Let's Talk Tech
Pixel 5A First impressions!
And boy howdy is THIS PHONE BORING! But seriously tho, maybe that’s OK? Maybe it’s ok to just give us better battery life and the promise of solid long term support. Maybe “exciting” isn’t what a lot of consumers need right now?
Let’s chat… Continue reading “The Pixel 5A is BORING!”
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!”
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?”
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!”
Samsung was early to market with the S21 this year.
In a move to reduce prices over last year’s S20, the new S line from Samsung is a less feature rich offering than its predecessor. While those compromises are debatable, and are certainly more a conversation about personal preferences than objective improvements, the main touted improvement for the phone has been the top of the line Snapdragon 888.
This chip marks a change in SOC from Qualcomm, including one larger CPU performance core along side three more powerful CPU cores, in addition to a quartet of lower power CPU cores. The SD888 is also packing the latest and greatest GPU from Qualcomm, and as expected, our synthetic benchmarks show generational improvements.
That’s only the beginning of a conversation about performance though. How does the S21 stack up against last year’s handsets? How should we feel about a Galaxy S which is pre-throttled out of the box?
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 Galaxy S21: By The Benchmarks! Continue reading “Galaxy S21 By the Benchmarks: The performance plateau…”
Sony XPERIA 1ii Android 11 First Look!
It’s FINALLY here! Sony’s smartphones were strong performers in 2020, but the USA was one of the last regions to land the Android 11 update. What’s changed? What’s improved?
And how harsh should we judge those early benchmarks? Continue reading “Sony XPERIA 1ii on Android 11: 4K Slow-Mo, Monitor Mode, FASTER Performance! The Check Up!”
The LG V60 has Android 11!
Totally fair to be concerned about the recent software support on the V60. Hardware this good, but the phone still needed some polish. Bringing some of the features we liked on the Wing and Velvet, the V60 got a NICE shot in the arm!
Here are the major updates I could find in under 48 hours! Continue reading “Android 11 on LG V60: Better Late Than Never! (Desktop Mode, Camera, Dual Display updates!)”
My review of the Pixel 5 hinges on one major decision. Do you like smaller phones?
There aren’t many good options for a smaller “one thumb” mighty mouse running Android, especially phones including a 5G radio. Using the Pixel 5 for a couple weeks, let’s chat some of my pros and cons of this punchy little option.
What Google is doing here is interesting, but is it the right fit for you? Continue reading “Google Pixel 5 Review: For folks who LIKE little phones!”