In a year, we’ve gone to having one or two startup smartwatch companies to a sea of offerings before us, from companies as big as Google all the way down to Omate, a startup looking to make your wrist as brilliant as possible. At its core, the TrueSmart is likely one of the most powerful smartwatches on the market. Powered by Android 4.2, the TrueSmart has its own SD card and SIM card, complete… Read More
The LG G Flex is one of the most hyped phones of the year.
Granted, it’s only January and granted, LG isn’t the most exciting Android manufacturer around, but it has a curved display! Curved, I say! And LG even says it can heal itself if you scratch it.
For these reasons, we couldn’t resist getting this thing into the studio for a Fly Or Die, and we walked away generally impressed.
The G Flex, a true phablet, sports a 6-inch POLED 720p curved display — and it’s beautiful. It’s also got 2GB of RAM, 32GB of onboard memory, a 3500mAh battery and a Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor under the hood. As phones go, it’s a pretty damn powerful one.
On the other hand, the curve of the display is no more than a gimmick. Though it’s said to meet the contours of your face for a more comfortable experience, it’s really just something you can point to when you’re trying to be cooler than your friends. And as far as self-healing goes, neither John nor I were convinced.
The scratches we made were slightly minimized, but definitely still showed up.
All that said, the G Flex is still one of LG’s most impressive handsets. If you’re on the market for a powerful, beautiful Android device, this may very well be the one for you.
Two flies.
Personal fitness trackers and sleep trackers are officially mainstream, but deciding between the various devices out there can be tough.
That said, let me direct your attention to the Fitbit Force, the latest and most full-featured product from the quantified-self makers.
The Fitbit Force, unlike the lower-end Flex, has a nice little display on it that shows steps taken, flights climbed, calories burned, as well as sleep information.
It even shows the time of day.
Even better, the Force pairs with Fitbit’s nutrition app, letting you input food-intake information to track your health over time.
In our experience, there’s nothing on the market that is more accurate or robust.
However, the band isn’t my favorite. It’s caused skin irritation for some users, whom Fitbit refunded. Plus, it’s simply not as well-designed as something like the FuelBand.
But hey, you win some and you lose some.
The Fitbit Force goes for $129 and comes in slate blue and black.
The console wars are in full swing, and no contender is more focused on the pure gaming experience as the PS4.
Sony’s next-gen PlayStation is not like the Xbox One, which is leaning more toward the media console space than ever before. Instead, the PS4 is built squarely for the gaming enthusiast.
The PS4 is essentially an x86-based personal computer, making it easy for developers to build new titles and port over PC games, and it comes with a DualShock 4 controller. It’s a beauty, with a Vita-style touchpad and Kinect-like capabilities thanks to a 3D “stereo” camera accessory.
However, is it worth rushing out and getting one right this second?
The PS4 is a beautiful machine that not only enhances graphics but elevates the entire experience. However, game variety is a bit of an issue early on. Plus, the console probably has a pretty long lifespan (at least five years), with price drops along the way.
Microsoft’s Xbox One is off to a great start, launching with cable TV control, bumped up graphics, and an all-new Kinect.
But is upgrading worth it?
Our own Greg Kumparak has said in his review that it’s a tough upgrade from the Xbox 360, after customers have grown accustomed to taking such huge technological leaps during earlier generational transitions. And John Biggs isn’t thrilled with the early titles available at launch.
Still, it’s hard not to be excited about the live TV control, and the speed with which you can switch between gameplay and television. If only the voice-control feature were a bit more reliable.
In the end, we recommend waiting a year or so for the $499 price to come down a bit, but eventually most gamers will want to make the transition.
Singtrix is the personal karaoke machine of the future.
Instead of being limited by karaoke-friendly, vocal-free tunes, Singtrix lets you erase the vocal track from any song in your phone or tablet, effectively expanding your library from a few songs to anything you can download.
And that’s not the best part.
Singtrix uses special audio technology to filter your voice with a number of different special effects. You can sound like you’re singing in a choir or drop your voice down to match Barry White’s.
When you hit the “hit” button, Singtrix automatically harmonizes your voice with four copies of your voice, making you sound a lot like a rock god.
We had a total blast playing around with this thing, which is a really great option for the kid who doesn’t want an Xbox or is too young for an iPhone.
Two flies.
Nokia is now basically the defacto Windows Phone handset manufacturer, and the Lumia 1520 is its latest effort. The big, big full HD 6-inch display sets it apart from any previous Windows Phone device, and puts it into a rare class of device even among Android phones, whose screens can also get pretty darn huge.
The screen is great, but the phone is a crime against nature. Or at least, that’s my side of the story. Chris predictably sees it differently, because he’s blind. Of course, there are some arguments in favor of the gargantuan device, but they melt away when you try to wrangle one in a human-sized hand.
You can probably predict how the chips fall given that description, but watch for the Christmas sweaters, and stay for the verdict.
It always seems like the flagship phones get the most attention, but what about a device that doesn’t even bother trying to claim that title? Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside has been saying for months that one of the company’s priorities was to improve the experience of using a low-cost smartphone, and the end result of drive was the cheapo Moto G.
So how did Motorola do? Well, as long as you set your expectations appropriately before taking the plunge, you’ll find a lot to love here. The lack of LTE is a bummer for you North American types, but the Snapdragon 400 chipset nestled inside keeps things moving along at a respectable pace and the battery will run for days and days on a single charge. Purists may not be too keen on the sorts of oversaturated screens that Motorola seems so fond of but hey, you can’t with ‘em all.
Long time listeners of the Droidcast will know that it’s very rare for me and Darrell to see eye to eye on, well, anything, but we came together just this once to give the Moto G a pair of Flys.
With travel ramping up over the holiday season, we thought it wise to bring you a taste of Ostrich.
The Ostrich pillow, to be exact.
It’s a clever little pillow that slips over your head and covers everything but your nose and mouth. Though it doesn’t offer much by way of neck support, you can lay your head down and slip your hands in the holes on the top for a nice desk-style nap.
In early October, we brought you our thoughts on the seven-inch Kindle Fire HDX, of which John is a huge fan.
Today we bring you the seven-incher’s big brother, the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9.
In terms of Amazon’s evolution as a hardware (and specifically tablet) company, the Fire HDX 8.9 is a markedly improved device from previous generations. It’s thinner, lighter at just 13 ounces, and more powerful with a 2.2 GHz quad-core processor and improved software.
But how does it match up to the competition this holiday season?
John seems to think that this next-gen Kindle Fire has finally achieved “productivity status,” moving from a reader on steroids to a full-fledged computing device. I’m not as convinced, but I also haven’t been able to spend quite as much time with these Fire HDX tablets as him.
Would either of us save $100 and choose the HDX 8.9 over an iPad Air? Probably not, based almost entirely on the iPad’s ecosystem and App Store.
However, both of us feel that the smaller size tablets are a better idea for the average consumer.
Unless you require a larger screen for reading, or use the tablet almost exclusively to watch movies and TV, a smaller device like the seven-inch HDX or the iPad mini with Retina are more portable and comfortable options.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
