Category Archives: Tech News

Huawei P8 – First Impressions and Specifications

Android, Reviews, Tech News, ,

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Welcome to my first impressions of the Huawei P8 that I received yesterday.

The official specifications are –

– Display 5.2-inch (1920 x 1080); 424ppi
– Processor Hisilicon Kirin 930; 8-core 64-bit; 2.0 GHz
– Operating system Android 5.0 Lollipop
– Storage 16GB on-board
– RAM 3GB
– Network GRA_L09: TDD LTE: B40 FDD LTE: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28 UMTS: 800(B6,Japan)/800(B19,Japan)/850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
GRA_UL00: TDD LTE: B38/B39/B40/B41 (2555MHz~2655MHz) FDD LTE:B1/B3/B4/B7 UMTS: 850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz(B8/B5/B4/B2/B1) GSM : Main card: 850/900/1800/1900MHz; Second card: 850/900/1800/1900MHz
– Rear camera 13MP with OIS, 1080p video, 4-color RGBW sensor
– Front camera 8MP
– Dimensions 144.9mm x 72.1mm x 6.4mm
– Weight 144g
– Colours Mystic Champagne, Titanium Grey, Gold, Carbon Black
– GPS GPS/A-GPS/Glonass/BDS(BeiDou Navigation Satellite System)
– Connectivity 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.1 LE, microUSB
– Sensors G-sensor; Gyroscope sensor; Ambient Light sensor; Proximity sensor; Compass, Accelerometer
– UI EMUI 3.1
– Battery 2680 mAh

My first impressions started from opening the box and admiring the beautiful unibody design. Just check out the photos of the unboxing and the phone itself. I will be writing my full review in due course, but if you do have any questions, please let me know.

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Hopefully you noticed the box presentation. The Huawei P8 is thin, very thin, and to highlight this point, you have to pull the phone out of the box from the side. All the contents were neatly packaged too.

I asked my wife of her views of the P8 and she also agreed with me that it looked beautiful.

If you would like to get an idea of how the camera performs, please look at my other post with some camera shots from the P8. Click here https://gavinsgadgets.com/2015/06/26/huawei-p8-camera-shots/

If you have any questions, please let me know so I can incorporate the answers in my review.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active – review –

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After everyone has bought the Samsung Galaxy S6, Samsung decide to release a more rugged version with a much bigger battery. Only one major drawback, the storage is restricted to 32gb. If you can live with that, maybe this is the S6 to go for.

Android Central have reviewed this S6 Active and they like it a lot. It’s a good video, so go check it out. A number of other larger websites also prefer the S6 Active over the standard S6 including Pocketnow and Supersaf TV.

LG G4 – Customer Support Update

Android, Tech News

A few days ago I published a post regarding my LG G4 titled bugs and batteries. This is what I posted –

I thought I would be helpful and contact LG Customer support with all the bugs I have discovered with the G4 and those that also impact the Watch Urbane.

I also asked where I could buy a battery for the G4 along with the charging kit. Let’s not forget that in the USA, LG are offering G4 owners a free battery and charging kit and a 32gb micro sd card. You can also buy extra backs in different colours.

Around 3 weeks has passed, and LG customer support cannot progress any of my bugs as they are not in possession of a G4, to replicate and confirm problems, following which something might occur. I’m speechless over this.

Then we get to the bugs. One of which is repairable if I send my phone back in for repair. Very funny not. It’s a brand new phone, so my solution is that they can take back my phone and give me a brand new working phone. Except, this won’t fix this issue, a software update more than likely will.

The removable battery is flouted as a selling point of the G4 versus other phones like the Samsung Galaxy S6 that have moved to an internal battery that is non user removable. LG customer support informed me that LG Korea decided not to sell or send batteries to the UK. If you could buy and then use a third party battery you invalidate your warranty!

So I’ve elevated the above to within LG and wait their response. On the plus side, LG customer support is reachable with ease by telephone and they do call you back.

UPDATED – Well, I didn’t expect a response at 6pm on a Friday, but the Head of LG Mobile UK has personally responded and has started to address all my points. The email was about 3/4 A4 in length. As my website signature was not used the content is private currently. Once, I have less sensitive data to share, I will update this post again. I will say just one thing, customer support now have a G4.

So what has happened since. Actually quite a lot. The Head of LG Mobile UK has been actively working to provide a solution to all of the above. I have received since last Friday another 3 emails from the Head of LG Mobile UK. Just for clarity I did not use my website signature.

So this is the solution from LG –

– LG sent a brand new LG G4. I have to return my current G4 at my convenience.
– LG also delivered a spare battery for the LG G4. LG mentioned that batteries should be available soon in the UK. The main issue is that the retailers did not want to buy any, stating there was no demand.
– As a measure of goodwill, LG also sent a pair of LG Tone Infinim Bluetooth Headset headphones designed by Harmon Kardon.
– Apps – Whilst some of the apps eg LG Health needs updating to work properly with the LG Watch Urbane, LG are working on the update. In the meantime, I was asked to use Google Fit app.
– The reason the LG Customer support team didn’t have access to a G4 was due to the fact they had just moved offices. LG said that wasn’t really an excuse, but the real reason, however, the support team do now have a G4 available to help customers with any questions etc..

From my point of view, I think LG have been honest, helpful and quick to address my concerns. And very fair! The support team are accessible by telephone and that is a bonus in today’s world.

LG G4 – More photos from across Dartmoor

Android, Tech News,

Below are photos taken from my journey across Dartmoor. I think it will be pretty obvious which 2 shots have been edited using a filter. Otherwise, unedited photos.

The Artichoke Inn at Christow – A Pleasant Surprise as the food was marvellous

The Artichoke Inn, Christow, Dartmoor #LGG4

Wow what a Baguette – Jail Ale Sausages with Onions

OMG, Jail Ale Sausage & Onion Baguette at the Artichoke Inn, Christow, Dartmoor #LGG4

Lustleigh Village Centre

Lustleigh Village Centre, Dartmoor #LGG4

St Winifred Church, Manaton

St Winifred Church, Manaton, Dartmoor #LGG4

St Winifred Church and Graveyard

St Winifred Church & Graveyard, Manaton, Devon #LGG4

The Well at North Bovey

The Pump & Well at North Bovey, Dartmoor #LGG4

Thatched Cottages at North Bovey

A Thatched Life - North Bovey, Dartmoor #LGG4

St John’s Church, North Bovey

St John's Church, North Bovey, Dartmoor #LGG4

Vanishing Golf Balls – 7.30am Tavistock Golf Course

Vanishing Golf Balls - Tavistock Golf Course 7.30am #LGG4

LG G4 – More shots from yesterday’s travels

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At present, I am tracking across Dartmoor. Once again, unedited photos from the LG G4. Click on each photo to see full resolution. Also note my dogs photo bombed some of these shots 🙂

Panoramic from summit of Sittaford Tor, 1,730ft

Panoramic view from Sittaford Tor, Dartmoor #LGG4

Fernworthy Forest Trees

Beautiful Trees of Fernworthy, Dartmoor #LGG4

Fernworthy Stone Circle with George and Tiggy appearing

Two Dogs mysteriously leap out from the Ancient Stone Row Circle at Fernworthy #LGG4

View towards Fernworth Forest – no chance of a takeaway!

View from Sittaford Tor with Fernworthy - nothing for miles and miles #LGG4

Tiggy and George near summit of Sittaford Tor

Tiggy & George near Sittaford Tor, Dartmoor #LGG4

Grey Wethers Stone Circles – 2 Stone Circle

George appears from Grey Wethers Stone Circle, Dartmoor #LGG4

It’s now illegal to create a backup CD of your music if you live in the UK!

Tech News,

This has got to be the most “pathetic” ruling given to the music industry at the High Court.

October 2014, the Intellectual Property Office rendered a long overdue update to its copyright law, allowing people, for the first time, to legally make MP3 copies of CDs they had purchased for their personal use. Most people would have already copied their CD’s without realising this was illegal.

Well the change was short lived. The music industry challenge the ruling made along with businesses including UK Music and the British Academy of Songwriters, who claimed the new measure would cost the rights owners millions of pounds, and now have demanded that a compensation scheme be introduced. Now they want more money for content you already bought!

And last Friday, a High Court a judge ruled in their favour, stating that the government didn’t have enough evidence to conclude that copyright holders would suffer no financial losses.

If CD’s were going to die, this ruling is guaranteed to accelerate that death.

Source – http://www.gizmodo.co.uk

John Lewis to starts selling mobile phones to take on Carphone Warehouse

Tech News

John Lewis has just started selling mobile phones to take on the might of Carphone Warehouse.

Phone brands stocked include iPhone, Samsung, HTC, Doro, Sony, Microsoft, Motorola and LG. A range of accessories are on offer, along with John Lewis’s Price Match. A total of 24 phones are available.

In terms of the iPhone, the 4, 4S, 5C, 5S, 6 and 6 Plus are available.

Source – http://www.johnlewis.com/electricals/mobile-phones-accessories/c60000469?rdr=1

Reviews coming soon

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Just a quick update on new reviews coming soon. 

As mentioned in the previous post, I have the Xiaomi Mi4i and Mi Note Pro arriving soon. 

I have been testing the Lindy NCX-100 and Lindy IEM-50X headphones for the last 3 months to get a good feel for how these performs. My final thoughts and review will be live soon.
I have also been testing over a period of 2-3 months some power batteries from Mipow which have a few tricks up their sleeves. 

The Oppo HA-2 , Oppo PM-2 headphones and PM-3 headphones have truly burnt in and an update on these will appear soon.