Monday, May 16, 2016

iPhone 6S Plus review

Update: 21/03/2016
If you’re interested in getting a top end iPhone, but are nervous about the iPhone 6S Plus’ huge dimensions, you should check out Apple’s iPhone SE.
The iPhone SE is the spiritual successor to Apple’s small hand friendly iPhone 5S. The handset features a similar hard-edged, metal design and equivalently sized 4-inch screen to its predecessor.
Under the hood though it features completely revamped hardware. The iPhone SE features a similar 12-megapixel iSight camera as the iPhone 6S Plus and runs using the same powerhouse A9 chip. The iPhone 6S performance and camera were two of its biggest selling points and we have high hopes the iPhone SE will match it on both fronts.
The only downside to the iPhone SE is its lack of Apple 3D Touch technology and basic 16GB of internal space. Apple will let users upgrade the iPhone SE to have 64GB of space, but this will add an extra £80 to its already hefty £359 starting price.The pricing puts the iPhone SE just above its key rival, the Nexus 5X, which currently costs £340 for the basic 32GB model.
Related: iPhone 8

WHAT IS THE IPHONE 6S PLUS?

The iPhone 6S Plus (not to be confused with the upcoming iPhone 7) is Apple's second phablet, and like last year's model it's properly big.
The 5.5-inch screen is the biggest you can get on an iPhone and a massive step up if you're used to an iPhone 5S. It takes some getting used to.
Usually 'S' models of the iPhone tend to have a few small additions over the previous phone. This year, though, Apple has made some serious improvements to the iPhone 6S Plus that make it more interesting compared to what we've become accustomed to.
The 4S and 5S introduced useful additions, the first with Siri and the second with Touch ID. A few other performance improvements were thrown in for good measure.
These were good phones, but they didn’t particularly excite the imagination.
The iPhone 6S Plus looks to have gone down the same road, at first glance that is. It looks almost identical to last year’s phone barring a new Rose Gold colour.
Spend a little time with it, though, and you quickly realise that the iPhone 6S Plus comes with significant improvements in all the areas you’d expect and some you wouldn’t. So aside from a boost in performance, plus a better camera and build quality, we’ve also been treated to a potentially ground-breaking innovation – 3D Touch.
Just like the iPhone 6S this is a very good phone.

IPHONE 6S PLUS – DESIGN

158.2 x 77.9 x 7.3 mm, 192g, Nano-SIM, aluminium 7000
If there's one are the iPhone 6S Plus could be stronger it's design.
Don’t get me wrong: This is a very well-made phone. Every part of it fits together beautifully, and Apple has ensured that there will be no more "bendy iPhone" complaints by using a new, much tougher aluminium for the body.

Read more at http://www.trustedreviews.com/iphone-6s-plus-review#Jo8HPZdxWtE7SX2m.99
The lightly textured and slim handset is grippy, and surprisingly comfortable to hold for such a big phone. There are no awkward edges; just smooth, flowing curves that fit nicely in your palm.
The problem with the iPhone 6S Plus is the size of its top and bottom bezels. Where the LG G4 manages to cram a 5.5-inch screen in a body that's more phone-like rather than a phablet, the 6S Plus feels unwieldy.
The 6S Plus has a screen-to-body ratio of 68%, whereas the curved-screened 5.7-inch Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ – the 6S’s closest competitor – has a ratio of almost 76%. That means more screen for its size.
It’s height takes a little getting used to as well. It took me around a week to get comfortable with the original Plus; others may find it just too big in hand and in pocket.
Apple is aware of this and so has included a feature that lets you drop what’s on screen closer to your thumb. Gently tap the home button twice and out-of-reach icons become instantly accessible.

Read more at http://www.trustedreviews.com/iphone-6s-plus-review#Jo8HPZdxWtE7SX2m.99
It doesn’t solve everything – I still struggle to reach the bottom left corner of the screen with my right thumb – but it's a useful feature.

The 6S Plus is also heavy, 20g more so than the iPhone 6 Plus before it. The extra weight is due to the new Taptic Engine used with 3D Touch – and it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I like weighty phones – they feel more substantial; others might find it a little too cumbersome, however.

Read more at http://www.trustedreviews.com/iphone-6s-plus-review#Jo8HPZdxWtE7SX2m.99


IPHONE 6S PLUS – 3D TOUCH AND SCREEN

1,920 x 1,080 pixels, 5.5-inch LCD IPS screen, Ion-X toughened glass, 3D Touch
The 6S Plus uses the same display as last year’s phone, and very good it is too.
The Full HD 5.5in screen is both bright (if a little dimmer than the last model at full brightness) and well balanced, with colours looking natural and contrast levels solid for an LCD.

Read more at http://www.trustedreviews.com/iphone-6s-plus-review#Jo8HPZdxWtE7SX2m.99
Compare it with Samsung’s latest offerings and it pales in comparison, though. The Super AMOLED displays on handsets such as the Galaxy Note 5 are a class above when it comes to vibrancy, sharpness and black levels.
Even though the iPhone 6S Plus doesn’t have the best screen, it remains great. Besides, I'm increasingly seeing diminishing returns on phones display improvements. For example, having a higher-resolution QHD screen doesn’t equate to a huge difference in the user experience.
Apple’s latest innovation does, however.
I’m excited about 3D Touch, even though it’s currently limited to a handful of features. Let’s get started with what it is and what it can do.
The original iPhone was the first to feature a multi-touch screen and it revolutionised the way we interact with our phones. Pinching, zooming and swiping were all made possible, and it was one of the most intuitive interfaces ever – even toddlers could use it.
3D Touch takes it to the next level, bringing a whole new experience to the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus by cutting out swathes of extra presses. It gets you where you want to be in iOS 9 far more quickly.
3D Touch brings three levels of pressure sensitivity to the iPhone 6S Plus user interface, so if you press harder on the screen more options appear. At first the experience is a little odd.
I’m used to lightly touching a smartphone screen, so applying significant pressure feels wrong. Give it a day or two, though, and you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.
It works by using a pressure-sensitive display with a stronger, and more refined, Taptic Engine – the feature that makes your phone vibrate.
At the moment, 3D Touch is mostly limited to Apple apps. Touch the Camera app icon from the homescreen and, as you’d expect, the app opens. Press a little harder on the icon, though, and a host of new options appear. Want to go straight to the selfie mode? Or what about shooting slo-mo right away? They all spring to life with a heavier touch.

Read more at http://www.trustedreviews.com/iphone-6s-plus-review#Jo8HPZdxWtE7SX2m.99
The Clock app lets you immediately create a new alarm or start the stopwatch, while the Maps app provides a quick setting to get you home, mark your location (so you don’t forget where you’ve parked) or send your location to a mate.
Hard press the spacebar when writing an email and the keyboard transforms to a touchpad, so you can easily move the cursor to a specific part of the message to sort out a typo.
It all sounds simple, and it is, but it's also a huge step forward in how you interact with apps. It’s a bit like having a right mouse button at your fingertips and it opens up a host of new possibilities.
Few third-party apps support 3D Touch at the moment, but don’t let that concern you. App developers now have access to 3D Touch, so you can expect a whole host of new features to soon appear on all your favourites.
There are a few that have taken advantage of the new feature already, and one of the best examples is the futuristic racer AG Drive.
It shows just how clever 3D Touch is. Controls aren't limited to just slow/fast – it’s actually analogue, so when it comes to accelerating your hovership, the harder you press, the faster you'll go.
It’s worth mentioning the curved-screened Galaxy S6 Edge+ here – after all, it’s the 6S Plus’ main competitor. The edges of the Samsung do make it achingly pretty, but they serve very little function. By contrast, 3D Touch provides zero visual excitement but plenty of great uses.

Read more at http://www.trustedreviews.com/iphone-6s-plus-review#Jo8HPZdxWtE7SX2m.99
The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ has curved sides
Apple has improved the connectivity on the iPhone 6S Plus so that Wi-Fi is more reliable and faster than ever before. It also comes with 4G and the latest Bluetooth 4.2 standard. As always with iPhones, however, it lacks a microSD slot.
This means you'll need to carefully consider which version of the iPhone 6S Plus you'll opt for. The 16GB version (£619) really won’t stretch far at all – some photos, a few games and a bit of music and you’ll be clamouring for the delete key.
The 64GB version (£699) should be ample for most, with the 128GB 6S Plus (£789) perfect for those who like carrying a large movie or music library with them.

Read more at http://www.trustedreviews.com/iphone-6s-plus-review#Jo8HPZdxWtE7SX2m.99



Posted by at No comments:
Labels:

Sony Xperia Z5 Compact review



Update: Sony Xperia Z5 Compact released in the US in February, albeit with minor changes. All of these are reflected in our new review.
The Xperia Z5 Compact stands alone: Sony is the only Android manufacturer making a small high-end phone right now. That means that it could be the last stand for compacts. If the Z5 doesn't deliver, it's likely to be the last time we see top specs in a scaled-down form factor, for a while at least.
But it does deliver. Like the Xperia Z3 Compact before it, the Xperia Z5 Compact puts an impressive array of features comfortably into the palm of your hand, and makes you wonder why no other brands are interested in this niche.
Not everyone wants a giant phone, and who could be blamed for wanting to use their whole screen without needing both hands?
The Xperia Z5 Compact sits alongside two other new phones from Sony. There's the Sony Xperia Z5, which offers a 5.2-inch 1,080p screen and 3GB of RAM that you don't get here. Then there's the Xperia Z5 Premium, which will be here in November with a 5.5-inch screen and a 4K resolution screen.
One problem for the Xperia Z5 Compact is its price. High-end specs require a high-end price, even if the reduced frame might lead purchasers to expect a bargain. However, it does come in appreciably cheaper than the Xperia Z5, and a good deal below our original expectations.
The Xperia Z5 Compact costs £429 in the UK (about AU$915) – that's over £100 less than the slightly breathtaking price of £549 that Sony originally put on its site. The new price matches the launch price of the Xperia Z3 Compact last year, and you do get a lot for your money here.
It's a completely different story in the US, where the Z5 Compact unlocked retails for the full price of $500 - ouch! It's not available via popular US carrier subsidies, which will blunt its success, but Amazon does have it on sale for $435.

Design

The Xperia Z5 Compact follows closely the excellent design established by the Xperia Z5. It isn't drastically smaller than the Z5 – the Compact is 127 x 65 x 8.9mm, compared to 146 x 72 x 7.3mm. But it's enough to make a difference.
The Xperia Z5 Compact has lost a lot of the bezel space that felt so redundant on the Z5, and feels a lot more concise than its bigger sibling.
You might have noticed that the Z5 Compact is actually bigger than the Z5 in one dimension: it's a little thicker. That's to fit in all those high-end specs and a bigger battery than the larger phone. I barely noticed the difference in thickness until I put them next to each other, and even then it wasn't all that shocking.
The Sony Xperia Z5 Compact weighs in at 138g, 16g lighter than the Z5. Build wise, it's a similar size and weight to the iPhone 6S.
The back panel is much nicer on this new version of the Compact model. Instead of the clear glass back from previous handsets, it's now a frosted glass that feels good against the palm and looks stylish.
Colour options are white, black, yellow or coral – I was able to use all versions but the white for this review. The black version feels the most stylish, while the yellow and coral are particularly bright. They wouldn't be my choice of phone, but for those who liked the colour-pop aesthetic of the iPhone 5C, they're perfect.
The corners have been rounded off even further on the Xperia Z5 Compact than on the Z3 Compact, making it a much more comfortable fit in the hand.
The anti-break bumpers of the Xperia Z5 aren't included here, so the Compact is more likely to shatter if it falls on one of the four corners. It's unclear why Sony made this decision – they would have been easy to implement, and would make a big difference to the durability of the phone.
At the top of the left hand edge of the phone, there's the indented Xperia logo, which actually looks good this time around. On the bottom of that edge is the only flap on the handset, covering the microSD and nanoSIM slot.
It's easier to open this up than it has been on previous Xperia phones, and as you'll only need to on the rare occasions that you're swapping a SIM or microSD.
In the centre of the bottom edge sits the micro USB port for charging and data transfer. It's a shame that Sony hasn't moved on to USB-C to minimise fumbling when plugging in, but at least the inconvenience of the flap has been removed.
And Sony isn't behind the pack on USB standards, even if it would have been nice for it to get ahead. In a few years, smartphones will have moved on and USB-C will become the norm, but for now most still use micro USB.
The 3.5mm headphone jack sits at the top of the phone on the left hand side, which is the best place for it as it means the phone can sit in your pocket while you use a wired headset

At the bottom of the right hand edge is the camera button, in the perfect position for taking landscape shots. Just above that is the volume rocker, which has been moved since the Xperia Z3 Compact. This relocation is less successful, and some fumbling is required to reach down to it.

It would have been to put the volume rocker just above the power button on the same side, but at least it's not as bad as it is on the Xperia Z5. On the larger phone it's really hard to reach and the handset flips out of the hand easily.
The power button itself sits flush with the design. This is metal with the on/off symbol engraved on it. It looks good, but the exciting part is that this now features the fingerprint scanner – a new addition to the Xperia Z series, except in the hobbled US variant.
On the front of the phone, there are bezels above and below the display to house the front-facing speakers, microphone and front-facing camera. These are thinner on the Xperia Z5 Compact than on the Xperia Z5 and that means a better screen-to-body ratio.









Posted by at No comments:
Labels:

Sony PS4 Review

What's new?

There are a few cosmetic changes to the design. For a start the two-tone finish of the original PS4 is gone, replaced by a complete matte black finish.

Something that's going to be more divisive though is the way Sony has replaced the touch-sensitive power and eject buttons with actual physical press-buttons. Being able to register when they've been depressed is sometimes preferable, but I never had a problem with the original's touchy-feely buttons before.
And these slightly wobbly, hollow-sounding buttons definitely feel a little cheaper.
But it's the internal components which have seen the biggest changes.
The actual motherboard itself is smaller and there are fewer memory chips arrayed around the AMD APU at the PS4's heart. That doesn't mean there's any less GDDR5 memory in the new CUH-1200 series consoles, Sony has simply used higher density Samsung 8Gb chips so it doesn't need to use as many of the 4Gb memory chips it previously used.
Sony has also used a re-designed Blu-ray drive inside it. Which probably goes to explain why you get less drive/disc noise from the new unit too.
The drive spins down a lot quicker and doesn't seem to have the same aural note as the original device.

Noisy neighbour

And noise is a key factor in the new design too.
It's subjectively quieter than the original PS4; almost noiseless when sat under your TV. That's also largely down to the fact the new PS4 runs cooler thanks to its lower power draw, which means the fans need to spin up less when the machine is being taxed.
It's really impressive what Sony has managed to do in terms of the power draw of the new CUH-1200 series of consoles, and that has had a knock on effect on the whole device.
At idle the new Playstation 4 uses around 20% less power and around 36% less when running in Rest Mode. When in that state the new machine is now drawing only 9W from the wall.
The most impressive change though is what's going on when the PS4 is running at full tilt in game. I ran a graphically-intensive section of The Last of Us Remastered on both consoles and while the original machine is hitting 151W at peak the new PS4 is only hitting 114W at most.
That's a huge saving in power - around 25% less.

Smart move

The manufacturing moves haven't affected the console's performance, just made it cooler, quieter and more efficient. And when Sony can do that with likely a cheaper bill of materials (especially given the simplified Blu-ray and less memory silicon) it only helps boost its margins.
And could also mean a price-cut this year might be on the cards. We may find out at this year's Paris Games Week after Sony avoided Gamescom 2015 to make a splash later in the year.
Elsewhere it's exactly the same as the original console which has so effectively claimed dominion over the current-generation console war.
The controller hasn't been altered and it runs exactly the same firmware revision as the standard console. There has also been no change in gaming performance - and so no move towards getting 4K gaming anywhere close. But that also means existing PS4 owners shouldn't be too worried.
What it does mean though is that if you're going to be buying a new PS4 this year you absolutely need to make sure it's this updated one. And that, at the moment, means limiting yourself to the 500GB version as the 1TB CUH-1200 series still hasn't found its way out into the wild.
Handy hint - if you are looking to buy a new PS4, check the box before you buy.
Around where it mentions the hard drive capacity it will state the model number. If it says anything like CUH-1200 (in the UK our model number is CUH-1216A) then you're golden, but if it's CUH-1000 or CUH-1100 then put it back.
If you're worried about the storage don't forget you can always upgrade your PS4 hard drive yourself.
Original review:
Getting ready to celebrate its two-year anniversary in November, the PlayStation 4 is really getting into its stride now and is well on its way to becoming one of the most successful games consoles of all time.
After selling an incredible one million units in just its first 24 hours on sale in the US, the PS4 has now been snapped up by nearly 24 million gamers worldwide at its last count.
That's a huge number which is even more impressive when you consider it's almost double the number of Xbox One consoles that have sold in the same time period. The sales gap is growing every day, too, despite Microsoft's price cuts to bring parity to the dual.
Things certainly don't look like turning round for the PS4 either.
Sony has recently redesigned the console for the CUH-1200 model, with a less power-hungry PSU and quieter operation as well as a fully matte-black design.
Unless you go for one of Darth Vader's own PS4s anyway...
With more graphical power than the Xbox One, 32 times more system memory than the PS3 and a firm focus on pure gaming experiences rather than media might, the PS4 has established itself as the console to beat of this generation.
It's a games console built by gamers for gamers and won the hearts and minds of many from the word go, with lots of prospective next-genners left feeling alienated by some of Microsoft's bizarre policies and choices for the Xbox One – many of which were reversed as a result of a backlash.
What's more, the PS4 is now available online for less than £300, which is about the same price as Microsoft's Xbox One bundle without Kinect. It doesn't come with the PlayStation Camera but this can be bought separately for £39 if you really want one.
We don't think it's necessary, but we'll get to that.
The differences between the PS4 and Xbox One are evident before you even switch them on.
Despite the two consoles both sporting similar half-matte half-gloss finishes and containing very similar internal components, they really couldn't be more different.
For a start, the PS4's parallelogram form is small and sleek in comparison to the enormous VCR-like cuboid of the Xbox One. And this means that the PS4's box is half the size and weight, and with the new PS4 versions arriving later this year they're getting even lighter.
The Sony console can be extracted from its packaging and plugged in and booted up in a couple of minutes.


The PS4 launched in white in October 2014

Xbox One on the other hand comes in a huge, hulking box. It's fiddly to open and unpack, and it's full of little compartments, with loads of cardboard and plastic bits to get in your way.
This is the kind of streamlining that typifies the PlayStation experience with PS4.
It's a console designed for gamers to play games and in this respect it could be described as more of spiritual successor to the PlayStation 2 – still the best selling games console the observable universe has ever known.

Design

One look at the PS4 and you know you're looking at Sony hardware. It's slim, sleek, available in jet black and shiny white, and amazingly it's roughly the size of a second generation PS3 Slim.
You could also pick it up in PSOne grey for a limited amount of time, but thatdidn't end so well...
The full measurements are 275 x 53 x 305 mm so it's a lot more compact than an Xbox One, which is longer, taller and squarer.


You can use the cables from your PS3 Slim if you want to

In a feat of engineering worth tipping your hat to, and in spite of the PlayStation 4's slim stature, Sony has tucked the power supply inside the system, leaving no external power brick to trip over.
The Xbox One on the other hand retains the external power brick of the Xbox 360, leaving you with more mess behind your TV, though without the ol' 360's overheating issues.
The PS4 is meant to lay flat on its belly but, if your media centre can only accommodate a vertical machine, Sony has a plastic stand it sells separately for £17 which helps the system stand up straight.
On the front-facing side you'll find a slot-loading Blu-ray disc drive and to its right two powered USB 3.0 ports, which can charge your DualShock 4controllers even when the system is turned off and are used to sync controllers when taking gamepads from one place to another.
Spin the system around and you'll be met with an HDMI (still only 1.4 m'afraid), Ethernet and a digital optical audio out port, as well as a proprietary auxiliary connection for the PlayStation Camera.
Along the top - or the side if you've opted for the stand - is a light, which glows blue when you boot it up. It breathes some life into the otherwise cold industrial design of the system. Turn it on and it blinks a yawning hello.


The PS4 is shaped like a parallelogram

PS4 specifications

Inside, the PS4 is all business. It has a custom single-chip processor that combines an eight core x86-64 AMD "Jaguar" CPU with a 1.84 teraflop GPU based on AMD's Radeon graphics technology. That's backed by 8GB of mega-fast GDDR5 RAM, and a 500GB mechanical hard drive.
You can also remove that 500GB drive and replace it with a larger drive, or an SSD for better performance. Sony says these do it yourself upgrades will not void the system's warranty which is fabulous.
There is also a new 1TB version of the PlayStation 4 on its way in July if you don't want to take to your console with a screwdriver.
Overall, Sony claims that the PS4's overall performance is ten times that of the PS3.
For wireless connections, the PS4 uses 802.11 b/g/n for WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 for its wireless DualShock 4 controllers.


The DualShock 4 is a big step forward from the PS3's DualShock 3

What's in the box?

You're bringing home more than a just a stylish, black or white parallelogram. In addition to the actual system you get a power cord (not a big power brick), an HDMI cable, an earbud microphone combo, one DualShock 4 controller and its charging cable (we charged our DualShock 4 pad using the Xbox One and the world did not end).
Extra controllers don't come with another charging cable, so don't lose that one.
Also, note that we said earbud singular, not earbuds, as in just for one ear. It's cheap but serviceable, but you can actually plug any headphones you already own into the controller's headphone jack, so it's not much of an issue.


Touch buttons on the front turn the PS4 on and eject discs

New features

If there's a team that works harder than Sony's internal development team, we'd like to meet them. As it is, they roll out monthly (sometimes bi-monthly) updates that drastically change the interface and feature set of the system.
The biggest changes of the past years? The Sony-exclusive rental streaming service called PlayStation Now - finally now in paid beta form in the UK- Remote Play, Sharefactory and Share Play, which debuted in system firmware 2.0.
Of course there have been myriad minor changes like the ability to turn off HDCP, play games while they're downloading, upload clips to YouTube and set themes and background images for the home screen in that time as well.
All of these features can be found sporadically throughout the new PlayStation Dynamic Menu, the primary GUI of the PS4. It's capable of delivering games, movies and TV shows into your home at lightning speeds as well as connecting you to your friends and other online gamers through the PlayStation Network.
Remember to use the ability to post to Twitter and Facebook to share your best brag-worthy gaming moments and, if you're feeling outgoing, you can stream to Twitch here too.





Posted by at No comments:
Labels:

Samsung Galaxy S7 review

WHAT IS THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S7?

When I first picked up the Samsung Galaxy S7 I was underwhelmed. Was it simply going to be a minor update to the S6? After a few hours of use though I was won over. And even weeks later I’m still so impressed at how Samsung has made loads of minor changes that add up to create a fantastic phone.
HTC might have made wholesale changes with the HTC 10 and LG went all modular for the LG G5, but the Galaxy S7 stands atop the Android pile.
It looks sleeker than the iPhone 6S, has a better camera than the Nexus 6P and boasts a screen that leaves all the competition in the dust. It’s the most complete phone I’ve ever used.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S7 – DESIGN

After the massive, and much needed, change in design direction Samsung took with the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge in 2015, all rumours pointed to things staying pretty much the same for the Galaxy S7.
Well, it’s not like Apple, HTC or Sony make drastic changes to their industrial design every year.
And that’s exactly the case here. Place the Galaxy S7 next to the S6 and you’d be hard pushed to instantly pick which one is which. Frankly, this doesn’t bother me in the slightest. The S6 was already one of the best-looking phones around, and the Galaxy S7 follows suit.

Read more at http://www.trustedreviews.com/samsung-galaxy-s7-review#DD2K4RD0zGXwYOOR.99
There is one notable design change on the back – the sides now curve ever so slightly, just like they did on the larger Galaxy Note 5, and it makes a huge change to how the Galaxy S7 feels. While the S6 felt harsh and rigid, the Galaxy S7 slips softly into my palm. It’s so much more ergonomic and makes picking it up off a flat surface much easier.
And the way the sides almost melt into the glass just looks damn cool. Good job, Samsung.
It’s an absolute fingerprint magnet, though. After a few minutes of use, the entire back becomes a grubby mess that needs wiping down with a microfibre cloth.
Along the top is the Nano SIM tray, which now holds a microSD slot, plus a microphone. The bottom houses the headphone socket, another microphone, a speaker and a micro USB port for charging.
That speaker is one of the few missteps on this phone. It’s downward-facing, gets easily blocked by my hands when playing a game and it sounds tinny and distorted at high volume. I guess front-facing speakers weren’t included so the screen surround could be kept minimal, but it’s still a disappointment when a speaker sounds this bad.
It had been suggested that Samsung would make a big switch to the new, reversible USB-C connector that’s already being used on the Nexus 6P, OnePlus 2 and LG G5, but it hasn’t.
To be honest, USB–C is more of a hindrance than a help at the minute. You can’t use any of the cables you’ve picked up over the years and it doesn’t necessarily mean faster charging. It does mean the S7 isn’t quite so future proof, though.
The front again has a clean look about it. The elongated home button still sits under the display, and it still juts out ever so slightly, rather than being concave like the iPhone’s. For me, this is a plus – it feels better pressing the Galaxy S7’s home button than the iPhone 6S’s – but a couple of the TrustedReviews team think otherwise. They’re wrong, of course, but it’s interesting how such a small design choice can split people.

Read more at http://www.trustedreviews.com/samsung-galaxy-s7-review#DD2K4RD0zGXwYOOR.99
Housed inside the home button is a really fast and accurate fingerprint sensor that matches the iPhone 6S’s for speed, but it’s marginally slower than the Nexus 6P’s. That difference is minimal, though, and something you would only notice if you had the two side by side.

It’s clear from the Galaxy S7 that Samsung is listening to customer feedback and bringing back favoured features from the Galaxy back catalogue. MicroSD expansion is one, and IP68 water resistance is another.
The latter is by no means a vital feature, yet it’s impressive that it’s been added without any forced changes to the design. There are no flaps, there’s no added thickness and no extra space between the display and glass.
What does an IP68 rating mean? Well, you’ll be able to dunk the Galaxy S7 into 1m of water for up to 30 minutes without damaging the phone. Or, if you’re like Lil’ Wayne, you can douse it in multiple bottles of champagne. Obviously.
It’s become a cliche that phones get thinner and thinner each year, but that isn’t the case with the S7. It’s marginally thicker than its predecessor and has a nice weight to it. It feels dense and expensive, though not as delicate as you’d expect from a phone with glass on the front and back. I dropped it about four foot onto a hard floor and it survived without any problems.
Samsung has stuck with the same 5.1-inch display, there’s the Galaxy S7 Edge if you want something bigger, and it’s refreshing to have a flagship phone that feels this compact and easy to hold. It’s roughly the same size as the iPhone 6S, which only has a 4.7-inch screen, and much smaller than top-end devices from LG, Huawei and Google.
Coming from using the S7 Edge, I was initially a little underwhelmed by the Galaxy S7. It didn’t quite have that wow factor its curvier sibling does. But after a while it became my favourite phone to use on a daily basis. It feels great, is the perfect size and doesn’t make any sacrifices – aside from maybe the speakers – to get there.

Read more at http://www.trustedreviews.com/samsung-galaxy-s7-review#DD2K4RD0zGXwYOOR.99

Posted by at No comments:
Labels:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)