The amazing Zenfone 3 Deluxe ... really surprised me !!

The detailed specs of Zenfone 3 Deluxe:

• A full HD 5.7 inch AMOLED
• All metal unibody
• Snapdragon 820 chipset, 6GB of RAM, 128GB ROM
• GPU Adreno  520
•  Quick charge 3.0 technology, fingerprint tech
• LTE Cat 13
• Rear camera: 23MP ( up to 92MP), 4K recording

Updated design language with aluminium unibody

Unlike the glass-clad ZenFone 3, the Deluxe model has a curved aluminium back, though it shares the same rear camera design and a fingerprint sensor on the back.

Full HD AMOLOED screen

The Zenfone 3 Deluxe also sports an alluring design with an aluminum construction that features ‘invisible’ antenna lines, a world first, according to Asus. The 5.7″ display has a 1080 x 1920-pixel resolution and it’s a Super AMOLED panel.

Great rear camera, 23MP, can up to 92MP

For the ZenFone 3 Deluxe, ASUS brought a 23MP main camera with Sony’s latest Sony IMX318 image sensor, an f/2.0 aperture lens, and 4-axis optical image stabilization for photos. 3-axis electronic image stabilization is utilized when shooting 4K videos, perhaps to prevent the moderate to offensive “jello” effect sometimes associated with optically stabilized smartphone footage.

The rear camera of this phone can ”boost” the image resolution up to 92MP when compared to the physical sharpness 23MP

Incredible performance with 6GB of RAM, and Snapdragon 820

6GB of RAM seems to be the most impressive factor to the fame of this phone, which, for sure, can support and process any kind of multi-tasks during the day. Further than that, the provision of Snapdragon 820 can be another valuable additional composition to the handset. For all these reasons, I do want to  re-affirm that Asus is ready for the battle against other manufacturers on the comtemporary market, ranging from Apple, Samsung to Xiaomi. And in the upcoming weeks, the comparative video between Zenfone 3 Deluxe and other flagships will be released in this site, so please, keep updated.

Apart from the great chipset and the RAM capacity, the Deluxe will come with different storage capacities that go all the way up to 256GB. It blows my mind that a smartphone will soon have more onboard storage than the laptop I’m using to write this right now. As well as that, Adreno 530 GPU is suitable for heavy lifting, such as 4K video playback and encoding, and running the latest games.

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Xiaomi Mi 5 review

Design and hardware

I went into the review dreading having to live with this behemoth of a phone, especially since I typically exercise with one. I was right for the most part. The Mi Max takes the term “phablet” to some extremes with its 6.44-inch display.

It’s not a comfortable fit at 88mm (iPhone 6+ is 77mm). My hands are small and I need two hands to operate it. Vertically, my thumb can’t get anywhere near that notification bar.

But thanks to the one-handed mode, a tap on the Home button followed directly by a swipe of the back button allows you to pick screen sizes between 3.5- and 4.5-inch simulations in the big screen. At least that is a compromise of sorts.

As for aesthetics, the design of the back is clean, occupied visibly by the camera and the fingerprint sensor. It would have been fine were it not for the two-toned colour between the aluminium body and the plastic caps at the top and bottom of the device. There is a visible seam between the parts and the colours are a shade off.

Another telltale sign: chamfers on the body are clearly shiny and metallic and those on the caps are not. What’s not forgivable is how the body bends at the slightest pressure. For a phone this size it should be doubly important for the structural strength to be extra high, but obviously that is not the case.

Display and features

The 6.44-inch LCD panel has a 1080p (1080x1920) HD display. Calculations show that this translates to roughly 340 pixels per square inch (ppi), which is slightly less than the 400ppi of the latest retina displays from Apple. Generally speaking the display quality is fine. Legibility remains unhindered under direct sunlight, as not only the brightness but also the contrast get an adjustment. Media consumption, videos, games especially are a joy on a screen this big.

But where is the Google Now On Tap? Holding the Home button brings up the standard Google search app rather than Google’s magical contextual aware search feature.

Camera

The 16-megapixel camera is the perfect example of one where megapixels aren’t everything (or anything, in this case). Whether you’re taking photos during the day, indoors or at night, you cannot hope for any sort of output that comes close to “good”. Every aspect of a poor camera – blur, muted colours, noise, grain... you can find in photos taken with the Mi Max. For bearable results, keep HDR switched on. You’ll be better off not taking the camera seriously and make use of the included effects for fun instead.

Performance and battery life

Equipped with a Snapdragon 650 processor, the Mi Max sits firmly on the mid-tier shelf. It’s by no means slow because on synthetic benchmarks it surpasses last year’s fastest chip – the Snapdragon 810 – comfortably.

It scores roughly the same as the Huawei Mate 8, which was released in February and was considered at the time one of the fastest phones this year. Under real world usage, it’s very serviceable and does not cause too many embarrassing stutters and wait times.

The giant phone, thankfully, comes with a giant battery. With a 4850mAh capacity, two days of medium usage is the norm.

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BlackBerry DTEK50

Last month, BlackBerry introduced World’s most secure smartphone – DTEK50 in USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Netherland. Now the Unlocked model of the device is available for purchase in USA.
BlackBerry DTEK50 price in USA is $295.76 or you can also grab a special deal for $329.99 in which you can get BlackBerry 12,600mAh Battery pack cum Mobile charger. 

The DTEK50 is a second Android-based smartphone from the company, which it claims to be the world’s most secure phone can encrypt all users’ information, including business critical data and personal data. It combines Alphabet Inc’s popular software and broad app catalog with the Canadian company’s DTEK Security. It also has Malware protection along with restoring and back-up capabilities. DTEK by BlackBerry app enables users to automatically monitor their apps and OS to know when their privacy could be at risk and to take action to improve it.

BlackBerry DTEK50 features a 5.2-inch scratch-resistant display with Full-HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution. It is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 (4 x 1.5GHz + 4 x 1.2GHz) processor clubbed with Adreno 405 550MHz GPU. It also comes with a massive 3GB of RAM and 16GB of inbuilt storage which can be further expanded via microSD card up to 2TB.

On the camera front,this DTEK Android phone flaunts a 13-megapixel autofocus rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, 6P Lens and dual-tone LED flash. It can record full-HD 1080p video at 30 frames per second. There is an 8-megapixel front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture and 84-degree wide angle lens for wide group selfie and quality video calling.

This most secure mobile phone from BlackBerry runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and packs a 2610mAh battery with fast charging technology. On the connectivity front, includes 4G LTE, 3G, WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, Micro USB 2.0 and 3.5mm audio jack options. It measures 147 x 72.5 x 7.4 and weighs 135 grams.

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The views expressed in the 

above review are my own and do not represent those of Optus or its staff.

Set-up and Design

The LG G5 is big and I love the 5.3” Quad HD screen. The display is ridiculously sharp and viewing angles are on point. The interface is easy to use (speaking as a non-Android user) although I know there was initial dismay at the absence of an app drawer but there are guides online to show you how to install one. Interestingly the LG G5’s lock/unlock button (that doubles as a fingerprint scanner) is situated on the back of the phone below the camera sensor – something that does take some getting used to. However, if you set up a fingerprint unlock, the fingerprint scanner opens the phone so quickly that it doesn’t take long to become acclimatised to this. I absolutely love the precision and accuracy of this feature.

Camera

WOW. Having gone from a phone with an 8MP main camera and 1.2MP front camera, the LG G5 is a complete dream. Featuring a huge 16MP main camera, the LG G5 takes flawless photos even in low light. You can choose a soft or sharp focus on the lens which is perfect for taking Kardashian-worthy selfies and there’s even the ability to shoot a collage photo in one shot. The front 8MP camera is equally brilliant – you can achieve gorgeous, high-quality photos with rich depth-of-field easily. Personally the LG G5’s camera ratio works well for me because I’d rather have a better main camera with more megapixels than most handsets currently on the market, than have both front and back cameras feature the same amount of pixels.

Other features

Charging the LG G5 is rapid thanks to Quick Charge 3.0 – perfect if you need to juice up your phone quickly before heading out again.

Battery life is decent. I lasted a full day with lots of use (downloading apps, scrolling through social media, photo taking and GPS).

The LG G5 also has a module at the base of the phone which you can remove and replace with other LG accessories, called “Friends”. At the moment I don’t think the accessories are quite appealing enough to consider purchasing – one is a camera grip and the other is a digital-to-analog converter that gives you 32-bit audio and an extra headphone jack – but hopefully LG will release more “Friends” soon.

FOR

• Genuinely innovative
• Great camera
• Removable battery
• 
  

AGAINST

• Accessories are a gimmick
• Build doesn't match rivals

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Google Pixel Review

Google’s first smartphone is finally here - welcome the Pixel.

After months of leaks, it was no surprise the Pixel replaced the search giant’s Nexus range of smartphones, now with a more premium design, the latest guts, and a higher price tag.

Note: Google has released the Pixel in two sizes, the 5.0-inch Pixel, and the 5.5-inch Pixel XL. Unlike the iPhone 7, these phones share identical hardware and features (apart from the obvious screen and battery size), so we’ve reviewed them both here.

Design and Screen

The Google Pixel is a good looking smartphone, but it's a little uninspired - it certainly doesn't evoke a deep desire to fondle and stroke it. But we do like the way it looks.

The stand out 'design' element on the Pixel is a glass panel on the rear of the device. This isn't some touch sensitive trackpad, it's just there to make it look a little different to other smartphones, and improve wireless antenna performance, probably.

In the middle of the rear glass panel is a fingerprint sensor. That’s our favourite position, as your index finger naturally rests there. This fingerprint sensor also doubles as a mini trackpad - which is quite useful for the larger XL model.

In a way, the design mimics Google's brand identity, it's quirky, slightly robotic, and soulless, but ultimately, quite endearing.

The smaller Pixel has a 5.0-inch display, and the Pixel XL features a 5.5-inch display. We’ve tested both and much preferred the size of the smaller phone, although the Pixel XL didn't feel comically oversized.

Taking a different tact to Apple, both the Pixel and Pixel XL have the same features, so it’s only the screen and battery size that differentiates them.

The standard Pixel has an HD resolution with a PPI of 441, while the Pixel XL has a 2K display and a PPI of 534. Both are pleasingly sharp (although, not as standout as the Samsung S7) and the AMOLED panels are vibrant and dynamic.

Neither phone is water resistant, which is a bit of a shame. It’s also quite thick at 8.5mm, but the tapered edges do a good job of masking that.

There are three colour options, 'Quite Black', Very Silver', and 'Really Blue'. T3’s advice is to always bet on black, it looks great.

Software

Since this is now Google’s flagship handset, it makes sense that it uses the company’s latest software and services.

Google Assistant plays a big role in the operating system. This replaces Google Now, making it more intelligent, and giving the virtual assistant more of a personality in line with Siri and Cortana.

Google Assistant is a little more friendly, more personal, chatbot-powered AI that can answer your questions, book dinner reservations, play games and suggest smart replies to send your friends when you don't have the time or the energy to actually compose a proper message.

Assistant can be accessed by holding the home button, the home screen widget, or saying the hot words “Okay Google”.

There are also some nifty software features, such as automatic operating system updates, 24/7 customer assistance, and both Pixels will come with Allo, Google’s new instant messaging app, and Duo, the video calling app, pre-installed.

Specs and Battery Life

The Pixel is a very fast smartphone, just like all flagships in 2016. It runs on Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 821 processor with 4GB of RAM.

Both devices have either 32GB or 128GB of storage, with no option to expand via MicroSD.

If you're worried about storage, the Pixel comes with free, unlimited Google Photo storage, which is a nice little bonus.

The 5.0-inch Pixel has a 2770 mAh battery, whereas the larger Pixel XL features a 3450 mAh battery.

Camera

Google is really proud of the Pixel's camera, both smartphones feature a 12-megapixel sensor and f/2.0 aperture lens.

The company had the lens and sensor rated by DxO (expert camera testers), and the Pixel came out top in their ranking of smartphone cameras with a score of 89. It's worth noting that DxO test cameras in a lab, and this doesn't always translate to real world testing.

How did we find the Pixel camera in real world testing? We loved it, although we’d have to do more side-by-side testing to see it it’s better than our previous favorite, the Samsung Galaxy S7.

Verdict

I like this smartphone a lot, the software is great, and the hardware has a certain odd charm to it. The camera is also very good, which we’re really pleased about.

The biggest downside is that it lacks any sort of water resistance, something that even the iPhone now has. That’s the only thing stopping us giving this a 5-star rating.

Google’s first smartphone has been a big hit with us, and we think it’s a credible alternative to the Samsung Galaxy S7, HTC 10, and the like.

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FOR

• Great specs
• Fast charging
• Excellent camera

AGAINST

• More expensive than Nexus
• Not water resistant
• Design a little uninspired
• 
  
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iPhone 7 Plus Review

There are various types of customers in the smartphone world, and the most popular being those who just want it to work, and those who also want to have that cool phone that everyone is talking about. This is mainly iPhone territory, and another popular trait of that territory is that people want the latest and greatest.

For the last two years, choosing an iPhone was a matter of choosing a size and a storage option. The differences between the Plus and the regular iPhone were so minimal that it didn’t really feel like if you were getting a “Plus” experience if you chose that variant. For some, optical image stabilization was enough, but for a guy who loves taking photos while running, the fact that the regular iPhone was good enough to somehow still produce a stable shot would be enough of a reason to stay away. It wasn’t until this year with the announcement of the iPhone 7 Plus that I felt that you finally received more than just a larger iPhone with this new Plus variant. The phone can actually do things that the smaller variant can’t do even with software tweaks, and it was enough of a reason for me to choose to review the larger variant this year.

Has this jump been worth it? Read our full review to learn more.

Specs & Hardware

As is customary Apple is late to some of the games that began with competitors. Things like water resistance, a dual camera, or stereo speakers aren’t new things, but we do know that Apple is famous for taking its time in refining new technology, so let’s use refinement as the basis for this review

Hardware wise, the iPhone 7 Plus is as refined as it is mixed. This continues to be one of the most solid and pleasant phones to hold thanks to its aluminum construction and 2.5D glass. There are two new color options, Black and Jet Black, and if you chose any of them, the finish is an interesting blend of baddass and elegant that looks great up close and from a distance. In many ways, this is Apple refining a familiar design to a new level, even if on the conservative side.

Other refinements come at the hand of IP67 water and dust resistance to survive under 1 meter of water for 30 minutes, something Apple took for ever to catch up with. I’m not even going to try to bore you with many of the specs included with the iPhone 7 Plus, because even Apple makes us dig for them. Cupertino doesn’t try to sell specs with its iOS products, but for what matters you have the new Apple A10 Fusion processor that’s finally quad-core, with two cores doing the heavy lifting and two others for regular tasks. We have 3 gigabytes of RAM, options for 32, 128 or 256GB of storage, and a 2900 mAh battery.

There’s a new Force Touch home button that takes advantage of a new taptic engine. The idea is to simulate that you’re pressing a button by providing vibrating feedback when you do, and the taps are so strong that you can even hear the sound of a button being pressed. Now, it does take some getting used to if you come from an older iPhone. What I will say is that it’s far more convenient than the standard capacitive keys from competing devices because those react to any sort of touch, while this one requires an actual press. The reason you know the button is capacitive is because it doesn’t work if you press it holding a cloth in between. The good thing is that if you’re planning to keep this iPhone for the long run, this is one less moving part to worry about as well, so I really praise this new approach.

Software

Apple considers it self to be more of a software company, and that’s clearly evident in the way iOS 10 is designed more around making you forget about the hardware. Sure it looks a lot like previous version of iOS, but about the only thing that’s similar is looks, everything else has been revamped.

The ones I’ve enjoyed most are actually the little things, like 3D Touch now including widgets that save me the need to dig within the app. Or other subtle improvements like raise to wake to keep up with my notifications, and then using 3D Touch to respond to them from wherever I am, again, avoiding the need to launch the app. The keyboard is now smarter through Siri’s machined learning, and since it now supports prediction of two languages without needing to switch around, my need for clunky third party keyboards is gone.

Camera

Now let’s be honest, if you went Plus this year, a major reason had to do with the new cameras, and yes, plural was intentional. Apple finally took the plunge to newer specifications like a 12 megapixel sensor with f1.8 aperture and optical image stabilization, but if one camera isn’t enough for you, there’s a separate 12 megapixel telephoto lens at f2.8 aperture, which is mainly there to serve 2X optical zoom, and 10X digital.

Performance

I’ve been testing the iPhone 7 Plus in two different variants for nearly two weeks in New York City. My experiment with the 32 gigabyte version truly crashed and burned. I mean seriously, if you’re gonna buy a phone this big, it wold be pointless to not do so for the experience of consuming content, and 32 gigabytes is just not enough. The average HD movie from the iTunes store is around 4 gigabytes, and if you’re into recording 4K video, that’s another storage hog. Yes, this is more than the 16 gigabyte starting point of last year, but just as we didn’t recommend it then, we can say the same now if you’re going Plus.

In everything else data speeds were great over T-Mobile, and the experience of using this iPhone is as expected, with great fluidity in the user interface, and stutter-free performance when playing graphics intensive games.

This is also still the king of battery life for content consumption, going way over a day of heavy use, and about the only thing I don’t like is that it can take a few hours to charge.

Pros

+ Great build quality
+ Powerful internals
+ New color options to differentiate
+ Outstanding camera with low light improvements
+ iOS 10 grows up and so does Siri
+ HomeKit can be really handy
+ Awesome battery life
+ Finally IP67 water and dust resistant
+ Those stereo speakers

Cons

– Fingerprint, scratch or smudge magnet depending on your color
– Buttons not easily reachable
– 32GB model is pointless for a phablet
– No headphone jack
– Pricey

Conclusion

To conclude, I guess the last question left on the table is if it’s really worth it to get the iPhone 7 Plus. This is one expensive piece of hardware, and as useful as some of the features like the zoom lens in the camera can be, the early compromise of basics like a headphone jack is enough to cause controversy.

All this being said, you can’t deny that this is a great smartphone, and probably the most pleasant experience that I’ve had with an iPhone in a while, and notice I say iPhone. If you value a great experience for consuming content, insane battery life, a robust ecosystem, great customer service, and one of the best cameras in the industry, then I do recommend getting the iPhone 7 Plus. It truly is the best iPhone you can buy, and I know that actually means something for many people around the world that are already invested in the Apple ecosystem.

And hey, if you can’t or just don’t want to pay so much money, don’t worry. This is 2016, and the market is flooded with similar alternatives that can fit your needs. The iPhone 7 Plus is a great smartphone, but it’s not the only great smartphone in the world right now.

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