Category: Articles

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How Can We Save Premium Android Phones When Samsung Can’t Get It Done?

Let’s not try and pretend the “Emperor” is wearing any clothes. Samsung is not inspiring consumer to spend more on smartphones.

From the Galaxy S10 to the S21, sales of premium Galaxy phones have fallen sharply. At the same time Apple increased sales of more expensive iPhones significantly.

The Average Selling Price of a Samsung phone in 2021 was around $270. The ASP of an Apple smartphone was over $800.

A recent list of the top selling phones in 2021 listed only one Samsung device, the Galaxy A12. The A12 starts at $179.99. The top selling phone of last year was the iPhone 12, which had a starting price of $799.

For fans of expensive phones, there is no metric by which we would judge this as success. Overwhelmingly, it would seem that when consumers have the means to buy more expensive phones, they opt for an iPhone.

Samsung significantly outspends almost every other company in marketing (currently trailing Amazon and Proctor and Gamble), but that doesn’t seem to be winning the hearts and minds of consumers. Lopsided coverage of expensive Samsung products on YouTube isn’t making up the difference.

Is Premium Android doomed? Continue reading “How Can We Save Premium Android Phones When Samsung Can’t Get It Done?”

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Mobvoi TicWatch GTH Pro Review: A Watch That Looks at Your Heart!

Mobvoi TicWatch GTH Pro review!
A different take on fitness tracking. Mobvoi is looking at ways to track heart and arterial health. The GTH Pro carries sensors that scan your arteries. How old is MY heart?

Let’s take a look! Continue reading “Mobvoi TicWatch GTH Pro Review: A Watch That Looks at Your Heart!”

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Redmi Note 11S: Quick Take from an American Reviewer…

Redmi Note 11S review!

Does Xiaomi make TOO many phones? This is another GREAT wallet friendly smartphone. What’s interesting is seeing how Xiaomi is picking and choosing different parts to arrive at a sub $300 price. It’s a bit overwhelming at times, but good competition is always exciting! Continue reading “Redmi Note 11S: Quick Take from an American Reviewer…”

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Android 12 Broke ALL My Benchmarks: Scoped Storage Rant

This is a little ugly. For those who want a TLDR, the video above should help explain.

I’m trying to run some newer phones through my slate of tests to grade performance. The results don’t compare favorably to similar tier phones I’ve tested in the past.

Everything has gotten more complicated to test AND scores are lower. I think I’ve found the main culprit.

Scoped Storage.

Android used to have a fairly open file system. It was blissfully easy to access most files on your phone. It was a huge power user advantage over iOS. Continue reading “Android 12 Broke ALL My Benchmarks: Scoped Storage Rant”

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Support Your RODE Wireless Go II in the Field: ZGCINE ZG-R30 Charge Case

It’s one of the most exciting aspects of mobile production. The pro-sumer audio market is rapidly improving, the tech is getting better, and prices are falling. As we get better microphones though, we also want to see better growth for accessories. It seems silly to mention, but it matters if we have good options for cases and chargers. A good wireless mic system all on its own might be more challenging to use if we don’t have gear to support those products.

The RODE Wireless Go II are making enough of an impact however, it’s encouraging to see solutions like this third part charge case from ZGCine.
RODE’s solution is excellent, and these little mics have largely taken over most of my YouTube and podcast production. The included pouch in the box though doesn’t deliver much peace of mind for protecting these mics. This is doubly troublesome if you use RODE’s magnetic mounts. The magnets snap together aggressively enough they can crack the magnets.

Soon after the Go II launch, I invested in a hard case to better store the mics and keep them from snapping together. It also gave me a slightly larger sleeve for cables and accessories.

The RODE mics and receiver have solid battery life, and it’s not difficult running for hours when out in the field. One reason why professional gear uses swappable batteries though, if you do start to run low, you can quickly pop out some AA’s and get back into shooting fast. If you run the battery low on a rechargeable transmitter, it’s a little harder to charge it back up WHILE you’re shooting.

The Go II are really fun for field work, but you do have that little gremlin in the back of your head when it comes to power. If I need to charge them up in the field, I’ve got to charge three discrete gadgets, and most of my portable batteries only have two USB ports.

Enter ZGCINE… Continue reading “Support Your RODE Wireless Go II in the Field: ZGCINE ZG-R30 Charge Case”

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Snapdragon G3X, Steam Deck Delays, and some thoughts on Mobile Gaming…

How do YOU play games on the go?

We’re gearing up for an exciting fight. Different options and solutions for taking our games on the road. The Steam Deck is delayed, Qualcomm announced a partnership with Razer, the Nintendo Switch is still going strong, and our phones are crazy powerful..

But what about the games? Continue reading “Snapdragon G3X, Steam Deck Delays, and some thoughts on Mobile Gaming…”

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The GlowingRectangles 2021 Smartphone Elimination Challenge DAY THREE!

WE HAD A TIE!

In early voting Huawei, LG, and Alcatel were neck and neck,but later voting JUST BARELY edged out LG and Alcatel! Huawei lives another day!

Setting up a new bracket, and the vote starts again!

Hit the link below to cast a NEW vote! Remember, you’re voting for who you would “kick OFF the island”. You are NOT voting for who should stay.

https://www.reddit.com/r/glowingrectangles/comments/r8t96r/2021_alt_phone_brand_elimination_challenge_day_3/

If there’s a tie in the vote, then ALL brands that tied will get eliminated. We really need those votes, upvotes, and some sharing to get the whole GlowingRectangles community involved!

Happy voting! May your favorite brands survive!

DAY THREE ELIMINATION CHALLENGE IS GO!

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Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, Dimensity 9000, and the Problems with POWER

I’m always going to be excited by better competition.

In 2019, the mobile landscape was dominated by Qualcomm and Apple SOCs at the premium tier of phones and tablets. HiSilicon’s Kirin was facing issues due to political pressures placed on Huawei. MediaTek maintained a respectable reputation as a mid-range and entry-level chip provider.

We didn’t have much choice in what powered more expensive gadgets.

Flash forward two years, we’re starting to get some insight on what will power devices in 2022, and this market is a LOT more exciting.

MediaTek took the wraps off a premium tier competitor. We’re about to hear more from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon team. Apple’s A15 is solidly refined over the A14. Google launched their first custom chip with the Pixel 6.

A stale landscape has exploded, and more companies are rumored to be designing their own solutions over the next several years.

When it comes to pocketable portable performance, we just have one small issue…

Power. Continue reading “Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, Dimensity 9000, and the Problems with POWER”

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