Category Archives: Reviews

Samsung Galaxy S7 – YouTube Live Stream on Dartmoor

May 14, 2016Android, Reviews, Tech NewsLive Stream Camera mode, Samsung Galaxy S7Gavin Fabiani-Laymond

So I am out walking my dogs in the middle of nowhere in a place called Dartmoor.

Dartmoor is a National Park , 328 square miles in size.

Below is the Live Stream showing part of my walk with my 3 labradors and the spectacular views.

Live Broadcast is a camera mode on the Samsung Galaxy S7. It is not available on any of the other flagships by default.

Before you live stream you send SMS messages to those you want to see it. You only get choice of sms messages. The maximum resolution is that shown below. You hit record and wait a few seconds. You then get confirmation the messages have been sent. During the live broadcast you can see who is watching and any messages they live you.

Anyway. Enjoy the live stream now.

HTC 10 – Camera action shots

May 14, 2016Android, Reviews, Tech Newscamera action shots, dogs, HTC 10, ReviewGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Yesterday I published the very first photos from the HTC 10. Later on I took my 3 labradors out on Dartmoor and attempted to see what the HTC 10 could achieve. Don’t forget, click on each shot to see the full size.

Below is a shot of George shaking his head. The movement is frozen fairly well.

Next up is the 2 girls Fury and Tiggy. This was part of a burst, all of which were fine.

One more from the above burst, this time with just Tiggy.

Another shot below from a burst sequence. The HTC 10 choose a decent shutter speed for this. Again ALL of the burst shots were in focus.

The photo below of George smiling is part of the burst shot above.

The photo below is a 4:3 pic cropped to create a pano style of photo of Princetown.

The photo below is the from the same image as above, just cropped differently.

Now this is just a single shot, ie. burst mode wasn’t used. I did crop the 4:3 slightly to 16:9. What was interesting was watching how the HTC 10 took the shot. I actually focused in on George and then took the photo. This was all very fast but impressive.

Again cropped and not pin sharp, but look at Tiggy’s boots 🙂 She’s jumped into a muddy bog and went back in after this shot to be totally covered in thick smelly bog mud.

It is very early days with the HTC 10. But so far I am fairly pleased with the results. I also have the LG G5, Apple iPhone 6S, Samsung Galaxy S7 and Huawei P9. The crazy thing is all the phones offer something different to each other!

HTC 10 – First shots from the camera

May 13, 2016Android, Reviews, Tech NewsCamera samples, HTC 10Gavin Fabiani-Laymond

The HTC 10 arrived earlier today thanks to the superb service from Clove Technology.

So after restoring over 100 apps and updating to the latest firmware this is what the camera can achieve with a quick shootout.

Guess what I had for dinner tonight. Nothing wrong with this photo. It does appear slightly soft in places.

Shot a photo into the sun. I was quite pleased with the result.

If you zoom into the pipe in the roof its nice and defined.

The Domino’s sign looks just as good, albeit slightly soft again. i.e. not over sharpened.

I intend to test the various modes of the HTC 10 along with the audio.

Garmin Vivoactive HR – First Impressions

May 13, 2016Reviews, Tech News, WearablesFirst Impressions, Garmin Vivoactive HR, ReviewGavin Fabiani-Laymond

When it comes to fitness, Garmin was never the name that jumped up at me as the company to go and look at their product range.

I have owned around 13 different fitness / wearable devices and reviewed most of them too. Click HERE to read some of the previous reviews from Pebble, Samsung, Fitbit, LG, Xiaomi, Huawei, Acer and more.

And then I had some private conversations on Twitter with @paulgarner. Paul and I were chatting about fitness devices and he explained I should take a look at some of the Garmin devices as they were way better than any Apple Watch or Fitbit.

So last weekend, I visited Cotswolds Outdoors. They stock a large range of Garmin watches and fitness devices. Also quite handy was the sales person had excellent product knowledge of the different devices. One of the Garmin watches is called the Tactix Bravo. This watch includes live altitude tracking. This is handy when jumping out of a plane so you can check you altitude on the fly. Apparently the military use this model. It also looked amazing. However, I had decided if I was going to get a watch as opposed to a fitness device, it would have to be the new Fenix 3 HR or Forerunner 735XT.

However, I didn’t want to leap in at £350 – £500 in cost with the Fenix 3 HR or 735XT, so I opted for the new Garmin Vivoactive HR which retails for £209. It comes in 2 strap sizes – medium or X-Large. I needed the X-Large. The X-Large strap is perfect and after wearing the Vivoactive HR for 12 hours (6 hours in the evening, 6 hours sleeping) I am impressed at just how comfortable it is.

So what is special about the Garmin Vivoactive HR? Garmin state the following –

– GPS is integrated
– Its a smart watch with a sunlight-readable colour and touchscreen display – always on display
– Built-in-GPS sport apps, running, cycling, golf, swimming and activity tracking
– Elevate wrist based heart rate gives you heart rate all day and night – no additional strap required
– Receive smart notifications and smart coaching on your Vivo Active HR from Garmin Connect, when paired with your phone
– Syncs with Garmin Connect app to upload activities.
– Rechargeable battery: 8 days (watch/activity tracking mode) or 13 hours (GPS mode)

After some extensive research I also discovered that the Garmin Connect app is one of the best I have seen. It also integrates with MyFitnessPal. The level of detail and data collected is fantastic. I will cover more of this off in the review. Setting up is a breeze. This is done using the touchscreen display. There are also 2 hardware buttons as well. The setup uses Bluetooth Low Energy. After pairing, a firmware update was downloaded and installed. And then it stopped syncing with my LG G5. Grrrr. I thought I was going insane as nothing I was doing would get the device to sync. It turns up Garmin had planned maintenance on their servers for an hour yesterday. All seems ok now.

I had a brief look at the Garmin Store. Here there are several downloadable options from watch faces, apps, widgets and a few other items. I did install a few intelligent and customisable watch faces, but so far have now decided to stick with the traditional digital clock face.

I have turned on notifications and received a few whatsapp messages. These were displayed in full. I need to explore this option in more depth.

So what made me pick this over other brands? It works in the swimming pool. You certainly can’t take an Apple Watch or Samsung Gear S2 in the swimming pool, let alone get live activity and heart rate tracking. The display is highly readable in sunlight. Only needs recharging weekly. If I use the GPS function, this might mean charging every 4 days. If I don’t need the GPS, the battery life is 8 days with tracking and heart rate in operation 24 hours a day for 8 days. It tracks so many different activities too e.g. running, skiing, cycling and more. I had read it was comfortable to wear.

To read more about the Garmin range click HERE.

Huawei P9 vs LG G5 – Camera shootout

May 12, 2016Android, Reviews, Tech Newscamera shootout using all options, LG G5 vs Huawei P9Gavin Fabiani-Laymond

A simple test, you go out on a day trip and want to photograph a few landmarks. Which phone takes the best shot.

For this test I used any special mode possible to try and give an advantage. I also cropped the P9 shots afterwards so they were in the same 16:9 format as the G5. Click on each photo to see it full size.

Round 1

LG G5

The G5 has a wide angle lens. This was used for the shot above.

Huawei P9

Now with the monochrome lens.

Round 2

LG G5

Corner shot of the Royal William Yard Harbour.

Now with the wide lens.

Huawei P9

And now with the monochrome lens.

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Round 3

LG G5

I didn’t save the wide angle version as it looked weird.

Huawei P9

Monochrome lens.

Round 4

LG G5

Now with the wide lens. This has a filter applied in snapseed, HDRscape to bring up the drama in the clouds.

Huawei P9

Not a sharp in focus shot from the P9.

The monochrome did a better job. In focus and fairly sharp.

Round 5

Silky water mode. Only the Huawei P9 and manage this shot, so a clear winner to the P9 here.

Overall the LG G5 takes better quality shots but the Huawei P9 has good contrast and colours. It also has the silky water mode. I still think the wide angle lens on the G5 is fantastic and I would rather apply a black and white filter than shoot in monochrome first.

LG G5 Friends – My Reviews of all 6 Friends / Modules

May 11, 2016Android, Reviews, Tech NewsEvery Friend reviewed, LG G5 Friends, ReviewsGavin Fabiani-Laymond

LG have released a combination of 6 Friends of the LG G5. The good news is that several of these can be used with other android and iOS devices. I have now reviewed all of the LG G5 Friends.

LG 360 Cam – Review

To read my detailed review of the LG 360 Cam – Click HERE

LG Cam Plus – Review

To read my detailed review of the LG Cam Plus – Click HERE.

LG Tone Platinum HBS-1100 Stereo Bluetooth Headphone – Review

To read my detailed review of the LG Tone Platinum Bluetooth headphones – Click HERE

LG HiFi Plus Module – Review

To read my detailed review of the LG HiFi Plus DAC – Click HERE.

LG 360 VR – Review

To read my detailed review of the LG 360 VR – Click HERE.

LG Rolling Bot – Review

Review coming soon as Rolling Bot not released yet.

So there you have it, all the LG G5 Friends now reviewed. If you have any questions please ask away.

Huawei P9 – Blue & Monochrome Balls

May 10, 2016Android, Reviews, Tech NewsCamera, Huawei P9, samplesGavin Fabiani-Laymond

An unusual piece of art in Bristol, so it was time to see what the Huawei P9 camera made of these blue balls.

To view the full size click on each photo. Great blue balls colours. Very true to life.

It is always very tempting to shoot using the monochrome lens. So below is the shot. Love this type of shot.

This time using the refocusing mode on the balls.

The more I use the Huawei P9 camera the more I like its photo accuracy. The P9 camera has weaknesses which I will cover off in more depth, but it is not as rubbish as I had imagined.

LG G5 Friends – LG B&O HiFi Plus module review + reviewed with the Samsung Galaxy S7

May 10, 2016Android, Audio, Headphone, Reviews, Tech Newsaudio dac, LG G5 Friends, LG HiFi plus, ReviewGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Welcome to my review of the LG HiFi Plus with B&O Play. This is one of the LG G5 Friend modules. The LG HiFi plus costs £149 and is available from Clove Technology.

Key Specifications

– USB 2.0 Type-C
– Voltage 5 V ± 10%
– Current Consumption 220 mA (with earphone jack), 3 mA (without earphone jack)
– Headphone Jack 3.5mm
– Audio 32bit HiFi DAC(Digital to Audio Converter) and Amplifier
– Sound Pressure 1 m sound pressure 60 dB ↑ (100%) *based on a full charge
– Antenna GSM/CDMA, WCDMA, LTE™
– Operating Temperature -20 °C – 40 °C
– Dimensions/Weight 73.9 mm x 43.9 mm x 7.4 mm / 23.6 g
– Compatibility – other Android OS, iOS, Mac OS and Windows OS devices
– Model number – AFD-1200

In the Box

In the box you get the LG HiFi plus with a protective cover, shown below connected to the original bottom section of my LG G5. You also get a leather looking slip case and a short sized 10cm USB Type C cable to micro USB to allow you to connect it to various other phones, computers, iPhones and such like. That’s right it can be used in standalone mode with android, iOS, Mac Os and Windows devices.

The pictures above show the module connected to my LG G5 which is gold in colour. The module adds about double the length of the original bottom section. The other aspect worth noting is that with this module connected, none of your cases will fit. However, I have ordered a silicone case on eBay that is made to fit with this module. When it arrives I will update this post regarding its quality and fit.

First Set-up Procedure

First connect the HiFi module to your G5. Power on. Head over to the LG Friends Manager app. Download the extra software as shown. Now when you connect headphones to the HiFi module, a message pops up on screen saying “HiFi Dac Starting up”. This takes a second. And that is it.

Now head over to the sounds and notification and you will see an extra menu has appeared as shown below.

You also get a HiFi symbol in the status bar.

The neat part is the original bottom section of your G5 can be clipped into the cover of the HiFi Dac as shown below.

The module also contains all the cellular antennas and mic. I also noticed that the loudspeaker was louder too. So much so I wouldn’t bother with a Bluetooth speaker.

The Sound Quality

For this test I used the following headphones – Audio Technica m50x, Sennheiser HD598se, Dunu Titan 5, Sony XBA-1 and Oppo PM-3. A complete mix of headphones from open and closed back, planar magnetic, in ear dynamic and in ear balanced armature headphones.

I used a mixture of music genres from dance, pop, jazz, classical, opera and more. I streamed from Google Play Music and Amazon Prime Music. I listened to music on my micro SD card using USB Audio Player Pro app which instantly recognised the HiFi module as a USB DAC.

Quite simply, EVERY headphone played through the LG HiFi module sounded the BEST it ever had. Incredible and such a pleasure to re-experience all my music again.

I was asked how does the HiFi DAC compare to the APT-X HD codec with the other LG Friend, the LG Tone Platinum. Well the HiFI DAC sounds better although the LG Tone Platinum is still very good. To read my review of the LG Tone Platinum, click HERE.

But of course the HiFi DAC can be used standalone with anything practically and in my tests with my Macbook, iPad Air and other android phones it worked a treat too.

Using the LG HiFi DAC with the Samsung Galaxy S7

I downloaded the LG HiFi Manager app from the Google Play store. This app is only used to updated the firmware. You don’t need this app installed for the LG HiFi DAC to work. Anyway, connected to my Samsung Galaxy S7 the LG HiFi DAC sounded really good too. Streaming Google Play Music whilst the output volume was loud it was not as loud as that from the LG G5. Using USB Audio Player Pro app the output volume is considerably louder. Or as loud as you can manage! I also have the new Audioquest Dragonfly Red DAC. This suffers from really poor headphone volume when using apps like Google Play Music on the S7. USB Audio Player app works fine with the Red.

This does illustrate the LG have manufactured a great little DAC that works fantastically as a module for the LG G5 but also works just as well in its standalone mode.

Conclusion

This module makes the LG G5 an audio nirvana. It is staying permanently connected to my G5.Highly recommended. In stock and available from Clove Technology.

Huawei P9 – More Camera Shots from the Weekend

May 9, 2016Android, Reviews, Tech NewsHuawei P9, more camera shotsGavin Fabiani-Laymond

I was a little surprised at how slow the shutter speed was in burst mode. I need to have another look at the camera setting options as I am sure the burst speed can go faster.

Anyway, I have snapped a few more shots. As usual click on any of the photos to view the full size / original version.

All the shots below are in auto or monochrome mode.

The monochrome shot of the secret church entrance is fantastic.

And now in colour. Also really good quality shot. The contrast is very well balanced.

Tavistock Viaduct in monochrome mode. Blow this shot up full size and more and the quality is cracking good!

What happens to walking shoes after about 1,000 miles. In monochrome mode again.

And now in colour.

The definition and quality is incredible. I am impressed with these photos. All auto.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Wireless Back Pack review – The S7 with a 5,700 mAh battery!

May 9, 2016Android, Reviews, Tech NewsSamsung Galaxy S7 Wireless Back Pack reviewGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Welcome to my review of Samsung Galaxy S7 Wireless Pack. This battery pack provides another 2,700mAh with of juice to the S7. It is also available for the S7 Edge.

Viewing the photo above you can see the micro USB jack and button. The LEDs are not to the button.

Samsung state that this battery pack is “With considerably more battery life to maximise daily usage and an intuitive LED battery check indicator for easy monitoring, you will never be short on power again.Engineered for seamless connectivity and added protection while charging it blends in completely without the need for messy wiring or recharging. Featuring an easy access headphone jack for instant earphone connectivity, there is no audio sound interference so you enjoy sound as it was meant to be heard.”

On the bottom you still have access to all the ports.

The volume and power buttons all work with ease.

Operation

So how does it all work. Just slide your S7 or S7 Edge into the case. Worth noting that the edges of the case are level with the phone screen so there is no protection for the screen if you turn the phone’s screen face down on a table. Also NFC doesn’t work with the case fitted. However, as the battery case charges the S7 via Qi charging there are no cables and it is a breeze to remove the phone.

You can recharge both the battery pack and phone just using the battery back connection. You can also connect a micro USB lead to both the S7 and battery pack at the same time. The battery pack turns off wireless charging when you do this. The cool part of the pack is you don’t need wires ever. The battery pack can recharge wirelessly on your Qi wireless charger !

Turning on the battery pack, is a simple as press the on button on the case. Long pressing the button turns it off.

Conclusion

This is must have accessory if you want ease of use and that huge battery always available and charging your S7 using the wireless technology.

For more information and to purchase at Amazon click HERE.

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Category Archives: Reviews

Samsung Galaxy S7 – YouTube Live Stream on Dartmoor

HTC 10 – Camera action shots

HTC 10 – First shots from the camera

Garmin Vivoactive HR – First Impressions

Huawei P9 vs LG G5 – Camera shootout

LG G5 Friends – My Reviews of all 6 Friends / Modules

Huawei P9 – Blue & Monochrome Balls

LG G5 Friends – LG B&O HiFi Plus module review + reviewed with the Samsung Galaxy S7

Huawei P9 – More Camera Shots from the Weekend

Samsung Galaxy S7 Wireless Back Pack review – The S7 with a 5,700 mAh battery!