A review of the very popular HTC One in Arabic.
April 4, 2013 By Leave a Comment
April 2, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Samsung ATIV S review
A review of the Samsung ATIV S courtesy of Darren from www.yourgadgetguide.net
February 8, 2013 By 4 Comments
BlackBerry Z10 Review
It’s no secret in the mobile industry that BlackBerry, formerly RIM, has needed a drastic change of direction to halt what has been a rather ungraceful decline in recent years. The release of BlackBerry OS 10, built on the foundations of QNX purchased by RIM in 2010 and powering the ill-fated, although generally critically well received PlayBook, has been plagued by delays and now arrives a full 18 months since the release of the last BlackBerry device – an eon in the fast lane lifecycles of smartphones.
No-one can be sure when the final decision was made to drop the company name RIM and drive forward under the single banner of BlackBerry, but if the Z10 box that states in small print “2013 Research in Motion Limited (“RIM”)” is anything to go by, it seems like it can’t have been too long ago. It makes perfect sense from a consumer point of view to drop the RIM brand; the average consumer likely didn’t know the difference between the two anyway and it is this type of consistency that helps to show a clear direction for a company which looks to be in desperate need of one.
Enter the Z10, a handset with a new operating system for the modern landscape of devices dominated by Apple and a whole dessert cart of Android flavours. Could a BlackBerry be the final fruit to sweeten the market? Or will it leave a bitter taste in the mouth and be the last time it gets ordered?
As the Z10 and BB10 are completely new entrants in the current environment, I’m going to split this review in two. The first section will take a look at my first impressions of the Z10 and the standard smartphone hardware features a review generally covers. The second part is going to take a more in depth look at BB10 itself and how navigating and operating the new interface impacts on the experience of using the Z10. So read on for my full review.
January 18, 2013 By 106 Comments
Sony Xperia Z Review
The Xperia Z has received a lot of attention since its launch last week at CES.
I have been lucky enough to have hands on with a pre-production device for a few days (72 hours) to cast my thoughts and opinions on the device and provide an early Xperia Z review.
Do please consider this in concluding your thoughts as the final production unit and longer hands-on time may have an affect on my final thoughts and opinions.
If you want to just sit back and listen to the review, you can with the sound clip found HERE.
Design/Build/Size/Hardware
As many others have commented the Xperia Z looks stunning.
I class it somewhere in between the Samsung products and the Apple products. In my opinion it does not feel quite as cheap as Samsung but not quite as premium as Apple.
The front and back tempered glass give a glossy look to the device and the black band that runs over the edges makes it look solid and complete.
December 30, 2012 By 3 Comments
Smartphone reviews: your preferences
We want your opinions on what makes a good review
Reviews are always important, helping customers make informed decisions and letting those be aware of how well a product is being or possibly going to be received. In the fast-paced technology industry and especially in the mobile sector, getting information into the public domain first is crucial. Also with the media used to present information changing; reviewer techniques, personality and hands-on information can be delivered in a variety of methods.
Personally I am a fan of text heavy, exhaustive reviews with each facet of the device scrutinised. This probably stems from being a big videogame fan growing up and as a teenager only having printed magazines to provide information to influence my decisions. Now it seems my preference is one that is being swept aside for more ‘bitty’ reviews that provide necessary technical specifications, but little in the way of exposition regarding the reviewer’s personal experience with the device. A quick search on a device name and the word review will likely pull up a fair amount of short, hastily written pieces by someone with little experience of the device and seemingly there simply to draw some web traffic rather than truly inform the reader. This of course isn’t to say that there aren’t some sites publishing quality reviews that suit my taste, just that personally I find many lacking.
Video reviewing has changed the scene, engaging the viewer with the product instantly and able to show the device in action in a way that words alone never could. Video reviews can also lead to a reduction (or complete removal) of text and can be more personally revealing. Hearing a sigh of frustration when something goes wrong (again!) can far more delicately convey just how annoying a scenario is than any number of printed words trying to explain it.
It is perhaps inevitable that in the Internet environment, saturated with multimedia and with a prevalent culture of instantaneous gratification, we are finding more short-form information dumps. This isn’t necessarily a Bad Thing™; learning to provide concise overviews is an important and necessary skill, however we should be able to differentiate between this and the type of ‘nothing’ writing that adds little to a discussion or fails to inform the reader.
Clove provide short reviews, unboxings and links to others’ work so we would like to know what our regular readers like to see and if you want more (or less) from us. Are you fans of videos, or large image galleries? Do you think certain topics get discussed too much or not enough? Does a wall of text leave you cold or a funny introduction draw you in to read it all? Let us know!
October 6, 2012 By
Motorola RAZR i Review
Our opinion on the Motorola RAZR i
We have had hands on with the Motorola RAZR i for a little over a week, the following is a synopsis of our thoughts.
October 4, 2012 By
Sony Xperia T Review
The Xperia T gets put through it’s paces.
The Sony Xperia T is up against stiff competition in the high end smartphone market so does it have what it takes to compare to the HTC One X and Samsung Galaxy S3 to name just two?
July 19, 2012 By
Fast Burst Camera for Android – Review
It goes without saying that we all use the cameras on our smartphone a lot more than we used to, because mobile camera technology has got better, the ability to share on social networks has improved too.
However there occasions when even the best smartphone with the best camera can become useless, and that is often when you want to take images of fast moving items, such as sports. I can think of many occasions where I should have had an app like this on my phone but haven’t.
June 16, 2012 By
Samsung Galaxy S3 Review
A video review of Samsung’s flagship smartphone for 2012, the Galaxy S III.
Writing a review of the S3 would have been like writing a small novel. There is so much to talk about, so here is my review of the Samsung Galaxy S3.
May 29, 2012 By
Sony Xperia U Video Review
A video review of the Sony Xperia U Android smartphone.