Hey, I'm Nirave - based out of London, I'm the European Editor for FoneArena. I love travelling and can usually be found reading, playing with the latest tech or writing about travel and tech. 
Whilst in Berlin for IFA 2013, we came across Turkish company Vestel’s booth showing off their latest developments in the fields of television, set top boxes, white goods and mobile devices. The Vestel HL50 is their latest smartphone offering and targets the high end Android smartphone market.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJLNm8I52mI Continue reading “Vestel HL50 smartphone hands on”
During IFA 2013, Turkish manufacturer Vestel introduced a range of new products including everything from Ultra HD televisions and set-top boxes to Android powered smartphones. The Vestel 47 is the company’s mid-range offering and offers moderate specs at an equally moderate price.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRji6dzb_NE
Continue reading “Vestel HL47 smartphone Hands On”
During IFA 2013 in Berlin, Vestel had a large booth dedicated to showing off the latest from the manufacturer – the booth included everything from 4K Ultra High Def televisions and augmented reality TVs to Android powered smartphones and tablets.
httpv://youtu.be/evGXELa9k5w Continue reading “Vestel ML43 smartphone hands on”
Archos is back in the smartphone race with a bang – that bang is the Full HD Archos Oxygen smartphone that boasts a stunning display without the hefty price tag and offers a lot of bang for your buck. The Oxygen is one of a total of 9 devices that Archos showed off at IFA, including the Archos Titanium and Platinum entry-level and mid-market range. These were announced ahead of IFA.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yra_gkFZgg Continue reading “Archos 50 Oxygen Hands On”
Alongside the Galaxy S4 earlier this year, Samsung announced their new range of cases, which included the S-View cover that comes with a unique window on the front. The S-View cover offers a glance at the clock and notifications and was the first to be used in that way. At IFA we managed to grab a look at the official Quick Window case for the LG G2, which comes with a similar touch window in the cover to display information at a glance.
With LG also launching their accessories range, how do the two covers compare? Continue reading “Galaxy S4 S-View cover vs LG G2 Quick Window case”
One of the biggest issues with using a satellite navigation (sat-nav) in your car is that you need to find a way to attach the suction cup to the windscreen so you can see the information displayed without the sat-nav being a distraction whilst you’re driving. If you’re using a sat-nav on your mobile device, you have the same issue with the added distraction of possible calls and messages diverting your attention away from the road.
The launch of Samsung’s Galaxy S4 smartphone earlier this year introduced yet another concept into the mobile space – smart covers that work in tandem with your smartphone to display information even when your screen is “off”. The Galaxy S4 S View cover only displayed the time but with the Galaxy Note 3, Samsung have managed to evolve their take on the smart accessory.
It’s not just Samsung who are getting in on the act, with LG bringing out a range of similar accessories for their new LG G2 smartphone. With a 5.2 inch Full HD 1080p screen, the LG G2 offers ample real estate for LG to make use of a smart window style accessory and as you’ll see in the video below, they’ve actually worked hard to make it a very useful feature.
The LG G2 Quick Window accessory is an S-View style cover with a large window through which you can access a range of features, including the weather and time. As we’ve seen time and time again, the first iteration of any new accessory or feature usually comes bereft with bugs and sadly this is the case with the LG G2 Quick Window which failed to respond at times and seemed to lag far too much to be used on a daily basis.
Nonetheless, it’s great to see a company like LG innovating and attempting to compete with the best Android OEM (Samsung) in an area that Samsung dominates mainly due to the incredible amount of resources they have available. The LG G2 Quick Window comes in a range of colours designed to act as the perfect companion for your LG G2 smartphone and should be available to purchase in selected markets alongside the LG G2.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA-Y5DMBbHs
Although the LG G2 Quick Window case is far from perfect, it shows that the era of smart covers and accessories is firmly upon us and with this particular case offering, LG is sending out a firm message that they are willing to compete on every front to ensure their premium G series smartphone range is a success.
It seems that LG is taking a leaf out of Samsung’s book with the new LG G2 smartphone coming with a range of new software-based features, each of which comes with its own name for clever marketing gimmicks. One of these features is Knock On, which is exclusive to the LG G2 and was on show at IFA 2013.
Similar to the double-tap to wake feature on Nokia Lumia smartphones, such as the Nokia Lumia 1020, Knock On allows you to wake your device from sleep with a double tap on the screen. LG rely on sensors to register the motion and we found that Knock On is actually a quite handy feature to have, especially as the LG G2 has the power button on the back.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diRoAr56GH4 Continue reading “LG G2 Knock On Feature Demo”
Slim is definitely in with manufacturers constantly looking to make their devices slimmer with even more features. With the Ascend P6, Huawei have come very close, packing a feature list including a 4.7 inch 720p screen, Quad-core processor and 8MP camera into a body just 6.2 mm thin.
In comparison, the Lumia 925 comes in at 8.5 mm with similar specs with the addition of a PureView camera and 4G LTE. Despite very clear differences, these hero devices share some design similarities. Both devices combine premium design with very respectable specs, in search of the holy grail where technology meets the beauty market. Check out the video comparison below.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxLQfOeS8BQ
Continue reading “Nokia Lumia 925 vs Huawei Ascend P6”
If you can’t beat them, then join them – that’s a phrase that is used a lot and HTC have taken this to heart with the new HTC One Blue. Taking their inspiration from chief Android rival Samsung, who release their smartphones in multiple colours, HTC has introduced Red and Blue versions of its HTC One flagship. Continue reading “HTC One Vivid Blue Hands On”
In order to provide variety, over the summer HTC announced two new colours for its HTC One flagship – the HTC One Vivid Blue and the HTC One Red. The Red HTC One is likely to be very popular as it features a stylish design with a metallic finish and deep red colour that reminds us of the red Nokia Lumia smartphones. Continue reading “HTC One Red Hands On”
Earlier this year Samsung announced the Galaxy S4 and then, to compete against the waterproof Sony Xperia Z, they introduced the Galaxy S4 Active. The S4 Active is a durable version of the Galaxy S4, with a thicker design and IP67 dust and water resistance. Traditionally durable smartphones have come with less-than-stellar specs lists but the Galaxy S4 Active aims to buck this trend.
Is the Galaxy S4 Active actually waterproof though? We put it to the test in our Galaxy S4 Active Underwater Test:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG05anQbL0k Continue reading “Samsung Galaxy S4 Active Water Test”
The big day at IFA has come and gone but sadly there has been no official announcement of the rumoured HTC One Max phablet. Nonetheless today Samsung announced their new Galaxy Note 3 phablet and we went hands on alongside a quick comparison with the HTC One.
Here’s our quick comparison video between these two flagships:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e7HFs88AWo Continue reading “Samsung Galaxy Note 3 vs HTC One Hands On”
Without doubt, apple has had a lot of success with the slate design of their iPhones – from the iPhone 4 onwards, the design hasn’t really changed.
For rival manufacturers, the challenge has been to design hardware that is as appealing whilst also providing an easy to use yet functional user interface. In the Ascend P6, Huawei have aimed to do just that but have they been successful? Or does the design cross the fine line between excellent design and “taking inspiration from rivals”?
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JpqLZSZzkA
Continue reading “Huawei Ascend P6 vs Apple iPhone 5”
It’s never a dull day at Samsung Unpacked and today at IFA 2013 in Berlin, it was the same with Samsung announcing the new Galaxy Note 3 and its companion device, the Galaxy Gear Smartwatch.
Here’s our Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch demo:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HhAL-M5V48 Continue reading “Samsung Galaxy Gear Demo”
