samsung galaxy s6

samsung galaxy s6

PROS

Excellent camera
Quality look and feel
Wireless and fast charging
Superb screen
Powerful performance

CONS

So-so battery life
Some App crashing issues
BEST DEALS

KEY FEATURES

5.1-inch 1440 x 2560 resolution screen
Octa-core Exynos 7420 chipset
Wireless Charging
3GB RAM
2,550mAh non-removable battery
Android 5.0 L with TouchWiz
Samsung Pay
IR Blaster
Manufacturer: Samsung

Now that Samsung has released a successor to the Galaxy S6, with the Galaxy S7, the next generation of smartphones has started to arrive.

But the S6 remains one of the finest phones of last year. It was so good, in fact, that we gave the handset – and its curvier S6 Edge cousin – the Trusted Reviews Smartphone of the Year award.

Although the S7 packs in a number of new features and upgrades, including the return of the SD Card slot, the S6 still has a lot going for it. It's got a sharp screen, stunning camera, and slick build, all packed inside a compact design.

What's more, the S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge have both received an update in the form of Android Marshmallow, to coincide with the S7 launch. That means a host of new features for the S6, all of which you can check out on our guide to Android Marshmallow on the S6 and S6 Edge page.

In brief, Android 6.0 brings the following to the S6:
A new memory manager that allows you to check how much memory each app is using
Battery optimisation on a by-app basis
Better Google Now integration with Google Now on Tap
More control over app permissions
A new power saving feature called Doze
If you're looking for a great Android handset with a sleek design, but don't want to shell out for the S7 or the even more expensive Galaxy S7 Edge, the Galaxy S6 is a great choice.
You can read our original review of the Galaxy S6 below.

SAMSUNG'S MOST IMPORTANT RELEASE TO DATE

First reviewed: May 2015

One of the finest phones of the year, we recently gave the Samsung Galaxy S6 – and its curvier S6 Edge cousin – the Trusted Reviews Smartphone of the Year award.

Thanks to a more affordable price, the S6 is still one of the best Android phones you can buy right now. It's got a sharp screen, stunning camera, slick build and it's a lot more compact than most other similarly specced phones on the market.

If the S6 Edge+ is simply too big for you and you're not keen on going over to IOS with the iPhone 6S, the Galaxy S6 is a great choice.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S6 – DESIGN

Metal chassis; Gorilla Glass 4 rear; 142 x 70 x 7mm; 132g; Home button; Soft keys.

Samsung has managed to make the Galaxy S6 a great-looking phone. The Galaxy S6 Edge is arguably the more stylish of the two, but you only need to spend more for it if you really want to. Smooth Gorilla Glass 4 front and rear, and aluminium alloy bands on the sides, means looks and feels like flagship phone. Unlike last year’s S5, the S6 feels like it’s worth over £500/$684.99. That’s important.

S6 colours

Less successful are some of the colour options, though. The "jewel tones" – as Samsung calls them – include White Pearl, Gold Platinum, Black Sapphire, Blue Topaz and Green Emerald. The brighter colours also tend to be fingerprint magnets so keep a spare cloth handy if you opt for one of those.

Some finishes have a slight dual tonality to them, so they appear to change colour depending on how the light shines on them. The effect is more subtle than the pink/gold combo on the HTC M9, but it can still look a little tacky, particularly in Blue Topaz and Gold Platinum.

The phone is light but still feels solid, and it’s slimmer than the Galaxy S5. In fact, despite its large 5.1-inch screen, it doesn’t feel that much chunkier or clumsier than the dinky, 4-inch iPhone 5S. Thin metal volume and power keys live on opposite sides, which helps avoid accidentally pressing power key as we experienced with the HTC One M9.

One move that doesn’t work so well is the speaker placement. It now sits awkwardly at the base of the phone, rather than the back as it did on the Galaxy S5. Neither placement is particularly helpful, as they’re easy to block when held normally. This muffles the sound in the natural way you'd hold it while playing a game or watching a movie. Another issue is that the home key is slightly raised, making it easy to press accidentally while it's in your pocket.

The S6 and S5 look very similar from the front

The rear of the phone is a less of a design success. The camera protrudes around 2mm making it look a little like a break-out on the face of an unfortunate teenager. Some people will be bothered less than others but the key point is that it slides in and out of your pocket easily thanks to sloped edges. The SIM-tray sits flush with the side and if you can keep hold of the annoyingly elusive SIM-ejector tool or use a paperclip, the tray pops out firmly without too much difficulty.

There are a couple more genuine drawbacks to the spanking new Galaxy S6’s design, though. Glass may be easy to grip but it’s so super smooth that the S6 dives off many surfaces like Michael Phelps at the first hint of a starting whistle – we've caught the S6 on the edge of possible destruction on numerous occasions during our time reviewing it.

Using a case or resting the phone on a textured surface reduces the frequency of these suicide dives, but a less slippery finish might have been better. It's swings and roundabouts though. We prefer the look of the Glass-backed Galaxy S6 but felt safer with the S5's grippy, dimpled back.

The S6 isn't waterproof like the Galaxy S5, so you need to take more care than before. Mind you, we’ll be surprised if Samsung doesn’t release an IP-rated Galaxy S6 ‘Active‘ variant in the coming weeks or months.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S6 – SCREEN

5.1-inch; 1440 x 2560 pixels (QHD or 2K); 577ppi; Super AMOLED; Gorilla Glass 4

The 5.1-inch screen on the Samsung Galaxy S6 is truly brilliant and definitely one of the best screens we’ve seen on a mobile phone. Only the LG G4 and Galaxy Note 4 can match it for sharpness, but the Super AMOLED panel on the S6 is cut above in every other respect.

Compared to most LCD-screened phones the Galaxy S6’s screen is more vibrant, though Full HD (1080p) screens look just as sharp unless you start looking at the screen from a couple of inches away. The S5’s screen is just as vibrant as the S6, but the S6 produces cleaner, more natural whites. Whites look slightly blue on the S5, while the S6 looks closer to the iPhone 6, which is the best in this department.

But there’s no doubting which has the best contrast. AMOLED screens don’t have a traditional backlight, which means blacks appear perfectly black. This means videos and photos look fantastic, while the punchier colours outshine the iPhone 6 as well. It looks great indoors and holds up well even in direct sunlight.


Samsung’s TouchWiz UI allows you to adjust the display colours to fit the user’s preferences, and we found that the AMOLED Photo setting produced the most colour faithful results without heavily sacrificing vibrancy. Apple’s iPhone 6 is the benchmark for colour accuracy but the Galaxy S6 is closer to the iPhone than any other phone we've seen.

The screen looks good from every viewing angle, too, making it perfect for sharing videos and photos on. There really isn’t any department where this screen doesn’t excel. It’s brilliant.

Xbox 360

XBOX 360

FOR

Sexy design
It's quiet!
Built-in Wi-Fi
Touch buttons
Xbox Live

AGAINST

No HDMI cable in the box
Uses disc tray
Still mangles game discs
External power brick
No Blu-ray

OVERVIEW

The Xbox One might be out there in the next generation, but the Xbox 360 has changed since its launch in 2005.

That much is transparently clear from the updated version that debuted in 2010.

Buy Microsoft Xbox 360 (4 GB) at Amazon for $148.89
The Xbox 360 S is smaller, sleeker and quieter than the previous model and designed to banish the infamous 'Red Ring of Death' hardware failure that forced Microsoft to extend its warranty on the system.

Likewise the arrival of Kinect, which has gone on to sell over 10 million units, has transformed the machine from solely the preserve of hardcore gamers to a casual gamer friendly environment.

While some of the novelty of Kinect may have worn off, if anything the games are improving – finding new ways to take advantage of what is still fascinating technology.

But Microsoft is and always has been a software company first and foremost and, fittingly, that's where the Xbox 360 has changed the most. The NXE update of 2008 binned the old 'blades' system for an interface that was more welcoming to multimedia content and 2011 has seen another major update to the console's operating system. One so substantial, we've felt it necessary to update this review to reflect what a different machine it is.

Whether it's the old model or the new one, the Xbox 360 has now comprehensively changed from a machine primarily about playing games, with a modest selection of online content attached, to a fully featured entertainment and media hub.

new xbox 360 dashboard
The majority of forms of digital entertainment are catered for, there are extensive social networking features available and a new TV tab aims to replace traditional digital boxes with IPTV and catch up services.

The new dashboard, based around the Metro design language that also features in Windows 8 and Windows Phone 7, is a far busier interface, but it's reflective of the huge amounts of content now available within the walled garden of Xbox Live.

Getting to it all has always been the challenge and Microsoft has made admirable steps towards making that a straightforward process.

You'd think that the most significant change for the new widely touted 'Xbox 360 Slim' would be its size, but surprisingly, it's not.

Buy Microsoft Xbox 360 (4 GB) at Amazon for $148.89
At 270mm in height, it's sufficiently shorter than the 310mm tall old 360. But it's only a measly half-a-centimeter slimmer (and fatter than the PS3 Slim) and, would you believe, it's actually slightly deeper than the old 360, too.

Just to make it easier at a glance, here are its dimensions beside the older model, and the PS3 slim just for some extra comparison:

Console: Height/Width/Depth/weight

Xbox 360 250GB: 270mm x 75mm x 264mm, 2.9kg
Xbox 360 Elite: 310mm x 80mm x 260mm, 3.5kg
PS3 Slim: 290mm × 65mm ×290mm, 3.5kg
new xbox 360 250gb
As you can see, its profile is not much 'slim' but more 'light'. It's the lightest of the current-gen consoles by a fair amount, although it's worth noting right now that the PS3 Slim's extra heft also counts for the system's internal power supply, which disappointingly remains external (albeit smaller than the previous power brick) in the new Xbox.

new xbox 360 250gb
Instead, the more significant changes are in the console's aesthetics and hardware configuration. First of all, that matte plastic has been swapped for a super sexy gloss black.

new xbox 360 250gb
Where the old console's bubble-like roundness wouldn't look too out of place on the Tomy Toys page of your Argos catalogue, the new console dons sharp edges and harsh lines that almost resemble a stealth fighter (fittingly so given its new quieter operating volume, but more on that later).

new xbox 360 250gb
And then there's that grill on the side – a surprisingly large and aggressive opening that's more like something you'd expect from a third-party case mod than the usually reserved standard skin. Consoles usually hide away their tightly-packed insides but the new Xbox flaunts it, giving you a good look at the system's case fan.

Touch-buttons

The power and disc eject buttons are no longer the clunky things they were before. In fact you don't press them at all – they're capacitive touch buttons that respond to no more than a gentle prod.

touch buttons
The console makes a funky beep sound to acknowledge your touch, but it's thankfully a more calming chime and not that horrible microwave-style bleep of the PS3.

The console's cleaner appearance is also partly thanks to the omission of the proprietary memory stick ports – MS updated the 360 recently to accept any USB stick as usable memory; a move which pretty much rendered the notoriously more expensive native memory cards redundant anyway.

The two front-loading USB ports remain, tucked neatly way behind a little flap which sits in line with the new bigger and more responsive controller sync button.

The console actually now has five USB ports total instead of the previous three, but those additional ones have been tucked away on the back of the console.

The new disc drive is considerably smoother and quieter than before. Now, we know some of you will, right off the bat, question MS' decision to stick with a disc tray rather than the admittedly sleeker slot-loading drive like on PS3 and Wii. Honestly speaking we would have preferred a slot loader too.

Anyhow, the new drive has none of that Aiwa tape deck-like clunkyness to it. We always wondered what part of the old Xbox could possibly make such a loud 'ker-chunk' sound as the drive closed – that teeth-gritting sound is no longer present here.

We tried moving the console while a disc was spinning inside – something that resulted in a severely scratched disc in the old console. The result? We're certain the result was even worse!

Clearly Microsoft has been unable to find a solution the intense centrifugal forces that bend the disc and make it touch harmful nearby surfaces in the drive. The console does in fact have a sticker on the front which warns against moving it while a disc is spinning. Does this make up for the flaw in our eyes? Not a chance.

On the backside

Flip the console round and you're greeted by a few new ports, too. As we said before, there are three USB ports back here instead of one. You'll now be able to plug a digital optical audio lead directly into the console for your 5.1 surround kits, instead of having to go through external ports on the AV lead.

new xbox 360 250gb
Click to enlarge
Most interesting though is the 'Aux' port, which is basically where Kinect, Microsoft's new motion-sensing gadget releasing in November, will be plugged in. This port will both operate and power the device. Users of the old console will plug Kinect in via a USB adapter and draw power from a wall socket.

Video is delivered to your TV either via standard HDMI or the proprietary Xbox AV port, which is the same size as before so all your old AV cables will work, which is handy for anyone upgrading from the old console because, ridiculously, the new Xbox comes with no HD video leads whatsoever.

All you get in the box is the standard composite lead, which only does SD – and poorly at that. Everyone else will otherwise have to add the cost of an HDMI lead to their bill before they can see the crisp HD resolutions this machine is capable of.

There's an Ethernet network port back here too, although we'd like to think anyone grabbing the new console will make use of the now built-in Wi-Fi capability.

Finally, Microsoft is no longer bending you over a table with its £70 proprietary Wi-Fi adapter necessary before. Just turn it on and you're wireless right out of the box.

samsung galaxy note 7

samsung galaxy note 7

Samsung is on a roll in 2016. Its Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are outselling the iPhone, and it’s not even done yet. The latest device to join Samsung’s galactic empire is the Note 7. With its signature S Pen stylus and a nifty new Edge panel, the Note 7 is the best of both worlds.

Samsung delivers a powerful, productive device that is much more than an edgy gimmick. This is the Galaxy to buy. Read on to find out why.

SMOOTH, SYMMETRIC DESIGN

Samsung took all the lessons it learned from the Galaxy S7 Edge and put them into play on the Note 7. When you hold the Note 7 next to the Note 5, it looks much smaller, even though they both have 5.7-inch screens. The phone is slimmer, sleeker, and more comfortable to hold.

If you thought the S7 Edge was comfortable in your hand, wait until you get your hands on the Note 7, which is just barely wider. It’s one of the most comfortable phones we’ve ever held. Samsung fused together two identical pieces of curved glass onto the front and back of the device, so that it curves perfectly into your hand – no more sharp edges.

The aluminum frame is so slim you barely notice that it’s there — all you feel is the cool curve of glass warming against your hand. The perfect symmetry of the Note 7 adds to comfort, grip, and style. It also looks stunning, especially in the new blue color, which I would almost describe as periwinkle (shh, don’t tell all the men who will love this color).

 If you’re an artist, you will absolutely love the S Pen on the Galaxy Note 7.
Of course, you’ll quickly mar the Note 7’s perfect surface with fingerprints. It is still an all-glass phone, so if oily smears bother you, you’ll need a case. The fragility of glass is another matter: the slimmer metal frame means even more glass is exposed to danger if you drop your phone. We highly recommend you buy a case to keep your Note 7 safe – even if Gorilla Glass 5 is supposedly super strong.

Luckily, though it’s fragile, the Note 7 is water resistant, and claims the same IP68 protection rating as the Galaxy S7 Active. Yes, Consumer Reports found that those phones took on water, but Samsung told us the Note 7 is made on a different production line and it doesn’t suffer from the defect. (For the record, that defect has been allegedly been fixed across all production lines.)

Samsung’s silver and blue color options hide fingerprints a bit better than the black one, but they’re all a sight to behold. Sadly, the gold version is not U.S. bound at the moment, because each market only gets three colors.

AMAZING NEW S PEN

Samsung made the stylus cool again with the first S Pen, and the latest one is better than ever. The Galaxy Note 7’s stylus supports 4,096 points of pressure, which is double the amount that most styli offer. That means more pressure sensitivity, so the S Pen will know whether to make a sketchy fine line or a bold strike. Extra accuracy will certainly appeal to artists, but it’s also beneficial to note takers. The pen tip is closer to ballpoint size, at 0.7mm wide. It doesn’t drag, either, so the S Pen slides smoothly across the surface when you’re writing or drawing.

An improved S Notes app houses all your S Pen creations in a searchable, simple app. You can create new notes right in the app, instead of having to pop your S Pen in and out to conjure the Notes app. When you create a new note, you get several options, including one for artists, which now supports color blending, so that your paintings look more like real oil paintings.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
I couldn’t stop drawing with it, and spent the better part of my commutes on the NYC subway sketching. The different brushes, pencils, crayons, and markers are great. You won’t get the same level of fancy tools that you’ll find in SketchBook Pro or other high-end drawing apps, but the simplicity of the tools makes it easy to just sketch freely. It’s very similar to 53’s Paper, which is one of my favorite drawing apps on iOS.

Samsung’s PenUp app lets you share your creations in the Pen Up social community for S Pen artists. You can browse artists, participate in drawing challenges, and connect with fellow artists.

The S Pen has always been my favorite Note feature, but now it’s better than ever. If you’re an artist, you will absolutely love the S Pen on the Galaxy Note 7.

Samsung also made the S Pen water resistant with an IP68 rating, so you can write underwater, which you’ll never do, or so you can operate your Note with wet hands.

Other new features include the ability to pin notes to the always-on display for quick access, create scrollable notes, make and share GIFs with Smart Select, translate text into 38 languages with Air Command, open a magnifying glass to increase text size up to 300 percent, and click a single button to erase. All of these features take the S Pen to the next level.

SAME KILLER SPECS AS GALAXY S7 EDGE

These days, most Android flagship phones have the same incredible specs, and the Note 7 is no exception. It boasts the same dual-edged Super AMOLED screen as the S7 Edge with a Quad HD 2,560 x 1,440 pixel resolution, but it’s size is 0.2 inches bigger, spanning 5.7 inches diagonally.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 7 COMPARED TO

 samsung galaxy note7 edge reviews
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
The new Note is powered by a top-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and 4GB of RAM, just like the S7 Edge, and it’s equally speedy. I never noticed any lag or delay while using the Note 7, even when the phone was performing heavy-duty tasks. That high-level of performance is reflected in the benchmark scores. The Note 7 got a multi-core score of 5,231 on the Geekbench 3 test, 2,517 on the 3D Mark Slingshot test, and 40,038 on Quadrant.

You can only buy the Note 7 with 64GB of storage, but it is expandable with a MicroSD card up to 256GB, so you should be fine. Like most recent Samsung phones, the Note 7 supports Samsung Pay.

STUNNING CAMERAS PERFORM FLAWLESSLY

The same 12-megapixel back camera and 5-megapixel front-facing camera that graced the S7 Edge are present on the Note 7, too. There’s also an additional front-facing camera, but that’s for the iris scanner.

In our testing, we found the camera to be just as good if not better than the iPhone 6S Plus’ camera. Photos turned out absolutely beautiful in any lighting. Close ups were sharp and all the details were present, even in tricky mixed lighting situations. The camera focuses quickly and takes strong shots in low light. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better camera on a smartphone.

samsung galaxy note  review sample photosamsung galaxy note  review sample photosamsung galaxy note  review sample photo
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A pro mode lets shutterbugs adjust ISO, white balance, shutter speed, and more in real time. The interface is very easy to learn.

BATTERY LIFE IS STANDARD FOR A FLAGSHIP

The Note series used to be known for exceptional battery life, but this year’s Note 7 has a normal-sized 3,500mAh battery inside, with correspondingly average endurance. It typically lasted a day on a charge, though light users could eke out a day and a half. The Note 7 sadly won’t last you any longer than most flagship phones, but the quick charging is an amazing concession. When you can juice up to nearly full in 30 minutes, you almost forget that the battery life isn’t so hot.

The Note 7 is the first Samsung phone to use a USB Type-C connector to charge up. For the uninitiated, USB Type-C cords can be plugged in either way, so you never have to struggle again. If you have older Micro USB accessories you love, Samsung gives you an adapter to use. The company also made a new Gear VR for the Note 7.

Like other Galaxy phones, the Note 7 also charges up wirelessly on Samsung’s quick charge pad. This method takes longer, but it eliminates the wires.

SECURITY AND AN IRIS SCANNER

Samsung doubled up on biometrics with the Note 7. It has both a fingerprint sensor and an iris (eye) scanner. You can choose to use either one, both, or neither when you set up the phone.

Iris scanners are notoriously finicky. On previous phones, you had to hold the phone at just the right position, avoid certain lighting, and take off your glasses every time you wanted to use the iris scanner. Luckily, the iris scanner on the Note 7 isn’t quite so tricky. You have to set it up without glasses on, but after that, it can read your iris through your glasses. It seems to handle different types of lighting well, but glare from overhead lights or a room that’s too dark to see in will foil the sensor.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
It took me a few tries to set it up, because the software wouldn’t recognize my eyes initially. To use it, you turn on the phone with the power button, swipe up, and you’re presented with the option to enter your passcode or use your eyes to open your phone. You’ll see a creepy black and white image of yourself on the phone that looks like it’s from the Blair Witch Project. You line your eyes up with the circles and your phone should unlock.

I say, “should,” because sometimes the phone will refuse to open and tell you to move your phone closer, higher, lower, or further away. Sometimes it asks you to “open your eyes fully.” This whole process can take a few seconds if you don’t get it just right, and gives onlookers quite the spectacle. That’s the price you pay for living in the future — you periodically look like a dork.

Samsung says it’s harder to dupe than a fingerprint scanner, and you can use it when your hands are too wet for a fingerprint read. But with this level of reliability, it’s more of a backup than the main way you’ll unlock your device. Luckily, the fingerprint sensor is nearly fail-safe.

SAMSUNG’S TOUCHWIZ UI GETS A MAKEOVER

After some much-needed changes, the latest version of Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface is gorgeous. Samsung went for a more modern look with attractive colors, a flatter UI look, and white backgrounds. Everything looks more open and fresh. Gone are the cartoonish icons, and in their place are attractive ones you won’t be embarrassed to tap on. We literally oohed and ahhed when we saw the changes to the new settings menu — yes, I’m serious.

It’s a stronger device with both the Edge panels and the S Pen.
As far as bloatware goes, Samsung does include its fair share of extra apps. You’ll likely replace many of the generic ones with your favorite alternatives, but there are a few unique ones like Notes, Pen Up, S Health, S Voice, Secure Folder, and Samsung Plus. If you love your S Pen, you should check out Pen Up and Notes. S Health is for the fitness freaks among you, and the Secure Folder is for the privacy conscious. It lets you keep documents, notes, pictures, and even apps in any encrypted spot where no one else can see them. It remains locked even when your phone is unlocked, and you have to use the iris scanner or fingerprint sensor to unlock it. It’s easy to remove or add files to the folder.

Samsung Plus lets you get instant customer service when you need it, including live video or audio assistance from a customer service rep when you have serious problems. For routine questions, you can also consult the included guides for all your registered Samsung devices – not just the phone. These extras help make the Note 7 worth the money.

Since the Note 7 is technically an Edge phone, too, it has all the same Edge panels as the S7 Edge. You can download new ones from the Samsung app store or just use the app shortcuts, contacts, and other edges Samsung has pre-loaded on the device. The Edge is much more useful than it used to be, and together with the S Pen, it makes the Note 7 a much stronger device.

SOFTWARE UPDATES AND WARRANTY

Samsung doesn’t exactly have the best record of updating its phones with the latest Android software in a timely fashion, but the company told Digital Trends that the Galaxy Note 7 should get the monthly security patches in a timely manner. Android Nougat has yet to be released, but the new version of Android will hit the Note 7 after a time. Samsung told us that it’s been working to improve the speed of its updates. Hopefully it sticks to that bargain, and gets the carriers to act faster as well.

The Galaxy Note 7 has a one-year warranty that covers accidental damage and defects. To get your device replaced or repaired, you have to send it to an authorized phone service facility with the receipt or proof of sale showing the original date of purchase, the serial number of the product, and the seller’s name and address.

It’s important to note that the two curved glass panels on the phone may be expensive to replace, though Samsung hasn’t given us an exact amount yet. If you’re paranoid, you can buy an extended warranty for $100 that covers accidental damage, including screen breaks.

CONCLUSION

The Galaxy Note 7 is the best smartphone Samsung has made in 2016. It is as beautiful as the S7 Edge, but it’s as functional as every other Note before it. The Note series is one of our personal favorites, and we’re glad that Samsung is folding the Edge into the Note. It makes for a truly unique and well-rounded device. This is the Galaxy to buy if you’re ready to spend the extra money for an amazing S Pen, iris scanner, and USB Type-C charging.

If you’re not into the S Pen and don’t care for the iris scanner, you should save some money and get the S7 Edge. If you’re willing to go off the beaten path, the OnePlus 3 and Axon 7 could also save you a couple hundred bucks. Both are excellent phones with the same raw power as the Note 7, but they only cost $400.

In America, the Note 7 won’t hit stores until August 19, but you can preorder it at AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, and Verizon Wireless stores now. It will also be available at Best Buy, Amazon, Car Toys, Sam’s Club, Target, and some Walmart stores. Samsung has yet to announce an unlocked version of the phone, but it may do so in the future like it did for the S7 and S7 Edge.

If you buy a Galaxy Note 7 or Galaxy S7 Edge, Samsung is also offering a free Gear Fit 2 or a Samsung 256GB memory card. We personally recommend the Gear Fit 2, which we considered better than a Fitbit in our review.

samsung gear S2

samsung gear S2

When it comes to Samsung smartwatches, our Gear S2 review breaks new ground. Never before have we been able to describe a Samsung smartwatch as desirable, intuitive or – most importantly of all – compatible.

With its Swatch-like looks and ability to play nicely with rival Android smartphones, Samsung has performed a spectacular U-turn. The result is a bold wearable that gets as much right as its predecessors got wrong. Read on to find out why Samsung is back in the game.

Samsung Gear S2: Design

It's impressive how many bases Samsung has covered in just two designs: the standard Gear S2 and the upscaled Gear S2 Classic. It should be noted that the stainless steel and plastic editions look like watches and feel well made – and if you've ever worn a previous Samsung smartwatch, you'll know that is big news.

If we'd had a choice of which Gear S2 to review, we'd have plumped for the Classic. The ridged bezel, leather strap and smaller body combine for a premium feel, and it can be easily fitted with third party straps. It's $50 more expensive, but feels lovely.

We also haven't had a chance to test the Gear S2 with 3G and GPS – the obvious choice to compare to the Sony SmartWatch 3 or Moto 360 Sport if you want a smartwatch for everyday as well as running or training.

With two different designs and a bunch of different straps, there's some choice of style in the Samsung Gear S2 line-up, though it can't rival Apple or Motorola for personalisation options. While the Gear S2 Classic, with its leather strap, looks more in line with a Fossil watch, the plastic strapped Gear S2 has more in common with a Swatch. This is key for a couple of reasons. First, the Samsung Gear S2 doesn't try too hard. With its pre-loaded watch faces it looks fun and off-the-wall. It's not trying to be as classy as an Omega or as blingy as a Michael Kors. It has a confident style and it translates well.

One of our only criticisms here is that the 11.4mm thick S2 is still quite chunky and sits quite high on the top of your wrist. This is similar to the second gen Motorola and if there's one guarantee about the next generation of devices it's that they will be slimmer, but right now smartwatches are still chunky. The Classic will work for women but it wouldn't be our first recommendation. Still, one thing is for sure – we are so far away from the first Gear watch. This is a polished, unisex, circular smartwatch that no one will be ashamed of wearing.

Samsung Gear S2: That rotating bezel

The Gear S2's rotating bezel is far and away our favourite thing about the piece. Rather than try to disappear the bezel altogether like Motorola or primp it up to look like a traditional wristwatch like LG, Samsung has transformed it into a satisfying, addictive and most importantly, intuitive way of interacting with the smartwatch.

When you move your hand to hover over the watch on your wrist it's the exact place your fingers land, even when you aren't looking down yet, and thanks to some clever UI design in its Tizen OS – more on that later – you can switch between apps, cycle back to notifications, change volume and brightness all in the same smooth motion.

In short, it's genius and – sorry, Samsung – we hope to see similar mechanisms on rival smartwatches.

It's faster than Apple's Digital Crown on the Watch and the touchscreen prods and gestures of Android Wear. You can control everything with your finger on the right half of the bezel (if you're right handed) which means you will always be able to see the whole display.

The bezel's closest rival here is actually a little known Chinese watch, designed by Frog design, called the Ticwatch which has a capacitive strip on the outer edge.

There are also two buttons on the right-hand edge of the round watch body: 'back' at two o'clock and 'home' at four o'clock. The first of these is in the perfect position, the second can be a bit annoying to shift your hand around to press. You can set a double tap of the home button to launch an app, such as the music player or maps, which is handy, though unlike say, a Pebble, in order to select an app or setting it's back to prodding the touchscreen.

Samsung Gear S2: Screen

With so much love for the rotating bezel you might forget to pay proper attention to the bright, vivid and sharp 1.2-inch Super AMOLED screen. It's smaller than some smartwatch screens and set into the watch so it doesn't look quite as modern as the Moto 360 2. But this just increases its retro/classic charm.

At 360 x 360 pixels, the Gear S2's screen has an impressive pixel density of 302ppi, which means you can choose to set the font very small and see more messages or notifications on one screen as you scroll through them. It's as pin-sharp as the smaller Apple Watch and it shows. And unsurprisingly for a Samsung product, it can go very bright – probably too bright, though, as most days we settled for a low, easily readable setting.

Samsung Gear S2: Tizen

Tizen has always been a gamble for Samsung but this time it has paid off. Unlike all the Android Wear watches from Huawei and LG and Motorola which benefit from recent updates but can't really move the category on, the Gear S2 is doing its own thing. And its thing is a damn well easy to use smartwatch OS. As easy to use, in fact, as our beloved Pebble OS.

The home screen is the watch face screen and you simply rotate left one click for recent notifications. Rotate right to get to a screen with an apps icon, settings, buddies (for quick messages) and S Voice. Keep rotating right and you can get easily glanceable information – weather, S Health progress, heart rate and information from third party apps. Choose the apps menu instead and Tizen makes the most of the circular screen and bezel with round app icons around the edge of the display to cycle through. Keep going with the bezel and it simply takes you to the next screen of apps. It is much quicker than zooming in and out with a Digital Crown.

Notifications are there, messages are there, call logs, third party apps… You can't get lost. One niggle is that images, say from WhatsApp, don't display on the watch but this can be excused for the time being. Tizen performs well too with no lag between transitions – the only thing that keeps you waiting is animations when apps open. Unlike Android Wear, the music player controls work without fail every time. With alerts, the vibration is quite subtle – not refined subtle like Apple's Taptic Engine but more in a you-might-miss-it kind of way. You can set the Gear S2 to long vibrate and there are levels to choose from but even 'strong' isn't that strong.

Our only criticism is that it would be great to be able to customise the aesthetic of the whole UI – it looks a little clownish and in particular will probably look a little odd on the Classic. Apple's watchOS 2 is colourful but looks more suited to a stylish accessory and watches such as the Olio Model One are offering bespoke watch faces and UIs custom to each finish.

Like the Apple Watch, it's missing the contextual alerts of Google Now which can be really handy, but arguably what Tizen offers is – for now – more useful; a quick way to find out and access what's happening. What we really want is a blend of the two – Google's virtual assistant is the future but Android Wear is still a work in progress after 18 months. Outside of Apple and Google, Samsung has obviously been looking elsewhere for its services and maps are taken care of by HERE Maps. It's generally accurate and you can zoom in and out of your location using the bezel but it can be rather slow to load on the watch. Directions are handled by a separate HERE app, Navigator.

Tizen supports Bluetooth – the S2 works with most Android phones, another first for a non-Wear Samsung smartwatch. It also has Wi-Fi on board – pull down to see if it's in 'standalone' mode or paired to a phone – as well as NFC for Samsung Pay, its mobile payment service which is a hit in Korea, just launched in the US and is coming to the UK. We'll update this review with our impressions of using Pay with the Gear S2 very soon.

There is also the small matter of the 3G and GPS Gear S2 with a bigger battery but we haven't seen this model yet, and according to a Samsung exec it's not due to come to the UK or Europe.

Samsung Gear S2: Health and fitness

So many health and fitness features are bolted onto smartwatches these days, we'll focus on what Samsung does well. Step counting is accurate and S Health offers some easily glanceable graphics to show your progress to specific goals set in the smartphone app.

If you want to be more active, the Gear S2 can vibrate to remind you you've been sitting down for nearly an hour and also give you the time you've been inactive as well as active – all useful, motivational stuff. Other alerts include step target achieved and healthy pace. You can also input that you've drank a glass of water or cup of coffee with one tap (once you've reached that screen with the bezel) which is exactly the kind of thing a smartwatch can help with.

The S2 isn't going to replace your sports watch, especially as neither the regular nor Classic models have GPS, but there are some attempts to give you that option. It auto tracks walking, running and cycling, with estimates of calories burned, which is perfect for the kind of casual user who would consider the Gear S2 as an all-rounder. Though it did detect our evening jog, it also had a blip when it once – only once – classed sitting on the sofa as light activity. Nike+ Running is also preloaded and is a better choice for regular runners as it shows time, distance and pace right on the watch face.

The heart rate monitor on the underside of the Gear S2 is a cut above too, and while it's no more accurate than the tech you'll find on an Android Wear watch, it's a lot more useful. It can take on the spot readings and can also be set to continuously take your pulse at intervals with two settings, moderate or frequent.

When you're not exercising, you can also tag your bpm readings as 'resting', 'before exercise', 'after exercise' or with moods such as 'excited' and 'angry' so you can keep an eye on your heart's health. The app also lets you know if your resting heart rate is average or lower/higher than average, though the stats get annoying fairly quickly.

All-in-all, the S2 offers more than Android Wear or Pebble in terms of health and fitness tracking. It's similar to what the Apple Watch is offering, partly successfully, but if Cupertino does decide to include GPS on its next model, the Gear S2 could get left behind.

Samsung Gear S2: Apps

Here's the part of the Tizen gamble that might not pay off. There are a handful of preloaded watch faces to choose from – both analogue and digital style, customisable and some with 'complications' to show the date, the weather or whatever you want instant access too.

As for apps, Samsung promised over 1,000 Tizen apps designed for the Gear S2's circular screen and it gave developers plenty of notice to get them ready. What we have is a bunch of big names like Nike, CNN, Yelp and Twitter as well as some smart home control options, and then a lot of, shall we say, interesting apps to sift through. Interesting may be generous.

You can head to the Samsung Gear Apps store via the Samsung Gear app to see the limited selection for yourself, but chances are you won't be too impressed. For instance, there's no Uber app yet, though you can obviously order a cab on your phone then get the alerts to your smartwatch until the app arrives.

Pebble's indie app store took time to get going, but despite the healthy community and the decent Kickstarter sales, it hasn't come close to Android Wear or Apple.

But this is Samsung and the Gear S2 has the potential to outsell all Android Wear watches. We haven't seen anything available for Tizen so far that pushes the boundaries of what smartwatches can be great at – we're thinking of Google's two way translation app, say, or the text based games on the Apple Watch. But it's still very early days, so we will only say that if you think apps will be a big part of your smartwatch experience, it might be wise to wait or look elsewhere.

Samsung Gear S2: Battery life and charging

The battery life on the Gear S2 is better than most smartwatches. Of course it depends how you use it – whether you go for the always on screen, how much you use apps like S Voice and Maps, etc. But when using the S2 as much as we've used Android Wear watches day to day, Samsung's smartwatch is the one left standing. The 300mAh battery inside is officially good for three days – we haven't got more than two and a bit days out of it, even without the screen 'always on', but we're sure it can go for longer with lighter use.

To find out the battery level, you swipe down from the watch face, exactly the same as on Android Wear. Especially worth mentioning is the superb Power Saving mode. We left the house on 15% battery one morning having forgotten to dock the S2 in its tidy wireless charging dock overnight. We popped power saving on and it got us home from work before the Gear conked out. This switches the watch face to a simple grayscale screen, disables everything apart from alerts, calls and messages and turns off Wi-Fi. In short, it's wonderful and it means you won't be wearing a blank circle on your wrist on your commute home.

As for that dock, it's the spitting image of the Moto 360 dock (a little smaller) and helps to build charging into your daily routine. The only annoyance comes with needing to charge your watch at work or when travelling but nine times out of ten, we prefer this kind of dock to a random proprietary cradle.

Samsung Gear S2: Voice

Voice controls on the S2 are actually a bit of a letdown – it's one of the only areas Samsung needs to improve on. S Voice can be accessed on the first screen right of the watch face and it can also be set to open by double pressing the home button (as can any app). The software uses Nuance voice recognition tech, like Pebble watches, and this just isn't as reliable as Google Voice or Siri.

The watch's mic picked up what I was saying without having to bring the device up to my mouth, choosing to open a result on my phone was quick and reliable and it's nice being able to add your own command phrase. I also recorded a voice memo with Samsung's built-in app which handily transcribed my mutterings. Annoyingly though, it was with only around 75% accuracy. It's much the same with voice searches, plus it's a bit of a pain that it defaults to Yahoo search results, rather than Google, on the watch. That can make for some odd results.

As ever, voice needs to work more times than it doesn't in order to get people trusting the technology. It could have been a great anti-touchscreen one-two with the rotating bezel, but S Voice isn't quite there yet.

sony Xperia x

Introduction

There's a shift of command in the house of Xperia. The Sony Xperia X and its two siblings are taking over from the Xperia Z. A dynasty has come to an end. We hear the C and M families are being put out to pasture as well, soon it will be all X top to bottom.

Sony Xperia X review

So, what's the new face of Sony like? The Xperia X, which will likely form the backbone of the new lineup, persists with the angular aesthetics that debuted with the original Xperia Z back in 2013. It has a metal back, but no more waterproofing (that's exclusive to the Xperia X Performance). Sony's trademark sonic experience however lives on with the on-board stereo speakers and High-Res audio. Another Sony staple, the camera, is more than robust but has an uncomfortable question to answer.

Key features

5" 1,080 x 1,920px LCD display with 441ppi, X-Reality for Mobile, Triluminos technology and Dynamic Contrast Enhancer; scratch-resistant glass, oleophobic coating
Android OS v6.0 Marshmallow with Xperia launcher
Hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 650, a dual-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A72 and quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53; Adreno 510 GPU; 3GB RAM
23 MP camera with 1080p@60fps video recording and tracking autofocus; 13 MP front-facing camera with 1080p@30fps video
32GB of built-in storage and a microSD card slot
Single and dual-SIM variants (hybrid slot)
LTE Cat.6 (300Mbps); Dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; A-GPS/GLONASS receiver, Bluetooth v4.1, FM radio with RDS
Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic; 24-bit/192kHz Hi-Res audio
2,620mAh non-removable battery
Fingerprint sensor
Main disadvantages
No 4K video recording
No waterproofing
Chipset and RAM not impressive for the price
We need to re-draw the Xperia family tree. If we agree that the Xperia X Performance replaces the Z5, then which one is X's predecessor? We think it's the Xperia M5.

Here's the deal: 5" 1080p screen, 13MP selfie camera, 21.2MP main camera with 4K video, IP68 rating. That's the Xperia M5. The Xperia X throws in a metal back and stereo speakers, but it loses 4K and IP68. It's an awkward trade-off to make against last year's midranger.

Sony says that its secret sauce makes the Xperia X more than just a midrange handset and we're sure Sony fans would agree. So, if you want to experience this phone with your heart first - feel free. Starting on the next page, the hard facts and reason are back in the conversation.
Unboxing the Sony Xperia X
The box appears all white, but as soon as you remove the top you are greeted with a burst of color - a promise of a multitude of hues to come from the X-Reality display. There's also the huge new logo of the re-branded X-line.

The box itself doesn't hold much - the phone, the manuals, a charger and a cable. We didn't get a headset; maybe that's just the review unit as there's an empty spot in the box, big enough to hold a headset.

The retail package that we received was missing headphones - Sony Xperia X review The retail package that we received was missing headphones - Sony Xperia X review
The retail package that we received was missing headphones

It's important to note that while the Xperia X supports Quick Charging, the in-box unit puts out 1.5A at 5V. That's not very powerful, even for a non-quick charger. Packaging in the US is different, though, and includes a Sony UCH10 Quick Charger, which offers Quick Charge 2.0.

We were let down by the basic retail package, especially considering the price point. To be fair, other companies are slimming down their boxes too - the HTC 10 skips the headphones in some markets, and the Galaxy S7 doesn't come with a quick charger everywhere while some LGs come without a fast charger too.

Sony Xperia X 360° spin

The Sony Xperia X brings the screen size back to 5", so it's slightly smaller than the Z5 (but bigger than the Z5 Compact). It is roughly the same size as an Xperia M5. Slightly heavier though at 153g, in part due to the use of metal. It weighs the same as the Z5.

Hardware

The Sony Xperia X has been forged in the same fires as the Xperia Z5 - it's a stark and restrained aesthetic of boxy, rectangular design mixed with rounded-off sides and a side-positioned fingerprint reader.

The rounded sides are complimented by the 2.5D glass that slopes into the them. The transition is smooth - a boon for side-swipes and a small but meaningful detail that contributes to the premium feel.

Two notches are cut into the front glass to give the stereo speakers room to let their voice out. They are a throwback to the Z3, unlike the Z5 where they were placed closer to the top and bottom edge.

The front glass is scratch resistant, but Sony hasn't mentioned any brand names.

Stereo speakers and 13MP selfie camera on the front - Sony Xperia X review Stereo speakers and 13MP selfie camera on the front - Sony Xperia X review
Stereo speakers and 13MP selfie camera on the front

On the top half, there's a 13MP selfie camera - the Z-series were so focused on the back camera, so they only used to get 5MP front-facers. This camera is serious stuff - 1/3" sensor and a f/2.0 aperture, not too different from the specs of an iPhone 6s' primary camera.

The back is flat and made of metal with a frosted finish. The key placement is much the same as the Z-series as well.

The 23MP camera with G Lens - Sony Xperia X review The 23MP camera with G Lens - Sony Xperia X review
The 23MP camera with G Lens

The Xperia X weighs a hair over 150g, and the weight is evenly distributed. With Sony's choice of materials, the heft helps sell the quality feel.

The sides of the phone are key to the Xperia design. The round button of the past is now the Power key/Fingerprint reader of today. The key is recessed, preventing accidental presses. The built-in scanner is also fast and accurate.

We're still not happy about the placement of the volume rocker. It's between the Power and Shutter keys, so you have to tilt the phone sideways so your thumb can reach low enough. Sony is the last holdout for hardware shutter keys, and the benefit of having one is less certain when you won't be able to take pictures underwater.

On the other side of the phone is the card tray. It can be accessed without eject pins and it holds a nanoSIM and a microSD card. The Sony Xperia X also has a dual-SIM version. Note that it uses a hybrid slot, so if you need a microSD card you might as well get the single-SIM phone.

The card tray reboots the phone when you take it out - Sony Xperia X review The card tray reboots the phone when you take it out - Sony Xperia X review
The card tray reboots the phone when you take it out

One annoying thing is that the phone immediately restarts when you pull out the tray - no questions asked, no chance to properly exit apps, no option to prevent the reset. Yet Sony has not enabled the Adoptable Storage feature of Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which would be one reason to restart the phone as soon as the cards leave it.

At the bottom is the microUSB 2.0 port and the mic, there's a secondary mic on top.

Top and bottom sides hold wired ports and microphones - Sony Xperia X review Top and bottom sides hold wired ports and microphones - Sony Xperia X review Top and bottom sides hold wired ports and microphones - Sony Xperia X review Top and bottom sides hold wired ports and microphones - Sony Xperia X review
Top and bottom sides hold wired ports and microphones
Display
The Sony Xperia X brings a Bravia, Triluminos, X-Reality display (hey, the names match!), 5" big with 1080p resolution. Sony won the sharpness wars with its 4K Xperia Z5 Premium, so the Xperia X is free to go for quality instead of bragging rights of a QHD display.

All those brand names really stand for an IPS LCD built on the Quantum Dot technology. It generates colors in a different way than vanilla LCD's and you can tell - even if you're used to AMOLED, the saturated colors of this screen look spell-binding.

Sony Xperia X review
Despite their surreal appearance, Sony managed to keep color reproduction fairly accurate - the display scores an average deltaE of 4.0 - that's more than the best in this regard (the Galaxy S7 and iPhone 6s), but it's still better than quite a few devices (the Xperia Z5, LG G5, and Huawei P9). It's really the white balance that's off (it has a blueish tint), the rest of the color reproduction stays mostly under a deltaE of 6. The biggest deviation was 9.4.

There are sliders to adjust white balance, but you need to have a calibration tool as you really can't do much by eye.

Sony also worked to improve contrast and the Xperia X scores 1,200:1, better than the 1,000:1 the Z5 managed and the 800:1 of the Xperia M5. This was largely done by improving the black levels, which are still on the high side. Even so, in the dark, you can get the brightness as low as 4.9 nits, a boon for late-night notifications when a bright screen would blind you.

Sony does image post-processing in its gallery. You can turn it off, switch to X-Reality mode or go all in with Super-vivid mode (delivering self-described "surreal" images).

These modes sharpen images, boost contrast and (in super-vivid mode) enhance colors. You can get a side-by-side comparison to help you make your choice too.

The sunlight legibility marks a small improvement over the Xperia Z5 and M5. It's on par with, say, LG G5, but behind some mid-range AMOLED-packing phones.
The Display settings have a few additional perks. You can enable double-tap to wake (off by default), Glove mode (for cold winters) and Smart backlight control (keeps the screen on while you hold the phone).

Connectivity

The Sony Xperia X comes in single- and dual-SIM versions, ours is of the single-SIM kind.

For mobile data, LTE Cat. 6 (300Mbps down, 50Mbps up) along with HSPA as a fallback (42.2Mbps/5.76Mbps). You also get dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac (the Xperia M5 lacked ac), Bluetooth 4.2 with aptX and Low Energy, NFC and FM Radio with RDS (we know it's important to some people).

The Wi-Fi connection can be used for screen casting - either via Miracast or Google Cast. This goes great if you connect a DualShock controller, the Xperia X becomes a portable console. For cars, MirrorLink can connect to your head unit.

The microUSB 2.0 port (yep, no Type-C action from Sony in the foreseeable future) lets you charge the phone as well as hook up USB storage and accessories. MHL is not supported, there's no wired way to connect to to a TV.

Battery

Ask any Xperia owner about battery life and you'll hear good things. But the Sony Xperia X comes with a sealed 2,620mAh battery. Is it enough? That's the same capacity as the Xperia M5 and actually a bit less than the Xperia Z5 Compact (2,700mAh).

Note that the Xperia X is the first phone to launch with a Qnovo battery. It supports fast charging (Quick Charge 2.0 in this case)), but the company behind it claims it has a longer life and will last hundreds of charge cycles more than a conventional Lithium battery (especially one that's being fast-charged). This means that a year or two after you buy it, the X will continue to offer solid battery life while an aged regular battery will not be able to hold much charge (and this is important for a phone with a sealed battery).

Additional improvements, including a new chipset, help the Endurance rating to a good 67 hours. Not the best we've seen (Z3 Compact was a wonder), but we think it's actually an improvement over the Xperia Z5.

It comes down to the testing procedure - we used to set the brightness slider to 50% (which for the Z5 meant a low 90nits), but now we test all phones at 200nits. The only test the Xperia X loses compared to the Z5 is the browser test, but we think at equal brightness the Z5's lead will shrink.

Sony Xperia X review
In comparison, the LG G5 scored 60h (50h with Always On screen), HTC 10 did 66h, Sony Xperia Z5 73h, Huawei P9 75h, Samsung Galaxy S7 80h (49h with Always On).

Sony's Stamina battery saving feature comes standard here. It has two modes: regular Stamina, and Ultra Stamina. The first disables non-essential features like GPS and vibration, and takes performance down a notch, but the Xperia does remain a smartphone.

Ultra Stamina is for absolutely dire occasions when you don't expect to be able to find a power outlet for a prolonged period of time. Enable that and it's back to basics where you get a single homescreen with access to the dialer and contacts, text messages, camera and clock.
Marshmallow-first Xperia
The Sony Xperia X comes with Android 6.0.1; it's the first Xperia to launch on Marshmallow (older phones are getting updated to it). Sony put its usual light-but-functional Xperia skin on top.

Sony Xperia X review
Keep in mind we use "light" in terms of the number of changes it makes, not how much storage it uses up. The X is available with 32GB of storage only, the Sony software reserves 12GB of that, leaving 20GB to the user. If you need more, add a microSD card.

The fingerprint reader is a recent addition to the Xperia line and Sony firmly believes the best place for it is on the side, integrated into the Power button. We can't deny the convenience, waking the screen and unlocking the phone are tightly related. There's optional tap-to-wake if you just need to check notifications (there's a notification LED in the top loudspeaker too).

Smart Lock gives you conditional security - trusted nearby devices, locations, faces, or voices can allow you to skip the security unlock protocol.

Lockscreen - Sony Xperia X review Lockscreen settings - Sony Xperia X review Lockscreen settings - Sony Xperia X review Lockscreen settings - Sony Xperia X review
Lockscreen • Lockscreen settings

We had a good experience with the fingerprint reader. It's fast and fairly accurate. There's an animation that slides the lockscreen away from your thumb (as if you pushed it out of the way), which helps hide the small delay, so it feels seamless.

The homescreen appears unchanged. This includes the swipe down gesture, which shows a screen of the apps you use most along with recommendations for new apps to install. A search field is highlighted so you can start typing the app's name immediately.

Homescreen - Sony Xperia X review App suggestions and search - Sony Xperia X review App suggestions and search - Sony Xperia X review App suggestions and search - Sony Xperia X review
Homescreen • App suggestions and search

The traditional app drawer is still on board and it features an above average amount of vendor apps. Sony takes great pride in their AV prowess, so you know they are going to swap out the base Android Gallery, Music and Video players, media editors too.

The notification area is plain Android. You can re-arrange the quick toggle tiles and adjust the screen brightness. Note that just like in vanilla Android, there's no toggle for Auto brightness (you need to go into the settings for that). That's the one thing we don't mind skins changing.

Notification area is vanilla Android - Sony Xperia X review Notification area is vanilla Android - Sony Xperia X review Notification area is vanilla Android - Sony Xperia X review
Notification area is vanilla Android

The app switcher is similarly a vanilla Android affair with the 3D rolodex look.

The small apps are gone, however, and there is no longer floating app multitasking.

That's not to say apps are allowed to do as they wish, the Smart cleaner feature will periodically empty the cache of apps you haven't used in a while. You can switch this off or just manually tell it not to bother for certain apps.

Smart cleaner frees up memory of both kinds - Sony Xperia X review Smart cleaner frees up memory of both kinds - Sony Xperia X review Smart cleaner frees up memory of both kinds - Sony Xperia X review Smart cleaner frees up memory of both kinds - Sony Xperia X review
Smart cleaner frees up memory of both kinds

One thing Android has been missing for years is a proper backup solution and Sony gives you one. It can backup applications, contacts, messages, phone settings. The backup info itself can be stored on your Sony online account, on the microSD card or an external USB device. Backups can be scheduled, including conditions like "Connected to Wi-Fi" and "Charging device" (the latter means you can build a charge/backup dock if you are crafty enough.
Performance

The phone is powered by a Snapdragon 650 chipset. This means you get the new Cortex-A72 cores - better, faster than the A57 they replace - but only two of them. They are paired with four Cortex-A53's so the chipset is a replacement of the Snapdragon 808 (2x A57 + 4X A53). That said, this chipset is built on the older 28nm process while the Snapdragon 808 was built using the 20nm process.

Despite this fact, in multi-core CPU speed, the Xperia X does better than the LG Nexus 5X with S808, and it even matches the Xperia Z5, which uses an S810 chipset.

apple TV

OUR VERDICT

Eventually the new Apple TV might be the revolution the Cupertino company promised it would be. But for right now, it's a middling streaming video player that has a premium remote and a price tag to match.

FOR

AirPlay with iOS devices
tvOS is a huge improvement
Allows third-party apps

AGAINST

Half-baked Siri
Not enough content yet
Bluetooth remote needs work

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

If it existed in a bubble, the new 2015 Apple TV would be a stellar product. It offers a steady improvement over its three-year-stagnant predecessor - a device built for the then revolutionary new standard of 1080p - and comes with one of the most premium remotes on the market.

If there was nothing to compare it to, it'd be hard to point out the number of flaws the system has. It doesn't have nearly as much content as other streaming devices have, for example, and Siri recognises less than half the commands on the new Apple TV than it does on iOS, watchOS or OSX.

The situation is improving. Apple has been working with third-party content developers like Adobe, HBO and Twitch to add new apps every few days. But there still doesn't seem to be the same outpouring of support for the Apple TV that the iPad and iPhone enjoy.


That's not to mention the fact Siri is voiceless at the moment, relying on text and graphics to respond to any inquiries you might have.

Siri has had a major upgrade promised at WWDC 2016 however. Soon you'll be able to use Siri to search for film categories, as well as to search YouTube or even channel live streams.

The remote itself I really like, as do many of the developers I've spoken to about it. But it isn't the panacea Apple marketed it as. Entering text one letter at a time for a password is tedious, and even though you can now pair your Apple TV to your iPhone or iPad to enter text, it's still not an intuitive solution.

Thankfully at WWDC 2016 Apple announced that the remote's functionality would be coming to a dedicated iOS app. As well as offering touch navigation, Siri voice recognition and motion controls for games, you will also be able to use the keyboard on your iOS device to search for content. A very welcome addition indeed.

Read: Check out our guide to the best Apple TV accessories!
But that's the snag with the new Apple TV: it's just shy of being the product we were promised.


It might very well be one day once the system grows up, gets a few patches and more developers see the same promise in the living room they see in our pockets and tablets. But, for now, there's a lot of work that needs to be done and the competition shows no signs of going easy.

New Apple TV
New Apple TV (on left) sits next to an Apple TV (2013)
Before we dig into the latest prodigal fruit from Apple, let's first delve into the core of what made the original three Apple TVs worth buying.

Apple TV: What is it?

The Apple TV in question or, more precisely, what the company is calling the new Apple TV, is the fourth iteration of a "hobby project" Steve Jobs started in 2006. Jobs' vision was to create a dead-simple entertainment hub, one that could access your media in a few simple steps.

That came to fruition in 2007 with the first Apple TV. (Apple wanted the name iTV, however the major British broadcast network of the same name threatened to take legal action should Jobs brand Apple's new device using that moniker.)

In the time since then we've seen two sequels that upgraded the internal Wi-Fi antenna from 802.11b to 802.11a/b/g/n before landing on 802.11ac for the latest build. The processor has been radically changed in that time, too, starting at a 1 GHz "Dothan" Pentium M equipped with 256 MB and ending on a vastly improved 64-bit Apple A8 processor.

Read: How to use Apple TV's Siri Remote with your Mac
Yes, a lot has changed since the first Apple TV. There's less hard drive space on the new unit, ironically, but that's because streaming has overtaken the notion of owning content.

Speaking of hard drive space, the new Apple TV comes in two sizes and price points: The 32GB version costs $149 (£129, AU$269) while the 64GB version comes in at $199 (£169, AU$349). The only difference between the two is the amount of memory which, considering how small most streaming apps are, means the former will probably have sufficient space for years to come and offers the better value right now.

New Apple TV
The new Apple TV is driven by apps of all shapes and sizes, not just first-party ones anymore. For the first time ever you'll see the wealth and power of the Apple App Store in the living room, and I expect that once the system matures it will be a sight to behold.

And, unlike the bastardized OS of systems past, the new plastic runs a platform of its own called tvOS, a nomenclature taken from the Apple Watch's watchOS.

Read: These are the best games and apps on Apple TV
What hasn't changed is that Apple still cares first and foremost about Apple products. The new Apple TV works best with iPads, iPhones and Macs thanks to Apple AirPlay and will allow you to easily stream content from your phone or tablet to the big screen.

And while there have been steps taken to make the system feel less Apple-centric, the iTunes store stands firmly in the center of everything. Every search includes results from iTunes. Every purchase goes through iTunes. You can't go more than five minutes without being shown some new TV show or movie that, as soon as you click on it, will bring you back into the icy-cold money-loving hands of Apple's ecommerce magnate.

Apple TV vs the competition

If you're entrenched in the Apple ecosystem (by which I mean you buy movies and shows from iTunes, subscribe to Apple Music and/or stick to phones and tablets running iOS), then the Apple TV will be a supremely good addition to your living room that will only improve with age.

The less of those features you care about, however, the less you'll like the new Apple TV against the other extremely strong contenders in the streaming video space.

New Apple TV vs Amazon Fire TV
Apple TV vs Amazon Fire TV: The Amazon Fire TV has been a thorn in Apple's side since its launch in 2013. It presents its own problems by restricting a good deal of content to Amazon Prime subscribers, but the most recent revamp of the system saw a huge improvement with the addition of 4K streaming.

The Fire TV is not nearly as good a game console as the Apple TV has the potential to be (or even currently is), but it does have the advantage in price - $99 (£79, about AU$140) vs the Apple TV's $149 (£129, AU$269). All that said, if you want Amazon Prime Instant Video you'll need to use an Apple device with AirPlay - Amazon hasn't made a native Apple TV app for Instant Video and it's unlikely to ever do so.

New Apple TV vs Roku 4
Apple TV vs Roku 4: If you're in the US, own a 4K TV and are more concerned about streaming video content than any app or game, stop reading right now and buy a Roku 4. At $129 (about £85, AU$180) it's about $20 cheaper than the new Apple TV and worth every cent.

The Roku 4 is the most egalitarian system of the bunch. It doesn't care if you pick Netflix over Amazon, or Vudu over Hulu. It doesn't want to sell you an Rdio subscription, and it could care less if you join YouTube Red. At the end of the day, all Roku's new device cares about is getting you to the content you want through the most affordable means possible. It's entertainment on your terms, and in my opinion the epitome of the cord-cutting movement.

New Apple TV vs Chromecast
Apple TV vs Android TV / Chromecast: It's hard to compare a full-size system to Google's pint-sized streaming disc, but if you could put the two against each other pound-for-pound, the $35 (£30, AU$49) Chromecast would probably eke out a win.

Google's streaming stick plays nicely with both iOS and Android apps, and while it doesn't have an interface of its own it boasts a relatively impressive app that essentially performs the function of a full streaming video box at a quarter of the price. Admittedly it's up to developers to support the Chromecast, whereas Apple can control its own destiny for the Apple TV, plus the Siri Remote - while troublesome at times - is actually pretty svelte.