Your best mate
HTC M8
To put the situation into perspective, this smartphone’s predecessor, HTC One, was last year’s most awarded smartphone. Furthermore the One also holds 2014’s Global Mobile Award for Best Smartphone title, which it won at the Mobile World Congress in Spain last month.
So how does the best get better?
Well, for starters, the HTC M8 is bigger, sleeker and much more handsome — which is saying something since the One is a good-looking device. Much of its external appeal comes from its aluminium unibody. Unfortunately, this wouldn’t matter since we would immediately wrap it up in a gaudy rubber cover.
The HTC One features a 4.7-inch Super LCD3 screen with a full HD 1080p resolution at 469 pixels per inch, while the M8 flaunts a 5-inch display with the same resolution. There are small differences but not much improvement.
The M8 summons its power from a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 2.3GHz quad-core processor. Both models come with 2 gigs of RAM, though the M8 runs on Android 4.4 with the HTC Sense 6 platform.
A major upgrade is the M8’s front-facing camera, which, thanks to the selfie, has been upgraded to a 5-megapixel wonder from the 2.1-megapixel camera on the One.
Now, for the feature everyone has been talking about — its camera. The One ushered in the ultrapixel camera and the M8 made it better. It uses the same ultrapixel sensor as its predecessor with an additional camera right above it.
The presence of this second lens does not offer two rear cameras, but one duo-camera whose main objective is to offer depth perception, with 3D effects and image focus applicable post-capture. And this is the best part. Words don’t do this feature justice and if you have experienced it already, you know what I’m talking about. If not, head out and get your hands on an HTC M8 as soon as possible.
Available for Dh2,749 at all major retail outlets.
— Gareth Kurt Warren/Features Writer
How good is an Android Nokia?
Nokia X
Nokia’s latest penchant for the bright-coloured brick smartphone aesthetic has hit a new high with the new Nokia X. It’s also the Finnish company’s first-ever Android, one that many die-hard Nokia fans have been waiting for. But it’s not the Android phone one might expect it to be.
The homescreen is still arranged in the classic Windows fashion, and with no Google services or Android customisation available, it’s not really an Android. Instead, the services are a Nokia-Microsoft combined effort. It’s unalike an Android, still entrenched in the Nokia-Microsoft way of operating.
For instance, you’ll find Here Maps and Navigation instead of Google Maps, OneDrive instead of Google Drive, Nokia Mail instead of Gmail and Nokia Store instead of Google Play Store.
The low-cost gaudy polycarbonate hardware might make you feel like a five-year-old playing with a Lego brick when using it. But make no mistake: this is Nokia’s attempt to present a cost-effective option for customers in emerging markets.
The phone benefits from the Lumia minimalism that has come to be a key feature of modern Nokia devices. But if you’re going from high-end Apple, HTC or Samsung devices to this, you will notice a lethargy when browsing data-heavy websites. Available at Dh439.
— Thomas Billinghurst/Features Writer
Mini PC with great value
Zotac E1730
Zotac pulls no punches with the packaging of its Zbox. The E Gaming series (E stands for Epic) is described as “Powerful mini-PCs designed for demanding gamers”.
In theory, this device will probably have no issue delivering on its promise. Its fourth-generation Intel quad-core 2.7 GHz processor is packed with 8GB of expandable DDR3 RAM, a 1TB hard drive and an Iris Pro graphics card, also powered by the Intel, in a box measuring just 7.4x7.4x2 inches. Its size — Zotac helpfully provides a mount for it to be mounted on the back of an LCD monitor — is evidently a key selling point.
Another far more subtle selling point is its price — Dh1,899 for a dedicated gaming machine is a steal. The big question, therefore, is this: to what level can Zotac’s offering satiate a hardcore gamer?
Although Crysis 3 came out just over two years ago, so advanced is its graphics engine and so richly textured are its levels that it remains an excellent benchmark for any gaming rig even today. Installation and load times on the Zotac are negligible and the E1730’s performance on the training mission, which is simply yet elegantly designed against a Tron-style backdrop, is admirable. The detail on the smallest of guns is crisp and sharp. It is thus with great anticipation that a player would begin the first mission of the game.
What follows is a mixed bag. The level itself, set onboard a container ship during a storm at night, spares little detail. With the in-game performance settings on high, you almost feel you can touch each drop of water.
However, this comes at a cost — fluidity. Set pieces involving heavy numbers of enemy troops take a toll on the system’s processor, evident in slightly slowed gameplay. But readjusting the settings to low or medium sees Crysis 3 morph into a far smoother, though slightly blurrier, experience. Online gameplay is no different.
Zotac’s E1730 Plus offers sound value for money if you want the job done for most games. Just don’t expect to get every speck of detail out of the latest titles.
— Riaz Naqvi/Staff Writer
Less can be more
Samsung Galaxy S5
Samsung has produced the most formidable rival yet to the iPhone 5S: the Galaxy S5. It will face more competition from capable lower-cost devices, but with the S5, the brand is showing that less can be more.
The S4 may have been a success, but consumers struggled to grasp its full capabilities, considering Samsung packed every feature known to man into it. It has gone the opposite way with the S5, consolidating many features into more understandable groups and eliminating others.
This makes the S5 a smartphone that is a lot easier to get to know than its predecessor. Samsung has focused on a few features that make it stand out from its peers. With a 5.1-inch 1080p HD screen, Samsung knocks it out of the park in screen quality. It’s also easier to hold thanks to a grippable back cover with faux leather.
When it comes to design, Samsung is still outflanked by Apple and HTC. But what the S5 lacks in aesthetics it makes up for in durability.
The phone is now rated for Ingress Protection (IP) 67, which means it is dust- and water-resistant. In practical terms, IP 67 ensures that the phone won’t be damaged by rain or an accidental drop in a toilet.
I tested the feature by rinsing it under a faucet and dipping it in a glass of water. It worked just fine.
Samsung improved the phone’s camera too, upping the rear lens to 16 megapixels. The device takes some of the best photos of any camera phone, delivering images with vibrant colours. It can also shoot photos in burst mode using high-dynamic range imaging in rapid sequence.
The battery on the S5 lasts longer than its predecessor as well and a new Ultra Power Saving Mode helps extend each charge by shutting off nearly everything on the phone except messages, calls and the ability to surf the web.
The S5 has also caught up with the iPhone by adding fingerprint technology that lets users unlock their phones by scanning a finger over the home button.
Prices start from Dh2,599 for the 3G model.
— Salvador Rodriguez/Los Angeles Times
Animal instinct
Dyson DC41
Unpacking the Dyson vacuum cleaner gave me a feeling of excitement, especially after I read the nickname Animal. As a designer I have been intrigued with Dyson since its inception, more for its futuristic design obviously. Now that I’ve tried it out, I have become a Dyson fan.
Putting all the bits and pieces together was like following an Ikea instruction manual — simple enough once you understand the logic, yet challenging at the start. Assembled, it’s tall, lean and simply beautiful.
The DC41 Animal Vacuum Cleaner is truly more than just a pretty face. Once I had put it together, I ran the bagless wonder around the house, vacuuming the floors, carpets, rugs, beds and sofas.
Once I was done, the reason it is named Animal became clear. I was surprised to see that in contrast to regular vacuum cleaners, it is a powerful and mean cleaning machine, sucking up a lot more than expected.
As a matter of fact, it was pulling out so much dirt it had me wondering where all of it was coming from! I’m a cleanliness fiend and vacuum on a weekly basis — my older model didn’t spew out half as much dirt.
The Dyson is easy to operate and moves around in an upright position for horizontal surfaces, while it adjusts itself when vacuuming carpets or tiled floors. Cleaning curtains or other surfaces that are not easily reachable (despite the 14-metre reach) is more challenging but the Animal works well on angled or vertical surfaces. The brand’s cyclone sucking system works absolutely wonderfully, flinging the dirt straight through to the bin without loss of suction.
If there are any negatives to the Animal, it would be the weight. At 7.8 kilograms it’s quite a beast. I didn’t like the way the 9.4-metre-long electrical cord was stored either. I would have liked a handy self-retracting mechanism into the machine itself, but no, the cord must still be wound along the long shaft of the machine.
Although priced at the top end of the market at Dh2,299, the powerful vacuum, upright design and reputed long life seem to make it worth spending for. The Dyson DC41 Animal is available at all Jumbo Electronics outlets.
— Hink Huisman/Special to GN Focus
Light but powerful
Sony Xperia Z2 tablet
Forgive me reader, for I have a confession to make. There’s nothing so comforting as reading in the bath, a chilled beverage by my side.
Up until now, I’ve been put off by the possibility that I might have to dry out my iPhone in a tub of rice. Sony’s waterproof Xperia Z series does away with that eventuality nicely by hiding every port behind a plastic flap.
Even better on the bath-reading front: the Z2 tablet weighs a mere 426 grams, nearly 70 grams less than its predecessor, which appears to be close to the perfect weight — War and Peace didn’t leave my arms aching and was very clear reading indeed. Part of that must be down to its 6.4-millimetre slimness, which is thinner than
comparable units from Apple and Samsung, as well as Friday magazine.
And all those things they say about thinner being fitter must be true, because the Z2 hides one of the most powerful processors, a quad-core Snapdragon 801, which delivers 2.3Ghz alongside 3GB RAM. This means apps and games run super smoothly, with almost no stuttering or slowdown. Chrome and Flipboard do suddenly freeze and force close, but that’s not uncommon for Android-based products.
The Z2 builds on the Android 4.4 software, largely to service the Sony Entertainment Network (SEN), which links to movies and music with the Movies and Walkman apps, as well as paid-for music and video services, with the latest titles being flagged up by the What’s New feature. They can all be viewed in Live Colour LED, a new display technology that competes nicely with Retina — although pixel density remains at 224 on a 1900×1200 panel.
Sound is clean and crisp, with front-facing speakers, although I found them placed at rather an odd point, near the bottom of the device, just where my hands would go.
Software? Swipe down from the top left of the screen for notifications, and from the top right for settings. The homescreen and four surrounding screens are all easy to customise. Sony’s email, gallery and messaging apps do the job, but we weren’t impressed.
And what about battery? Sony claims ten hours of battery life in multimedia mode, which we didn’t test, but where the Z2 falls short is in standby mode — it appears to run down rather quickly. It didn’t run out mid-bath, thankfully.
Available at Dh2,499 from Jumbo Electronics.
— Keith J. Fernandez/Editor — GN Focus
