All posts by Gavin Fabiani-Laymond

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About Gavin Fabiani-Laymond

President, CEO & Editor of https://gavinsgadgets.com Reviews & News of Technology

The Apple iPhone 6S Plus – Day 1 experience – Photos and views on Rose Gold and Apple Watch

Apple, Reviews, ,

I was the unlucky one, my new iPhone 6S Plus did not arrive until the end of the day on Friday. And as I write this it is still no way near setup fully.

My plan is to remove Google from the iPhone and use all of Apple’s cloud services. This is not going as smoothly as I hoped yet. I have iCloud Photo enabled and and iTunes Match. All my photos are in the iCloud but not yet on my iPhone. That part of the sync has not finished. iTunes Match. My music has been matched successfully for 40% of my collection and is still trying to upload the rest. Except I have cloud error messages next to 50% of my music that failed to upload. Once the process has finished I will go into the settings and run an option to sort of repair the music library to see if that helps.

The main issue is the demand on the internet. I have uploads and downloads galore and without fibre speeds I am suffering. I might have to visit an Apple store one weekend and complete iTunes Match with a fast upload. My Apple Watch got turned on for the first time, but that needed a 515mb download. The Apple Watch is a complex beast compared to android wear but so far ahead of the curve.

Apple Pay. Both my Apple Watch and iPhone have been setup. This was the fastest part of everything.

I have already been asked how good is the camera. I do know the answer but I want to test it more across a number of situations. The main part to note is the rear camera has a f/2.2 versus say the LG G4 at f/1.8. The extra light the G4 allows at f/1.8 does make a difference for starters. However, the camera on the 6S Plus is lightning fast and the image processing is phenomenal. The front selfie camera is much better too. I have tested the front retina screen flash in different lighting and it really does adjust its tones dependant on the subject. Needless to say the 6S Plus camera is very good. Now is it better than the S6 or Note 5 or LG G4? I will answer that soon.
   
   
After this post goes live, I will upload some photos from the iPhone 6S Plus so do head back if you cannot see any snaps.

So far due to the late arrival on my iPhone and Apple Watch I have only added 3 home screens worth of apps. These are the ones that all needed passwords and or 2 step authentication so took longer to setup. I now have to go through my 2,000 or so apps and decide which ones to add to the phone. A lot of these are games and I have realised what great games I have missed playing while I have been stuck on android.

3D Touch. I have used it or I should say tried to use it but need more time to pass judgement.

So I am still in a setting up stage / discovery. I need to see what new apps have arrived both for the iPhone and Watch that I have not got and start to fine tune everything.

However, my overall takeaway despite being at an early stage is the user experience. OMG the screens and swiping down long lists just glide beautifully in any app. Even the official twitter app is leagues better on iOS because of this smoothness. Apps have integrated Touch ID and therefore offer a better experience and features. Touch ID is super fast now. And finally the 6S Plus battery is fantastic.

Rose Gold – my wife got a 6S in rose gold. It is a lovely colour and under different lighting looks beige sometimes, pinkish and shades of rose gold. However, I prefer the silver finish of my 6S Plus. In terms of size the 6S is a really good phone size phone but I wanted the 6S Plus for the better screen and optical image stabilization in the camera.

Sony Premium Audio at IFA 2015

Audio, Tech News,

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This is a portable system by Sony. It’s the most expensive setup Sony sells.

The headphones are around £700 and were connected using balanced cables to the Sony PHA-3 headphone DAC. The player was Sony’s best music DAP.

For around £2,500 you can have portable sound nirvana.

I spent ages having a good listen. Really impressive for a portable system, but oh so expensive.

Honor 7 – First Impressions

Android, Reviews, Tech News, , ,

I have had the Honor 7 smartphone 48 hours now, but really only got to use it fully and exclusively all day yesterday. I have installed over 50 of my apps and about 5 games. This is a review device from Honor PR.

The Honor 7 runs Emotion UI which removes the android app drawer. This all your apps appear on the home screens and will require you to folders if you have many apps. Below are my 2 home screens.

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I managed to snap a few more photographs yesterday, the first one using HDR due to the sun glare, and the second is a macro of pollination by a bee. I felt the photos were better than those I took yesterday.

The Historic Lloyds Bank Building, Penzance, Cornwall

The above shot is the historic Lloyds Bank building in Penzance, Cornwall. I really like the HDR effect produced by the Honor 7.

Pollination macro

Honor 7 – Just how good is the 20mp Sony Sensor? – Read on

Android, Reviews, Tech News, ,

So I have only just got the Honor 7, so snapped a few random shots in auto with the 20mp Sony Sensor.

See sample shots below –

Random shots taken with the Honor 7

Above, fog had arrived on Dartmoor. A difficult shot in terms of focusing, but the Honor 7 did an okay job.

Random shots taken with the Honor 7

This turned out better, with the orange colour popping.

Random shots taken with the Honor 7

Not so impressed here. A bit over exposed and looking washed out.

Random shots taken with the Honor 7

And now a macro of the flower.

Random shots taken with the Honor 7

Again, over exposed slightly, but a fair amount of detail. The Honor 7 does have optical image stabilisation which might have assisted here.

Random shots taken with the Honor 7

Reasonable shot this time.

Random shots taken with the Honor 7

Pebble launches the Pebble Time Round – video and views

Tech News, Wearables

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So Pebble announced last night a round smartwatch. It is much thinner than previous watches of theirs but compromises on battery life by only last 2 days instead of 10 days. The over aspect is it only takes 15 mins charge to provide 24 hours usage. It will come in three finishes, black, silver or rose gold, with a choice of 14mm or 20mm leather or stainless steel bands. It is 7.5mm thick and weighs 28g, which is very light.

So what do you think? Is it a gamble at $249. And if you just received your Pebble Time, how do you feel about this new watch so soon?

Technics makes a comeback at IFA 2015

Headphone, Tech News, ,

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Technics was making a big comeback at IFA 2015 with lots of fancy gear.

In fact they were so serious about their audio, no expense was spared, and that included having sound insulated areas to hear and admire all of their new audio equipment.
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With the increasing popularity of vinyl, Technics are now remanufacturing their legendary direct drive turntable.

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Also not to miss out on the headphone boom, Technics had on display their new premium headphones. I had a listen to these. Technics used a Chord Hugo connected to a Macbook Pro. No expense spared as I said before.

The whole Technics section was really impressive and had some fantastic gear.

LG G4 – 4 Month Review – The Ultimate Package and its last hurrah

Android, Reviews, Tech News, , ,

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This will be my last post, review, opinions on my LG G4. Why, because I am moving to an iPhone 6S Plus tomorrow. (However, since last night I have been using a Honor 7 which is a PR review unit)

I have had the G4 for 4 months as my main phone and that is a record breaking duration. My G4 package shown above is brilliant. Not shown in the photo is my slim port MHL adapter which connected the G4 via HDMI to my TV. This feature is not even included with the new Note 5! Over the duration of ownership I added to the range of rear covers. The G4 came with a black leather finish and a gold cover in the box. I added a ceramic white and orange leather cover.

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Then I got the buzz to fit Qi wireless charging and added this to the orange leather cover. NFC was also included with the Qi sticker. Finally, I protected the screen with a tempered glass screen protector.

So from a hardware standpoint I found the G4 really flexible. It did everything I needed. Expandable memory via the micro SD card slot. I used my 128gb micro SD card. Whilst the G4 does have Quick Charge 2, nothing beats swapping the battery out for a fully charged one. 0% to 100% in less than a minute.

The camera IMO is the best out there currently. And by quite a margin over most other smartphones. The whole phone was kept in touch with a decent Snapdragon 808 which unlike the 810, did not overheat. In use the G4 was fluid and became a great workhorse. A flexible, powerful, adaptable phone. And now I have perfected the phone and its accessories it makes perfect sense in my world, to move on to the next challenge.

But that is the hardware, but what about the software. Well I used the LG launcher for at least 6 weeks and finally relented and installed Nova launcher with Material Cards icon set as shown below.

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As some of you will also know, I was at IFA 2015 and got to see all the current and soon to be released phones. As I held each new phone, my natural instincts was to compare it to my G4, and without exception there was not one phone either current or soon to be released that offered anything better than the G4.

So as I bid farewell to my G4, I can honestly say that I will really miss it.

BUT I know what you are all thinking? Will the new iPhone 6S Plus take better photos than the G4? Weather permitting, I intend to undertake this challenge. At this point in time, I have no idea if the new 12mp camera from the 6S Plus will better the 16mp LG G4 camera. This should be interesting so stay tuned 🙂

Panasonic Cooking and Beauty at IFA 2015

Tech News

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Panasonic had a huge display covering all the usual audio and electronic equipment, but also a big area dedicated to Panasonic Cooking. Above the chefs were using Panasonic equipment to cook delicious food.

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I was very close to the  plated food, it was rude not to try some.

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Panasonic then had another huge section just for their beauty gear. Mock up salons and more.

It was really fascinating to see all the different products manufactured by Panasonic.

Samsung S Health app now works in all android devices – but is it any good? – My Review

Android, Reviews, Tech News, , ,

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Samsung has done something unthinkable and released their S Health app on the Google Play store, that not only works for their phones but for other android phones. So having used the S Health before with several of Samsung’s smartwatches and wearables I gave it a shot with the LG G4. So is it any good? Let’s find out.

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The first two screen shots give you an idea of what you have been up to in a given day and display a fair amount of information. The main screen is made up of cards which can have a ton of options. You can manage what you want to see really easily.

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Activating each option, brings up a card on the main screen, which in turn has its own options as appropriate.

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So for example if you turned on food, you would see a mini card, press on the card to add your food.
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For speed this shows icons for breakfast, lunch, dinner, morning snack, afternoon snack and evening snack. There is then a search option, frequent tab and favourites tab. The food database is extensive. For example just typing bread over 100 breads and more from types, brands and combinations. Selecting Hovis, I then choose the serving size, and I was presented with the calories and all the nutrition information. The calorie total is then shown on the main food splash page with a bar indicating how far towards your daily calorie total you have reached. Total fats and protein are also shown. The breakfast icon now is ticked with the calories spent shown on the icon. I have to say the food tracking is fantastic. It is only beaten by myfitnesspal as MFP has a barcode scanner option.

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You then have the options of settings goals and also choosing a programme.

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You will notice on the manage options is Qardio. S Health works with this brilliant piece of hardware which I own and have linked to S Health.

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Above and below you can see the main screen card layout and options that I have selected.

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You also get rewards and badges for achievements and completing goals. Since writing this review I have achieved more medals for walking even higher than previous for example.

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So let’s have a look at a hike I did on Dartmoor. The level of data provided is excellent. Just look at the options available. Also during the walk at every kilometre or mile walked (depends on what you have chosen in units, settings) you get an audible message saying how many miles, time taken, altitude and the distance again. A really liked this.

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Samsung S Health app makes a mockery of Google Fit apart from the fact it is perhaps not as open as Google Fit. Personally, I would rather have an app that actually does everything I need and really comprehensively. But how closed is Samsung S Health. Well, I mentioned it connected to Qardio Blood Pressure measuring equipment. It also has the following partner apps that work with it – Breezing, Hydro Coach – drink water, Lark Chat, LFConnect, Lifesum – Calorie Counter, Nike+Running, Qardio, Sleep as Android, Technogym, Workout Trainer, Your.MD Symptom Checker, activity.club, Babylon Health, BP(Blood Pressure) Diary, Dminder, Earthmiles – Fitness rewards, Fit + Healthy, Force Patient, Hydro Coach Pro, iHealth Gluck-Smart, Joywell, Openrider – GPS Cycling, Quealth Life Changer, Recipes + Nutrition, Sickweather, Smokenote, Violet, AramViewer, Nitelink, SE Wellness, Smokenote Pro and Bfit App Coach. Hardly closed!!!

But the best part, the single accessory that will improve the stats is with a Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch. Coincidence? Hardly, but with this level of capability it would be a good companion and a fabulous watch too.

So there you have it, S Health on the LG G4. It rocks…

Google Play Store link to Samsung S Health app