Black Shark 4 By The Benchmarks: A Monster Mid-Ranger!

Performance is fun to test, but there are some exciting moments when we really balance performance against price. The Black Shark 4 arrives at a compelling price, and with some fun gaming hardware. Notably, this phone is the first we get to test using the Snapdragon 870. This SOC is a refresh on last year’s top of the line option from Qualcomm.

Often when we push a phone’s price to the mid-pack, we use a middle tier SOC. This year Qualcomm is offering two options for their 800 series chips. This introduces an interesting performance sub-tier. As a cost savings, we can often recommend a one year old flagship phone for those looking at cutting costs.

The Black Shark 4, as a brand new phone, looks to compete against last year’s premium offerings.

We should expect to see a lot of our tests land somewhere inbetween the most expensive phones from last year, and the premium tier phones from this year. Let’s see how this gaming phone handles some real world apps!

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 Black Shark 4: By The Benchmarks! Continue reading “Black Shark 4 By The Benchmarks: A Monster Mid-Ranger!”

Ultrasone Performance 880 Headphones: Sweet and Mellow

Performance 880 review!

The fun thing about premium audio, it’s less about “quality”, and more about crafting a specific sound. When you start figuring out what kind of tone or tuning you really like. Ultrasone delivers a specific vibe on the Performance 880, and it’s kind of delicious… Continue reading “Ultrasone Performance 880 Headphones: Sweet and Mellow”

OnePlus 9 Pro Camera Conclusion: Living up to the Hasselblad hype?

Ok. The Hasselblad labeling is a bit overdone, but I can’t fault a company for wanting to make a little noise.

It’s not about giving OP a pass though, these cameras still need to tested against the manufacturer’s claims. The nice thing for OP fans this year, the 9 Pro is starting off with a SOLID hardware advantage… Continue reading “OnePlus 9 Pro Camera Conclusion: Living up to the Hasselblad hype?”

Amazfit T-Rex Pro: MONSTER Fitness Tracker!

Amazfit T-Rex Pro review! It’s a monster! It’s a BEAST! It’s a GREAT rugged fitness tracker at a GREAT price!

It might be a bit TOO much watch for me, but this is a killer fitness tracker, with a focus on RUGGED use! Exactly the kinda hardware I like to nerd out over! Running the T-Rex Pro for a couple recharges, literally two recharges, took me over two weeks. Here are my thoughts on this surprisingly affordable chonk of a watch! Continue reading “Amazfit T-Rex Pro: MONSTER Fitness Tracker!”

Turn your phone into a laptop! UPERFECT X Laptop Dock Review!

Your phone is a powerful pocket computer.

With an accessory or two, it’s not difficult to turn a pocket computer into a PC or laptops replacement! Keyboard, trackpad, a HUGE battery, and an HD touchscreen, this dock has all the goods to give a Chromebook a run for its money! Continue reading “Turn your phone into a laptop! UPERFECT X Laptop Dock Review!”

Pixel 5 April Update: Did we REALLY get MORE POWER?

The Pixel 5 got its April update! A 16MB OTA, which would usually mean just some basic security patches. Interesting though, that this update seems to bring some tweaks that improve GPU performance. Beyond just a Geekbench score, what might this mean for real world gaming? Let’s take a look! Continue reading “Pixel 5 April Update: Did we REALLY get MORE POWER?”

Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 4G: I finally get to play with a Xiaomi!

Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite review!

I’m getting up to speed on Xiaomi! It’s been YEARS since I last got to play with one. Happily, looking at proper mid-ranger phone, this is a REALLY nice smartphone to start with! Continue reading “Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 4G: I finally get to play with a Xiaomi!”

OnePlus 9 Pro By the Benchmarks: Better Performance for the Price!

Sometimes it’s ok to NOT be first.

OnePlus is following the CRAZY early launches from Xiaomi and Samsung. This generation, we’ve seen some concerning tests using Qualcomm’s newest SOC, the Snapdragon 888.

After testing the Galaxy S21, we definitely needed to compare against other phones using this SOC. Were the performance issues the fault of Qualcomm? Samsung? App developers? There are a LOT of moving parts here to consider.

The OnePlus 9 Pro gives us another data point to compare, and OnePlus is making some important claims about their phone. Not only are they using the top of the line SOC, they’re also claiming to do a better job cooling that SOC.

A premium tier phone is an incredibly powerful mobile computer. Someone buying at this price tier might want to know they really can replace some of their laptop or desktop use with their phone.

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 OnePlus 9 Pro: By The Benchmarks! Continue reading “OnePlus 9 Pro By the Benchmarks: Better Performance for the Price!”