Let's Talk Tech
RED is sticking to cameras and abandoning their smartphone platform after one disappointing phone! Ajit Pai wants to end STATES RIGHTS to fully end Net Neutrality! The US Air Force has a SPACE DRONE! I share my thoughts on the new Pixelbook Go!
And we have to talk about Right to Repair, as legislation is under attack to protect our ability to fix our gadgets!
Let’s get our tech week started off right!
I’ve already gone on record proclaiming the V50 as my favorite phone of 2019. As a reviewer and editorialist, I don’t believe there can be “true objectivity” in a review. If you know more about me, how I use my gadgets, and the work I put them through, you will have a better understanding of my analysis. You can apply my experiences which overlap with your needs, and you can disregard the parts of my analysis which don’t apply to you. I made a video on this idea, which you can watch below.
I try to be as fair as I can. I try to examine a gadget based on the claims made by the manufacturer, not my preconceived idea of what the gadget SHOULD be. I try to figure out who the audience might be for EVERY gadget I review.
Every phone I’ve reviewed this year has gotten SOME kind of purchasing recommendation, but obviously some phones have been more broadly recommended than others.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at one of the most brutal comparisons in the premium tier of the Android ecosystem. This is a battle of polar opposites. Two substantially different takes on the idea of an expensive phone. And when the dust settles from this showdown, the songs we will sing of these mighty titans will echo through the halls of history.
Or, we’ll just totally nerd out on two flashy gadgets. Continue reading “SomeGadgetGuy’s TOTALLY Biased Pixel 4XL vs LG V50 ThinQ Comparison! Brains vs Brawn!”
I feel we all get swept up in popularity trends. It can be difficult to swim against that stream once a general consensus has been agreed upon. I have to be honest here, as an editorialist, I happen to enjoy those situations where I can shine a light on a topic, and maybe poke at that popular trend.
Whether I’m responding to a mega-youtuber about a jack-of-all-trades phone, correcting a popular Android blog about audio, or explaining how camera crop factor works when people flip out about a 3X zoom, I enjoy ruffling a few feathers to spread better data on complicated subjects.
The Pixel 4 was one of the worst kept secrets of 2019. It may be one of the worst kept secrets of all time. Now that it’s finally arrived, the tech community is in first stage of impressions and reviews. What makes the Pixel 4 different, we knew pretty much everything about the phone a month before it launched. Google isn’t facing a community just beginning to form opinions on the new Pixel, they’re facing a community that has already made up its collective mind on the Pixel.
It’s pretty clear that Google is setting their sights on Apple as the primary competition. For better, and for worse. When Apple does something, it seems to motivate a LOT of the decisions made by Google’s hardware team.
When the original Pixel launched, we all lovingly joked about it being “Google’s iPhone”. For a hot minute, I really tried to get the nickname “gPhone” to stick.
With the Pixel 4, it would seem Google took those early sentiments to heart. The Pixel 4 seems a purpose-built iPhone competitor, the closest way to recreate an iPhone-style experience, but in the Android ecosystem.
It’s entirely fair to compare Pixels against the phones Apple released this year. What’s frustrating though, is seeing folks cherry-pick one or two features to declare a winner, and to highlight “worth”.
Phones should be judged holistically, and any phone can win or lose a showdown if we move the goalposts to align with a user’s pre-determined bias. The common criticism I see now, is declaring the Pixel 4 unworthy to compete even against the cheaper non-pro iPhone 11. It’s a causally delivered verdict, folks kind of nod along. It’s a surface statement that sounds good, and throws a thumb in the eye of Google.
“The Pixel 4 can’t possibly be worth $100 more than an iPhone!”
The issue is, that statement doesn’t really hold water… Continue reading “Silly Tech Geeks! Of course the Pixel 4 is worth $100 more than an iPhone 11!”
Zuckerberg is feuding with politicians over lies in Facebook ads! The IRS is tracking Bitcoin transactions to foil child exploitation! NordVPN might have been compromised! LG and Samsung detail Android 10 updates!
And we have to talk about all the Pixel 4 videos swarming the internet right now!
Let’s get our tech week started off right!
Continue reading “#SGGQA 119: Zuckerberg vs Politicians, NordVPN Compromised, Pixel 4 Reviews”
Pixel 4XL performance!
Benchmarking a phone is tricky. Synthetic scores only tell PART of the story. If you’re shopping a premium phone, we should be looking at MUCH more aggressive use than just “covering the basics”. Let’s run the Pixel 4 through some tests that can make decent laptops struggle!
Also, the Pixel 4XL totally destroys the competition in these tests. It’s not even close… Continue reading “Google Pixel 4XL Benchmarked! The FASTEST phone of 2019!”
Pixel 4XL First Impressions! I’m less than a day into using the Pixel 4, but I’m building a plan for how I’m going to review this phone! What are some of my early hopes for this gadget? What are some concerns worth examining? Sharing some thoughts with a preview of coverage to come! Continue reading “Google Pixel 4XL: 4 Hopes and 4 Fears for a Future Review…”
A FLIP PHONE in 2019? This is my first experience with KaiOS, and it’s surprisingly capable. While we focus on premium expensive gadgets, there’s room at the entry level to sneak in. How much should it REALLY cost to cover the basics? Not a lot… Continue reading “Alcatel SmartFlip Flip Phone Review: KaiOS in the USA?”
And the immediate reaction by consumers will likely be a shrug.
“What can you do?”
The problem is, that apathy shouldn’t be a surprise. We don’t have much room to “vote with our wallets” these days. The reality of the tech market, these supposed “upgrades” happen way too quickly for consumers to react. Gadgets sales paced out over years from individual consumers don’t guide manufacturing decisions.
The in-display fingerprint sensor can apparently be unlocked by ANY finger. I discussed this on the #SGGQA podcast while the story was fresh, and the general sentiment from Samsung fans was that this had to be a case of user error. We’re getting confirmation now that this is a flaw in the current software from Samsung. Users are starting to test this flaw, and it has nothing to do with improper setup or using Non-Samsung approved accessories. BBC confirms Samsung will release a software patch for the problem.
Here’s a video of a Galaxy S10 owner on Twitter demonstrating the problem, freshly training a thumbprint, and then bypassing the fingerprint lock with a different finger. Continue reading “Smartphone design “improvements” are not progress: Prettier is less practical”