Showing posts with label Smartphone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Smartphone. Show all posts

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Smartphone Review 2012: Sony Xperia Tablet S (Auckland, repair, unlock, tablet, Apple, iPod)


Introduction

You wouldn't call Sony's first foray in tablets a sweeping success. Last year the company released its first two droid slates and, while they were both eccentric enough to get everyone's attention, none of them was really fit to survive in a crowded and highly competitive market.
Sony Xperia Tablet S Sony Xperia Tablet S Sony Xperia Tablet S
Sony Xperia Tablet S official photos
It seems though that Sony are quick learners. The Xperia Tablet S has kept the catchy folded magazine design, and lost fat around the waist while enjoying a processing power boost, that should let it catch up with the competition.

Key features

  • 9.4" 16M-color PLS TFT capacitive touchscreen of WXGA resolution (1280 x 800 pixels); Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine and oleophobic coating
  • 1.3 GHz quad-core Cortex-A9 CPU, ULP GeForce GPU, 1GB RAM, Tegra 3 chipset
  • Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich
  • Quad-band GPRS/EDGE and quad-band 3G with HSPA connectivity (HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps)
  • 16/32/64 GB of built-in memory
  • 8 MP autofocus camera
  • 1MP front-facing camera; native video calls
  • 1080p HD video recording @ 30 fps with stereo audio
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Direct, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot
  • Stereo Bluetooth v3.0
  • TV-out (adapter required), USB host (adapter required)
  • SD card slot
  • Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
  • Infrared port
  • GPS with A-GPS support; digital compass
  • 1080p MKV and SD XviD/Divx video support
  • Accelerometer and proximity sensor; three-axis Gyroscope sensor
  • 6,000 mAh battery
  • Guest Mode for multi-user access
  • Splash proof

Main disadvantages

  • Below-par screen resolution
  • Proprietary connector for charging and connectivity
  • Poor outdoor visibility
  • Peculiar design favors portrait hold, top-heavy in landscape
  • Splash resistance issues
There's no 1080p screen or Jelly Bean here, but Tegra 3, a BRAVIA-powered WXGA and Ice Cream sandwich still give the Sony Xperia Tablet S good fighting chances in its price range. The metal design should help get the attention of those tired of plastic devices, and there are some nice home-baked software tweaks such as guest mode and remote app.
Sony Xperia Tablet S Sony Xperia Tablet S Sony Xperia Tablet S
The Sony Xperia Tablet S studio shots
The splash-resistance of the Xperia Tablet S is a nice touch as well, although given the most recent turn of events it probably won't be as much of a selling point. Still, Sony has produced a well-equipped tablet that should offer snappy performance, the unmatched versatility of Android and cool looks. Now who wouldn't want some of that?
We still need to take a closer look and see how the cool sounding specs translate into real-life performance. As usual we'll start with the hardware right after the break.

Design and build quality

The Sony Xperia Tablet S measures 239.8 x 174.4 x 8.8 mm, which makes it notably more compact than its closest rivals in terms of specs and price - the Asus Transformer Pad TF300T (263 x 180.8 x 9.9mm) and the Acer Iconia Tab A510 (259.1 x 175.3 x 10.2 mm). At 570g it's also way easier to carry and operate without support for your hands than the other two (the Asus slate weighs 635g, while the Acer tips the scales at 680g).
Sony Xperia Tablet S
Sony Xperia Tablet S held in hand
However, there are two things to consider here - the Sony Xperia Tablet S BRAVIA screen is of the rather unorthodox size of 9.4", as opposed the 10.1" LCD on the other two. The 15% difference in screen estate doesn't put the Xperia Tablet S in a new category, but is still big enough to be evident in everyday usage.
Also, the folded magazine design brings the thickness of the tablet at the top end to 11.9mm. This one is actually much less of an issue as the tablet is as slim as promised for the lower two-thirds of its body and that's where your hands sit most of the time anyway. The extra depth makes the tablet top-heavy though, which is something to consider. On the other hand, the folded bit provides excellent grip in portrait orientation.
Overall, we think the Sony Xperia Tablet S easier to wield and carry than just about every 10" tablet, but still not light enough to be considered much more than a couch device. Prolonged use is guaranteed to tire your hands and you'll be looking for a place to rest against in a matter of minutes, despite the lowered weight.
As for the design - Sony like to joke that the folded-magazine styling is lawsuit-proof. We've heard that one on at least two separate occasions and it's one of those things that don't usually sound as good the second time around. The last thing you would want anyway is have lawyers tell the designers what to do.
To be clear, we don't think this was the case here. Sony just likes to point out that their R&D department came up with something that looks vastly different from anything on the market and yet still works. Okay, maybe not vastly different, after all there's only so many ways to do a glass front panel with a huge screen in the middle, but the back is instantly recognizable.
Sony Xperia Tablet S Sony Xperia Tablet S
The folded magazine design is pretty nice
And while making an impression is one thing, making a good impression is a whole other story. Luckily Sony has nailed that one too and we quite like the Sony Xperia Tablet S. The folded bit at the back even enables easier (and more secure) attaching of carrying cases like the official cover that Sony sells as an optional accessory.
The only part of the design we are not too sure about is the fact that the folded piece is made of black textured plastic, while the rest of the back panel is smooth aluminum and the two don't go too well together. We are not saying it's bad, but there's certainly room for improvement.

Controls and display

The front panel of the Sony Xperia Tablet S is dominated by the 9.4" BRAVIA-powered display of WXGA resolution. The screen tends to be pretty reflective, which leads to rather poor sunlight legibility, but has pretty good image quality indoors.
The contrast and colors are good and the screen is reasonably sharp. It doesn't come anywhere close to the 1080p screens out there and the iPad 3 Retina, but it's doing fairly well for within the WXGA category.
Display test50% brightness100% brightness
Black, cd/m2White, cd/m2Contrast ratioBlack, cd/m2White, cd/m2Contrast ratio
Sony Xperia Tablet S0.353349470.67526783
Apple iPad 20.181679250.55429775
Apple iPad 30.211678090.6477779
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.702000328
Asus Google Nexus 70.252449540.36327908
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.10.272238320.49406821
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.10.312578260.55502915
HTC Flyer0.181699210.414091002
Huawei MediaPad0.1922311490.353961117
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus0.1719611410.344241236

We were also able to put the display under our digital microscope for a closer look at the pixels. Check it out:

The display under a microscope
The 1MP front-facing camera is located in the center above the display, when you hold the tablet in landscape mode. Alongside it is the ambient light sensor, which enables automatic screen adjustment.
The power/screen lock button is located on the right side of the Sony Xperia Tablet S, next to the volume rocker.
Sony Xperia Tablet S Sony Xperia Tablet S
The power key and the volume rocker sit on the right
At the other end we find the SD card slot, which is hidden under a small plastic flap and the 3.5mm audio jack. You read that right - the Sony Xperia Tablet S features a full size SD slot, rather than one of the microSD variety.
Sony Xperia Tablet S Sony Xperia Tablet S
The 3.5mm audio jack is next to the SD card slot
On one hand this allows for even cheaper memory expansion, but on the other hand this means that you can't simply insert the microSD card from your smartphone in your tablet. You can simply have an adapter pre-inserted in the slot to solve this issue, though.
The fold of the Xperia Tablet S on top is deprived of any functional elements, while at the bottom you get the stereo speakers and the Sony proprietary connector. Yet another proprietary connector is hardly great news and we really hope Android manufacturers will finally follow Google's lead with the Nexus 7 and start putting microUSB ports on their tablets.
Sony Xperia Tablet S
The stereo speakers and the proprietary jack at the bottom
We conclude our hardware tour at the back, where we find the 8 megapixel camera lens. There's no flash here, so don't expect to get any kind of usable shots in low-light conditions, but since tablets (let alone 10-inchers) are by far not the most comfortable devices for taking photos we won't be deducing any points here.
Sony Xperia Tablet S
The 8 megapixel camera lens
Underneath the metal back panel sits a 6000 mAh battery, which Sony says is capable of lasting for up to 12 hours of usage on a single charge. The number sounds quite good, but since we didn't get to spend enough time with the slate we are unable to confirm if it's achievable in real life.
It's now time we move on the Sony Xperia Tablet S user interface. Sony has backed in some interesting tricks in the Android 4.0 ICS interface and we'll not get to see if those work as advertised..

This post is sponsored by:

Dr Mobiles Limited (Map)
1, Huron Street, Takapuna, Auckland 0622
Tel: (09) 551-5344, Mob: (021) 264-0000
info(a)drmobiles.co.nz
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New Lynn Branch (Map):
3069, Great North Road, New Lynn, 0622
Tel: (09) 5555-344, Mob: (021) 374-007
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Sunday, July 15, 2012

2012 Tech News Update: The growth of Google Android market in the USA.

Popular analyst company Nielsen has published its report on the US smartphone market in the second quarter of 2012. The quarter saw smartphone growth continue as two thirds of all new customers picked a smartphone.
Android continues to be in lead, powering 51.8% of all US smartphones and 54.6% of the ones purchased over the past three months. And that was the quarter before the Samsung Galaxy S III was launched.

iOS is the other platform on the rise, with Apple's OS accounting for 34.3% of US smartphones and 36.3% of the newly acquired ones. Expectedly iOS is starting to lose pace in the third quarter of iPhone 4S availability, but things are bound to change once the iPhone 5 comes out.
BlackBerry is the only other platform on record by Nielsen and it continues its free fall. While the RIM OS still powers a respectable 8.1% of US smartphones, it only managed a market share of 4% with new subscribers. This means that it might soon join the dreaded "others" category, officially turning the US smartphone market into a two-horse race.

As for the platform that is hoping to escape that category - Windows Phone - only managed a market share of 1.3%. The Nokia Lumia lineup is still struggling to make an impact, covering just 0.3% of the market, despite the heavy promotion of the Lumia 900 by both the Finns and AT&T.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Samsung Galaxy R vs. LG Optimus 2X: Affordable dual-cores (Google Android, Smartphones)

Affordable and dual core wouldn't normally belong in the same sentence. In 2011. And you don't need to press fast forward. Just sit back and enjoy. There's a lot stewing in the industry's pot and we think the place smells of quad core already.
So, two affordable dual-core Android smartphones it is. The Samsung Galaxy R and the LG Optimus 2X have been duly and thoroughly reviewed but we thought a head-to-head comparison wouldn't hurt - we've certainly been asked plenty of times which one is better.
 

Lg_vs_samsung
The LG Optimus 2X prides itself in being the first dual-core smartphone. The Samsung Galaxy R follows at quite some distance but runs on the same chipset - the NVIDIA Tegra 2. Both have comparable screens too: 4" of WVGA IPS LCD on the Optimus and a 4.2" WVGA SC-LCD on the Galaxy R.
What sets them apart is imaging - the Optimus 2X is in line with the current flagships with an 8MP still camera and 1080p video, while the Galaxy R stops at 5MP/720p.
Here's a quick summary of the ups and downs of the two phones in direct comparison.

Samsung I9103 Galaxy R over LG Optimus 2X:

  • A bigger screen: 4.2" vs. 4"
  • Thinner: 9.5mm vs. 10.9mm
  • Double the RAM: 1GB vs. 512MB
  • Faster HSDPA: 21Mbps vs. 7.2Mbps
  • Slightly better battery life
  • USB On-The-Go support
  • Bluetooth 3.0 vs. 2.1

LG Optimus 2X over Samsung I9103 Galaxy R:

  • Better still camera: 8MP vs. 5MP
  • Better video camera: 1080p vs. 720p
  • HDMI TV-Out (with cable in the box) over no TV-Out at all
The Optimus 2X has fewer wins in its column, but they're all major victories. At least on paper - we'll see if the difference holds up in our tests or if the Samsung camera can make up for the lower resolution with better detail.
There are, of course, other differences too. It's between Samsung's TouchWiz and LG's custom skin on top of Android Gingerbread. And there's the design and build quality too: both have metal inlays on the back but the Galaxy R is more than a millimeter thinner.
     LG Optimus 2X • Samsung I9103 Galaxy R
Other than that, the two phones are close enough in terms of specs to make this a fair and square fight. And exciting too. Let's get started with an overview of the hardware and software.

Software and Hardware overview

The Samsung Galaxy R is the thinner of the two at 9.5mm (the Optimus 2X is 10.9mm thick).
     Samsung I9103 Galaxy R
The 2X is just a tad smaller, though the actual difference in both width and height is negligible. And it's down to the screen size. The R has a 4.2" screen, while the 2X has a 4" diagonal. The relative difference is about 10% of screen real estate but the resolution is the same.
We'll have a look at the performance of the displays in more detail further on.
     LG Optimus 2X
As far as weight goes, the two are practically impossible to tell apart - 139g vs. 135g. The thing to note is the Samsung Galaxy R weighs less despite having a larger brushed metal inlay on the back cover.
It has a slightly bigger battery than the LG Optimus 2X too - 1650mAh vs. 1500mAh - but we'll see whether that makes any difference in our battery test, since the power consumption is important too.
The loudspeaker performance is another area where those two differ. They actually ended up even on one of the three tests, but the Samsung Galaxy R was noticeably louder in the other two. Here's how they did and how that compares with other phones we've tested.
Speakerphone test Voice, dB Pink noise/ Music, dB Ringing phone, dB Overal score
Nokia Lumia 800 60.9 59.0 61.7 Below Average
Apple iPhone 4 65.9 66.5 67.3 Below Average
Samsung I9000 Galaxy S 66.6 65.9 66.6 Below Average
LG Optimus 2X 65.7 60.0 67.7 Below Average
Samsung S8600 Wave 3 68.0 65.8 69.7 Average
Samsung Galaxy W I8150 69.6 66.6 67.0 Average
Samsung I9103 Galaxy R 65.7 65.7 71.5 Average
Samsung S8500 Wave 69.8 66.6 75.5 Good
HTC Titan 75.8 66.2 82.7 Very Good
HTC Desire 76.6 75.7 84.6 Excellent

As far as software goes, both phones are currently running Android 2.3 Gingerbread with both manufacturers committed to an Ice Cream Sandwich update. LG is expected to release ICS for the Optimus 2X in Q2, while Samsung's time table is yet to be confirmed.
We won't dig into the Samsung and LG custom launchers for Android. We've found that this is a personal preference and it's something you'll have to decide on for yourself. It appears the differences between TouchWiz and LG Home are mostly aesthetic.
The video player on the LG Optimus 2X handled 1080p videos (FullHD MP4 videos were problematic and MKV a straight no-go) and the Samsung Galaxy R matched it in FullHD video playback (with MP4 videos presenting problems again).
The LG Optimus 2X has a key advantage though - the Optimus 2X has a microHDMI port, which allows it to actually play those FullHD videos on an HDTV. There's a microHDMI cable included in the box too, so you don't have to worry about getting one. Depending on how you plan to use the phone, this might be one of the deciders.
The Galaxy R has only DLNA to rely on for connecting to TVs, but the Optimus 2X has that covered too.
One the thing that the Galaxy R has over the Optimus 2X in wired connectivity is USB On-The-Go. With it, you can hook up some external storage and and manage files on it. You'll need an OTG cable though, which isn't included in the box.
That aside, both phones have very similar software features. Both offer Flash-capable web browsers, come with Office document editors out of the box and offer social networking integration.
It's hard to pick a winner in this category. The Galaxy R is thinner and with a bigger screen, and with a slight advantage in loudspeaker performance. However, no TV-Out is a deal breaker for some. The standard microHDMI port of the Optimus 2X can save you some hassle (no MHL adapters or proprietary cables needed).

Screen comparison

The LG Optimus 2X and the Samsung Galaxy R use LCD screens with their own proprietary technology to improve the image quality.
Slight color and contrast loss when viewed at an angle is observed in both, although the problem is less prominent in the Galaxy R.
   LG Optimus 2X • Samsung I9103 Galaxy R
Identical resolution and a slightly smaller screen means the Optimus 2X has an edge when it comes to sharpness. It beats the Galaxy R with a pixel density of 233ppi vs. 222ppi. It's not enough though to make a difference to the naked eye.
The LG Optimus 2X offers much better black levels - even at 100% brightness, the blacks were darker than what the Samsung Galaxy R managed at 50%. The 2X leads in contrast too, as the table below shows.
Where the Galaxy R wins out however is brightness - it's more than twice as bright. Here are the hard numbers:
Display test 50% brightness 100% brightness
Black, cd/m2 White, cd/m2 Contrast ratio Black, cd/m2 White, cd/m2 Contrast ratio
LG Optimus 2X 0.23 228 982 0.35 347 1001
Motorola RAZR XT910 0 215 0 361
HTC Sensation 0.21 173 809 0.61 438 720
Samsung Galaxy W I8150 0.29 243 853 0.50 423 853
HTC Rhyme 0.43 265 609 0.58 402 694
Samsung I9001 Galaxy S Plus 0 251 0 408
HTC Sensation XE 0.23 172 761 0.64 484 752
HTC Radar 0.26 204 794 0.59 471 797
Samsung I9103 Galaxy R 0.51 407 806 0.92 785 858
LG Optimus Black 0.127 332 1228 0.65 749 1161

In conclusion, let's say it again. The Samsung Galaxy R has a 4.2" screen, which has 10% more surface area than the 4" screen of the LG Optimus 2X. It means though that the WVGA resolution is stretched a little thin on the Galaxy R - it has a 222 ppi against 233 on the Optimus 2X. The Optimus 2X display has better blacks but the Galaxy R display is brighter and has slightly better viewing angles. 
This post sponsored by:Dr Mobiles Limited1 Huron Street, Takapuna, North Shore 0622Tel: (09) 551-5344 and Mob: (021) 264-0000Web - Map - Google+ - Email - Posterous - Twitter - Blogger - Flickr -  Author