Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: Not Cheap; Inexpensive

Introduction

Xiaomi took the Singapore market by storm in 2012 by introducing the original Xiaomi Redmi. At that point in point the price to performance ratio compared to the other devices was one of the best in the market. Fast forward to 2016, Xiaomi became one of the more prevalent brand in the Smartphone market for Singapore, as Xiaomi continues to delivers in terms of providing great smartphones at an affordable price.

In November 2015, Xiaomi announced and released the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, and the product is radically different from its predecessors. With a metal construction and similar low price tag, it was sold out pretty much almost instantly the moment online orders are available. How is it like using a phone that has not come out of the China market? Read more to find out.

Availability

I would get this out of the way first. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is still not available for local purchase from Xiaomi Singapore. NUS Tech Friends contacted Xiaomi Singapore with regards to the availability of this model and unfortunately they do not have information on when the product will be available in Singapore.

Furthermore, there are also different variants of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3. There are 2 different processors, namely the MediaTeK Helios X10 (which is the same processor as the Redmi Note 2), and the Snapdragon 650. Each processor also have 2 different types; the standard version with 2GB RAM and 16GB of storage, and the enhanced version with 3GB RAM and 32GB of storage. The one we are reviewing is the 3GB RAM MediaTeK model.

Lastly, certain suppliers also added some software into the original ROM, so there are also some differences when purchasing from retailers. Our Redmi Note 3 comes from NEW STAR ELECTRONICS in Lazada, and ours came rooted and with Google Play Store (which is absent in the China ROM), so do take note when purchasing export sets.

Hardware

This is the area which Xiaomi amped up quite a bit for the Redmi Note line. Rather than sticking with plastic like the previous model, they went with the metal route by providing a metal construction, and it feels really nice. The phone felt really nicely built, the buttons have nice feedback when pressed, and the 164g weight gives the user assurance when held.

Doing the hardware roll call; right contains the buttons, left contains the dual-MicroSIM slot, top contains one microphone one IR blaster and 3.5mm headphone jack, below contains the MicroUSB 2.0 port and another microphone. The back has the 13MP Camera, LED flash, a speaker with very wide grills and a circular fingerprint sensor, and the front contains the proximity sensor, 5MP front camera, earpiece, 3 capacitive buttons, a notification LED and the 5.5inch 1080p screen. Note that a microSD slot and removable battery is not found, which is a prominent feature in its predecessor.

EDIT: The Snapdragon version of the device have a dual-purpose SIM slot, with either another SIM card or a microSD slot. However on our version it only accepts SIM cards.

Let us zoom in on one of the more advertised new features; the fingerprint sensor. I personally tried it and it is really fast and accurate. Although it is not as fast as the iPhone 6S (which is almost too fast in my opinion), it is definitely not slow at all. I could also just rest my index finger on top of the sensor instead of pressing the power button to unlock the device. However like other fingerprint sensors, it does not work when my finger is wet, other than that I would say 10 out of 10 for the fingerprint sensor. If you do not mind sharing your fingerprint to your phone, this is a very nice security feature indeed.

Overall, the hardware of this phone is stellar. For a low-price tag this phone pretty much nails it.

Specifications

Like I mentioned before, this model is the 32GB 3GB RAM MediaTeK Helio X10 version. Note that the processor is exactly the same as the one on Redmi Note 2, so the performance improvement from the Note 2 would be mainly from the upgrade in RAM if you opted for it.

Screen wise it is a 5.5 inch 1080p IPS LCD display, with some enhancements to help in sunlight readability. While the screen is definitely readable, the colours are pretty much gone under sunlight, so while reading maps and Facebook are still possible, watching videos will not be as good of an experience.

Colour accuracy is also good. Although the blacks could be darker and the colours could be a bit more vibrant, the brightness settings are surprisingly versatile, and could be very bright or dim depending on the usage scenario.

Performance

With the same processor as the Redmi Note 2, I definitely do not expect much from the performance stand-point. While I am indeed not blown away by the performance, it is definitely good enough for daily use.

On performance mode, AnTuTu returned a value of 49,000, which is on par with many other mid-rangers in the market. Epic Citadel, which is my go-to app for graphic testings, gives a satisfactory 53FPS for performance mode and an underwhelming 34.1FPS in Ultra High Quality mode.

At the end of the day though, the Redmi Note 3 zips through daily tasks like many other phones out there. It handled all the games I throw at it with relative ease if the game is compatible with the phone. Note that as this processor is not as well supported as the processors from Samsung and Qualcomm. Sometimes do expect some of the games to have some bugs.

Gaming is not too bad

Do note that there is also the Snapdragon 650 version of the Redmi Note 3, and current reports shows that performance on that device is very impressive, so what I say here might not apply depending on which version Xiaomi Singapore brings to us first.

Software

Uncanny Resemblance?

 

MIUI 7 is on top of Android 5.0.2 on our device. In the past when I used MIUI, I felt that the launcher looks remarkably similar to a particular fruit phone. That has not changed in the default theme. That does not mean you need to stick to it; more on that later.

Ignoring that aesthetics resemblance, there are some notable traits of the user interface. The first is the absence of an application drawer in the launcher which may disturb some people, which I personally do not mind. If you want an application drawer, there is always the option of downloading another launcher, because it is still fundamentally Android.

MIUI literally changed every single visual of Android, such as settings, launcher, and notification bar. This is because of the comprehensive theme engine. Unlike most manufacturers’ theming engine which only applies in the launcher, MIUI’s iteration has the theme changes all the UI elements. The eventual product is something that is aesthetically pleasing and cohesive.

Moving on, there is one feature I really like about this phone; the infrared sensor. The sensor is used by the Mi Remote app to control home electronics, and I am pleasantly surprise by its performance. The device pretty much handled all my home electronics that I throw at it, even the AKAI CRT TV which is still working in my house.

As this phone is rather large in size, the Redmi Note 3 has the nifty gesture activate one-handed mode. This is similar to other manufacturers’ implementation in the sense that it will make all the UI elements move to the left or right depending on how the phone is swiped. The screen size of this mode is also configurable, although it is confined to 3 settings (3.5, 4.0 and 4.5).

Other than this however, there are no productivity features that uses the 5.5 inch screen to its fullest potential, namely the lack of multi-screen support. Personally for phones, I would hope to at least have 2 apps running at the same time. Furthermore, with 3GB of RAM on my model, the lack of this feature makes me felt that this phone missed some opportunities here.

A side note is that the phone does not work terribly well with my LG G Watch, as when I linked my G Watch to the phone, it takes 5 seconds for the watch to listen to me, and another 5 seconds to read my statement. It is definitely not the watch’s problem as it was fine with my other devices, so perhaps it might be the MIUI that is hampering the performance. So for those 10 of you with an Android Wear Smartwatch, this is something to keep in mind as well.

I have some problems with notification updates as well, as sometimes the app refuses to push notifications at all. Once I have 100+ unread messages on my WhatsApp simply because the device did not notify me of the incoming message. This is not only true for WhatsApp, Facebook and Carousell also had the same problem. My guess is something to do with the RAM management being too aggressive. This is easily solvable by a software update, and with MIUI’s proactive stance in terms of updates, I would not be so worried about this problem.

App compatibility is also a hit-and-miss. Certain apps just simply do not work properly. Common titles such as Facebook and WhatsApp do work, Carousell crashes out every time I look at a particular item, and the Google Play Store which was pre-installed on my devices also crashes out sometimes.

Lastly, the phone has a lot of Chinese services available, such as Baidu for music, and Xunlei for app acceleration. This is a minor peeve for those waiting for the local version as these will probably get removed, however for those who want to import the phone in, this is another area to consider.

Suitable for elderly

Overall, I find the software experience to be very good if we ignore the fact that this phone is an import set. When the kinks of the devices are ironed out and a local version is available, I believe this will improve. In the current state though, it could be improved.

Camera

The Camera on this version of the Redmi Note 3 comes with a 13MP sensor, which is reportedly the same shooter as the Redmi Note 2. The Snapdragon Redmi Note 3 is shipped with a different 16MP sensor, so performance might also differ from my device.

Overall, this is a very average camera in my opinion. Outdoor shots can look really nice with nice sharpness and white balance. The colours do get overly saturated sometimes, although the result usually looks very pleasing. Where it shows its “middle-of-the-road” performance is the indoor shots, which is full of noise when lighting is not ideal. This is a common problem with Smartphone cameras and the Redmi Note 3 is no exception.

Front Camera is also average at 5MP, and the back camera is capable of 1080p video footage, so no 4K for people into those.

Battery

This is where the Redmi Note 3 spanks the competition. I was unable to kill the phone in 1 day even after heavy use.

The 4000mAh battery inside is considered monstrous for its size, and it shows in the battery life quite well. With at least 4.5 hours screen on time, it is pretty much guaranteed to last the whole day. In fact over the 7 days of usage, half of the time it has 5 hours, which is a very impressive figure. Although the battery is sealed in unlike its predecessor, I would take the better battery life for a removable battery any day.

Furthermore, there are some battery management tools as well, such as power scheduling, which automatically switches the phone on and off at different times of the day, and performance manager, which allow the performance to be limited in exchange for battery life. The figures I got above is in Performance mode, so expect longer battery life on Balanced mode.

What is a bummer is the charging time. Due to its ginormous battery, the phone takes excruciatingly long to charge. The absence of latest Quick Charge standards meant that the current going into the phone is very limited. Expect to wait at least 2.5 hours for the phone to be charged to the maximum.

At the end of the day, although the battery is really good, do not expect the phone to last the whole day with 30minutes of charge.

Conclusion

With the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, it seems that the company had ushered in a new age, which is similar in the way as Samsung. They started to care more about aesthetics build quality, and that is good direction to be in.

However, for those who treasure their removable battery and microSD slot, it is perfectly fine to stick with the Note 2, as it is noted that they have the same processor package, and improvements will be marginal at best.

If you are an explorer and do not mind the kinks of the device, the Redmi Note 3 is perfectly fine to import from China. It is also possible to load a local ROM when the local version is released. Note that some tinkering is required to load in Google services, as some China sets do not have those.

For the remaining populace, I highly recommend to wait for Xiaomi Singapore to bring in the Redmi Note 3. It is noted that the Note 3 is slightly more expensive than the Note 2 in China, and the trend should be the same in Singapore. However even at a slightly higher price, I believe that this device sets the bar of an entry-level handset, and it will probably remain unrivaled when it comes to Singapore.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is not cheap, it is inexpensive; excellent build quality, fast fingerprint sensor, and decent performance for a justifiable price tag. Coupling with the excellent battery performance, there is not much to dislike about the Redmi Note 3. This phone might perhaps usher in a new age of entry level smartphones. 

Remarks

All photos of the device are taken by my LG G Flex 2 as usual, and any question feel free to email us at nustechfriends@gmail.com. Have a nice day people. 🙂

 

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Review: Before Samsung’s Revolution

Introduction

First thing’s first, this is not my own Galaxy Note 4. The reason why I got this is because my dad got himself a Galaxy Note 5, and he handed it over to me as he no longer has a use for it. For me, I am planning to sell it away to another person, but for now might as well write a review for isn’t it?

The Galaxy Note 4 is particularly interesting. In 2015, most phones from Samsung do not come with a removable battery and storage expansion. This includes the S6, Note 5 and the A series. In a sense, Note 4 is the very last phone before the transition to this new era from Samsung. So join me as I take a look as what is possibly the best in 2014, and see how it fares in 2016.

Hardware

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 does lose out in aesthetics compared to other devices such as the Note 5; however I would say that this device’s designs are extremely practical.

First thing is the removable back cover which reveals the battery and microSD card slot when removed.  The back-cover is made of plastic which have a leather-like texture which I actually dig quite a bit. Compared to glossy finishes from glass or plastics, this is less susceptible to fingerprints, and that is a good thing for those who do not like to wipe their phone a lot.

Other than the back cover, the sides are made of metal. The good news is that it feels very sturdy and nicely built. The bad news is that when dropped, the phone is prone to dinks and dents. The chamfered edges also are prone to scratching, and the micro-USB port is extremely prone to scratching after about a few months of use. This is especially so for my dad’s usage, so that is something to keep in mind.

Other than that, the phone’s set-up is nothing out of the ordinary; power button on the right, volume button on the left, earphone jack on the top and micro-USB port at the bottom. Bottom of the device also contains a thing exclusive to the Galaxy Note line, which is the S pen. I will come back to that later.

At the front is the screen, the front facing camera, a multi-colour LED notification light and the 3 buttons. 2 of them are capacitive and 1 home button which also house the fingerprint sensor. Overall I find the fingerprint sensor mostly accurate, although it is rather cumbersome to use with the slightly older “slide-to-scan” of the yesteryear.

Specifications

The front contains something which I believe still could kick some butt. 5.7 inch with a resolution of 2560 by 1440 pixels meant that sharpness wise it is still keeping up easily with the market. Not that a 2K display is an absolute necessity, however for watching videos and media consumption this is something that could be very nice.

To round off the hardware package, the phone comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The RAM meant that multi-tasking is not much of an issue, and the internal storage is aplenty even without the SD card for me. The main choking point would be the last-generation processor, however that is proven to be only an issue for the most hard-core users; more on that in the performance section.

Software (Phone)

Let us say hello to Samsung’s skin, which many people call it TouchWiz although Samsung had probably ditched that name a long time ago.

First thing is the launcher itself. To be honest I do not like the look of the Samsung Launcher, however that is just personal preference so do not judge me for this. Unlike the newer Samsung S6/Note 5 the Note 4 does not come with a theme engine. It is a shame as I already updated to the latest Galaxy Note 4 firmware, and the improvements from the S6/Note 5 did not come to the Note 4.

Second thing is the multi-tasking capabilities. Samsung is the pioneer in terms of multi-tasking on a phone, and Samsung’s Note 4 is literally that on steroid. Other than the now-famous dual screen mode, there are also small windows for the other apps alongside the dual-screen. To be honest, although I could see the potential if someone learn how to do this, I believe most people would not use this feature much at all. This is even truer for those who are not really into technology, as my dad rarely uses all these functions.

Not-so useful features everywhere

There are many other things too, such as using the Heart-Rate Monitor at the back, the left-most side of the launcher configurable with Flipboard, sliding palm to capture a screenshot and many more.  Not that these functions are bad, it is just that an average user do not really use these functions a lot. So most people would only use this phone like many other phones anyway, except the fact that it have a very nice and large screen.

Software (S-Pen)

We come to another power-user feature, namely the S-Pen. I asked my dad whether he had used the S-Pen at all. He totally did not. So during my times of selling the device, I decided to go for a test run with the S-Pen.

For the S-Pen testing, I decided to work on some textbook exercises for my upcoming Mathematical Analysis module regarding set-notations. I did some questions and used the digitiser and S-Pen for about an hour, so although this is not exactly a real-world test, it at least can tell me about the good and bad of the S-Pen itself.

My not very good penmanship.

 

First thing’s first, I really liked that I can write very comfortably with the device. As the size is about the size of a pocket notebook (which is why the note name existed), I could write it the way I use a small notebook. Putting it on the table is also very nice. Larger screens tend to have the problem of dealing with palm rejections; however on the Note I can simply rest my palm on the table-top and write rather naturally. I could see myself using this device to do some quick scribbles of my exercises, and that says something about how useful a Note device could be for me.

However, like many other styluses, writing still felt like a stylus on a glass rather than a pen on a paper. Furthermore, I find myself holding the button to enable eraser mode, only to bring up additional menus instead. For me this is rather counter-intuitive. These are only minor gripes though, and I could see myself owning one of these Note devices and use these for my school-work.

I guess this portion could also apply to the Note 5 as well, and as Note 5 contains other enhancements, the experience will be further improved. For pure-writing though, the Note 4 is a joy to use.

Note that I say “for pure writing” only (this pun is TOTALLY not intentional). I felt that the other features are similar to other functions of the Note 4; too complicated for the average users. Many power-users will be able to do very nice things with the device as the potential is really off-the-charts. However for the non-tech heads, the stylus is just either a writing tool, or the stylus will be tugged away at the corner and pretty much forgotten after the first few months of novelty.

Performance

To test whether the phone is outdated, I mainly used 2 benchmarks. Firstly is AnTuTu, which judge the overall capabilities of the device, I would say that although it fell short of the latest and greatest, it is not slow at all. At about 60,000, it is about 25% slower than the Galaxy Note 5, and about 15% slower than other devices running Snapdragon 810 (such as my LG G-Flex 2 which got 73,000). However it is still way ahead compared to many other devices in the market.

The graphics capabilities are tested using the Epic Citadel benchmark test. I would be using this test for all my reviews from now on to test gaming capabilities, and this is where the bottleneck happened. It ran on a perfect FPS of close to 60 on both Speed and High-Quality mode; however switching up to Ultra-High Quality the frame-rates distinctly dropped to 28frames per second. Compared to the G Flex 2’s 53 and my dad’s Galaxy Note 5 43, it really fell short. The above could be possibly explained by having to push more pixels, however it is clear that the performance is no longer a top-dog status.

That does not mean that the performance is bad. Daily use I rarely had any stutters and lag (and that is a given for most devices anyway), launch times are beyond acceptable, and gaming performance is also good enough for me. However as games becomes more and more demanding, it is unclear when the signs of age could be seen on the Note 4. However again for the average joes, the phone’s performance have nothing much to complaint about. The above benchmarking tools are just for the sake of comparisons with the current top dogs.

Camera

I am not into photography, so my reviews of these tend to be very layman. Personally, I would say this though, the camera of this is brilliant. Low-light wise it could struggle a bit, however the results are still pretty pleasing.

Battery

I would say that my battery experiences are quite inaccurate for a new device. As I mentioned before, this phone is about a year old, so the battery is no longer as long lasting as before, so take these results with a pinch of salt.

Screen on time is about 3 to 3.5 hours of Screen on Time depending on intensity of usage. Considering that the battery is a year old, these results are right around average. However the benefits of a removable battery meant that I could swap the battery for a new one and the battery life would also likely improve. Coupling with quick-charging that could charge the phone in slightly more than an hour, the device is a pleasant to use with regards to battery life.

Conclusion

With the Note 5 not having the removable battery and SD card slot, this makes the Note 4 the last member of the Note series to have these features. Although the Note 4 is about 15 months old, I believe that the Note 4 is still a really good product to get even in 2016.

In terms of specifications, we are reaching the point of diminishing returns. The Note 4 still performs admirably in terms of daily usage, such as web-browsing and watching videos. The Epic Citadel tests clearly shows that the Note 4 will probably be bogged down in the future, however from the games I tried playing, it was on-par with the competition. In the current state, the Note 4’s performance is still really good.

Although a Note 4 is still pretty expensive to buy for a brand-new set, one could easily purchase a second-handed Note 4 for a pretty good price of below SGD 500.

So at the end of the day, for those who wants to have a stylus on their phone to write on, still wants the removable battery and SD card support, the Note 4 is still a pretty solid buy. Just do not expect it to be as future-proof as the Note 5. If you choose to buy a Note 4 in 2016, you would be a rather happy customer.

Android Wear Review

This is a compilation of excerpts from the Android Wear portions of both my LG G Watch review and Huawei Watch review. Read those if you missed them.

Controlling the Watch

For the LG G Watch which have no buttons, the watch will automatically turn on when it is charging on the cradle. To turn it off I will go to the setting to turn it off. To wake the screen, I could either tap on the screen, or do it via gesture control. The gesture control seems to work most of the time. The trick is to make my movement more obvious. Straighten my arms when looking at the watch seems to help a bit.

Arms straightened

As for the Huawei Watch, there is the power button at the side. So that will work just like any power button on phones. It also wake and locks the device when pressed.

The gesture control can also help to scroll my notifications up and down through some wrist rotations. I prefer not to do wrist exercises and simply use the touch screen; however it could be nifty when I am eating and my hands are oily.

Lastly, my favourite part of the watch is how to turn it off. I just use my hands to cover the screen and it will either go to the low-light mode or turn the screen off depending on the setting.

Notifications

Connecting the Smart watch with my LG G Flex 2 is extremely easy. By downloading the Android Wear app and following the instructions on the watch and phone, I got it to work within the first 15 minutes of the device.

Notifications work very well throughout all the apps I use frequently. This includes standard phone calls, SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook, and many other miscellaneous notifications. If I do not want to see a notification again, I just swipe right until I see the “Block App” button and block it. To me that is rather intuitive indeed.

There are also some nifty features too. The watch could actually accept the phone call by itself. However as it does not have a speaker, this meant that either I need to take out my phone to use the earpiece (which is rather counter-intuitive), or have a wireless Bluetooth headset. I would suggest the latter.

The watch can also reply to messages such as text and WhatsApp. There is however a rather inconvenient limitation; it only accepts voice inputs. There is no alternative method out of the box if the place is too noisy or too quiet. So this means that you need to take out your phone again to type your messages (again). This can be corrected using 3rd part applications, which I will go through below.

Voice Assistant

The watch also launches Google Now, so a simple call of “Ok Google” will open the voice search on the watch. Using key phrases, such as “Navigate” or “Call”, I can do specific tasks, such as giving me directions with the Navigate command, or call by phone with the “Call” command. It is similar to Google Now on Android, so for those who are used to Google Now, you are right at home.

This meant that there are the same limitations as Google Now. It does not recognise some of the local Singaporean terms very well. I could get it to recognise Singapore places and some of the Singaporean terms that are actually English. However if it is not English it is not going to respond very well. Notable examples include Char Kuay Teow, and any Singlish terms that you add. So keep your “lahs” and “lehs” when talking to the watch. (For some odd reason, I cannot get the watch to show me pictures of Hainanese Chicken Rice).

This came out instead.

Some other minor peeves includes being required to say the punctuation marks to insert those into my messages and navigation only provide me with directions through walking and driving when I hoped for public transit.

Let’s walk to NUS from Boon Lay!

Overall I would say the voice assistant is very good if not for one point. The main weakness is that my phone will need a data connection when I want to use the voice assistant. So for the LG G Watch, as there is no Wi-Fi antenna inside, this meant that my smart watch will almost instantly becomes a dumb watch if my phone is not connected to Wi-Fi or Data connection. This is also true if I do not have my smartphone with me.

This will appear a lot.

Applications

Being in the Android Wear eco-system’s biggest advantage is the app support. There are an abundance of apps that supports Android Wear and help complement the experience.

That means that app support is definitely good, and it seems that it will probably continue to grow in the near future as well. Android applications will also install on the Android Wear device if there is a counterpart app for the watch. This will hold true in apps such as WhatsApp.

If there is no app support, it does not mean that the app will not sent notification to the watch. It just meant that you cannot interact with the notification nearly as well. This will be true especially for iOS users, as the watch cannot interact with your phone other than showing notifications.

The app support also meant that the watch can either do very nice things, such as sleep tracking and song search, to absolutely ridiculous things such as surfing the web and watching videos on the watch (which I recommend going the phone as I am not crazy).

Yes I am a lazy person.

There is also the sweet feature of able to store music on the watch itself. However there is no speaker. So again, bring your Bluetooth Earpiece along. This feature will be extremely useful for those who are into running and do not want to lug around a phone just to listen to it.

Overall, the app situation will only get better as time goes by, and that is a good thing. Coupling with the fact that my G Watch has the same specifications as most other watches, the LG G Watch can hold itself well with the applications.

WiFi on a watch

This was one of the features which is lacking on the G Watch. The Huawei Watch comes with a WiFi antenna built into the watch. Switching on WiFi is really easy. As long as the password of the WiFi is saved on the phone, the watch will auto-connect to the network.

WiFi on the watch could suck the battery really hard. When the watch is on WiFi, the battery drains almost twice as fast compared to Bluetooth; which is why the watch prefers to be on Bluetooth if it is within the phone’s Bluetooth range.

However, there is the added convenience of a much larger range as compared to Bluetooth. As long as the watch is within WiFi reception zone, it is still connected. This means not requiring me to carry the phone around all the time. This is very useful especially at home.

Heart Rate Monitor and Fitness

The Heart Rate sensor is there for the fitness junkies who want to check the intensity of their workout. I will admit that I am not one of those people, and I also do not have a heart-rate monitor lying around the house, so I am unable to test the accuracy of this reading. Other sources do claim that the sensor is good enough for general use.

For Huawei, there is also an app from Huawei to help with your workouts, and inside the watch there is also their own proprietary app.  Couple with the capabilities of pairing with a Bluetooth device, this meant that the watch could be pretty capable to use for workouts even without the phone.

Yes my laziness is real

Android Wear actually also support GPS as well. However that is absent from both the G Watch and the Huawei Watch, so I am unable to comment further with regards to this. Right now as it is, those fitness buffs might find Android Wear quite enticing indeed.

Conclusion

First thing’s first. There is a learning curve for this operating system. Although pairing with the device is a breeze, there are just too many possibilities with the watch that it takes some time to get used to it. Maybe that is a good thing due to the sheer capabilities of the watch, I have no idea.

I would say this though; the convenience factor is really there. Little did I know of how taking out a phone from a pocket would be such an “inconvenience”.   Perhaps I am spoilt by using a smart-watch, I honestly have no idea.

At the end of the day though, a smart-watch (including Android Wear) is something that one could live without definitely. However once someone actually experience the added convenience, one would never go back again.

As for Android Wear, I believe it is a good operating system that has tons of potential.  The beauty of this operating system is the power of choice. I already had proven in my 2 reviews, we can have a very cheap but simple smart-watch, and we can go all-out fancy as well. That is I believe the true advantage of Android Wear unlike other platforms. (The Pebble does have a normal and steel variant as well, but I digress).

I still believe that Android Wear is not for everyone. The learning curve makes this device not really suitable for your mom or dad.  It is also not suitable for iPhone users, as they are unable to fully harness the features of Android Wear.

However, I guess Android Wear at least won me over. I am fully invested into the ecosystem now, and probably will not be leaving anytime soon.

Huawei Watch Review: Exceptional beauty

Background

Launched in September 2015 and announced in the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in March, the Huawei Watch was touted as one of the most premium smart watch in the Android Wear space. Although it is now not the most premium (that reward goes to the Tag Heuer Connected, but good luck getting one of those), the Huawei Watch is still one of the top dogs in terms of presentation.

How it fares as a smart watch though, read more to find out.

Physical Hardware

Harsh Truth

Usually I do not cover this, but man is the box pretty. Compared to the LG G Watch that I am using which comes in a plain white box, the Huawei Watch’s box screams “FANCY!” all over the place. The presentation of the watch is impeccable to say the least. I seriously felt like a rich kid when I opened this box, and that is a good thing.

Taking the watch out of the box after appreciating the beauty for minutes, we are greeted by a stainless steel frame and a leather band.

However, leather bands are something I have doubts upon. Singapore is an extremely humid country, so people tend to sweat a lot. Tendencies are that leather will stink eventually after quite some time. So be prepared to shell a bit in terms of changing the straps.

The good news is that the watch straps are identical to standard 18mm watch straps, and couple with quick-release straps meant that removing the leather strap and changing a new one is really easy. Another thing is that the leather strap is slightly wrinkled due to the way the watch is presented in the box, which also does not bode well for the watch.

Not from wearing

At the side of the watch have the power button, and at the back of the watch contains the charging pins and the heart rate monitor.

Charging is done through a magnetic dock, which is similar to many other smartwatches. However more prudence is needed to charge due to the dock being round as well. The magnets are really strong, so as long as the pins are aligned you can tell that the watch is charging.

The front is the circular 1.4 inch sapphire coated display. This is in stark contrasts to many other watches which use Gorilla Glass for their display (LG G Watch included). This meant that your watch display probably will not get scratched unless you do something funny to the screen like punching a diamond on the screen.

Huawei Watch and G Watch

As this is 1.4inch and there is little to no bezels unlike the LG G Watch, this meant that the watch is surprisingly compact. Although the watch is rather thick (thicker than the G Watch), it is actually surprisingly light despite it looking heavy at 55g.

Watch on Wrist

However that does not meant that the other areas are not prone to wear and tear. This is true especially for the band (wrinkles and smell). Perfectionists will need to treat this watch with utmost care as you would not want to scratch up your expensive watch.

Specifications

Snapdragon 400 processor, 512MB RAM and 4GB storage. That sounds familiar isn’t it?

That is the exact same specifications as the LG G Watch. However, there are some additional new things under the hood. Namely the Wi-Fi antenna, the slightly newer Bluetooth 4.1 rather than 4.0 on the G Watch (I don’t know the difference though), and again the Heart Rate Monitor.

However what I felt is the biggest jump is the display; a 400 by 400 AMOLED display. This really is a very beautiful screen. It being AMOLED meant that colours pop, black watch faces looks really nice. The sharpness of the added resolution also helps quite a fair bit. Add to the fact that this is a circle watch; you can get it to look stunning, almost like a normal classy time-piece.

Performance

With a sharper display, it also meant more pixels to be pushed by the processor. With the same processor as the LG G Watch, I was expecting the performance to be slightly lower compared to my G Watch. However, there is not much of a noticeable difference at least to me.

Performance is almost perfect as it is rather snappy. I do feel a bit more sluggishness than my LG G Watch, however it is not much more until it bothers me.

As most features are the same as the LG G Watch review, you can read my impressions of those features there.  Instead, I will be covering features that are absent on the G Watch, but present on the Huawei Watch.

Wi-Fi on a watch

This was one of the features which is lacking on the G Watch. The Huawei Watch comes with a Wi-Fi antenna built into the watch. Switching on Wi-Fi is really easy. As long as the password of the Wi-Fi is saved on the phone, the watch will auto-connect to the network.

Wi-Fi on the watch could suck the battery really hard. When the watch is on WiFi, the battery drains almost twice as fast compared to Bluetooth; which is why the watch prefers to be on Bluetooth if it is within the phone’s Bluetooth range.

However, there is the added convenience of a much larger range as compared to Bluetooth. As long as the watch is within Wi-Fi reception zone, it is still connected. This means not requiring me to carry the phone around all the time. This is very useful especially at home.

Heart Rate Monitor and Fitness

The Heart Rate sensor is there for the fitness junkies who want to check the intensity of their workout. I will admit that I am not one of those people, and I also do not have a heart-rate monitor lying around the house, so I am unable to test the accuracy of this reading. Other sources do claim that the sensor is good enough for general use.

For Huawei, there is also an app from Huawei to help with your workouts, and inside the watch there is also their own proprietary app.  Couple with the capabilities of pairing with a Bluetooth device, this meant that the watch is pretty capable to use for workouts even without the phone.

Yes my laziness is real

Android Wear actually also support GPS as well. However that is absent from both the G Watch and the Huawei Watch, so I am unable to comment further with regards to this. Right now as it is, those fitness buffs might find Android Wear quite enticing indeed.

Huawei Fitness App

Battery

The Huawei Watch have a 300mAh battery, which is 25% lesser than the G Watch. However, battery life is on par with the G Watch. With the “always on” option battery is at around 30%, and it is around 50% when that option is off.

Mileage may vary depending on the amount of notifications being pushed on your device as well. The battery also might go for a nosedive if the device is consistently connected to WiFi. Unless the phone’s Bluetooth is off or the watch is not within the Bluetooth range, the battery drain should not occur that often.

Conclusion

As this is the last part of the Android Wear series, I would be having separate conclusions for the Huawei Watch and the Android Wear platform in general.

Huawei Watch

The Huawei Watch is honestly one of the best smart-watches in the market right now. As the software experience is almost identical from watch to watch in Android Wear (as my experiences with the G Watch is almost identical to the Huawei Watch), what matters is actually the hardware, and the Huawei Watch totally nails it in that area. The display is stunning, the build quality is impeccable, and the box makes me feel like a rich kid.

However for my personal use I find it a little bit too fanciful. If you are someone who frequently wears in formal attire, the Huawei Watch would go very well with it. As an average University student right now, my usual dressing of T-shirts and Bermudas simply does not match up very well with the watch. It is honestly not the watch’s problem, rather it is my lifestyle’s problem; the watch being a misfit to my lifestyle.

Another thing I felt is how contradictory the device is. The watch comes in Leather and Stainless Steel options, which makes it very unsuitable for fitness usage, as stainless steel bands tend to scratch up really easily and leather bands will probably stink after sweating; which is why it perplexes me when there is actually a heart-rate monitor on the watch. If you are reading this Huawei, perhaps exclude those sensors, cut back the price a bit, and I believe the watch could be a home-run.

Speaking of the price, at SGD 550 for the base stainless steel model, it is definitely not cheap in comparison to the competition. I managed to snag this watch at SGD 440 on Qoo10 (e-mail me if you want the details), and even then it is still pretty expensive for most people. However that is also true for any high-end mechanical watches as well.

This draws me into the final verdict. Right now, I could recommend the Huawei Watch to those who are into style; those who sees the watch as more of a beautiful accessory rather than a tool. If you are under that category and you want to get into the smart-watch world, there is not much to go wrong with this.

I am pretty much in love with this device; however sadly my life does not require such a fanciful smart-watch right now. So I would be keeping my LG G Watch and find a new owner for my Huawei Watch. It’s nice knowing you Huawei Watch.

“The Huawei Watch is what its looks suggest; impeccable build quality in a premium package. Despite the contradictory nature of the watch, this watch is the top dog of smart-watches to beat for all wristwatch lovers, although it does come at a steep cost”.

Android Wear

Let’s evaluate the eco-system in general now.

First thing’s first. There is a learning curve for this operating system. Although pairing with the device is a breeze, there are just too many possibilities with the watch that it takes some time to get used to it. Maybe that is a good thing due to the sheer capabilities of the watch, I have no idea.

I would say this though; the convenience factor is really there. Little did I know of how taking out a phone from a pocket would be such an “inconvenience”.   Perhaps I am spoilt by using a smart-watch, I honestly have no idea.

At the end of the day though, a smart-watch (including Android Wear) is something that one could live without definitely. However once someone actually experience the added convenience, one would never go back again.

As for Android Wear, I believe it is a good operating system that has tons of potential.  The beauty of this operating system is the power of choice. I already had proven in my 2 reviews, we can have a very cheap but simple smart-watch, and we can go all-out fancy as well. That is I believe the true advantage of Android Wear unlike other platforms. (The Pebble does have a normal and steel variant as well, but I digress).

I still believe that Android Wear is not for everyone. The learning curve makes this device not really suitable for your mom or dad.  It is also not suitable for iPhone users, as they are unable to fully harness the features of Android Wear.

However, I guess Android Wear at least won me over. I am fully invested into the ecosystem now, and probably will not be leaving anytime soon.

Remarks

All photos are taken on a LG G Flex 2. I hope that the photos are good enough for the review.

I will be doing a compilation article on the Android Wear experience for ease of reading as well for the full-software experience. So do keep a lookout for it.

Any questions feel free to drop email again at nus.tech.friends@gmail.com. Lastly, we wish everyone Merry Christmas!

LG G Watch Review: Simplicity at its finest

Background

The LG G Watch is the very first Android Wear Smart watch unveiled by Google in mid-2014 along the Samsung Gear Live. Android Wear also had went a long way since then, as smart watches began to look more and more like watches, and less like a box strapped on the wrist.

So after 18 months of release, what is my impression of the LG G Watch? As this is also my very first smart watch review, I will also be going through the Android Wear ecosystem as well.

Physical Hardware

Look at the first sentence again. That is my very first impression of the device.

After I wore it though, things are not as bad. Many of my friends (and even my dad) said that this device looks ugly, and I don’t blame them as I compared this watch with the Huawei Watch. However to me, by itself it looks actually quite nice when wore on the wrist.

I got myself the White Gold version of the watch, and as the watch is from Carousell, this device is actually a year old. Surprisingly the watch held up well despite it being white in colour at the back. After using a microfiber cloth to polish it furiously, it managed to turn out quite pristine in condition.

The watch also is IP67 certified, which meant that it can probably survive a water spill and basin water. Do not risk swimming with this watch as IP67 only means resistances to fresh water rather than chlorinated water. Showering is risky too due to soaps and shampoo.

Although it does not look like it, the LG G Watch is actually almost fully metal, and it really felt that way. It is extremely well-built and felt solid when I wore it. The rubber strap does not feel premium by any means compared to leather and stainless steel, however it is a strap I believe could stand the test of time.

At the back of the watch we have the charging pins which are used to charge the device with the cradle. Speaking of the cradle, it is rather nice as well as it is strongly magnetized and snaps in place when I place the watch on the cradle. The cradle connects to any micro-USB cable, so it also works with power banks as well.

The front has the 1.65 inch screen, and nothing else. The sides have absolutely nothing as well, making this truly a box being strapped on the wrist by having absolutely no buttons.

Specifications

This is probably the main reason why I bought the LG G Watch. The LG G Watch offers a competitive price with similar specifications as other smart watches. It runs the same processor and same amount of RAM as 99% of the Android Wear Smart watches. The only exception is again the Tag Heuer Connected Smart watch, but again it’s USD 1,500 so what to expect?

It is running a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with 512MB of RAM. There is also 4GB of internal storage in the device for all your files well. There is however some stuff which the watch lacks compared to other Smart Watches, namely the lack of WiFI antenna and Heart-rate monitors. I will touch on these 2 features when I get my hands on the Huawei Watch in the next review, but for now we will continue the device review.

The IPS LCD screen is probably one of the weaker points of the device. The resolution is 280 x 280 pixels, which is one of the lowest on android wear smart watches in general. However that does not meant it is a bad display. At 240 pixels per inch, I can see pixels; however it is still sharp enough for me to not be disturbed by it. The colours are also good enough, although the vibrancy leaves something to be desired.

At the end of the day, although there is some small compromises, what is on the G Watch can match the other Android Wear Smart watches surprisingly well considering that it is a year old.

Performance

This is usually where I comment the fluidity and daily performance of the device, and to be honest, there is nothing much to comment about.

I will say this though, it is not perfect. Similar to Android, there are occasional stutters sometimes. In general though, performance is very good and responsive.  App load times are also good.

However to be honest, this is not as important compared to a phone, as the watch is not meant to be as powerful as the phone. So what is more important is the experience using the device.

Controlling the Watch

I mention above that there are absolutely no buttons on the device. So let me explain. The watch will automatically turn on when it is charging on the cradle. To turn it off I will go to the setting to turn it off. To wake the screen, I could either tap on the screen, or do it via gesture control. The gesture control seems to work most of the time. The trick is to make my movement more obvious. Straighten my arms when looking at the watch seems to help a bit.

Arms straightened

The gesture control can also help to scroll my notifications up and down through some wrist rotations. I prefer not to do wrist exercises and simply use the touch screen; however it could be nifty when I am eating and my hands are oily.

Lastly, my favourite part of the watch is how to turn it off. I just use my hands to cover the screen and it will either go to the low-light mode or turn the screen off depending on the setting.

Notifications

Connecting the Smart watch with my LG G Flex 2 is extremely easy. By downloading the Android Wear app and following the instructions on the watch and phone, I got it to work within the first 15 minutes of the device.

Notifications work very well throughout all the apps I use frequently. This includes standard phone calls, SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook, and many other miscellaneous notifications. If I do not want to see a notification again, I just swipe right until I see the “Block App” button and block it. To me that is rather intuitive indeed.

There are also some nifty features too. The watch could actually accept the phone call by itself. However as it does not have a speaker, this meant that either I need to take out my phone to use the earpiece (which is rather counter-intuitive), or have a wireless Bluetooth headset. I would suggest the latter.

The watch can also reply to messages such as text and WhatsApp. There is however a rather inconvenient limitation; it only accepts voice inputs. There is no alternative method out of the box if the place is too noisy or too quiet. So this means that you need to take out your phone again to type your messages (again). This can be corrected using 3rd part applications, which I will go through below.

Voice Assistant

The watch also launches Google Now, so a simple call of “Ok Google” will open the voice search on the watch. Using key phrases, such as “Navigate” or “Call”, I can do specific tasks, such as giving me directions with the Navigate command, or call by phone with the “Call” command. It is similar to Google Now on Android, so for those who are used to Google Now, you are right at home.

This meant that there are the same limitations as Google Now. It does not recognise some of the local Singaporean terms very well. I could get it to recognise Singapore places and some of the Singaporean terms that are actually English. However if it is not English it is not going to respond very well. Notable examples include Char Kuay Teow, and any Singlish terms that you add. So keep your “lahs” and “lehs” when talking to the watch. (For some odd reason, I cannot get the watch to show me pictures of Hainanese Chicken Rice).

This came out instead.

Some other minor peeves includes being required to say the punctuation marks to insert those into my messages and navigation only provide me with directions through walking and driving when I hoped for public transit.

Let’s walk to NUS from Boon Lay!

Overall I would say the voice assistant is very good if not for one point. The main weakness is that my phone will need a data connection when I want to use the voice assistant. So for the LG G Watch, as there is no Wi-Fi antenna inside, this meant that my smart watch will almost instantly becomes a dumb watch if my phone is not connected to Wi-Fi or Data connection. This is also true if I do not have my smartphone with me.

This will appear a lot.

Applications

Being in the Android Wear eco-system’s biggest advantage is the app support. There are an abundance of apps that supports Android Wear and help complement the experience.

That means that app support is definitely good, and it seems that it will probably continue to grow in the near future as well. Android applications will also install on the Android Wear device if there is a counterpart app for the watch. This will hold true in apps such as WhatsApp.

If there is no app support, it does not mean that the app will not sent notification to the watch. It just meant that you cannot interact with the notification nearly as well. This will be true especially for iOS users, as the watch cannot interact with your phone other than showing notifications.

The app support also meant that the watch can either do very nice things, such as sleep tracking and song search, to absolutely ridiculous things such as surfing the web and watching videos on the watch (which I recommend going the phone as I am not crazy).

Yes I am a lazy person.

There is also the sweet feature of able to store music on the watch itself. However there is no speaker. So again, bring your Bluetooth Earpiece along. This feature will be extremely useful for those who are into running and do not want to lug around a phone just to listen to it.

Overall, the app situation will only get better as time goes by, and that is a good thing. Coupling with the fact that my G Watch has the same specifications as most other watches, the LG G Watch can hold itself well with the applications.

My current watch face. It came out of the box though.

Battery

The LG G Watch contains a 400mAh battery, and this is on the bigger side compared to the other Android Wear smart watches. The main is that is not going for the LG G Watch is that the display is LCD rather than OLED on most other modern smart watches.

However, I would say that the battery is rather satisfactory.  With the screen always on, after about 24 hours not charging the device I am left with about 30% battery, which meant that it should be able to last through 1.5 days of use. Turn off the “always on” setting improves the battery life to about 2 days. I will recommend doing this as the watch being LCD meant that the whole display needs to be turned on even at the dimmed mode.

As for impact on my LG G Flex 2, the screen on time went down ever so slightly due to turning on Bluetooth all the time.  However as I have the watch, I no longer need to keep checking my phones for notification. So it evens out at the very end.

Availability

For a local set, price ranges from 150 SGD to 180 SGD from various mobile shops. This price makes this easily the cheapest Android Wear wearable to purchase in Singapore. Doing some deal hunting on Carousell can lower the price even further to below 100 SGD if you do not mind a second-hand set.

Amazon also retails this watch at a very affordable 85 USD brand new, or a refurbished set cuts that off to 75 USD. So importing one in is actually not a bad idea as well.

Conclusion

Overall, I found the experience on the LG G Watch to be really nice over the course of the few days I spent with the device. Although my first impressions of the aesthetics were not very favourable, the general software experiences and the convenience at not looking at my smart phone all the time won me over.

I also am thankful for purchasing a white G Watch rather than the black one, as I find that the White one seems to have a personality to the look. That is still personal preference though.

For the 80 SGD I spent on this G Watch, is this watch worth it? Personally, it definitely is. It is not perfect; however none of the imperfections is something I could not deal with. Being able to reply WhatsApp messages on my wrist is awesome and something that techies should try.

So at the end of the day, if you aren’t so sure about whether a smart watch is for you, why not try the LG G Watch? It is something that you should try for yourself rather than simply playing around with display sets in a shopping mall.

“Although being more than a year old, the LG G Watch performed well enough to stand on the same level as other Android Wear smartwatches. With price drops coming from many retailers, it might be worthwhile picking this watch up despite several aesthetic and functional compromises.”

End of Part 2

However that is not the end. It might be worth the small dough for the LG G Watch; however is it worth it to invest much more on a smart timepiece? Join us for the final part of the series, as we take a look at one of the pinnacles of Android Wear; the Huawei Watch and have our final conclusion regarding Android Wear.

Huawei Watch Review coming soon

Android Wear: My Experiences (INTRODUCTION)

I have been extremely curious about smart wearable for quite some time now, and always have been finding a way for me to experience what it feels like to wear it. I have a Xiaomi MiBand earlier this year (which I will touch upon next time), however that did not quench my thirst of owning an actual smart watch.

This will be a 3-part series of my experiences with Android Wear in general.

Introduction

For those who do not know what Android Wear is, you can look at the Wikipedia page for the main details. However, the main gist of it is that it sends notifications to your wrist, and you can do some form of actions to your phone without taking it out, such as checking weather, record reminders and send a text.

Currently Android Wear is compatible with iOS 8.2 and above, and Android 4.3 and above.

Now that might sound a little useless to many people. Many skeptics felt that such watches are unnecessary as what the watch can do, the phone can as well. To some extent, I agree to that argument. However, I decided to give Android Wear a chance to shine.

My own Christmas presents!

I purchased a LG G Watch, which is the very first Android Wear smart watch. Although it is a year old, the specifications of the watch are still the same as most other smart watches. So this is sort-of the entry-level option. I bought the LG G Watch at SGD $80 from Carousell.

LG G Watch

I also purchased the Huawei Watch, and that is probably the highest end and most luxurious smart watch right now. There is also the Tag Heuer Connect, which costs USD 1,500, so I won’t go so far. I bought this Huawei Watch for SGD $450 after Christmas discount coupons from Qoo10. (Lucky me!)

Huawei Watch

The end for now?

So for the next 2-3 weeks, I will be covering on Android Wear, so stay tuned for the next blog posts!

In Part 2, I will be reviewing the LG G Watch, and also the Android Wear ecosystem in general. This will probably be up by 19^th December 2015.

In Part 3, I will be touching on the Huawei Watch, additional parts of the Android Wear ecosystem which the LG G Watch lacks (namely WiFi capabilities and Heart Rate monitoring), and will write the conclusion as well from that. Hopefully I could get this done before Christmas, but no guarantees.

So now, excuse me as I play with my LG G Watch right now.

To be continued?

Earn a quick buck with your contract?

Sounds like a clickbait I know, but I believe this is a good way of utilizing your  contract price for phones. So if you are looking at either not replacing your phone or buying phones off-contract, you could potentially save a lot of money here, so join me as I go through my process of a re-contract.

Side-note is that if you are getting an iPhone or a Samsung device, usually the telco offers rather competitive prices and would offer very little savings. If however you are looking at other brands, this is a good way to save some money as well.

Step 1: Research

For this step, you need to know the following:

1. Your contract tier for your telco.
2. Phones offered by the telco.
3. Pricing for each phone on contract.
4. Pricing for each phone when selling.

To access the price list of the telco, look at their respective online shops and there should be a price-list which is dependent of your contract tier.

Singtelshop.com

For price research off-contract, look at online mobile phone retailers which offers the “Buy-back” option or something that sounds similar. Look at the list over there as well. To calculate your profits, look at the price-incurred of your phone’s subsidised prices and the selling price on the website. That gives you a good estimate of how much you will be getting. Obviously you should find something with the highest profit possible. However that would depend on your budget with the re-contract as well.

Source: Whymobile

For instance, mine is a Combo 2 plan that is under Singtel, so I would be using their combo 2 price list for comparison. After doing some research, the Xiaomi Mi Note offers the best value by costing 98 SGD on contract, and 450 SGD when sold to the mobile retailer. Coupling with the online sale promotion (which I saved another 30 SGD), I could potential earn a minimum of 382 SGD. Not too shabby.

Note that your phone choice would decide the amount of money you earn. If you have a high capital for re-contract and want the easiest way out, buy the latest iPhone as they can be easily sold away at a pretty good profit.

Step 2: Phone Re-contract

Now it is the time to re-contract. However there are some things you need to take note. If you are physically purchasing the phone, try to convince the staff to not open the packaging, as there might be a penalty from the selling price.

So for me, I opted to use Singtelshop.com to make my purchase. The set would come sealed in the box, so it is much easier to sell the device. I used my bank transfer to pay for the phone, and I receive the phone 2 days later.

To increase my savings even further, I opted for POPStation delivery, which means no delivery charges. The set comes totally sealed, which is good to sell with.

POPStation

Step 3: Phone selling

This is the step which will also determine your profit margins. There are 2 ways of selling your phone.

Carousell

The first way is to put up your brand new phone online for sale. Use online marketplaces such as HardwareZone, Carousell, eBay, or some other site which can get your phone sold. You can use the price list from the online retailers as a guide. However this might backfire as you make take much longer to sell your phone.

The second method yields minimum profit, however is the fastest and most convenient way. Go to a phone shop to sell your phone. I highly recommend Far East Plaza, as there are quite a few reputable shops with their price list available. Do remember to bring your receipt along as well.

So if you are just looking for profits, you are done by this step. If you are looking to buy the phone still, look at the next step.

Step 4: Phone purchasing

This is where you can get the phone for your choice. You can either purchase your phone from that same retailer you go to for maximum convenience, or purchase your phone separately. Below are some examples which will work out extremely well. For conservative estimates, I pegged the profit at $300 for consistency reasons.

Phone: Xiaomi Redmi Note 2

• Original contract price (Combo 2): -$48
• Profits from phone selling: +$300
• Off-contract price: -$228 (XiaoMi website)
• Net: +$72

This is one example which would work out very well, with you not spending a single cent, and instead leave you with some extra money to do something else.

Phone: Samsung Galaxy S6

• Original contract price (Combo 2): -$498
• Profits from phone selling: +$300
• Off-contract price: $700 (some online retailers)
• Net: -$400

You still spend about $400 for your Galaxy S6, however it is still a rather note-worthy savings. In fact you can probably get a S6 64GB configuration at the same price as the original contract price this way.

Phone: Oneplus X

• Original contract price: NOT AVAILABLE.
• Profits from selling: +$300
• Off-contract price: $438 (Lazada)
• Net: -$138

Another thing about this method is that you are not restricted by the phones available by your telco. This will not only work for this model, but also any other model that are not available in your telco as well.

Conclusion

If you are willing to put some work, you can get either a sweeter deal in general,  or actually earn a small profit to buy something nice for yourself. Hope this is a clear enough tutorial for everyone who are looking to re-contract their phone. All the best everyone.

End of Semester 1!

For those whose finals are still ongoing, all the best!

For those who had finished their finals (like me), congrats for finishing the Semester, and all the best for your results!

With that said, stay tuned as more content comes your way!

iNO 3 Review: No Frills Experience

Background

For those who do not know who iNO is, let me do an introduction of the company.

iNO Mobile is a rather new company (at least compared to companies such as LG and Samsung). Unlike mainstream phone distributors, iNO mainly targets niche markets, such as senior phones and non-camera smartphone. In fact, they were one of the pioneers in terms of non-camera smartphone. I personally owned an iNO One, which unfortunately met its demise in a toilet bowl.

Fast forward about 18 months later and after I was discharged from National Service, I contacted iNO to see if I could get my hands on their latest and greatest iNO 3 for a follow-up coverage after my Phicomm i600. I would like to express my gratitude to iNO for this review device.

After 4 non-camera devices, how would their 5^th non-camera smartphone turn out? Read on more to find out.

Hardware

To be honest, I am pleasantly surprised by the build quality of the iNO 3. The hardware is really really nice. The phone feels really compact and comfortable when held. In particular, I love the back plate a lot. The textures gives it a very unique feel in hand, and provides enough grip such that it will not fall off your hand like a bar of soap.

At the right side are all the buttons, namely the volume rocker and the power button. The tactility is pleasant enough. I would prefer the power button to be higher so that I don’t need to do hand-yoga sometimes, but that is personal preference.

The top is a 3.5mm headphone jack, and the left contains a micro-USB port, right dead at the centre, which is quite awkward in my opinion when I hold the device during charging.

The back has absolutely nothing, which was another surprise to me. I was expecting a back-speaker like its predecessor. To my delight, the speaker is a front-firing one, and is also used as the earpiece for the phone; very nice indeed. What is not as nice is the speaker itself, as it lacks bass and volume to it. Oh well.

Speaking of sound, I also went for a test drive to listening to my music. The sound from the earpiece contains much more bass than expected. I am no audiophile so I am not really disturbed by it, but for those who are more sensitive to these, it might be something worth noting.

Other than the earpiece/speaker, 3 capacitive buttons (Menu, Home, Back) are at the bottom. To be honest, I would prefer for a multi-task menu rather than a menu button, but that would be nit-picking.

Overall, I have not much to complain about the hardware. It might not be flashy, however it feels extremely comfortable to use.

Specification

The screen is probably one of the biggest jumps from the predecessor. A 1280×768 4.2 inch display is used for the iNO 3. It is no full-HD screen, however at 4.2 inches diagonal, this resolution is plenty sharp. In fact it is sharp enough that one would find difficult to discern the pixels. iNO claims that it rivals the “Retina” display on the iPhone, and it indeed is.

I would say though, the colour accuracy seems to leave something to be desired. After comparing with some devices, the iNO 3 screen felt noticeably warmer than other displays. The white have a looks more yellowish compared to other display. Unless you are a screen junkie, most people would be satisfied with the display of the device.

iNO 3 sports a MediaTek MTK6735 processor with 2GB of RAM. In general use, this phone zips through daily task nicely. Heat dissipation is also within acceptable range. However, unlike many other 2GB RAM devices, the iNO 3 is perfectly fine with it, as it have a whopping 1.2GB worth of free RAM. This is more than enough to multi-task for most people.

Performance

The iNO 3 runs Android 5.1, which is perfectly acceptable since Marshmallow is only recently launched anyway. iNO is rather pro-active in terms of the software updates for this device, as I received an update during my duration of the review.

Daily usage wise, I have little to pick on. Lag is very minor in daily use, and it zips through most tasks. To quantify the performance though, I ran AnTuTu benchmark to see where this device stands. It achieved a score of around 26,000, which is around the score of a Nexus 5 and a Galaxy S4. Not too shabby.

For real-world use, I tried a few games on the iNO 3 as well. Asphalt 8 looks almost perfect on medium setting, and started to strain on the high setting.  PPSSPP works really well on the default 2x PSP rendering setting, and lastly for casual gamers things should be fine and dandy.

Gaming Test: PPSSPP

To conclude the performance section, it is definitely no powerhouse, however for daily use and occasional games this phone definitely is more than adequate to handle the tasks.

Software

The software of this device is extremely close to stock android. In fact, the launcher is a lighter version of the stock Google Launcher, with exclusion of the Google Now screen on the left.

The iNO 3 do have some small trickery up its sleeves though. The iNO 3 comes with the power schedule function, as it is capable of turning itself on-and-off. This feature is present in its predecessor, and I could see people using this feature especially for the army boys.

Field Camps? No problem

MiraVision is another additional feature of the iNO 3. This grants the users the ability to customise their display. Be it contrast, colour temperature, sharpness, and more. This is a very nice feature, as I prefer the screen to be colourful and was able to crank the contrast to its maximum. It still does not change the fact that the screen is excessively warm though.

The last thing is really nice for those with secrets to hide. There is modular permission control, which allow you to disable a particular permission for an app. So Facebook will not be able to get your phone contacts for those who mind. This is originally an Android Marshmallow feature, so seeing it here is absolutely great.

Generally though, there are no bells and whistles here. However, this is also the reason why the RAM consumption is considerably low compared to mainstream devices. Don’t expect any parlour tricks from the phone, however do expect daily tasks to be done very nicely.

Battery

With only 1850mAh battery, and past bad experiences with my Phicomm i600, I was not having high expectations for the device. However, it again went against the odds and surprised me in a good way.

Maybe it is the lower resolution and smaller screen, or it is the low-powered MediatTeK processor. Regardless what is the case, the battery seems to be decent on our unit. We manage to get around 3-3.5 hours of Screen-On Time, which is really not bad at all. Lasting through the day without charging should be no issues with light to moderate use.

For heavy users, there is always the option to swap the battery, which is an option that is slowly getting phased out in the market (and it shouldn’t!). The shape of the battery however is kind-of awkward to put in the wallet, but it would still fit nonetheless.

Is the battery on this device world class? It’s definitely not. However it does keep up with even the mainstream devices very well.

Price

What’s in the box.

iNO 3 is currently on sale for SGD 378 on iNO’s official website and it comes with a free tempered glass screen protector, which is pre-installed on my unit. For those who likes protecting their phones with cases, there is also a silicon case inside the box, and a blue back-cover. I personally used the default black cover though.

Conclusion

In the past, having a non-camera smartphone needs to be a compromise. It is not just the camera, but also the overall experience. This is not only true for my Phicomm i600, but also most other non-camera devices as well. In particular, it is increasingly more difficult to find phones under the 4.3inch diagonal mark, which is one of the restrictions for the Singapore Armed Forces’ Red Zones.

However with the launch of the iNO 3, I believe that will not be the case anymore. At least to me, iNO 3 had provided me with a good experience from day to day use over the course of 7 days.

The iNO 3 although is not the absolute champion as a smartphone, as a non-camera smartphone though, it is actually quite tough to beat. It does not come with a lot of additional features; however in terms of the fundamentals it is pretty well-done. Daily performance is solid, battery life is decent, the display is plenty sharp; you get the idea.

Compared to the predecessors, it is definitely quite a bit more expensive (about 30% more expensive). However, for a price increase, iNO really used it very well and provided a better product at the end, and that’s all that matters.

“The iNO 3 is not aiming to be the top of the smartphone foodchain. However in the rather barren space of non-camera smartphone, it is rather tough to beat. With all the basics done right, the iNO 3 provides a no-frill experience that most people would enjoy.”

Remarks

All photos are taken using an LG G Flex 2. A really special thanks to iNO for providing us with our very first review device. Plus they are a Singapore-based start-up, so let’s support our local distributors shall we? ^^

Any question feel free to drop it in the comments section, or email us at nus.tech.friends@gmail.com.

LG Nexus 4: Good Software goes a long way

Background

The LG Nexus 4 was launched in 2012, and that is the year which Galaxy S3 was launched. Yes that is a pretty long time. At launch, the Nexus 4 was a total bang for the buck. It was the very first Nexus that is priced rather competitively. Despite all these however, it did not launch in Singapore. Thus many do not get to even see this device often.

Fast-forward to November 2014, I found a refurbished Nexus 4 for 168 SGD. Me being an Android maniac, I decided to splurge on this Nexus 4 even though the Nexus 6 is already out at that point in time.

A year later and after replacing my daily driver to a LG G Flex 2 (read that review if you haven’t), I felt that I am ready to write my review of the Nexus 4.

Hardware

Full of wounds and injuries

Called me biased. I personally feel that even by today’s standard, the build quality ain’t bad at all. A glass sandwich with nicely textured plastic makes this device a pleasure to use. In particular this phone is extremely comfortable to use with one hand due to its compact size.

Unlike the G Flex 2 I reviewed, this phone is rather standard with the button placements. Volume on the left, power on the right, earphone jack on the top, USB port at the bottom.

More scars …

Like many phones nowadays, the back panel is sealed in, which means no removeable battery. There is no microSD support either, so users might get stuck with either 8GB or 16GB of memory, which is paltry by today’s standards.

Specifications

Let’s start this section with a good news. This phone still have 2GB of RAM. Which is still keeping up with today’s standards for phones. Coupling with the software (which I will get to later) , this amount is enough to do some rather decent multitasking.

The processor although powerful for its time, is really getting rather outdated. A Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro is inside, which by today’s standard is slightly weaker than the Snapdragon 410.

The screen is a 1280×768 resolution display, which is similar to a HD display. There is a reason why manufacturers of smaller devices (such as SONY with their compact series) stick with HD resolution. That reason is perfectly legit to me, as I can’t fault the sharpness of the display.

I could fault the screen for something else though; the colours. I am not a picky person in terms of this, however even I could tell that the colours seems a bit off. The screen lacks vibrancy, which many daily consumers actually prefer. There is a very obvious screen backlight from the LCD, which would ruin how black looks on the screen.

Long story short, this screen definitely is not the best screen. Coupling the fact that the competitions are bringing out AMOLED and IPS LCD screens, the screen is only going to look worst in comparison. However the screen is definitely passable.

Performance

Performance on the Nexus 4 is almost flawless on normal usage such as Facebook, web-browsing and watching Youtube. It could even play some normal casual games too. It could even play Asphalt 8 on high setting, and that game isn’t that bad in terms of graphics.

Surprisingly Playable

Push it any further however, and the age of the device becomes much more obvious. Heavier games such as Hearthstones are although playable, have rather obvious slowdowns. Phone also tends to heat up like crazy with such tasks to an extent that it is rather uncomfortable.

There is a reason why the performance of this device is so good even till today, and that is because of one simple reason; Software.

Software

There is a good reason why I chose to write my review now rather than before. Marshmellow.

Sweet Marshmellow Goodness

Although through an unofficial upgrade rather than an official OTA (Android 5.1 is the last version for Nexus 4), the fact is that it is perfectly possible to upgrade a 3 year old phone to the very latest version of Android is a feat by itself. Plus it got 5.1.1 rather quickly.

The stability of these firmware are really nice, plus due to it being a Nexus, it meant that there is lesser apps automatically installed on the device, which is why Nexus’s Android are also known as “Vanilla” solely for this reason.

Google Now Launcher

Although the official support of the Nexus 4 has already ended, for those who don’t mind they could dwell into the world of custom firmwares. Although sometimes stability is an issue, usually after awhile such firmwares become very useable after awhile. That is a true benefit of a Nexus device.

With regards to Marshmellow however, I felt that on the Nexus 4, other than the additional improved performance on Marshmellow, there are surprisingly little in terms of additional features.

To be honest, I rarely use Google Now due to it being battery draining sometimes on most devices, so Google Now on Tap ain’t gonna help much. The additional permission control is really nice for those who are more careful with their personal information though.

Battery

This is one of the main reasons why I eventually swapped to my current new phone. The battery is rather awful. It fails to reach 3 hours of screen on time almost all the time, making a power bank absolutely mandatory to survive the day. If I supposedly go out of my house at 7am, I usually require my phone to be on life-support by 3pm. My usual usage is some light gaming and general web-browsing.

Stand-by isn’t as bad as the screen on time though. Should I not use the phone, usually the drainage is rather minimal. So if I happen to not use the phone as much, it’s not that bad. However once the screen turns on and I start using the phone, battery plummets.

Note that this is on the Android 5.1.1 firmware. On Android 6.0 it is too early to tell, however currently it is not very positive as well.

Camera

Let’s not beat around the bush with regards to the Camera. It’s a potato camera.

Even in 2012, the Nexus 4’s camera is not going to win much awards. 3 long years later, it is getting incinerated by the competition, no doubt about that. With plenty of light, the pictures it took are passable for the social media. However under low-light conditions, and this phone’s camera is almost unusable.

Video is also rather lacklustre. Yes it does have 1080p resolution, however it shares the same problem as the photos it took. It only could perform decently under good lighting conditions.

Outdoor Shot

Indoor Shot

Night Shot 1

Night Shot 2

Other Issues

I save the biggest issue for the last, and that is the durability issue with the device. The power button is an absolute wreck, as it is not working 50% of the time, which is rather frustrating. This issue is not only exclusive of my set, as many users also reportedly have this power button issue.

Sadly it is because of this, I started to look for another device to replace my Nexus 4. I could live with the sub-par camera, and I could get over the lack of battery life with a power bank, however I could not get over the wonky power button. I currently modified the buttons in a way that the volume button acts as a lock and unlock key, however this is not a good solution in the long term.

Conclusion

Does that meant that I regretted purchasing the device? Absolutely not. It’s been a hell of a ride.

The Nexus 4 is the very first time I experienced the Nexus experience, and I could see why many people yearns for it and pledged allegiance to the Nexus line-up. The software support directly from Google is an absolute god-send, as many other phones are stuck with old versions of Android. For the users who don’t mind learning a bit about Android custom firmwares, the Nexus 4 could last potentially even longer. If not the power button issue, I believe that a loyal user would be able to survive well even 1-2 years later with the Nexus 4.

However, due to the issues stated in the review, I decided to moved on. I still absolutely adore the device for a lot of reasons. It remains very responsive, plays the games I play decently, watch videos rather nicely, etc. This does not meant that I am suggesting people to scramble to buy a Nexus 4 right here right now, because other than used sets, I believe it is downright impossible.

Although LG Nexus 4 is a rather ancient device, it is an interesting specimen to show the power of software support. I have friends who are using their old phones and usually it is a sluggish mess. However on the Nexus 4, the fluidity and responsiveness are still present, and that is something worth to be proud of.

There are 2 things worth taking away from this review. First thing is the Nexus experience. With the recent announcement of the new Nexus devices (6P and 5X), the Nexus experience is something I would love to go through again. The good news is that Huawei is going to bring their Nexus 6P into Singapore, so I will be looking forward for that.

Another thing is how important software optimisation is to the experience of the device. In the present age of devices, we are reaching a state that even lower-end specifications could give a good experience. Nexus 4 is a true testament to that statement, as its specs although losing out to more recent devices, is still able to stand head to head with the competitors in terms of responsiveness and fluidity.

I’ll look forward to use a Nexus device again. For now though, you can rest well Nexus 4.

“The Nexus 4 is a timeless device that withstood the stand of time in terms of software by being extremely responsive despite its age. However there are issues mainly with its camera and durability. Regardless, it is a device that taught us the importance of software optimisation.”

– NUS Tech Friends

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Final Notes

All photos are taken on a LG G Flex 2. It feels good to have a non-potato camera for once. Hope you guys like the pictures I used in the review ^^.

As usual, any question feel free to drop in the comments below, or email us at nus.tech.friends@gmail.com

Phone Details

As usual, here are the firmware that I used in my review.

• Model: NEXUS 4 16GB
• Android version: 5.1.1/6.0
• Rooted
• Xposed (5.1.1 only)