Bucket Tech: Mobile World Conference 2017

Life as we know it revolves around our mobile phones, with many now using smart phones for os much more than just phone calls goes to show how important these devices are to our life. I read a joke last year that if you had to fall down, you would first check if you phone was fine before noticing if you were injured, which could very well be true for most of us! With technology constatnly evolving, consumers demands increase with them wanting the latest and greatest device available. This push saw mobile device manufacturers create updated or new devices every year and now almost in under a year .The biggest stage for brands to showcase their top models is at the Mobile World Congress currently taking place in Barcelona. This past weekend saw some big releases and today we're just going to give you some of the highlights. 

Huawei P10 and P10 Plus

The Chinese giant wasted no time in showing to the world it's key smart device, the P10 and P10 Plus. Taking over from the P9, the P10 epitomises everything the company stands for. They are quickly becoming one of the top players in the market and with good reason to. They are in the forefront of the latest tech and do not compromise on quality of  their products. The P10's key features are the Leica Dual-Camera 2.0 primary camera on the P10 and the Leica Dual-Camera 2.0 Pro Edition on the P10 Plus. Both cameras have a 12-megapixel RGB sensor,and 20-megapixel monochrome sensor and enhanced fusion algorithms, with superior technical and artistic photography features to garuntee you professional pictures on almost every click. The P10 and P10 Plus also for the first time feature Leica front facing cameras to complete the total photography package on the devices. Both devices are also avialable in a selection of unique colors as a result of the first cross-industry partnership with Pantone Color Institue, the world's foremost authority on color. Key technical features of the phone are the new powerful Kirin 960 processor and all new EMUI 5.1 which is Huawe''s latest high performance SoC chipset. 

Blackberry Keyone

Also known as the BlackBerry Mercury, this device is set to be the one that kick starts this almost dead mobile devices life in the market. I have a softspot for Blackberry, I've owned two of their devices, both of which are still in great working condition, apart from the battery life on one but their phones were practical, smart and proper business orientated. The Keyone see's a change from what we usually expect from Blackberry but also incoperating all the things we loved about them. For one, it has a full key pad as well as a touch screen. It runs Android OS v7.1 (Nougat). At the heart of the Keyone is a Octa-core 2.0GHz Cortex - A53 CPU on a Qualcomm MSM8953 Snapdragon 625 Chipset. Pretty powerful stuff for this phone. It has 32GB internal memory with a microSD slot capable of up to 256GB. The devices expected release date is April 2017. Blackberry has a lot to do to gain back the markets trust but I think the Keyone could be the catalyst for this. 

Nokia 3310

While we on the subject of comebacks, remember this one? I did a post a few weeks back about the announcement but had no idea what to expect. I said I doubt they would remake the exact phone we were used to all those years ago because it isnt practical in this day and age, while most say they would love one, would they really use it? I doubt it. So Nokia thankfully didn't just recreate the 3310 but brought out an updated version of the classic phone. The 3310 is going to be an entry level phone that would be affordable to almost anyone so don't expect anything fancy from this device. It has a color screen but a small one that measures 2.4 inches. It has an internal memory of 16MB and microSD slot up to 32GB stick. It has a 2 megapixel camera with LED flash. There is really nothing really to write home about this device other than it's name and it's claimed standby battery life of up to 1 month but I forsee a lot of sales due to its nostalgic nature.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium

4K HDR screen on a mobile phone? Yup, Sony have managed to do that on the XZ Premium. with 960fps uper slow motion capabilities. While this seems amazing, the first time I saw Quad HD screen on a phone I was blown away by the clarity but there is one major draw back, it kills your battery. Hopefully Sony have found a way around this. Can't have your key feature being the number one reason your battery is depleting.  The 5.5" screen isn't the only thing the device is good for though, the phone comes with motion eye camera that enables the super slow motion capturing, it's water resistant with an IP65/68 rating which is the best you can get when it comes to durability. It has Hi-Res Audio with Digital stereo for true sound quality. More details will be made available closer to its release date in April this year. 

Bucket Tech: Huawei Mate 9 & Porsche Design Mate 9 - First Look

In Munich yesterday, Chinese mobile phone giant Huawei hosted their global launch for it's flagship device, or should I say "devices", the Mate 9 Series. With the Mate 8 being pretty much one of the best business devices of 2016, the Mate 9 has a lot to live up to and speaking at the exclusive global launch, Huawei's CEO, Richard Yu had this to say, "In developing the Huawei Mate 9, we started with a simple question, how can we improve every element of the smartphone experience? We know that for today's business users, a fast and functional smartphone is just the beginning. Consumers also want a gorgeous design and intuitive features, so we created two new devices at the forefront of hardware and software innovation. The result is a device that is breathtakingly new, inside and out."

As mentioned before, not one but two phones were launched yesterday, both of which make up the Mate 9 Series. One is the Huawei Mate 9 and the other a Porsche Design Huawei Mate 9. The Mate 9 and the Porsche Design Mate 9 feature dynamic interplay of industry-leading hardware and advanced software that work together to keep users a step ahead. Some of the key features in the devices are,

•  Huawei's new Kirin 960, Octa-core processing unit, the worlds highest performing smartphone processor. 
• EMUI 5.0, an intuitive user interface that streamlines the users experience with the OS
• SuperCharge technology that delivers a full days charge in 20 minutes.
• Second generation Leica dual-lens camera with 12 megapixel RGB sensor, 20-megapixel monochrome sensor and Hybrid Zoom, featuring a superior 2x magnification. 

Much has been spoken about this new Kirin 960 CPU, Huawei's Kirin chipset has vastly been used by many manufacturers over the years in their devices and the Mate 9 is the first phone to get the 960. It makes use of Huawei's Machine Learning Algorithm to deliver a fast and smooth experience, even after 18 months of continuous usage. Without going into the nitty-gritty of it all, the 960 delivers performance unlike any other processor whilst reducing power consumption by 15 percent, and being energy efficient. 

One of the main issues with smartphones is battery life, whilst the Mate 8 did boast two days of battery life with heavy usage, the Mate 9 comes with a 4000 mAh high-density battery with Huawei's new SuperCharge technology. Along with Huawei's advanced power saving technology, the phone is said to provide over two days of uninterrupted performance. With the SuperCharge tech, it allows the Mate 9 to charge from 0 to 50% in 10 minutes, that is enough power to let you watch two full movies on your device. 

Design wise, the Mate 9 looks great, Huawei calls it performance in design, with their highly regarded design DNA which uses the finest materials to deliver a smartphone that features a 5.9" FHD display and is both beautifully designed and comfortable to use. It has a sleek uni-body metal fram which uses 50 unique processes, including one hour of CNC milling to manufacture. Every detail, from the soft sandblasted texture to the gorgeous colour palette, is a result of more than 25 years experience in delivering refined craftsmanship. 

But for those who want something a little different, Huawei teamed up with design icons, Porsche Design to create the Porsche Design Huawei  Mate 9. Porsche Design isn't new to cellphone design with them having a long history in designing mobile phones for select manufacturers, their designs are unique and timeless. The Porsche Design Huawei Mate 9 will be a limited edition smartphone combining Porsche Design's signature brand aesthetic with Huawei's mobile engineering expertise. Together Huawei and Porsche Design have achieved a new pinnacle where Design meets Technology. Huawei introduces a remarkable 5.5" curved AMOLED display that offers a smooth sleek feel. It will be available exclusively in graphite black. 

Overall the Mate 9 looks like a winner, with another cellphone giant's flagship business phone falling short of expectations recently, Huawei will look to capture the void that was left there. The first wave of launches kicks off soon with selective markets, we in SA will have to wait a while till we see this one, probably in the early parts of 2017. 

Also launch was the Huawei FIT, an all in one wearable device designed to support everybody's fitness needs. Featuring multi-sport tracking, automatic step count, heart rate and sleep monitoring, the waterproof Huawei FIT will be available globally. 

Bucket Tech: Huawei P9 - Review

After attending the launch of the Huawei P9 in June, I was itching to get my hands on the phone to test. For obvious reasons the phones major talking point is it's dual lens technology developed with Leica but there's so much more to this device that meets the eye and with Huawei have invested so much into it being their flagship model to take on the iPhone 6S and Samsung S7, it would be great to see what the Chinese giant had up it's sleeve. They've been making big inroads into the market and gained a large share of it over the past 2 years and they're continuing to grow by releasing great products which cost less than the competition. 

After getting the device delivered and ripping open the courier plastic, I was surprised to see a rather large package but when I opened it I realised that it was more than one thing inside, the phone yes but Huawei also sent through a pair of Hugo Boss shades! How cool? They ran a competition when the phone launched, the first 1,000 consumers to get the phone could register and receive their own pair of shades as well! That's pretty rad on their part, giving the consumer some freebies for supporting them. 

Quality

Now with most of their previous devices, I've noticed a similarity, the phones are pretty solid and have some weight to them but with the P9 it was remarkably lighter than what I was used to, it weighs just 144g! The phone itself is also slimmer at just 7mm thickness and more sleeker than the out going P8 so it seems Huawei have made use of different metals or materiel's of the P9. Even though the device is lighter it doesn't make the build quality feel inferior to previous devices. It's still robust and a solid device, I wouldn't readily go around throwing it about but it should survive small falls and bumps.

Display & Dimensions

 I like the size of this phone, it's just the right size of you ask me. The dimensions are 145 x 70.9 x 7mm. It's not too big, not too small and has a pretty decent screen size. The P9 comes with a 5.2inch display which is a IPS-NEO LCD capacitive touchscreen with 16M colours. Resolution wise, it is 1080 x 1920 pizels, thats 423 ppi pixel density. It supports multitouch which is pretty handy as well as knock touch. It a great display to view pretty much anything on. 

Camera

The part you've all been waiting for, the camera, primary camera as mentioned before is the Dual 12 megapixel f/2.1, 27mm Leica optics lens. Now from what I understand, the reason there is two lenses to this camera, no it doesn't take two pictures, well it does kinda. You see Huawei and Leica believe that the best way to capture the perfect picture with the correct colouring is with the method of taking one picture in black and white and the other captured in colour, this way the colours stand out more and if you go through some of my sample pics you can see what they mean. It really takes some stunning pictures. Like the new camera features, it has a full manual mode to fiddle with as well takes RAW imagery. Video wise, 1080p@60fps, so pretty great quality HD recording there. The front facing secondary camera is an 8 megapixel with 1080p video capability. 

Performance

There really isn't a specific target market for the P9, it's just meant to be their primary phone, something that accommodates everyone, every trend and does so in style. For that it needed a good chipset to make sure performance is running at optimal level. It's got a HiSilicon Kirin 955 chipset with an Octa-core (4x2.5 GHz Cortex- A72 & 4x1.8 GHz Cotex-A53) CPU, yes you read that right, 8 core CPU. Memory wise, it comes with 32gigs storage space and has a micro SD slot that can take up to 256GB card. Depending on area you're in the memory card slot doubles as a second SIM slot. It has 5GB of RAM and runs Android v6.0 Marshmallow. 

Battery

The phone has a 3000mAh lithium Ion non removable battery, I could tell you what the given standby hours and talk time hours are but that really isn't usefull to us but from experience it lasted me almost 2 days of full usage without having to charge it. 

Verdict

A lot about this phone is going to be about the dual lens tech on the camera and with good reason but like I said at the start, there is so much more to this phone than just that! The build quality, the processing power, the battery life! Even the features are incredible with the finger print sensor being sharper and faster, like the one that comes on the Mate 8. The fast battery charging is a plus with almost 50% of the charge in just 30 minutes. It really is a great device and if the P10 isn't out by the time my contract comes up for renewal, I will most certainly be getting this. The phone is available in six colours, not sure exactly which are available in SA but go check your local service provider. 

Bucket Tech: Huawei P9 - First Impressions

Last night saw the official launch of the Chinese mobile manufacturers flagship device, the P9 and along with it the P9 Plus and P9 lite and we were there to see what all the fuss was about. 

The biggest talking point about the phone is the dual lens technology, hence the hashtag #OO. Developed in conjunction with leading camera lens manufacturer Leica, Huawei is the first mobile device to make use of two lenses. Now you may ask yourself why? Well as Clement Wong of Huawei told us last night, it isn't just there for show. One lens captures the full colour image whilst the other captures in black and white, it then overlays the two for the final product and the results are astonishing to say the least.

Clarity and true colours like you have never seen before. They take things further with the camera with allowing the user a full manual mode where you can edit settings just like a professional DSLR. To prove that the camera is that good, they gave it to world renowned professional fashion photographer Ayaad Damouni and his pictures speak for themselves. 

Apart from a really great camera, the phone itself has lost alot of weight, it's much lighter than the P8 which made me wonder if it was in fact a full metal body but the build quality is still right up there as before. The phone is available in three finishes, all of high premium quality and 6 different colours. 

The user interface is pretty much the same as any other of their devices and for me is one of the better adoptions of the Android OS. Very easy to use and just works well in general. 

Battery life has been e better, not as great as the Mate 8 which claims to have a 2 day life span but let's hope the P9 has the same quick charge like it's bigger brother. 

The launch itself was a true reflection on the device and what it had to offer. It really is a major competitor to the other brands out there and if market share is anything to go by, the other brands need to be worried.