Category: Ask Juan

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Pixel 3a doesn’t just cover the basics: Your tech elitism costs you cash

Before we get into this, I’d like you to check something on your phone. Look through your app drawer. Look up your battery stats. If you use any kind of Digital Wellbeing tracking, look at the list of services used. I’d like you to look up what apps and services really get used on your phone. I’ll come back to this, but you probably already know where I’m going after reading the title of this editorial.

Quick flashback.

In 2016 I was in Germany covering IFA with Jaime for Pocketnow. We had just finished a Huawei presser, the company showing off a new pair of premium mid-range phones. This was a bit confusing between all the various lines of Huawei and Honor gear, but they sent us away with a Nova and a Nova Plus to demo and review.

I was extremely skeptical. This phone was going to be expensive for its internals, starting at €400. Pricing it above my precious Honor 8 felt “wrong”. I am a professional though, so I popped the smaller Nova out of its box, gave Jaime the larger phone, and we shot a first impressions video from our hotel.

Reading the specs, being concerned about price, and then using the phone, those concerns slowly evaporated. Continue reading “Pixel 3a doesn’t just cover the basics: Your tech elitism costs you cash”

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Reverse Wireless Charging is a Silly Gimmick

Is Samsung PowerShare a gimmick? Are you using reverse wireless charging on your Samsung or Huawei? Should you be taxing your phone battery to charge other gadgets? Let’s chat about gimmicks, deal breakers, and getting what we pay for.

When a phone has a feature that consumers might not use often, we call it a gimmick, and then act like it’s a travesty people are paying for something they might not use. How much is wireless charging “peace of mind” worth to a phone’s bottom line?
Continue reading “Reverse Wireless Charging is a Silly Gimmick”

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The OnePlus 7 Pro DOES have a 3X OPTICAL Zoom – Why generic consumer measurements suck…

Looks like we needed something to be outraged about.

A flurry of stories have been published, claiming deceit on the part of OnePlus. The zoom on the OnePlus 7 Pro camera is a LIE! It’s NOT really a 3X zoom! PITCHFORKS! TORCHES!

Except it is. It’s exactly what OnePlus advertised it to be. In fact, it’s a little better than what they advertised. You get a little more than what they listed on the spec sheet. The main thing OnePlus is guilty of is a clumsy execution, which we shouldn’t be too surprised about. This company is regularly “charmingly clumsy”.

We’ve got a lot to unpack here.

First of all, Very few phones really have a ZOOM lens. Continue reading “The OnePlus 7 Pro DOES have a 3X OPTICAL Zoom – Why generic consumer measurements suck…”

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A response to the DXO review of the LG V40: They’re not wrong, but…

Better late than never DXO?

The V40 has been ranked and scored at DXO, and the results aren’t what LG fans might have been hoping for. A combined score of 93 places the V40 well outside the top ten list of current phones. It’s just above an iPhone 8, and just below a Note 8 in DXO’s ranking.

LG fans are understandably “not thrilled” with this conclusion, especially for how long the phone has been out. Sort of adding an insult to the injury of delaying their review this long.

The thing is, based on the way DXO shoots and analyzes image quality, they’re not wrong. The DXO testing suite is very consistent.

They just might not test for what you use…

Continue reading “A response to the DXO review of the LG V40: They’re not wrong, but…”

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LG G8 is PERFECT competition for the Galaxy S10 (Suggesting Otherwise is Silly)

LG G8 vs Galaxy S10? It’s been said that there’s no competition, but that requires someone to completely ignore all the things LG does well. It CAN be OK for a manufacturer to focus on different features than what a more popular manufacturer chooses to include (or exclude). Let’s have a quick chat about tech reviewing on YouTube, and compare two awesome smartphones. Because apparently, only popular YouTubers can recommend popular phones. That’s not very fun…
Continue reading “LG G8 is PERFECT competition for the Galaxy S10 (Suggesting Otherwise is Silly)”

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If you think the Galaxy S10e is a better buy than the LG G8 ThinQ, you’re probably not very good at tech…

We tech fans can be insufferable sometimes.

Everyone’s favorite whipping boy, LG has released a new phone, so all the armchair tech “experts” are skulking out of the woodwork to proclaim it a failure. Dazzling us with witless observations about how it’s just not “worth it” enough, and how the only way to combat Samsung is price.

Comic-Book Guy Voice: “If the LG G8 were exactly the same as my S10 Plus and were half the price, and came with a lifetime of free sandwiches, THEN I would buy it.”

It’s a useless observation. The person who makes that kind of statement is usually the same person who’s tied to a brand. They say things like this to seem like they’re open minded. THEY make LEARNED rational purchasing decisions, based on merit. Their decision COULD be swayed IF ONLY the other gadget we’re just WORTH IT!

It’s a dead giveaway that they’re defending a gadget they like, instead of really weighing the pros and cons of various devices. LG could offer that, but then they’d just be accused of “copying Samsung”, and the person who offered that astute observation would still buy the Samsung.

Comic-Book Guy Voice: “Why buy the copycat? Even with all the free sandwiches. I make the WORTH IT gadget purchases!”

The LG G8 commentary has gotten even more ridiculous in light of the three four Galaxy S phones Samsung birthed this year. The brand fandom for Samsung is now pushing a new narrative. LG’s new flagship CAN’T EVEN COMPETE AGAINST THE CHEAP S10e!

It makes for great clickbait videos. Get those YouTube metrics cooking. Make Samsung owners feel good about their purchase! There are way more Samsung owners than LG, so it’s an easily tapped tech echo chamber.

Punching down on LG has always been a “fun” spectator sport. We’re at a point now though, where if you’re earnestly parroting that “witty” observation about phones and value, then you’re probably not very good at rationally assessing technology products. Let’s break this down real quick…

Continue reading “If you think the Galaxy S10e is a better buy than the LG G8 ThinQ, you’re probably not very good at tech…”

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What do we really get from “more powerful” smartphone processors?

When a new phone is announced, manufacturers often point to improvements like new processors and GPUs as things consumers desire. We want more powerful gadgets, but what does that really mean? What do we actually get with these generational improvements?

More gratifying benchmark scores don’t correlate with performance improvements for your favorite services.

Continue reading “What do we really get from “more powerful” smartphone processors?”

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AirPods 2: Better tech, but still going to wreck your hearing…

Better Siri support! Better audio quality! An optional wireless charging case for $40!

But, I’m sad to see the same “open ear” design, which does nothing to block or reduce surrounding noise.

As rates of hearing loss continue to rise in all age demographics (but fastest in kids in young adults), it’s always worth pushing back against a fashion trend, and sharing good data with people you care about.

Even though they look ridiculous, and will make you go deaf sooner, it’s pretty likely that the AirPods2 will be one of the most popular wireless headphone solutions of the year. If that’s the case, we can at least share tips and tricks on how to use these earbuds (and Apple’s wired EarPods, and Google’s lame PixelBuds) as safely as possible. I made a video on setting volume limits in iOS, to show where those volume and normalizing settings live on your iPhone.

And for more information on hearing loss, please check out my interview with Dr. Alison Grimes, head of Audiology at UCLA.

Remember, once you damage your ears, they never really fully heal or recover. Even if your hearing is already damaged, it can always get worse. And, while BT headsets are relatively cheap and convenient, hearing aids often cost around $5000 a pair, and usually aren’t covered by insurance.

Listen healthier. Listen happier.

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