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Sony’s XZ Premium is a spec sheet beast, but will you actually be able to buy it?

Matt Adams
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You may have noticed that this week has been chalked full of new product announcements. You can thank the industry’s largest trade show, Mobile World Congress happening right now in Barcelona, Spain for that. We’ve seen the return of the G series from LG (LG G6), a new entry into the G series from Motorola (Moto G5), and the return of an industry legend in Nokia.

Sony is throwing its hat into the ring too. It seems like Sony releases more phones than just about anyone outside of LG and Samsung, but you rarely hear about them here in The States due to the complete lack of retail presence. And, that’s really a shame. Sony has made some excellent devices since it debuted the Xperia Z line many moons ago.

The newest addition to the Xperia lineup is the XZ Premium. It was announced alongside the XZs which is Sony’s true flagship of this rotation, but its the Premium thats stealing all the headlines. Why? It’s because of that beautiful 5.5″ 4K display that leads the stacked spec sheet. Here’s what the rest of the specs look like.

  • Display: 5.5″, 3840 x 2160
  • Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
  • Memory: 4GB of RAM
  • Storage: 64 GB, expandable to 256GB
  • Battery: 3230mAh
  • Camera: 19MP main, 13MP front-facing
  • Operating System: Android 7.1 Nougat
  • Dimensions: 156 x 77 x 7.9 mm
  • Weight: 195 g

See? Monster. But what you don’t see in those specs are all the improvements that Sony has made to the software that controls the amazing hardware in the XZ Premium. What is most intriguing to me is what Sony is calling the new Motion Eye system.

The Motion Eye system combines technologies from Sony’s long history of camera brilliance to let you capture video in up to 960fps. That’s actually mind-bogglingly fast. Just for comparison, most television and console video games run at 30fps while most PCs can push the frame rate up to anywhere between 60fps and well over 100fps depending on the title and hardware.

Sony has also added in predictive technology to start capturing whenever it sees movement. This will allow you to capture video right at the start of the action, rather than when your fingers actually hit the record button. This also works for pictures as the phone will take up to four shots from the start of the action until when you snap the shutter.

Still pictures are going to be even more impressive with the XZ’s camera due to the 19MP sensor. Sony has worked to incorporate 19% larger pixels to capture more light in low-light and backlit situations.

You may remember that Sony has previously released a device with a 4K display. While it was cool, you could only use a few Sony apps which supported 4K like the gallery. Well, there is a slight improvement to report here. Sony will now support HDR and allow customers to stream certain 4K titles from Amazon’s Prime service. Still a long ways off what it could be, but an improvement nonetheless.

So, will you actually be able to buy it in the US? Sony says that the XZ Premium will be released in Spring 2017 in Luminous Chrome and Deepsea Black but will we actually see it at carrier store? Will Sony actually tell people it’s selling a new device? We’ll have to see, but we aren’t hopeful based on recent examples.

T-Mobile offers a free extra line on most current plans starting March 1st

Donovan Jeska
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In the latest of a series of dramatic “Uncarrier” moves, T-Mobile announced today that it would be offering to add a line to new or current plan with at least two lines. This offer technically only applies to Simple Choice and T-Mobile One plans, but let’s be honest – if you have a plan older than those, you’re probably getting a much better price than this already.

“Today, I’m thanking customers by giving them one of the things they want the most – a way to connect more of their family or more of their devices all the time. That’s why we’re giving customers a free line to use any way they choose!”

Interestingly, while T-Mobile is calling this a free line, it can actually be used for a number of things, from data for a new tablet or smartwatch to an automobile hotspot. From what I can tell this really does appear to be as good a deal as it looks on the surface. Here’s the offer details; if you see anything that gives you pause, let us know in the comments.

Otherwise, enjoy adding that free line, starting March 1st.

Sony’s Xperia XA1 and XA1 Ultra look to make an impact on the mid-range market

AG Deals Team
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If you’re like us, then you’ve been following along with all the announcements coming out of MWC 2017. Sony was expected to make some type of announcement regarding the next devices to come to the Xperia X lineup, and they have done just that.

Sony Xperia XA1

The Sony Xperia XA1 and XA1 Ultra have been officially unveiled, which comes after the devices were leaked a bit early by notorious leakster, Evan Blass (@evleaks). The Xperia XA1 is the “base” model for this new lineup, and packs a fairly impressive punch in a smaller package.

The display for the XA1 measures in at 5-inches with a resolution of 720p. Powering the XA1 is the MediaTek Helio P20 processor, along with 3GB of RAM, and up to 32GB of expandable storage.

Keeping this bad boy alive is a 2,300mAh battery, which isn’t too shabby considering the smaller display, with a lower resolution. Sony has also included its Qnovo Adaptive Charging technology, which makes sure that your XA1 charges properly, and doesn’t get damaged by overcharging.

In regards to the camera, Sony packed in an 8MP wide-angle lens on the front of the XA1. The front camera module also features an ISO of up to 3200, making for better low-light selfies when you’re trying to get the perfect picture at the bars.

Not all that surprising is the camera that’s been included for the main shooter. Coming in at 23MP, the rear camera also features a “Hybrid Autofocus”, along with a low light ISO of 6400. Sony’s known for packing a great camera into most of its smartphones, so we shouldn’t be disappointed on this front.

Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra

Moving onto the Xperia XA1 Ultra, we’re looking a slightly bigger display, measuring in at 6-inches. However, the resolution has been bumped up, as this one comes in at Full 1080p HD.

The MediaTek Helio P20 processor is also at the helm for the big brother of these two. However, the differences start to roll in from there as the Ultra includes 4GB of RAM, and either 32GB or 64GB of expandable storage.

You also will get a little more juice out of the Ultra, as the battery measures in at 2,700mAh. The same Qnovo Adaptive Charging feature makes its return with the Ultra, so you know that your battery is safe and sound.

Finally, the front camera on the Ultra comes in at 16MP, and features a low-light ISO of up to 6400 for photos and videos. the front camera also includes Optical Image Stabilization so that you can combat those shaky selfies.

The rear camera on the XA1 Ultra comes in at 23MP, and can capture an image in just 0.6 seconds after launching the camera app. Sony also included a 24mm wide-angle lens, so that you can get a wider range of motion in your images.

Wrap-Up

Both the Xperia XA1 and XA1 Ultra will come with Android Nougat out of the box. This is great for those of us who are still worried that OEMs are falling behind when it comes to providing us the latest version of Android.

Sony has also confirmed that both devices will arrive this Spring, and will be available in Black, Pink, White, and Gold. Unfortunately, Sony decided to keep the pricing for these devices close to the chest, so we’ll have to wait before deciding which range of devices these will stack up against.

How-To: Incognito browsing in Chrome

AndroidGuys
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Occasionally there are times when you might need to browse to something online where you don’t want the history saved, or you don’t want it to load with your defaults. I most often do this when logging into one of my wife’s accounts with my phone (I don’t want her logins saved on my device). Incognito is a very simple way to engage this in your chrome browser.

Prerequisites:

Nothing much here, you need an android device and Chrome installed.

Incognito Browsing:

  1. Launch the Chrome app
  2. Tap the menu button in the upper right corner of the screen
  3. Tap “New incognito tab”

You are thrown directly into an incognito tab to browse as you see fit.

What is your favorite Chrome feature? how do you use incognito browsing? Leave us a comment below to let us know.

Exclusive: HMD lead talks Nokia’s approach to Android

Alexandra Arici
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Last night Nokia in partnership with HMD took the stage at MWC 2017 to announce its comeback into the world of smartphones with Android onboard.

And this morning I had the opportunity to sit down a bit with HMD’s chief product officer, Juho Sarvikas and talk more about Nokia’s return to smartphones and plans for the upcoming future:

Hey Juho, thank you for taking the time to speak with me. Let’s dive right into it. Nokia just launched three affordable handsets, do you plan to continue focusing on the budget market or do you have plans for a flagship as well? 

We believe that Nokia belongs to everybody. There reason why we are starting here, at the cheapest, most affordable level (Nokia 3 at €139, Nokia 5 at €189 and Nokia 6 for €229) is that if you look at it globally 45% (ish) of people shop in this segment, so it’s highly relevant. Nokia phones bring qualities that are highly valued by the consumers in this segment, so we believe it’s a great way to start our journey globally.

How do the new Nokia phones differentiate from all the slew of Android phones out there?

It’s everything that the brand has always stood for – quality, reliability – all phones feature a robust built quality. So the only thing I’m hoping to achieve right now is once people go to the store they buy their first Nokia Android smartphone and they use it in real life and hold it in their hand they feel the Nokia difference. And then my theory is that it will be like an avalanche where people will start telling their friends “Hey, remember Nokia? Everything that it stood for, the very human nature of Nokia, it’s come back in a very modern way. There’s a new chapter and we hope that many people will join us.

Your answer bodes well with my next question – what’s the difference between old Nokia and new Nokia?

It’s one Nokia, this just a new chapter. It comes with the attributes Nokia has stood for like I mentioned. We want to deliver everything that you expect and we’ll do it in a very modern way. So of course now you have Android and we’ve made a very bold statement when we said we have the purest form of Android which will deliver a very simple, clean and fast UI which is what consumers are asking for. So, we’ll be able to roll out timely security updates very effectively for the entire portfolio, so your Nokia is going to be safe. And then we can roll out the latest Google innovation whether it’s a platform release, a service like Google Assistant (yes, the assistant will be available on the Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6). We’re in a position to do that fast because we’re thinking differently about how we build our software.

Why do you think Android is such a good fit for Nokia?

We ask the consumers. If you look at the market share and you look at how Android is doing then the decision to bring Android on is a natural one. If you think what Google is doing with Android – they are bringing technology to everyone and that’s pretty much what Nokia has always done – basically they believe the same things we believe. It’s been a great partnership so far.

It almost sounds like Nokia is looking to fill the Nexus void (RIP Nexus). We’ve got premium build, clean Android and affordable price:

If you consider the Nexus as the best of Android in its purest form we’re kind of doing the same. But I wouldn’t call it stock Android. The reason why I wouldn’t do that is that we’re not using the open source reference designs, we’re using Google mobile services and we’re integrating the latest and greatest services.

As a last question, I really loved the Nokia N1 tablet with Android. Is there a chance you’re thinking of launching another one?

I’ll go back to the consumers again. We’re talking to a lot of the new generation, globally. We’re always looking for opportunities to bring out new products, but it depends on what consumers want.

Gionee’s A1 and A1 Plus focus on big batteries, selfies

AndroidGuys
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Chinese handset maker Gionee has launched a pair of new smartphones which promise superior battery life and excellent selfie experiences. Dubbed the A1 and A1 Plus, the duo run Android 7.0 Nougat and will be made available starting later this month.

The A1 and A1 Plus both feature 18W ultrafast charging which claims to go from 0-100 percent in 2 hours. Moreover, the pair are embedded with Waves MaxxAudio processing technology which, when paired with the stereo speakers, offers up a more powerful and realistic sonic experience.

A1 Specs

  • Helio P10 processor
  • 4GB RAM
  • 64GB storage
  • 5.5-inch FHD display
  • 13-megapixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture
  • 16-megapixel front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture
  • 4010mAh battery

A1 Plus Specs

  • Helio P25 processor
  • 4GB RAM
  • 64GB storage
  • 6.0-inch FHD display
  • 13-megapixel and 5-megapixel dual rear cameras with f/2.0 aperture
  • 20-megapixel front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture
  • 4500mAh battery

 

 

The Gionee A1 will be offered in grey, black, and gold options with pricing at EUR 349; the A1 Plus will carry a EUR 499 price tag. The former ought to hit shelves later in March in India and Nepal first while the latter is expected in April.

Mega Man Mobile: A Mega Disappointment (Review)

AndroidGuys
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Being a child of the 80’s, Mega Man was one of the cornerstone games to which I compared other games. Jumping, shooting, insane difficulty, creative bosses and the ability to copy boss abilities. It quickly became a favorite game series. Recently Capcom has re-released it’s original 6 Mega Man games on a variety of platforms, the latest of which was mobile phones. I was extremely excited to jump back in and blast on baddies on the go, but all I got was a lot of disappointment. What went wrong? Let’s jump in.

Developer: Capcom Mobile
Price: $1.99 (per game)
Download: Google Play, iOS

Overview

Okay, let’s get down to it. This version of the game is a nightmare to play. The game does not have a consistent framerate at all. Jumping and moving around the screen is super choppy, and that is before anything else is on the screen but you. Once you start moving forward, the screen scrolling and enemies just confound the problem, making the framerate drop even more. I found it very difficult to aim my shots with the constant stuttering and ended up taking a lot of cheap hits all because I was unable to jump and shoot properly. I couldn’t make it through an entire stage without learning how to play the game all over again to adjust to the handicaps I was now faced with, and with aiming and dispatching enemies being increasingly difficult, I found myself not running-and-gunning through the whole level, but rather running and hoping to dodge enough enemies to survive to the next health pack before dying. Bosses are nigh impossible under these situations and it’s only by sheer dumb luck that I managed to hit and destroy Ice Man before he could nuke me.

Dead.

I couldn’t believe that this was what my childhood was reduced to, so I, of course, downloaded 2 different entries in the series to see how they fared and found that I faced the exact same problems in Mega Man 2 and 4 that I faced in the original. It’s at this point that I should mention that these games are not bundled in any way. Each Mega Man game is its own app, and each one costs around $2. There are 6 main series games here, so that would be $12 for the complete set of practically unplayable games. It’s for reasons like this that the refund window on Google Play exists.

Graphics & Sounds

On thing this game has going for it is that it stays true to the original Nintendo sprites. Mega Man, boss portraits, everything retains its original sprite look. Your control pad on the left side of the screen looks like Mega Man’s Mega Buster (his arm gun), while the right side buttons show pictures of shooting and jumping to correspond to those actions. There’s also a fast swap button to switch weapons without opening a menu. The sounds are very similar to how they were in their original release, but I have noticed a few skips in the music. I have heard that the music is off-beat, off-pitch, and skips horrible depending on which device you are playing on, so your mileage may vary.

Dead.

Controls

The controls themselves are decent. When I push right, Mega Man moves right. Jump button makes his jump. The animations do stutter, but the controls themselves do not seem to be the problem here. My biggest gripe about the controls is the “Switch Weapons” button I mentioned before. The weapons scroll through in an arbitrary order, and unless you know that order, you’ll spend too much time hitting the button until you see the right one come up. It takes too long and it’s much easier to just hit the menu button right next to it and pick the actual power you want than to hit the switch button 8 times, then another 16 times because you accidentally went past the one you wanted. Part of that is user error I know, but in the heat of battle, switching weapons on the fly is extremely useful and this system just isn’t efficient enough to be useful. If there was an additional switch button to scroll backward through the list, this would help alleviate the problem a bit (and I would accept full responsibility for being a moron).

Soon to be dead.

Longevity

The best thing to come from this atrocity is the inclusion of a Boss Rush mode. You get placed in a room with a random boss. You have all powers, but your life and weapon ammo are limited to whatever pickups happen to drop when you kill a boss. It’s a cool feature, but shoddy framerates make boss fights extremely difficult when they weren’t always a walk in the park to begin with. Still, this game mode was the polish on the turd. The framerate issues were still heavily present, but I still managed to make it through 3 rounds of all six bosses before finally not having enough weapon energy left to take them down. If the game ran smoothly, I could probably pull out another round or two, but without the leg up of having super effective weapons, the bosses are just too deadly. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, and at this point you may be thinking “I get it, framerate is an issue”, but the fact of the matter is that it’s such a big issue here to the performance that the entire game is almost impossible to play. This game will only last you as long as you have patience to keep playing it, which hopefully is still within the before mentioned refund window, because with so many other ways to play these classic games (still on the go if you have a Nintendo 3DS), the mobile versions are not worth even $2.

Conclusion

Something somewhere went wrong. These games are debilitating framerate issues which prevent you from playing the game properly. You may make it through a level after repeated, repeated attempts, but it won’t be fun. The magic of the old games is gone and is replaced with unfair deaths caused by choppy gameplay and cheap hits. Save your money and buy a digital copy somewhere else if you want to play these classics again. You’ll thank me later.

Oppo debuts periscope-style 5x zoom camera module

Scott Webster
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As phones have evolved over time we’ve found that handset makers are always trying to make them thinner. Some users might argue that they’d happily trade a thicker phone for a little more battery, but the industry trend is to think thin.

A problem with phones, though, is that even with these great sensors and features, they simply do not get users closer to their subject. Digital zoom stinks and essentially amounts to cropping your image. Suffice it to say, an optical zoom is hard to come by unless you go with a specific phone or component like the Hasselblad Moto Mod.

Oppo, the number one smartphone brand in China, according to IDC, has just unveiled a camera which could shake up the game. The module hides a telephoto lens inside of the phone and features a rotating prism that diverts light 90 degrees to a second imaging sensor. In other words, it works much like a periscope; however, instead of jutting out of the phone, it moves internally. The whole thing is only 5.7mm thick.

Additionally, Oppo claims that its optical image stabilization (OIS) improves some 40 percent over the previous technology and can adjust for precise increments of 0.0025 degrees. And, unlike where other companies use OIS on wide-angle lenses, it’s applied directly to the telephoto lens.

With more than 50 patents filed for the technology, we imagine we’ll see these cameras in phones before long. Oppo did not say what the resolution of the camera is nor when we might see it in a market-ready device.

Lenovo debuts Tab 4 Series tablets at Mobile World Congress

Scott Webster
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Lenovo this week introduced its latest tablets, the Tab 4 Series, positioning the line as something that works for both adults as well as kids. Available in two sizes, the Tab 4 8 and Tab 4 10 feature 8-inch and 10-inch displays, respectively.

The everyone tablet

Stopping short of announcing a full sheet of specifications, Lenovo tells us that the 4 Series is a mainstream line of tablets with dual speakers and Dolby Atmos. Featuring HD displays and quad-core Snapdragon processors, the tablets also come with 2GB RAM.

The Tab 4 models run Android 7.0 Nougat and are expected to deliver up to 12 hours of battery life. The multi-user mode lets parents and children keep their own profiles; apps, settings, and customization is unique to the individual.

The design-forward ‘Plus’ variant

In addition to the standard 4 Series, Lenovo is also introducing a Plus version of the two tablets. Also offered in 8-inch and 10-inch sizes, more details are known about the duo.

The Tab 4 8 Plus and Tab 4 10 Plus will pack 64-bit octa-core processors (2GHz) with up to 4GB RAM and 32GB storage. Moreover, the tablets also feature fingerprint scanners, USB Type-C and Quick Charge 3.0. The displays are touted as being FHD IPS screens.

Optional Kid’s and Productivity Packs

Customers who want to tailor the tablet experience around children may wish to consider the Kid’s Accessory Pack. Featuring a shock-resistant bumper, blue-light filter, and stickers,  the bundle also provides curated content and parental controls.

The Productivity Pack, for its part, turns the tablets into a 2-in-1 “Android workhorse” via the Bluetooth keyboard that also functions as a protective sleeve and stand. Additionally, it includes a built-in productivity interface, features a taskbar and instant app switching, allows for multiple window support, and even mouse and keyboard settings.

Pricing

The Lenovo 4 Tab 8 and 4 Tab 10 will be sold in Slate Black and Polar White and will carry price tags of €169 and €179, respectively. This shakes out to approximately $179 US and $189 US.

The Lenovo Tab 4 8 Plus and Tab 4 10 Plus come in either Sparkling White or Aurora Black and run €259 and €299. A quick conversion puts them at $275 US and $315 US, respectively.

The Tab 4 Series tablets will be available globally in May, however exact pricing and availability could vary by market.

ZTE releases two new smartphones at MWC2017

Matt Adams
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Hot off the announcement of the first 5G phone powered by a Snapdragon 835, ZTE has unveiled two more new smartphones at Mobile World Congress 2017.

ZTE Blade V8 Mini

The first, the ZTE Blade V8 Mini is described at the perfect smartphone for photography lovers. It features a dual-camera with stunning Bokeh photos and 3D photos as well. The Blade V8 Mini sports a 13MP and 2MP dual-lens setup designed to enhance Bokeh pictures, giving the camera an almost SLR-like effect. The camera software will also let you select the focus area after shooting.

The Blade V8 Mini also supports 3D shooting which combines two pictures to create a 3D photo. Support for manual mode, auto HDR, and other camera modes comes out of the box.

Running the show is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor that supports 4G + 3G carrier aggregation. The Blade V8 Mini also has a 2800mAh embedded battery, micro SD card slot, 2 GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. A 5″ HD curved display and “metallic luster” body round out the selling points.

Also announced was the Blade V8 Lite. The Lite is designed to compete on price for the younger crowd while not giving up features. Powered by a MediaTek 6750 octa-core processor and Android Nougat, the Blade V8 Lite has a 5″ FHD display, 8MP rear camera with autofocus, 5MP front-facing camera, and a 2500mAh embedded battery.

The rest of the power plant includes 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and a micro USB port. Both phones announced today also feature fingerprint sensors.

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