Category Archives: Android

Bon Voyage to my Samsung NotePro 12.2

Android, Reviews, Tech News

I have written a fair amount about the Samsung Galaxy NotePro 12.2. This is Samsung’s largest tablet with a 12.2 inch screen along with the S-Pen stylus. And what a spec beast it is too, with more options than the kitchen sink.

Link to 12 part review of the Samsung NotePro 12.2 – https://gavinsgadgets.com/2014/12/17/samsung-notepro-12-2-master-9-part-review/

This tablet cost £650 new. Recently the price was slashed with the NotePro available a few months ago for under £400, a saving of £250. Samsung now are selling the tablet for £350. So you get a lot of tablet now for your money.

I decided in a moment of madness, that it would be nice to try a different tablet. So I used the PSCForum to place an advert and waited to see if there was any interest. And boom, within a few hours it was sold and paid for.

So what next I wondered? In the end I noticed a few good deals on the Samsung Tab S tablets. More on my first thoughts on the Tab S in the next post for today.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 Bronze – First Impressions

Android, Reviews, Tech News,

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If you read my previous post today, you will know that I have sold my NotePro 12.2. I do miss it with its whopping 12.2 inch screen!

For its replacement I was able to find a deal at a local PC World which included the Samsung Official cover, £50 cash back and a reduction on the price too. I am not keen on the smaller sized Tab S even though it does have a higher PPI.

So what is my first impressions of the Samsung tablet. Its thin, pretty and light. The Samsung cover is rather smart, but I doubt it will look as good as it does now in a few months as it somehow as already picked up a small mark. The cover is one of two different types offered by Samsung. This simply is a simple cover. The book cover has 3 different positions. What is unique about these covers is they clip on rather aggressively to the rear of the device which has 2 mounting points which are recessed when not in use.

The screen is fabulous on this tablet. It is really fast, faster than the NotePro. There is tons of software and I am at the stage where everything is downloading.

I also have been comparing it to the iPad Air. My thoughts on that are for another day.

Once I get everything setup, I will update you on my impressions.

If you have any questions that need answering please let me know below.

Samsung Note 4 – the 4 colours

Android, Tech News,

Yesterday, I managed to see the 4 different colours of the Samsung Note 4. These were black, white, pink and gold.

These are my views on each –

Gold – awful, really awful. Except if you like bling but even then its not really gold, more of a mix of gold and something odd.

Pink – a lightish pink which if pink was one of your favourite colours looked really good. Certainly much better than the iPhone 5C salmon pink.

Black – business like in appearance, smart but also a tad boring.

White – Ironically my favourite finish of all the current colour offerings. The metal exposed edges and white just look really good together.

If you have seen the above, which would you pick and why?

Asus ZenWatch – now available to buy in the UK

Android, Tech News, Wearables,

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Probably the most attractive android wear based smart watch is now available in the UK to buy for £199. This is via PC World. Link – http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/laptops-netbooks/ipad-tablets-and-ereaders/smart-watches/asus-zenwatch-silver-brown-10108710-pdt.html

Key Specifications –

– Android Wear
– Wearable-optimized versions of ASUS ZenUI apps: Whats Next, Do It Later & more Enhanced functionality with ASUS smartphones
– Display your smartphone camera viewfinder remotely
– Monitor steps taken, calories burned & heart rate
– Voice & touch control
– Respond to texts, instant messages & emails by voice
– Universal key: unlock your phone or tablet by touching the watch face
– Find My Phone

So who wants one?

Samsung Note Edge – selective focus mode and battery update

Android, Reviews, Tech News,

Below is a shot using the selective focus camera mode. Click on photo to get taken to the flickr original. If you download the original and have a Samsung phone you should be able to go into the selective focus mode and edit the effect from near focus, rear or pan focus. The file size of this shot is 19mb and has tons of detail.

Delicious and Extraordinarily Sinful #selectivefocus #SamsungNoteEdge

I also have some better news to report on the battery. Yesterday I managed 10 hours with 2 hours screen on time. This reduced the battery for down to 50%.  This should  translate to 20 hours and 4 hours on screen time. I was in a good cell signal area yesterday.

However compared to the Note 4, the Edge battery life is still poor.

Yesterday I was using my bluetooth headphones to listen to some of my music. I kept getting small static like breakups. So I deleted pairing and repaired. Slightly better but still not as good as I expected.

I feel that this phone could do with a stability and performance firmware update.

It’s live – Gav & Dave’s Tech Podcast – Xmas Special 2014 – Please RT

Amazon, Android, Apple, Blackberry, Historical Reviews, Reviews, RIM, Tech News, Wearables, Windows,

As you know, I co-host a monthly podcast with David from UKMobileTech called Gav & Dave’s Tech Podcast. It is a light hearted tech podcast broadcast.

To subscribe click here for iTunes or copy and paste this link into your favourite podcast app.

Episode 29, Xmas Special 2014 is now live for your listening pleasure. Today we rate our top 3 phones in several categories.

If you have enjoyed the podcast, please leave a 5 star review in iTunes. It helps others find our podcast. Go now and leave a review !

If you have any comments, questions or feedback, please drop a line at feedback@gdtpodcast.com .

Samsung Gear S – standalone mode

Android, Reviews, Tech News, Wearables, ,

Yesterday it was my works Xmas party. So for once,  I left my Note Edge at home and used the Gear S as a phone that was independent of the Samsung Note Edge.

From my other post you will have read that 3 UK are without a network service within a 10 mile radius of my home address. I’m not sure how much of a battery drain this was on the Gear S,  as it did try to connect to the Note Edge and turn on call forwarding. This was not possible due to lack of service.

However,  and to my surprise any notification that arrived on the Note Edge using wifi got sent to the Gear S.  After 12 hours of using the Gear S you realise how many notifications you receive and perhaps it may be best to turn them all off. Receiving and not being able to reply really highlighted that I had too many notifications.  With the Gear S in independent mode,  you can call, text or email.  Using the Opera Mini Web browser you could respond to other services.

But what about battery life in this mode. 12 hours only versus 2 days when connected via Bluetooth to your samsung phone.

Samsung NotePro 12.2 – master 9 part review

Android, Reviews, Tech News, ,

Below are all the posts I’ve written about the Samsung NotePro 12.2 tablet. It is worth noting this can now be bought for £350 direct from Samsung. So it’s a lot of tablet for your money.

Before is a list all the review posts, but before that let me just give you a quick update on my current usage. Without a doubt the NotePro really needs touchwiz kicked off as fast as possible. I have even uninstalled Nova and now use the Google Now launcher which really spruces the speed up.  SwiftKey keyboard is also live now and this again makes a huge difference. I really am enjoying using this tablet.

Ok,  part 1 and onwards listed below.

First Impressions

Part 2

Part 3 and SideSync

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8