Category: Articles

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Chromecast with Google TV: The cure for dumb smart TV’s

I have a nice Samsung QLED TV. I was really excited to buy it. After using it for a couple years, I hate the smart features on this TV.

Let me backtrack for a second.

I want control.

Camera, computer, or TV, I want to control how I operate that item. I want to know what media I can use with it. I want to know what features will interact with my other networked hardware.

There can be NO gatekeepers between me, the hardware I use, and the media I pay for. Continue reading “Chromecast with Google TV: The cure for dumb smart TV’s”

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What’s in a name? The Pixel 5 is NOT an upgrade over the Pixel 4?

A gadget’s name is important. Branding takes time to establish, and it serves as a shortcut for consumers. A potential customer doesn’t need to analyze every aspect of the gadget. If they liked SmartyPhone5, when it’s time to upgrade, they’ll probably like SmartyPhone7.

When a company changes their naming, or pivots from that strategy, it can cause confusion. Confusion in this market is often bad for sales. We should always be concerned about how a company presents a product.

At the same time, tech enthusiasts should also be a bit savvier than the “average consumers” we’re all so interested in protecting. Continue reading “What’s in a name? The Pixel 5 is NOT an upgrade over the Pixel 4?”

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Galaxy Note 20 Ultra: The case for SPECIALTY Hardware

This is an interesting position for me to be in. As an overall brand, I’m not the biggest fan of Samsung these days.

I feel they buy their market position more than they earn it. They pour advertising dollars into media to sway consumer behavior and manipulate search engine popularity algorithms. They set a toxic tone of mocking rivals in their ads, but quickly copy those same rivals when it benefits their profits. They were one of the higher profile phone manufacturers caught cheating benchmarks back in the day, and likely copied Apple’s update policy of slowing down older phones. As a corporation, they’ve abused their market position to inflate prices on components. Their PR has been the most punitive I’ve ever worked with (and failed to work with), over several media publications.

While I appreciate individual products, I don’t like Samsung as a company.

Which is why it feels funny writing a defense for one of their most expensive phones. I’m not the guy for this job, but I’ll try my best.

The Note 20 Ultra is a great phone at a very good price. Continue reading “Galaxy Note 20 Ultra: The case for SPECIALTY Hardware”

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Galaxy Note 20 Ultra By The Benchmarks: Samsung’s Fastest is PRETTY Good for the Price…

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is a beast of a phone.

For 2020, we can call this slab “Peak Samsung”. A prime example of a company pushing its current manufacturing to the limits, and delivering the absolute best “standard” form factor smartphone it can. The Note has a rich history of being the crown jewel enthusiast and productivity device.

We can’t overlook however, the Note 20 Ultra also starts at $1299.99 for 128GB of storage. For that price we should expect the bleeding edge of technology, and a spec sheet packed full of premium-tier exotic options.

Samsung doesn’t disappoint for spec sheet junkies in the United States. Including a Snapdragon 865+ chipset, UFS3.0 storage, and 12GB of RAM, the Note should be leading most of our performance testing.

And it does. But it doesn’t always win…

Performance testing is more involved than running a synthetic bench and comparing who’s number is bigger. Let’s dig a little deeper than that. Here’s the Note 20 Ultra: By The Benchmarks! Continue reading “Galaxy Note 20 Ultra By The Benchmarks: Samsung’s Fastest is PRETTY Good for the Price…”

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How SomeGadgetGuy Tests Phones with Real-World Apps for Benchmarks and Reviews

How powerful is your phone?

If you are a gadget fan, you can probably tell me what’s on the spec sheet. You probably know what processor is inside and how much RAM you have. You might be able to tell me what GPU is in there. If you’re REALLY techie, maybe you can rattle off some synthetic benchmark scores.

But what does that mean?

Knowing your phone has a Qualcomm Snapdragon, Samsung Exynos, or an Apple A Bionic doesn’t tell you much about what your phone can REALLY do. Synthetic benchmarks are easy to manipulate, and gimmicky app “speed runs” are poor indicators of overall performance.

The only proper solution is to test devices using real apps that any consumer can install, and compare the results of consistent testing over several generations of gadgets. While I’ve produced benchmarking videos, I felt it was worth explaining my testing protocol in one handy blog post, for any folks who might be interested.

I’ve been running my phones like this for years now. Here’s how I do it! Continue reading “How SomeGadgetGuy Tests Phones with Real-World Apps for Benchmarks and Reviews”

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Google Pixel 5: Who is this phone for? Is it a flagship?

Google claims the Pixel 5 is the “ultimate 5G Google Phone”, but what exactly is it?

This is the top of the line offering from Google, but is it a true “flagship” product? Is it a price disrupting phone? Is it the Google iPhone?

It’s an interesting year for the Pixel, so let’s dig in a bit.

Just who is this thing for? Continue reading “Google Pixel 5: Who is this phone for? Is it a flagship?”

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#SGGQA 174: XPERIA 5ii is here! Velvet on T-Mobile, Galaxy S20 FE, and Ring’s Home Drone!

The XPERIA 5ii is in the gadget lab!

I’m also going hands on with the Velvet on T-Mobile! We’re going to chat about the Galaxy S20 FE. Twitter wants you to read more articles before you retweet them. The OnePlus 8 is on sale! And the DoJ wants to end protections for social media sites AGAIN.

Let’s get our tech week started right!
Continue reading “#SGGQA 174: XPERIA 5ii is here! Velvet on T-Mobile, Galaxy S20 FE, and Ring’s Home Drone!”

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Who is the Surface Duo for? 4K Vlog Shot on the Surface Duo!

Let’s not pretend this is a great camera. It CAN shoot 4K video, and this is what your video will look like! But the capabilities of the Surface Duo extend beyond an OK selfie shooter. Who is this phone for? That’s the first question of a longer conversation… Continue reading “Who is the Surface Duo for? 4K Vlog Shot on the Surface Duo!”

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