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Nexus S Review

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We happened to get our hands on Google’s new phone made by Samsung called the Nexus S. It’s running the company’s latest version of Android…Android 2.3. Check below to see what we thought!

Likes:

We loved the overall sleekness of the design. I’m a simple man and I was totally impressed with the form factor. It’s all black and unassuming, yet when you look at it, you know there is something special about it. The buttons capacitive buttons light up only when the device is on so when it’s asleep it’s just a dark black device in your hand. When you turn it off, it kinda flickers off in the same way your old CRT TV used to which we thought was a nice touch. There is also a really cool burst of orange (wish you could change the color) that happens when you get to the top or bottom of a long list…i.e the bottom of your contact list. It’s those little things that let us know that the folks over there at Google are doing good work.

The phone is really thin and light weight. This can go either way, but I don’t mind light devices if they work though the phone did almost slip a few times with simple gesturing.  The call quality is nothing special, but the speaker phone was a little better than I was expecting. It’s by no means the best speaker phone we’ve ever heard but it held it’s own which was surprising. These light-weight devices usually have terrible speakerphones.

The camera was ok – I really liked the HD2’s camera to be honest, but this one will do. Still 5 MPs with single LED flash. Some devices have dual LEDs which is nice, but I didn’t find myself missing the second LED.I found the shutter a little slow but I can’t really complain too much because its a phone however, some mobile devices are getting better at this. I also liked the front facing camera, though it may not be of much use if you don’t know anyone with compatible software.

The Operating System is great. It was quite zippy and I had no problems scrolling through long lists. As you may know, Android offers near seamless integration with your Google life. It picks up all of your Google Contacts, Calendar Appointments etc… This pure Android experience also offers wireless tethering to other devices via wifi or a hard connection. I wish there was a quick shortcut to the tethering functionality like the palm devices on Verizon, but a hotspot is a hotspot and I’m not complaining. We didn’t get to try out its NFC powers, but we knew it was there. We think this will be big in the near future, though it’s not very prevalent in other devices just yet. However, it may be something you wish to think about when making your next phone purchase.

Dislikes:

Data speed. I have a G2 and though it’s only coming in at 800 MHz  while the Nexus S has a 1 GHz processor yet many times the G2 felt faster because I spend a lot of time downloading information on the web. Because the G2 takes advantage of Tmobile’s 3G+ network, I was bringing up pages and downloading apps much faster on my G2. This is the one jinx in the armor so-to-speak for the Nexus S. I also didn’t like the plastic feel of the back cover. It makes the device quite light in comparison with other smart phones in the same size range, but it makes the phone feel a little cheaper than it should. Also, Samsung – please stop putting the lock button on the right side! I ended up going into the Android boot-up sequence by pushing the power button and the down volume button at the same time!  I also kept changing my sound settings accidentally because of this.

Lastly, my 3G conked out towards the end of use. Not sure if this was because the phone was a trial phone or what, but after a while, I was unable to reach 3G speeds at all on the device.

Overall:

Overall, the device is solid and would love to have it for the front-facing camera, sleek look and feel, along with the pure Google experience. Other than a few hang-ups like network speed, I found this phone to be quite useful and a pleasure to use. Not sure about that 3G issue though. That may be a major issue if it is widespread. However, if it’s isolated – then I’d just replace the phone for a new one as I found very little to be disappointed with.

 

 

Samsung Fascinate Review

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I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the Samsung Fascinate and had a few weeks to play around with this beautiful phone. Does the phone live up to the hype, or does it falter? Check out my thoughts below.

Hardware:

The first thing I noticed about the phone was how stunning it was visually. Make no mistake about it, this phone has a beautiful form factor. It’s large and sleek with chrome trim around its borders. I like the touch buttons rather than physical buttons which i feel are a follow-through with the slick design. The phone is quite light in the hand. I definitely expected the phone to be a bit heavier, but was pleasantly surprised with its heaviness – or lack thereof. It weighs around 4.5 ounces compared to the iPhone’s 4.8 ounces.  I had to take a double-take at the specs because the Fascinate seems to be a lot lighter than the iPhone. Seriously, a few times I felt like the Fascinate would fly out of my hand if I made too many sudden movements! I think the weight might have been spread out over the wider surface area of the Fascinate. The micro USB port and 3.5 mm headphone jack are located at the top of the phone, while the power button/lock button is located on the right side of the phone. The volume rocker is on the left side. Sadly, no dedicated camera button in site. The display is a 4.0 inch WVGA capacitive touch screen display. It has a 5.0 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom. It also has a 1Ghz processor which makes things nice and speedy.

Software:

It’s running android 2.1 which is not the latest iteration of android,which would be android 2.2, but I suspect an ota update isn’t too far away. Its a lot more mature than android 1.6 of course with a slew of new functions, but with Google’s break-neck pace of providing updates, 2.1 is definitely getting old fast if only in name. Also, Samsung has obviously added their flavoring to the OS which also slows down the updates because it takes time to re-skin once they come out.

Likes:

I love the form factor. Its slim so it doesn’t quite put the bulge in your pocket that other 4.0 inch and larger phones would have. Its also so light which for some people may be a problem, but for me I find to be a plus. I also like the text to speech functionality, even though, I think it still has some improvements that could be made. Its still not as accurate as I would like, but i still love it. I also love the interactive backgrounds. You can also download a bunch from the application store. Also, the processor speed really makes you feel like your using a quality product. You rarely have to wait for anything. Swype movement is always smooth and snappy. I also like the Buddies Now Widget from Samsung. It’s a quick way to flick through your most used buddies, and it takes their images from your Google contacts. I also love the 3G Mobile Hotspot app, but that’s because Verizon supports that. Many carriers would cut that functionality out  all together, but I’m glad its here on the Fascinate. Call Quality is quite good as well with both myself and the caller on the other end surprised at the call clarity. Lastly, the lock-screen has lots of great information like time and date. You have to drag a puzzle piece to the open spot in order to unlock the phone, but what’s clever is that if you have when you have a missed call or new email, that new piece of information gets its own puzzle section. You can then drag that puzzle section to the open spot and go directly to the intended application.

Dislikes:

Earlier I was talking about how light the phone was, part of the reason may be because of the plastic back cover. I didn’t like the feel of the back cover as I would rather the back cover be metal. It’s definitely a small thing, and quite subjective, however, the plastic feel takes away from the mature feel of the phone. I also didn’t like the lack of a physical camera button. The camera controls are pretty extensive and the shutter speed is decent for a phone so a two stage button I feel is in order.

When it comes to contacts – Android automatically syncs with your contacts and if your like me, you may have a ton of contacts that you don’t necessarily use. So your contact list will be huge – so you will have to do a lot of fine tuning to do. That’s where the buddies now app comes in, but it can still be annoying to have so many contacts in your contact list.

Wrap up:

Overall, I loved the phone. It has such a visually stunning presence which can totally be a conversation piece in a social atmosphere. Its light in the hand, and the 1Ghz processor is not for show. Camera, is OK but nothing to write home about. Call quality is great and a great sign of a well put together phone. Android 2.1 is great, but 2.2 it is not. Definitely not a deal-breaker, but if I bought the phone, I would definitely be looking out for the updates. All-in-all , totally worth it for looks and functionality in my opinion. It’s shortcomings are easily overshadowed by the areas it excels in. Do you have the phone? Let us know your thoughts below!

check www.samsung.com for more info and gadgets

More Android Love from T-Mobile

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If your anything like me then you can’t wait to get your hands on the latest and greatest gadgets. The next lust-worthy piece of electronics is coming to T-mobile it seems and this phone is the successor of the G1. Three guess for what the name will be…that’s right…in a surprise move – they will be calling it the (wait for it….) G2! I actually still have my G1 and if it weren’t so slow, I would probably still be using it. Those of you who have had the G1 will attest to Google’s diligence in keeping it up to date as best they could despite the phone’s lack of horsepower and the phone’s sturdiness. It wasn’t the sexiest phone, but it definitely surprised you with it’s subtle elegance once you had it in your hand. Keyboard was killer and the snappy slide mechanics were cool.

Now its elder brother, the G2, comes in to take its place as the #1 Android phone in the T-mobile Stable. I say number one because it will be the only one carrying stock Android at launch. Personally I much prefer it that way instead of having to do with the phone company’s vision of what they think is cool. Stock Android has a simplistic beauty about it that I find to be both charming and refreshing unlike the business of Motorola’s “Motoblur” or Samsung’s iPhone-reminiscent “Touchwiz.” Sadly, I doubt it will come with Android’s ability to tether since T-mobile has traditionally killed that option on all its smart phones – but the rest is still there. The specs are as follows according to HTC’s G2 info page found here.

It has a Qualcom Processor humming along at 800 MHz, Android 2.2, 4GB ROM, 512 MB RAM, 3.7 inch WVGA display, GPS,5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and flash,wifi and bluetooth compatible, 1300 mAh.

It takes HD video, runs at 4G speeds on T-Mobile’s new network, and takes advantage of Android’s Voice Action Technology.

All-in-all I’d say its a pretty nice phone to give a try, but to be honest – I’m kinda wanting to see another phone besides the iPhone4 that has video-telephony. The rumored “MyTouch HD” should be just what the doctor ordered.