I have had the Honor 7 smartphone 48 hours now, but really only got to use it fully and exclusively all day yesterday. I have installed over 50 of my apps and about 5 games. This is a review device from Honor PR.
The Honor 7 runs Emotion UI which removes the android app drawer. This all your apps appear on the home screens and will require you to folders if you have many apps. Below are my 2 home screens.
I managed to snap a few more photographs yesterday, the first one using HDR due to the sun glare, and the second is a macro of pollination by a bee. I felt the photos were better than those I took yesterday.
The above shot is the historic Lloyds Bank building in Penzance, Cornwall. I really like the HDR effect produced by the Honor 7.
This will be my last post, review, opinions on my LG G4. Why, because I am moving to an iPhone 6S Plus tomorrow. (However, since last night I have been using a Honor 7 which is a PR review unit)
I have had the G4 for 4 months as my main phone and that is a record breaking duration. My G4 package shown above is brilliant. Not shown in the photo is my slim port MHL adapter which connected the G4 via HDMI to my TV. This feature is not even included with the new Note 5! Over the duration of ownership I added to the range of rear covers. The G4 came with a black leather finish and a gold cover in the box. I added a ceramic white and orange leather cover.
Then I got the buzz to fit Qi wireless charging and added this to the orange leather cover. NFC was also included with the Qi sticker. Finally, I protected the screen with a tempered glass screen protector.
So from a hardware standpoint I found the G4 really flexible. It did everything I needed. Expandable memory via the micro SD card slot. I used my 128gb micro SD card. Whilst the G4 does have Quick Charge 2, nothing beats swapping the battery out for a fully charged one. 0% to 100% in less than a minute.
The camera IMO is the best out there currently. And by quite a margin over most other smartphones. The whole phone was kept in touch with a decent Snapdragon 808 which unlike the 810, did not overheat. In use the G4 was fluid and became a great workhorse. A flexible, powerful, adaptable phone. And now I have perfected the phone and its accessories it makes perfect sense in my world, to move on to the next challenge.
But that is the hardware, but what about the software. Well I used the LG launcher for at least 6 weeks and finally relented and installed Nova launcher with Material Cards icon set as shown below.
As some of you will also know, I was at IFA 2015 and got to see all the current and soon to be released phones. As I held each new phone, my natural instincts was to compare it to my G4, and without exception there was not one phone either current or soon to be released that offered anything better than the G4.
So as I bid farewell to my G4, I can honestly say that I will really miss it.
BUT I know what you are all thinking? Will the new iPhone 6S Plus take better photos than the G4? Weather permitting, I intend to undertake this challenge. At this point in time, I have no idea if the new 12mp camera from the 6S Plus will better the 16mp LG G4 camera. This should be interesting so stay tuned 🙂
Jah is a regular reader of Gavin’s Gadgets and recently imported a dual sim Samsung Note 5. Below are Jah’s first impressions –
“Samsung Note 5 Dual SIM variety – Impressions
First of all, if you are in the UK or Europe, please do your homework before you import or buy an imported Note 5. The one I have, the N9208, does not have Band 20 LTE which means you can’t use 4G on Three and on Vodafone the 4G is very patchy. The best option for Dual SIM for the UK is the model designated as N920CD.Â
Now for impressions:
–     –  the music playback over headphones is mind blowing, when playing high definition music (24 bit / 96 khz). I used my Sony MDR R1BT in both wired and Bluetooth (with APT-X) mode. The head amp on the Note 5 is better than the Snapdragon Note 4 and Exynos Note Edge. Over BT, the sound reproduction is the best I have heard from any smartphone (compared to HTC M9 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge as recent examples). Therefore, it is a shame Samsung don’t have a 128GB version as you’ll fill-up the typically free 50GB (of the 64GB model once you’ve loaded your apps) very quickly with High Def music.
–     – the build quality of the Note 5 is top dollar. You really need to spend time with it to appreciate the accuracy of build and beauty of the metal and glass body. Even the SIM tray is beautifully constructed. Again shame no tray for a micro SD card!
–    –  I was surprised that even though the screen resolution of the Note 5 and Note 4 are the same, the screen of the Note 5 is better (whiter whites and sharper text). The screen on the Note 5 is a joy to use.
–Â Â Â Â – Â it is quick, appreciably quicker than the Galaxy S6 Edge even though it shares similar (but not the same) internals.
–     – the Note 5 has the slimmer, slicker and frankly much more user friendly Touchwiz interface than the Note 4. Lots of nice touches make it a joy to use especially for business and productivity. Also note that the S Pen accuracy and fluidity has also improved. But I am not sure about the long term viability of the mechanical clicking mechanism on the top of the S Pen as the means to pop it out of the silo.  Â
–     – I use a Vodafone and EE SIMs and as the Vodafone LTE reception is patchy, I think my N9208 model was struggling with using Vodafone. When I set my EE SIM to be the SIM to use for data, the battery life improved. I can just about get through a day with a full charge but when there are signal issues (e.g. varying cell towers and signal types when travelling on a train) the battery takes a real battering. But when you have a good signal, the battery life is great (battery dropped 3-4% during a 1.5hr telephone call, which I think is good). My typical daily use is two email accounts on 15 minute sync, 40 minutes of music over BT, about an 1 hour of general web use, 10-20 minutes of calls and 30 to 40 minutes of using the Note 5 as a hot spot (over an elapsed period of 13 hours). Please note, that unlike the OnePlus Two and other devices, the Note 5 cannot operate both SIMs on LTE; one SIM runs over 2G (GPRS and Edge) while the other (which you specify in settings) runs on LTE.
Overall, the Note 5 really is a very refined business and productivity tool. Samsung should bring this to the UK (and Europe). If are interested in the Note 5, really seek out the 64gb version.”
Many thanks to Jah for his contribution. If you would like to contribute a piece do get in touch.
First let’s take a look at the official specifications –
Specifications –
– Size 42mm diameter, 11.3mm thick
– Colour – Silver, Black, Gold
– Display 1.4-inch full circle AMOLED display, 400×400 screen resolution, 286 ppi
– 10,000:1 high contrast ratio
– Material Cold-Forged 316L Stainless Steel, Glass Sapphire crystal
– Battery 300mAh
– Connectivity Bluetooth 4.1 BLE, WiFi
– Sensors 6-Axis motion sensor (Gyroscope + Accelerometer),Heart Rate Sensor (PPG),Barometer, Vibration Motor
– OS Compatibility Requirements Android 4.3+ / iOS 8.2+
– Cases Stainless Steel Case,Black-plated Stainless Steel Case,Rose gold-plated Stainless Steel Case
– Straps (Standard 18mm lug width), Stainless steel Mesh Strap,Stainless steel Link bracelet,Genuine leather strap
– Memory 512MB RAM + 4GB ROM
– Magnetic charging base
The first thing that strikes you about the Huawei Watch is that it is a full circular display with smallish bezels, and overall its size is more watch size. Compared say to my LG Watch Urbane, it is somewhat less bulky.
Huawei have gone to town to try and make their watch appear more like an expensive time piece with another of steel and leather straps on offer, as well as different steel coloured finishes. The screen is very clear, and this is aided by the sapphire coated screen. See below the range of finishes and casing. The straps have quick removal pins.
As a comparison, here are two Huawei Watches either side of the LG Watch Urbane.
Huawei designed many top notch watch faces for the Huawei Watch. Tap on an image in the gallery to start viewing the options. Note there are some of my Watch faces included in this collection, but I really liked several of the Huawei designed faces.
However, at the heart of everything is Android Wear. Some people love Android Wear and its card based notifications, but compared to other watch operating systems it can feel left behind. Samsung introduced the Gear S2 based on Tizen. This is a slick watch operating system, probably with a deficit in third party apps. Apple Watch has all the apps, but not the range of watch faces available on android wear. Android Wear has all the watch faces but lacks the app integration of that provided by Apple. So there are pros and cons of each. The trick in my opinion is to have a smart watch look like a watch. And this is where Huawei succeed. In terms of battery life we are talking one to two days.
But what about pricing.
As you can see from the slide photo above, Huawei is pricing the watches at the mid to higher end.
Conclusion
Huawei have gone to town to make a smart looking watch, that runs android wear. To keep up this expensive or premium feel, the Huawei Watch is boxed in a luxury watch box too. The final decision is whether you want to outlay such an expensive on a watch running android wear, but then the same could ve said for those spending £10,000+ on the Apple Watch Edition!
– Display 5.50-inch 1080p, 73.9% screen to body ratio, Gorilla Glass 4
– Processor – HiSilicon Kirin 935, CPU Quad-core 2.2 GHz & quad-core 1.5 GHz,GPU Mali-T628 MP4
– RAM 3GB
– OS Android 5.1.1 with Emotion UI 3.1
– Storage 32GB, 64GB or 128gb with Force Torch only on 128gb
– Rear Camera 13-megapixel, 8mp front camera, OIS dual LED flash
– Battery capacity – 2700mAh
– Dimensions 149.8 x 75.3 x 7.2 mm (5.90 x 2.96 x 0.28 in)
– Weight 156 g (5.50 oz)
– Dual SIM or SIM plus up to 128gb micro sd card
– Fingerprint sensor, Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
– Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, hotspot
– Bluetooth v4.0, A2DP
– GPS Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS/ Beidou (market dependant)
– NFC Yes
– Radio FM radio
– USB microUSB v2.0
– Extras – Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic, Xvid/MP4/H.265/WMV player, MP3/eAAC+/WAV/Flac player, Photo/video editor, Document editor
Let’s cut straight to the chase. The Huawei Mate S is a gorgeously made and great looking phone from whichever angle you glance at it. As this is manufactured by Huawei, the phone reception, in fact all the radios WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC and cellular are excellent at picking up and signal as well as clear voice calls. The Mate S is configured with a dual sim arrangement, which can use the second nano sim as a micro SD card slot unto 128gb. It is also dual 4G LTE. There are 3 versions, Standard 32gb grey or champagne colours, Premium 64gb which adds gold/pink colours and luxury is the 128gb Force Touch model which is finished in Prestige Gold. Just to be clear, the Force Touch is only available in the 128gb model. Pricing is 649 euros, 699 euros and even more for the Force Touch 128gb version! That is expensive. Viewing angles are excellent. AnTuTu scored 50,000 which is respectable. So does it live up to the premium flagship status? Read on!
Below is a video of me showing off the build of the Huawei Mate S.
The Fingerprint sensor is the fastest I have ever used. Totally instant. It uses the second generation sensor which gives 100% faster recognition speeds and sensitivity. Once unlocked you can use the fingerprint sensor to take photos, stop alarms, show notification panel or browse photos. It becomes a mouse pad. The interface skin is Emotion UI v3. See screen shots. This provides a host of features and no app drawer too. The phone has a wealth of settings, more than you could ever dream of. Click on the gallery of screen shots below to reveal all the options.
Force Touch – I spent time using this model as well as the 32gb version which I had for much longer. Huawei really have not got a clue what to do with this technology apart from weighing small fruit on the screen or zooming in on photos. In the Huawei press conference, they did mention they were hoping developers would create great uses and apps for this technology. Below is a short video of me using Force Touch.
Audio
I tested the loudspeaker, it is extremely clear but not very loud around 84db. I think Huawei went for quality over quantity. The headphone output is excellent and the phone plays back FLAC files with no issues. APT-X is supported along with USB Audio.
Camera
The 13mp camera is a 4 colour RGBW image sensor, with 1.2 degrees Optical Image Stabilisation, Sapphire Glass Protected but what really counts is the image quality. First let’s look at the camera app interface. As you can see a full range of modes from manual, auto, HDR, panorama, light painting modes, and more. The longest shutter speed is 8 seconds in manual mode. Supernightmode can take up to a minute. Colour reproduction was good. Panoramas were around 8mb in size and well stitched. The camera worked well except for low light shots. In a restaurant I photographed my friends opposite with the LG G4, iPhone 6 Plus and the Mate S. The best shot was by the G4, then iPhone 6 Plus and a really noisy shot by the Mate S. But if you can live with this weakness, the other shooting modes do make for a comprehensive camera app. The supernight mode is freaky good.
Below are screen shots from the camera app showing all the options. Click on a photo to open up the gallery.
The colour reproduction is excellent. The Mercedes below was taken with the filter on prior to the shot.
The flower on the table is using the Supernight mode. Phone was on a mini tripod for this shot.
Another supernight mode shot.
Using the light painting mode, you can have some fun.
Timelapse Mode
Part of the default camera app, below is a time lapse recording. Really good quality again.
Conclusion
The Huawei Mate S is the expensive flagship from Huawei. It is impeccably built. Gorgeous to look at. It does a lot really well but in my opinion is let down by the camera in lowish light. At flagship pricing it needs a flagship camera at the levels of the LG G4 or Samsung Galaxy S6. The camera modes like supernight mode and light painting make off for this deficit. At the end of the day, it really depends what YOU want from your phone.
So what did I think of the new watch from Samsung. Actually, it is rather smaller in person, and consequently looks and feels consider a smaller than the LG Watch Urbane.
So what you have is a watch that looks good on wrist and not overbearing.
Then you have the news that Samsung is allowing other Android phones to connect to this watch. There is a rumour coming out IFA that Samsung will allow this watch to connect to iPhones. The only issue of using another brand of Android phone or an iPhone is the watch will lose some of its functionality.
So what is the Gear S2 like to use in real life? Actually it is the smoothest and slickest out of any watch including my own LG Watch Urbane. It scrolls really quickly between screens and with the rotating bezels makes light work of everything. I was impressed.
So what are the drawbacks? Maybe it will be the lack of third party developers developing for the platform!
However even if the number of apps out of the box are minimal, it still provides an awful lot out of the box and should be ideal for many people!
I now have been using the Huawei Mate S camera for several days.
I have posted several photos but also now uploaded the original shots plus a whole load more to a dedicated Flickr album. Click here https://flic.kr/s/aHskj289sE
None of the photos have been post processed.
Here a few posted before and some new ones. Don’t forget to click on the Flickr link to see all the photos.
Supernightmode is a treat to use. As is the light painting modes eg silky water. These special modes on the camera app make taking fancy shots a breeze. The quality is equally good too.
The time lapse mode is fantastic too. The below video took 20 mins.
Last night Honor announced the new Honor 7 for the UK. Retailing at £249 but available now for a few days until 31st August 2015 for £209 via https://www.vmall.eu/uk/honor-7-grey-281214/ .
If you want to buy via Amazon UK it is now available Honor 7 Amazon UK deal
I have watched all the hands on videos and reviews and really like what I see. Some of the highlights include –
– Fast Fingerprint indicator, Smart Voice WakeUp, personalised “Smart Key”
– 20 MP rear and 8 MP front camera
– 5.2 inch FHD display, metallic body, ceramic blasting
– Long lasting 3100 mAh battery, Smart Power 3.0, Reverse Charging, Quick Charging
– Kirin 935, 64 bit OctaCore CPU with up to 2.2 GHz, revolutionary heat dissipation design
– Dual sim or sim plus micro SD card
– Boost the volume by up to 2dB with Voice+ or eliminate all noise for up to three metres with the super hands-free calling 3.0 mode.
– Storage: 16 GB / RAM: 3 GB / User Available Memory: approx. 9 GB / External: microSD card (up to 128 GB)
– 3G: YES / 4G: YES / Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.1 / A2DP stereo / Bluetooth BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) / Wi-Fi: 802.11ac/a/b/g/n, 2.4G Hz /5G Hz
– NFC included
So if you pre-ordered before the 31st August 2015, you could pick up this phone for £209. That seems like a lot of phone for your money. See what Btekt and Gadgette thought of the Honor 7 in an open review type discussion of the phone. I think its amazing what you can buy for a few hundred pounds nowadays!!
Gavin's Gadgets & Photography 