Bucket Tech: Huawei G8

When I attended the launch of the Huawei Mate 8 last month, they also revealed another range of devices that they were introducing to the market, the G Series. Huawei said that the G Series was aimed at the youth market with the phone offering more in terms of a playful creative nature compared to their other phones which are made more for the business individuals. It seemed to make sense seeing that kids mainly use their phones for taking pictures, listening to music, and being on the social media stream, so would they really need the hardcore processing power and the rest of the jazz that goes into the high end smart phones when they could really have their own which would cost significantly less? Well the answer is yes, although it did have me wondering, how much did Huawei compromise on their product to make the G series what it is? Well a couple weeks ago they sent me the G8, the "top of the range" if you may call it, from the lot, with the others being the G3, and G5 to test out and this was my experience with it.

Quality

Since the package arrived I tried to see where the manufacturer tried to make the device different form the others, the packaging still looking sleek and typical of their devices so no cost cutting there. Once opened, and removed the phone, I was surprised at the weight, as it was quite heavy compared to your normal phone but the reason behind this was the massive screen, unlike the P8 and P9, the G8 comes with a 5.5" screen instead of a 5.2" as found on the other 2 devices. The build quality seems great as well, just as all their other devices so definitely no cost cutting on that part of the phone. The finish is exquisite and high quality as well, really gives off that premium feel to it.

Design & Dimensions

When compared to the the P series, the G would be slightly bigger due to the screen size which see's the overall dimensions of the phone at 152 x 76.5 x 7.5mm which still is a comfortable size to fit into the palm of your hand. The beveled edges also help with this as it gives the phone a less edgy feel and therefore a better grip for the user. The 360 touch finger print recognition has improved in leaps and bounds since the P8. With it taking a full scan of your finger , thus improving scanning speeds to milliseconds upon touch.

Taken with the Huawei G8

Camera

The G8 comes with a 13 megapixel primary camera, with auto focus and dual LED flash. Huawei takes it's camera's very seriously and the quality on this one is just as great as the others. I love the features it comes with one of my favourite being the time-lapse. I even recorded my entire flight from Johannesburg to Durban which you can find below. I wish they could give you ways in which you can control the frames per second though, I mean the 50 odd minute flight only was a 1 minute video, most of it was boring but it would be nice to slow down certain aspects of the video and speed up the rest. The front facing camera is a 5 megapixel lens and has the smile detection feature which is perfect for selfies.  

       

Performance

Now many might be reading and thinking, if this phone is aimed at the youth and would be more affordable, how exactly did they do it if Huawei didn't compromise on build quality or features, well I'll tell you where they saved the cash, it was in the processing power. Whilst their top phones come with the powerful HiSilicon Kirin chipsets, the G Series opts for the Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets. While there is a significant difference between the two, the Qualcomm Snapdragon is still a quality chip with 1.5GHz Cortex - A53 & quad-core 1.2 Ghz Cortex-A53 CPU. It's more than sufficient to deal with the demands for what the phone was made for. 

Taken with the Huawei G8

Display

As mentioned before on the post, the G8 does come with a larger screen, a 5.5" ISP LCD capactivie touchscreen to be exact. It has 16 million colours to mesmerise your eyes with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 so, you have a full high definition experience. The touch screen is multi touch capable and has an Emotion UI 3.1 rating for protection, hence the added weight of the phone which is 167g in total. 

Taken with the Huawei G8

Verdict

While the manufacturer has compromised on performance for this device, it's acceptable when looking at the overall phone and what it's purpose is meant for. Certainly everything else is up to scratch with other devices in the market with some aspects being even better than their competitors flagship devices. The phone still offers the same great UI with a host of themes and settings to make yours unique and there are 3 colours for you to chose from. I quite enjoyed my time with the G8, more so because I used it for all my social media activities and capturing pictures and video with it and it did that perfectly, battery life was surprisingly great as I thought with the larger display it would drain it quite quickly. It's certainly a great phone if you're looking at getting one for those specific purposes or something you want to get for your kid.

Taken with the Huawei G8

Bucket Tech: Huawei P8

Technology is a marvelous thing, I mean at this very instant I'm writing this post aboard a flight to Cape Town. Rewind to 10 years ago and no one would believe this is possible. The great thing with the quick evolution of technology is that it makes things it more affordable to many as features that are new become the norm in many devices within a space of a year. Before having a camera on your mobile phone seemed sort of a luxury but now-a-days we look at how many megapixels it has on both front and back facing cameras and if it records in HD. Also with the host of competitors to the mobile industry just makes things better for the consumer with many striving for excellence in their products in terms of quality and userbility, Huawei is one of these manufacturers. A while back they sent me their latest smart phone to hit the market, the P8 to test. 

Huawei isn't shy when it comes to comparing Apples with Apples....well Apples with Hauwei as they see the US giant their direct competition. The P8 is seen as a direct competitor to the iPhone 6S and Samsung S6 and after using it for little under a month, I can tell you it's better than both of them. Why? Simply because it offers everything that those two phones offer and more in a slim, styish, little package that will get people second guessing at what phone you're using.

Dimensions & Accessibility 

Dimensions of the phone are pretty similar to the rest of them, measuring 144.9 x 72.1 x 6.4mm which fits perfectly in the palm of your hand. With a 5.2" screen it is bigger than the P7 so some with smaller hands might find it a bit difficult to access full screens capabilities with just one hand, hence Huawei were clever enough to help with this, witth a simple swip of the back key on the screen, it reduces the screen size to about 4.5" and this can be swopped to left or right side of the phone depending if you're left or right handed. Unlocking the device is standard as well with an unlock button on the side and depending on the security level you chose, you can either have a pin, matrix or simple swipe to complete the unlock.

Display

As mentioned above, the P8 has a 5.2" screen, its IPS-NEO LCD capactive with 16 million colours, not quite 4K but with 1080 x 1920 pixels, its not that far off. It has multitouch capabilities as well as Hauwei's famed knock control. Many asked how this works and if its such a big deal as they make it out to be, well yes. For one, it makes taking screen shots dead simple, just knock your screen twice with your knuckle to take a snapshot of the current screen, beats holding down the power and centre button! Also make screen selections to share is also as simple, make a selection with your knuckle in any shape making sure you complete the shape and it will be able to share it in whichever way you want to. Dont worry about knocking the phone too hard and cracking the screen as its covered in Corining Gorrilla Glass 3, so its pretty strong.

Camera

The most important feature for many is the camera, for capturing those special moments, or taking pictures of your food to instagram. The primary camera on the P8 is a 13 megapixel with autofocus, optical image stabilization and dual LED flash. It's the norm for cameras in this class of phone but what sets this one apart from the competitors is the features it has built in, from real time filters for both still and video capturing as well as taking long exposure shooting to the next level with letting the user take light trail photographs, provided you have a tripod or a really steady hand! Time lapse video is also another aawesome feature and one that I had fun with a lot but bare in mind it reduces the time a lot so a 30 minute lapse is about 30 seconds. The front facing camera is an 8 megapixel camera with 1080 video recording, good quality for taking those selfies! Speaking of which, it has the smile detection trigger so all you have to do is smile to take a picture, no need for timers or funny hand movements. 

Performance

It comes with  HiSilicon Kirin 93-/935 chipset and a Quad-core 2GHz Cortex-A53 & Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU. Like many others they've opted for the two Quad Core CPU system which just ensures a smooth running OS. It uses Androids latest version 5.0.2 Lollipop and with the simplified user interface it makes using it a breeze. It offers the the simplicity of an iPhone but with the robust and expandable Android software. In terms of memory, it has an internal hard drive of 16 gigs up to 64 gigs and a microSD slot capable of taking a 128gig card, which inserts into the second SIM slot. Yes all Huawei phones are dual SIM but depending on network, and software, they limit it to just one if not advertising.

Battery

First thing I do when getting a phone to test is load every single social media app that I use on the phone, that way I can get all my notifications and messages to test the real performance of the device battery and I've been seriously impressed with the P8. It's given me more than 2 days standby on a full charge if I use the phone, just a little over 26 hours. Thats all thanks to the Li-Po 2680 mAh battery, since the phone is fully concealed in a well finished aluminum case, the battery is non removable. 

Overall

This phone has really impressed me and costing about a 3rd to that of the iPhone 6S on contract, it is well worth the money. I've told numerous people to give it a chance and those who did are not regretting it. One of them being my own brother, I'm actually a little jealous that he has one for himself and I have to return mine tomorrow. The thing is with mobile phones, the techonoly is improving at such a drastic rate, it seems pointless to get a phone that will last you longer than a 2 year life span as by then a device thats 3 generations ahead of your current one will be on the market and you would want that one, so why waste your money on someting that you're paying for just the name? Rather opt for a device that does everything those ones do but at a fraction of the cost. 

                     

Bucket Tech: Huawei Ascend Mate 7

When I get a test phone to review, I very rarely use it as my primary phone, reason being its normally a schelp to transfer contacts, calenders, syncing emails etc. But when Huawei sent me the Mate 7 to review, I had an unfortunate accident with my own phone which saw it shipped off for repairs, which till this day hasn't been fixed as yet...no pressure MTN High Volume Repair Center. In any case it served to be a blessing in disguise, it was my opportunity to use the Mate 7 as an everyday phone and thus helped me discover what an absolute gem of a phone this is. 

Dimensions & Accessibility 

The Mate being the bigger brother of the P, comes into the market as direct competition to phones such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, iPhone 6 Plus and other larger screen devices. Yes the phone is big, measuring 157 x 81 x 7.9mm but with the ergonomic design, it fits in your palm quite comfortably. The 6" screen is a marvel in its self as the crisp clarity of the 368dpi 1080 x 1920 resolution is truly astounding. Now with such a big phone, it would be awkward to operate it with one hand, thankfully the guys at Huawei thought of this and with a simple change in the settings can gear the phone into use for a left or right handed person by moving the icons closer to the preferred side. The phone also comes with a finger print scanner at the back which is six times faster than any other device on the market, to make unlocking the phone as easy as putting your finger on it. 

Display

As I mentioned above, it has a 6" screen which is crisp and clear as they come, with 16M colours and finished off in Corning Gorilla Glass 3 which is damn tough, trust me I unintentionally tested it. It has an IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen which translated into simple english, a type of LCD that increases the viewing angle of the screen so you can view it from pretty much any angle as well as increase the colour. The touch screen is one of the better ones in terms of response time and very easy to type with. The notifications drop down menu is pretty neat, most other brands have the setting and notifications tied into one but with the Mate 7, drag down from the left of the screen to access notifications whilst dragging from the right shows you quick settings, uncluttered and really smart.

Camera

Like most smart phones, it comes with a primary and secondary camera. Primary being a 13 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, capable of HDR shooting and many other options. It takes pretty decent pictures as you can see with the same pictures below. The front facing camera is a 5 megapixel camera, with 720p recording capabilities which is quite something. Also it seems manufacturers are taking selfies pretty seriously with added advancements in phones to make them take selfies more easily. On the Mate7, when the front facing camera is activated, it recognises a face and asks for that person to smile. That persons smile then serves as a trigger to take the picture. Very simple, very practical and making selfies extremely easy to take. Probably one of my favourite things about that phone...yes I like taking selfies. 

Performance

The phone is a beast when it comes to performance, multiple apps open at the same time, social media streams running and it's still smooth as ever. It's powered by a HiSilicon Kirin 925 chipset and has a  Quad-core 1.8GHz Cortex - A15 & quad-core 1.3GHz Cortex-A7 CPU...yup it has 2 quad-core processors. Memory wise, it has 16gig internal memory but can support up to 128gig MicroSD with 3gig of RAM. It's perfect the business man on the go, needing a fast phone that can complete any task that is required. 

Battery

One of the biggest concerns with new smart phones is the battery life, most new phones can't get a full days use with many needing to be on life support after 8 hours of use. The Mate 7 on the other hand comes with a Li-Po 4100 mAh battery that can last up to 658 hours on standby, but if you like me are non stop on the phone, it last me on average 13-14 hours on a single charge which is damn incredible. Many a time if I were going out and I see my phone sitting on 20%, I would normally carry my battery pack but with the Mate 7 I know that was more than adequate for my night out even if I was going to stream Bluetooth and take pictures. When the battery reaches critical level, it switches into a power saving mode, which converts the entire screen black and only allows you to make phone calls.

Overall

I said I used this phone as an everyday phone, besides the long battery life, the strong build quality and amazing screen, the phone really wowed me in terms of what the brand Huawei can do. The phone is available in 3 metallic colours, all very classy and upmarket. I said how most other devices make it to sync things such as contacts and calenders but with the Mate 7 it had an option to transfer contacts between two devices with bluetooh, I swear it took under 10 seconds and was effortless. People would be wary with the brand as they many haven't heard of them before but what they fail to realise is that most of our mobile devices have parts that are manufactured by Huawei. It's great to see them come to the party and produce such a quality product. I fell in love with my Mate 7 and didn't want to give it back. 

Specifications

• Display: 6" FHD IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colours, 368ppi
• Processor: HiSilicon Kirin 925, (Quad-core 1,8GHz, Quad-core 1,3GHz), 3gig of RAM
• Camera: 13mp primary, 5mp secondary
• OS: Android 4.4.2 KitKat
• Finger print sensor: 1 second soft touch

Some pics taken with the cameras on the Mate 7, all unedited and in HDR.

the Socialite, my trusty selfie testing partner.

  

Bucket Tech: LG G3 - Review

Even the box is fancy

When people are due for an upgrade for their smart phone, natural instincts will direct them to the internet to read reviews on the latest gadgets that's thrown out their by the various brands. Most reviews are long and filled with technical mumbo jumbo that you don't understand but boast to your friends anyway because it makes your phone sound cool. A few weeks ago I was given the LG G3 to review but I'm putting a twist to this one, instead of regurgitating what everyone else is writing about, I'm going to take a leaf from the brand's marketing slogan for the phone "simple is the new smart" and give you a simplified, first hand experience with the phone and how it will affect your life on a daily basis.

Looks

Having attended the launch and seeing what the phone was capable of, I was pretty excited to get this phone for reviewing purposes. Playing with it for 30 minutes is one thing but having it a part of your daily routine makes a big difference and that is where the true test comes in. Lets start of with the cosmetics, the phone definitely looks the part, with its brushed aluminium finish available in various colours, 5.5" LCD screen and no buttons on the front make the phone sleek and sexy in appearance. The main power button and volume buttons are quote oddly located on the back of the phone, LG says it makes them more accessible when using the phone with one hand...yeah, didn't really do it for me. There are also flap covers available for the phone with a first of its kind round cut out for a display interface. I highly recommend the cover as I found the phone if dropped, can scratch easily.

Quad HD display is phenomenal

Display

Undoubtly one of the main talking points about the LG G3 is its screen, I kid you not when I say this, it will leave you speechless. It's the first phone to use Quad HD technology, what is Quad HD? Well precisely what the name says, four times HD. The screen has pixel density of 538ppi, which basically means the quality of the images view are true-to-life. LG is setting the standard with this one for future brands to follow and I'm glad they're settled for a 5,5" screen. It seems the norm size but it keeps the phones physical size to a respectable level and you won't feel like you're carrying around a phablet. Of course there is a catch to this phenomenal screen, with the clarity and brightness being so high, it uses a massive amount of battery life. Just over 30% to be exact!

Picture taken at night, on Auto mode with low light

Camera

With many of our current smart phones, the camera's are good but not great. The guys at LG took this into consideration when deciding on the camera that came with the G3. In the end what they've created is nothing short of magical, a 13 megapixel camera with optical image stabilizer and laser focus which translates to the end user take almost perfect pictures all the time, every time, anytime, anywhere and in any lighting conditions. Laser focus enables the phone to focus on the object in milli seconds, allowing the user to snap almost real time pictures, therefore not missing a second of the action. Couple this with the optical image stabilizer and blurred pictures are a thing of the past. There are occasions it does take a while to focus but when I say a while, its still way faster than any phone out there. It also has dual flashes which make pictures much more clearer and adds more detail to whats being captured. 

Taking selfies with help from Chia of the Socialite

Selfies Made Easy

The front camera is pretty decent at 2.1 megapixels, the clarity difference is very noticeable but one of the key features of it has to be the selfie detection. We live in an era where taking a selfie is becoming as important as breathing for some and with one having to press a button to capture it, it often moves the phone and you end up taking 50 selfies before chosing one to post to instagram. With the LG G3, it has a built in gesture control to activate the camera. It's quite neat to use as I demonstrated with many during the time in which I had the phone, simply activate the front facing camera, get everyone in the frame, open your palm and make sure it is visible in the screen, when ready to take a picture, clench your first to capture. It will give you a 3 second countdown and capture the perfect selfie every time. This will save you plenty of time in the future and make you look less of a nana. 

Smart Notice

Operating System

The make or break thing for me on a phone is the OS, Android has flooded the market with the various brands but many of them choose not to customise it too much which leaves me and others feeling that there is just too much to the thing. Not saying that it's bad, some people do feel like they want to be operating the Starship Enterprise when using their smart phone but for others, they just want something simple to operate, hence they keep going back to Apple. LG however have taken the step to customise Android's KitKat v4.4.2 to their phone. Simplifying the OS to the devices needs and cutting out all the other junk that you would find on a standard Android device. It makes the device much more user friendly to operate for everyone. I guess that's what they meant by "simple is the new smart" because at the end of the day, your cellphones primary use is to make and receive phone calls, well and now to receive whatsapp messages. 

Google Now tracking my where abouts

Google Intergration

Being Android, the phone is fully Google functional, what I found pretty cool was the voice activated Google search, by use of a trigger sentence "Okay Google", it will open up the search menu, awaiting your search instruction. So you can search for something on the internet without having to type anything! Google has integrated itself well and the phone also comes with Google Now, which pretty much is like a PA for you, or a creepy stalker that tracks your every move. No really it does, it will gather that the place you stayed at over night is home, and track your daily travel routes, notifying you if there are any delays on the route. It even tracks your location to bring you precise weather reports of the area you're in! The phone has access to Google's play store which has thousands of applications to chose from, besides the social media apps, one can find almost anything that they might find interesting. LG also have a store of their own but that is mainly for applications realted to the phone. 

Accessories

As mentioned before, the phone will have LG covers available for it, LG have also released a wireless charging mat for the G3, the downside to it is that is has to be plugged in to charge, so I don't really see the point. With Nokia's it worked as a portable battery pack. The main accessory for the G3 would have to be it's watch, what makes it different and miles apart from its competitors devices is that you can use it on any android device and is not limited to LG products. The watch also makes use of Googles voice activated menu which makes usability effortless. 

Verdict

While there may be some flaws with the phone, such as build quality and battery life, there is no phone out there at the moment that is perfect but I'd like to say that this one is almost near perfect. Most of the features and key aspects of the phone is revolutionary which is basically setting standards for others to follow. Add to that the good looks and simplified Android user interface LG have modified and you really do have a winning phone. The only other phone that came come close to this is the Oneplus Plus but with limited stock and only available to purchase via invite, LG is sure to have that part of the market sorted. Many times I get asked the question on which is the best phone on the market and I always tell people that the answer is based on user preference because we were flooded with similar devices but at long last there is a device that stands out from the rest of the crowd and while LG might not be very popular with the main crowd, they sure do have a great product out.

Specifications

Processor: Quad-core 2.5GHz Krait 400

Memory: 16gig onboard with 2 gigs of RAM

Screen: 5.5" Quad HD LCD, 16 million colours, 1440 x 2560 resolution

Camera: Back - 13 megapixel with optical image stabiliser & laser autofocus, Front - 2.1 megapixel

Battery life: Talk time - 19 hours, Standby - 565 hours

Some pics taken with the phone