It’s the holiday shopping season and discounts and promos are in full swing. If you’re like a lot of consumers, now is the time to consider a smartphone upgrade. Buying a new device can be a fun endeavor, especially if you’ve got previous experience. For some, however, the thought of selecting a new handset may trigger some trepidation.
Which is the newest phone? What is the best phone? Which is the one that’s going to give me exactly what I need? We’re here to help you dig through the clutter.
We’ve put together a list of the top 10 Android smartphones you should consider for Verizon this December. Here, in no particular order, are ten Android handsets that you should consider for Verizon if you’re currently shopping around.
Droid Turbo 2
As the first phone to feature a shatterproof display, much can be said about the new Droid Turbo 2. Not only does this one give you peace of mind in knowing that it can fall out of your pocket or desk without shattering, the phone also features some pretty impressive hardware.
Powered by Android 5.1 Lollipop, the Turbo 2 features a 5.4-inch display at 2560×1440 resolution and a 21-megapixel camera. Quick charging ensures that the phone never runs low on juice; moreover, the 3760mAh battery gets you two days of use. In other words it’s built to be used and somewhat abused.
In a first for the Droid series, buyers can head to the Moto Maker tool to design their own unique version of the phone. There are more than 1,000 combinations of colors and materials to choose from.
The newest phone of the bunch, this LG features two displays. Indeed, there is the 5.7-inch quad HD screen which looks gorgeous on its own. However, up at the top you will find a small secondary display which offers quick access to favourite contacts, apps, media player buttons , or an at-a-glance view of your schedule.
But, as if that were not enough, you will also find 64 gigabytes of internal storage with a microSD card that allows for another 200GB of space. The removable 3,000mAh battery is more than enough to get you a day or two of life. The rear offers up a 16-megapixel camera while the front houses a pair of 5-megapixel shooters. One works for close-ups while the other has a wide angle lens for group shots.
Another relative newbie, this Motorola packs a 5.5-inch 1080p HD display, 21-megapixel rear camera, and 16GB internal storage. Toss in the 3630mAh battery with Turbo Charging and you’ve got a device that should never run low on power. Other specifications include Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, microSD expansion card slot for more storage, and a water-repellent coating.
The fifth generation of Samsung’s plus-sized smartphone experience boasts a gorgeous metal and glass design. The S Pen digital stylus is smarter than ever and works without even powering on the display. Up from previous models, storage options are now 32GB and 64GB. The battery, which comes in at a commendable 3000mAh capacity, allows for fast charging, wireless charging, and even fast wireless charging.
Announced in the spring, it’s hard to beat the annual Samsung flagship smartphone. The 5.1-inch Quad HD screen is a stunner and feels oh-so-right in our hands and the premium design includes glass and metal. It’s the first Galaxy S model we’ve wanted to coddle and protect in a long time. It doesn’t hurt that it runs Android 5.0 Lollipop (with an expected 6.0 update), comes with at least 32GB storage, and has 3GB RAM to boost performance.
An almost identical sibling to the aforementioned Galaxy Note 5, this one trades out the stylus for the dual curved display. If you don’t need to jot down notes or mark up documents, consider grabbing the more sexy counterpart.
LG continues to impress with a steady stream of flagship models that demand attention. We long ago fell in love with the rear button layout and this year’s version has one of the best camera experiences we’ve ever seen on a smartphone. The specs are top-notch and the screen is a real looker.
Running an untouched version of Android Lollipop, the Nexus 6 is among the first to receive an update to the 6.0 Marshmallow build. The 6-inch screen might be a little bigger than you’re familiar with but the reviews and feedback have been solid. Internal storage is tapped at 32GB with no microSD expansion card slot but it should be enough for those who live in the cloud.
The lone HTC model here is also one of the oldest flagship models to make this list. Don’t let that concern you, though, it’s still a kick-ass phone with a great build. The 5-inch screen looks great and fits well in the hand while the 20-megapixel camera snaps excellent photos. The microSD card keeps media lovers content with room for up to 200GB of external storage.
As an ancestor to the Droid Turbo 2 and Droid Maxx 2, the Moto X (2nd Generation) doesn’t have a ton of Verizon customization. In other words, it’s closer to a stock Android experience than most other phones with only a few added touches. We love what Motorola adds to the user interface: twist to open camera, chop to activate flashlight, and voice actions. Pick yours up in Black, White Bamboo, or Football Leather.
Nova Launcher is an app that millions of people use and it’s full of tons of features and options that allow the user to do so much customization to their devices when it comes to their homescreens, docks at the bottom of the screen, gestures and even icons. The list is nearly endless and while a lot of people know about these features and options and how to use them, there are still a lot of folks out there that don’t know. We’re also going to be holding a contest at the end of the post to give away some license key codes worth $5 each so make sure to check that out before you close the tab!
In our previous version of this post we talked about changing icon sizes and a few other things you can do with the icons. Today we’re going to talk about the dock on the homescreen. While most of you know what the dock is and how it works, there are a lot of folks that don’t know what all you are capable of doing with this little gem that sits at the bottom of your homescreen, if you choose to display it of course.
One thing to note is that you should have both Nova Launcher and Nova Launcher Prime installed. Some features are only available in the paid version of Nova Launcher Prime. It’s only $4.99 in the Google Play Store currently and in my opinion it’s totally worth every penny. You can find it here: Nova Launcher Prime and you can find the free version here: Nova Launcher.
Activating the Dock
By default the dock in Nova Launcher is set to be active, but in case it’s not, or you accidentally turn it off, it’s very simple to turn it back on. Just go into Nova Settings -> Dock and on the top right of the next screen flip the little toggle switch to the right so that it’s blue. Once you do that, or if it’s already done, you will have all sorts of new options to play around with.
I’m going to quickly mention Icon Layout and not go into details about that section and the options within it since that was discussed in the previous version of this post that you can read here: Get the most out of Nova Launcher. Everything in that post pertains to the Icon Layout section underneath the Dock settings. Only difference is that it applies to the icons on the dock instead of the homescreen.
Dock Background
The dock background option is full of features and choices for you to highly customize your dock pretty much how you want it to appear. Some of these options are the shape of the dock background such as custom images, transparency or even Nova Dock style apps from the Play Store.
So let’s start with the shape of the background of the dock itself. By default, Nova Launcher comes with four shapes you can choose from. You can select Platform, Rectangle, Rounded or Arc. Below I’m going to describe each one briefly and then show you a screenshot with a preview of each one.
Platform: This makes the dock icons appear as if they are sitting on a platform with a 3D style look to it to give it a bit of depth.
Rectangle: This is just a rectangle shape that fills the entire width of the dock and your icons sit right on top of that.
Rounded: The rounded dock background doesn’t quite fill up the entire width of the screen and it has rounded corners. You can see the homescreen wallpaper around the left and right sides of the rounded dock background.
Arc: This dock background takes up the entire width of the dock but has a little arc to it so it’s not just a flat looking image behind your icons.
Next up is the Content section and this is where things get a little bit more fun in my opinion. It’s where the creativity can really come into play. I’m talking about custom images, images from supported Nova Docks apps that I mentioned above or just custom colors for your dock background.
Tint: This allows you to choose the color of the dock background if you want just a custom, solid color for the dock without any custom image. It will use whatever selection you chose from the four above and just simply color the dock that color. There are 19 pre-defined colors once you click on the Tint button or you can click on the three dots and pick any color you want using the color slider.
Image: When you click on Image you get a list of all sorts of stuff possibly. For me, I get Gallery Apps which allows me to choose any of my photo type apps such as Quick Pic, Google Photos, Dropbox and much more to choose images from to use on the dock. If you have supported apps such as Nova Docks by Samer Zayer installed, it will give you that option as well. Or some custom icon packs bundled in backgrounds to use with the dock on Nova Launcher, so those might be listed as well. Last but not least, there is a even a link to get more themes from the Google Store and I have to tell you, there’s all sorts of good stuff to be found by clicking that link.
Next up is the Transparency option which is a fun little option to play with if you like that kind of thing. For me, when I have a custom image set for my dock background, I like to have my transparency set to about 50%. That way I don’t see just a solid color for the dock background yet I can still make out what color it is as well as partially see my homescreen wallpaper through the dock background.
Now that we’ve customized the dock background, let’s wrap it this up with the other things that you can set for the dock within Nova Launcher.
You can have multiple dock pages, which means you can swipe left/right to access more docks that you’ve set up. This is very similar to how homescreens are done. You can have just one dock page or you can have up to a total of five dock pages.
On each dock page, on a mobile phone, you can have up to 7 icons across the width of the dock. You can also have as few as one icon per dock if you so choose. If you go with the option of 7 and you have 5 dock pages, that means you can have up to 35 icons across the bottom of the screen on the dock that you can swipe left/right to access rather quickly.
Then throw in the fact that you can of course create folders which contain multiple numbers of apps within them and place those on your dock as well. So the possibilities are quite endless when it comes to the amount of icons that can be placed on a dock or on multiple docks.
One neat little option that has been included for the dock is the Infinite Scroll option. What this does is allow you to continuously scroll between all of your dock pages. If it’s turned off, when you reach the last dock page on the left or right, you can’t scroll any further. If this option is turned on, then you just keep scrolling and scrolling.
Width and Height Padding are just options for how much padding(blank space) there is between the icons on the dock and the left and right sides of the screen as well as between the icons and the bottom of the screen and any widgets or icons above the dock.
Advance Settings
At the bottom of the screen when you go to Nova Settings -> Dock you will see Advance which you can expand to give you 3 more options. You will see Dock As Overlay, Automatically Close and Remember Position. Below I’ll describe what each of these do and how they work exactly.
Dock As Overlay: This option lets your dock appear as if it’s over top of the desktop itself. So ultimately if you have this option set, you can have icons or widgets below it and the dock will always be on top of those when it’s active.
Automatically Close: This option tells the dock to automatically close once you launch an app from the dock itself. In other words, it completely deactivates the dock so for it to appear again you would need to go into Nova Settings -> Dock and turn it back on. The other option would be if you have gestures setup such as a swipe up gesture to show the dock, then you could avoid the step above to turn it back on. To activate the Automatically Close option you have to have Dock As Overlay activated first.
Remember Position: This is an interesting little feature that many people don’t know what it does or exactly how it works which is one of the reasons why I am doing this post to teach people new things about Nova Launcher. How this works is only if you have 2 or more dock pages set in the option mentioned above.
By default if you have more than one dock page and you click on an app to open it from the dock and then you return to your homescreen, the dock will always revert back to the default dock, or dock number one, so to speak. But let’s say you scroll over to dock 3 and you want it to always stay there instead of forcing you to scroll back to that dock again the next time you are on the homescreen, then you will want to activate this feature. So when you click on an app on the third dock page, and you go back to your homescreen, the same dock page is still visible at that time.
Final Thoughts
There is so much more that you can do with Nova Launcher, but this was just the first little tip and how-to of many to come. Stay tuned to the follow up to this post as we take a look at folders and what you can do with them as well as gestures and what kind of awesome things you do with those.
If anyone out there has any issues, questions or suggestions, please feel free to email Nova Launcher support via support@teslacoilsw.com at any time. You would actually be getting a response from me personally as I handle support for Nova Launcher as I just recently joined the team working directly with Kevin Barry, the creator and developer behind Nova Launcher.
The Giveaway/Contest
As mentioned in the beginning, AndroidGuys has teamed up with TeslaCoilSW, the makers of Nova Launcher/Nova Launcher Prime, to do a little bit of a giveaway for some license key codes for Nova Launcher Prime. Each license is worth $5 and we’re going to give away 10 license codes. That’s one for ten lucky individuals so there’s a few to be had here.
[alert color=”green”]The contest is as easy as leaving a comment below and just tell us whatever you want, be it your favorite movie, favorite past-time, favorite cartoon character or just to simply tell us how awesome we are. Once you leave a comment, you are automatically entered to win one of ten license key codes for Nova Launcher Prime. All we ask is that when you do leave your comment, you sign into Disqus with a valid email address as that is how we will be contacting the ten lucky winners. Very important that you use a valid email.
The contest will start immediately and will end on Sunday, December 6th, at 11:59pm EST. We will then draw ten lucky winners and contact them to claim their prize on Wednesday December 9th. Don’t delay, leave us a comment and get ready for a chance to win today![/alert]
Happy Holidays everyone. I’m sure many of you are tired of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, and your wallets are a little lighter after the spending binge. I truly hope you all got spectacular deals on incredible products, either for yourselves or for a loved one.
Now that it is December, the time is upon us to get in the spirit of giving.
One of my very favorite things about Google is their commitment to making a difference in the world. At the very bottom of the Santa Tracker webpage, Google is asking for people to get in the holiday spirit by donating to DonorsChoose.org. Not everyone is fortunate enough to splurge during the Black Friday weekend and some kids don’t even have access to simple school supplies.
#ForEveryKid (From Google)
“Help fund a special project on DonorsChoose.org. This December, we’re helping to double the impact by matching donations by 50%, until we reach our goal of donating US$1,000,000. Together, we can make classrooms more inclusive #ForEveryKid“
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How does it work?
DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need. Public school teachers from every corner of America post classroom project requests on our site, and you can give any amount to the project that most inspires you.
When a project reaches its funding goal, we ship the materials to the school. You’ll get photos of the project taking place, a letter from the teacher, and insight into how every dollar was spent. Give over $50 and you’ll also receive hand-written thank-yous from the students.
Is there a minimum donation?
You can give as little as $1 and get the same level of choice, transparency, and feedback that is traditionally reserved for someone who gives millions.
What kinds of schools do you serve?
K-12 public schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, including public charter schools.
How did DonorsChoose.org start?
Charles Best, a new social studies teacher in the Bronx, often talked with his colleagues about materials and experiences they wanted their students to have, but which they had no funding to support. He created DonorsChoose.org in 2000 so that individuals could connect directly with classrooms in need. Check out our fun timeline.
Are gifts tax-deductible?
As a 501(c)3 charity, donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of US law. Our federal tax ID # is 13-4129457.
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I know not everyone is fortunate enough to be in a position to donate money, but the holiday season is about giving, and even if you can donate time at your local food bank, homeless shelter, or even just helping a neighbor rake leaves, take the time to do something nice for someone. But if you are fortunate enough to donate money, help support DonorsChoose.org and Google will match %50 of every dollar raised to help students in need.
You can fund projects in your local communities, or you can give to projects hundreds of miles away.
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Some projects ask for as little as $555, such as this one where a teacher is asking for support to pay for simple school supplies. The funding will provide basic supplies for her 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade special education students. The project just needs $203 to be funded half way and Google will take care of the rest.
Edit 12/2/2015 FUNDED!
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Or this project which needs just $69 to reach its goal:
My students need tools to help focus their minds and calm their bodies to be ready to learn. Other students in the class need books to build empathy and understanding.
Come on Androidguys readers, lets get this one funded too!
My students need an interactive whiteboard to meet their need for highly visual instruction that also includes opportunities for tactile manipulation.
My Students (from Ms. Lukosavich)
The one-size-fits all model of education doesn’t work. Assuming that what works for the majority of the class is the best practice is wrong. Do we only care about the majority of the class, or do we care about all of our students? And if we want them all to learn, what are we doing to reach them all?
I ask myself the above question daily and sometimes I don’t have a great answer.
I know what my amazing special education students need in order to learn. They require information to be presented in visual formats (pictures, diagrams, videos, etc) and they need opportunities for using manipulatives (hands on-spelling activities; counters, geometric shapes, and algebra tiles in math; interactive timelines and maps in social studies, etc.). If they’re going to master content and skills, they also need to be invested in their learning, which requires them to be excited and interested in it. However, despite understanding that these are their needs, I don’t have access to the tools and programs that would meet these requirements. I don’t have the hands-on games and manipulatives that their IEPs recommend. I also have very limited ways to present visual information to my students.
I know Androidguys doesn’t have the reach that sites like Engadget and Android Central have, but if you could help pass this message along to everyone you know, we can help kids by funding one, two, three or maybe even hundreds of projects. Every dollar counts. #ForEveryKid
Let’s aim to get most of these projects funded before Santa comes on the 25th.
[alert color=”green”]Although this walk-through is written for those using a device running Android 6.0 Marshmallow, the steps are almost identical for those of you running Android Lollipop, too. [/alert]
With the holiday season basically upon us, family gatherings are going to be in near future for many of us. While it is wonderful to spend time with loved ones, these parties normally involve multiple children begging to play games on your phone. There is no better time than now for a refresh on how to use that amazing screen pinning feature that Google debuted with Android 5.0 last year.
Screen pinning allows you to pin a specific app on your phone so that whoever is using your phone can only use that app and cannot navigate throughout your phone. If they discover how to unpin the app, they will be greeted with your lockscreen provided your device is secured with some form of lockscreen security. This means that when you hand your phone off to you little cousins to play Clash of Clans, they will not exit the app and somehow find there way to Amazon to accidentally purchase a giant stuffed bear.
To enable Screen Pinning, follow these steps:
Navigate to the Settings menu on your phone
Scroll until you see the Security section and tap on that
In the Security menu, scroll to the bottom where you will find Screen Pinning and select it
Enable screen pinning by tapping the toggle at the top right of the menu
If you have any type of lockscreen security (PIN, pattern, etc), you can have it be displayed in order to unpin the app by toggling that option
Hooray! Screen pinning has been enabled. Now to utilize your new found power, follow these steps:
Open the app that you want to pin
Press the Overview button (the square button at the bottom of your phone)
In Overview, drag the app you want to pin into the middle of the screen
Tap the blue pin icon in the bottom right corner of the box
Each time you pin a screen, a dialog box will appear that explains how to unpin the screen. Tapping “Got It” will make this box go away.
Congratulations! Your screen has been pinned!
To unpin your screen, simply tap and hold on the Overviewand Backbuttons simultaneously. If you chose to lock the apps with your lockscreen, you will be prompted to enter your passcode and then you can return to using your phone as normal.
It should be noted that when trying to exit a pinned app, instructions appear on now to exit the app which will give anyone using your phone the ability to unpin the app. For the best privacy, some sort of lockscreen security is recommended. You can couple this with screen pinning so that when someone attempts to unpin an app, they are sent directly to your lockscreen.
Screen pinning is a super useful tool when your around family and friends who like to borrow your phone, but it is also a nice feature to have if you even lend your phone to a stranger to make a call or anything else. This extra layer of security is always useful and helps keep your information private.
The LG Urbane 2nd Edition Watch was an Android Wear watch that sold on the market for less than one week and was pulled off the shelves due to a manufacturing issue with the watch. LG representatives have been rather ambiguous as to what the exact problem is, but nonetheless, I am one of the fortunate/unfortunate few to get my hands on one. And I can tell you AT&T has come calling for me to return this 2nd Edition Urbane Watch, and has even given me a $100 credit against my bill to ease my suffering. Regardless, I still have been using the first Android Wear LTE connected device for the past few weeks, and I really don’t want to give it up.
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Design
The LG Urbane 2nd Edition Watch is a big watch, but not so big that it feels uncomfortable – at least for a person with average sized wrists. I had a few of my female friends try the 1.38″ wide and 14.2mm thick watch and it looked rather ridiculous. There is a clear inability or lack of effort in designing these watches to be smaller for women’s wrists, but packing in all of the technology into such a small space must be rather difficult(an assumption based on many manufacturers are not making smaller Android Wear devices and women make up a significant portion of the wearable market). Sure Moto has a women’s version of the 360 2, but it is still big at 42mm.
Despite is rather large size, it isn’t much bigger than the Huawei Watch or the Moto 360. More importantly it actually fits much better and is actually comfortable with the rubberized watch band provided with the watch. The watch band is not replaceable, so if LG never releases this watch again, I will be out of luck if the current watch band breaks. The band actually houses the antennae which receives and sends LTE signals, so a typical replacement band simply will not work. I happened to buy the black version and it feels no different than wearing a CASIO G-Shock watch. It looks uncomfortable but once it is on, it is very comfortable to wear.
LG Urbane 2nd Edition in the back and the Huawei Watch in black in the front.
The case is made from stainless steel and it really does look like a watch. With a best in class, 348ppi, the P-OLED display looks better than even the Huawei Watch’s display which also has similar display technology, just lesser pixel density.
The most unique feature this Android Wear watch arrived on the shelves with, is the ability to connect to cellular networks to send text messages and make phone calls. There have been other wearables that have been able to make calls or access the internet independently of a Bluetooth connection to a smartphone, but no other Android Wear watch has yet to release an LTE version.
Speaker slot.
It also comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400, 4GB of memory and 768MB of RAM. This is more than enough power to keep the 2nd generation Urbane running smoothly and offers enough space for me to store a couple hundred songs from Google Play Music. A couple hundred songs is more than enough music to make it through any of my exercise activities.
Overall this is one of the best designed Android Wear watches to date.
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Daily Usage
Apparently, “under extreme conditions” the LG Urbane 2nd Edition display has issues. I don’t necessarily know what that means, as “extreme” can mean a wide variety of things to different people. I happen to think 40 degree weather is extremely cold(I live in San Diego), and someone from Wisconsin will call me a wuss as -80 is extremely cold to them.
I don’t plan on using my Urbane in “extreme” conditions as I have a relatively not “extreme” lifestyle. I go to work in a chemistry lab which is environmentally controlled, I walk and hike outdoors with my dog, and I exercise in a gym. My display has not shown one issue with its display quality(knock on wood), and there have been several instances where people have noticed my watch and made compliments. A couple of people asked me if I got a new watch, on different days, because I switched the watch face and they thought it was a brand new analog watch. The pixel density is high enough to actually make it look like a real watch face. My original Moto 360 and Asus Zenwatch 2 were more obvious to onlookers as a smartwatch, but I got many compliments on how good the LG Urbane 2nd Edition Watch looked.
From the day I purchased this watch to today, I have been enamored at how much I enjoy using Android Wear. There still isn’t a ton of functionality with Android Wear, but it’s a watch. People really need to put the notion of a smartphone replacement behind them. You aren’t going to be watching movies or playing full fledged games from a smartwatch. But you can listen to wireless music, make phone calls, check the weather, get your heart rate, send texts, get notifications, track activity levels, heart rate, and check the time.
It’s been a few years since I wore a watch on a regular basis – the smartphone replaced my need to wear a watch. But since I have been wearing a smartwatch on a daily basis again, it really has become apparent to me that checking the time on my wrist really is a lot more convenient than pulling out my large Nexus 6P. It really can be rude to pull out your phone just to check the time when you’re around company, as many people assume you’re checking more than the time, and in many cases you are. Checking the time around company isn’t necessarily any less rude, but it is much easier to check the time on your wrist than your giant smartphone.
Another nice feature I have grown to enjoy is accessing “OK Google” from the Urbane. I have been sending texts while I drive, setting timers and alarms, checking my calendar and getting navigation all from my wrist. Like checking the time, accessing these voice controlled commands is much easier from my wrist than from my pocket.
Over the past few months I have also been trying really hard to get back into improving my health. I have been using the pedometer feature on my smartphone, but there are many times when I leave it behind or set it down on the counter. And that means I am not keeping accurate track of my daily activities. With the Urbane, or any other Android Wear watch for that matter, it counts my steps. It knows if I am running or walking and it logs it within the Google Fit app. And when I see a lack of activity, I make sure to get moving again.
The LG Urbane 2nd Edition Watch comes with a large 570mAh battery. The battery is almost twice as large as the 300mAh battery found in the Huawei Watch, and it performs the best of the watches I have been using – the Asus Zenwatch 2, Samsung Gear S2, Huawei Watch, and first generation Moto 360. With such a large battery I don’t even think twice about checking the power reserves until the following afternoon or evening after pulling it off the charger. I even have the display set to “always on” where it shows a watch face with the time all of the time. The battery life is actually one of my favorite features about the Urbane and LG knew smart watches have to last longer. 24-hours just isn’t good enough and the Urbane 2nd Edition easily makes it through two full days of usage.
Having the ability to make phone calls without my smartphone is a huge blessing. I am very busy, and sometimes when I am on a hike or working out, I really don’t want to bring my phone with me. The Nexus 6P, as much as I love it, is big and I don’t like bringing it with me when I am active. I had my mother call me on my watch on a night she needed to tell me something urgent, and I was so happy I didn’t miss the call( I was out walking my dog without my phone). It came through loud and clear. I also made a call into work when I was on a hike while being four miles away from my truck and my smartphone. It’s a feature I hope Android Wear builds into more smartwatches in 2016 and beyond.
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Summary
For $299(AT&T), I bought the first and last(so far) Android Wear watch with LTE. Due to a manufacturing defect, AT&T and LG have given me a $100 dollar credit on my next bill so it really turns out this watch cost me $200. I have seen the LG Urbane 2nd generation smartwatch listed on ebay from $500-1000 and I can understand why people should want this watch. There’s probably not more than 1k of them in the wild, and they really are limited. I won’t sell mine, and I probably won’t return it to AT&T and hope that it works for at least a year. And as of right now, there is no plan that anyone is aware of for LG to re-release the Urbane 2nd Edition Watch.
With the ability to use Android Wear, make phone calls, send texts, stream music, check the time and more, this LG Urbane 2nd Edition is a watch I wish everyone could experience. I truly hope LG manages to fix the problem with the Urbane 2nd Edition because it really is one of the better smartwatches. It is fast, has incredible battery life, and had a great starting price at $299.
If you are/were interested in purchasing the LG Urbane 2nd Edition Watch, send LG a note and let them know you would love to see it re-released.
From left to right: 1. Asus Zenwatch 2 2. Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 3. LG Urbane 2nd Edition 4. Huawei Watch 5. Moto 360
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Specs
OS
Android Wear
Case
Stainless Steel 316L, Brushed Metal Finish 45.5 mm Diameter; 14.2 mm Thickness
Chipset
1.2 GHz Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 400
Display
1.38″ Full Circle P-OLED (480×480, 348 ppi)
Memory
768 MB / 4 GB eMMC
Battery
570 mAh
Connectivity
LTE / 3G, Bluetooth® Version 4.1; Wi-Fi® Connectivity and Offline Music Play
Our smartphones seem to be slowly and surely replacing our wallets, and with tap-to-pay options like Android Pay becoming more widely used and accepted, carrying a wallet around is becoming less necessary. If you are like me, you love the idea of using your phone to pay for everything, but you are still not comfortable leaving all of your cards and cash at home. For me, there are not enough places where I live that accept wireless payments so I have to carry cards with me, and I always keep some cash on hand because you never know when a company’s card reader will start messing up. The CardNinja from Cubi is a simple solution to this problem that allows you to carry some cards and cash with you but still leave your phone at home.
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Design and Application
CardNinja is an elastic pouch that attaches to the back of your phone with adhesive. This allows you to fit several cards and some folded up bills into the pouch and keep everything you need to pay with on your phone. The CardNinja comes in a variety of colors, and I went with the Steel Grey option.
I normally keep a case on my Nexus 6, and although the CardNinja claims to work with most cases, I decided to take the case off and give the CardNinja a try just on the back of my phone. The CardNinja itself isn’t thick at only 2.5mm, but once you start adding cards into it, it definitely adds some thickness to the back of your phone.
There is 3M adhesive on the back which keeps it securely attached to your phone, and you should be careful when applying the CardNinja because the adhesive is extremely strong and is a pain to remove if you make a mistake. I was worried that the CardNinja would not like the curved back of my Nexus 6, but the adhesive is strong enough to hold it to the curve even with cards in it.
Make sure when you apply the CardNinja that you avoid any sensors or microphones on the back of your device. I almost covered up the microphone on the back of my Nexus 6 because I wasn’t paying attention.
Using the CardNinja
I have been using the CardNinja for over a week now on the back of my Nexus 6, and I must say that I am impressed. I included my four most important cards (driver’s license, school ID card, debit card, and Google Wallet card) along with a couple of twenties, and the CardNinja had plenty of room for them and even more cards. Cubi claims that there is room for eight cards, and I believe it! One thing that was slightly annoying was that the CardNinja added thickness to one end of my phone which made it awkward to place flat on a table. If you are used to using your phone when it is face up on a table, the CardNinja will make that more difficult. After a few days, I was used to it and it actually does not bother me anymore.
I found getting cards in and out of the CardNinja extremely easy, and I believe it was actually simpler to use than a wallet because all of your cards and cash are right there. I was worried that the added thickness would make it difficult to use Android Pay, but I experienced no problems whatsoever. I used AndroidPay at several different retailers, and each transaction went perfectly.
One unexpected bonus is that it actually made my phone easier to hold and use with one hand. I have a tendency to drop my phone which is why I keep a case on it, but the entire time I have been using the CardNinja, I have never had my phone slip out of my hand. It also adds some extra grip on the back which makes the phone easier to hold.
The only real negative that I found with the CardNinja is that the added thinkness makes wireless charging basically impossible with stuff in the pouch. That being said, if you have cards with magnetic strips, I would not recommend using wireless charging with them on the back of your phone anyway since there is the possibility of the wireless charging messing up the cards. If you still wish to use wireless charging, you can easily take the cards out first as the CardNinja does not interfere with it when empty.
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After using the CardNinja for over a week, I can say with absolute certainty that I did not miss my wallet one bit. I enjoyed only carrying the cards and cash I needed and being able to pay with everything from my phone. In fact, I do not plan on returning to using my wallet any time soon. The CardNinja does everything I need it to do.
I believe that the CardNinja could replace wallets for the majority of people who only need a little cash and a few cards on them. It may not be a solution for everyone, but if you are looking to ditch your wallet, you would be wrong to not give CardNinja a try.
For under $10, the CardNinja is a great stocking stuffer or gift for family members of all ages. You can pick on up in any of the 6 colors at Amazon (with Prime shipping) or at the CardNinja website.
If you’re looking for a way to make your home “smarter” this holiday season, look no further than Nyrius’s smart bulb option, the Wireless Smart LED Multicolor Light Bulb. Unlike most of its competitors, this smart bulb sells for $29.99, and does everything you need it to
Overview
The Nyrius smart bulb allows for Bluetooth connection between the bulb itself and any Android device 4.3 and up (except Android 6.0, I’ll mention this later) and iOS devices. Upon twisting the bulb into any standard light socket in your house (E26/E27 sockets), you’ll gain connection to the bulb once you have downloaded the Nyrius Smart Bulb app. Through the Android or iOS app, you can control the smart bulb in different ways through a Bluetooth 4.0 connection. You’ll be able to change the color of the light, dim the lights, create a timer for the light, and of course turn the light on and off.
Nyrius Smart Bulb app
After downloading the free Nyrius Smart Bulb app from Google Play or the App Store, the app will request you turn on Bluetooth to connect the smart bulb. I found the app to take a few moments before connecting to the bulb for the first time, but I didn’t get much of a delay following that. Once connected, you can see the bulb listed on your devices list within the “Manage” section of the app. This is where you can select the bulb for further actions or simply turn it on and off.
When you select the bulb you want to manage, you’ll have access to the multitude of the smart bulb’s abilities. Greeting you with an “infinite” array of colors, you can select the color you want the light to be from the color wheel. This can be deceiving, however, as you cannot select any color you want or fine tune colors, as the bulb will only change to a select amount of basic colors. This did not bother me in the slightest, as the bulb still can change to more colors than I really need it to. If a colored bulb is not your thing, selecting the white circle in the middle will restore the bulb to a regular white color. My favorite part of this page was the slider that allowed for dimming the light, no matter the color. It was easy, accessible, and there is no delay when adjusting it.
You can also select a mood for the smart bulb. The options for moods include reading, dining, relaxed and party. While selecting a mood can be fun to show your friends, I have not once used these for any situation, as the colors are a bit hard on the eyes. The reading mood provided a red light, which is absolutely not what I need for reading. The dining mood was acceptable, but a yellowish light was still not exactly ideal. The relaxed mood was a dimmed blue light, and while some may find this soothing, I did not. The party mood showcased the technical abilities of the light, flashing different colors in a speedy pace.
The next section of the app allows the smart bulb to react to sound, and change colors with a beat. If your smart bulb is connected to your phone, the light will change to whatever the phone’s microphone is hearing. So, if you’re phone is placed next to music speakers, this will provide for a great party scene.
For the price of this smart bulb, I was very happy with what the companion app can do. To give you an example of how I used the light’s timer feature, I would set the light to turn on the same time as my morning alarm, to eliminate the chances of me sleeping in. It is definitely worth noting that this app is not compatible with Android 6.0 so far. I have tested it with the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P and HTC One A9 and none have successfully connected to the smart bulb, while other devices without Marshmallow were able to. The app could also use a new design, as the current one is very outdated and bares the look of Android Gingerbread.
What we liked:
Outstanding features
Creating timers
Device management
What could be better
App interface
Compatibility with Android 6.0
Overall
It’s going to be hard to find a better deal than the Nyrius Smart Bulb if you’re looking for smart home devices on a budget. For a thirty dollar device, I was amazed and surprised by what it could do. It’s also worth noticing that I accidentally dropped this bulb ten feet when unscrewing it, and it was completely undamaged. The durability, amount of features, and price of this bulb are reasons why you should try it out. Click below to check out Nyrius’s website.
[df-subtitle]17,000+ online courses have been discounted up to dirt cheap costs (24 hours only) [/df-subtitle]
Cybe Monday sales don’t always have to be about saving a few dollars on products in consumer goods. Indeed, the season also lends itself well to virtual content as well. Android developers, both beginner and intermediate, can save on online classes for developing and working with various coding languages.
Udemy has a number of courses you may be interested in checking out. While there are quite a few more, these are the top, highest rated classes. And, for a limited time, these classes will be offered for only $15! That’s more than 90% off the normal price for some of these bundles.
You’ll have to hurry, though, it’s only a 24-hour deal for Cyber Monday!
Some of these bundles include hundreds of hours of help spread across dozens of courses. We’re not developers here but, looking through the classes, we see some deals we’d be happy to check out. The price is right for all of these and we love learning at our own pace. Who knows – maybe we will get into coding.
Cricket Wireless, a prepaid service provider which operates on AT&T’s network, is halving the price of three Samsung phones. As part of a Cyber Monday promotion, Cricket will cut the cost of the Galaxy S4, Galaxy S5, and Galaxy S6 in half. Indeed, this means you can score an off-contract Galaxy S4 phone for as low as $99.
[blockquote author=””]“Once-a-year bargains like this enable customers to save money on holiday shopping, so they can put more savings in their pocket or buy more gifts for friends and family. Samsung lovers need to be ready early Monday morning. The early bird gets the phone.”[/blockquote]
The limited-time pricing:
Samsung Galaxy S4: $99.99 (originally $199.99)
Samsung Galaxy S5: $199.99(originally $399.99)
Samsung Galaxy S6: $249.99 (originally $499.99)
The deal starts today, of course, but actually runs until December 3. Cricket says you can also take advantage of the $100 credit for porting your number. In other words, bring your existing phone number to Cricket and you’ll get a $100 credit to be used on accessories, a future bill, or another handset.
The Nexus 6P is a product of the perfect marriage between a relatively unknown Chinese company, Huawei, and a well known company, Google. Before this year, very few people in the U.S. knew of Huawei as a consumer product company, but they have been a leader in the communications industry since the 80’s. In 2014, Huawei generated a record profit of $5.5 by becoming one of the world’s leading smartphone manufacturers among many other consumer products.
Google and Huawei partnered to bring us the most “premium” Nexus in the 6P. The Nexus 6P has been my daily driver, on the AT&T network for the last two months, and has genuinely made me a fan of stock Android and Huawei. The Nexus 6P is a device designed and built to impress: it is a representation of how much pride, research, and countless hours went into making one of the best smartphones ever. Let’s take a look.
Design
Without question the Huawei made Nexus 6P is a device that stands apart from the crowd. It’s really difficult to stand above a crowded market of great looking devices, but the 6P manages with its clean lines, all metal build, premium colors, chamfered edges and perfect size.
The Nexus 6P is a sturdy all metal phone, and comes in three colors: Aluminum, Frost(white) and Graphite. There is a circular fingerprint reader on the back, a power button with a volume rocker on the right side of the phone, a 3.5mm audio jack up top, with dual speakers on the front.
On the back of the device is a glass strip near the top which houses the flash and camera. Some may think it looks out of place, but on my Graphite colored 6P I don’t even notice it. After two months of daily usage without a case, my 6P is scratch free and looks the same as the day I got it. The chamfered edges hold up well and do not chip or scratch like some devices with similar edges have been known to do.
The all metal build is a nice change from the Samsung Galaxy Note5 which has a glass back. That glass back looks nice, but is a fingerprint magnet and also feels extremely fragile. The Nexus 6P is extremely well balanced, which is very important for a device with a 5.7″ display and using it one-handed.
Software
I’m sure many of you Android fans have heard Apple loyalists say the iPhone “just works.” It is one of the most annoying statements that Apple fanboys can possibly say, because there’s an implication that all other software does not work. And as much as I hate to admit it, there is a little bit of truth to “it just works”, even though iOS has its fair share of issues. With all of the freedom Google allows manufacturers, many companies like Samsung and LG have completely changed what Google intended with Android. By doing so, Android sometimes gets a bad reputation as buggy and slow.
Samsung and LG heavily customize Android by adding in features like S-Voice(Samsung’s own OK Google), Samsung Pay, split-screen, a customized skin, and much more. Some of the features are great, and some are downright terrible. But the main issue with customization comes when Google releases an update to Android. Samsung and LG have to modify every update Google releases, which creates fragmentation. By having fragmentation, some users of Samsung’s Note Edge and Note 4, waited six months longer than those on stock Android, to receive Android 5.1 which was a huge improvement over 5.0. Android 5.0 was riddled with bugs like poor battery life and memory leaks, and those users were left hanging with $800 devices that “just didn’t work.”
The solution for some is to “root” which allows those users to install their own versions of software and fix those bugs, but voids the manufacturer warranty at the same time. And the vast majority of users will not root their devices as they simply do not know how.
In addition to fragmentation, Samsung and LG also partner with companies like AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon to add in their own software. My last count of AT&T pre-installed apps on my last Samsung Galaxy Note5 was an astounding 25, all of which could be deactivated but not deleted. Those apps took up an incredible 1.5GB of space, and when I paid for 32GB of internal memory, I should hope that I would have the freedom to delete AT&T’s junk ware.
I know many of you already have been fans of stock Android, but for those of you who weren’t, now is the time to consider it. Android 6.0 Marshmallow is the best version of Android to date. Google has built in new features such as Doze, which is designed to improve battery life when your phone is not in use. It also brings built-in fingerprint reading for unlocking and waking your smartphone, while also being verification for Android Pay.
With Android 6.0 there is far greater control in what you share with new permission controls. There’s deeper integration with Google Now ,and Android is there to help you search phrases and words with much greater ease.
Better yet, there is no carrier bloatware. While one, two, or even five apps aren’t bad to come pre-installed from AT&T, I cannot condone AT&T’s behavior with its incredible amount of bloatware they install on its devices. Not only do they waste space, but they frequently ask for updates, and I simply do not want them. Seriously, how many people actually use the Yellow Pages app that AT&T installs on every device?
With stock Android, you have the basic apps that Google provides you with and nothing more. Google gives you the freedom to install whatever apps your heart desires.
And most importantly, when Google does release an update, Nexus devices are the first to receive them and that will keep them up to date. I never truly appreciated how important updates were until I was stuck on Android 5.0, and dealing with all of its awful bugs on my Samsung Galaxy Note Edge. I truly felt ripped off by Samsung for charging me over $900 dollars and then making me wait six months to get simple bug fixes.
Pure Android 6.0 just works and it works well. After two solid months, I have yet to experience a slow down, random closing app or any other common software issues.
Battery Life
The Nexus 6P comes with one of the largest batteries available in a mainstream U.S. smartphone at 3450mAh. Phones of a very similar size, the Samsung Galaxy Note5, Moto X Pure and LG V10 all come with a 3000mAh battery, over 10% smaller. After two months, those devices have still yet to update to Android 6.0 which has the Doze feature that dramatically improves battery life.
“If a user leaves a device unplugged and stationary for a period of time, with the screen off, the device enters Doze mode. In Doze mode, the system attempts to conserve battery by restricting apps’ access to network and CPU-intensive services. It also prevents apps from accessing the network and defers their jobs, syncs, and standard alarms.
Periodically, the system exits Doze for a brief time to let apps complete their deferred activities. During this maintenance window, the system runs all pending syncs, jobs, and alarms, and lets apps access the network.”
In day to day terms, this means, the Nexus 6P has damn good battery life. You can imagine most of us phone enthusiasts push our smartphones pretty hard, and I am no exception. I frequently take pictures, take notes, text friends and family, message Androidguys colleagues, email, play games and listen to music.
I will admit before Android 6.0 and the Nexus 6P, I plugged my phone in to charge whenever and wherever I could. There is no shortage of micro USB cables, and I hate having anxiety over low battery life. For a phone enthusiast, there are very few things worse than running out of power. Doze, app-standby and a 3450mAh, make this one of the best performing devices when it comes to battery life.
I know without question that the Nexus 6P has the best battery of any phone I have used before, because I do not have a compatible charger at my work. My typical work day starts between 5-6am, and runs until 5-6pm. Once I get home, I immediately take my super cute dog to the park for an hour, and when I get home I exercise for 45-60 minutes before dinner. At no point in my day am I connected to a charger, because Huawei and Google decided to go with USB type-C, the latest standard in USB cables. The main benefits of USB type-C are a completely reversible plug, and faster data rates. And I’m too cheap to buy more USB type-C cables for my office, so there literally is one place to charge my phone which is at home. At the end of my day, I am typically left with 40-50% power and that’s with heavy usage. I never charge my phone during the daytime.
Micro USB on the left and the new USB type C standard on the right
As much as I hate having a new USB standard, the trade-off is well worth it and I hope USB type-C does take over as the new standard. It is so much easier to not have to worry about making sure I plug the charging cable in the correct direction, and it still provides fast-charging capabilities.
With a 3450mAh battery, Android 6.0 and USB type-C, the Nexus 6P is the next generation in battery life performance.
Display
I have been a huge fan of AMOLED displays ever since I started using Samsung phones. Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode(AMOLED) differs from Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) by how they light up the screen. Many LG and Sony smartphones use LCD displays, which in my eyes, show back-light bleed and don’t show true blacks because of the nature of the back-light.
AMOLED displays on the other hand offer super high-contrast ratios, as every pixel is controllable, and has saturated and rich colors. Some may prefer LCD due to better color representation, but I simply love AMOLED displays and that is the technology that the Nexus 6P uses for its display.
Both AMOLED displays on the Nexus 6P(left) and Note5 perform admirably in full day light.
With a QHD resolution, 1440 x 2560 pixels, the Nexus 6P has a very clear and easy to read display. The only phones I have come across with a similar performing display are the Galaxy Note 4 and 5, Blackberry PRIV, and Galaxy S6 and variants.
The Nexus 6P has one of the best performing displays on the market.
Performance
Powering the Nexus 6P is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 v2.1, 2.0 GHz octa-core 64-bit with 3GB of RAM. The first generation Snapdragon 810 was riddled with issues like over heating and throttling causing Samsung to go with their own Exynos octa-core processor for the first time in the U.S. Many feared the Nexus 6P would suffer from performance issues with the Snapdragon 810, but Qualcomm solved the issues in the v2.1 processor and my day to day experiences would prove that to be true.
Benchmark tests are designed to test hardware and the latest Samsung processors usually win those tests by a long shot. The Nexus 6P won’t win first place in benchmark tests, but it will win in day to day usage as it does not stutter or have memory issues. On a perceived performance level, I have yet to use a faster phone. 3GB of RAM is more than enough memory when paired with stock Android 6.0 and the Snapdragon 810.
Gaming, multitasking, photo editing, emailing, video watching was all smooth sailing with the Nexus 6P.
Camera
The Nexus 6P comes with a 12.3MP rear camera, f/2.o aperture, with IR laser-assisted auto-focus and an 8MP front facing camera. The pictures I took look great to me, but I will let you decide in the gallery I have listed below. As for the speed of the camera, it loads super quickly with a double-click of the power button and snaps pictures just as quickly.
The Nexus Camera’s lens with f/2.0 aperture lets more light in and captures sharp images in stunning detail.
For a camera in a smartphone, I am more than happy with it and desire nothing more. The Samsung Galaxy Note5 is still has the best camera, but the Nexus 6P is a close second. Decide for yourself if you like the camera in the pictures I have in the gallery.
The new fingerprint reader is going to be something everyone uses going forward. Google developed “Nexus Imprint” as a way to unlock your phone, turn on your screen on and breeze through checkout lines using Android Pay. The Nexus 6P asks you to set up a fingerprint, you can do more than one, when you set-up the device. All you have to do is place the same finger on the fingerprint reader five or six times so it can accurately read your fingerprint without worrying about placement.
The fingerprint reader is so easy to use, I don’t see anyone leaving their phones unlocked anymore. I was one of those users who hated to type in pass codes, and also hated Samsung’s fingerprint reader because of the failure rate. I always thought Apple did the fingerprint reading the best on its iPhone, but I can now proudly say that Google OWNS every other fingerprint reader on the market.
Nexus 6P fingerprint reader.
One downside, after two months of usage I have seen an increase in the failure rate with the fingerprint reader. I attribute the failure rate in the fingerprint reader accumulating smudges and oil from my hands. When I clean the back of my phone with a damp cloth, performance improves, but this is something I hope Google and Huawei address in the future.
Audio
The Nexus 6P comes with dual front-facing speakers which get loud. They are definitely clear at the highest volume, but do lack depth and bass if I were to judge it against the HTC One. If I were to judge it against the Nexus 6 or Note 5, I would choose the 6P in a blind test as the best performer every time. Speakers should not be on the back or bottom of a phone as it does not make sense to point sound away from your ears.
I wish all phone manufacturers would stop putting speakers on the bottom or rear of the phone and make it a general rule that they should be placed in the front. Having two speakers is always better than one as well. It may not be important to most, but dual-front facing speakers are a must have for me and the Nexus 6P delivers.
The best Android phone of 2015
I know choosing the best Android of 2015 is highly subjective and there are worthy contenders like the LG V10 and the Samsung Galaxy Note5. But I choose the Nexus 6P as the best phone of 2015 – it is cheaper than the Note 5 and V10, and is equal to or wins in almost every head to head category. Most importantly it wins in the software department with no carrier bloat and gets the first updates from Google.
Thanks to Huawei and Google, I have become a true fan of stock Android and simply do not desire to change to another smartphone which is a first for me. The Nexus 6P truly is premium and is a product that both should be tremendously proud of. Both companies should take a bow and we all should stand and applaud this device. With superior software, gorgeous and durable build, a super high resolution display, fantastic camera, a new fingerprint reader, dual-front facing speakers and incredible battery life, the Nexus 6P leaves no detail behind.
The Nexus 6P has set the bar for all other Android devices. I highly recommend the Nexus 6P.
With the holiday season basically upon us, family gatherings are going to be in near future for many of us. While it is wonderful to spend time with loved ones, these parties normally involve multiple children begging to play games on your phone. There is no better time than now for a refresh on how to use that amazing screen pinning feature that Google debuted with Android 5.0 last year.
