I'm a techy on the side, who really enjoys technology. I review most of the current devices that hits the market, so that you can have a REAL review. Join me, in my quest to be one of the best reviewers you will ever know.
With all the possibilities of today's smartphones, I'm surprised this is an option to be honest. While I don't use this feature often, it is nice to have. But does it really make a difference in the quality of videos we produce. Do you think it does that much better than 1080p recording? I would say no it does not, just based on the two videos I show here with two of the top smartphones.
I decided to take some video from both phones, and compare the two. To my surprise, I prefer the Moto X over the Note 4 in the videos I recorded. That doesn't mean the Moto X has the better camera, but in this particular capture it did better to me. The Moto X appeared to be move vibrant in colors than the Note 4, and blacks were deeper. Pictures on the Note 4 are much better in my opinion, and look more vibrant and clear. But this is about video capture in 4k, and the Moto X takes the win in my book. The Moto X also came across more smooth when panning left to right. Check out both videos, and tell me what you think.
If it's not about Tech, it's not worth talking about. J. Williams
Everyone wants something different, so there will never be a phone that everyONE person will want. If you think I'm wrong, tell me why? I'd love to hear how there can be a 'one size fits all' in the mobile world!
If you are like most people today, you have more than one smartphone. At least 1 tablet, an SLR camera, or digital camera, a laptop, and a PC. I have more than I need, but I'm a tech blogger part-time. What's your reason? Do you like the freedom of choice? Using different OS's when you want to? One has better battery than the other? All of the above apply to me, and probably you as well. I use all OS's, WP8, Android, iOS, Blackberry, and recently the Fire OS.
When you look back just 5 to 10 years, smartphones really were not that great. Example to my left, lol. The HTC Tytn. If you had this, or the T-Mobile version raise your hand. (Both of mine are up right now) They had small screens, felt like a brick in your pocket, had resistive touch screens, spoor specs, no LTE, poor cameras, and the list goes on and on. But at that time, we had the best phones in the world. Wow, we had no idea how quickly that would change in the near future. In 2008 on December 3rd, I reviewed my first phone on YouTube. I sucked bad too, lol. The video was recorded in 240p, the lighting was horrible, and the list goes on lol.
But what I didn't understand at that moment, is that I was on the road to a very fun filled future on YouTube. The T-Mobile G1 was extremely nice back then, I think if you are an android user you would agree. I mean look at these specs!! I was pumped! Weren't you? (Video below)
117 x 55.7 x 17.1 mm
158 g (5.57 oz)
KeyboardQWERTY
Trackball
TFT capacitive touchscreen, 65K colors
3.2 inches (~46.8% screen-to-body ratio)
320 x 480 pixels (~180 ppi pixel density)
Corning Gorilla Glass
Android OS, v1.6 (Donut)
Qualcomm MSM7201A
528 MHz ARM 11
Adreno 130
MEMORYCard slotmicroSD
192 MB RAM, 256 MB ROM
CAMERA 3.15 MP, 2048 x 1536 pixels, autofocus
When Google first launched android, it was one of the best time in history for tech people. Rejoice!!! So what is the perfect smartphone, or the 'ultimate' smartphone. What are the specs that go with this so called, killer device? Well, let's be honest here...there is NO ultimate smartphone! Every three months or so, there is a new device that will be better spec'd than the one you just bought. But does that mean yours is now a brick in the pocket? Nope, it simply means OEM's are trying to get more money from you, and that's just it.
However, what if you could create your own smartphone next month? You have free range to call any OEM, and tell them what you wanted them to produce for you. What would be your specs be, and who would you like to manufacture it? Here are some of mine, well at least the 'main' things I would want.
Manufactured by HTC
Colors - Deep Red, Blue, Black, White, Blue/White, Deep Red/White, Black/White, etc. Screen - 5.8 inch QHD display (Sapphire) Body - 150 x 78 x 7.5 mm (Metal frame) Sound - Dual front speakers (boomsound) Memory - 128GB, SD Card slot takes up to 256GB card Cameras - Rear 41mp, Front 13mp Processor - Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 3.2GHZ Quad-Core GPU - Kepler DX1 Battery - 4500 mAh OS - Stock Android 5.0.2 (or whatever is current) SIM - Nano SIM with multi-carrier support Price - $749.99 UNLOCKED to ALL GSM and CDMA carriers
Now can you even imagine something like this? For me, I could use this daily as my only device. I wouldn't have to take a tablet with me, nor would I need a spare battery. I would be so happy to find something like this in my mailbox next month, made just for me. Do you have a dream device? I'm sure if you are a techie...you do. There is nothing wrong with dreaming, it's a good thing. I think that it won't be long, before we start to see specs like these are our devices in the near future. So tell me, what's your 'ultimate' smartphone?
If it's not about tech, it's not worth talking about... J. Williams
So let's get into my second update for the Amazon fire phone challenge.
Since my last update I've been doing lots of voice dictation, and in this video below you'll find out how that turns out. If you didn't know, I use voice detection nearly every day. At least 20% of my written articles use voice dictation. Voice dictation can be very useful, and really help out when you don't feel like typing. It's also great for setting appointments, taking notes, etc. Check out the video demo below, of the voice dictation used on Amazon fire phone.
Remember, if it isn't #tech it's not worth talking about.
Welcome to my first update on my Amazon fire phone challenge. This phone has surprised me, it really did!
So I've always been intrigued with the Amazon fire phone, but I just couldn't pull myself to pay $449 for it. So when I got the opportunity to get one I jumped on it fast.
There's a lot of good things that goes into this phone, and the battery is one of them. It may only have a 2400 mAh battery, but it last all day with more than five hours of screen on time. In my day-to-day use I haven't found anything that I dislike about the device, from the great screen to the great battery to the great cameras, I like it all. Handling the phone is very easy, because of the small compact size of the device. The 4.7 inch 720p display does a great job with videos, games, and web browsing. But obviously where this phone shines the most, is Amazon. This phone is geared towards Amazon prime users, or trying to get people to become and stay in Amazon user. Which isn't a bad thing, because there are a lot of perks that come along with that. These past three days have been fantastic, and I feel good about my purchase. This is a very nice phone. But here's a quick video about the device.
Remember, if it's not about #tech, it's not worth talking about. J. Williams
When the Amazon fire phone was first announced in June 2014, the Internet went crazy. Everyone was excited to see a new product hit the market, and I have to admit I was excited too.
It was released one month later in July 2014, and it didn't get the welcome most people expected it to receive. The reason that it did not get such a warm welcome, is because of the price! The phone came in at $649 for the starting price, which is ridiculous when compared to the current pricing on other devices at the time! Amazon fire phone actually has really good specs, and can compete with the current phones on the market. If you think about it, it actually offers more than most of the phones on the market today as far as features.
The basic specs - It has a 13 megapixel camera on the on the back of the device and a 2.1 megapixel on the front. It comes with the snapdragon 800 processor by QUALCOMM clocked in at 2.2 GHz, and uses the Adreno 330 GPU. As a 4.7 inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, with the pixel density of 312 pixels per inch. Memory capacity on the device comes in a 32GB unlocked version from Amazon, a 32 or 64GB version with 2GB of RAM from AT&T. Stereo speakers are also included, and a 2400 mAh non-removable battery. No SD Card slot in this with this phone.
So let's move on now to the reason a lot of tech bloggers more than likely do not like this phone. There is something called Amazon Fire OS! IT HAS LOCKED BOOTLOADER! (So WHAT!!!) Also it was exclusive to AT&T when I first launched into 2014. I believe the price, the operating system, and the exclusive item to AT&T only was a huge mistake by Amazon. The device may run on android 4.4.4, but it has a huge overlay by Amazon which some think it's a bad idea. When people hear the word Android, immediately feel like they should have Google services on whatever device that is in question. But when I compare this to all the other phones out there that run android, and have an overlay...this one looks like a winner. Well let me tell you why, the good stuff.
• How many other phones give you a free year unlimited subscriptions to music, movies, videos, books, cloud storage, and lots more?
• How many other phones have 4 cameras on the front of the device, and can give you what's called '3D Dynamic perspective UI? '
• How many phones with a 13 megapixel camera, that actually takes really good photos and videos?
• How many phones do you have currently that have 24 hour live video chat customer service directly from the device?
The point I'm trying to make is, this device is actually a really good phone. For the current price it offers much more than the average unlocked device that you can purchase on the Internet. So if you are worried about it not having Google services, you're going to miss out. Having an overlay on the device with android is not a bad thing, because in most cases it actually brings the device to life. Depending on how heavy the overlay is, and what the overlay offers. Prime example, the Samsung galaxy note line!!! But there's a huge difference in the galaxy note line, and the Amazon fire phone. The Amazon fire phone actually offers you something new, fresh, exciting, fun, and entertaining. Which is another reason why I decided in 2015 to actually purchase the Amazon fire phone for myself. If you are a person who liked webOS back in the day like I did, you would love the Amazon fire phone. The OS is buttery smooth, and flows across all screens. At the time of this post January 10, 2015, I've had the phone for 24 hours. And I have to tell you I have really been enjoying it!
While this is just my first hands on an initial impressions of the device, I think I'm going to like it. I'm going to use this phone as my 'daily driver' for the next seven days, and I'll check back with you here two or three times in that week. I'll let you know how I feel about it. If I like it, if I hate it, if I just can't do it. I'm going to tell you everything I dislike about it sure, and I'm gonna tell you everything I like about it as well. I'm also going to tell you if I recommend the device, like I do with every other device that I purchase. So stay tuned to my blog make sure you share this post, so we can find out how others who have owned the device feel about it.
Remember, if it's not about Tech, it's not worth talking about. J. Williams
So I decided to upgrade my Moto X 2014 to lollipop, and the tests were very surprising!
As you saw in the video above, there was not much difference in the benchmark test. In fact the lollipop software performed worse in some areas. So what is this mean about benchmark test? To me, it means they are pointless just like drop test.
In real-world test in users do not care about benchmarks, only the techies from time to time will look at benchmarks. I don't know about you but I personally, do not care for benchmarks. What are we really looking for? Sometimes I only do benchmarks at the request of some of my subscribers, and that was the focus of this article. The subscriber requested this so I decided to upload it to my blog, instead of YouTube as there are tons of benchmark test on the Moto X already.
People often ask me to benchmark every device that I have, and to that I say no thank you. To me it gives an impression that the device is nowhere near as good as what it really is, and it proves nothing about the device. It's kind of like driving a Ferrari, and testing the 0 to 60. What is the purpose of that test? If you have cutting edge technology under the hood why do you need to test it? So when it comes to cell phones like the Moto X 2014, it has some of the best hardware under the body. So benchmarks to me are pointless! But I always like to give my subscribers what they want, and that's my opinion. Because I'm sure that in most cases we looked on the net for our phone; and watched videos on our phone; to find out what other people think about her phone. Only to find that some people don't feel the same way you do, and it leads you to doubt your brand new device. We've all done this, and we've all fell victim at some point or another, to what someone else is saying about our device and got offended by it.
If you buy something based on solely on what someone else says, and never test it....you deserve the outcome if you are not happy. I think the Moto X is a wonderful device, and will enjoy it for some time to come (at least until it does not work anymore, lol). But until then, forget about benchmark test, and focus on what really matters about your devices. The enjoyment you get when you power it on, and it's just what you wanted and does what you want it to do.
Have fun with this tech stuff, and keep tech alive. (Hope too)
Thank you, and remember...if it's not about tech, it's not worth talking about it. J. Williams
One choice that I do have, is being able to select between many devices daily. After having the first Moto X, I customized it and thought I would like it. Now that I've got my hands on the second Moto X, I phone in love with it. I can't stress or put into words how beautiful I think Moto make her really is. Have any option to make your device your own, is a powerful thing! When will other OEM manufactures get on board and start to realize this?
HTC, Samsung, Apple, ZTE, Nokia, Microsoft, Sony, LG, Huawei, blackberry, and Acer are just a few of the top cell phone makers of products from which we all enjoy a device. But not all of them take part in the customization field, this is where Motorola signs over them. With the increasing price on mobile devices, having the freedom of choice should always be an option! Motorola has managed to keep the price pretty much fair on the Moto X, but if other OEMs decide to get in on the game this could be a major break in the mobile industry. But for now I think Motorola safe, and they can keep the price of the Moto X it's $599 for 64GB, $549 for 32GB or $499 for a 16GB.
Moto Maker is currently only offered on the Moto X 2014, but imagine if you could get it on your Nexus 6! Would that not be amazing? I think so!
Right now you have the choice between 4 different leathers backs, 6 warm colors, 4 natural wood backs, 7 cool colors, and 4 neutral colors. On the front you have a choice between black or white. As for your trim, you can choose lemon lime, orange, olive, bronze, royal blue, dark gray, red, gold, violet, or silver. They do have a few cases that you can choose, but I think pretty much all of those are overpriced. As I stated earlier the 16GB model it is included at no cost, The 32GB model is a $50 upgrade, and the 64GB model is $100 upgrade. Please note that the 64GB model is only available on the pier addition unlocked, and is not an option for carriers. You can also get an engraving on the back of your device, and another greeting for when you power the phone on! You even get your choice of your own wallpaper, and you get to select what color charger you want black or white. they will even sync to your Google account if you like!
So I would say that model maker is a fantastic idea, and I wish other manufacturers would do the same. If only I could do this with a Nexus 6, oh my. How the game would change for the better, and I think most would agree. Being limited to just two choices on the Nexus 6, almost killed it for me. But at least I can get a white one...well, if I can find one that is. They are not in stock anywhere, and I am not going to pay $200 to $400 over retail just to get one. Some people purchased them just to turn right around, and resell them. I kinda hate that people do this, but what can you do right? Oh well, for now...we have to enjoy this great idea on only the Moto X.
