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Boost Mobile Celero 5G review

AndroidGuys
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The Celero 5G is the first smartphone launched by the Dish-owned Boost Mobile. Launched in September of this year, the Celero 5G is their way of bringing a lost-cost 5G capable device to the prepaid carrier.

This device typically costs $279.99 but is frequently discounted. At the time of writing, it is going for $139.99 and comes with a free case.

As a budget-friendly device, the Celero 5G needs to cover most of the bases to have a solid offering. Is the Celero 5G enough to get Boost Mobile customers to dip their toe in the 5G water, or does it land without a splash? Let’s find out.

Display

The front of the Celero 5G is almost all screen. Housing a V-notched 6.5-inch HD+ display puts this device on the larger side. Weighing in at 7.16 ounces (203 grams) this device is fairly light. The top of the display dips slightly and curves under the front-facing camera, creating the V-notch.

The display offers a 720 x 1600 resolution. Although the resolution isn’t 1080p, the display performed well during my testing. The 60Hz display was able to keep up with everything I did on the device.

As a side note, if you are coming from a higher refresh rate screen, it could be a little jarring going back to a 60Hz display. I could see a bit of lag when scrolling around on the home screen, but there was no perceivable lag when doing anything else.

The display was bright, vivid, and enjoyable to use. Unfortunately, the device does have a slight bezel on top and a large chin. You mostly forget they are there when using it, as I found browsing the web and playing games to be an enjoyable experience. If you’re experiencing issues with the display, such as cracks or responsiveness problems, phone screen repair could be a viable solution.

Design

The top and left sides of the device are largely an all-metal experience. The only break in the design comes from the sim card slot on the left side and a microphone hole on top. The sim card slot does double duty here, as it also houses the expandable microSD card.

The right side of the device houses the volume rocker and the fingerprint-enabled power button. The bottom of the Celero 5G is where you will find the speaker grille, a USB-C port, a microphone hole, and the headphone jack.

The back has a nice metallic finish and houses the triple rear camera. I found the back of the device to be one of its nicest features when it comes to its design. In a world where many phones look the same, it was nice to see the metallic back with a chrome accent on the camera housing.

Performance and Specs

I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of this budget device. With a MediaTek MTK5G-C, (basically a Dimensity 700 chip) and 4GB of ram, I experienced almost no slowdowns.

Browsing the web and doing general everyday tasks, caused me no issues. In fact, day-to-day operation was quite enjoyable.

Gaming

To push this handset and test its true capabilities I downloaded both Grid Autosport and Call of Duty Mobile. Considering the price and the CPU, both games ran well. Grid Autosport looked great and never slowed down. Even with enhanced graphics enabled, it just kept chugging along. My experience was quite similar to my Samsung Galaxy S21.

Call of Duty Mobile was also a pleasurable experience. I downloaded the high graphics pack and went to town. The game ran in low graphics mode, but it still looked great. I did experience one instance of slow down, but it didn’t really impact my game.

Just keep in mind that this is a budget chip. It will not keep up with any of the more premium offerings from Snapdragon or even a better MediaTek Dimensity chip like the recently announced Dimensity 9000.

Sound

The sound on the device was adequate. It wasn’t always the clearest, but it was definitely loud enough. A complaint that I do have is how easy it was to cover the single speaker. When holding the device in landscape, I would accidentally cover the speaker grille. Unfortunately, when that happens, the sound comes out completely muffled. It is easy enough to move your finger, but it is a little jarring when it happens.

Additional Specs

The Celero 5G also has 64GB of storage and that you can expand using a microSD card. It supports microSD cards up to 2TB.

The fingerprint reader worked adequately but wasn’t always the most accurate. Often, I had to reposition my finger to get it to work correctly. On more than one occasion, I couldn’t even use the fingerprint reader because I would accidentally touch it with another part of my hand and it would lock out the fingerprint reader. It was annoying when it happened as this hasn’t happened to me on any other device.

Battery

The 4000mAh battery can easily last a day. For general use, you will not have to look for a charger to make it through the day. Gaming does tend to be a bit harder on the battery, so if you do a lot of gaming, be prepared to charge it more often. But that is true of all mobile devices.

The battery is charged with a 15W charger that comes in the box, helping to charge it quickly. You won’t find wireless charging here, so you are limited to wired charging.

Camera

The Celero 5G houses a triple camera setup. With a 16MP standard lens, a 5MP ultra-wide lens, and a 2MP depth camera. The 2MP depth camera is used to assist with focusing.

The results were a bit of a mixed bag. When lighting was adequate, you could get some good-looking shots with the main camera. The colors looked accurate and you could get very close for some nice macro shots. Even with adequate lighting, the ultra-wide camera produced some dark images. When you look at the images of the car, you can see the lighting differences between the standard lens to the ultra-wide lens.

Things got slightly worse when the lighting dims down. Shots struggle with dynamic range, so certain parts of the picture are too bright, while other parts are overly dark. You can see the picture of the Christmas Tree where the bottom looks blown out, but the top is relatively dark.

The bokeh effect also produced some mixed results. Sometimes it worked out pretty well, like with the Christmas Tree, but other times it incorrectly blurred the image. The picture of the car has some incorrect blurring along the back of the hood and there is blurring along the top-left edge of the lamp post.

The front-facing camera is serviceable. It produces some soft-looking images but is good enough for social media. The images from the front-facing camera are generally bright enough, even when lighting isn’t as abundant.

While the camera system on this device is serviceable and can produce some nice shots, it’s too inconsistent for my liking. If you rely on your camera and love taking photos, this may not be the device for you.

Software

The Celero 5G runs a mostly stock version of Android 11. That keeps the device clean and operating smoothly.

Unfortunately, there is quite a bit of bloat on this device. There are both carrier-specific apps, as well as randomly installed applications. To make it even worse, the Celero 5G asked me if I wanted to install additional software when setting up.

Celero 5G display

The Boost Mobile apps consisted of Boost Perks, My Boost, Secure Wi-Fi, and voicemail. Based on my count, I had to deal with 19 unwanted apps upon first booting the device. Luckily, it’s only a minor pain as you can uninstall them. It’s not something I enjoy doing when I first get my device.

The unwanted apps may be a necessary evil to keep the cost down and provide the value to price ratio that Dish and Boost Mobile were targeting.

Final Verdict

Overall this device was quite a pleasant experience. It was fast enough to deal with almost everything I threw at it.

I was quite pleased to see the Celero 5G play games as well as it did. Call of Duty Mobile and Grid Autosport are not exactly easy games to run. But the fact that this device was able to run them and do it at the level that it did, left me quite impressed.

In addition to gaming, general content consumption is also good on this device. The larger screen allows for better a media-consuming experience. You may want to use headphones though, but at least you can use wired headphones if that is something you enjoy.

Battery life was great and I really like that the device offers a microSD card to expand the built-in memory.

As long as you temper expectations of the camera system, this device is well worth the price tag, especially when you can find it discounted.

Enjoy peace of mind with a 3-year subscription to G Cloud Mobile Backup

AG Deals Team
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Our phones are incredibly important to most of us. These devices hold so much information about our lives including media files, call logs, contacts, and messages. What would you lose if your device just stopped working with no chance of getting your information back? Today’s deal gives you a 3-year subscription to G Cloud Mobile Backup to prevent that headache from happening.

With 100GB of storage and the ability to back up multiple devices on a single account, you will never have to worry about that again. While this plan would normally cost you $71, today you can get your 3-year subscription for only $17.99.

Your data is backed up securely on Amazon AWS servers using military-grade 256 AES encryption.

What you get

  • Backup or migrate your call logs, contacts, messages, and media from any Android or Apple device
  • Backup multiple devices with a single account
  • Transfer or restore data with a single click
  • Access your information from the app or browser
  • Share, view, play and listen directly from the cloud

Get Started

Check out our amazing 100GB 3-year G Cloud Mobile Backup deal and see why it has 4.5 out of 5 stars on the Google Play Store.

Your device holds your life, so you need to keep it backed up. It’s easy to think nothing bad will happen to your device until it completely stops working. Avoid that headache and enjoy the peace of mind you will get from a fully backed-up device for only $17.99.

How can you improve Android security?

AndroidGuys
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If you’re one of the 2.3 billion Android users populating the globe today, chances are you’re already aware of the multiple security vulnerabilities that plague the Android platform. Whether it’s the discovery of a bug that enables hackers to inject malicious code into your beloved smartphones or a shady application that you downloaded from a third-party app store, the sooner you accept the threats that surround your Android mobile phone, the better. 

The arsenal of the threats that encapsulate the majority of Android mobile phones might be enough to pay attention to Android security. Protecting our smartphones from the ever-evolving threat landscape becomes an utmost priority. Considering the monumental amount of sensitive information that we store on our Android phones, it is high time that Android users take the necessary steps required to take their phone’s security to the next level. 

If you’re one of the few security-conscious folks, who were looking for ways to elevate their Android smartphone’s security, then you’ve come to the right place by clicking on this article. This article shares some tips which boost Android smartphone security and enable users to make the most out of their smartphone experience. 

Security Tip #1: Setting up a complex screen lock

If you’re familiar with hacking in the slightest, then you probably know about the significance of the screen lock that you set up. If you’ve utilized an easy-to-guess passcode, such as your date of birth or (god forbid) your name, you might as well send a handwritten invitation to a cybercriminal, informing them of all the data you’re giving up. 

Although using an easy-to-guess password is a rookie mistake that, unfortunately, several Android users tend to make, it can still be rectified. To prevent hackers from gaining unwanted access to your Android smartphone, make sure that you steer away from any obvious information while setting up your screen lock password. Avoid using your name or the names of your loved ones. Moreover, no matter the circumstance, never rely on passwords such as “iloveyou” or “123456” since they are among the most frequently hacked passwords.  

Instead of relying on overused, cliched passwords and codes, opt for alphanumeric words and phrases, which contain a healthy mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, symbols, and special characters. A helpful piece of information to aid you in creating the best passcodes is to be as random as possible.

If you haven’t enabled any screen lock, you can configure it by heading over to Settings and selecting a screen lock as per your personal preferences. Once you’ve set up your screen lock, you must enable the “Automatic Lock” option, which ensures that your screen locks after a specific time has elapsed. However, users may also allow biometric verification, such as facial or fingerprint recognition, and devise a solid password as a backup with more recent phones. 

Security Tip #2: Enabling “Find My Device”

In the highly probable instance that you find your Android smartphone stolen or lost, you must enable the “Find My Device” feature on your phone to regain control of your rogue device. This spectacular feature offered by Google equips Android users with the ability to pinpoint the exact location of their phone, whether it’s miles away in another city or quaintly tucked away under the bed- this feature has got you covered.

In addition to locating your phone’s whereabouts, the “Find My Device” feature also allows users to completely wipe data from their device, which prevents it from being exploited by any malicious parties. If you haven’t already enabled this handy-dandy feature on your Android smartphone, all you need to do is sign in to your Google account, switch location on, and allow the service. 

Once you’ve enabled the feature on your smartphone, you can then use it via a web browser or its application to locate your device, play a sound, or permanently erase all data present on the device. 

Security Tip #3: Encrypting your smartphone

Although it is a fairly well-established fact that encryption is a critical step towards better cybersecurity, it is rare to see Android smartphone owners encrypt their phones’ content. Device encryption comes in particularly handy when your smartphone has been stolen or has somehow found its way into the hands of a bad actor. By utilizing device encryption, users can ensure that none of their sensitive data falls into the wrong hands, or worse, is sold on shady forums on the dark web. 

Fortunately, Android mobile sets operating on Lollipop OS or higher already have the option of encryption built-in. If you’re using an older Android set, you can still manually configure device encryption by going to the “Security” tab in your Settings. Once you’ve enabled this option, you can continue to enjoy your Android experience without having to worry about your data falling into the hands of malicious third parties. 

Security Tip #4: Scrutinizing app permissions

With a whopping 2.96 million applications hosted by the Google Play Store, you must analyze the permissions that most of these apps require. Instead of accepting whatever shady terms and conditions get thrown your way, you must scrutinize why some apps need the permissions that they ask for. 

Let’s consider the example of a photo editing app. If the application requests to access your picture gallery, it makes perfect sense. However, if the exact app requests access to your contact list, you might want to sound the cybersecurity alarms. If an application requests access to an unrelated feature, there’s a high probability of sleazy data mining being carried out behind the scenes. 

To enhance the security of your Android smartphone, you need to exercise caution while granting permission to the apps that you download, particularly with applications that are developed by sketchy developers who might try to sneak their way into your confidential data. You can configure the permissions you’ve granted to apps by clicking on Settings > Apps > Permissions, where you can revoke all permissions that you aren’t entirely comfortable with. 

Parting Words

In addition to the security tips mentioned above, you can also opt for alternative locking methods to boost your Android smartphone security and take it to new, unprecedented heights. Hopefully, this article proves to be the nudge that readers need to exercise better cybersecurity practices regularly with that out of the way. 

Featured Image: Photo by Mikhail Nilov from Pexels

Undead World: Hero Survival game review

Luke Gaul
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Undead World: Hero Survival is a free-to-play survival RPG strategy game from DoubleDown Interactive LLC. This game has you play through a war story of survival and adventure as Cady and Conor Search for the zombie cure.

You will need to recruit, upgrade and battle your heroes to survive the zombie apocalypse. This game features multiple game modes including, war games in Midtown, PvP in the Arena, and the idle gauntlet mode on the Zombie Express.

Listen or watch our review to see what we think of Undead World: Hero Survival.

Listen to the embedded podcast to learn more and hear how we ended up with our score.

Watch the embedded video to learn more and see how we scored the various components.

Master & Dynamic discount some headphones for its Boxing Day sale

AndroidGuys
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Beginning December 26, Master & Dynamic are shaving 30% off some of their headphones for its Boxing Day sale. This deal is available for anyone who lives in the US, EU, or the UK.

As a premier audio manufacturer, they combine excellent audio performance and amazing hardware to create strikingly great products.

The discounted headphones include (click the model to see our review):

Unfortunately, the discount does feature some exclusions. You can’t apply this discount to gift cards, gift wrapping, engraving, the MW08, the MW08 Sport, the MG20, and KD signed units.

You can not combine the Boxing Day offer with any other offer or discount. Make sure to enter promo code: UNWRAP30 at checkout.

Act fast because this Master & Dynamic Boxing Day deal ends on December 27.

Tronsmart has a great Holiday giveaway contest

Andrew Allen
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It’s the holiday season again and gadgets are always a crowd-pleaser around this time. Lucky for our readers, Tronsmart has a nifty giveaway contest that starts today 12/23, and ends on New Years’ Eve 12/31. Entries give you a shot at winning a box of the company’s best new devices.

Each gift box will include a random selection of fives items from the Tronsmarts lineup. While the options are a mystery until the boxes are opened, the offerings can include some of the new accessories from Tronsmart below announced in the 4th quarter of 2021.

Enter the contest here

Tronsmart Onyx PRIME wireless earbuds

We recently reviewed these earbuds and came away impressed. The combination of high-end audio, acoustic tuning, and up to eight custom listening profiles make it very compelling. Add the superb battery life of up to 40 hours with the included charging case, and you won’t be disappointed to find this one in the prize box.

Tronsmart Studio 30W SoundPulse portable speaker

This compact portable speaker is just as intriguing. It has a hardened aluminum case that allows you to take the Studio SoundPulse pretty much into any environment. Whether you are hanging with your friends at home to traveling, this speaker is poised for the event.

Tronsmarts TuneConn system also allows you to chain up to 100 of these speakers together for a completely immersive experience. Rounding out the main specs are 15 hours of playback, Bluetooth 5.0, and Type-C fast charging.

Tronsmart Splash 1 wireless speaker

As the name suggests, the Tronsmart Splash 1, is even more of an adventurer’s speaker. It comes stock with IPX7 waterproofing to be comfortable at the pool or beach. And it’s ready for the party crowd too with an LED ring that can change with the mood.

Internally, the Splash 1 is sporting Bluetooth 5.0, dual drivers for robust sound, and a 2200mAh battery bank. This battery source gives you up to 24 hours of total playback time. When you do need to top off, you can do so with USB-C fast charging.

Can’t win if you don’t enter

As with any good contest, you can’t win if you don’t play. You can place your individual entry at Tronsmart’s website. You have from today 12/23 to the end of the month to get your spot in line.

Oh and if you don’t get a chance to win, don’t let that stop you from owning these mentioned accessories. They can all be purchased directly from the links below.

Enter the Tronsmart giveaway

Purchase the Tronsmart Onyx wireless earbuds $70

Purchase the Tronsmart Studio SoundPulse speaker $70

Purchase the Tronsmart Splash 1 wireless speaker $30

AGM M7 phone review

Luke Gaul
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The AGM M7 is a durable feature phone for those who work hard and play hard. This 4G device is IP68/IP69K rated. That means it can operate in temperatures ranging from -20 to 60 degrees Celcius. Additionally, it can withstand drops from 2 meters, soak in up to 1.5 meters of water, and block 99% of dust from entering the phone.

This phone utilizes a USB-C port to charge the 2500mAh battery. This feature phone runs a smart operating system. It supports running apps such as Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, Skype, Zello, and others.

Listen or watch our review to see how rugged the AGM M7 is and if it’s worth adding to your bag.

Listen to the embedded podcast to learn more and hear how we ended up with our score.

Watch the embedded video to learn more and see how we scored the various components.

  • AGM M7
  • AGM M7

Become a data pro with the 2022 Ultimate Microsoft Excel & Power Bl Certification Bundle

AG Deals Team
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Become a data master with the 2022 Ultimate Microsoft Excel & Power Bl Certification Bundle.

Access 9 courses, 63 hours of content, and 721 lessons on courses involving Excel, Power Bl, and Alteryx. Master a wide variety of data and process them into comprehensible reports.

Data is important in 2021 and it is only going to increase in importance for 2022. This bundle would typically cost you $1,800 but today, our readers can grab it for only $34.99.

The courses

  • Microsoft Power Bl: The Complete Master Class
  • Statistics & Mathematics for Data Science and Data Analytics
  • Alteryx: The Complete Master Class
  • Excel Pro Tips: Data Visualization
  • Up & Running with Power Bl Desktop
  • Microsoft Excel: Data Visualization with Charts & Graphs
  • Data Visualization with R
  • Mathematics for Data Science
  • Fullstack Web Development Master Class 2022

Become a data pro

Whether you are looking to improve skills to further your career or just learn something new, becoming a data pro is a great option. Look no further than the 2022 Ultimate Microsoft Excel & Power Bl Certification Bundle. This amazing deal can be yours for only $34.99.

BLUETTI’s Christmas Sale Live: Solar Generator, Solar Panel Deals and More…

AndroidGuys
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Missed the Black Friday sale last month? Chillax, savings are extended! BLUETTI’s now offering the last chance for you to treat yourself to the solar power gears you should’ve gotten this year for up to 30% off during the new year holiday!

Most Popular Deal For This Xmas: AC300 & B300 Modular Power Stations

(Starts at $3,199 (originally $3,699) — save up to $3,400-plus with solar bundles)

Among all those hot deals, our top pick would absolutely be the powerful, modular power beast – AC300 and its external batter packs – B300. Flagship of the year, beast among the beasts. A muscular compact power box with a 3000Watt pure sine wave inverter under the hood, the AC300 is definitely one of the brightest star in the solar generator industry. The AC300 itself doesn’t have any battery built-in, which significantly reduces the weight. Yet, each AC300 can accept up to four external B300 batteries packs, bringing the systems overall capacity to a whopping 12,288Wh! The modular design makes it possible for one person alone to move the whole system one by one, thus let you to use it indoor or outdoor with different modules combined, at your will.

The B300 battery modules use top-of-the-range LFP (lithium ferro phosphate) cells, making up 3,500-plus life cycles. In other words, with one cycle per day, the B300’s can last over 10 years before the maximum capacity drop to 80%.

Furthermore, the AC300 can be charged with both AC and solar simultaneously at up to a groundbreaking 5400W, whilst being connected to two B300 battery modules. Additionally, the Bluetti AC300 also allows for the connection of the new Bluetti Fusion Box Pro, which will double the voltage, power and capacity up to 6,000W, 240V, and 24,576Wh, to power your whole families’ essential needs for DAYS.

A Must-have For Vanlifers, RVers and Campers: AC200MAX and B230

Starts at $1,899 (originally $2,099) — save up to $1,700-plus with solar bundles

The Bluetti AC200 MAX is the all-round upgraded version of Bluetti’s most popular classic model, the AC200 (which was originally launched on the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo).

The new AC200 MAX is powered by a 2,048Wh LFP battery, but can also take up to two external batteries including the B230 or B300, adding up to 6,144Wh with 2×B230’s, or 8,192Wh with 2×B300’s.

Featured with the 900W advanced MPPT solar controller, the AC200MAX can also be charged quickly up to 80% with direct sunshine in around 2 hours.

Other Notable Savings: EB55, EB70S and More

Besides the heavy-duty beasts, don’t forget to hit the jump for more deals of portable power stations in this year’s BLUETTI last chance Christmas sale in 2021:

Another standout for this Christmas are the new released BLUETTI EB55 and EB70S – ultra portable solar generators for power on-the-go. The relatively larger unit – EB70S – packed with a 800W pure sine wave AC inverter and 716Wh ultra-durable LiFePO4 battery pack, is the enhanced version of BLUETTI EB70 which was released earlier this year. As for the smaller one – EB55 – on the other hand has a 700W inverter under the hood and carrying a 537Wh LiFePO4 battery pack brings better portability. The EB70S is now offering a $50 straight saving for the Christmas sale, makes it for $549 (was $599) and the EB55 for $449 when a $50 OFF coupon is applied, the exact same offers as they brought out on the Black Friday.

While solar panel bundles remain to be the cream of the crop in this sale campaign. Combined with the solar panels, these power stations are gonna save our life when the wall outlets are out of reach or when the grid goes down. BLUETTI’s offering bundles for almost all of their production lines.

Recommended BLUETTI Bundles for Christmas:

ONE MORE THING BESIDE DEALS: Christmas Luck Wheel

Are your fingers itching to try some luck for Christmas and New Year? BLUETTI seems also feeling pretty festive and they are giving buyers a Spin of the Luck Wheel with every purchase over $1,000 in December. 100% chance to win either a free 6-feet big Christmas tree, a free little power station(EB55, AC50S, AC20 or AC10) or some other little gifts for the holiday – just a little something to add some festive spirit! The thrill of the spin and the luck of the draw as to what your prize might be. Remember to pop in before the Luck Wheel ends on Friday 31st December, 2021.

Detective Mimo game review

Scott Webster
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Detective Mimo is a puzzle game by Omegames Studio. This game can be purchased for $2.99 or you can get it included with a Google Play Pass subscription.

You play as Detective Mimo, a cat who protects the city of Shrimp. Shrimp is an attractive place for thieves and their primary target is MEW Bank. Your job is to stop the thieves and protect the city of Shrimp.

This game contains a variety of puzzles that will make you think outside the box. You will need clues from the real world, to solve some of the puzzles. In addition, this game has 2 endings, 2 hidden chapters, and many easter eggs throughout the story.

Listen or watch our review to see our experience playing Detective Mimo.

Listen to the embedded podcast to learn more and hear how we ended up with our score.

Watch the embedded video to learn more and see how we scored the various components.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7bB2o8br_I
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