used it. I instantly hated it. But then, I'm not an oldie. (Not yet, anyway) So I gave it to Mum to review instead...
The Doro Liberto 820 Mini is a very weird piece of kit.
Let's start with Doro itself; I mean, who's even heard of this company? Turns out, it's a Swedish-based outfit specialising in providing user-friendly phones for seniors. What's more, they appear to be going from strength to strength all over the world.
The strategy is quite brilliant in its simplicity - how many times has your mum, dad or grandparent sent you a blank text? Or pocket dialed another country? Or taken 17 photos of the footpath? And how many times have you tried to explain to them how to not do those things?
The Doro Liberto 820 Mini has been specifically designed to prevent issues like those ever arising, thereby saving everybody a lot of stress all round.
It has a friendly appearance straight out of the box. Rounded corners and a chunky feel that's very easy to hold, unlike some of the new-fangled phones that are so skinny they're likely to slip between the couch cushions and never be seen again. The Options, Home and Back keys are actual, physical buttons, so you're not just pushing at the handset randomly, blindly hoping something will happen. There's also a separate, physical Camera button and there's even an Emergency Assistance button you can program to contact your preferred first responder with a single touch.
The Liberto 820 Mini is also packaged with a convenient charging cradle that's a lot less fiddly than dealing with a micro-USB cable and a tiny socket. What's more, the handset sits in that dock sideways, conveniently transforming into a bedside clock.
So you can see what they're trying to do. The reason I struggled with it is what happens when you actually turn the thing on. Perfomance-wise this ain't no rocket ship. I've become spoiled by the miniaturised super-computers available at the top end of today's smart-phone market and if I can't stream the latest episode of Billions directly to my Chromecast while wirelessly charging, what's the point?
Then I realised, I'd missed the point...
Me: "How's the new phone going?"
Mum: "It's good. I find the actual phone part, you know, like now, what we're doing, much easier than my other one."
Me: "Why's that?"
Mum: "Because it's more clear. And I haven't actually tried to ring up. But I think, when I go to where I ring up, it brings the numbers up, and the other one I used to have difficulty finding the numbers."
Me: "Riiiight..."
Mum: "And it doesn't seem to take so long to charge up as the other one."
Me: "So it charges quicker?"
Mum: "Yeah. I think so. And it's good because I can make the letters bigger which I couldn't with my other one. I found out where I can do that."
Me: "Oh. Wow."
Mum: "The only thing is, I've got emails on it, you know?..."
Me: "Yeeees?..."
Mum: "But there were photos, and I couldn't get the photos. It had a little thing, like an attachment, so I pressed that but I couldn't get the photos."
Me: "Oh okay. We'll have to have a look at that."
Mum: "And I'm not sure yet, when I get a text or an email, whether there's a little light that flashes. But I haven't had a lot of traffic. Nobody's sent me anything."
Translation; very clear audio quality. Easy to use directory and keypad. Easy to change font size. Attachments not automatically set to download in emails and no notification LED light.
I was impressed with how impressed she was. Mum seemed amazingly self sufficient. She'd even found out how to change the "tunes and tones and things like that."
Mum: "And I set the alarm just for fun yesterday."
These kids and their phones. They just can't leave them alone.
Turns out the reason she couldn't see a notification light blinking anywhere is there isn't one. Ironically, that's one of the first things I deactivate on a new phone. Who knew there were people out there who actually like annoying little lights?
As for the email attachments, it seems the Liberto 820 Mini is really just a normal (fairly entry level) Android phone with a very simplified operating system laid over the top. It's easy enough to access more complicated settings like downloading email attachments automatically in much the same way as you would on any phone.
The Doro tries to help out as much as it can - every time you open an app, whether it's email, camera, messaging etc, a window appears offering to walk you through a step-by-step guide to teach you what to do. This can be turned off by ticking a box of course... something I still had to point out to Mum after she'd been using the phone a few weeks.
Me: "How's the phone going?"
Mum: "Well, it's okay. I was very pleased with it because I found I could read it outside, even in the bright sunshine with my sunglasses on."
Me: "Gosh."
Mum: "But it's got a bit stroppy and it thinks it knows better than I do what I want to write and it changes words on me without me noticing."
Me: "Right. Well, you should pay attention and select the word that you want to write."
Mum: "Yeah, but you think you've put the right word, but sometimes you go back and read what you've got and you see it's put something different to what you originally put."
Me: "And then you go back and correct it..."
I then gave Mum a long lesson in managing predictive text. I think she got it. Eventually. Good to hear the screen brightness ramped up automatically in the sun. Things seemed to be going really well... Then I got a text claiming the emails had stopped working altogether.
Me: "I don't understand how it could have changed between now and the other day."
Mum: "No. Except I went to Email, just to see if there was anything there and it showed up. There were emails and then it disappeared just like that. Then I put the computer on and there were 3 emails there just like that and they were no longer on the phone."
Me: "You understand once they're on the computer, they won't be on your phone?"
Mum: "I know that. But these were new ones I hadn't seen before."
Do you really think she did know that? I gave her the benefit of the doubt, fiddled with the phone settings and somehow the automatic email sync had been switched to manual. Mum claimed she wouldn't have done that. Obviously I have to believe her. She's my mother.
This business with the emails not appearing seemed to happen one more time. Again, difficult to explain without accusing my own mother of being technically challenged... and I would never do that.
The upshot is, after using the Doro Liberto 820 Mini for a month, Mum absolutely loves it and doesn't want to give it back. She thinks it's a million billion times better than the $49 phone she was using before and I have to admit, as frustrating as some of those "tech support" phone calls may have appeared, they weren't a fraction of what I was expecting.
This all leads me to believe Doro has achieved what it set out to; it's not a phone for me. It's a phone for Mum. I wonder if she'll ever stop calling it her Dora phone?
Click here for more information on the Doro Liberto 820 Mini
Or here for a good deal on one...
