Samsung Galaxy Note II Review

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Gary Cook

Samsung Galaxy Note II

A couple of weeks ago I got my hands on the Samsung Galaxy Note II to put it through its paces and review what is Samsung’s latest powerhouse device, with a spec list even more impressive than the hugely successful and popular Galaxy S III that came out earlier in the year. Might I add this is not just a test unit but my daily phone and for a couple of reasons. Well, three in all. First and foremost was the screen size, which of my (6 month) old Sony at 4.3″ just wasn’t big enough for me. I do a fair amount of web browsing on my phone and like the large real estate the phone gives for this. The Samsung Galaxy Note II has a 5.55″ screen and although it has a lower ppi (pixel per inch) density than the Sony Xperia S I had, the Note II does have a much clearer screen, thanks to some clever sub-pixel wizardry I’ll touch on later.

The second factor to aide my decision in plunging my short arms into my deep pockets was the sheer power of the device. Running a 1.6GHz quad-core processor and 2GB RAM it makes it one of the most powerful phones on the market right now, with the likes of Google’s new Nexus 4 up there too. The third point is a little gimmicky, but the S Pen that the Samsung Galaxy Note II comes with. It really is the cherry on top. Gone are the days of resistive touchscreens with clunky pens, this is a full capacitive touchscreen that allows the use of a pen, but I’ll pick up on that later too.

It was the aforementioned spec list of this phone which I felt was incredible. As a quick run down, this phone has a 1.6GHz quad-core chipset with 2GB RAM along with Android’s latest Jelly Bean OS which has their famous Project Butter implementation which controls the GPU and CPU governance, this phone is really fast. An 8MP camera takes stunning photos with a really intuitive autofocus, and full 1080p video recording capabilities with image stabilisation for some impressive HD videos. A 1.9MP camera up front for video calls is a good quality image, though honestly it’s not something I ever use, I have always felt self-portrait photos taken with the front facing camera a little too “MySpace-esque” for my liking.

Samsung Galaxy Note II S Pen

The S Pen is the true selling point of this phone, if the 5.55” screen isn’t quite enough of an attention grabber for you. Samsung have built into their TouchWiz UI some really clever tricks which help the S Pen feel part of the phone, not just an aftermarket attachment. There are little tweaks like when pressing the pen’s button and double tapping on screen calls up a post-it note you can doodle or makes notes on, with quick toggles on screen to make it smaller, full screen, and by touching and dragging the header bar the top can be dragged around the screen. The S Pen also fits perfectly inside the phone, and has been developed on since the original Samsung Galaxy Note to be much more ergonomic and with a nice satin feel has a much more tactile quality.

Samsung Galaxy Note II grey

I have never been a fan of manufacturer’s added software or “bloatware” they add to enhance an operating system, most notably HTC’s Sense UI as I feel it is just adding to the overall OS which has to be run by the phone’s processor, however this time Samsung have done a great job adding useful tweaks into their UI, TouchWiz. The overall UI for the Samsung Galaxy Note II is very similar to the Galaxy S III’s interface whilst building on that with added functionality for the S Pen. The post-it note function for notes, drawings and sheer text can be doodled or written on and saved, which is really handy when pen and paper aren’t to hand. I’ve used this a few times and it’s really good, though personally speaking it’s not something I’ll use daily, but that’s not to say others wouldn’t use it. TouchWiz also has a swype-like text input function built in which when using the pen makes for really fast and simple text input. Similar can be seen on Android’s latest 4.2 update. If you find the screen a bit large for one-handed operation, there is a setting in which you can set it for left or right hand use on the Samsung Keyboard which just shrinks it down a little and makes for simple one handed use. This was a feature I really liked, however when I had to text anything I found myself reaching for the pen to use the swipe function which I have always liked. Samsung get a good +1 from me for their UI tweaks to Android for this phone. Yes it is bloatware, but they are all useful tweaks. This said I unlocked the bootloader and had the phone rooted within a week to put a nightly version of CyanogenMod 10 on, which removes all of the aforementioned bloatware and runs a pure vanilla version of Android (v4.1.2 at the moment) with just a few tweaks to the UI like wallpapers and lock screen functions, courtesy of Trebuchet. A much preferred option for myself.

The screen is another jaw-dropping highlight of the Samsung Galaxy Note II. It’s size at 5.55″ makes it the largest screened phone on the market at the moment and fills that nice void between a standard phone at the now typical 4″ or 4.3″ screen size and the now popular 7″ tablets and, on bridging that said gap Samsung have decided to name this a phablet, part phone part tablet, almost making a new category of devices. Although this screen is bigger than the original Samsung Galaxy Note, the Note II has as narrower screen, thanks to changing the aspect ratio from 16:10 to 16:9 which gives it that lovely cinema style screen and really lends itself towards watching videos and YouTube.

New screen matrix of the Note II on the left, and the old PenTile Matrix on the right, of the original Galaxy Note

Now in reducing the width of the screen, it has resulted in a slightly lower resolution at 1280×720 down from its predecessor at 1280×800 and also a lower ppi (pixel per inch) density down from 285ppi to 267ppi. Samsung have played around with the matrix and gives a higher perceivable clarity and sharpness. Here’s the techy bit. They have done away with the PenTile matrix and changed the colour from green to blue of the sub pixel, also breaking the main pixels up from single red and blue cells, to half red half green cells. As you can see from the image, this really makes a huge difference to the crispness of the screen. It is nice to see Samsung standing up and proving that a high ppi doesn’t necessarily mean a better quality screen.

The camera quality is good. It’s not the best quality camera phone on the market, but Samsung make up for that with some nice functionality on the phone, like burst shot, capturing stills while video recording and different colourways to apply to photos such as sepia and black and white. Taking photos was one area the size of the phone comes into fruition and hinderance. It really is nice to have this lovely screen size to utilise as a viewfinder, though physically holding it for photo taking felt too much. I felt like one of those tourists you see in London taking photos of Big Ben with an iPad. That just can’t be practical! For me I’ve never looked at a phone as also my dedicated camera, for me a phone is also my MP3 player and media device, so I can live with using it just for the occasional snapshots and using my D-SLR for real “David Bailey” moments.

Samsung Galaxy Note II screen and S Pen

So screen size, a fancy pen and a more powerful processor than most 5 year old laptops, just how good is this to use as a daily device? It took me about 48 hours to adjust to the size of the phone/phablet in my hands. Luckily I’ve large enough hands to not worry about single-handed operation, however Samsung have put some nice tweaks into TouchWiz to cater for those that struggle with the screen size. I always felt more inclined to reach for the S Pen before I cursed the large screen and went playing with the one-handed operation adjustments within the settings. Now I have removed the Samsung software and run CyanogenMod these functions aren’t there, and as I’d not used them, I don’t miss them. It’s one of those screen sizes you will either adjust to really quickly and love, or instantly not get on with. At 183g this is not a light phone, though I have never liked light phones as I personally like to always know it’s in my pocket, particularly when zipping on the underground in London. The overall size of the phone is not a concern for use, but I do now think which jeans to throw on as some have shallow or narrow pockets that then makes this uncomfy throw in.

Being on Android you know the overall usability of the device is going to be great, it’s so simple and effective, putting all control in the end user and allowing you to show the information, apps and widgets on your homescreen as you wish. It’s great that Samsung pushed this device out to the public with the latest version of Android, nearly, running Jelly Bean v4.1.1 which is only a stone’s throw away from the very new v4.2 Jelly Bean update, which I hope Samsung pushes to Galaxy Note II users in the new year.

Ultimately I am really pleased with the Samsung Galaxy Note II. It did take me a couple of days to get used to the size, but within mere moments I was in love with the screen, its size and clarity are excellent. One gripe are the capacitive touch keys at the bottom of the front of the phone. They are very sensitive and sometimes when holding the phone in my hand firmly I have accidently pressed them. Their positioning perhaps could have been re-thought. The hardware home key does sometimes require a firm press, a gentle click in doesn’t always activate the command due. With a phone screen this size I’m surprised Samsung didn’t opt for Android’s in screen navigation bar, though that wouldn’t sit in line with the Galaxy branding style. I’m not sure where manufacturers are going to go with screen size now, I do feel this is as large as you’d want to go. There are parts of the Note II I don’t like, partly Samsung’s “bloatware” as although some of it, in particular the S Pen tweaks were good, I didn’t really use them and personally didn’t need them, however I do see how they are good tweaks, so good that people are currently looking at building them into custom software ROM’s. The S Pen itself is fantastic. It has a sublime ergonomic quality to it, and I go to grab it out the bottom of the phone each time I pick it up, regardless of whether I need to use it or not. It works fantastically well controlling games like Angry Birds of my favourite game Flow, and the handwriting recognition really is good, even picking up most of my scrawls for actual words.

Samsung Galaxy Note II in Grey and White

If you can adjust to the screen size, your hands and pockets are big enough to hold it, it really is worth considering over the Samsung Galaxy S III as it does have that larger processor for faster operating speeds. The Samsung Galaxy Note II comes in 16/32/64GB internal memory versions, though all are capable of taking up to a 64GB MicroSD card, so internal memory isn’t greatly needed and you will find that most retailers like Carphone Warehouse or E2Save will just be stocking the 16GB variant until the price drops a little. In white and grey now, the colour options are limited though there has been speculation of new colours coming out in the new year.

I’d highly recommend this phone if you like big phones, or even just powerful phones and it’s worth considering if you are looking at the Samsung Galaxy S III, give the Note II a look at see what you think. I for one am certain I made the right decision and thoroughly pleased with this phone, there aren’t enough superlatives to describe it!

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4G. 3. 2. 1… lift off!

Posted on October 30, 2012 by Cat

The long awaited launch date of 4G in the UK has finally arrived! EE, the company behind Orange and T Mobile, and the only network to be licenced to operate a 4G network in the UK so far, finally pushed the button today, bringing super fast mobile internet to the people of Britain… or at least some of them!

4G will be available in 11 major cities initially (Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Sheffield and Southampton), with another 5 to be covered by Christmas (Belfast, Derby, Glasgow, Hull, Newcastle and Nottingham). The intention is that 4G will gradually be rolled out across the UK, but how long that will take is anyone’s guess. Judging by the fact that an estimated 75% of the population still can’t get a 3G signal, it could be some time. 

So, will it be worth the wait? EE has promised to offer mobile internet speeds of between 8 to 12 Mbps, which is up to 5 times faster than 3G. This will allow much better quality streaming of audio, video and other content on mobile devices.

Those with 4G enables devices, and living in 4G hotspots, will be able to benefit from the improved service by switching to 4G mobile plans which start from £36 per month for 500MB of data, and unlimited free calls and SMS. However, with 500MB only equating to around 2 hours of television, in order to reap the full benefits of 4G, customers will most likely have to pay for larger packages: the largest being £51 per month for 5GB 

EE are also launching mobile Wi-Fi and mobile broadband dongles, which will allow you to connect other devices, such as tablets and laptops and non-4G enabled handsets, to 4G.

Currently 4G is only available on the newly rebranded network EE (formerly Everything Everywhere), which also encompasses Orange and T Mobile, but other mobile operators such as Vodafone and O2 will be entering the throng in the new year.

The launch of 4G in the UK is certainly not before time. Thanks to lengthy legal battles between Britain’s mobile networks, the UK is relatively far behind the rest of the world in receiving fourth generation wireless services. Let’s just hope it makes up for lost time…!

For more information on EE and 4G, check out our frequently asked questions page.

What are your thoughts on 4G? Will you be upgrading? Air your views by leaving a comment below…

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Slow Start for Fast 4GEE – Stores Closed and No 4G Demo!

Posted on October 30, 2012 by Chris Frost

Today is the BIG DAY!  4G went live in the UK on EE, the lovechild of Orange and T-Mobile so I popped to my local High Street in London to get a demo to see just how fast it really is and came back home none the wiser…

EE promises that 4G is going to be five times faster than 3G, subject I’m sure to plenty of small print about 4G coverage variations, the device you’re using and so on.  I for one expect to see evidence of this before switching networks and shelling out on a 4G phone or 4G mobile wifi contract. 

First of all I rocked up to the local Orange store, now hastily and cheaply rebranded in grey as an EE store with Orange listed as a sub-brand, to find it closed due to ‘refurbishment’.  I later found out that it was closed due to it’s EE stock and sales collateral having not turned up!  

Welcome to the 4G revolution and launch of EE!!

Thankfully, in the crazy three brand world of EE, Orange and T-Mobile there was a T-Mobile store only a few doors away so I trudged along to see if they could show me the wonders of 4GEE. This store is also now an EE store, with some small T-Mobile co-branding on the fascia and thankfully it was open.  I walked in to find the staff in their fresh new EE uniform and some indication that EE has actually launched but alas… no demo products on display!! 

When I asked the staff they said they did have stock to sell of 4G mobiles and mobile broadband products but that the demo SIMs hadn’t yet arrived.  An electrician was also due to set up the demo units later in the day.  The best they could offer was a demo of a 4G phone over the 3G network. Obviously a pointless exercise.

They hoped to have demo products available during the afternoon but I’m not confident enough to bother heading back into town given the completely underwhelming performance of EE/T-Mobile/Orange so far.

The poor staff are not to blame and they were very apologetic.  They also seemed to be struggling to understand the confusing array of tariffs, handsets and offers that now cover two or three different brands. Head office has really let them down.

Contrast this to the slick product launches we see on a regular basis for Apple and this seems particularly shambolic. 4G has been promoted as a huge step change in the backbone of the mobile industry, particularly by EE – the main reason for the new brand even existing.  

You’d expect a bigger fanfare for the biggest step in mobile data speeds in nearly a decade. I’m thinking red carpets, a massage whilst you sign up and staff carrying by out of the shop with my new purchase.  Pleasing the early adopters is crucial to get speedy wider take up and brand advocacy for a new tech product. Instead I found stores closed, demo products missing and embarrassed staff having to turn away potential customers.  

I’m left pondering what EE really stands for – Everything Everywhere it certainly is not. 

What do you think of the EE4G launch? Will you be getting 4G? Let us know by adding a comment below.

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Google Nexus 7 Review

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Gary Cook

Back on the 27th June Google announced they were adding a new device to the Nexus line up, this time a tablet, called the Google Nexus 7 which is built for Google by Asus and was set to be the epitome of an Android tablet experience.

Asus Google Nexus 7

Google Nexus 7

Historically when Google release a new Nexus device, it is the first device to run a new version of the operating system, such as the Samsung Galaxy Nexus which was the first device to run Android v4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and this time when Google wanted to release its newest version of the OS, 4.1 Jelly Bean, they decided a phone wouldn’t suffice, a tablet was in order.

Now it goes without saying really that when a new Google device launches, pre-orders and sales are always strong and the Google Nexus 7 stood up to the test too, with Google halting UK sales for the 16GB version online to begin with and stores selling out as well. Because of this I had to wait a little while to get hold of one. Since the boss didn’t get a unit to review and return, I thought I’d just go out and personally get one, so I opted for the 16GB variant, my view on internal memory is go big or go home!

Prices really are affordable. Asus were tasked to build to a budget when manufacturing the Nexus 7, something Google would not budge on as they wanted this device to not only be kickass but at a cost anyone could afford, and what a sweet price bracket they have dropped the tablet into. The 8GB variant is £159 direct from Google and the 16GB variant is £199 and just to add an extra incentive, when you first sign into your Google account (gmail) on the Nexus 7 you’ll get £15 of Google Play Credit to spend in the Google Play store on apps, books or movies, as well as a copy of Transformers: Dark of the Moon on Google Movies, a nice little kick back to save precious memory on the device itself if going for the 8GB. At the time of publishing if you log into one or more gmail account on the Nexus 7, that account also gets the £15 credit. This additional account does need to also be in your name, not a mates, sadly.

On the topic of variants, the Google Nexus 7 comes in two forms, an 8GB and a 16GB version. Now 8GB doesn’t seem a lot but this is for a clever reason on Google’s part. They are trying to promote their Books, Movies and Music options which store your content on the cloud and not on the device itself, rendering the large memory redundant, however not all of us want to have our content on the cloud which requires an internet connection to play, so the larger memory option proves beneficial.

Nexus 7 sideview

Nexus 7 sideview

The device itself looks great. it is really thin and light, and makes my Motorola Xoom feel like a brick, though this is due to the Google Nexus 7 having a 7” screen, much smaller than the Xoom’s 10.1” screen, and the Xoom having a metal build over the Nexus 7’s plastic build. That said the build quality is exceptional and feels so nice in the hand, with bevelled edges and the patterned back panel which reduces finger marks and has a nice non slip feel to it. The Google Nexus 7 weighs in at 340g which is a nice weight for the tablet. It’s heavy enough to confirm to you the strong build quality, but not so strong it would be uncomfy to use for long periods.

The screen is a real joy to look at. It is a 7″ 1280×800 HD display (216 ppi) back-lit IPS display with scratch-resistant Corning glass meaning it handles videos and apps with high-level graphics really well. There have been a few issues appearing with some devices where the Corning glass screen comes away from the device, but I have not found this with my unit. Don’t worry though as this is covered under warranty, so just follow the procedure to return if you find an issue with yours, when you get one.

Briefly touching on the packaging the box isn’t much to talk about, it is not much bigger than the tablet itself, upon removing the sleeve and lifting the lid off it uncovers the tablet in all its glory. I couldn’t help but be reminded of unboxing an Apple iPhone 4S, the Google Nexus 7 takes an awfully similar approach to boxing and displaying. I hope Apple didn’t take a patent out on packaging too, it wouldn’t surprise me if they had. The contents of the box aren’t much to write home about, being just the tablet, USB lead and power plug. There’s no cover, screen protector or fancy gifts it is very basic but then to get the price down to its juicy number there had to be some cutbacks. I was slightly disappointed to not see a set of headphones included, though this isn’t something any tablets come with, I just personally feel it would have added to the portability of the unit.

Google Play on the Nexus 7

Google Play on the Nexus 7

The Google Nexus 7 is a feature rich little beauty. I’ve already touched on the screen resolution and quality and the light weight of the device. Deep down in the belly of the tablet are a set of lovely features which make the spec list sing and scares off rivals such as the Amazon Kindle Fire stateside and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 over here in the UK. Powering the device and keeping it ticking over sweetly is a quad-core Tegra 3 chipset clocked at 1.3GHz courtesy of the good guys over at Nvidia and a battery life of “all day” according to Google, or 10 hours playback in reality, of course depending on how bright you like the screen and how many graphic-heavy apps or games you are running but do expect the 10 hours on video playback to be near capable. Tried and tested, and in glorious 720p it is great to watch films on.

Of course this excellent battery life and powerful CPU are only achieved thanks to Google’s newest version of the Android operating system, Jelly Bean, and the clever trickery they have done with this OS adding in some really clever features, and Project Butter.

Project Butter is Google’s attempt to quash lag time when using a device. It’s main advantage is it lets the CPU and graphics run parallel instead of interfere with each other and now all runs at 60 frames per second letting everything run faster and smoother now, which can be perceived both in reality and thought. Without getting too technical, it also pre-renders pages and menus for you, and learns where you will touch the screen next after the first touch. So if you hit a certain part of the screen, Android will know the most likely place you will next hit the screen next. It does this as when you touch the screen, it has to send a signal to the processor to action your command, whereas if it knows where you’ll touch, it’s already sideloaded that command to it doesn’t have to load it. All this makes the user experience great, and everything run so much smoother. Google’s attack on lagginess has really paid off. The Nexus 7 runs as smooth as butter.

A lot of people have already questioned why the Google Nexus 7 doesn’t have a rear-facing camera and it’s simple really, it’s a tablet not a camera. For one, it is cumbersome to use a tablet to photo, even a nice small light one like this, but second to put the camera unit in is costly, and so to keep the tablet at this sweet price point, some corners had to be cut, although I do feel even if it was a higher price bracket Google would leave it out, as it’s not needed. I see tourists  in London taking photos of Big Ben with an iPad and it just looks awkward. The Google Nexus 7 does has a front-facing camera for your video calling on Skype or other app, and is a good quality being a 1.2mp snapper, though again I don’t feel it’s massively needed, video calling isn’t a widely popular way to communicate.

Google Now on Jelly Bean

Google Now on the Nexus 7

Another new feature to Android v4.1 (now v4.1.1) is Google Now. Google Now gets you just the right information, just when it is needed. For instance, if your device is synced with all your other Google services, such as Calendar and Maps etc, it will show you a card telling you your appointment is at 10am at “this address” and also how far away you are and how long it will take to get there. A Weather card always appears, which you can swipe to dismiss. With Google’s new voice search function, you can simply ask it a question like “How tall is the Eiffel Tower?” and it will respond “The Eiffel Tower is 324m tall”. It also remembers your routine, so if you travel to the office at a certain time each day, it will give you a card with your travel details each day when you need it, before you leave.  It works beautifully well, and is arguably better working than Siri at performing many tasks.

In summary the Google Nexus 7 is a cracking little device, and I personally feel it offers up the best Android tablet experience I’ve used to date, even more appealing than the Asus Transformer Prime I’ve played with, but this knocks the spots off all rivals as it’s tech spec under the hood is rich, and comes at such a pleasant price.

Google Nexus 7 back

Nexus 7 Back

Yes there are a few niggles with the device, like it’s plastic build quality and that some users have found the Corning glass to come away from the device, but the latter hasn’t affected many users and the fact the build quality is exceptional makes the use of plastic no bad thing. Some people have to gain more of a sense of reality when it comes to just how much of a device can be made at a £159 price tag, for the 8GB variant.

Memory sizes may snag a few people. I personally also have the 16GB Motorola Xoom with a 32GB memory card and very rarely have I ever used the card, so the 16GB Nexus 7 suits me fine, however I do feel I could manage quite comfortably with the 8GB, if I made more effort to use Google’s Play services, such as Movies and Music which store everything on the cloud and so frees up space on the internal memory. One little disappointment is the lack of a memory card slot, however as mentioned this is with Google trying to steer customers subtly towards their cloud services. I’m sure it wouldn’t take long to adjust, I can’t remember the last time I saved Excel or Word docs anymore, in favour of Google Drive where a project or blog can be picked up on any device.

 For the money this is the perfect device for people of all ages, be it for a child’s Christmas present or Grandad’s first tablet. The £159 price tag for the 8GB on Google is very reasonable, as with the included £15 Google Play Credit, and £199 for the 16GB also. I don’t feel the extra £40 justifies the memory increase, as there is no other benefit the units are otherwise identical, and with hindsight I would probably have opted for the 8GB. Most retailers other than Google only offer the 16GB and for £199.99 but you may find they can ship it quicker than Google themselves. I have used Currys in the past and never had an issue with the delivery times.

I am 100% sure if/when you get your hands on one you will enjoy the Google Nexus 7 and will forget I even mentioned the gripes I had with it, as the more I use it I do.

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4G Launch Plan Announced by Everything Everywhere – 3G Déjà vu?

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Chris Frost

Olaf Swantee, head honcho at Everything Everywhere, today formally announced the launch of 4G mobile phone services from the company that comprises the Orange and T-Mobile brands. 

16 cities will have 4G access by the end of this year with 98% 4G coverage (population coverage rather than landmass coverage) promised by 2014.  The following 4 cities are set to roll out 4G coverage in the next few weeks:

Everything Everywhere now rebranded as EE - I kid you not

  • London
  • Birmingham
  • Cardiff
  • Bristol
Whilst these 12 cities should get 4G before the end of the year:
  • Belfast
  • Derby
  • Edinburgh
  • Glasgow 
  • Hull
  • Leeds
  • Liverpool
  • Manchester
  • Nottingham 
  • Newcastle
  • Sheffield 
  • Southampton

4G will be launched under a new brand that replaces Everything Everywhere.  The brand agency must have spent literally minutes (and hundreds of thousands of pounds in consultancy fees) coming up with this one.  Wait for it…  ’Everything Everyone’ will become ‘EE’. Jubilympics anyone?

The launch announcement itself made me feel a strong sensation of déjà vu.  The main benefits of 4G, according to Olaf, included watching live tv (without buffering), downloading email attachments quicker than ever and video conferencing on the move. Isn’t that exactly what the operators promised us all in fantastical ad campaigns back at the launch of 3G in the UK nearly ten years ago?

It actually took several more years and the launch of the iPhone to deliver the breakthrough moment in the adoption of data-rich applications on a mobile phone – the smartphone era. And don’t forget… the original iPhone was actually a 2G product – it didn’t even have 3G.

Don’t get carried away with hype. 4G is a good step forward and it will become the norm in the next five years but it’s an evolutionary step forwards not a revolutionary change for us normos.  

Oh, and if EE expects everyone to bin their iPhone’s and Androids in favour of a Nokia Lumia to get 4G access… they really are back in the land of 3G fantasy.  

Posted in Blog, Mobile Coverage, News, Orange, Rant, T-Mobile | Tagged | 2 Comments

Everything Everywhere to launch 4G (but not everywhere just yet)

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Chris Frost

Great news for speed obsessed, data hungry smartphone and tablet lovers – Everything Everywhere will launch 4G in the UK before the end of the year! 

Ofcom have granted the group which combined both of the Orange and T-Mobile brands permission to launch a 4G network on their existing mobile spectrum. User Benefits of 4G

Mobile coverage will initially be limited to major metropolitan areas, similar to when 3G initially rolled out, and only a handful of devices are likely to support 4G in the UK at that time.  It remains to be confirmed if current 4G devices, most notably the 4G supporting iPad 3, will be compatible with UK 4G – previous speculation suggests not. 

Everything Everywhere also announced that they will be launching a new third brand which will sit alongside Orange and T-Mobile.  Orange and T-Mobile will continue to exist in the UK for the foreseeable future but it will be interesting to see if the new brand become the home of their 4G products. Intriguing… 

Watch this space for more info! 

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Marshall Minor FX Headphones – Review

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Ben Hargreaves
Marshall Minor FX Headphones in Black

Marshall Minor FX Headphones in black

When you hear the name Marshall you’d be forgiven for not thinking of headphones, and daydreaming about 80’s rockers thrashing out guitar solo’s on their Les Paul’s, however when Ben Hargreaves from Digital TV Selector stumbled across the Marshall Minor FX range of headphones did he find that the same technology that was so good for their guitar amps translate to their range of headphones too? Read his Gadget Stylist review to find out more…

Headphones have been a real bug bear in my life, in the last 5 years, I’ve probably had 5 pairs of headphones, and inevitably they have had issues of some description, ranging from the poor sound quality on some of the cheaper pairs, to the ruggedness of the more expensive pairs that I’ve purchased.

Marshall Minor FX Ear Buds White

The Minor FX white drivers are pretty striking

The biggest disappointment in recent times was a pair of Sennheiser in ear headphones which I picked up for £40, quite expensive, but I felt at the time it would be worth paying the extra for the quality after my old Sony headphones gave up the ghost. Ultimately, the headphone jack on the Sennheisers was flimsy and as a result the right earpiece stopped working, this rendered the Sennheisers useless, and a waste of £40.

It was by chance that I ended up speaking to a friend, and I saw that he had a pair of Marshall headphones. At first I was sceptical, but after having a closer look there was something different about these headphones that piqued my interest.

I was always aware of the Marshall brand because of their guitar amps, but would a pair of headphones from the same company be any good? Logic says yes, but the only way to truly find out for myself would be to take the plunge and spend £60 on a pair.

Now I’d just like to say £60 for a pair of headphones would usually be well out of my price range, but the only reason that I felt that it was worth spending this kind of money on a pair of headphones was because of a closer inspection of the kit.

Marshall Minor FX White Plug

The headphone plug is high quality like a guitar lead

The first thing that immediately struck me was the actual quality of the headphones, the 3.5mm gold plated headphone jack in particular. Unlike other headphones, the plug on the end of the cable was sturdy and the connector was knurled and didn’t look flimsy like other headphones that I’ve previously owned. It immediately told me that the cable wouldn’t break in a hurry, and thus avoiding the same issue that I had with my Sennheiser’s.

The second thing that was noticeable about the Marshall Minor FX Headphones was the cord itself, unlike other headphones that I’ve owned which usually have a PVC/Vinyl cord, the Marshall Minor FX headphones have a cord which is woven and hardwearing like an actual rope cord. Again, it would take a lot to damage the cord and stop the earpieces from working and this was enough for me to warrant taking the risk and spending the £60 on them!

Marshall Minor FX Headphones Box

The Minor FX come in retro-cool recycled style package

The Marshall Minor FX Headphones arrived in a classy brown cardboard cube box with Marshall branding and information about the operation on the sides. The contents of the box included the Marshall Minor FX Headphones, some instructions, a cord clip branded with the Marshall Logo, and 4 pairs of ear clips which come in a different set of sizes, but I’ll come to these later.

The Marshall Minor FX Headphones also come complete with a remote in built into the cord on the left earpiece. The remote itself is pretty simplistic, again branded with the distinctive Marshall logo there are three buttons, two to control the volume (up and down), and a main button which controls navigation of your MP3 player. Controls are also easy to use, click the gold button on the centre of the remote twice to skip forward one song, or three times to go back.

The Marshall Minor FX Headphone Remote

The smartphone remote controls

If you have your phone connected to the Marshall Minor FX Headphones the remote also doubles up as a microphone meaning that you can effectively use it as a handsfree kit. When you get an incoming call simply press the gold button to answer it and away you go!

Whilst the remote does function, it is a disappointment that the Marshall Minor FX Headphones are only really optimised for Apple devices such as the iPhone, iPad, and iPod. I use a Samsung Galaxy SII, so immediately the volume controls do not work with my phone, and the skip back to the previous song feature doesn’t work either, though the remote does support the handsfree phone functionality. It will be interesting to see if in time Marshall adapt the remote to work with other devices. Given the build quality I was surprised that Marshall chose to overlook this.

Marshall Minor FX Ear Buds

A range of ear bud sizes are included in the pack

Other than that issue it was time to test out the actual headphones. I mentioned earlier that the Marshall Minor FX headphones came with 4 different sizes of earclips, and these were particularly interesting as they were unlike any other earclips I had ever seen before. Conventional in-ear headphones, normally use ear buds to hold the earpiece in place with the rubber expanding to fit the ear canal, and in some cases these can be uncomfortable and fall out. On others there is a clip which fits around the ear to hold the earpiece in place, and I’ve personally found this more effective, and not uncomfortable.

On the Marshall Minor FX Headphones, the earclips are made out of rubber, and clip into the earpiece. The idea is that when you push the earpiece into your ear, the rubber presses gently against the top of the ear thus holding it in place, Marshall call this their ‘earclick’ system. On inspection, I was worried that this would be uncomfortable, and on the first use it was, however after changing the size of the earclip I didn’t have any problems, and the earpiece remained in my ear despite my best attempts to make it fall out, it was near impossible, and these rubber earclips provided a brilliant way of securing the earpiece which I’ve never seen on another pair of headphones.

Marshall Minor FX Headphones

The unique design and high quality materials help the Marhall Minor FX stand out from the crowd

Next was the acid test, was the sound quality any good? On my old pair of Sennheiser’s my real gripe was on the physical quality of the headphones themselves rather that the quality of the sound output. Could Marshall translate the output from their guitar amplifiers to a pair of headphones? The answer perhaps unsurprisingly was yes!

It is hard to describe sound quality as these things tend to be subjective to the listener, however the first piece of music I listened to was a classical piece of music by Elgar which was Nimrod through my laptop on Spotify, I felt that this would give the best range of sounds and really give me an appreciation as to how the headphones would sound. The output was soft and crisp with the quality exemplary and as good if not better than my old Sennheisers. You could hear all of the detail, with no hiss or distortion, and it really did do the piece justice, even with the brass section at the end which built up into a crescendo, the piece of music remained soft, and sounded as if you were in a concert hall listening to an orchestra playing it.

As a next test, I thought to listen to something with a range of frequencies, and played Galvanise by the Chemical Brothers, this time the sound was sharp and clear which reflected the music, there was no distortion, and you could hear all of the notes played from the electronic sounds from the piece.

Ulitmately I was impressed most of all by the Marshall Minor FX Headphones ability to adapt to two completely separate styles of music and seemingly reflect them in a different way. They really had come up trumps, and with the sturdiness of the headphones, I felt that it was £60 well spent.

There are many different pairs of headphones out there in the market, from a range of different manufacturers all purporting to perform impeccably. The Marshall Minor FX headphones do not spring to mind as an instant choice of headphones to purchase when you think of other fancy names such as Beats by Dr Dre, but if you are a lover of music and listen to a wide range of genres, you shouldn’t overlook these headphones as the chances are that like me they simply will blow you away!

You can read more of Ben Hargreaves’ musings and his eye on the latest digital tv news and deals at Digital TV Selector. 

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Stay Classy San Diego

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Gary Cook

A few weeks ago we blogged about the announcement of the latest phone exclusively from Orange, the Orange San Diego, which is the first phone in Europe to be powered by Intel. Well, the phone has released now and so we thought we’d bring you a little more info on device.

Intel powered Orange San Diego

The Orange San Diego is an Android running device, meaning if you’ve ever picked up an Android phone before you’ll know how to use this phone, but to make it better Orange have overlayed their own UI onto it to make life a little easier for you, with Your Account apps, Orange Wednesday apps etc all built in. The San Diego currently ships with Android OS v2.3 with a planned upgrade to v4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich though dates on the release have not been finalised just yet. Needless to say, I’m sure it won’t be long as in the fast paced world of Android the updates come through without too much delay, ready then for the next one.

The Orange San Diego itself features a plethora of greatness, including the aforementioned Intel inside, which is a 1.6GHz single-core Intel Atom Z2460 chipset. Put simply this means the phone will run smoothly and won’t suffer any lag time when you’re flying through menus, streaming videos on YouTube via Wi-Fi or even playing some of the top Play Store games like Angry Birds or Temple Run. The San Diego is also equipped with an 8MP camera and 16GB internal memory to store all those photos on.

We really like the Orange San Diego here at Gadget Stylist as it brings all the loveable features of Android we like into a 4″ touchscreen phone, at a fantastic price. Directly through Orange you can grab the San Diego for £199.99 when you top up £10 which makes it a seriously good deal, considering just how good a phone this is.

 In summary this is a seriously good Android device that won’t break the bank, leaving you with some spare cash to spend on something else.

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The Google Nexus 7 has been Announced

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Gary Cook

At Google I/O this week Google announced several new cool things but most notably the release of their first own-branded tablet, the Google Nexus 7. A lot was anticipated in terms of what this, the first Nexus tablet will offer but most notably the fact it is running Android’s latest version, v4.1 Jelly Bean.

Google Nexus 7

The Google Nexus 7 which has been made by Asus showcases all of Google’s Tablet ambitions, highlighting to us everything they feel a tablet should include from the form factor, screen size memory options and then some. It comes with two memory options, 8GB or 16GB at £159 or £199 respectively.

I think the Google Nexus 7 is the perfect sized Tablet, with it’s 7″ screen size indicated in its name. Possibly this could lead the way for future tabs with larger screens. The screen is an edge to edge 720p screen and Google believe it too be the perfect size for a tablet, it’s not too big that it is combersome, and not too small that reading Google Books on it is awkward or a strain on the eyes.

Google Nexus 7 is the world’s first 7″ quad-core processor tablet so it’s really fast. Google made it clear that the Tablet had to have a really crisp screen and run really fast and with their improvements on the operating system, moving on from Ice Cream Sandwich to Jelly Bean helps this. Google declared a war on lagginess and have also announced within Jelly Bean, a part of the OS called Project Butter. Project Butter is a project designed to improve the UI smoothness, getting rid of that Android Lag that has been a complaint in the past. It will do this in a few different ways, like managing the way the processors (dual or quad) are accessed for power, but a super clever way is by learning and predicting your finger movements before your finger hits the screen. This will eliminate the lag time between touching the screen and the OS completing the action. It is scary to think your device will know where you’re going to touch the screen next before a menu has loaded, but it does mean the phone will be more receptive to commands.

For more info and have a look on their page about it, where you can order it. Jelly Bean as an operating system comes on very soon, and the Google Nexus 7 will ship in 2-3 weeks, but you can pre-order it now. This is a great looking Tablet with a fantastic list of features and if Jelly Bean is as good to look at as Google make out, this is surely one device to be in hugely popular demand, both on pre-orders and after it’s released.

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Microsoft Surface – Top Tablet or PC Pretender?

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Chris Frost

Microsoft have announced their own in-house designed tablet called the Surface in by far their biggest attempt to try to stake a claim in the fast-growing tablet market.

Can they really challenge the runaway success of the iPad or the plethora of Android tablets that make up what’s left of the tablet market?

Microsoft Surface

Microsoft Surface

First off, let’s take a step back to understand why this is such a big deal for the future of Microsoft.  

The birth of the new tablet market has turned the home computer market on its head. Tablets are replacing many people’s need for a full laptop or desktop computer at home. The tablet format and operating system is perfect for web browsing, gaming, Facebook-ing, emailing or watching video. Who needs a big clunky computer for their sofa-surfing now?

Microsoft cannot afford to miss out on the tablet market as it’s bound to eat into their core market and reduce PC sales which in turn drive their software sales. Their rather feeble response to the iPad has seen them all but jettisoned by their usual pals the PC manufacturers, in favour of Google’s Android operating system.  Microsoft’s response – we’ll build one ourselves.

Microsoft Surface Colours

 

So, history lesson over, what is the Microsoft Surface? 

It’s a tablet computer with a few bells and whistles hanging off the side. From the PR, the videos and the glossy pics – first impressions are it looks pleasing to the eye, although it isn’t in the same class of iconic industrial design as Apple – but what is?

The main differentiators from a design perspective are a larger 10.6 inch display, a built-in ‘Kickstand’ for standing the tablet up on a hard surface and a cover that includes a touch sensitive keyboard with trackpad. It reminds me a lot of the critically acclaimed Asus Transformer ‘tablet with a keyboard’ combo. 

Microsoft Surface

Looks just like a laptop doesn’t it…

 

Most of the publicity shots include this keyboard cover and it seems as if Microsoft is deliberately trying to blur the boundaries between a laptop and a tablet, perhaps a strategic move to shift momentum back towards their heartland? They seem to want you to think that ‘with Microsoft you can have your cake and eat it – a tablet with all the benefits of a laptop.’

Hmmm. I’m not convinced this approach will unduly worry Apple or the other tablet manufacturers. Whilst I think both the keyboard cover and the integrated kickstand are nice features they’re a little gimmicky and they can easily be matched via the addition of accessories to any tablet.

By linking their tablet so heavily to laptop computers they could they risk a negative association with our working life. “Wow I can use this tablet with Excel!” is unlikely to be a thought that draws customers away from the competition.

Microsoft Surface

The Surface cuts a very slim profile

The Surface has the obligatory built-in cameras, one for Skyping and one for taking pictures/capturing video (although why you’d want to take photos with something the size of a 10.6 inch tablet is beyond me). There’s an SD Card slot, a USB slot, up to 128GB of memory on board and an HD display with some marketing-fluff naming attached to it. You can check out the full tech specs here.

As for the software, there will be two main versions of the Microsoft Surface at launch, one running Windows 8 Pro and the other running Windows RT.  The Pro version is a bit thicker in size and packs more processing power, presumably because it’s running a heavier version of the software.

Microsoft Surface

Macbook Air anyone

Microsoft have been coy about the pricing and the launch date but it will probably cost at least as much as an iPad and launch in the Autumn.

So, will it be any good? I can’t comment on the most important part – the operating system – as you can only judge that when trying it out on the device in question, but I’m not a fan of Windows in general so I will probably take a lot of convincing.

One key issue the Surface will have to tackle is that it will take a monumental effort to get app developers to engage with a new tablet operating system and create Surface/Windows versions of their apps.  The iPad without Apps would be a good-looking but pretty limited piece of technology – the choice of Apps are a huge part of what makes it an exceptional product.

Taking on Apple and Android head to head by building their own product was perhaps Microsoft’s only option to make a dramatic comeback in the tablet market, but aside from the Xbox, Microsoft doesn’t have a great track record in launching its own hardware.  Can anyone remember the Zune music playing iPod rival? I didn’t think so…  

Good luck Microsoft.

What do you think of the Microsoft Surface? Leave a comment below to let us know.

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