Welcome to my review of the Samsung Galaxy A5 2016. I have a lot to say about this phone that I have now used for 2 months. So enjoy the video review. The Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 costs around £300 and is Samsung’s answer to the mid market phone arena.
Video Review
Useful Links
Latest deals on the Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 on Amazon UK – Click HERE.
Honor 8 smartphone review – Click HERE.
Updated – via BBC Business News Samsung is set to axe the Note 7. Now confirmed by Samsung.
Samsung went on record last night with the following statement –
“We are working with relevant regulatory bodies to investigate the recently reported cases involving the Galaxy Note7. Because consumers’ safety remains our top priority, Samsung will ask all carrier and retail partners globally to stop sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note7 while the investigation is taking place.
We remain committed to working diligently with appropriate regulatory authorities to take all necessary steps to resolve the situation. Consumers with either an original Galaxy Note7 or replacement Galaxy Note7 device should power down and stop using the device and take advantage of the remedies available.”
This is not good news but now Samsung has to salvage its reputation. In reality there is no such thing as bad publicity, however, it will take a while for Samsung to recover from this. I hope for those people who bought the Note 7 from a different country and now cannot return them, that Samsung locally provides the means to get a return and refund. Currently Samsung has not to date offered a satisfactory solution to this issue.
If you have a Gear VR, Occulus have disabled Note 7 support.
The next question is who is going to rush and be the first to own the Samsung Galaxy S8 next year?
Welcome to my review of the Honor 8 smartphone. The Honor 8 is one of the most beautiful phones on the market, yet it only costs £369 sim free.
And yet its not all about the looks. The Honor 8 shines in so many other areas too. To recap on my earlier posts –
First Camera Shots from the Honor 8 – Plus Video
Night Time / Pitch Black Camera Shootout – Apple iPhone 7 Plus vs Honor 8
Honor 8 – Impressions One Week Later
Unlike my previous reviews, I am going to start with my conclusion. The Honor 8 is the best sub £400 phone I have used and consequently highly recommended. To find out why, view my video review below and additional video on the photos. For the latest pricing on Amazon UK – Click HERE.
Video Review
The Honor 8 Review
Camera Shots Video
The Key Specifications
– SCREEN 1920×1080 5.2″ LCD, 423ppi
– OS Android 6.0 with EMUI 4.1
– CPU Eight-core HiSilicon Kirin 950 (four 2.3GHz Cortex A72 cores and four 1.8 GHz Cortex A53s cores)
– RAM 4GB
– GPU Mali-T880 MP4
– STORAGE 32GB plus a Micro SD slot
– NETWORKING 802.11b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, NFC
– BANDS WCDMA: B1/B2/B4/B5/B8, GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz,LTE FDD: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B17/B20
– PORTS USB 2.0 Type-C, 3.5mm headphone jack
– CAMERA Dual 12MP rear camera, 8MP front camera
– SIZE 145.5 x 71 x 7.45mm
– WEIGHT 153g
– BATTERY 3000mAh
– EXTRAS NFC, 9V/2A quick charging, fingerprint sensor, notification LED, IR blaster
The Honor 8 Lowdown
Following on from my video review, the Honor 8 is a remarkable phone. It looks stunning. It has superb wifi, bluetooth and cellular strength and connectivity. It includes an infra red blaster. The 3,000mah battery lasts a day and a half. The phone is the perfect size for one handed use and fits in all my pockets. The camera for photos is excellent. The camera app includes so many modes to make photography easy and enjoyable. Into selfies, the 8mp front camera makes you look perfect! In terms of video, its performance is not the strongest but it did outperform my iPhone 7 Plus this week. This week I have another 4 videos being published on Gavin’s Gadgets. Three of them were recorded on the Honor 8, the other one and the review of the Honor 8 were filmed on the iPhone 7 Plus.
Camera Samples
Don’t forget to check out the posts linked at the start which contain further camera samples.
Final Words
After a decent android phone. Then check out the Honor 8. It is my top recommendation of 2016.
Useful Links
Latest Pricing and Info on Amazon UK – http://amzn.to/2dCqngz
When Google announced the new Pixel Phone, it claimed it had the best camera on any phone and had the highest mark ever awarded by DxOmark of 89. So to wet your appetite, below are a selection of photos from the Pixel Phone, courtesy of Google.
If you want to check out even more shots from the Pixel, hit the link below.
Via Bloomberg.
“AT&T Inc. is considering stopping all sales of Samsung Electronics Co.’s flagship Galaxy Note 7 over concerns about the smartphone’s safety, according to a person familiar with the situation. A final decision will likely come as soon as Friday, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. AT&T spokesman Fletcher Cook declined to comment.”
After my post yesterday on the continuing drama on the Note 7, to recap Click HERE if AT&T halted sales of the Note 7, this would be the end of the line for this phone, as other networks/carriers would follow suit soon after. AT&T is Samsung’s third largest customer too.
Updated – AT&T and Sprint have now told their customers that they can return their replacement Note 7 for any other phone.
Samsung is not having a break on the continuing saga on the exploding Samsung Note 7’s. Samsung has upset many people who bought the Note 7, myself included, over their poor communication and handling of the situation.
Now matters get worse.
A replaced Note 7 exploded as a customer was boarding a plane in the USA. The Verge have verified via the IMEI Samsung Note 7 recall checker that it is a replaced phone. The Verge also confirmed that the US Consumer Product Safety Commission is opening an investigation into the incident.
Meanwhile back in the UK, the Royal Mail (UK’s Post Office) are not allowing any Note 7’s to be posted. This has been verified by Android Authority.
Now the Telegraph has reported that a laboratory took a Note 7 and applied some stress to it, to see what happened. As you can see from the photo above, it exploded rapidly.
So this leaves some unanswered questions, none of which Samsung are currently explaining or demonstrating in an open environment. Is the design of the Note 7 flawed? Is it too thin? Does applying some pressure trigger the battery plates to touch and then ignite? Were the batteries really faulty? The list of what ifs goes on an on. Surely, it would make sense for Samsung to put a global position of unity and invite members of the press to record and see for themselves, Samsung undertaking a range of tests to prove the safety of their phones.
Samsung’s brand is taking a bruising. This is not going to be an easy ride!
I have used 4 smartphones with more than one lens setup. These include the LG V10 (with 2 front cameras), the LG G5 (with a normal and super wide lens), the Honor 8 (with a colour and monochrome lens) and the Apple iPhone 7 Plus (with a wide and telephoto lens). The photo above is using the iPhone 7 Plus wide and then telephoto lens.
The additional camera tricks these dual lens phones can pull off often outweigh the benefits of a single camera with higher quality scores, often produced by DxOmark. I know some of you will say DxOmark scores are inaccurate, well actually they are correct as the are measuring the camera sensor, not the sensor plus software plus ease of operation etc.
But we now have reached a point where a DxOmark of 80 and above is good enough, often very good. Any errors in exposure etc can be covered up with a filter or are so insignificant it doesn’t matter if the photo is pixel perfect. So it now falls to having a dual lens setup and the artistic options these provide. In my experience using the 4 phones, I can honestly say I would always pick a dual lens camera phone setup over a single rear camera lens that had a higher photo quality output.
My one proviso is that a dual lens camera setup is quick and speedy to take a shot. A fast processor and ISP are needed for these lenses. My last thought is that whoever snaps the shot, knows the basic photography techniques on how to compose a photo properly!
Google announced the Google Pixel and Pixel XL smartphone.
There is no micro SD Card support so the 32gb version is not a storage size I would recommend. 128gb is the other option. In the larger XL phone, this costs a whopping £819. If this price seems familiar it is the same price as the new iPhone 7 Plus 128gb.
So let’s be very clear here. This is no iPhone. It is the run of the mill top end hardware specifications that are seen in many android phones, some of which cost around £400. What you are paying for is a pure Google experience. Well, you can achieve this without buying the Pixel phone.
My recommendation is not to buy this phone. Instead if you want to spend iPhone money, buy an iPhone. If you want an android phone then buy a Honor 8, Samsung Note 7, Samsung Galaxy S7 or a HTC 10. All of these phones will offer more interesting software and hardware experiences.
Apparently the Google Pixel phone obtained the highest mark for its camera sensor by DxOMark of 89. Whilst the sensor might be excellent, the camera software and processing are just as important. Looking at the rear camera in more depth, it only has a f stop of f/2.0. It also lacks optical image stabilisation. This concerns me that whilst the pixels are large it is not really any further advanced in the camera department over last years Google Nexus 6P.
There are no standout hardware features on the Pixel Phone either. If you buy a Honor 8 you have dual rear 12mp cameras and an infra red blaster. Plus the Honor 8 is gorgeous to look at. If you spend a bit more you get the HTC 10. Great hardware and software plus a monster headphone amp. Plus its camera does have OIS. The Samsung Galaxy S7 is a similar price to the HTC 10 but has more features than your kitchen sink. The Note 7 and iPhone 7 and packed to the rim with hardware and software innovation. The Google Pixel phone is bland in comparison and so bloody expensive.
Maybe you’re shouting at me as they come with free video and photo backups at full resolution. It’s not free really as the cost clearly has been built into the price of the phone!
In fact, I am so unimpressed by this phone from Google, words fail me!
It has now been exactly one week since my Honor 8 arrived. Below are my week one thoughts. My full review will come next week.
Without a shadow of doubt the Honor 8 is a beautiful phone to look at. It is also a phone that can be used one handed as it is not too big.
It is also the best Honor or Huawei phone I have used from a software and hardware point of view. Whilst its launcher skin is not everyone’s cup of tea, I have shown it to several non techie friends, all of which loved it and all the software features provided by EMUI v4.1. As I have mentioned before, if the launcher skin is not to your liking, android has many offerings available like Nova or Google Launcher to tweak the design. Personally, I like what Honor has done plus the ability to download different themes.
So apart from the gorgeous design, I have found battery life to be excellent. The screen is good too with excellent viewing angles.
The standout feature is the dual lens camera though. It has snapped some amazing photos and with ease. The different camera modes give the Honor 8 the edge over phones like the Samsung S7 too. For example, Night mode created this shot below.
This is Silky Water mode below. Again so simple to snap a quality photo like this on the Honor 8.
Or just use auto to get a great shot like below.
In fact I have not snapped a duff shot on the Honor 8. The front selfie camera is great too and has lots of adjustments to ensure you take the perfect selfie!
Apart from the camera there is an infra red blaster which has proven useful for adjusting my TV volume regularly. The Honor 8 uses USB Type C to charge too.
All in all, I really happy with the Honor 8 so far.
For more information and the latest pricing on Amazon Click HERE.
Last night I took my Honor 8 and Apple iPhone 7 Plus and tested low light to the extreme. At the start of the camera shootout it was already dark. At the end, I couldn’t see a thing, not even my feet. The only light that spilled into the graveyard was from a street lamp outside of the church. Plus the odd ghost or two that got captured accidentally!
So let’s get started.
7.26pm, a test shot of my local church in auto using the iPhone 7+.
The level of darkness is accurately portrayed here by the iPhone. 1/4s and ISO 125.
7.23pm, 3 mins earlier, and not as dark, the Honor 8 in auto mode shows us what is can produce below.
The Honor 8 opts for a shutter speed of 1/17s and an ISO of 1600. Every minute made a difference in these photos. At around 7.50pm it was pitch black in the church graveyard, so the available light was vanishing super fast.
However, all is not lost with the Honor 8, as the default camera app has lots of shooting modes, one of which is night mode. Just for clarity, with all of the photos, a tripod was used. Night mode is brilliant. The Honor 8 calculates how many seconds you need to take the low light/night shot and as the seconds countdown you get to see your photo develop on the screen.
The Honor 8 opted for ISO 100 and a 14 second exposure above. However, it doesn’t look like what my eyes could see. In some ways, the auto shots are more natural, even if the detail is not as strong. However, at the end, I took 3 of the Honor 8 photos and edited them in Lightroom mobile app which improved the final result.
Back to the iPhone 7 Plus. Unfortunately, the Apple default camera app does not have a special night mode, so you have to look at third party offerings. I tried 3 apps last night, ProCamera+, ProCam 4 and Nightcap Pro. ProCam 4 did a really good job and also shoots in RAW. Once the light became non existent, that is , it was near pitch black, Nightcap Pro provided the magic.
So at 7.26pm, ProCam in its night mode opted for 1/4s exposure and an ISO 400. For a comparison, the shot below was snapped with Nightcap Pro.
At 7.28pm, and less light than the shot above, Nightcap Pro opted for 1/3s and ISO 400.
So back to the Honor 8 below.
Using the night mode in the Honor 8 camera app, this was a 15s exposure with an ISO 200. The lighting around the tombstones is too bright versus what my eyes were seeing.
The shot above is also from the Honor 8 using night mode. ISO 200 and an 18s exposure. Again the brightness and colours are over the top versus what my eyes could see. However, as you will see below, Lightroom mobile improves this shot with a few quick edits.
Even darker now, and back to the iPhone 7 Plus. There is no point using the default camera on the iPhone. It is too dark unless flash is used, and I hate using flash. So the rest of the iPhone photos are taken with ProCam 4 or Nightcap Pro.
The above iPhone 7 Plus shot is taken with ProCam 4 at 7.40pm. With a 1/17s and ISO 1600. Whilst the shot looks dark, it is a perfect match to what I could actually see, and I really like the atmosphere captured.
The shot above is at 7.40pm again, but using the telephoto lens with ProCam 4 app. 1/4s and ISO 1250. Again, I really like this photo as it captured the atmosphere and the actual light and darkness.
It’s now 7.46pm. Switching to Nightcap Pro on the iPhone 7 Plus, produced the shot below.
Nightcap Pro used a 55 second exposure. ISO 3200. Moving back to the Honor 8 below.
The shot above, taken on the Honor 8 at 7.48pm was the last shot from the Honor 8. A minute later the photo quality degraded too much (although it still captured something legible). Remember at 7.48pm I couldn’t see my shoes as it was so dark. The Honor 8 used its night mode and a 51s exposure and an ISO 200. The Honor 8 night mode seems to artificially enhance the lighting and colours, so again I tweaked the photo in lightroom. Edited shot at the end.
So now its game over with the Honor 8 as its pitch black practically. All that is left is the iPhone 7 Plus and Nightcap Pro app. Its 7.52pm.
The shot above is a 107 second exposure. This could have been as long as I wanted, as Nightcap Pro allows for crazy long exposure times. Not bad at all. Now in case you have any doubt as to how dark it was, below is a shot from the iPhone using the default camera app.
As you can see above, it was crazy dark and the fact both the Honor 8 and iPhone 7 Plus were able to capture anything is a testament to just how good both cameras performed. The Honor 8’s night mode seemed to artificially alter the brightness and colours, but as you will see below, a quick edit of the white balance which can be done in any photo editing app, makes the final shot better.
As mentioned above, some of the Honor 8 night mode photos seemed unnatural due to the extreme colours versus what my eyes could see. So say hello to Lightroom mobile app, and you now have some improved shots. The main edit was the white balance in all of the shots below.
The above shot is one of my favourite of the camera shootout. Another quick edit in Lightroom mobile and another Honor 8 shot is improved below.
One more edited photo. This was so dark but again a quick edit in lightroom to improve the final result.
So my time with the ghosts in the church graveyard was plenty, plus I couldn’t see where to walk anymore without a torch. I hope you enjoyed the above comparison and more importantly, which shot is your favourite and from which phone.
Gavin's Gadgets & Photography 