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The Galaxy S8 may be a bit smaller than its predecessor

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According to new renders obtained by GSMArena, the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus may be a bit smaller than expected. The site was able to obtain the exact dimensions of the upcoming devices based on information received from a case maker.

Galaxy S7 vs S8 size
Image courtesy of GSMArena

The new Galaxy S8 will measure in at 140.14 x 72.20 x 7.3mm, which is a bit shorter, thinner, and wider than the current Galaxy S7. The Galaxy S8 Plus, which will presumably replace the “Edge” lineup, measures in at 152.38 x 78.51 x 7.94mm. Compared to the Galaxy S7 Edge, this makes the S8 Plus taller and wider.

Galaxy S8 Plus vs S7 Edge
Image courtesy of GSMArena

Because of these factors, the expectation is that Samsung will provide more screen real-estate with the upcoming devices. This seems to be a new trend that is making its rounds, especially after the release of the Xiaomi Mi MIX which has everyone clamoring over it.

New Samsung Galaxy S8 leaks point to the inclusion of a popular Note feature

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The Samsung Galaxy S8 leaks are coming fast and furious now. We’ve brought you news the past few days about the possibility of the design language changing and our first look at the new lockscreen for the device. Today, something a little bit different.

Despite rumors of the new phone(s) dropping the 3.5mm headphone jack, these new case leaks suggest otherwise. In fact, it isn’t the headphone jack that Samsung might drop, it’s the USB port if these cases are accurate to the true S8 design. We’re extremely skeptical of Samsung releasing a phone without a microUSB or a USB type-C port, but our leaker indicates that Qi charging will be the standard charging method for the S8 and S8 Plus.

s8 s pen leakThe bottom of the cases have three cutouts that we can see. The far left is the speaker, the middle cutout is for microphone and the one on the right is supposedly for the new S-Pen. We’ve received no information beyond simply that the S8 will have the popular Note feature included, but to say we have a couple of questions would be undercutting it.

s8 s pen leak 2Will both the rumored S8 and S8 Plus have the S-Pen? Will it be exclusive to the S8 Plus? How will Samsung differentiate the Galaxy S lineup from the Note lineup since we’re allegedly getting both a 5″ and a 6″ Galaxy S and now they allegedly are including the S-Pen.

We have a ton of questions beyond this and the Unpacked event can’t come soon enough.

Thanks to our friends at Mobile Fun for providing these pictures!

Order a ride share straight from Google Maps! [How-To]

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Last week, Google gave me another reason to never download another map or direction app, they integrated ordering an Uber or Lyft directly into the Google Maps interface and, you guessed it, we are here to show you how to use it.

Prerequisites:

I know, no fluff this time. I’m so excited about this addition that there is simply no time for extras; we are jumping right in.

There are a couple things you need to get started

  1. You must have Google Maps installed and logged into your google account.
  2. You must have either an Uber or Lyft account (or both)

Catching a Ride:

  1. Launch Google Maps
  2. Search your destination
  3. Tap the navigation button at the bottom right (blue car)
  4. Tap the ride sharing option (guy with a briefcase)
  5. Select the vendor you want (or whoever is closer/cheaper)
  6. Select the car you want
  7. Tap the Request button

Your ride is now on its way. Never had to leave the app. Take note that you will need to make sure you are logged into your vendors account. You can choose to pay for this service with any payment method you have set up with either the vendor or Google.

Have fun and ride safe.

What do you think about this new addition? Leave us a comment below with your thoughts.

Smashy Road: Arena can be madcap driving fun (review)

There’s a fairly new car-based game out; it combines simple gameplay, smooth visuals, customization, and lots of wild action. It’s called “Smashy Road: Arena”. It’s a follow-up to the title “Smashy Road: WANTED” by the developer BearBit Studios.
It’s a free game that’s family-friendly, and can be played as either single or multi-player.

Setup

Setting up the game is very simple. Just download from the Play Store to your device, and fire it up. It does tie to Google Play Games but if you’re not new to this (presuming you’re not) then off you’ll go.

screenshot_20170106-225846Once started, you really are thrown right into a single play starting screen, where you begin by tapping on a control. Before doing so, though, there’s also an “Online” button that you can press; this takes you out of single-player and puts you into a four-player death match game, where three other players are on the same track as you.

Also, if you do tap to play the single-player game, once in you’ll find a settings/gear screenshot_20170106-231055 button to press. In here you can customize your vehicle. In the game there are 30 possible vehicles, 30 different paint schemes, and 10 weapons to choose from. As is common, you start out with only 1 option for each (the others are available for purchase, if you’re the truly impatient type). The others can become available as you accumulate time (and points) screenshot_20170106-231136playing the game.

Gameplay

The controls couldn’t be simpler: you tap the left side of the screen to go left, and right to go right. That’s it. No accelerator, brakes, shifting, drifting or other driving control to worry about. There is one other control, and that’s weapon launch; but we’ll get to that shortly.
Once you tap and are going, your car is quickly brought to full acceleration. Your objective is to outrun and evade various police, SWAT, and military pursuit vehicles, all while trying to pick up cash and usable items, and also avoiding dead ends, corners, and sudden drop-offs.

screenshot_20170106-225934The pick-up items you can acquire can be cash (for future upgrading), fuel, health points, and assorted other accessories that can help you stay alive a little longer. You also have a weapon on top of your vehicle. You can’t just use it willy-nilly, though; if a pursuing vehicle stays within close range long enough (either by you keeping it close or it just out-driving you), screenshot_2017-01-02-14-39-11then a “fire” button will appear and you can blast the vehicle away, accumulating points and giving you some breathing room.
The more successful you are at staying alive and free, the more and more powerful the vehicles decide to join the chase; until it becomes extremely challenging to stay away.

The environment or ‘track’ you find yourself on (there are eight environments available) is generally a large square, made of a combination of city and country landscapes. The square has a definite edge to it, either by way of mountainside or sheer cliff. The mountain you’ll just bounce off of, going going over the cliff means instant death and “game over”.
There’s also quite a few cliffs on the interior of a given track, so you really have to watch where you’re going. If you’re not heading towards a cliff, there’s plenty of other obstacles to clear: houses, trees, buildings, railroad tracks, bridges, rocks, traffic flotsam, other vehicles….the list goes on.

Your game ends in one of four ways:screenshot_20170106-225656

  1. You drive off a cliff (this will happen a lot).
  2. You run out of gas.
  3. Your health points run out (by accumulating too much damage).
  4. You are cornered by the pursuing vehicles, and are arrested.

Visuals & Audio

Smashy Road: Arena uses the now very popular graphic look of what I dub “8-bit 3D”. If you’re familiar with the game “Crossy Road” (similar name, but different developer), then you know what I’m talking about.

screenshot_20170106-225701Colors are very saturated; and the 8-bit look doesn’t lose its charm here. It kind of gives the feel of playing an old-style game, but in a 3D world. The graphics are very fluid in their movement; I couldn’t detect a single slowdown or hiccup.  Very smooth.

One part of the game display I didn’t like is that the ‘zoom’ of the game seems kind of close-up. Once your car is at speed, it can be difficult to see upcoming railroad tracks, buildings, or cliffs. I died more often by driving straight off a mid-environment cliff than by being caught by police.
This gets better the more you play, but one has to play quite a bit (at least I did) to start getting comfortable with this. I’m sure it’s part of the gameplay strategy by the developer…zooming your view out farther would probably make it too easy. But still just a little farther would have upped the replay-ability, in my opinion.

Audio is great, though simple (again, likely by design). And it’s not the 8-bit synth you may expect, but rather realistic in nature. Music plays in the background, while assorted sound effects pop up right on time to the on-screen action.

Conclusion

I have to recommend Smashy Road: Arena. It’s a pretty fun car escape game that is definitely hair-raising to play, but not too complicated to scare people away. I do with the player’s view was a bit more zoomed out, but all-in-all it’s a quality title worthy of at least a download to give it a try.

 

Download Smashy Road: Arena from the Play Store here.

 

 

Umi shows off touch-free tricks for the UMi Z’s camera

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Ever find yourself in a situation where you encounter something truly breathtaking and want to capture it in a photo? Of course you have. What about scenarios where you are having an incredible time with friends and something funny happen that you want to preserve in a digital file. Just all of the time, right?

As quick as we can be to break out our phones to snap a photo, sometimes things are just so fleeting that we cannot keep up. What to do? Get quicker on the draw? Maybe. Keep your camera app up and running at all times? Nope.

Perhaps the most frustrating camera problem that we’re seeing is trying to get everyone in a selfie. Moreover, how do you take a group shot without your arm showing and taking up a decent amount of space? UMi understands your pain points, so that’s why it has baked in some hands-free features in its upcoming UMi Z handset.

umi_z_cameraFor starters, the UMi Z comes with Smile Detection. As you might suspect, it will automatically snap a picture when it detects a smile in the frame. No need to press a button; the shutter triggers by itself.

Additionally, the handset include Gesture Detection, too. All you have to do is simply make a peace sign or two finger ‘V’ symbol with your fingers. The camera detects the gesture and begins counting down from three. That’s it!

umi-z-camera-close

The best part is that the touch-less gesture works on both the front and the back cameras for the forthcoming phone. So, feel free to put the handset down somewhere you can get a nice wide angle and throw up a victory symbol with your fingers. Just remember to put your hand down before the timer ends.

There are only a few days left to get the UMi Z at its pre-sale price of $219.99. After January 21, the cost goes up by $60 where it will be sold at $279.99 across various channels. Click here to learn more about the phone and/or to place an order for yourself!

 

Nokia 6 vs Moto G4 Plus (Budget Smartphone Showdown)

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Budget phones are getting better and better these days. You can now get features which were previously available only on premium devices, for affordable rates. So for this showdown I want to compare one of the best budget handsets to date, the Moto G4 Plus to Nokia’s comeback handset – also a middle-range offering.

Yes, it looks like a new Moto G5 Plus is on its way, but if the rumors are right the phone shouldn’t see significant upgrades. Anyway the Moto G4 Plus is a handset known for its spectacular battery life and given Nokia’s legacy of releasing devices with long life cycles, this spec shootout is more than warranted. So read below to see how the two devices compare against each other:

Display

5.5-inch with 1920 x 1080 resolution vs 5.5-inch with 1920 x 1080 resolution

Nokia 6 PromoThe two phones have very similar displays, both protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. However, the Moto G4 Plus is a bit more curvaceous than the Nokia 6 which features more pronounced edges. Anyway, when it comes to display it all depends on your aesthetic likes and dislikes.

Computing power

Snapdragon 430 vs Snapdragon 617

Adreno 505 vs Adreno 405

4GB of RAM vs 2GB/3GB/4GB of RAM

Moto G4 Plus feat image (FILEminimizer)In our review of the Moto G4 Plus we found the phone runs extremely smooth. The higher-end version (4GB of RAM) in combination with light stock Android software makes using the phone a real breeze – browsing the web, emails, texting or light game play – there’s nothing the phone can’t handle.

Now the Nokia takes advantage of the Snapdragon 430 which is made up of eight 1.4GHz Cortex-A53 cores. While both chips are designed to deliver performance at affordable prices, you’ll find the Snapdragon 617 works a bit better.

For example, the X6 LTE with Cat 4 speeds in the Snapdragon 430 are a little slower than the X8 LTE with Cat 7 speeds found in the Snapdragon 617. However, the former does get Adreno 505 treatment.

The Moto G4 Plus comes with several RAM options, so if you have a limited budget you can choose a lower variant. When it comes to the Nokia 6 you only get 4GB of RAM. Take it or leave it!

Cameras

16MP/8MP vs 16MP/5MP

Back of Nokia 6
Back of Nokia 6

Both phones come equipped with a main camera of 16MP capacity. The Moto G4 Plus’s snapper take advantage of phase detection & laser autofocus and dual-LED (dual tone) flash while the Nokia 6’s offers phase detection autofocus plus dual-LED flash.

In the selfie department, users are probably going to like the 8MP snapper on the Nokia 6 better than the 5MP one sitting on the front of the Moto 4G Plus.

Software

Android 7.0 Nougat vs Android 6.0 Marshmallow

Moto G4 Plus fingerprint scanner (FILEminimizer)Being launched in 2017, the Nokia 6 runs Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, but the Moto G4 Plus should get Nougat treatment soon, too.

Even so, the stock Android version on the Moto G4 Plus will make a lot of users having. Motorola’s version of Marshmallow is almost untouched aside from a view additional Moto apps and feats (like Moto Actions – with which you can control a few aspects of your phone via movement).

Battery

3,000 mAh vs 3,000 mAh

We are yet to see how the Nokia 6 behaves in real life, but given that it features the same battery capacity as the Moto G4 Plus and runs the optimized Android 7.0 Nougat, we can speculate the phone will enjoy a long life cycle.

On top of that the Nokia 6 takes advantage of a lower-end processor which shouldn’t put too much of a strain on the battery. So we expect the phone to be quite a lot like the Moto G4 Plus in the battery department.

Other features

64GB of internal storage vs 16GB/32GB/64GB

Moto G4 Plus SIM and MicroSD (FILEminimizer)The Moto G4 Plus offers more options in terms of internal storage for those who are on a more limited budget. Don’t forget the phone has a microSD card slot which allows for memory expansion up to 256GB. The Nokia 6 has one too.

Pricing

$245 vs $269

The Nokia 6 will only be available in China for the time being, while the Moto G4 Plus is available on Amazon. The premium version (4GB of RAM + 64GB of internal storage) costs $269, but the 2GB of RAM + 16GB of internal storage option can be yours for $229.99.

Wrap-up

It seems to me the two phones are on-par on many aspects, although the Moto G4 Plus should run a bit smoother. We’re yet to see how the cameras compare (the Nokia 6 should ship out to consumers soon), but in theory the results should be quite similar. However, I should note the Moto G4 Plus is not a phone that distinguishes itself in the camera department, but rather for being snappy and long lasting. As for the Nokia 6P, all the right ingredients for a decent mid-ranger are here complete with FHD display, a hefty 4GB of RAM and Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box.

Blu Life Max hands on and early impressions

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We’re at the beginning of a new year which means we’ll be getting a lot of new gadgets and electronics from CES, Mobile World Congress, and other events. It’s the time of year when companies start to roll out their big products. Indeed, it’s also flagship phone season.

Blu, a brand that we’ve come to admire for its efforts, is back with its latest handset; however, it’s anything but flagship. Known as the Blu Life Max, this is an entry-level model that speaks to more basic user needs.

If there’s one thing Blu is known for, it’s offering unlocked phones at competitive prices. A year or two ago this was pretty much Blu’s space to own — at least here in the US. But, now that there are more brands jockeying for position, it’s getting more difficult to be the clear choice for budget-based decisions.

IMG_20170112_161851

The Life Max launches at an interesting price point of $129.99. It’s just under what Motorola commands for its Moto G line, and it’s a step above Blu’s most basic model, the R1 HD. For a very limited time (three days), customers can purchase the phone for an introductory price of $79.99, or a hefty $50 off.

I’ve been spending a couple of days with the phone as it was sent to us ahead of time by Blu. By the time this is published we’ll have had spent just under a week with the device. Is that enough time to form a full review? Of course not. But, it’s plenty long enough to get a general feel for the phone.

Hardware

Before going further, let’s talk about the hardware specifications. Considering the price, we shouldn’t anticipate all that much. Strangely enough, today’s low-end phone is actually strong enough for most people I know. I’m sure I’ll catch flack for saying it, but there’s no need for 4GB and 6GB phones for a lot of consumers. Not everyone wants or needs to play the cutting edge games. Most folks are far more passive in their usage.

IMG_20170112_162405

Key Details

  • Android 6.0 Marshmallow
  • 5.5-inch HD display at 720 x 1280 pixel resolution
  • Quad-core 1.3GHz MediaTek processor
  • 2GB RAM
  • 16GB storage with microSD expansion card (64GB)
  • 8-Megapixel rear camera
  • 5-megapixel front-facing camera
  • Fingerprint sensor
  • 4G LTE support for two GSM SIM card
  • 3.5mm headphone jack
  • 3700mAh battery

As you can likely surmise from the specs, the Life Max is not going to set the world on fire. The 2GB RAM and quad-core processor are considered entry level in early 2017 yet it was more than enough to play the most demanding games all that long ago. To that end, the hardware still gets the job done for your mom, dad, and first-time smartphone users.

If you’re the type of person who likes to keep up with the newest tech and most powerful stuff, you’ve likely got your eye on something else right now. You’ve probably got a brand or model that you’re partial to and looking at its successor for your next upgrade. What about your less demanding friends or family members? I’m willing to bet they don’t have a strong allegiance to anything particular.

IMG_20170116_101516

We live in a time when phones with big displays, large batteries, and a stock version of Android don’t cost as much as a good night on the town. At 5.5-inches, this is right in line with the bigger handsets of the day. The 3,700mAh battery is more than enough to get one through two days of basic usage. And, even though it’s a generation behind the times, the Android 6.0 experience is smart, secure, and user friendly. All of the above considered, it’s hard to say no, right?

Thanks to the standards supported in Android 6.0 Marshmallow, most phones include a fingerprint sensor. Present in the Life Max, it’s an added layer of security for accessing the phone, making payments, and protecting files.

Display

Don’t be completely taken in just yet, though, there are some minor quibbles with the device, some of which are more pesky for seasoned users. The display, for instance, while big and spacious is only a 720p HD resolution.

When considering that most devices in this space are at 1080 pixels or 1440 pixels, you’ll know the picture is not as sharp as it could be. On the other hand, for your basic needs such as email, messaging, social media, and light gaming, the Life Max works just fine.

IMG_20170116_101455

We’ve had no issues with brightness, color balance, or warmth in the phone in our time with it. It’s not remarkable by any stretch, but that’s also somewhat of a good thing. There’s nothing here that sticks out to us a troublesome. The screen works well in all lighting conditions, even outside.

Design

The general design of the Life Max is somewhat puzzling; the microUSB charging port is on the top of the phone. We’ve seen plenty of devices in the early days of Android where chargers were plugged into the side, but the basic rule of thumb is to go with the bottom.

Speaking of chargers, Blu opted for microUSB here instead of the USB Type-C port. This wouldn’t be as much of a sticky point if they hadn’t already adopted the new standard for some of its other phones. Why? I’m guessing cost.

IMG_20170112_162310So what goes on the bottom side of the Life Max? It would appear to be a pair of stereo speakers. Appearances are deceiving, though, because this one only puts out sound from the left speaker. It’s a decent enough output with a generally appealing range, but a true stereo would have been just that much better.

As for the feel of the Life Max, I am reminded of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and its faux stitched leather case. The Blu phone has a removable back that bends and flexes like less expensive polycarbonate shells. It does feel a smidge more “real” than the leather of the Samsung line, but it’s still synthetic.

Camera

The camera situation is a mixed bag that swings back and forth from really excellent to unimpressive and washed out. Although the phone handles well-lit environments without much issue, it struggles to deliver an accurate color, even when on HDR.

I found multiple instances where coloration looks as if it was dialed down. It wasn’t in every situation, but it was often enough to where I noticed. In a word, it lacked pop when in indoor settings. Other than that, the range was represented well, and felt balanced.

IMG_20170116_101313

The time from pressing the camera button to the time the image was snapped and stored was slower than I would have liked. As was to be expected, the problem was exacerbated when using HDR.

With those things out in the open, I should state that there were some really impressive shots captured by the Life Max. Still images worked better than motion, of course, but I was surprised by some of the final results from both indoors and outdoors. Moreover, throwing some of the photos through filters or post-processing in an app brought about some interesting final products.

Software

One of my favorite things about Blu phones is that they are usually a stripped down stock Android experience. Some models might sprinkle in some customization and minor enhancements but it’s void of any carrier influence or major software agenda.

You’ll find a couple of Amazon applications, Opera, McAfee Security, NextRadio, and a Blu Help application pre-loaded. Also, a full suite of Google apps are installed: Play Store, Drive, Gmail, Chrome, YouTube, and others. Of the 16GB of space in the phone, you’ll have a little more than 10GB to play with — more if you install a microSD card.

IMG_20170116_100950

The Life Max doesn’t have some of the custom touches found in other Blu phones. I am not sure why, as they generally don’t take up too much space or change things up. Perhaps this is the way they plan to go with handsets in 2017. With that said, I do enjoy playing around with color options and themes in other Blu devices and somewhat looked forward to it here. Nevertheless, the default Android experience, as designed by Google, is present and is excellent for first-time users.

One area that consumers would be wise to care about is the topic of security and updates. Just because a phone is stock Android doesn’t mean it’s impervious to exploitation or flaws. Moreover, major software updates or security patches are something that seasoned users have come to expect.

That the Life Max launches with Android 6.0 instead of 7.0 isn’t as big of a deal to its target demographic. What’s more important, to me, at least, is whether it keeps up with the security releases and patches from Google. The Life Max unit I am reviewing shows it is up to date but does list the Android security patch level as October 5, 2016. Without knowing ahead of time, I have to assume Blu keeps up with the most important releases. For now, I have to give them the benefit of the doubt.

IMG_20170112_162705

Other Details

Another feature that’s common in Blu phones is that they are unlocked and dual-SIM ready. 4G LTE is supported on T-Mobile and AT&T, which also loops in MetroPCS, Straight Talk, Simple Mobile, Cricket, and others. Additionally, T-Mobile includes VoLTE and HD Voice support for enhanced coverage and better quality call performance. If you are currently a subscriber to any of the above, or are considering switching to one, you can rest easy knowing the Life Max can hop back and forth without a problem.

I didn’t run into any performance issues with the Life Max. Sure, it’s easy to open a bunch of apps and try hopping back and forth between them, looking for lag or dropped frame rates. It’s also not difficult to find some of the most demanding games and load them up, probing for vulnerabilities or weaknesses. The truth is, though, this is not the way I use my phone. I suspect it’s the same for most readers, too.

Conclusion

You don’t buy a new family car and take it out on the highway, switching gears, revving the engine, and pushing it to limits. You also don’t take it off-road into mud, snow, and other strange conditions. No, you just go about things normally. You go to and from work, the store, school, and other places. Once in awhile you might take a long road trip, but you don’t spend four hours zooming down the highway at 120mph.

IMG_20170112_162723While you might run into the occasional weird scenario on the road, or have to drive a little more aggressively from time to time, your family car is more of a passive experience. If you need a tuner car, or plan to do some off-roading, then you buy something designed for it. There are certain models and brands who rise to the top for that sort of thing.

I say all of this as an analogy to today’s entry-level phones. They work. They get the job done for most people in most scenarios. They don’t hold a candle to the top-tier stuff rolling out but that matters little to the basic user needs. Blu’s entry-level phones, including the new Life Max, does just as well as anything else in the space.

It’s hard to consider any Blu phone a disappointment, especially at their respective prices. There may be some questionable decisions or general inconsistency across the board, but they are largely solid value propositions.

The Life Max is an excellent choice for someone looking to get their feet wet with a smartphone. Additionally, if you are replacing a phone and don’t want to break the bank, Blu is a brand to consider.

IMG_20170112_161958Getting back to the car analogy in conclusion, if you’re looking for something to hold on to for years, go with a top-of-the-line model and finance it over a long term. Ride it until the wheels fall off. If you’re content with leasing and want to upgrade or switch out on a regular basis, Blu makes it easy and affordably to do so. It is easy for me to recommend the Life Max for what it offers at its price.

A friendly reminder: The Blu Life Max carries a $129.99 price tag and it can be purchased through Best Buy and Amazon. Best Buy, for its part, will have a three-day introductory sale that drops the cost down to $79.99.  This, to me, takes it from “should consider” to “would be a shame to miss out” for those considering it.

Get the new BLU Life Max with 3,700 mAh battery for only $79.99 [Flash Sale]

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Looking for an affordable smartphone? First you can check out our article on the best smartphones under $100 you can buy right now. But if you’re willing to throw a bit more, BLU has a brand new unlocked smartphone you might want to take a look at.

Introducing the BLU Life Max – a smartphone with a spacious display and a big battery which sells for only $129.99. Let’s see what you can get for this amount of cash.

CHECK OUT OUR HANDS ON AND IMPRESSIONS OF THE LIFE MAX

The phone features a 5.5-inch screen with the standard budget 720 x 1280 resolution plus 267ppi. The BLU Life Max is powered by a quad-core 1.3GHz MediaTek MT6737 processor that works in combo with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage (a microSD card slot is available for memory expansion up to 64GB).

BLU Life Max BackAs for photography, users can take advantage of an 8MP/5MP camera duo – both with LED flash. The main camera allows customers to shoot HD video at 30fps. The BLU Life Max ships with Android 6.0 Marshmallow and there’s a slim chance it will get updated to Android 7.0 Nougat.

As we told you above, one of the phone’s biggest selling points is the big 3,700 mAh battery which should last up to two or three days of standard usage.

To celebrate the launch of the BLU Life Max, the company is hosting a 3 day introductory sale. Interested parties are invited to head on to Best Buy. You’ll get $50 off immediately which means the phone can be yours for only $79.99. The promo lasts until January 19 at 12:00 EST.

Virgin Mobile trial offers 5 months of free service with purchase of LG X Power

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Sprint’s pre-paid subsidiary, Virgin Mobile hasn’t been doing too well lately. Sprint saw a net loss of up to 427,000 pre-paid customers in Q3 of last year, so the carrier was plotting a grand relaunching of its Virgin brand sometime for late 2016, which eventually got postponed.

Now in 2017, Virgin Mobile is looking to make a comeback in full force. According to sources, the Sprint branch is planning to move its headquarters to Kansas City, Missouri where it will be looking to hire 100 new employees.

On top of that, Virgin Mobile is also experimenting with a promotion designed to bring more customers in. As part of its relaunch strategy, the carrier is tempting users with 5 months of entry-level service which would normally cost $35/month with the purchase of the LG X Power (normally $179).

The plan offers unlimited talk, text messages and 5GB of data at 4G LTE speeds.  Those who agree to make the transaction will basically get the phone free of charge. The deal is only available with select Best Buy stores and if you want to get onboard you need to remember Virgin Mobile offers the promo until April 4. However, if the experiment proves to be a successful one we might see the promo get an extension.

More LG X PowerLG X Power is an entry device which is perfect for day-to-day tasks like checking email or browsing social media.

The phone features a 5.3-inch display with 720 x 1280-pixel resolution and is kept alive by a 1.8GHz octa-core processor with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage (microSD available for memory expansion up to 256GB).

The LG X Power also comes equipped with a standard 13MP/8MP camera combo plus Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box. Perhaps one of its best feature is the non-removable 4,100 mAh battery which should provide a solid life cycle.

Does Virgin’s offer sound good to you?

Five travel apps you’ve probably never heard of before

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There are a multitude of travel apps available for Android, all geared towards easing the course of one’s worldly adventures. Many of these are already household names such as Trip Advisor, Skyscanner and Google Translate. But what little known gems exist within the Google Play store just waiting to be discovered? This article reviews the top 5 travel apps you’ll wonder how you ever managed without.

momondoMomondo

Momondo is a relatively new cheap flight comparison app. But unlike the other usual suspects on the market, this service offers results based on the cheapest deal available by combining airlines. So if it is cheaper to fly out with one given airline and return with another it will tell you so. This unique functionality provides a welcome way for the frugal traveller to make extra savings! Download from the Google Play Store

traveler

The Traveler

The perfect app for storing, documenting and organizing your travel itinerary and plans in a virtual scrapbook. Features included in this journal app include the ability to capture photos, video and audio and have a map marker added relevant to the location where they were shot or recorded. You can also map your journey using Google Earth, share your content with family and friends and integrate with Google Docs and Maps. The perfect app for documenting your trip. Download from the Google Play Store

talk_to_me_cloud

Talk To Me Cloud

An excellent real-time speech to speech translation app with recognition in 15+ languages. Translations can also be sent as email or SMS. Perfect for those tricky situations in foreign lands when hand gestures no longer cut the mustard. While it’s certainly not the freshest of the bunch, and it’s been some years since its last update, it still gets the job done in 2017. Download from the Google Play Store

foodspotting

Foodspotting

This app recommends dishes rather than restaurants based on the recommendations of other travelers. Reviewers upload photos and descriptions of their favorite dishes and share them with other users. An excellent service in a foreign land when you may not be quite sure what to order, regardless of the quality of the restaurant. Download from the Google Play Store

momondo

Detour

This offers virtual guides of whichever city you happen to be in around the world. Just plug in your headphones and let it inform you about the history, culture and landmarks of your current location. You can also sync the audio with other users in your group and your phone’s GPS will naturally keep you headed in the right direction. Download from the Google Play Store

Guest Post Contribution

Matt Reid is a staff writer for the popular online bargain sales website https://www.easyprices.com/.