Nokia Lumia 1020 wireless charging case and camera grip case – Review

With every good phone there should exist a decent selection of official accessories. You know the sort, well made, nice colours and with features not found in third party accessories. The official Nokia Lumia 1020 cases are just that. I’ve got them both and here is my review showing you how they work and hopefully helping you make a purchasing decision. Starting with the slightly less interesting of the two the wireless charging shell.

Nokia Lumia 1020 wireless charging shell

I’m a recent convert to wireless charging, I now prefer my new devices to have it built in and if not at least to have a wireless charging accessory. Luckily for me the Lumia 1020 has a shell that you can clip on and joy of joys it comes in yellow.

Good Points

Available in the same nice coloursQi compatibleFill outs the camera hump a bitAll ports accessible

Bad Points

Not much protection offeredBit flimsy and creakyA bit costly

Design

The wireless charging case follows a similar design to the previous shells for devices like the Lumia 720 or the Lumia 925. It basically just clips over each one of the corners and to remove it’s just the reverse, it is really easy to fit and remove. The case feels just as nice at the Lumia 1020 itself and if anything it makes the whole package feel better as the protruding lense is evened out by the thickness of the wireless charging part.

It’s not all good though, the shell doesn’t really offer any protection at all, it protects the back from scratches and a section of each corner, face down or sideways drops and your asking for trouble. At the end of the day it’s just really for enabling wireless charging and a little bit of protection.

In Use

In use the wireless charging shell is pretty easy to use, slip the shell on and place your phone onto one of the nice Nokia charging pads I’ve got. That’s it really, the shell does easily come off and it doesn’t obscure any of the ports or sockets.

Nokia Lumia 1020 Camera grip

The Lumia 1020 Camera grip created some varying emotions within me when it was announced, varying from, “whoa that’s cool” right through to “whoa that’s stupid”. I knew I’d eventually have to buy one to see how it would fair in real life. So here it is, my review starting of course with my good and bad points.

Good Points

Really great ideaExtra battery powerExtra grip helps with one handed modeTwo stage shutter button helps with focusing

Bad Points

Makes using the Lumia as a phone feel oddTripod screw placement oddSlightly fiddling to removeSlightly overpricedSpeaker obscured when in use

Design

The Lumia 1020 camera grip is an odd looking piece of kit for a phone case, for a piece of plastic that makes your Lumia 1020 feel even more like a camera then it’s perfectly normal. Once you’ve figured out how to fit it is a really damn good idea and it feels really good in the hand, as long as you don’t try to use it as a phone.

The hump houses a 1020 mAh battery pack, a new shutter button, a tripod mount, a battery gauge and the charging socket.

In Use

In use the Lumia Camera grip is pretty good, there are three things that it’s good at. The first is the battery pack, it’s only 1020 mAh so don’t expect huge battery life, but it’s still quite handy to have on hand. The second good thing about the case is the fact that it allows you to easily take shots with one hand, the camera grip really lets you get a good grip. The third thing is how the shutter button makes it easy to do a half press to focus and then fully press to snap the shot. When I have the grip attached I’m always on the look out for something to capture.

Of course there are bad points to the camera grip, such as trying to remove is quite fiddly, the speaker on the bottom of the Lumia is obscured, using it as a phone with the grip on just feels odd and when you connect it to a tripod it’s all a little lopsided.

Conclusion

Overall the cases both have a purpose and they both do it well, although both do have niggling design quirks, like the speaker being obscured on the camera grip and the lack of screen protection on the charging shell. However the facts that they are official accessories that fit perfectly, they are the correct colour and they are extremely well made, all override and slight niggles over the design.

I got the Camera Grip from Amazon who seemed cheapest at the time, the wireless charging shell has now also dropped below £20 on Amazon as well.

Lenovo Ideatab S5000 review

Why haven’t Lenovo cracked the tablet market? After all, we all know that Lenovo make great laptops, so they know about portable computing. We also know that the likes of Acer and HP haven’t had much success either, so perhaps it’s not surprising.

The Lenovo IdeaTab S5000 is an attempt to muscle in on the massive market of sub £200 7 inch Android tablets, currently dominated by the second incarnation of the Nexus 7. Could this be their ticket to the big time? I spent two weeks with one to find out.

Good

LooksFeels good in the handPower managerBundled appsCamera app

Bad

PriceSlippery at the baseCreaky plasticNo app drawerNo mute on camera shutter

What’s in the box?
The S5000 comes nicely packaged in a sturdy box containing the charger, a USB cable, instructions, a very odd stand that looks like it’s made from recycled cardboard, as well as the tablet itself.

Design
Having never seen an S5000 before I was taken aback at quite how good looking it is.

The back of the tablet is almost entirely grey-ish silver plastic, save a chrome plate effect strip along the bottom, which extends to the front and all around the edge. There’s also a Lenovo logo, the rear facing camera and a cut-out for the headphone socket at the top.

The screen is surrounded by a reasonably large bezel, by today’s standards, which houses a speaker and front facing camera, and another Lenovo logo.

The positioning of the speaker, and the mic in the base means this tablet looks like a massive phone. In fact, it would probably make a reasonable VOIP handset, apart from one thing: it’s a tablet, and unless you have a head that looks like it should be on Easter Island you’ll look ridiculous!

Although the looks are premium, the build quality isn’t quite there. The backplate creaks around the edges, and there is some very minor light bleed around the screen. Having said that, whilst these are minor annoyances, they don’t spoil the overall experience.

The one thing that did spoil it though was that chrome bezel wrapping around the back. Because it so smooth it caused the tablet to slip down my hands whilst I was typing in portrait orientation. Luckily the screen rotates a full 360 degrees, which enabled me to use it upside down and eliminate the issue. However, this caused problems in itself as I would then inadvertently hit the power or volume buttons with my palm. Rather annoying when trying to type up a long review of a Lenovo tablet!

Hardware

Processor: 1.2GHz quad-core MediaTekRAM: 1GBStorage: 16GBBluetooth 4.0GPSCamera: 5-megapixel rear, 1.6-megapixel frontBattery: 3,200MAh

There are two hardware points that matter to me most on a tablet, after build quality: the processor and display. The camera and internal storage are now secondary.

Processor

The processor is a perfectly capable MediaTek Cortex-A7 that doesn’t set the world alight, but certainly doesn’t cause the horrible lag that a lot of budget tablets exhibit.

The processor does have a helping hand from a gig of RAM, although it would have been good to see that doubled.

Lenovo use MediaTek processors in a lot of their Android tablets, which means very little to the average user but, historically, they’ve been notoriously difficult to root, and therefore there aren’t a great deal of custom ROMs or hacks for them. If you like to tinker you will probably be better off elsewhere.

Display

The 720p HD display is adequate, but outdated at this price point. Don’t get me wrong; it’s bright and clear, with good contrast and no dead pixels. However, whites are a little grey and colours slightly wishy-washy.

If you’re use case is reading books and watching funny cats on YouTube then you won’t have any complaints, but if you’re going to be streaming movies or enjoy high quality photos you’re going to feel let down in comparison to the excellent Nexus 7 (2013).

The GPU is equally adequate – Angry Birds and Candy Crush look great, but more demanding games and videos suffer from slight lag and maybe even dropping some frames.

Cameras

I see more and more people taking photos with tablets. Every time I wonder why. I don’t know of a tablet that takes as good a photo as a modern low-end smartphone, and most people carrying a tablet around with them will have a phone that’s even better than low-end which is easier to hold, with a better lens and higher pixel count.

I have taken some photos that are included below. I’ve seen worse, but they are decidedly average. Seeing as the Lenovo is without flash the only way to get an image in the dark is though drastic post-processing, and that gives a horrible grainy appearance.

It’s a shame, because the camera software is packed with the sort of features normally only on phones. An excellent choice of modes and effects are totally wasted.

Oh, and even in silent mode the choice of two shutter sounds are still audible. A minor thing, but very annoying when I was trying to take photos for this review whilst in the office (in my lunch break, of course!).

For what it’s worth, here’s a gallery of sample photos I took:

Other

Storage splits opinion nowadays – some people are frustrated by the lack of expandable storage, whereas others are happy that cloud services will fulfill their needs. I’ve swapped sides of this divide recently and I’m no longer fussed by the lack of a microSD card slot. However, if you are then cross the Lenovo off your list. Out of the 16GB on board I was left with around 12GB of usable space after the operating system, etc. is accounted for.

What we have here is the wi-fi only version of the S5000, there is also a 3G option available at a premium. The wi-fi range was good, but it doesn’t support 802.11ac. I’m sure this is of little consequence to most people, but it would have made a nice stand-out feature to laud over the Nexus 7 (2013).

Oh, and the sound quality out of that single front facing speaker is atrocious. It makes listening to music sound like you’re on-hold and you’ve turned on the speakerphone of your home phone. Mercifully, earphone and bluetooth listening is far better!

Software

Android 4.2.2 Jellybean is installed out of the box, but Lenovo have promised a jump to 4.4 KitKat “soon”.

There is an unfortunate amount of skinning applied throughout the operating system, some of it is very much a matter of taste cosmetically, but the most conspicuous ‘feature’ is the lack of an app drawer. Yes, Lenovo have actually applied a skin that removes core functionality of Android. We’ve seen this before in Huawei’s EmotionUI. I don’t like it there, and I don’t like it here.

Click the thumbnails to see the home screens:

It’s not all bad though; the built-in file manager is excellent, as is the power management app that gives a huge number of options for getting the best life out of the tablet. I have to say that even with my heavy usage scenario I only had to charge it three times in the two weeks I’ve had it.

There are some nice bits of software bundled with the tablet. If you don’t like the Lenovo file manager you’ve got the option of ES File Manager as well. There’s also Kingsoft Office, Accuweather and Norton Mobile Antivirus. None of the above are difficult to find in the Play store, but will be useful to the first time buyer who may initially struggle with the idiosyncrasies of Android app downloading.

Accessories

OK, this one made me chuckle, but it is quite a good idea. The advertising literature states that this tablet comes with a stand. I don’t know about you, but when I see something like that I assume there’s a metal or plastic plinth or clip that allows for multi-angle viewing. Instead I got this:

It’s actually made of molded reinforced recycled paper. It reminds me of something you might find eggs in at the supermarket. It does, however, do an excellent job of holding the tablet in both portrait and landscape orientations, and is very light. It just looks, errr… well, cheap. Certainly not in keeping with the classy looks of the tablet. Bonus marks for tree hugging though.

Conclusion

The Lenovo Ideatab S5000 certainly turns heads. It looks great and has prompted comments whenever anyone has seen me with it. It has one major flaw, however – the Nexus 7 (2013). I’ve tried to keep clear of this comparison as far as possible, but when it comes down to it a punter is going to use the Nexus as a benchmark to which others will have to compete.

If the Nexus 7 (2013) didn’t exist I’d be giving the Lenovo a reasonably good write-up, but it does, so I’m not. To be fair, this would be a really good little tablet for £130, but it’s not, it’s £179 and it just can’t compete.

Why haven't Lenovo cracked the tablet market? After all, we all know that Lenovo make great laptops, so they know about portable computing. We also know that the likes of Acer and HP haven't had much success either, so perhaps it's not surprising. The Lenovo IdeaTab S5000 is an attempt to muscle in on the massive market of sub £200 7 inch Android tablets, currently dominated by the second incarnation of the Nexus 7. Could this be their ticket to the big time? I spent two weeks with one to find out. Good Looks Feels good in the hand Power manager Bundled apps Camera app Bad Price Slippery at the base Creaky plastic No app drawer No mute on camera shutter What's in the box? The S5000 comes nicely packaged in a sturdy box containing the charger, a USB cable, instructions, a very odd stand that looks like it's made from recycled cardboard, as well as the tablet itself. Design Having never seen an S5000 before I was taken aback at quite how good looking it is. The back of the tablet is almost entirely grey-ish silver plastic, save a chrome plate effect strip along the bottom, which extends to the front and all around the edge. There's also a Lenovo logo, the rear facing camera and a cut-out for the headphone socket at the top. The screen is surrounded by a reasonably large bezel, by today's standards, which houses a speaker and front facing camera, and another Lenovo logo. The positioning of the speaker, and the mic in the base means this tablet looks like a massive phone. In fact, it would probably make a reasonable VOIP handset, apart from one thing: it's a tablet, and unless you have a head that looks like it should be on Easter Island you'll look ridiculous! Although the looks are premium, the build quality isn't quite there. The backplate creaks around the edges, and there is some very minor light bleed around the screen. Having said that, whilst these are minor annoyances, they don't spoil the overall experience. The one thing that did spoil it though was that chrome bezel wrapping around the back. Because it so smooth it caused the tablet to slip down my hands whilst I was typing in portrait orientation. Luckily the screen rotates a full 360 degrees, which enabled me to use it upside down and eliminate the issue. However, this caused problems in itself as I would then inadvertently hit the power or volume buttons with my palm. Rather annoying when trying to type up a long review of a Lenovo tablet! Hardware Processor: 1.2GHz quad-core MediaTek RAM: 1GB Storage: 16GB Bluetooth 4.0 GPS Camera: 5-megapixel rear, 1.6-megapixel front Battery: 3,200MAh There are two hardware points that matter to me most on a tablet, after build quality: the processor and display. The camera and internal storage are now secondary. Processor The processor is a perfectly capable MediaTek Cortex-A7 that doesn't set the world alight, but certainly…68

Capable device, but only buy if looks are more important to you than function.

7

Cuebox 3D Pool Game Review

As if playing pool in two dimensions isn’t hard enough, there is now 3D Pool.

This is definitely a game that will test your mental acuity and give that redundant geometry knowledge a workout. As you can imagine from the title, the game is based around a regular pool table but it has been made into a 3D affair. Whilst this gives you more pockets to put the balls into it also gives you more options for sides to bounce the balls off. The initial learning curve is not too bad as there is a very helpful tutorial which I would strongly advise doing. Once you have finished that then you have the option to play one of 3  differing games- 8 Ball, 9 Ball or Straight Pool.

You have your cue strength as a slider on one side and on the other you have your cue ball. You can then use the the main screen area to line up your shot the best you can. Just remebr that you have a 3rd dimension to worry about this time. The rest of the game is fairly simple from then on as you would expect.

The things that really stand out about the game is the graphical richness. I was testing this game on a Nexus 7 (2013) and I was hugely impressed with the clarity and detail of the graphics all of which are rendered in 3D. It also has a a great soundtrack that keeps you plying away until you finish the game. Te view over the table can be modified by using the age old pinch and zoom method and you can even use a single viewpoint mode which makes the game inherently harder.

This is a great wee game that will stir up old memories of geometry and calculated pool moves from early arcade pool games, with the added twist of using the 3rd dimension.

It is currently in Beta testing and will be available on the Play Store on the 29th and is available now on iOS, so give it a try.

It is well worth a download and will certainly while away some time during the more boring parts of the upcoming festive period.

Cuebox introduces the whole new dimension of fun. Literally!

It is the first 3D pool game without gravity. Play Cuebox in beautiful HD graphics and discover the dimension of billiards you have never encountered before! Compete against a friend or in single player mode playing classic 8-ball and 9-ball games that are extended to three dimensions!

This new exceptional 3D billiard game will be available for iPhone,iPad and Android devices on November 28th, 2013.

Cat iPhone 5/5S Case review

As I rule I usually buy just cheap cases for my iPhones. Although I’ve never broken one, I see more iPhones with dents and broken screens than any other phone. I don’t really like these cases, but they serve to keep the back scratch free, but let’s face it. I’m getting old and my phone hits the deck more often every day. (I’m not senile though, not yet)

Today we’re looking at a ruggedised case from Cat, that has changed my mind on iPhone cases. I remember Cat, when they were called Caterpillar. (I told you I was old, didn’t I?). When I say ruggedised I don’t mean waterproof or dust proof, I mean a sturdy shock proof case that feels and looks great.

The majority of the case is made from a very dense firm rubberised plastic (known as SAIF) with some side strengthening in aluminium. It’s that kind of rubberised compound that hardens in the impact zone when hit to protect the precious cargo, they also use the same stuff in crash helmets, so it’s a fair bet this stuff is good. It looks and feels great in the hand. As I’m getting old (Did I mention that?) the case has had about 10 drop tests in the 5 days I’ve been using the case. I’m not exactly sure how it landed, but neither the case or the phone have any signs of the drops.

I should say that the case looks that nice I’ve had several people ask what it’s like and where you can buy it.There’s not much else to say about a case, but this one is worth buying at the current price of £19.99 on Amazon. It feels and looks good and protects the phone very well from general daily use.

Buy it at Amazon

BWC 7″ Kidi-Value Tablet Review

 

So these days it seems that every man and their dog is making an Android slate. Now although this is a very good place to be as it give the consumer a multitude of options, it is also a potential minefield for the 1st time buyer. This buyer that I am creating for the purposes of this review is not a geek and does not know a huge amount of techy stuff like most of us on this here site. However they are keen to embark on the great liberating journey that is the tablet train. So let’s dive into the murky waters and find the £50 BWC 7 Inch Kidi-Value Tablet.

Hardware
The tablet comes in a wholly unremarkable box with a picture of the device on it as well as company Logo’s etc. Once we get into the box we can see the tablet itself with its 7? screen beaming out at us.

 

Of to the side is a small box that contains all your charger requirements and low and behold the device charges via micro USB happy days, this is a trend I would like to see more of please. Picking up the device it is very light and doesn’t feel as cheap as you would expect. Around the back we have a textured finish to help with grip.

Up at the top is the busy end with from left to right; Micros USB for power, 3.5mm headphones, Micro HDMI, Micro SD card slot, Volume up and down Camera and then Power on/off.

Down the both the right and left hand side we have nothing at all and then on the base of to the left we have a speaker that is marginal but tinny.

As I mentioned the screen is 7? diaganol with a 16:9 aspect ratio meaning it is the tall and skinny style that Nexus 7 users are accustomed too. The tablet doesn’t look that bad on the surface of it and if you were to see it on the other side of a train or bus you could be mistaken for thinking that it was a Nexus device however that is where things take a turn as when I powered up the device I saw why the price was so low.

The screen is very poor and can only really be used with high brightness levels and you need to be very careful with what background wallpaper you choose. The colour levels are not helped by the screen reflectivity levels. Let’s just say I have had less reflective mirrors. I have tried to capture the differences on camera but it is very difficult to do this so you will have to take my word for it.

 

I thought well my issues are because I am used to high quality screens ofthe iPad, Xperia Z1, Nexus 7 and Lumia 1020 so I let a college use it and she was as appalled as I was so it isn’t just me. However their is a flip side to every coin. As this tablet is running Android 4.2 it will support Miracast if you have it available and if not then Micro HDMI is also available meaning that this could be used very effectively as a media streamer if required. On that note I had no issues with the device reading from a 16gb micro SD card or streaming BBC iPlayer.

Lastly all of the hardware is kept ticking along by a 1.?GHz dual core Mediatek chip set which has 512 mb Ram and 4gb of onboard storage which is a bout average at this price point. I tried running benchmarks but more on that later.

Here are the Specs of the device.

Battery Charge Time (in hours)Average Battery Life (in hours)

Software
As I have already mentioned we are running a Vanilla version of Android 4.2 here and it has access to Google Play and all the other Google apps. This cannot be said for some other tabs at this price point so well done BWC for that. There are a few apps that have been added by BWC in order to make things more user friendly but other than that no crapware happily.

No for those hoping that this device will keep up with Android development and get JB or even KitKat (which it would benefit from) it is pretty much assured to not get these updates. At this price point the manufacturers can not really keep on investing in a product that is on the sales floor so they don’t bother and they will just release a new product with the new software. This is a shame as KitKat would really help on this device due to its smaller memory footprint. And yes I’m sure you could grey a new ROM from XDA Dev but this is not going to be doable by the intended buyer so that is out.
As I mentioned I tried to run some benchmarks but this proved to be a fruitless exercise as none of them would run due to some sort of chip set issue. In day to day use you will experience a bit of lag but nothing that is crippling. To be honest it is akin to using an entry level smartphone with regard to user experience.

Conclusion
While yes you can buy a tablet for £50 you probably shouldn’t unless you really have very limited usage scenarios or you just need the very basics such as Web browsing and email. That being said the BWC table this well equipped for its price but it is just let down by the screens viewing angles and reflectivity. If you are going to hook this up to a TV for viewing videos or streaming content then fire in otherwise I wouldn’t look for something with a better screen such as then Nexus 7(2012) as these are coming down in price now particularly 2nd hand and refurbished units.
Another segment were this will fit well is for a kids tabletv as if they destroy it which most kids will try to then you have not spent a huge sum of money and will not be that out of pocket.

So these days it seems that every man and their dog is making an Android slate. Now although this is a very good place to be as it give the consumer a multitude of options, it is also a potential minefield for the 1st time buyer. This buyer that I am creating for the purposes of this review is not a geek and does not know a huge amount of techy stuff like most of us on this here site. However they are keen to embark on the great liberating journey that is the tablet train. So let's dive into the murky waters and find the £50 BWC 7 Inch Kidi-Value Tablet. Hardware The tablet comes in a wholly unremarkable box with a picture of the device on it as well as company Logo's etc. Once we get into the box we can see the tablet itself with its 7" screen beaming out at us. Of to the side is a small box that contains all your charger requirements and low and behold the device charges via micro USB happy days, this is a trend I would like to see more of please. Picking up the device it is very light and doesn't feel as cheap as you would expect. Around the back we have a textured finish to help with grip. Up at the top is the busy end with from left to right; Micros USB for power, 3.5mm headphones, Micro HDMI, Micro SD card slot, Volume up and down Camera and then Power on/off. Down the both the right and left hand side we have nothing at all and then on the base of to the left we have a speaker that is marginal but tinny. As I mentioned the screen is 7" diaganol with a 16:9 aspect ratio meaning it is the tall and skinny style that Nexus 7 users are accustomed too. The tablet doesn't look that bad on the surface of it and if you were to see it on the other side of a train or bus you could be mistaken for thinking that it was a Nexus device however that is where things take a turn as when I powered up the device I saw why the price was so low. The screen is very poor and can only really be used with high brightness levels and you need to be very careful with what background wallpaper you choose. The colour levels are not helped by the screen reflectivity levels. Let's just say I have had less reflective mirrors. I have tried to capture the differences on camera but it is very difficult to do this so you will have to take my word for it.   I thought well my issues are because I am used to high quality screens ofthe iPad, Xperia Z1, Nexus 7 and Lumia 1020 so I let a college use it and she was as appalled as I was so it isn't just me. However their is a…BWC 7? Kidi-Value Tablet ReviewBWC 7? Kidi-Value Tablet Review45

Great Kids tablet but adult users might want to look elsewhere

5

Kransen Urbanears Review

There are product designs that have stayed the same since time immemorial and there are products whose design changes from day to day.

The in ear headphone is a product whose design has been pretty much nailed on and despite slight differences in varying manufacturers designs, the all look much alike.

Step forward however the latest offering from Urbanears, the Kransen in-ear headphones.

Supplied neatly in a minimalist box with 3 different sizes of buds, the Urbanears Kransen are different in design as they attempt to solve one of the perennial problems for anyone that uses earphones on a regular basis….cord tangling.

The system which is patent pending involves a unique “Cable Loop” which “allows you to wrap your cord and secure it into place, never having to spend another minute untangling headphones after they’ve been in your bag ever again.”  In truth, the system works very well and actually does prevent the cord from tangling.

Another unique feature of the Kransen is the Snap Construction whereby the earphones can be connected together, a system which was inspired by the building blocks that we played with as kids.  This enables the earphones to be locked together around the neck when not in use meaning that they are not hanging down and swinging around.  This is another piece of design which works remarkably well.

The rest of the construction is fairly standard stuff, the cable is protected by a combination of rubber and fabric and includes Urbanears standard microphone and remote which works with all smartphones and not just iPhones as many do.

As ever, the key thing with any earphone is the sonic performance and here is where the target market for the Kransen becomes clear.

Take a bass heavy tune with standard mid range vocals (Jakwob’s ft Maiday – Fade is a good example) and the Kransen’s excel.  Not a hint of distortion at high volumes and the vocals are delivered with clarity.  The youngsters will love them, with the great seal that the earplugs give and the thumping bass pounding away teenagers will be able to ignore their parents with all the more gusto!

The one slight downfall of the Kransen however is when listening to music that is less bass oriented.  Here they can sound a little harsh bordering on shrilly, designed for Beethoven playback they were not.

The Urbanears Kransen come supplied in 10 different colours and cost £35 direct or £39 from Amazon which in todays world is a reasonable sum for a decent pair of earphones.  The market is fast becoming crowded with mid-priced in ear headphones and companies need to do something to stand out.

The cable management system and the sonic performance of the Kransen’s certainly enable them to do this and they will certainly appeal to the younger generation however those that don’t like their beats loud and proud may have some issues.

My thanks go to Urbanears for the loan of the Kransen earphones.

Otterbox Commuter case for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 – Review

It has become part of my phone buying ritual now. Buy a phone, buy a cheapo case, buy a slim case for nights out and then buy a case that’s big, protective, dustproof and will protect my phone during my daily adventures, then repeat in a variety of different colours, then sell phone and force the new owner to buy ALL of the cases too.

Otterbox recently sent me the Commuter case for the Note 3, which is due to be released in the next couple of weeks. So I’m going to review it for you eager Otterbox customers. Starting as always with the good and bad points.

Good Points

Not as bulky as previous years modelsDecent protection from drops and impactsInner protective layer less grippy than previous modelsS-Pen easily accessible

Bad Points

Backplate a bit slippyCorners a bit grippyA little costly

Design

The Otterbox Commuter case is the thinner of the super protective cases, it has a soft rubbery inner layer that has various cut outs and flaps for buttons, sockets and the IR Blaster. You then get a hard polycarbonate outer shell that clips into place over the top of the inner layer.

This combination basically offers protection from impacts and being dropped. The screen is fairly well looked after as the case comes proud of the screen by about 4-5mm meaning it can land face down and you might be ok (random sharp object dependant). You also get a screen protector in the box so you’re pretty much covered for most eventualities.

In Use

Big chunky cases often suffer with their bulk or design complexities, Otterbox seem to change their designs ever so slightly each year. Little things like not having a hard plastic piece surrounding the buttons, which would make fitting the case really awkward. I was pleased to find that the outer layer just basically clipped on and I was done. The hinged flaps also have more movement this year allowing them to be slotted through the outer a whole lot easier than before.

It’s not all great though, with great protection comes compromise. Every time you want to charge your Note 3 or listen to music you’re going to have to open a flap and hold it out the way whilst you plug in. Nothing major just a few seconds a day lost to flap manoeuvring! The other few problems I had with the case were to do with the back of the case, which is a textured hard polycarbonate. Which when placed on a flat but non level surface meant the phone and case slid about a bit. The other problem I had was with the corners of the case, the corners are the exposed soft rubbery inner layer, which tend to grab hold of your trouser pocket liners when you’re trying to to the phone out. Although this was only a problem with my “smart” work trousers, with my baggy home time trousers grippy corners were a forgotten issue.

Conclusion

Overall I was happy with the Commuter case for the Note 3, it’s a little costly, a little bulky compared to some of the other cases on the market and there are a few issues surrounding the design. But it currently offers more protection than any of the competition. If you want a decent level of protection you’re going to have to compromise.

The Otterbox Commuter case for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will soon be available on the Otterbox UK store.

Opis 60s Classic Mobile Review

It’s kinda hard to start with this one. This is a classic 1960's-style phone. If you’re old enough you may remember seeing one of these on a special table at home. A few decades ago people would rent these from the telephone company. I know, it seems strange looking back.

Now it has returned. It weighs a lot less, let me tell you. This is easy to carry around and there’s a comfortable handle at the back of the headset so that you can take it anywhere.

This particular model is, effectively, a large mobile handset. You plug it into the wall to charge and then you can unplug it and use it like your home cordless phone. However, you can also take it outside – anywhere you wish. It’s because, at the bottom there’s a SIM card slot where you can put any SIM card. I’ve put the Ovivo SIM card in that basically costs me nothing per month.

In the box you get a manual which details how to setup speed-dials and the local area code system. Put simply, this means that you can stick your local area code into this phone to simulate a home phone. If you call a local number you don’t (like most mobile handsets) have to put in the local area code once you’ve set it up. 0121 123 4567 then becomes just 123 4567 and so on.

So no, you won’t get text messages or the internet, but you do get a simple-to-use phone. Stick your SIM card in, charge it up and you’re ready to go. At the bottom there’s three LED’s to let you know if anything is going wrong. They’ll signify if there’s an issue with the SIM (by the way, you can enter a SIM unlock code using the rotary-dial system too), the battery or the signal. There’s also a big switch which is pretty self-explanatory to be honest.

Yes, using the rotary dial can be a little cumbersome and seems very old-fashioned at times but you can store 9 quick-dial numbers and hey – it’s got a PROPER BELL. Yes, a BELL. There’s no speaker here, this is a proper ringtone.

I’m guessing you’re puzzled at this point. Why would anyone want a classic style phone like this to carry around? Why the heck would they want it in their car? Well, it definitely raises eyebrows, that’s for sure. However, I think I’ve found another way that this can be used, and it may have already become clear when I mentioned the local area code system.

Elderly relatives, or those who’d perhaps like an extra line, would definitely be interested in this. Think about it. If you’re at an age where the internet doesn’t appeal and you’re fed up with the line rental costs plus the call charges, you can easily get yourself a £5 SIM-only deal from websites like MoneySupermarket – even cheaper if you want. If you disconnect your home phone line this, with the local area code behaviour, would be a cheaper option.

What would you rather do? Pay £15 per month in line rental for a fixed-line phone plus additional charges or £5 per month for this?

Plus it’s cordless, so you can unplug it from the mains and carry it around the house, perhaps pretending that you’re on some old ’80s comedy show.

It’s also ideal as an additional line, perhaps for a home business. Better still, there’s three different versions. First is a classic wired landline version – the Opis 60s Cable – which costs £59. Second is the Opis 60s Micro, a version that plugs into your smartphone, tablet or ultrabook for Skype etc – that’s only £19. This is the mobile version and you can get it from Amazon or Opis-tech.com for around £109.

All in all I loved the thing. This is proper out-of-the-box thinking and I’d like to see other home-phones with SIM cards in.

If people call you they’ll be using their packaged minutes, which is a winner. If you call them on their mobile number you’ll be paying (probably) a lot less than you would calling from a regular home phone, which is a winner. The battery life is epic, which is a winner. Great.

It takes us back to a time when pulse-dial was the norm and, AND… A N D …. it has a bell.

Love this. Stunning.

It's kinda hard to start with this one. This is a classic 1960's-style phone. If you're old enough you may remember seeing one of these on a special table at home. A few decades ago people would rent these from the telephone company. I know, it seems strange looking back. Now it has returned. It weighs a lot less, let me tell you. This is easy to carry around and there's a comfortable handle at the back of the headset so that you can take it anywhere. This particular model is, effectively, a large mobile handset. You plug it into the wall to charge and then you can unplug it and use it like your home cordless phone. However, you can also take it outside - anywhere you wish. It's because, at the bottom there's a SIM card slot where you can put any SIM card. I've put the Ovivo SIM card in that basically costs me nothing per month. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-SYVxyz2hE In the box you get a manual which details how to setup speed-dials and the local area code system. Put simply, this means that you can stick your local area code into this phone to simulate a home phone. If you call a local number you don't (like most mobile handsets) have to put in the local area code once you've set it up. 0121 123 4567 then becomes just 123 4567 and so on. So no, you won't get text messages or the internet, but you do get a simple-to-use phone. Stick your SIM card in, charge it up and you're ready to go. At the bottom there's three LED's to let you know if anything is going wrong. They'll signify if there's an issue with the SIM (by the way, you can enter a SIM unlock code using the rotary-dial system too), the battery or the signal. There's also a big switch which is pretty self-explanatory to be honest. Yes, using the rotary dial can be a little cumbersome and seems very old-fashioned at times but you can store 9 quick-dial numbers and hey - it's got a PROPER BELL. Yes, a BELL. There's no speaker here, this is a proper ringtone. I'm guessing you're puzzled at this point. Why would anyone want a classic style phone like this to carry around? Why the heck would they want it in their car? Well, it definitely raises eyebrows, that's for sure. However, I think I've found another way that this can be used, and it may have already become clear when I mentioned the local area code system. Elderly relatives, or those who'd perhaps like an extra line, would definitely be interested in this. Think about it. If you're at an age where the internet doesn't appeal and you're fed up with the line rental costs plus the call charges, you can easily get yourself a £5 SIM-only deal from websites like MoneySupermarket - even cheaper if you want. If you disconnect your home phone line this, with…Opis 60s Classic Mobile ReviewOpis 60s Classic Mobile Review88

A new twist on an old design, and I'm loving every bit of this. If you don't need the internet or texting, replace your home phone with this.

9

GOCLEVER FONE 570Q – Review

The last few weeks have been interesting, I’ve been using the GOCLEVER FONE 570Q phablet as one of my main devices and it’s about time  for the main review. My initial impressions are here if you’re interested.

The GOCLEVER is one of those devices that look identical to the big name devices from Samsung, in this case it’s like a bigger version of the Galaxy Note II. So how did I get on with it? Let’s start with my amended good and bad points.

Good Points

Large screenDual SIMMicro SD slot

Bad Points

Screen viewing anglesInternal memory partitionsOdd camera specsFull size SIM cardsHit and miss responsiveness to capacitive buttons

Design

The design of the GOCLEVER FONE 570Q is basically to recreate the Note II but a bit bigger. It is a sea of plastic, a large bezel containing the home and menu keys, a silver edge strip, silver buttons, silver camera surround it’s all as you’d expect.

It is a large device and I soon got used to handling it, luckily being a longtime “large oversized phone” user I was prepared.

Hardware

The spec on the GOCLEVER 570Q is pretty mid range. Take a look below.

Display – 5.7” 1280×720 IPS LCD multi-touchCPU – MTK6589 1.2GHz (Cortex A7) Quad CoreGPU – SGX544 (4core)Android 4.2RAM – 1GB DDR2ROM – 4GB eMMCWi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n)GSM 850MHZ/900MHZ/1800MHZ/1900MHZ // UMTS 900MHZ/2100MHZ HSPA+ (AERO2)MicroSD up to 32GBDual SIMmicroUSB3.5mm audio and mic jackFront Camera – 0.3 MP (4 MP?)Rear Camera – 5.0 MP (13MP?)Battery – 3200 mAhDimensions – 156x83x11 mm 212 gExtras – 3.5” earphone, 5.0V adapter, USB cable, capacitive stylus, rubber sleeve, screen protector

There are a few things to point out about the spec, good points are the dual SIM, memory card slot, quad core CPU. Bad points are the screen which has to viewed straight on to avoid seeing distortion of text, the camera is reported as 5 MP in the spec list but the camera app reports it as a 13 MP camera. The MediaTek chipset has issues with manufacturers wiring up the GPS chip correctly and GOCLEVER seem to have worked it out and the GPS does work, it just takes ages to get a fix.

Lastly there is a crippling problem and that’s with the internal memory.

Correct me if I’m wrong here, in this day and age people want smartphones to install apps on, some games, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Angry Birds, putting makeup on a princess apps, celebrity surgery apps and countless others. Manufacturers know this and they should surely be not taking steps to limit how many apps their users can install. So why on earth in this day and age would a company partition the already small 4 GB internal memory and only allow a small portion of what’s left to be used for app installation.

Take a look at how the internal memory is split.

INSERT SCREENSHOT

Out of the box

After a few weeks of basic app installs

To make matters worse there is the confusing matter of allowing SOME apps if coded correctly to install themselves to the SD card instead. It’s just a confusing mess really, one that has possibly hampered this devices success.

Software

The GOCLEVER FONE 570Q runs what is basically stock Android 4.2, with a few extra apps added in to the mix.

You do get things like Google Now (accessed by a long pressing the menu button) and lockscreen widgets, so you can setup a camera shortcut on the lockscreen.

Where the Galaxy Note range succeeded was in software additions, S-Pen compatible note taking apps, S-Pen handwriting recognition input methods and with the latest Note range a whole host of new stylus based apps. With the GOCLEVER FONE 570Q there aren’t any tweaks to take advantage of the stylus, nor is their any software optimised, the Notepad app is just a basic thing. Installing a stylus handwriting recognition app helped, allowing me to write on the screen. Various drawing and painting apps support stylus input so you could find some apps to suit your needs.

Other notable stuff

Camera

The camera is specified on the GOCLEVER website as a 5 MP camera, the camera app is set by default to 8 MP and within the settings you can actually set the camera to 13 MP. It is odd, benchmark apps identify the camera module at 12.6 MP and the sheer number of pixels multiplied give a total number of pixels at about 12.6 million so it is a 12.6 MP camera. Not sure why GOCLEVER don’t want to advertise this fact. Probably because whatever resolution you set it at the pictures are distinctly average, with noise. In low light it’s very noisy.

Benchmark

Antutu X scores the GOCLEVER FONE 570Q on a par with the Galaxy S2, which is disappointing for a Quad Core device.

Battery life

With my usual battering of a device I was killing the battery after about 8 or 9 hours, with battery drain accelerating towards the last 15% of the battery. I imagine a normal user could easily get through the day.

Dual SIM

The Jelly Bean Dual SIM functionality is pretty cool, you can select which SIM can be used for voice, video, SMS and data. Both SIMs are active for incoming calls and messages, you can also get the device to ask which SIM to use when it’s about to do something. As I said it’s pretty cool.

Conclusion

In conclusion the GOCLEVER FONE 570Q is a great idea, copy a popular device and sell it at a portion of the price. But they have trimmed the specs TOO FAR, the screen, the crippled internal memory, the oddly specified noisy camera, the non functioning GPS all make for a device that is really rather unpleasant to use. Only really the Dual SIM functionality works nicely, if you just want a large Dual SIM phone then this might be for you, but Acer offer Dual SIM devices that are more reliable and are cheaper.

As to how GOCLEVER could improve the FONE 570Q I don’t know, a firmware update to fix the internal memory would be nice.

Maybe when they move onto making something like the Note 3 they’ll not trim the spec too much.

The last few weeks have been interesting, I've been using the GOCLEVER FONE 570Q phablet as one of my main devices and it's about time  for the main review. My initial impressions are here if you're interested. The GOCLEVER is one of those devices that look identical to the big name devices from Samsung, in this case it's like a bigger version of the Galaxy Note II. So how did I get on with it? Let's start with my amended good and bad points. Good Points Large screen Dual SIM Micro SD slot Bad Points Screen viewing angles Internal memory partitions Odd camera specs Full size SIM cards Hit and miss responsiveness to capacitive buttons Design The design of the GOCLEVER FONE 570Q is basically to recreate the Note II but a bit bigger. It is a sea of plastic, a large bezel containing the home and menu keys, a silver edge strip, silver buttons, silver camera surround it's all as you'd expect. It is a large device and I soon got used to handling it, luckily being a longtime "large oversized phone" user I was prepared. Hardware The spec on the GOCLEVER 570Q is pretty mid range. Take a look below. Display – 5.7” 1280×720 IPS LCD multi-touch CPU – MTK6589 1.2GHz (Cortex A7) Quad Core GPU – SGX544 (4core) Android 4.2 RAM – 1GB DDR2 ROM – 4GB eMMC Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) GSM 850MHZ/900MHZ/1800MHZ/1900MHZ // UMTS 900MHZ/2100MHZ HSPA+ (AERO2) MicroSD up to 32GB Dual SIM microUSB 3.5mm audio and mic jack Front Camera – 0.3 MP (4 MP?) Rear Camera – 5.0 MP (13MP?) Battery – 3200 mAh Dimensions – 156x83x11 mm 212 g Extras – 3.5” earphone, 5.0V adapter, USB cable, capacitive stylus, rubber sleeve, screen protector There are a few things to point out about the spec, good points are the dual SIM, memory card slot, quad core CPU. Bad points are the screen which has to viewed straight on to avoid seeing distortion of text, the camera is reported as 5 MP in the spec list but the camera app reports it as a 13 MP camera. The MediaTek chipset has issues with manufacturers wiring up the GPS chip correctly and GOCLEVER seem to have worked it out and the GPS does work, it just takes ages to get a fix. Lastly there is a crippling problem and that's with the internal memory. Correct me if I'm wrong here, in this day and age people want smartphones to install apps on, some games, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Angry Birds, putting makeup on a princess apps, celebrity surgery apps and countless others. Manufacturers know this and they should surely be not taking steps to limit how many apps their users can install. So why on earth in this day and age would a company partition the already small 4 GB internal memory and only allow a small portion of what's left to be used for app installation. Take a look at how the…55

In conclusion the GOCLEVER FONE 570Q is a great idea, copy a popular device and sell it at a portion of the price. But they have trimmed the specs TOO FAR, the screen, the crippled internal memory, the oddly specified noisy camera, the barely functioning GPS all make for a device that is really rather unpleasant to use.

6