LG/Google Nexus 5

The first impression of the LG Nexus 5 is that it remarkably resembles the Samsung Galaxy S4, but the more you look at it, and also as soon as you pick it up, you immediately see the differences. Nevertheless, Google always managed to surprise us with the Nexus line of products, particularly with how much top of the line technology they were able to cram into a seriously affordable phone. If nothing else, the Nexus 5 will once again reignite the pricing wars and also bring turmoil to the competition.

Looking at the specs, it seems like there is no place where money was saved. A true HD IPS Plus capacitive touchscreen, 4.95 inches with the expected 1080 x 1920 pixels resolution at a pixel density of around 445 ppi, furthermore a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, clocking at 2.3 GHz with the completely new Adreno 330 GPU. It comes in two versions, 16 GB or 32 GB of internal storage, no expansion card slot is provided, there is also 2 GB of RAM. It also features, as the first smartphone ever, the latest Android OS 4.4 KitKat.

There is also the primary camera with 8 MP, autofocus, optical image stabilisation, LED flash, and whatnot, of course is the camera capable of recording full HD video at 1080p, 30 fps. All models come with 3G and LTE, microUSB 2.0, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP, but no FM radio. The pretty strong Li-Po 2300 mAh battery is, alas, non-removable, continuing a trend that I do not appreciate.

What is there to say more about the Nexus 5, besides the fact that it costs only less than 300 quid if you purchase it without a contract, i.e. without SIM card. This pricing policy is the most staggering fact of all. It actually does not matter that you cannot replace the battery, it will work at least for two years, after which you will most likely have the next Nexus already available and affordable. Perhaps the next time Google will finally opt to utilize the incredible resources of the Motorola brand they purchased and release the first ever Motorola Nexus. In any case, this is truly the price to beat, with all the top of the line specs. Perhaps we can look forward to a time, where all top of the line devices will cost around 300 quid. What a marketplace would that be! Source: TechRadar

Samsung Galaxy S4

It is actually not clear who started the whole movement towards having a bigger display screen, but the general public seems to have embraced the notion. It was no surprise that the size of the display screen of Samsung models in the Galaxy S series have been enlarged in every consequent incarnation, so it is really a pleasure to see the latest model, the Samsung Galaxy S4, proudly present an alluring 5.0 inches wide screen, with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels, nowadays almost the norm, and a pixel density of 441 ppi on an incredibly crisp Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen.

How do you rate the flagship model of the market leading manufacturer? It does have all the knick-knacks that were expected, storage choice of 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB with expansion up to 64 GB per microSD, 2 GB of RAM, all the connectivity you can get nowadays, including microUSB, MHL, NFC and whatever else is out there. The camera is really good one, 13 megapixels, with autofocus and LED flash, has of course full HD video capture, the latest Android OS, 4.3 Jelly Bean, with KitKat coming very shortly. Inside is the Exynos 5 Octa 5410 octa-core processor, unless you opt for the LTE variant, whereby you get the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600.

Currently, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is one of the most sold smartphones ever, with over forty million units sold by the end of October 2013. Large numbers were expected, because pre-orders alone amounted to a whopping ten million units, but the continuous demand was a positive surprise, even for Samsung. This development firmly establishes Samsung as the market leading manufacturer of handheld devices, or rather mobile phones, despite Apple’s efforts to regain the throne. While the competition is getting more and more interesting, Samsung continues to provide just what the public is asking for.

Sony Xperia Z Ultra

In the phablet niche of the smartphone market another contender just moved in and the intentions are interesting. Namely, Sony just dropped the largest phablet ever available with whole 6.4 inches size. Just very little is missing, and you would have a fully-fledged 7 inch device. Actually it is really questionable to call this release a phablet at all. Nevertheless, here it is and it is looking very fine indeed. It has all you may require from a smartphone in this price class, there are 16 GB of storage, 2 GB of RAM, LTE, microSD expansion slot, beautiful display with 1080 x 1920 pixels resolution, whereby the approximate pixel density is at 344 ppi, easily meeting the “retina” display quality requirement. By the way, I found a site with the best mobile phone offers. The website is called MobilePhoneOffers101, do check it out.

It would not be Sony, if there was not at least one exclusive gadget added to the mix. Namely, this phone is dust and water proof, whereby the water resistance is maintained up to over a meter depth. Well, to continue with the specs, inside is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, running on 2.2 GHz with the latest Adreno 330 GPU. Also included are microUSB 2.0 with MHL, USB On-the-go, Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP and NFC. The pretty powerful Li-Ion battery has 3050 mAh, but is non-removable. Important to mention is also the 8 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, capable of full HD video capture.

HTC One X Review

HTC One X is my current favourite. Enjoy the review.

The HTC One Max

HTC is truly trying to become a big player in the smartphone market. The HTC One series, with the regular HTC One and the HTC One mini, notwithstanding all the other HTC models, has received a real big brother, a behemoth of a phone, at least for HTC standards, which is supposed to combine all the positive elements of the HTC One success and the Samsung Galaxy Note series popularity. Yes, it is a somewhat expected move, every other manufacturer, except Apple, has released their “phablet”, why not HTC? It does look good, the design was great already on the HTC One, but slightly enlarge, it looks even better.

There are significant differences in comparison with the smaller HTC One, firstly, the Max has a microSD card slot for storage memory expansion. Second, it has a fingerprint sensor, which not something I was fond of on the iPhone 5. The display quality is not as intense as with the HTC One, the 1080 x 1920 pixels at approximately 373 ppi pixel density are perceivable only in direct comparison with HTC One’s 469 ppi, but in that case the display is significantly smaller, the Max has 5.9 inches and the One has 4.7. The camera seems to be exactly the same, identical specs and identical results.

It is noticeable that there is no Beats Audio sign on the Max, although Dr. Dre insisted that the collaboration with HTC will continue. It says that there is BoomSound, which may or may not be the latest what Dr. Dre has delivered, there is no info on that available. In any case, the sound is still the best sound you will get from a mobile phone, without connecting external speakers to it. If you decided not to buy the HTC One, because the display was too small for you, if you were thinking about the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, but you would prefer an HTC phone, then this is the absolutely perfect phone for you. If you are only looking for a suitable phablet, then you should rather compare the Max and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and decide then.

The iPhone 5c

It is very unfortunate that Apple insisted on calling the new mid-range model of their iPhone series of smartphones the iPhone 5c. Since that it is significantly more affordable than the flagship model, the public has already determined what the c is standing in for: cheap. This derogatory view does the phone no justice, it is a great phone with great features and it is an Apple product, through and through. There should actually be no complaints, at least not according to the specs.

The display size is of “retina” quality, with four inches width, 640 x 1136 pixels at an approximate density of 326 ppi. There are models with 16 GB and 32 GB internal storage, but both have 1 GB RAM. It comes with LTE in all versions, whereby there are several back cover colours to choose from. The camera is at least as good as the one in the iPhone 4S, the operating system is the latest iOS 7.0, with upgrade capability to 7.0.3 already available.

Although the phone is supposed to target India, China and similar developing countries, many people who could not afford an Apple iPhone are rejoicing, not only because of the reviewed model iPhone 5c, but because Apple decided to keep producing the still incredible iPhone 4S and offer that as the entry level model. Once again, Apple did the right thing and will seriously compete with Samsung in markets where it was unavailable as of yet. The only people who might feel a little bad are the ones who spent a lot of money on the iPhone 4S two years ago, but the smartphone marketplace is an ever-changing wonder, such developments are nothing new.