“‘Deezer Elite’, as the service is called, costs $14.99 per month, as opposed to the company’s regular subscription which is $9.99 per month, or £14.99 per month in the UK. Elite is discounted to £9.99 per for one/two year packages, while existing Deezer Premium users can upgrade for $40, or for free if they are also Sonos customers. For those prices, they gain access to Deezer’s 35 million track library as FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) files at standard of 1,411 kbps or higher.”
This is good news as more and more music will become available at FLAC or above, and people will start to reject poor quality recordings.
As an update, I have renewed and now pay £19.95 a month for Tidal HiFi streaming. The difference is audio quality is fantastic, plus the service has been excellent since my earlier reviews.
“TAG Heuer, Google and Intel have announced a partnership to launch a Swiss smartwatch powered by Intel technology and Android Wear. The effort signifies a new era of collaboration between Swiss watchmakers and Silicon Valley, bringing together each company’s respective expertise in luxury watchmaking, software and hardware.”
Take whatever you like from this announcement. My only thoughts is competition is always healthy and who wears a watch nowadays????
One of the most eagerly awaited phones is the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. I have had some time with both of these phones, so have detailed below my thoughts with both devices, included photos of the phone, photos from the camera, a video of the Edge and then comparison photos from the Note 4.
First a quick video of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.
I have viewed the footage I took of the S6 Edge and it so does not convey the real feel or beauty of this phone. More on that in a minute. Below are some shots of the S6 and S6 Edge.
First up some photos of both phones. These were taken with the Note 4. The first photo is of the black S6 Edge. I tried to capture this a bit closer to try and recreate the sensation of the curved screen and how it manages to create a bezel less experience.
And now for the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge in white. Personally, I thought the white finish looked better than black. I was told the green and gold look even better.
Notice on the white finish the fingermarks are not as obvious. The same would apply for the gold finish, but the darker colours will highlight finger prints like no tomorrow.
And now looking at the edges. Just the power button.
On the other side, the volume controls.
Just look at how grubby the black finish becomes after a short time.
Ok, not the best conditions for taking photos, but nonetheless these are probably the conditions you might be faced with in everyday scenarios.
Photos from the S6 Camera – Just click on each to see the full resolution.
So what do you think of the S6 photos? One observation I had was the S6 struggled a few times to get the shot in focus. In fact, it did snap an out of focus shot. So I then used my Note 4 camera. So here goes. Same place and lighting with the Samsung Note 4 camera. Also the Note 4 did not have any out of focus photos. It is worth noting that the Note 4 has received many firmware updates since release. Since taking these photos I read the S6 manual, and it confirmed what I noticed when taking photos. The S6 camera app lacks touch to capture as an option, something I use on the Note 4. The S6 manual does suggest tapping the area on the screen you want to have in focus. Over the Note 4 it also has Tracking Auto Focus, which I tested and it worked fine, AE/EL lock and separation, the same as the iPhone 6 option.
I must be honest, but as I keep looking at the photos I felt the Note 4 took some that were better than the S6 and vice versa. The wow factor of the S6 camera is its speed.
In fact, my impressions of the S6 are its the fastest Samsung phone I have ever used. No lag. But I would still say a HTC One M8 is nimbler. But then the S6 has an absolute stunning 577 PPI QHD screen. The screen is phenomenal beyond belief. Comparing both the S6 and S6 Edge, I really did not like the standard S6. It looked nothing special. In bright light the glass might shine super flashy, but one has to remember we all we don’t all spend 24/7 on a sunny beach! The S6 Edge just stands out as far superior, in a different class with a visual appearance of no bezels. You really have to see it to believe it, as none of the photos 100% convey that wow factor. Size wise, the S6 feels like a baby versus the Note 4. Both phones were really easy to hold, even the Edge.
Touchwiz. Rumour had it the software had been decluttered and as I whizzed through all the options and settings it felt like a stripped down phone. The menus and material design looked good. Lots of neat touches but also a lot omitted in the sake of simplicity.
With all the tech Samsung packed in to this handset, I really think the do have one of the best smartphones, providing we are talking about the S6 Edge.
I am currently burning in the Oppo PM-2 Headphones before writing my review. “Burning in” is the audio term for the number of hours required of playing music through the headphones before they sound awesome. Some headphones need 20 hours, some 100 hours, but the Oppo PM-2 need a minimum of 200 hours. The easiest way is to leave them plugged in playing music for a week and a half non stop.
The Oppo PM-2 Headphones are part of a range of 3 headphones by Oppo. They sell a more luxurious PM-1 and their new recently released PM-3. All of these headphones are different to your normal headphones as they feature “Planar Magnetic” technology.
Oppo uses their proprietary planar magnetic technology which uses a unique 7-layer diaphragm, double-sided spiralling coils, and an FEM-optimised magnet system.
Oppo explain this technology as follows –
“The OPPO PM-2 utilises a planar magnetic driver that sets it apart from the majority of headphones on the market. Sound is generated by a very thin and light diaphragm whose entire surface area is evenly driven. The diaphragm is driven in a symmetric pull-push manner, and the magnetic system and conductor patterns have been optimised for maximum sensitivity and consistency. This allows the diaphragm to generate very stable and linear piston-like vibrations, ensuring phase coherence and high resolution performance with minimal distortion.
Unique to OPPO planar magnetic headphones is the use of a double-sided diaphragm, which allows us to place twice as many conductors within the magnetic field and eliminate any passive return zones where the conductors do not work. This results in the use of 100% of our conductor length, which in turn results in greater efficiency. In addition, our flat conductor pattern eliminates inductance-related intermodulation distortion, common with dynamic headphones, and the OPPO PM-2’s purely resistive impedance means that sound quality is unaffected by a headphone amplifier’s output impedance.
The OPPO PM-2 combines high sensitivity with low weight, allowing it to be used freely with portable devices without requiring additional amplification. Its circumaural, open back design provides the best in sound quality and comfort, and the overall rugged construction ensures that the headphones can withstand mechanical and environmental stress.
These aspects of the OPPO PM-2’s design combine to provide a transparent, highly dynamic sound that exhibits well-balanced tonal qualities with very little distortion, resulting in a listening experience that is both free of fatigue and capable of communicating every nuance of your favorite music.”
Let’s be honest, who can wait 200 hours without having a brief audition. Well, I managed to hold off until 100 hours had passed. And the verdict, well you will just have to wait until next week, but suffice to say the sound reproduction is something really special.
I am selling my Sennheiser HD518 with an additional cable (Fiio RC-HD1) and the Sennheiser HD239 as below.
1) Sennheiser HD518 Headphone – Photos see my review https://gavinsgadgets.com/2015/02/24/sennheiser-hd518-headphone-review/ comes with box, headphones and cables plus a Fiio RC-HD1 Headphone cable, Amazon sell these for £110, now on sale at £76. The Fiio RC-HD1 upgrade cable for the HD518 costs usually £60, but on sale on Amazon at £33.90.
I’m asking for the Sennheiser HD518 and including the special Fiio RC-HD1 cable, £55 plus £10 towards royal mail special delivery. These are less than 3 months old.
2) Sennheiser HD239 headphones – Only the headphones included, currently £69 on Amazon. I’m asking £35 plus £5 towards royal mail special delivery. I bought these from Amazon in Dec 2013. I used these twice a month to record my podcast only. They have otherwise been kept in a drawer.
If you want any of these please contact me on Twitter @gavinfabiani or via email gavinfabl at gmail dot com
Honor have announced their new Honor 4X Smartphone and it is available today for pre order direct only from Amazon.
The Key Specs are –
– 5.5-inch touch screen supporting auto rotation, 267 PPI
– 8gb Storage, 2gb ram
– MicroSD slot upto 32GB
– 13 MP main camera with auto focus + 5 MP secondary camera + Ultra Snap mode takes photo in 0.6 seconds
– Dual-microphone noise reduction
– 3000 mAh battery with smart power-saving technology – 48 hours battery, 7 days in Ultra Mode
– 64 Bit Processor, Kirin 620
– Dual Sims
– 1.2 GHz Octa-core processor
– EMUI v3.0 with Lollipop upgrade coming soon
The Pre Order price is £144.99 which is another great value offering from Honor. I will be getting this phone in for review shortly too. So it you want to know more about this phone head over to Amazon UK
The Microsoft Band is the first device powered by Microsoft Health, that helps you achieve your wellness goals by tracking your heart rate, steps, calorie burn, and sleep quality. It also helps you be more productive with email previews and calendar alerts – right on your wrist.
Works with the phone you own – iPhone, Android, or Windows Phone.
Key specs –
-Achieve your wellness goals and stay more productive with:
-Daily physical activity and sleep tracking.
-24-hour heart rate tracking.
-Built-in GPS.
-Guided Workouts.
-Preview incoming calls, texts, social media updates, emails and calendar entries.
-Take notes and set reminders with Cortana.
-Comes with a ZAGG invisibleSHIELD Screen Protector
Microsoft Health has also integrates with RunKeeper, MyFitnessPal and MapMyfitnes. It will also have a partnership with health and well-being organisation Nuffield Health for the UK launch.
And yours for £169.99. This sounds like a good option especially with built in GPS.
“The HTC One M9 might actually offer shorter battery life than the M8, despite the fact that the M9 has 240mAH more battery than the M8.
Tweakers.net tested the HTC One M9. It scored lower than the HTC One M8 in both Internet browsing and video tests. In web browsing tests, the HTC One M8 lasted for seven hours and 10 minutes of continuous use, while the HTC One M9 died after 5 hours and 30 minutes. When it comes to video playback, the HTC One M8 lasted for 9 hours and 32 minutes, while the HTC One M9 only managed 6 hours and 8 minutes of life.
In a PCMark Android test that simulates daily activity, the HTC One M9 almost matched its predecessor by scoring 5 hours and 37 minutes compared to 6 hours and 5 minutes for the HTC One M8.
When addressing overheating concerns the other day, HTC said the phone is not running the final version of its software – in fact, the company supposedly had to push back the launch of the phone in Taiwan over software-related issues. As a result, battery life might improve once the final version of the HTC One M9 is released”
I really hope these results are just down to poor software, and will be addressed before its launch. Apparently Tweakers.net is similar to Anandtech. I am really tempted to cancel my HTC One M9 pre order, but I want to see these issues first hand before passing my final judgement.
“Nintendo has finally decided that it is time to start making mobile games for platforms like the iPhone/Android. The company has confirmed it will begin developing titles for smartphones and other mobile devices featuring famous franchises like Mario.”
This is big news and long overdue. If you have an android phone, you are probably using a game simulator to play many of these games already. Lets hope Nintendo do a good job when they release their ports.
is now available to pre order at 
Gavin's Gadgets & Photography 