The final trailer of the upcoming James Bond movie, Spectre, is out. That means that the countdown to the premiere of the widely anticipated movie starts in earnest. Spectre premieres in the United Kingdom in late October while it won’t be until early November when the rest of the world gets to see what Daniel Craig is up to in what is his final time playing Bond.

If you happen to live in Kenya and particularly Nairobi and need to be up to date with the screening times of not just the 2015 Bond film but also other latest flicks where do you turn to? There’s the good old newspaper, of course. Or the various cinema’s social media pages where information is scattered all over the place. Or the not so intuitive specific websites. Those were my go-to places for information regarding what was on the silver screen. Until Movie Max happened.

We use our phones for just about anything. While there can be websites and social media pages dedicated to something, nothing beats a mobile application that sits on your phone and is ready to provide you the information you need in real time. More so when that application just pulls that data from the aforementioned websites (using a private API) and presents it to you in an easy to digest and attractive format. That is, in a nutshell, what Movie Max, an application targeted at the movie goer or just about any other person keen on what is showing on the big screen is all about.

Movie Max is simple and straight to the point. It does nothing other than provide information on what is showing at IMAX at that particular time and what is coming soon. There is a Discover tab that keeps you up to date with other recent and upcoming movies. You can also watch movie trailers since they’re linked from YouTube directly.

The application is pretty barebones and the developer is promising more additions in an update that will be available soon. That is ok since it does what it sets out to well and of course updates that will make it possible to also know what is airing at Planet Media Cinema and other cinemas like say Nyali Cinemax when I’m in Mombasa are welcome.

The one thing you’ll miss is the lack of ticket pricing but then again almost all the other options out there also miss this important addition. I always have to check out the Facebook pages for the pricing and it is not always available. Also, it could be better if it provided notifications once in a while on some specials. Like IMAX has been running a movie marathon recently and this just showed up on the regular schedule. With the holiday season soon setting in, there will be lots of special offers and it will be great if I could be notified every time there’s one and I’m sure every other regular theatre-goer will appreciate the same.

Movie Max is currently only available on Android and you can find it on the Google Play Store.

One thing that I observed as a student in University is that the timetable was perhaps the most inconsistent, unreliable and mostly inconvenient thing that was ever created. I mean, a month into the semester and changes were still being made. It was very frustrating to the point that I stopped keeping track and rather followed my friend around who not only had impeccable memory, but also somehow kept track of all the changes. If you don’t have a friend like that, AirKlip will have your back.

Over time people come up with ways to manage the classroom. The most common method in my opinion is the use of Whatsapp. With a class Whatsapp group, changes to the timetable are communicated and any assignments or tasks given are announced there as well. This is the status quo. But this has its pitfalls. Anyone can post anything on the group. Maybe one of your classmates is messing with you guys and says there is a lecturer in class angry because no one showed up for his class and yet this class wasn’t scheduled, sending you into a panic. Plus an assignment is given but once the conversation goes on you can easily forget about reading that message.

AirKlip tries to become your time organizer by making sure you are not left behind or pranked. So what do you get once you install AirKlip? (Airklip download link on Play Store)

Features

• Can organize and download your class timetable to your phone
• A day-to-day view of your weekly timetable
• Notify you of any changes made to the timetable
• Send a reminder just before your class begins
• Allow you to add tasks and assignments.

How it works

Once you have downloaded AirKlip and verified your phone number, you are then prompted to choose the school, course, year and semester you are currently enrolled on. At the time of writing this article, 7 schools are currently supported which are 3 more than those that were supported when I downloaded the app a couple of weeks back. These are Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Mount Kenya University, Technical University of Kenya, Strathmore University, Maasai Mara University, South Eastern Kenya University and Kenya College of Accounting. This just means that even if your school is not listed here, just download it and keep an eye out, updates are happening quite fast.

Anyway, once you select your school, then specify on the course, current year that you are in and then the semester you are enrolled for. Once that data is captured, the timetable is downloaded and you can now see the how your day is.

From the menu on the right, you can view your classes in a day-to-day view, add tasks (assignment, project, term paper etc.) for a specific unit and set reminders on when they are due. You can also see a breakdown of the units you are enrolled for that semester.

When it comes to changes or announcements, only a class representative can do this on the application. A code is sent to the class representative who can then access added features. For now the class representative can communicate any changes made to the timetable, or any messages coming from the lecturer.

The app is also beautifully designed with frequent updates, improving the overall user experience.

New Features

The application currently is on beta testing stage but by January 10 2016, they will officially launch the application with loads of new and smarter features. Currently, the timetables are being manually inputted by the developers but once launched, the class representatives will be able to automatically load the timetable from an excel document. Furthermore they will be able add tasks and assignments which will be accessible to all the students enrolled for the course. They will also add a social aspect to the application, whereby, the application will inform you of any events happening around that your classmates will be attending. Sharing of documents relevant to classwork is also something that the developers are keen on adding to the application.

Currently the application is free for use and only available for Android. Once it is officially launched in January 10^th next year, students will have to subscribe for the service for Kshs 100 per semester, with the option of paying Kshs 249 for a year’s subscription.

The part of team behind Airklip, Maxwell (left) and Brian Ondari

The vision for the application is for it to be a personal assistant and time manager for the student. Many students have other things to do in a day other than studying. Some are interning, working or running businesses(or just chilling somewhere random!) . Having a tool that reduces the uncertainty of the school program will allow one to manage their time better. This is what the developers are developing the application to do. They want it to be a one-stop shop for everything that a student wants. Everything from your school work, time manager to keeping you up to date with whats going on around you.

What I like from the application is its potential value. It is not a simple timetable app. With proper development and strategy, this can be a student’s best friend and ultimate tool. As long as the developers are willing to spend their time and resources on its development, which they are doing so far, the possibilities are endless.

Obvious competition for the application is of course the status quo. You already have options that work which are free. Whatsapp groups and email groups for sharing documents are what people are used to. However, the developers say that the convenience and reliability provided for by the application as opposed to the current unregulated platforms is something that they feel will get people to use the application.

My only interaction with an Infinix phone before I got this one was with an Infinix Hot Note that my mum has. I didn’t think much about it but I was impressed by the price, especially because of the somewhat good quality of the device, but then I moved on. Second time that Infinix caught my attention was when it was announced that the Android One project was being launched in Africa via an Infinix Hot 2. The reason this caught my attention is because I am a big fan of Android, and the drive to produce affordable, well performing and importantly stock Android smartphones without those annoying skins from other manufactures, is something that appeals to me .This made me pay more attention to Infinix to see what they can do.

We got the Infinix Zero 2 at the same time with the Infinix Hot 2 to review, and I have to be honest, my first impression of the Infinix Zero 2 wasn’t good. It looked beautiful when compared to the Infinix Hot 2 and was definitely lighter, much lighter than any phone I have ever held, but it wasn’t as impressive at first glance. The Infinix Hot 2 shipped in with Android 5.1.1, the latest at the time and it was beautiful. This one comes with Android 4.4.2 without a chance for an upgrade any time soon. Our relationship didn’t start out too good but I have taken some time to know it better and I feel like I may have been a bit harsh at first.

Design

• 145 x 71.5 x 6.5 mm, 118 grams.
• Bottom speakers.
• High-resistant Kevlar back material.

High Resistant Kevlar material at the back

The phone’s design is simple and beautiful, nothing fancy but quite eye catching. The front of the phone is pretty basic with the front facing camera and ear piece speaker at the top with no physical or capacitive buttons to speak of. This phone is light. At only 118 grams, it almost feels like you are missing a component like a battery inside. However, in spite of this, I felt confident carrying it around without the fear of dropping and damaging it. This is mostly because of the Kevlar material at the back. This is a high resistant material that is valued for its toughness. The back feels smooth but still offers the much needed grip made necessary by the light weight of the phone. This is something that really excites me about the phone. Aside from the Kevlar back, the phone’s edges have a smooth metal finish with curved edges.

The volume rocker and power button are on the right side of the phone allowing for a comfortable reach. One problem I have with physical design is differentiating the SIM card slot and the microSD slot. The microSD card slot is above the volume rocker while the SIM card slot is on the other side. If you do not frequently swap out SIMs or change the microSD, you will probably end up opening both or playing some kind of roulette game to find the right one in the first go as they are not labelled.

All in all, it feels good to use and carry around, giving you a somewhat premium feeling at an affordable price.

Display and User Experience

• Android 4.4.2 KitKat
• 5 inch, 720 x 1280 pixels, 294 pixels per inch (PPI)
• Super AMOLED, capacitive touchscreen with 16, 000,000 colors
• Corning Gorilla Glass 3

The display quality provided by the Infinix Zero 2 is quite good. The screen is bright and the colors really pop out. Although you can still make out some pixels, this doesn’t really ruin the display quality for me. Outdoor readability is also good, with very little glare and high brightness levels. The only downside to this is that even at its lowest brightness setting, it is still a bit too bright for me, especially when I wake up to look at the time in the middle of the night.

Sporting a Corning Gorilla Glass 3, the touchscreen is quite resistant to scratches and should be safe in your pocket with your keys. Over the time I have used it, I have dropped it a couple of times and the screen has also skidded on the ground for a few centimeters and still no scratches present on the screen. Disclaimer, this doesn’t mean that you can go crazy with it but for the most part it is pretty strong. Additionally, the touch screen response time is quick and I haven’t had the need to re-tap things on the screen for feedback.

One thing that is a major let-down for me in this device is that it runs Android KitKat 4.4.2. At a time where Android Marshmallow 6.0 is out, KitKat somehow feels archaic for a device launched in 2015. This is the reason it did not impress me at first, especially when I saw the Infinix Hot 2, a really cheap phone, running Android Lollipop 5.1.1. On the flip side however, it isn’t so bad. The skin that Infinix have added on top of KitKat is minimalistic and beautiful. It is not stock Android, but you can live with it. Anyway custom launchers are available on Google Play, therefore you can change it to suit your preference at any time.

Hardware and Performance

• Expandable storage, upto 32GB
• 32GB internal storage
• 2GB RAM
• 2.0GHZ octa-core Cortex A7 CPU with MediaTek MT6592 chipset

This I believe is where the phone shines. One thing that I have been presently surprised by is the utter lack of lag as I use the phone. I mean, the performance delivered by this phone is something I wasn’t prepared for. Not only can I play heavy games such as Need For Speed: No Limits without lag and with proper display quality, I can also stream music from Spotify at the same time, while I switch up and play some other game like Two Dots. The 2GB of RAM also makes multitasking with the Infinix Zero 2 is a breeze although the phone can get pretty hot.

There is nothing that ruins the experience of a device like lag. Navigating through the Infinix Zero 2 is lag free, responsive and fast. I believe this is one of the phone’s selling point as it offers solid performance for its price.

Additionally, the phone comes with 16GB or 32GB internal storage space which can go a long way in storing applications and multimedia for average users. If that is not enough, you also have a choice of adding a microSD card, up to 32GB, for extra storage purposes. This should be enough for offloading your applications from the internal storage, freeing up more space for you to play around with.

I am not a fan of the speakers on this phone. The quality of sound coming from them is substandard and easily muffled because of their placement. The speakers are at the bottom of the device and while holding the device, your little finger can easily block them and you will get very little sound from them.

Call and Connectivity Quality

• Dual micro SIM
• 2G network GSM 850/900/1800/1900
• 3G network HSDPA 900/2100
• No 4G network
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Wi-Fi direct

I can’t really say much about the call quality provided by this phone. It’s not super sharp and loud but neither is it muffled. You can still probably hear the other person on the line in a crowded room. The only thing that I think needs mention is the user experience during a call. The proximity sensor will sense your face coming close and switch of the display but at some point it comes back on. This just means that I end up launching a couple of actions with my face. I put someone on hold and end up calling someone else and only figure that out when I hear a dial tone. I also end up recording my conversations at times which isn’t the best thing to do, especially when you do not want anyone else listening to it, just in case you forget to delete it. If only there were less options on the screen during a call and it would be better if they were displayed a bit lower on the screen.

This phone does not support 4G, therefore the super-fast browsing experience now available in some parts of the country will pass you by, however, I haven’t felt the need for it as I browse. Browsing on a 3G connection or Wi-Fi is more than satisfactory, even on RAM-hogging browsers like Chrome.

Camera

• 13MP Primary camera, HDR, Geo-tagging, auto focus camera with LED flash
• Video recording up to 1080p
• 5MP Secondary camera with 85 degree wide angle

13MP rear camera

The rear camera of the Infinix Zero 2 captures beautiful images, especially outdoors. The images are sharp and color reproduction is quite okay in the right light conditions of course. Indoor low light images aren’t the best but the LED flash comes to the rescue,however the colors of course are distorted.

For all you selfie folks out there, the 5MP front camera on this device is pretty decent. The selfies are bright and detailed. There is a face beauty option, where you can change your appearance in the ways you choose to. Infinix Mobility also says that it has an 85 degree wide angle so that you can squeeze in more people into the selfie.

Battery

• 2300mAH

Now this is where the phone disappoints. This battery is a bit too small to do much of anything for a long time. Once the phone is fully charged, it can only last for about 5 hrs, barely half of a day, with constant heavy usage. In my case, by 11 am, I only have 40% of power left. Let me explain my use. My cellular data and location is always on and in the morning, I either stream Spotify or listen to podcasts. In traffic I will probably browse on it as well. By the time I get to the office, the phone is hot and drained. But that’s just me. An average user would probably make the battery last all day, if there life doesn’t revolve around the phone. However I feel like this makes the whole point of the phone being powerful pointless if it doesn’t have the proper battery to support it. They could do so much better with the battery.

Verdict

Pros

• Fast, powerful and lacks lag.
• Camera is satisfactory.
• Not too expensive.

Cons

• Battery, Battery, Battery.

I forgot to mention that my specific device shuts down randomly on occasion. I don’t know if this is the same in all the devices or if that’s a fault on the review unit I used. All in all, this is a pretty cool device. It is beautiful, powerful and has a premium feel to it. Despite of its downfalls and little fails here and there, I would still use it. The device has been retailing at a few hundred shillings short of Kshs 20,000 but it has since gone down to Kshs 18,700.

Huawei is the latest device maker to be chosen by Google to make one of the two 2015 Nexus smartphones, the Nexus 6P. With the LG-made Nexus 5X being a continuation of the beloved Nexus 5 and the Nexus 6P made by Huawei being the more superior of the two devices as far as specifications go, it is no doubt that Huawei’s creation is the centre of attraction for the next one year.

Google’s choice of Huawei as the Nexus maker is testament to the Chinese company’s influence globally. Whereas it has had a commanding presence in mobile telephony thanks to its extensive network infrastructure business in various countries around the world, it is now the third largest smartphone vendor in the world. Having used the gorgeous Huawei P8, the company’s flagship smartphone this year, it is not hard to see why.

Huawei’s P lineup is its top of the range smartphone series focused solely at the premium smartphone buyer and meant to compete with the iPhone 6s, Galaxy S6s and LG G4s of this world. Previously known as the Ascend P, the series dropped the Ascend branding this year as Huawei seeks to differentiate its various products with the Honor being a budget option and the P and the Mate series catering to the high-end segment of the market. With the reception the P8 received in its first few months of availability and the fair reviews the new Mate S is getting, Huawei is on to something.

I set out to find out how the Huawei P8 fairs during my one month stay with the device.

While there are other variants with various storage sizes (64 GB), dual-SIM and a different processor (Kirin 935), the model I tested and which this review is based on is the single-SIM Mystic Champagne 16 GB one with the Kirin 930 processor.

Specifications

• Size and weight: 144.9 x 72.1 x 6.4 mm, 144g
• Display: 5.2 inch Full HD LCD (424 ppi) protected by Gorilla Glass 3
• Memory: 3 GB RAM, 16 or 64 GB internal storage (expandable to 128 GB. microSD slot also doubles up as SIM 2 slot in versions of the device with dual-SIM support)
• Camera: 13 MP main with f/2.0 aperture, OIS and dual LED flash; 8 MP sensor on the front
• Processor: Octa-core Kirin 930 + Mali-T628 MP4 GPU
• Operating System: Android 5.0.2 Lollipop with Emotion UI 3.1 layered on top
• Battery: 2680 mAh Li-Po (non-removable)
• Network: 3G, 4G LTE
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, hotspot, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, microUSB 2.0
• Colour options: Titanium Grey, Mystic Champagne

Design

One of the things Huawei has been so keen on in its flagship devices over the years (at least since the release of the Ascend P6 two years ago) is the design. It has always gone for quality as is depicted in its choice of materials for the P8’s exterior. It’s all metal. Aluminium with sleek chamfered edges. iPhone style. In fact, like everyone usually remarks, it looks and feels like an iPhone save for the part where Huawei’s signature styling reveals itself.

The 3.5 mm headphone jack is located on the top right next to a microphone. The other set of microphones is located at the bottom of the device with the microUSB 2.0 port sandwiched between it and the speaker on the left. The hole drilling on the bottom gives the impression that there are dual speakers but that’s not actually true. Still, it makes for some great design and I liked it.

The volume rocker is on the top left of the device with the power button coming right below it near the centre. The lower left of the device accommodates the microSD card slot and the nano SIM slot in that order.

The Huawei P8 is one of the thinnest premium smartphones you can find on the market right at just 0.25 inches thick. It’s 71.4% screen-to-body ratio makes the device’s profile even smaller and with Android’s immersive mode kicking in as you indulge in some gaming or watching videos, you can’t help but be blown away at how it all blends in. The already thin bezels fade into thin air in the process.

It helps a lot that the front of the device is devoid of any branding. The Huawei logo is at the back of the device.

Display

Everyone is in a race to pack the highest number of pixels on the displays of their flagship devices. That is not really a bad thing but it comes at cost. Battery life takes a hit and with most premium smartphones no longer giving the users the option of carrying around battery replacements, one just has to rely on fast charging capabilities of the device.

Thankfully, Huawei has resisted the urge to join what I refer to as the ‘pixel race’ and stuck with the good old full high definition panels.

The 5.2-inch IPS-Neo panel on the Huawei P8 is one of the best I’ve used and ticks all the right boxes when it comes to vibrancy, colour reproduction and outdoor visibility. Love reading your eBooks as you take a late Sunday afternoon stroll? The P8 is the device for you. Really. With display brightness at automatic, the display adapts so well to external lighting and blends in you’ll hardly notice. It is not the brightest of the bunch (when compared to devices in its range) but it won’t let you down. Viewing angles are great too.

Camera

The Huawei P8 camera is one of the best you can get on a 2015 smartphone. Huawei did push some boundaries on this. Well, it’s not like we expected anything less from them anyway. The company was one of the first to release smartphones front-facing cameras with a high megapixel count and that trend continues with the 8-megapixel sensor on the P8.

The 13-megapixel Sony sensor at the back will do your daytime and low light shots a lot of justice. There’s image stabilization and dual LED flash as well to help matters when there’s need.

Huawei’s camera application has enough settings to help you capture just about anything you have in mind. From capturing wide-angle selfies when it senses that you are smiling to allowing you to switch focus long after you’ve taken your shot. My favourite feature is the ability to add a watermark to photos that can be anything from the usual time stamp to weather information (yep, totally makes it needless to have InstaWeather app for your Instagram image boosting needs).

Here are samples of some photos I took with the device at a recent motor show in Nairobi:

The above samples can also be found in high resolution here.

There is another nifty feature: audio note. If you’ve used past generation Samsung premium devices like the Galaxy S4 and the Note 3 then you may have come across a similar feature going by a different name: Sound and Shot. Huawei’s implementation will capture the background audio for about 10 seconds after it’s captured the shot and will play it as you browse the image in the gallery.

If you’re the sort to go out hunting for the super (blood red) moon, then Super night mode may intrigue you. Super night is an extreme low light mode that takes things a notch higher by amping the exposure and ISO levels.  For the rest of us, HDR mode works just fine during the day (and is what I prefer mostly).

With the Huawei P8 lacking hardware buttons on the front of the device (it uses the standard Android on-screen buttons), for those who’d want to quickly fire up the camera then double-pressing the volume down button when the device is locked or in sleep state, will do the trick.

Software

The Huawei P8 runs on Android 5.0. It is not the most recent iteration of Lollipop but it is what we have on the device and until such a time when an update to the more recent 5.1.1 is available or maybe a jump to the new Android 6.0 Marshmallow, there’s not much you can do about it. Of course, the familiar Android experience is largely hidden by Huawei’s own customization efforts.

The P8, like all other Huawei smartphones, has Emotion UI. As a result you end up with no app drawer and all the apps one installs are scattered all over the home screen.

While most customizations are welcome (most of stock Android’s shortcomings like the lack of a mute switch in Quick Settings/Shortcuts don’t exist in Emotion UI), Huawei’s insistence on an iOS-style home screen setup is still something many won’t really like. It’s not much of an issue though since there are tens of awesome launchers thanks to Android’s extensive customization options but for the average user it helps to boot right into a proper home screen like they’ve been used to on other devices (unless those other devices are iPhones of course).

Huawei optimizes the entire device for better performance and long battery life with various implementations. One of those is Protected Apps. It’s a concept that Huawei has managed to execute so well that when properly setup, it is a God-send. The problem is that you may not know it exists and may miss out on crucial notifications as a result.

With Protected Apps, applications are stopped from running in the background as soon as the device display is turned off. This is not an issue really unless you have specific use cases like having apps like Weather Timeline constantly reminding you when El Nino is arriving on your notification shade or Clipper keeping track of everything you place on the P8’s clipboard. Until you exempt them in the settings application, they’ll keep on being killed.

For some strange reason (I bet all they want is to keep you safe), the P8 comes with built-in malware protection. There’s NQ mobile which you don’t get to interact with as a user but works in the background to weed out security risks like infected apps you may sideload from dubious sources (and there’s an awful lot of such incidents these days).

Talking about sideloading, once you sideload an application, you get a prompt to delete the application installation package (apk) and save up on some storage space.

Performance

You won’t run into performance issues with the Huawei P8 and the Kirin 930 processor combined with the 3 GB RAM seems to hold up just well.

With an all-metal unibody design, the device gets extremely hot when you indulge in some races on Need for Speed: No Limits.

Battery

Depending on your usage, you can squeeze up to 5 hours of screen on time on the Huawei P8 even though the average is a respectable 4 hours. Thanks to Huawei’s overzealous optimization, the 2680 mAh battery is able to hold up just fine even when you’re browsing using 4G LTE all day long.

Others

Huawei has made the P8 available in two storage options: 16 GB and 64 GB. For the 16 GB user, there’s great need for more storage. Thankfully, the P8 has support for expandable storage. Up to 128 GB. The Huawei P8 and the LG G4 are some of the increasingly small number of premium smartphones that still have support for memory expansion using microSD cards. They are the last of a dying breed.

Call quality is great on the Huawei P8 thanks to several factors like Signal+ (read on for more). Internet speeds more so when on 4G LTE are also great.

Not the best of speeds on LTE but at least you get something you can work with without losing your head all the time.

There is a really great feature that I got to try out during the P8’s launch in Johannesburg, South Africa, in early July: Director Mode. It is a standalone application that can also be downloaded on compatible devices from the Google Play Store. Unfortunately, I was not able to simulate the same experience I had in South Africa at the demo area with several P8s on the review unit I had since I obviously lacked supported devices. Director Mode is a cool feature when you actually get around to using it. It allows you and your friends to shoot video from various angles together.

The Good

• The camera on the Huawei P8 is the most standout feature of the device. We’ve gotten used to Huawei’s excellent designs so that’s not news. We test a lot of devices but rarely do we get blown away like the P8’s shooters did. The Huawei P8 has one of the best cameras that you’ll find on a 2015 flagship smartphone. Good performance in low light as well as excellent HDR mode. With the competition having equally good shooters, Huawei’s top device is up there with them.
• Fast LTE speeds.
• With Signal+, the Huawei P8 has some of the best network access and that doesn’t change whether you’re out and about or aboard a fast moving vehicle or train. Good call quality and better internet speeds even in areas where the network may be a bit spotty are guaranteed.
• The IPS-Neo LCD display is vibrant and has great outdoor visibility even though the maximum brightness could be better. It is great for consuming multimedia content and reading the newspaper or picking up where you left on your eBook.

The Bad

• The software could be better. While I was able to figure out the concept of Protected Apps, there needs to be a prompt or something informing the users about its existence so that they don’t miss out on important information they are used to getting from their go to apps since the system is suppressing them.
  Also, Huawei should just give up on that iOS-like home screen. Please bring back an app drawer. Having apps scattered all over the home screen has never been a good idea.
  With Android Lollipop, Google introduced lock screen notifications. Thanks to Huawei’s extensive customization, these are nowhere to be seen. They don’t exist at all. One has to make do with the notification shade and even there, one has to put up with persistent notifications from the built-in antivirus application (NQ Mobile) and constant alerts from various apps requesting to be allowed to displaying ongoing notifications.
• If there’s one thing that Android OEMs have consistently failed to live up to is the promise to deliver updates first and fast. The P8 was unveiled running Android 5.0. Sadly, it’s still stuck on that while the Android world has gone on to see some few point updates with the latest being Android 5.1.1 which phones in the P8’s class have since been updated to. Samsung Galaxy S6, LG G4… Android 6.0 is the new kid on the block. At that rate, it may take another year before the P8 gets it and that’s the sad bit.
• It is 2015 and we shouldn’t really be seeing flagship smartphones with 16 GB onboard storage. 32 GB should pretty much be the standard as much as the favourable pricing of the base model P8 is attributable to the storage size. The Huawei P8 is a fantastic device and you’ll want to have just about everything you need on it. From videos to some productivity applications to games. In the process, you end up exhausting the 16 GB internal memory available. Thankfully, unlike Apple, Samsung and Google (Nexus) who don’t provide the ability to expand storage using microSD cards, the Huawei P8 allows you to stretch your working space to as much as 128 gigabytes. Or you could grab the 64 GB P8 which costs a lot more, obviously.

Final Thoughts

If there’s anything the Huawei P8 represents, then it is Huawei’s coming of age. The extensively customized software is likeable (which is usually a tough thing to conclude for most of the customizations Android OEMs make) and an ordinary user is able to get the most out of the P8 by default without altering anything. The camera is one of the best one will find on a smartphone worth its name in this day and age and the blacks are blacker on the display despite it not being an AMOLED.

It is refreshing to see that Huawei still managed to squeeze in a microSD card slot on such thin device and make sure that users still get full day battery life even with a not-so-high capacity battery. The design is exquisite and there’s no doubt who the target market is. To compete at the very top level, one has to bring their A-game. With the P8, Huawei did exactly that. Yes, even without the bells and whistles like fingerprint sensors and Quad HD displays; specifications that stand out on the larger, newer, Huawei Mate S.

The Huawei P8 has been available in the Kenyan market for a while now and the base model (16 GB) goes for between Kshs 45,000 and 47,000 in shops countrywide.

The Microsoft Lumia 950

The team at Techweez managed to get some hands-on time with the recently announced Microsoft Lumia flagship devices, the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950XL. These two devices are have impressive camera technology as well new features such as Windows Hello and Continuum. The release date for both devices is slated for November 2016.

Specifications

First Impressions

The first thing one notices when folding the Lumia 950 is how thin and light it feels, especially compared to the last Lumia flagship, Lumia 930. Even though the phones use a poly-carbonate body, they still retain a dense quality feel. The OLED 2K resolution screen is vivid, bright, and offers excellent readability even in bright sunlight.As the devices we handles were prototype devices salted for testing and demo use only, we were not able to test the Windows hello feature or any camera functionality. It is also important to note that Windows 10 Mobile has not been reached RTM (release to manufacturing) status. It is still undergoing the final tweaks and bug resolution.

So the question stands, will the users who have been waiting for a new Lumia flagship be satiated with the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950XL? I think so. The specs and features of the devices are on par with current flagship devices. From a style perspective, both the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950XL will be supported by a range of official 3rd party cases from Mozo Accessories.

Be sure to stay tuned to Techweez for a full review once the devices become available to us.

Hands-On Image Gallery

• Lumia 950

• Lumia 950 XL

Every once in a while a smartphone shows up that seeks not to push the boundaries of mobile innovation by introducing previously unheard of features but to just cater for the everyday phone user. The Samsung Galaxy J7 is one such smartphone.

Having used the Galaxy J7 for several days, I am reminded of my days with the Galaxy Note II back in 2012 and the Galaxy Mega a year later. While the Galaxy J7 shares almost the same display in the same size configuration as Samsung’s phablet from 3 years ago, it is about half the price. To put it metaphorically, the Galaxy Note II cost an arm and a leg while the Galaxy J7 won’t break your bank. On the other hand, the “good-enough” Galaxy Mega, like the name insinuates, was just too big for regular users to embrace it at a time when smartphones with large displays were still something that was frowned upon.

It’s 2015 and big smartphones are the in-thing, thanks to Samsung, no less. However, in the case of Samsung, such big smartphones tend to be highly priced and beyond the reach of the common man. That is why the Galaxy J7 exists. To give users a big device at a price that won’t have them bending too much. Make no mistake, Kshs 25,000-28,000, the price range at which the Galaxy J7 retails, is no small money. It is a tidy sum to spend on just a phone. However, as you are about to find out, the Galaxy J7 is not just a phone. Like I said about its smaller sibling, the Galaxy J5, a device with whom it shares a lot of features, it is a fantastic smartphone.

Specifications

• Display: 5.5 inch HD (720p) display
• Processor: 64-bit octa-core Exynos 7580
• Camera: Rear: 13 megapixels with LED Flash and f/1.9 lens: 5 megapixels wide-angle with LED flash
• Memory: 16 GB internal memory + micro SD card slot (expandable upto 128 GB); 1.5 GB RAM
• Operating system: Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
• Battery: 3,000 mAh
• Network: 3G, LTE*
• Connectivity: USB 2.0, Bluetooth 4.1 LE, WLAN 802.11 b/g/n/ac 2.4GHz/5GHz
• Others: Dual-SIM (nano and micro), FM radio

*read on to find out

Design

The Galaxy J7, like other devices in the Galaxy J series, has a plastic removable back, a glass front (obvious) and a faux-metal frame to support them. That is the main distinguishing feature of the Galaxy J series smartphones from their upper mid-range counterparts in the Galaxy A series and the not-so-well-defined Galaxy E devices. In short, it is just a blown up Galaxy J5.

Having used the Galaxy Note II a few years back, the Galaxy J7 feels much the same and it’s not hard to see why, it has a 5.5 inch HD display just like the Note II. The back, while still removable, is less glossy though and the 3.5mm headset jack is not at the top but at the bottom and the speaker grille sits on the left of the camera while the LED flash is on the right. Likewise, the volume rocker is on the right and the power button conveniently placed on the left.

Like on the Galaxy J5, there are two capacitive buttons that don’t have a backlight below the display to help you with navigations and since Samsung still doesn’t do on-screen buttons (which I find to be a good thing by the way), the home button is where it is usually located on all Samsung Android smartphones.

Display

The Samsung Galaxy J7 features a 5.5 inch Super AMOLED display that is just good for what it is meant to do. It is not the most pixel-dense of displays out there but unless you explicitly go out looking for pixels (and why would you do that anyway instead of enjoying the phone as it is?), you’ll hardly notice that.

The beauty of the display on the Galaxy J7, like on any other big phone, is that it is big. I know that sounds boring but as you use it you get to appreciate what you can get done with it. Catching up on where you left on that eBook you’re reading is easy on the Galaxy J7. Research firm Nielsen, in a recent survey, found out that the number of people buying eBooks and reading them from their smartphones had risen by 30% from 24% 3 years ago to 54% as of last December. Such numbers are because of large displays like the one on the Galaxy J7 and it is not hard to see why. Add the casual web browsing and throw in the daily cat video and you have a good case for getting the 5.5-inch Galaxy J7 over other devices with smaller displays.

Camera

Samsung has marketed the Galaxy J7 and its smaller sibling, the Galaxy J5, heavily with the 13-megapixel shooter at the back and the 5-megapixel front-facing camera as the main selling points. Like I noted in the Galaxy J5 review, the two cameras just perform as expected. You won’t get out-of-this-world macros or sunset photos without putting in half the effort professional photographers put in but at the end of it all, you’ll have something that can get you 100 likes on Instagram in an instant. Yes, the cameras are not as outstanding as I’d want them to and heck, they won’t win any awards, but they are just there and they do their work though we have to agree that they could do so much better than they do at the moment.

The front-facing camera has something that is now going to be a thing on all smartphones but is yet to become mainstream: front-facing LED flash. It is not my cup of tea thanks to the blinding effect when you are made to stare at it while taking a selfie in the middle of the night or in dark-lit surroundings but it is nice to have as it may come in handy to some.

Here is a sample:

The high-resolution version of the above sample can be found here.

The Galaxy J7 camera application has HDR mode which can be turned on in the settings which are straight forward. The Galaxy J5 has all the other shooting modes found on the Galaxy J7 like Pro mode, Continous shot, Beauty face, Sound & shot and Sports but lacks HDR which is a reserve of its larger sibling and of course there’s more detail on images captured in HDR mode.

Software

Running underneath all the customizations that Samsung has implemented is Android 5.1.1 which was until recently the most up to date version of Google’s mobile operating system. The customizations are however most welcome since the stock Android a small subset of users usually demands is not meant for everyone. As long as smartphone makers and their partners are able to keep things lightweight, you’re better off with customized software than unadulterated Android. You may need to read our review of one of the cheapest smartphones in the market to understand why.

Double-clicking the physical home button launches the camera application while other novelties we loved on the Galaxy J5 like the ability to pick a theme of your liking from the Samsung theme store and applying it also exist. It is worth noting that with the Galaxy J7 users have access to even a wider variety of themes like the gold theme that blends nicely with gold-coloured devices like the Galaxy S6 Edge.

There’s very little in the form of bundled applications by Samsung which is a good thing as users get to have more storage space to install apps and games and fewer resources being allocated to some otherwise useless software they’d probably never use.

Performance

The Samsung Galaxy J7 has a better processor than the Galaxy J5 and it shows in the overall performance of the device. Everything is smooth and games are just okay. You’ll hardly encounter any lag and stutter and with Samsung going slow with over-customization of the software, things are lightweight and neat.

Battery

Remember that feeling of familiarity with the Galaxy Note II I expressed earlier on? Or the Galaxy Mega? It is more visible when it comes to the battery. Probably we should stop getting carried away by the need for more and more pixels per square inch and instead appreciate things like HD displays.

The battery life on the Galaxy J7 is the most fantastic I’ve ever had on a phone since, you guessed that right, the Galaxy Note II. Please let us know in the comments if you’ve ever managed to achieve 8 hours of screen on time. It is what I got when pushing the Galaxy J7 to its limit. I struggled to drain the battery on the Galaxy J7. What a nice problem to have! Even then, I could only manage to do that after spending over 2 hours playing high-intensity games that pushed the device to the edge and it eventually had to give in.

Next I spent 12 hours on the road and guess what, I still had enough juice to play Madfinger’s Unkilled for over an hour and a half after a trip that lasted 24 hours.

For ordinary users, the Galaxy J7, which I’ve now christened “the road warrior” after its impressive performance, they should easily go for 2 days without having to recharge. With the 3,000 mAh battery being removable, I guess you can go on an adventure with this phone and a spare battery and not have to worry about it “dying” on you when you need to refer to an offline map most.

I always have a disclaimer on the kind of battery life you get based on your usage and network connection but that is thrown out of the window when it comes to the Galaxy J7. Just use it, you’ll still have some juice left when you’re done.

Others

With the many ways we use our phones today, we tend to forget one very important aspect: they are phones first and foremost. No matter how “smart” they are, they are pretty useless if they can’t fulfill their primary role of enabling you to communicate effectively. By communicating effectively, I don’t mean emojis and stickers that convey just half the feelings and emotions but calls. Voice calls are clear and more customizations to the software over the years mean that you don’t always have to fret having calls interrupting your workflow on the phone as a small dialog shows up on the top of the device and nothing gets in your way.

The sound from the speaker at the back is also okay but could be miles better. It’s not as loud as you may want it to be.

It’s disappointing that there is no LED on the front for letting you know when you have a missed call, unread messages or other notifications.

The Good

• One of my misgivings about the Galaxy J5 was the little storage on the version on sale in the Kenyan market. 8 GB is simply not enough and while Samsung partnered with Microsoft to throw in a juicy 100 GB free OneDrive storage for 2 years (the Galaxy J7 has that offer too by the way), nothing can ever substitute what you get with more internal storage. Thankfully, the Galaxy J7 models on sale in Kenya pack 16 GB internal storage with an option to get even more (up to 128 GB) when you slot in a microSD.
• Superior battery life. The Samsung Galaxy J7 is the smartphone with the best battery life we’ve reviewed this year here at Techweez. Yes, I know about that Infinix we reviewed that cost almost half the price of the Galaxy J7 but the little I say about it the better.

The Bad

The Galaxy J5 and J7 have been positioned as 4G LTE smartphones in the Kenyan market and rightfully so. Both devices are supposed to have support for LTE but as I sadly found out, the review unit I had was not LTE-capable. At least from my end.

I was stuck on 3G all the time. Either the device is not compatible with local LTE bands or the Galaxy J7 variant with the Exynos 7580 processor (SM-J700H) isn’t meant to be LTE-capable (FYI there is another variant with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 that connects to LTE networks right out of the box). You’ll be wise to enquire first before getting the device and if possible testing for LTE connectivity first before making a purchase.

Final Thoughts

With a price tag that ranges between Kshs 25,000 and Kshs 28,000 depending on where you shop the Galaxy J7 doesn’t come that cheap but the thing is you can’t go wrong with it. It has some of the best battery life you can get in a smartphone today, a big enough display for consuming media, reading, browsing and social networking and double the storage you get on the Galaxy J5. Getting it, if you can, is a no-brainer. At a time when features like removable batteries and expandable storage are being shoved aside in favour of elegant all-metal designs, the Galaxy J7 is probably one of the very few decent Samsung smartphones that you’ll find in the market that sets out to please everyone and manages to do just that.

My issues with cheap smartphones are well documented and since there are few low-cost decent options, I usually gravitate towards those. With the Samsung Galaxy J5, I have a reason to recommend a device I deem decent for everyday use that is also reasonably priced. Galaxy J5 is positioned as the mid range device that changes dynamics in the value proposition. Mid range has for most of the time meant compromised experience. J5, just like J7 above it and J1 below it try to close that gap. And they do it well. I’ve had this device for a whole of two weeks and we have something conclusive about it we can tell you.

Design

The Galaxy J5 has a metal frame encasing what is essentially a plastic back that can be removed to reveal a 2,600 mAh battery, two SIM slots (one nano and another micro) and a glass front that packs the “just fine” 5 inch Super AMOLED display. The camera, LED flash and the speaker lie next to each other on the upper part of the back of the device while the 3.5 mm audio jack is placed at the bottom. Some people like it there while others like it at the top. To each their own.

The Galaxy J5, with a 5 inch display, is a big smartphone but doesn’t feel like it. It fits in. Probably because I am used to dealing with big smartphones. It may be a challenge for folks upgrading to the J5 from smaller displays but not for long. Thanks to the curves on the device, you start feeling at home in no time.

Camera

The Galaxy J5’s main selling point is supposed to be the camera. As I found out, while it strives to act the part, it is not yet there. Yes it has a 13 megapixel camera at the back and a rather powerful 5 megapixel camera with a f/1.9 aperture but good shots when you remove the phone from your back pocket and using auto mode are not guaranteed. You’ll need to struggle a bit to get things right. The front-facing shooter which is the first of its kind on a Samsung smartphone (bar the bigger Galaxy J7, of course) thanks to the front LED is just that, another selfie camera. You can take advantage of the wide angle lens but not the flash on the front. In more ways I was disappointed than found it functional. Other than for the purposes of this review where I had to use it, I mostly left it alone and just took selfies the normal way. That way, the selfies are fine.

Touch focus and face-detection function as expected.

I found the main camera to be really good when taking photos outdoors in good lighting. It’s a different story in low light situations even though this is where the camera was supposed to reveal its shine.

Sample photo taken with the Galaxy J5 at the Museum Hill interchange in Nairobi

Performance

The Galaxy J5 has a quad-core Qualcomm-made Snapdragon 410 processor clocked at 1.2 GHz. That coupled with the 1.5 GB RAM the phone packs and the well-optimized Android 5.1.1 with TouchWiz leaves a very fast device that pretty much handles anything you throw at it with grace. There are no stutters and no lag as is characteristic of Samsung smartphones that are priced within the range that the Galaxy J5 operates. Operations are so smooth that from time to time you may wonder whether you paid just Ksh 21,000 for such. This is what lower mid-range smartphones ought to be like. Nothing less, of course who are we not to be glad if it even got better?

Double-clicking the home button at any instance fires up the camera application by default. This happens in an instant. Again, no stuttering.

Software

As already stated, the Galaxy J5 runs on the latest Android 5.1.1 Lollipop hidden layers below thanks to the various customizations Samsung has made to the software to deliver the experience it envisions to the customer. In most instances, bar the premium smartphones like the Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+ and the Note 5, on low-cost smartphones this usually means reduced performance and so many issues. It is not the case on the Galaxy J5 and users get to experience the best of Samsung software on the most budget (reasonably) of Samsung hardware. Add to the fact that you can now go to the Samsung Themes Store to tweak the looks of the device to your taste and you have a winner.

Battery

The Galaxy J5 will easily last you a full work day under normal use. That time, as I pointed out before, will be shortened depending on your usage patterns but for the most part, you won’t need to plug it in before 8 hours elapse. And when it does, you may need to take a walk, sleep or do something else because it takes a while to go from 0 to 100%. You can’t expect quick-charging on such a bargain device but you don’t have to withstand the pain of having to wait much longer before the phone is all juiced up and ready for another round of selfies and Whatsapps.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy J5 is the best smartphone for its price but it could be better.

I’ll overlook the fact that the cameras could’ve been excellent but are only “okay” because for the price of the phone, I really don’t have such high expectations but I feel they could’ve done more. More pixels doesn’t always mean a better camera and this shows in the Galaxy J5’s shooters.

You can only buy the 8 GB version in Kenya at the moment for Ksh 21,000 but I really wish the 16 GB version was available but that would mean the price going up then, no? I guess I can’t have my cake and eat it but the baseline is that the 8 GB internal storage available on the smartphone as advertised is scanty. It even gets scanty when you power up the device for the first time and realize you have a little over 4 GB left for installing applications, storing photos and other use cases. You have the microSD as a redeeming factor since you can install apps to external storage and even have app data also stored on it.

Besides the price, what else do you look for in a smartphone? The Galaxy J5 has an okay 5 inch Super AMOLED HD display, speakers that sound just fine and are loud enough, acceptable call quality, well-optimised software, “just okay” cameras and a battery that will be sure to have at least 5% left by the time you get back home in the evening. The point is, as a package, the Galaxy J5 is a deal. Individual components may not meet the high bar we set for just about any smartphone premium or entry level but in the case of the Galaxy J5, its strength lies in it being a single product that is the sum of functioning parts.

The good

• 4G/LTE capability
• Good battery life
• Excellent performance. The phone feels fast when you use it and you know what? It actually is fast!

The bad

• Memory. Memory. Memory. 8 GB is not enough on such a fantastic phone.

Read On Web → Samsung Galaxy J5: Finally a Decent Mid-Range Device That Doesn’t Break the Bank

In mid-August, Google brought to Africa, for the first time ever, its Android One program. The debut smartphone under the program in this part of the world is the Infinix Hot 2.

Android One is a program by Google that is meant to deliver quality low-cost smartphones to the masses in emerging markets while still guaranteeing an unadulterated Android experience complete with timely updates. For instance, the current version of Android is 5 otherwise code-named Lollipop. In a few days, it will be succeeded by Android 6, code-named Marshmallow. For most smartphone users with low-cost smartphones, there is no hope of them ever getting their hands on the Android 6 update when it becomes available.

Android has a serious fragmentation problem. Only one in every five Android devices runs on Android 5 Lollipop. Even then only a paltry 5% of those devices are actually running the latest Android 5.1.1. The rest are stuck on the buggy Android 5.0 release. It’s very messed up. Even some top of the range premium smartphones miss out on these crucial updates. For the most part though, top Android smartphones and upper mid-range devices get updates for at least 18 months. Lower mid-range and entry level? You have to buy another phone running the newer version of Android for you to “upgrade”. It’s one of the quarrels I have with cheap smartphones. This is why Android One exists. You don’t have to spend over $450 in order to always be on the bleeding edge of technology. You can still be guaranteed timely updates on your sub-$200 phone. You should not break the bank in order to get the best of Android.

Hands-on Photos

We’ve spent some time with the Infinix Hot 2 which is now available in the Kenyan market via online retailer Jumia (it will be available elsewhere as well in coming days) and while we’re still preparing an in-depth review which is coming your way soon, here are a few photos as you wait:

First Impressions

Stock Android is quite a breath of fresh air from all the cartoon-like stuff you’re bound to get on similarly priced phones elsewhere.

The Infinix Hot 2 is a modest phone. It has “just okay” specifications but thanks to the almost untouched Android 5.1.1, performance is much better than you’d normally get on your typical sub-$100 smartphone.

The Infinix Hot 2 goes for a discounted price of Ksh 8,999 and at that price it is easily our most favourite low-cost Android smartphone. Seriously, we’ve barely spent a lot of time with it but it is damn too impressive. Android One has struggled to impress elsewhere and Google has even given the program a reboot in countries like India where it debuted but we have every right to believe that it will be a hit with the price-sensitive African market.

We have with us the “standard” Infinix Hot 2 (model X510) that has 1 GB RAM. If you have anything you need to know about the first Android One smartphone in Kenya and Africa at large let us know and we’ll have it covered in the upcoming review.

Read On Web → Hands on With Africa’s First Android One Smartphone: Infinix Hot 2

You know those rare feel-good moments that you get when the stars align and everything feels right in the world again, even for just one second, either when you take a bite of your favorite home-made food or you hear that song that always brings a smile on your face. Well, that happened to me recently when I installed Stash. With millions and millions of Android apps in the Google Play Store, only a handful of applications that really invoke that feeling in the user and Stash is one of them. Now that I have your attention, let me tell you why Stash makes me feel all good inside.

For starters, it is Kenyan made, suited for our market and made by young brilliant minds who met at Egerton University studying Computer Science. Secondly, its a life saver. You now those pesky USSD codes that crop up almost daily and they expect you to have some kind of database in your head to remember all of them, or those pay bill numbers that drive you in panic mode since you cant remember and your DSTV subscription is up and you know you wrote it down somewhere but can not remember where and when you try going online to search for it, you realize you don’t have bundles and you cannot remember the USSD code to buy bundles because you are using a new line! Stash is here to save the day.

A pilot Android application created by a startup called Chowders Loft, Stash is designed to bundle up all your common USSD codes into an easy to use application. Not only is it simple and user friendly, it actually works! It saves you the obvious hustle of searching, remembering and the best part, dialing the codes yourself.

User Experience

This is a very easy application to use. Once installed, all you need to do is choose your preferred network operator and all the current USSD codes used in the network are instantly made available for you. If you have more than one line however, you can still view the USSD codes of any other network from the application’s menu.

One thing that I absolutely appreciate about the application is that it is beautifully designed. The developers kept material design in mind, making the application feel modern and relevant. The colors work well together and there is fluidity as you move from page to page.

Furthermore, there are no ads in this application, as it is 100% free, making the experience clean and devoid of distractions from ad pop ups.

Features

This is an application that does what it says on the box. On the home page, you get a list of services usually accessed by USSD codes with a small description of the same. Selecting one of the services automatically runs the code for you as you would have done on your dial pad, and a response is received as it usually is. For codes that prompt the user to choose more options, a simple pop up customized for each of the codes allows the user to input data.

Other than the storing of codes, there is a tab called services. This has a list of some accounts that use pay bill numbers for payment. These range from paying for your DSTV subscriptions, paying your electricity bill or buying the prepaid tokens. Once you choose a service, it gives you a pop up with a detailed step-by -step process on how to pay for the service. Long gone are the days that you have to remember each and every pay bill number for different services, which I have to admit can be frustrating if you don’t have the sharpest memory.

There is one other feature that I am not too sure about but in my own interpretation, I can add the USSD codes that I frequently use with my own descriptions for, again, faster access. I set the application in such a way that when I open it, this page comes up first and I can immediately run my desired USSD code, other than going to the home page and scrolling through the list entire to get the service I want. Very convenient.

Conclusion

This is a wonderful application, period! It does what it says it will, and does it beautifully and efficiently. It is such a simple idea, executed brilliantly. One thing that I may have mentioned and it is important to note is that this application is completely FREE. No ads, no premium version, no subscription, nothing, 100% free. When asked, the developer says that they did this just to show everyone what they are about. They wanted to show people that quality applications can be developed in Kenya without their being a catch, and I commend them for this. Sometimes, its not all about the money.

Seriously, if you haven’t tried out your multitasking skills by downloading the application right after you started reading this, then you are too slow. Get it from the play store here it’s currently only available as an Android app.

Read On Web → App Review: STASH – No Frills, Functional

Tecno unveiled the Phantom 5 in Kenya to much pomp and glamour not long ago. The device is an attempt by one of the fastest rising mobile phone brands on the African continent to tap into the premium smartphone segment that has for long been dominated by the likes of Samsung and Huawei. For all intent and purpose, the Tecno Phantom 5 is the clearest indication of the ambition of Tecno Mobile.

You’ll find proof that this is meant to be an aspirational device just by looking at the retail packaging. It’s elegant and not the kind of stuff you’d normally get. I did not expect it either. Everything is neatly arranged and in its rightful place. You can actually feel the strict attention to detail. Things were obviously thought through. You be the judge.

What you get in the box:

• A flip cover with a microSIM adapter and SIM ejection tool tucked in
• Hi-Fi earphones (we’ll test these and give feedback in the upcoming review)
• Wall adapter and USB cable
• Some documentation: a 13-month warranty card, a user manual and a PalmChat starter card

The device comes with a screen protector already plastered on the front.

Here are some more photos of the Tecno Phantom 5 right from the retail packaging to the device itself:

I’ve had the device for a few hours now and here are my first impressions:

• The sign on process is what every other smartphone should have. It is short and very simple. So much that for the first 15 minutes of my interaction with the device, I was able to set up everything without the need to sign in to my Google account. The experience is Tecno first and Google second. You’ll hardly notice this though and it is possible to just go about your phone usage without needing to sign in to your Google account. Normally that’s not really a good thing but it is here. It means anyone can buy this device and continue using it without the need to complicate matters. Whatsapp is preinstalled as is Facebook. You’ll only need to sign in after you’re prompted to update the two applications and others.
• There are several bundled applications. Most of these are what we’ve come to expect on Tecno devices like Flash Share (renamed as Xender in the Tecno Phantom 5), PalmChat, BlackBerry Messenger and CarlCare. To make it possible for the average user to get going immediately after booting up, there are several other applications pre-installed. These include WhatsApp Messenger, Facebook, Opera Mini, UC Browser Mini, DU Speed Booster, WPS Office (for document editing, viewing PDFs and other office tasks), SwiftKey keyboard, TouchPal keyboard as well as a game, Asphalt Nitro.
• Of the bundled applications, there is one standout candidate: the Boom Player. The Tecno Phantom 5 sits at the top of the Tecno Mobile’s smartphone food chain and as a result it is tasked with delivering the best of both worlds: from entertainment to productivity to socialising. The Boom Player is meant to take care of the entertainment bit by providing access to music from African acts as well as global stars. I was pleasantly surprised that upon signing in using my account (created while using the Tecno Boom J7 months ago), all my data synced immediately. I had access to my playlists. There was even an app update available almost immediately. I can’t wait to test Boom Player and see what has changed since my last interaction with it and how well it stacks against competing services.
• The Tecno Phantom 5 has some of the best-sounding speakers I’ve ever used. There’s Dolby Audio and from the few demos, I’m honestly blown away. It can be toggled on and off but you can count on it staying on throughout the period I’ll be testing the Tecno Phantom 5 because the sound is crisp.
• Tecno has a more updated user interface based off Android Lollipop that is actually likeable. The icons are flatter and the notification shade no longer looks like a ghost town. Even the settings application has been streamlined and now more than ever before it is easier to customize your device without getting lost in the process.

There’s so much to the Tecno Phantom 5 that I’ll be testing over the next few weeks including the 13 megapixel camera, the fingerprint scanner at the back of the device and the 4G LTE network speeds so stick around for a comprehensive review.

The Tecno Phantom 5 is available in shops all across Kenya at a price of Ksh 40,000.

Read On Web → Tecno Phantom 5: First Impressions and Hands-On

The allure of Android One, as we have stated countless times before, is a pure unadulterated experience on a smartphone. Users don’t get slowed down by unnecessary elements added to the software by the smartphone maker. Neither do they have to live with ugly interfaces and cartoon-like app icons all in the name of being provided with “value add-ons”. But what if you get an Android One smartphone that packs the stock untouched Android experience as envisioned by Google but still has all the signs of lag and stutter that shouldn’t be there?

That has been my experience with the Infinix Hot 2, the first Android One smartphone to hit the African market. It’s good for its price. There’s no denying that. I was very impressed at first and while my experience as a user of the device over the last fortnight hasn’t convinced me that this is a smartphone I’d want to get for myself, my opinion that it is our favourite low-end smartphone in the Kenyan market remains unchanged.

Specifications

• Display: 5 inch HD (720p)
• Processor: Quad-core MediaTek MT6580 chip clocked at 1.3 GHz
• Memory: 1 GB RAM; 16 GB onboard storage (expandable via microSD)
• Camera: Front: 2 megapixels; Back: 8 megapixels with LED flash
• Operating System: Android 5.1.1
• Battery: 2,200mAh
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
• Network: 3G
• Others: FM radio, Dual-SIM

Poor Man’s Nexus

Android One has been cheekily christened “poor man’s Nexus” by my friends in the West and rightfully so. We’ve just seen the 2015 Nexus smartphones from Huawei and LG made official by Google. While those are pricey, both buyers of the Nexus 5X and 6P will have something in common with the Infinix Hot 2: they get timely updates.

The new Nexus smartphones will of course arrive with the latest treat from Mountain View, Android Marshmallow, but the Infinix Hot 2 and others in the Android One program are expected to get it not long after. Yes, even before those swanky $800 smartphones you’ve been yearning to get. Poor man’s Nexus or not, that’s a huge plus for a smartphone as basic as the Infinix Hot 2 and it is one of its selling points. So much that one of the first things you get upon unboxing the device and powering it on for the very first time is, you guessed it right, an update, albeit for stability and bug fixes.

Design

The Infinix Hot 2 looks and feels like a small plastic slab. Bar that 5 inch HD display on the front, the Hot 2 is a full plastic device through and through. There’s some glass-like plastic on the back that is a fingerprint magnet and prone to scratches if you put the phone in the same pants pocket as your keys. They’ll scratch the hell out of it.

Since I said it feels like a small plastic slab, that is not just as a result of the looks. It’s also because of the weight. The Infinix Hot 2 is not light like you may have gotten used to on recent smartphone releases. It is quite heavy but since at 5 inches the screen is bigger, that weight makes it nicer to hold in the hand and you actually feel like you’re using a phone. Seriously.

The USB port is placed at the top of the device and not the bottom. The speakers on the bottom of the device are just fine and perform as expected. Sound is crisp but could of course get better. However, like the earpiece on top, dust tends to collect down there and you may need to manually clean it from time to time.

There’s an LED on the front for alerting you when you have unread messages, missed calls and other notifications. There are no physical or capacitive keys so instead you have on-screen buttons since this is a pure Android experience device.

The volume rocker is on the right of the device and just below it is the power button.

Display

The 5 inch HD display is good enough for casual needs. You’ll be okay texting on the large display and even consuming media. Just the basics.

The viewing angles are not the best and outdoor visibility is a big problem. Since the Infinix Hot runs stock Android, you get some setbacks like not having automatic brightness settings so you’ll have to go back to the slider on the notification shade when you switch environments from indoors to outdoors.

There’s no form of protection on the display so if you happen to drop the device on a hard surface, it’ll be up to your lucky stars to determine its fate. You’ll mostly end up with either a shattered display panel or a very scratched back.

Camera

There’s not much to write home about when it comes to the Infinix Hot 2’s camera. This is because it is pretty basic. It does its work as you may expect of a camera on a $90 phone.

You can get some popping average shots using the 8 megapixel back camera and really grainy selfies when using the 2 megapixel front-facing camera. There’s hardly any middle ground. In good lighting conditions, the images captured are bearable else there’s too much noise. It is worse when you take photos in low light conditions. Yes, even with the flash turned on.

Here is a sample photo:

More sample images (including a high resolution version of the above sample) can be found here.

Software

Stock Android. Android 5.1.1 Lollipop.

While stock Android should be something attractive and all, sadly on low-end devices like I have experienced on the Infinix Hot 2, it is not. I’ll explain.

The Infinix Hot 2 is a smartphone meant mostly for entry-level users. Users on a budget. These just want a device that functions well out of the box. No bells and whistles. For the most part, stock Android provides all that. Until you get to the bit where there’s no gallery application that users can identify with. Neither is there a half-decent camera application or a music app (I know, Google Play Music, but no, thanks).

On stock Android you get Google’s camera app which is pretty barebones. Like we’ve seen on low-cost devices from the Tecno and Infinix brands, more functionality can be added to the camera application that users can take advantage of. Google Photos is the default photo application. Again, this is pretty basic and while most of us know what to get off it, ordinary users will be best served by just a simple gallery app. Something like QuickPic for instance.

Other issues that arise as a result of using stock Android includes the lack of a mute/vibrate switch. Ordinarily, users are able to switch to various sound profiles conveniently but under Android Lollipop this is not possible as they are limited to just barring notifications for a set duration (a maximum of 8 hours).

An advantage of stock Android on the other hand, is that you don’t get a lot of the annoying add-ons that tend to be bundled with devices like the Infinix Hot 2. Applications that you’re likely to never use. Like Palm Chat and others. There are only two applications outside of Google’s that are bundled on the phone: CarlCare, an app for accessing after-sales service, and Jumia, the online marketplace that Google and Infinix partnered with to sell the Hot 2 across the continent.

Another plus is that you get to do things like add multiple accounts. So you can set up a guest account for your nosy girlfriend to access or another account for your child to play games without interfering with your phone. Since this is a very affordable phone, multiple use cases are well served under such a setting and it is a good thing.

Performance

You’d expect that a device with the most minimum of software alterations would be very snappy and not exhibit any lag, right? Well, you’re wrong. For some strange reasons (optimization perhaps), the Infinix Hot 2 stutters and hangs randomly. It is not annoying and if you don’t spend a lot of your time fiddling with your phone like I do you’ll hardly notice but it is bad enough to make you want to pull out your hair.

Other than the random stuttering, everything else seems fine. I was able to enjoy Asphalt 8: Airborne and for a moment I forgot that I was doing this on a low-cost device. With the stuttering, you may not want to overload it because it won’t handle things well but overall things will be should be just fine.

Battery

Just like the camera, the battery life is neither here nor there. The Infinix Hot 2 is a dual-SIM device and if you take advantage of this and have cellular data turned on most of the time then you’ll need to charge the phone way before the day ends. With minimal use, though, you can manage to squeeze a bit more out of it (you’ll be wise not to count on it).

Normally, there’s some power saving mode of sorts on phones like Infinix Hot 2. However, since this runs stock Android, you’re stuck with the useless stock power saving mode which won’t come to your aid when the battery drops below 10% at midday.

The Good

• Stock Android. This means updates, updates and more updates. Guaranteed updates. I can’t wait to test Android Marshmallow on the Infinix Hot 2. Yes, stock Android has its shortcomings but it is way better than the ugly user interfaces you’re bound to find on just about every other Android smartphone.
• Lots of storage space. It is not every day that you get an entry level device with 16 GB onboard storage (and expandable via microSD at that). To some people, 16 GB may not be much but you only need to have used other low-cost phones like the awfully priced Oppo Neo 3 that has just 4 GB memory with just under half of it being user accessible to appreciate what the Infinix Hot 2 brings to the table.
• The price, of course. At Kshs 9,000, you can’t debate getting this over any other Android device. Unless that other device is the fantastic Tecno Boom J7 or the more “senior” Infinix Hot Note. The only problem? You’ll need to add Ksh 1,000-4,000 more to get either of those and when you’re on a tight budget that is not a luxury you have. Note: Kshs 9,000 is the price if you order the device via Jumia. Walking into any retail shop, you’re likely to find the device priced between Kshs 11,000 and 12,000. At that point, dynamics change.

The Bad

• The lag! It is annoying when you encounter it. I only had a handful of apps installed and still experienced it. I have no idea what happens when you stretch the device.
• The battery life could be better but it isn’t.

Final Thoughts

For the longest time ever, it has been hard to find a sub-Ksh 10,000 smartphone running Android worth recommending.

With the Infinix Hot 2, now there’s finally a device one can comfortably recommend at that price range. Only that there are few disclaimers. Like battery life is not guaranteed and as is the case with just about every other low-cost smartphone, corners have been cut in order to guarantee the low pricing. You can see that in the washed out display, the not-so-good camera and the lack of seamlessness you’d expect between hardware and software. However, unlike every other low-cost smartphone that has corners cut to justify the low pricing, the Infinix Hot 2 promises to cater for its user just like Google will take care of someone who spends Ksh 65,000 on a 128 GB Huawei Nexus 6P.

Android One is meant to bring to the smartphone fold the next 1 billion Android users according to Google as it seeks to increase Android’s dominance as well as getting everyone online where they’ll obviously get to use its services. Currently, Android has over 1.4 billion users and with devices like the Infinix Hot 2, its appeal is bound to get even better to the unconnected masses and just about everyone who wants a good deal.

Read On Web → Stock Android and Timely Updates at a Lower Price: Infinix Hot 2 Review

The final trailer of the upcoming James Bond movie, Spectre, is out. That means that the countdown to the premiere of the widely anticipated movie starts in earnest. Spectre premieres in the United Kingdom in late October while it won’t be until early November when the rest of the world gets to see what Daniel Craig is up to in what is his final time playing Bond.

If you happen to live in Kenya and particularly Nairobi and need to be up to date with the screening times of not just the 2015 Bond film but also other latest flicks where do you turn to? There’s the good old newspaper, of course. Or the various cinema’s social media pages where information is scattered all over the place. Or the not so intuitive specific websites. Those were my go-to places for information regarding what was on the silver screen. Until Movie Max happened.

We use our phones for just about anything. While there can be websites and social media pages dedicated to something, nothing beats a mobile application that sits on your phone and is ready to provide you the information you need in real time. More so when that application just pulls that data from the aforementioned websites (using a private API) and presents it to you in an easy to digest and attractive format. That is, in a nutshell, what Movie Max, an application targeted at the movie goer or just about any other person keen on what is showing on the big screen is all about.

Movie Max is simple and straight to the point. It does nothing other than provide information on what is showing at IMAX at that particular time and what is coming soon. There is a Discover tab that keeps you up to date with other recent and upcoming movies. You can also watch movie trailers since they’re linked from YouTube directly.

The application is pretty barebones and the developer is promising more additions in an update that will be available soon. That is ok since it does what it sets out to well and of course updates that will make it possible to also know what is airing at Planet Media Cinema and other cinemas like say Nyali Cinemax when I’m in Mombasa are welcome.

The one thing you’ll miss is the lack of ticket pricing but then again almost all the other options out there also miss this important addition. I always have to check out the Facebook pages for the pricing and it is not always available. Also, it could be better if it provided notifications once in a while on some specials. Like IMAX has been running a movie marathon recently and this just showed up on the regular schedule. With the holiday season soon setting in, there will be lots of special offers and it will be great if I could be notified every time there’s one and I’m sure every other regular theatre-goer will appreciate the same.

Movie Max is currently only available on Android and you can find it on the Google Play Store.

Read On Web → Movie Max: What You Turn to When You Need to Watch the Latest Flick

One thing that I observed as a student in University is that the timetable was perhaps the most inconsistent, unreliable and mostly inconvenient thing that was ever created. I mean, a month into the semester and changes were still being made. It was very frustrating to the point that I stopped keeping track and rather followed my friend around who not only had impeccable memory, but also somehow kept track of all the changes. If you don’t have a friend like that, AirKlip will have your back.

Over time people come up with ways to manage the classroom. The most common method in my opinion is the use of Whatsapp. With a class Whatsapp group, changes to the timetable are communicated and any assignments or tasks given are announced there as well. This is the status quo. But this has its pitfalls. Anyone can post anything on the group. Maybe one of your classmates is messing with you guys and says there is a lecturer in class angry because no one showed up for his class and yet this class wasn’t scheduled, sending you into a panic. Plus an assignment is given but once the conversation goes on you can easily forget about reading that message.

AirKlip tries to become your time organizer by making sure you are not left behind or pranked. So what do you get once you install AirKlip?

Features

• Can organize and download your class timetable to your phone
• A day-to-day view of your weekly timetable
• Notify you of any changes made to the timetable
• Send a reminder just before your class begins
• Allow you to add tasks and assignments.

How it works

Once you have downloaded AirKlip and verified your phone number, you are then prompted to choose the school, course, year and semester you are currently enrolled on. At the time of writing this article, 7 schools are currently supported which are 3 more than those that were supported when I downloaded the app a couple of weeks back. These are Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Mount Kenya University, Technical University of Kenya, Strathmore University, Maasai Mara University, South Eastern Kenya University and Kenya College of Accounting. This just means that even if your school is not listed here, just download it and keep an eye out, updates are happening quite fast.

Anyway, once you select your school, then specify on the course, current year that you are in and then the semester you are enrolled for. Once that data is captured, the timetable is downloaded and you can now see the how your day is.

From the menu on the right, you can view your classes in a day-to-day view, add tasks (assignment, project, term paper etc.) for a specific unit and set reminders on when they are due. You can also see a breakdown of the units you are enrolled for that semester.

When it comes to changes or announcements, only a class representative can do this on the application. A code is sent to the class representative who can then access added features. For now the class representative can communicate any changes made to the timetable, or any messages coming from the lecturer.

The app is also beautifully designed with frequent updates, improving the overall user experience.

New Features

The application currently is on beta testing stage but by January 10 2016, they will officially launch the application with loads of new and smarter features. Currently, the timetables are being manually inputted by the developers but once launched, the class representatives will be able to automatically load the timetable from an excel document. Furthermore they will be able add tasks and assignments which will be accessible to all the students enrolled for the course. They will also add a social aspect to the application, whereby, the application will inform you of any events happening around that your classmates will be attending. Sharing of documents relevant to classwork is also something that the developers are keen on adding to the application.

Currently the application is free for use and only available for Android. Once it is officially launched in January 10^th next year, students will have to subscribe for the service for Kshs 100 per semester, with the option of paying Kshs 249 for a year’s subscription

The part of team behind Airklip, Maxwell (left) and Brian Ondari

The vision for the application is for it to be a personal assistant and time manager for the student. Many students have other things to do in a day other than studying. Some are interning, working or running businesses(or just chilling somewhere random!) . Having a tool that reduces the uncertainty of the school program will allow one to manage their time better. This is what the developers are developing the application to do. They want it to be a one-stop shop for everything that a student wants. Everything from your school work, time manager to keeping you up to date with whats going on around you.

What I like from the application is its potential value. It is not a simple timetable app. With proper development and strategy, this can be a student’s best friend and ultimate tool. As long as the developers are willing to spend their time and resources on its development, which they are doing so far, the possibilities are endless.

Obvious competition for the application is of course the status quo. You already have options that work which are free. Whatsapp groups and email groups for sharing documents are what people are used to. However, the developers say that the convenience and reliability provided for by the application as opposed to the current unregulated platforms is something that they feel will get people to use the application.

Read On Web → Student’s Very Own Personal Assistant: Airklip App Review

My only interaction with an Infinix phone before I got this one was with an Infinix Hot Note that my mum has. I didn’t think much about it but I was impressed by the price, especially because of the somewhat good quality of the device, but then I moved on. Second time that Infinix caught my attention was when it was announced that the Android One project was being launched in Africa via an Infinix Hot 2. The reason this caught my attention is because I am a big fan of Android, and the drive to produce affordable, well performing and importantly stock Android smartphones without those annoying skins from other manufactures, is something that appeals to me .This made me pay more attention to Infinix to see what they can do.

We got the Infinix Zero 2 at the same time with the Infinix Hot 2 to review, and I have to be honest, my first impression of the Infinix Zero 2 wasn’t good. It looked beautiful when compared to the Infinix Hot 2 and was definitely lighter, much lighter than any phone I have ever held, but it wasn’t as impressive at first glance. The Infinix Hot 2 shipped in with Android 5.1.1, the latest at the time and it was beautiful. This one comes with Android 4.4.2 without a chance for an upgrade any time soon. Our relationship didn’t start out too good but I have taken some time to know it better and I feel like I may have been a bit harsh at first.

Design

• 145 x 71.5 x 6.5 mm, 118 grams.
• Bottom speakers.
• High-resistant Kevlar back material.

High Resistant Kevlar Material at the back

The phone’s design is simple and beautiful, nothing fancy but quite eye catching. The front of the phone is pretty basic with the front facing camera and ear piece speaker at the top with no physical or capacitive buttons to speak of. This phone is light. At only 118 grams, it almost feels like you are missing a component like a battery inside. However, in spite of this, I felt confident carrying it around without the fear of dropping and damaging it. This is mostly because of the Kevlar material at the back. This is a high resistant material that is valued for its toughness. The back feels smooth but still offers the much needed grip made necessary by the light weight of the phone. This is something that really excites me about the phone. Aside from the Kevlar back, the phone’s edges have a smooth metal finish with curved edges.

The volume rocker and power button are on the right side of the phone allowing for a comfortable reach. One problem I have with physical design is differentiating the SIM card slot and the microSD slot. The microSD card slot is above the volume rocker while the SIM card slot is on the other side. If you do not frequently swap out SIMs or change the microSD, you will probably end up opening both or playing some kind of roulette game to find the right one in the first go as they are not labelled.

All in all, it feels good to use and carry around, giving you a somewhat premium feeling at an affordable price.

Display and User Experience

• Android 4.4.2 KitKat
• 5 inch, 720 x 1280 pixels, 294 pixels per inch (PPI)
• Super AMOLED, capacitive touchscreen with 16, 000,000 colors
• Corning Gorilla Glass 3

The display quality provided by the Infinix Zero 2 is quite good. The screen is bright and the colors really pop out. Although you can still make out some pixels, this doesn’t really ruin the display quality for me. Outdoor readability is also good, with very little glare and high brightness levels. The only downside to this is that even at its lowest brightness setting, it is still a bit too bright for me, especially when I wake up to look at the time in the middle of the night.

Sporting a Corning Gorilla Glass 3, the touchscreen is quite resistant to scratches and should be safe in your pocket with your keys. Over the time I have used it, I have dropped it a couple of times and the screen has also skidded on the ground for a few centimeters and still no scratches present on the screen. Disclaimer, this doesn’t mean that you can go crazy with it but for the most part it is pretty strong. Additionally, the touch screen response time is quick and I haven’t had the need to re-tap things on the screen for feedback.

One thing that is a major let-down for me in this device is that it runs Android KitKat 4.4.2. At a time where Android Marshmallow 6.0 is out, KitKat somehow feels archaic for a device launched in 2015. This is the reason it did not impress me at first, especially when I saw the Infinix Hot 2, a really cheap phone, running Android Lollipop 5.1.1. On the flip side however, it isn’t so bad. The skin that Infinix have added on top of KitKat is minimalistic and beautiful. It is not stock Android, but you can live with it. Anyway custom launchers are available on Google Play, therefore you can change it to suit your preference at any time.

Hardware and Performance

• Expandable storage, upto 32GB
• 32GB internal storage
• 2GB RAM
• 2.0GHZ octa-core Cortex A7 CPU with MediaTek MT6592 chipset

This I believe is where the phone shines. One thing that I have been presently surprised by is the utter lack of lag as I use the phone. I mean, the performance delivered by this phone is something I wasn’t prepared for. Not only can I play heavy games such as Need For Speed: No Limits without lag and with proper display quality, I can also stream music from Spotify at the same time, while I switch up and play some other game like Two Dots. The 2GB of RAM also makes multitasking with the Infinix Zero 2 is a breeze although the phone can get pretty hot.

There is nothing that ruins the experience of a device like lag. Navigating through the Infinix Zero 2 is lag free, responsive and fast. I believe this is one of the phone’s selling point as it offers solid performance for its price.

Additionally, the phone comes with 16GB or 32GB internal storage space which can go a long way in storing applications and multimedia for average users. If that is not enough, you also have a choice of adding a microSD card, up to 32GB, for extra storage purposes. This should be enough for offloading your applications from the internal storage, freeing up more space for you to play around with.

am not a fan of the speakers on this phone. The quality of sound coming from them is substandard and easily muffled because of their placement. The speakers are at the bottom of the device and while holding the device, your little finger can easily block them and you will get very little sound from them.

Call Connectivity and Quality

• Dual micro SIM
• 2G network GSM 850/900/1800/1900
• 3G network HSDPA 900/2100
• No 4G network
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Wi-Fi direct

I can’t really say much about the call quality provided by this phone. It’s not super sharp and loud but neither is it muffled. You can still probably hear the other person on the line in a crowded room. The only thing that I think needs mention is the user experience during a call. The proximity sensor will sense your face coming close and switch of the display but at some point it comes back on. This just means that I end up launching a couple of actions with my face. I put someone on hold and end up calling someone else and only figure that out when I hear a dial tone. I also end up recording my conversations at times which isn’t the best thing to do, especially when you do not want anyone else listening to it, just in case you forget to delete it. If only there were less options on the screen during a call and it would be better if they were displayed a bit lower on the screen.

This phone does not support 4G, therefore the super-fast browsing experience now available in some parts of the country will pass you by, however, I haven’t felt the need for it as I browse. Browsing on a 3G connection or Wi-Fi is more than satisfactory, even on RAM-hogging browsers like Chrome.

Camera

• 13MP Primary camera, HDR, Geo-tagging, auto focus camera with LED flash
• Video recording up to 1080p
• 5MP Secondary camera with 85 degree wide angle

13MP rear camera

The rear camera of the Infinix Zero 2 captures beautiful images, especially outdoors. The images are sharp and color reproduction is quite okay in the right light conditions of course. Indoor low light images aren’t the best but the LED flash comes to the rescue,however the colors of course are distorted.

For all you selfie folks out there, the 5MP front camera on this device is pretty decent. The selfies are bright and detailed. There is a face beauty option, where you can change your appearance in the ways you choose to. Infinix Mobility also says that it has an 85 degree wide angle so that you can squeeze in more people into the selfie.

Battery

• 2300mAH

Now this is where the phone disappoints. This battery is a bit too small to do much of anything for a long time. Once the phone is fully charged, it can only last for about 5 hrs, barely half of a day, with constant heavy usage. In my case, by 11 am, I only have 40% of power left. Let me explain my use. My cellular data and location is always on and in the morning, I either stream Spotify or listen to podcasts. In traffic I will probably browse on it as well. By the time I get to the office, the phone is hot and drained. But that’s just me. An average user would probably make the battery last all day, if there life doesn’t revolve around the phone. However I feel like this makes the whole point of the phone being powerful pointless if it doesn’t have the proper battery to support it. They could do so much better with the battery.

Verdict

Pros

• Fast, powerful and lacks lag.
• Camera is satisfactory.
• Not too expensive.

Cons

• Battery, Battery, Battery.

I forgot to mention that my specific device shuts down randomly on occasion. I don’t know if this is the same in all the devices or if that’s a fault on the review unit I used. All in all, this is a pretty cool device. It is beautiful, powerful and has a premium feel to it. Despite of its downfalls and little fails here and there, I would still use it. The device has been retailing at a few hundred shillings short of Kshs 20,000 but it has since gone down to Kshs 18,700.

Read On Web → Affordable, Powerful But With Potential To Be More: Infinix Zero 2 Review

Huawei is the latest device maker to be chosen by Google to make one of the two 2015 Nexus smartphones, the Nexus 6P. With the LG-made Nexus 5X being a continuation of the beloved Nexus 5 and the Nexus 6P made by Huawei being the more superior of the two devices as far as specifications go, it is no doubt that Huawei’s creation is the centre of attraction for the next one year.

Google’s choice of Huawei as the Nexus maker is testament to the Chinese company’s influence globally. Whereas it has had a commanding presence in mobile telephony thanks to its extensive network infrastructure business in various countries around the world, it is now the third largest smartphone vendor in the world. Having used the gorgeous Huawei P8, the company’s flagship smartphone this year, it is not hard to see why.

Huawei’s P lineup is its top of the range smartphone series focused solely at the premium smartphone buyer and meant to compete with the iPhone 6s, Galaxy S6s and LG G4s of this world. Previously known as the Ascend P, the series dropped the Ascend branding this year as Huawei seeks to differentiate its various products with the Honor being a budget option and the P and the Mate series catering to the high-end segment of the market. With the reception the P8 received in its first few months of availability and the fair reviews the new Mate S is getting, Huawei is on to something.

I set out to find out how the Huawei P8 fairs during my one month stay with the device.

While there are other variants with various storage sizes (64 GB), dual-SIM and a different processor (Kirin 935), the model I tested and which this review is based on is the single-SIM Mystic Champagne 16 GB one with the Kirin 930 processor.

Specifications

• Size and weight: 144.9 x 72.1 x 6.4 mm, 144g
• Display: 5.2 inch Full HD LCD (424 ppi) protected by Gorilla Glass 3
• Memory: 3 GB RAM, 16 or 64 GB internal storage (expandable to 128 GB. microSD slot also doubles up as SIM 2 slot in versions of the device with dual-SIM support)
• Camera: 13 MP main with f/2.0 aperture, OIS and dual LED flash; 8 MP sensor on the front
• Processor: Octa-core Kirin 930 + Mali-T628 MP4 GPU
• Operating System: Android 5.0.2 Lollipop with Emotion UI 3.1 layered on top
• Battery: 2680 mAh Li-Po (non-removable)
• Network: 3G, 4G LTE
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, hotspot, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, microUSB 2.0
• Colour options: Titanium Grey, Mystic Champagne

Design

One of the things Huawei has been so keen on in its flagship devices over the years (at least since the release of the Ascend P6 two years ago) is the design. It has always gone for quality as is depicted in its choice of materials for the P8’s exterior. It’s all metal. Aluminium with sleek chamfered edges. iPhone style. In fact, like everyone usually remarks, it looks and feels like an iPhone save for the part where Huawei’s signature styling reveals itself.

The 3.5 mm headphone jack is located on the top right next to a microphone. The other set of microphones is located at the bottom of the device with the microUSB 2.0 port sandwiched between it and the speaker on the left. The hole drilling on the bottom gives the impression that there are dual speakers but that’s not actually true. Still, it makes for some great design and I liked it.

The volume rocker is on the top left of the device with the power button coming right below it near the centre. The lower left of the device accommodates the microSD card slot and the nano SIM slot in that order.

The Huawei P8 is one of the thinnest premium smartphones you can find on the market right at just 0.25 inches thick. It’s 71.4% screen-to-body ratio makes the device’s profile even smaller and with Android’s immersive mode kicking in as you indulge in some gaming or watching videos, you can’t help but be blown away at how it all blends in. The already thin bezels fade into thin air in the process.

It helps a lot that the front of the device is devoid of any branding. The Huawei logo is at the back of the device.

Display

Everyone is in a race to pack the highest number of pixels on the displays of their flagship devices. That is not really a bad thing but it comes at cost. Battery life takes a hit and with most premium smartphones no longer giving the users the option of carrying around battery replacements, one just has to rely on fast charging capabilities of the device.

Thankfully, Huawei has resisted the urge to join what I refer to as the ‘pixel race’ and stuck with the good old full high definition panels.

The 5.2-inch IPS-Neo panel on the Huawei P8 is one of the best I’ve used and ticks all the right boxes when it comes to vibrancy, colour reproduction and outdoor visibility. Love reading your eBooks as you take a late Sunday afternoon stroll? The P8 is the device for you. Really. With display brightness at automatic, the display adapts so well to external lighting and blends in you’ll hardly notice. It is not the brightest of the bunch (when compared to devices in its range) but it won’t let you down. Viewing angles are great too.

Camera

The Huawei P8 camera is one of the best you can get on a 2015 smartphone. Huawei did push some boundaries on this. Well, it’s not like we expected anything less from them anyway. The company was one of the first to release smartphones front-facing cameras with a high megapixel count and that trend continues with the 8-megapixel sensor on the P8.

The 13-megapixel Sony sensor at the back will do your daytime and low light shots a lot of justice. There’s image stabilization and dual LED flash as well to help matters when there’s need.

Huawei’s camera application has enough settings to help you capture just about anything you have in mind. From capturing wide-angle selfies when it senses that you are smiling to allowing you to switch focus long after you’ve taken your shot. My favourite feature is the ability to add a watermark to photos that can be anything from the usual time stamp to weather information (yep, totally makes it needless to have InstaWeather app for your Instagram image boosting needs).

Here are samples of some photos I took with the device at a recent motor show in Nairobi:

The above samples can also be found in high resolution here.

There is another nifty feature: audio note. If you’ve used past generation Samsung premium devices like the Galaxy S4 and the Note 3 then you may have come across a similar feature going by a different name: Sound and Shot. Huawei’s implementation will capture the background audio for about 10 seconds after it’s captured the shot and will play it as you browse the image in the gallery.

If you’re the sort to go out hunting for the super (blood red) moon, then Super night mode may intrigue you. Super night is an extreme low light mode that takes things a notch higher by amping the exposure and ISO levels.  For the rest of us, HDR mode works just fine during the day (and is what I prefer mostly).

With the Huawei P8 lacking hardware buttons on the front of the device (it uses the standard Android on-screen buttons), for those who’d want to quickly fire up the camera then double-pressing the volume down button when the device is locked or in sleep state, will do the trick.

Software

The Huawei P8 runs on Android 5.0. It is not the most recent iteration of Lollipop but it is what we have on the device and until such a time when an update to the more recent 5.1.1 is available or maybe a jump to the new Android 6.0 Marshmallow, there’s not much you can do about it. Of course, the familiar Android experience is largely hidden by Huawei’s own customization efforts.

The P8, like all other Huawei smartphones, has Emotion UI. As a result you end up with no app drawer and all the apps one installs are scattered all over the home screen.

While most customizations are welcome (most of stock Android’s shortcomings like the lack of a mute switch in Quick Settings/Shortcuts don’t exist in Emotion UI), Huawei’s insistence on an iOS-style home screen setup is still something many won’t really like. It’s not much of an issue though since there are tens of awesome launchers thanks to Android’s extensive customization options but for the average user it helps to boot right into a proper home screen like they’ve been used to on other devices (unless those other devices are iPhones of course).

Huawei optimizes the entire device for better performance and long battery life with various implementations. One of those is Protected Apps. It’s a concept that Huawei has managed to execute so well that when properly setup, it is a God-send. The problem is that you may not know it exists and may miss out on crucial notifications as a result.

With Protected Apps, applications are stopped from running in the background as soon as the device display is turned off. This is not an issue really unless you have specific use cases like having apps like Weather Timeline constantly reminding you when El Nino is arriving on your notification shade or Clipper keeping track of everything you place on the P8’s clipboard. Until you exempt them in the settings application, they’ll keep on being killed.

For some strange reason (I bet all they want is to keep you safe), the P8 comes with built-in malware protection. There’s NQ mobile which you don’t get to interact with as a user but works in the background to weed out security risks like infected apps you may sideload from dubious sources (and there’s an awful lot of such incidents these days).

Talking about sideloading, once you sideload an application, you get a prompt to delete the application installation package (apk) and save up on some storage space.

Performance

You won’t run into performance issues with the Huawei P8 and the Kirin 930 processor combined with the 3 GB RAM seems to hold up just well.

With an all-metal unibody design, the device gets extremely hot when you indulge in some races on Need for Speed: No Limits.

Battery

Depending on your usage, you can squeeze up to 5 hours of screen on time on the Huawei P8 even though the average is a respectable 4 hours. Thanks to Huawei’s overzealous optimization, the 2680 mAh battery is able to hold up just fine even when you’re browsing using 4G LTE all day long.

Others

Huawei has made the P8 available in two storage options: 16 GB and 64 GB. For the 16 GB user, there’s great need for more storage. Thankfully, the P8 has support for expandable storage. Up to 128 GB. The Huawei P8 and the LG G4 are some of the increasingly small number of premium smartphones that still have support for memory expansion using microSD cards. They are the last of a dying breed.

Call quality is great on the Huawei P8 thanks to several factors like Signal+ (read on for more). Internet speeds more so when on 4G LTE are also great.

Not the best of speeds on LTE but at least you get something you can work with without losing your head all the time.

There is a really great feature that I got to try out during the P8’s launch in Johannesburg, South Africa, in early July: Director Mode. It is a standalone application that can also be downloaded on compatible devices from the Google Play Store. Unfortunately, I was not able to simulate the same experience I had in South Africa at the demo area with several P8s on the review unit I had since I obviously lacked supported devices. Director Mode is a cool feature when you actually get around to using it. It allows you and your friends to shoot video from various angles together.

The Good

• The camera on the Huawei P8 is the most standout feature of the device. We’ve gotten used to Huawei’s excellent designs so that’s not news. We test a lot of devices but rarely do we get blown away like the P8’s shooters did. The Huawei P8 has one of the best cameras that you’ll find on a 2015 flagship smartphone. Good performance in low light as well as excellent HDR mode. With the competition having equally good shooters, Huawei’s top device is up there with them.
• Fast LTE speeds.
• With Signal+, the Huawei P8 has some of the best network access and that doesn’t change whether you’re out and about or aboard a fast moving vehicle or train. Good call quality and better internet speeds even in areas where the network may be a bit spotty are guaranteed.
• The IPS-Neo LCD display is vibrant and has great outdoor visibility even though the maximum brightness could be better. It is great for consuming multimedia content and reading the newspaper or picking up where you left on your eBook.

The Bad

• The software could be better. While I was able to figure out the concept of Protected Apps, there needs to be a prompt or something informing the users about its existence so that they don’t miss out on important information they are used to getting from their go to apps since the system is suppressing them.
  Also, Huawei should just give up on that iOS-like home screen. Please bring back an app drawer. Having apps scattered all over the home screen has never been a good idea.
  With Android Lollipop, Google introduced lock screen notifications. Thanks to Huawei’s extensive customization, these are nowhere to be seen. They don’t exist at all. One has to make do with the notification shade and even there, one has to put up with persistent notifications from the built-in antivirus application (NQ Mobile) and constant alerts from various apps requesting to be allowed to displaying ongoing notifications.
• If there’s one thing that Android OEMs have consistently failed to live up to is the promise to deliver updates first and fast. The P8 was unveiled running Android 5.0. Sadly, it’s still stuck on that while the Android world has gone on to see some few point updates with the latest being Android 5.1.1 which phones in the P8’s class have since been updated to. Samsung Galaxy S6, LG G4… Android 6.0 is the new kid on the block. At that rate, it may take another year before the P8 gets it and that’s the sad bit.
• It is 2015 and we shouldn’t really be seeing flagship smartphones with 16 GB onboard storage. 32 GB should pretty much be the standard as much as the favourable pricing of the base model P8 is attributable to the storage size. The Huawei P8 is a fantastic device and you’ll want to have just about everything you need on it. From videos to some productivity applications to games. In the process, you end up exhausting the 16 GB internal memory available. Thankfully, unlike Apple, Samsung and Google (Nexus) who don’t provide the ability to expand storage using microSD cards, the Huawei P8 allows you to stretch your working space to as much as 128 gigabytes. Or you could grab the 64 GB P8 which costs a lot more, obviously.

Final Thoughts

If there’s anything the Huawei represents, then it is Huawei’s coming of age. The extensively customized software is likeable (which is usually a tough thing to conclude for most of the customizations Android OEMs make) and an ordinary user is able to get the most out of the P8 by default without altering anything. The camera is one of the best one will find on a smartphone worth its name in this day and age and the blacks are blacker on the display despite it not being an AMOLED.

It is refreshing to see that Huawei still managed to squeeze in a microSD card slot on such thin device and make sure that users still get full day battery life even with a not-so-high capacity battery. The design is exquisite and there’s no doubt who the target market is. To compete at the very top level, one has to bring their A-game. With the P8, Huawei did exactly that. Yes, even without the bells and whistles like fingerprint sensors and Quad HD displays; specifications that stand out on the larger, newer, Huawei Mate S.

The Huawei P8 has been available in the Kenyan market for a while now and the base model (16 GB) goes for between Kshs 45,000 and 47,000 in shops countrywide.

Read On Web → Huawei P8 Review: A Winning Cameraphone

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 was officially unveiled back in August and went on sale later that month in a handful of countries. Samsung delayed its arrival in several markets as it focused on the new iteration of its in-demand Galaxy S6 Edge, the Galaxy S6 Edge+. In countries like Kenya, the local launch of the Galaxy Note 5 coincided with the usual yearly launch of the Galaxy Note series of smartphones locally so we didn’t miss much in the process.

I’ve had the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 for over a week now and I must say it’s a device worth waiting all that long for. From the design refresh to the reworked stylus (S Pen) to the software.

In the box

In the box, you get the following:

• A SIM ejection tool
• S Pen replacement tips
• A pair of Samsung earphones
• A fast charging adapter
• A USB 2.0 cable
• A quick start guide

Impressions

The design of the Galaxy Note 5 is inspired by what we saw on the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge earlier in the year as Samsung abandoned plastic for a more premium build. The device is all metal and has a glass back that curves slightly inwards making it more comfortable and nice to hold. For a device as large as the Galaxy Note devices, that is actually a welcome change.

The most distinguishing feature of the Galaxy Note series is usually the S Pen, Samsung’s own take on the stylus that doesn’t feel out of place or dated. Instead of having to pull it every time you need to take some notes or doodle, one only has to press the bottom left of the device to have it pop up. It is clickable and every bit likeable. The beauty of it is that you no longer have to unlock the device in order to start taking down notes. When the device is asleep, popping out the S Pen wakes the device and since the Note 5 has an AMOLED display, one is able to take notes on a black background that are saved directly to their S Note collection ready for action (reference, review) later on.

The most notable missing feature is the lack of memory expandability. While we’ve almost come to accept that removable smartphone batteries won’t be here forever, it is still kind of a shock that the Galaxy Note series, the epitome of Android smartphone awesomeness and power is lacking not just a removable battery, thanks to the metal cladding, but also a microSD slot. To Samsung’s credit, one of the things you get prompted to do after setting up the device for the first time use is activating some free 100 GB storage valid for 2 years. With a reasonable 32 GB internal storage (only under 25 GB of that is actually user-accessible), you’ll last a while before needing some more storage space for your selfies.

As an ardent fan and user of devices in the Samsung Galaxy Note series (my Galaxy Note 3 is still going strong), there’s much to see and use in the Galaxy Note 5 and I’m doing exactly that over the next couple of days before I bring you the full review. From that really great 16-megapixel camera at the back to the fingerprint sensor on the physical home button on the front of the device to that popping 5.7 inch Quad HD panel on the front, I’m taking the Galaxy Note 5 through its paces and you can expect a fair analysis of its workings and features in a couple of days so stick around.

Read On Web → Samsung Galaxy Note 5: First Impressions

Every once in a while a smartphone shows up that seeks not to push the boundaries of mobile innovation by introducing previously unheard of features but to just cater for the everyday phone user. The Samsung Galaxy J7 is one such smartphone.

Having used the Galaxy J7 for several days, I am reminded of my days with the Galaxy Note II back in 2012 and the Galaxy Mega a year later. While the Galaxy J7 shares almost the same display in the same size configuration as Samsung’s phablet from 3 years ago, it is about half the price. To put it metaphorically, the Galaxy Note II cost an arm and a leg while the Galaxy J7 won’t break your bank. On the other hand, the “good-enough” Galaxy Mega, like the name insinuates, was just too big for regular users to embrace it at a time when smartphones with large displays were still something that was frowned upon.

It’s 2015 and big smartphones are the in-thing, thanks to Samsung, no less. However, in the case of Samsung, such big smartphones tend to be highly priced and beyond the reach of the common man. That is why the Galaxy J7 exists. To give users a big device at a price that won’t have them bending too much. Make no mistake, Kshs 25,000-28,000, the price range at which the Galaxy J7 retails, is no small money. It is a tidy sum to spend on just a phone. However, as you are about to find out, the Galaxy J7 is not just a phone. Like I said about its smaller sibling, the Galaxy J5, a device with whom it shares a lot of features, it is a fantastic smartphone.

Specifications

• Display: 5.5 inch HD (720p) display
• Processor: 64-bit octa-core Exynos 7580
• Camera: Rear: 13 megapixels with LED Flash and f/1.9 lens: 5 megapixels wide-angle with LED flash
• Memory: 16 GB internal memory + micro SD card slot (expandable upto 128 GB); 1.5 GB RAM
• Operating system: Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
• Battery: 3,000 mAh
• Network: 3G, LTE*
• Connectivity: USB 2.0, Bluetooth 4.1 LE, WLAN 802.11 b/g/n/ac 2.4GHz/5GHz
• Others: Dual-SIM (nano and micro), FM radio

*read on to find out

Design

The Galaxy J7, like other devices in the Galaxy J series, has a plastic removable back, a glass front (obvious) and a faux-metal frame to support them. That is the main distinguishing feature of the Galaxy J series smartphones from their upper mid-range counterparts in the Galaxy A series and the not-so-well-defined Galaxy E devices. In short, it is just a blown up Galaxy J5.

Having used the Galaxy Note II a few years back, the Galaxy J7 feels much the same and it’s not hard to see why, it has a 5.5 inch HD display just like the Note II. The back, while still removable, is less glossy though and the 3.5mm headset jack is not at the top but at the bottom and the speaker grille sits on the left of the camera while the LED flash is on the right. Likewise, the volume rocker is on the right and the power button conveniently placed on the left.

Like on the Galaxy J5, there are two capacitive buttons that don’t have a backlight below the display to help you with navigations and since Samsung still doesn’t do on-screen buttons (which I find to be a good thing by the way), the home button is where it is usually located on all Samsung Android smartphones.

Display

The Samsung Galaxy J7 features a 5.5 inch Super AMOLED display that is just good for what it is meant to do. It is not the most pixel-dense of displays out there but unless you explicitly go out looking for pixels (and why would you do that anyway instead of enjoying the phone as it is?), you’ll hardly notice that.

The beauty of the display on the Galaxy J7, like on any other big phone, is that it is big. I know that sounds boring but as you use it you get to appreciate what you can get done with it. Catching up on where you left on that eBook you’re reading is easy on the Galaxy J7. Research firm Nielsen, in a recent survey, found out that the number of people buying eBooks and reading them from their smartphones had risen by 30% from 24% 3 years ago to 54% as of last December. Such numbers are because of large displays like the one on the Galaxy J7 and it is not hard to see why. Add the casual web browsing and throw in the daily cat video and you have a good case for getting the 5.5-inch Galaxy J7 over other devices with smaller displays.

Camera

Samsung has marketed the Galaxy J7 and its smaller sibling, the Galaxy J5, heavily with the 13-megapixel shooter at the back and the 5-megapixel front-facing camera as the main selling points. Like I noted in the Galaxy J5 review, the two cameras just perform as expected. You won’t get out-of-this-world macros or sunset photos without putting in half the effort professional photographers put in but at the end of it all, you’ll have something that can get you 100 likes on Instagram in an instant. Yes, the cameras are not as outstanding as I’d want them to and heck, they won’t win any awards, but they are just there and they do their work though we have to agree that they could do so much better than they do at the moment.

The front-facing camera has something that is now going to be a thing on all smartphones but is yet to become mainstream: front-facing LED flash. It is not my cup of tea thanks to the blinding effect when you are made to stare at it while taking a selfie in the middle of the night or in dark-lit surroundings but it is nice to have as it may come in handy to some.

Here is a sample:

The high-resolution version of the above sample can be found here.

The Galaxy J7 camera application has HDR mode which can be turned on in the settings which are straight forward. The Galaxy J5 has all the other shooting modes found on the Galaxy J7 like Pro mode, Continous shot, Beauty face, Sound & shot and Sports but lacks HDR which is a reserve of its larger sibling and of course there’s more detail on images captured in HDR mode.

Software

Running underneath all the customizations that Samsung has implemented is Android 5.1.1 which was until recently the most up to date version of Google’s mobile operating system. The customizations are however most welcome since the stock Android a small subset of users usually demands is not meant for everyone. As long as smartphone makers and their partners are able to keep things lightweight, you’re better off with customized software than unadulterated Android. You may need to read our review of one of the cheapest smartphones in the market to understand why.

Double-clicking the physical home button launches the camera application while other novelties we loved on the Galaxy J5 like the ability to pick a theme of your liking from the Samsung theme store and applying it also exist. It is worth noting that with the Galaxy J7 users have access to even a wider variety of themes like the gold theme that blends nicely with gold-coloured devices like the Galaxy S6 Edge.

There’s very little in the form of bundled applications by Samsung which is a good thing as users get to have more storage space to install apps and games and fewer resources being allocated to some otherwise useless software they’d probably never use.

Performance

The Samsung Galaxy J7 has a better processor than the Galaxy J5 and it shows in the overall performance of the device. Everything is smooth and games are just okay. You’ll hardly encounter any lag and stutter and with Samsung going slow with over-customization of the software, things are lightweight and neat.

Battery

Remember that feeling of familiarity with the Galaxy Note II I expressed earlier on? Or the Galaxy Mega? It is more visible when it comes to the battery. Probably we should stop getting carried away by the need for more and more pixels per square inch and instead appreciate things like HD displays.

The battery life on the Galaxy J7 is the most fantastic I’ve ever had on a phone since, you guessed that right, the Galaxy Note II. Please let us know in the comments if you’ve ever managed to achieve 8 hours of screen on time. It is what I got when pushing the Galaxy J7 to its limit. I struggled to drain the battery on the Galaxy J7. What a nice problem to have! Even then, I could only manage to do that after spending over 2 hours playing high-intensity games that pushed the device to the edge and it eventually had to give in.

Next I spent 12 hours on the road and guess what, I still had enough juice to play Madfinger’s Unkilled for over an hour and a half after a trip that lasted 24 hours.

For ordinary users, the Galaxy J7, which I’ve now christened “the road warrior” after its impressive performance, they should easily go for 2 days without having to recharge. With the 3,000 mAh battery being removable, I guess you can go on an adventure with this phone and a spare battery and not have to worry about it “dying” on you when you need to refer to an offline map most.

I always have a disclaimer on the kind of battery life you get based on your usage and network connection but that is thrown out of the window when it comes to the Galaxy J7. Just use it, you’ll still have some juice left when you’re done.

Others

With the many ways we use our phones today, we tend to forget one very important aspect: they are phones first and foremost. No matter how “smart” they are, they are pretty useless if they can’t fulfill their primary role of enabling you to communicate effectively. By communicating effectively, I don’t mean emojis and stickers that convey just half the feelings and emotions but calls. Voice calls are clear and more customizations to the software over the years mean that you don’t always have to fret having calls interrupting your workflow on the phone as a small dialog shows up on the top of the device and nothing gets in your way.

The sound from the speaker at the back is also okay but could be miles better. It’s not as loud as you may want it to be.

It’s disappointing that there is no LED on the front for letting you know when you have a missed call, unread messages or other notifications.

The Good

• One of my misgivings about the Galaxy J5 was the little storage on the version on sale in the Kenyan market. 8 GB is simply not enough and while Samsung partnered with Microsoft to throw in a juicy 100 GB free OneDrive storage for 2 years (the Galaxy J7 has that offer too by the way), nothing can ever substitute what you get with more internal storage. Thankfully, the Galaxy J7 models on sale in Kenya pack 16 GB internal storage with an option to get even more (up to 128 GB) when you slot in a microSD.
• Superior battery life. The Samsung Galaxy J7 is the smartphone with the best battery life we’ve reviewed this year here at Techweez. Yes, I know about that Infinix we reviewed that cost almost half the price of the Galaxy J7 but the little I say about it the better.

The Bad

The Galaxy J5 and J7 have been positioned as 4G LTE smartphones in the Kenyan market and rightfully so. Both devices are supposed to have support for LTE but as I sadly found out, the review unit I had was not LTE-capable. At least from my end.

I was stuck on 3G all the time. Either the device is not compatible with local LTE bands or the Galaxy J7 variant with the Exynos 7580 processor (SM-J700H) isn’t meant to be LTE-capable (FYI there is another variant with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 that connects to LTE networks right out of the box). You’ll be wise to enquire first before getting the device and if possible testing for LTE connectivity first before making a purchase.

Final Thoughts

With a price tag that ranges between Kshs 25,000 and Kshs 28,000 depending on where you shop the Galaxy J7 doesn’t come that cheap but the thing is you can’t go wrong with it. It has some of the best battery life you can get in a smartphone today, a big enough display for consuming media, reading, browsing and social networking and double the storage you get on the Galaxy J5. Getting it, if you can, is a no-brainer. At a time when features like removable batteries and expandable storage are being shoved aside in favour of elegant all-metal designs, the Galaxy J7 is probably one of the very few decent Samsung smartphones that you’ll find in the market that sets out to please everyone and manages to do just that.

Read On Web → Big is Always Better: Samsung Galaxy J7 Review

The first major update to Windows 10 is now available.

The launch of Windows 10 by Microsoft on Jul 29th 2015, initiated a huge shift in the development and deployment of its pervasive operating system. Whereas previous versions of Windows received a major update every few years, Windows 10 has moved into the rapid release “Software as a Service” (SaaS) model. This means that Windows 10 is essentially in a perpetual state of improvement with significant updates being delivered to users several times a year. The first of these updates, Windows 10 November Update, is now available to consumers.

10 weeks after launch, Windows 10 had over 110 million installs.

Even though this may seem as the first major update to Windows 10 since it was launched, Windows 10 goes through a rigorous testing process that not only involves dog feeding new build throughout Microsoft’s 100,000 employees, but more importantly the new features are tested by the 7 million strong Windows Insider community. This feedback loop allows the real-time collection of improvement telemetry data and enables problems to be solved faster. Windows 10 was made available to consumers under Build 10240 (this is the the revision number of the OS build compilation). The culmination of all this testing and development is the Windows 10 November Update Build that is available to general consumers via Windows Update today.

• 110 Million Active Windows 10 installs (On October 6th)
• 12 million Business Devices running Windows 10
• 5 Windows 10 Insiders Builds released to Insiders since July 29th.

The Windows 10 November Update doesn’t bring any new major changes, but can be thought of as putting the polish on an already solid operating system. The features and improvements are included in the Windows 10 November Update are listed below.

Windows 10 November Update Features and Improvements

Activation

Since Microsoft has made Windows 10 a free upgrade for Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 owners, users can now enter their genuine product key from either one of the version listed above and activate their Windows 10 installation. This is done by going to Settings > Update & Security > Activation then selecting Change Product Key. If you do a clean install of Windows 10 by booting off the media, you can also enter the product key from prior Windows versions on qualifying devices during setup.

Login

• Windows Background Image: You can now turn off the Windows background picture in the sign-in screen if you want by going to the Settings app > Personalization > Lock screen and turning off “Show Windows background picture on the sign-in screen”.
• Login Improvements: Windows 10 will now also remember your previous login method. e.g. If you signed in with a Picture password, it will open this method on the time that you login into your device.

Performance

• Memory Manager:  When Memory Manager feels memory pressure, it will compress unused pages instead of writing them to disk. This reduces the amount of memory used per process, allowing Windows 10 to maintain more applications in physical memory at a time.
• Nested Hyper -V Virtualizations: For those users who run Hyper-V, you can now run a Hyper-V virtualization, within another Hyper-V instance.
• Boot Times: Windows 10 November Update now bots 30% faster than the same machine running Windows 7
• App Storage: The user can now designate which drive to install apps (eg External Staorage, Expandable Memory). This is espcially helpful on devices with limited storage like the Tecno Winpad 10.

Start Screen & UI Personalizations

• Improvements to Start: The default for tile groups on Start is to have 3 columns of medium sized tiles, but many Insiders wanted the ability to have a 4th column as well, so they could have two wide or large sized tiles side by side in a group. In this build, you can enable this by going to the Settings app > Personalization > Start and enabling “Show more tiles”. And for the Insiders that want more than 512 tiles on Start; we now support up to 2048.
• Improvements to Tablet mode: When in Tablet mode, from Task View you can now snap apps to left and right, replace a previously snapped app with another (teeter) and swipe down to close an app.
• Updated color options: You can now change the default color for Start, Acton Center, Taskbar, and Title bars. You can turn it on by by going to Settings > Personalization > Colors.
• More vibrant title bars: Thanks to feedback from Windows Insiders, with this build you can now enjoy your title bars with a full color intensity that matches the rest of your theme. Title bars will now appear darker. You can adjust the color by going to Settings > Personalization > Colors. Colored title bars will appear only if “Show color on Start, Taskbar, Action Center, and Title bars” is enabled.
• Improved context menus on Start: You will notice we have made some adjustments and improvements to the context menus on Start including new icons for tile adjustments.
• New icons:We know Windows Insiders love new icons – this build has another batch of new icons for devices (check out Device Manager). Registry Editor finally gets a new icon!

Cortana

• Cortana is able to intelligently understand your inked notes – setting reminders based on locations, times and numbers that she can understand from your digital annotations.
• Cortana to help you keep track of your leisure time: This includes movie and event reminders. Cortana will keep track of your bookings for movies and ticketed events through your email confirmations. Two hours prior to the event start time
• Ask Cortana inside PDFs in Microsoft Edge: You can now highlight text while reading a PDF in Microsoft Edge and right-click to “Ask Cortana” to find additional information
• Use Cortana with your local account:  Users will now be able to use Cortana with a local account (i.e. one which is not connected to a Microsoft account.
• Connected Accounts – You can now connect your Uber, Xbox Live, LinkedIn and Office 365 accounts to Cortana.

Integrated Skype Apps

Skype messaging, calling and video capabilities will come integrated into Windows 10 through the Messaging, Phone and Skype video universal Windows apps. These Windows applications enable quick and easy, free calling and messaging to other Skype users across phones, over 3G/4G and Wi-Fi tablets and to PCs Wi-Fi. With this build, you can preview the integrated capabilities on your PC while an upcoming Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview build will have these integrated capabilities for you to preview soon on mobile devices.

Microsoft Edge

• Media Casting in Microsoft Edge: You can now use Microsoft Edge to cast video, picture, and audio content from your browser to any Miracast and DLNA enabled device on your network.
  • Cast a video from YouTube: Go to YouTube.com in Microsoft Edge. Click on the “…” menu and the top left, and select “Cast media to device” and select the Miracast or DLNA device you want to cast to.
  • Cast a Facebook photo album: Login to Facebook in Microsoft Edge and click on the first photo in one of your photo albums to cast. Click on the “…” menu and the top left, and select “Cast media to device” and select the Miracast or DLNA device you want to cast to. Navigate through your photo album by clicking on the forward and backward buttons.
  • Cast your music from Pandora: Login to Pandora in Microsoft Edge to get to your music and click on the “…” menu and the top left, and select “Cast media to device” and select the Miracast or DLNA device you want to cast to.
• Tab Preview in Microsoft Edge: In Microsoft Edge, you can now hover over your open tabs and get a preview of what’s on those websites. Check it out and let us know what you think.
• Syncing Favorites and Reading list items in Microsoft Edge: In this build, you’ll see a first look at the new syncing feature in Microsoft Edge that lets you sync your Favorites and Reading list items. We are still working on refining it, but definitely check it out and let us know what you think.

NOTE: One of the most requested features by users of Windows 10 is Extension Support for the Edge browser. Though Microsoft had hoped to have this ready on this update.

Apps

All of the new Windows 10 apps like Mail, Calendar, Groove Music, Maps, Touch Office Apps, Photos, Xbox App and more have received multiple updates since the launch of Windows 10. This is possible because all these apps are available through the Microsoft Store. To check to see if your apps are up to date: Open the Store App, login with your Microsoft account, click on your profile and select Updates.

How To Get The Windows 10 November Update

For those of you who already have Windows 10 installed on your devices, all you have to do is go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Updates > Check For Updates. The update will download and install on your device.

If you haven’t received your free update yet, not to worry as this update will be included in the Windows 10 installation files.

If you have any issues with the Windows 10 November Update, or if you found a new improvement that you really like, please let us know in the Techweez Forums.

Read On Web → Microsoft’s First Major OS Update Is Here: Windows 10 November Update

Tablets are not for everyone yet they are meant for everyone. That’s an ambiguous statement, I know. It is because thanks to the evolution of the smartphone, there’s less need for a tablet computer today than there was say three or four years ago. This is because the size of smartphones has increased and is almost entering tablet category. What we previously referred to as phablets are today more common than any other devices.

The results are out there for everyone to see: tablet shipments have been declining quarter over quarter. However, that is not to say that there is no more need for tablets. There still is. Particularly if you’re the type to enjoy a long read or catch up on your favourite TV shows while on the go. That 5-inch smartphone display may not be the most well-suited for watching Ronda Rousey get knocked out or watching Beasts of No Nation or using to prepare a presentation. For media consumption, casual reading and a few things like document editing, the tablet is a much better proposition than a smartphone.

However, what bars many from getting tablets for such purposes is the cost. Many a times, it is prohibitively high. That Apple iPad Air 2 you’ve been salivating at? That shiny and crispy Samsung Galaxy Tab S you can’t get your eyes off? They all cost a lot. So why not come with something that won’t trade off much resulting in loss of desirable features but also won’t set you back several thousands of shillings? That’s where the Galaxy Tab A comes in.

I spent quite some time testing the 9.7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab A and here are some few observations.

Specifications

• Size and weight: 242.5 x 166.8 x 7.5, 435g
• Display: 9.7 inch 768 x 1024 pixels (132 ppi)
• Memory: 2 GB RAM, 16 GB internal storage (expandable to 128 GB via microSD slot)
• Camera: 5 MP main; 2 MP sensor on the front
• Processor: Quad-core CPU clocked at 1.2 GHz
• Operating System: Android 5.0.2 Lollipop
• Battery: 6000 mAh Li-Po (non-removable)
• Network: 3G, 4G LTE
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, hotspot, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, microUSB 2.0

Design

Like other Samsung slates, the Galaxy Tab sticks with Samsung’s physical home button making for a struggle when you have to reach it and the power button located on the left in order to take a screenshot. The speakers are conveniently located on the bottom of the device. While the location may seem natural, when under use, it is easy to block them as well hence muffling the sound.

Save for the camera on the upper side of the back of the tablet, it is almost untouched. The sides also play host to the tablet’s microSD card and SIM card slots which serve to extend the functionality of the tablet in multiple ways: first as a device that will still work well when on a cell network and even make and receive calls and secondly as a content device, the expandable storage provides ready room for more entertainment content or a larger eBook library for the bookworms.

Display

The display of the Galaxy Tab A is its main undoing. It is so pixelated and grainy that at a closer look you can actually tell individual pixels apart. This is a stark contrast to the pixel density on other devices of its caliber. The only difference? The Galaxy Tab A is not meant to operate at that level. It is meant to appeal to everyone that can use a tablet computer. As a result, for casual reading and viewing multimedia content, it is bearable at least but it could be better.

Camera

I am usually of the opinion that the camera on your tablet should be secondary at best. It should not be what you turn to when you want to take the best photo to upload on Facebook as your new profile picture. No, it is just meant to be convenient because at any given point the best camera is the one on you. The 5-megapixel camera at the back won’t win any accolades but it will take just good enough photos when called upon. There’s a 2-megapixel shooter on the front. This is actually more important not for selfies but for video calls. Skype calls to be exact.

S Pen

Traditionally, the stylus is usually reserved for Samsung devices with the “Note” branding. The Galaxy Tab A is different in that it packs a stylus, S Pen, and it is not necessarily a Note device.

I found the S Pen to be quite handy given the tablet’s large form factor. It helps when you need to annotate or share portions of a screen grab. Beyond that, you’ll barely be interacting with it. It is just nice to have for those occasions when you need and could be the one big differentiator between the Galaxy Tab A and other similarly priced tablets.

Software

The Galaxy Tab A ships with Android Lollipop with Samsung’s own customizations. The experience is largely what you’ll expect on other Samsung tablets or even smartphones save for the large profile of the Tab A.

There are several software enhancements to make it easy to use the device like being able to split the keyboard or use applications one-handed.

Samsung has also bundled a lot of premium content for free to buyers of the tablet through the Galaxy Gifts program. Since the tablet is fronted for consumption of media content among other things, you can activate a subscription to The Economist to receive access to all its content for at least half a year. You also get a productivity offering in the form of free 100 GB OneDrive storage from Microsoft and a quarter-year Evernote premium subscription.

There are some bundled applications like Briefing, a news application that is the result of a partnership between Samsung and Flipboard, that have been added to provide “value” to the user.

Performance

I cannot foresee instances where the Galaxy Tab A will be called into action requiring a lot of power but in the event it does, it should be able to handle it. In my usage of the device, it was able to handle things well even. There’s no lag or stutter and save for Android’s poor optimization of third party applications, things are mostly impressive. Samsung’s own applications are optimized for the 9.7 inch 4:3 aspect ratio display and they don’t appear blown up like the rest.

Battery

The tablet’s most impressive feature is the battery. It lasts and lasts and lasts. You can squeeze as much as 12 hours of screen on time on the device! That is more than enough to watch your favourite TV shows, finish up reading John Grisham’s Rogue Lawyer.

Others

You can make calls with the Galaxy Tab A. You can send text messages; you can use cellular data. It is a phone when you need it and a tablet when you need it as well.

The Good

• Great battery life. You can afford to pack the tablet in your travelling bag and forget its charger because it will last all the way.
• Presence of the S Pen is a plus.

The Bad

• The display is not one of the best. It won’t wow you and you’ll have to learn to live with it. At just 132 pixels per inch, there isn’t much to write home about it.
• Other than Samsung’s own bundled applications and a few you’ll find on its Galaxy Apps store, almost all other applications you are going to install from the Google Play Store are not optimized for tablets. The Play Store automatically detects that you are accessing it from a tablet and provides you with a list of tablet-optimized applications to install but you won’t likely find your favourite apps save for a few like Facebook. The rest will simply be phone apps blown up to fit the entire 9.7 inches and they look terrible.

Final Word

The Galaxy Tab A is meant to be a tablet for the masses. One that sits at the intersection of the high-end Galaxy Tab S and the rest. Being the first of its type, it leaves a lot of room for improvement. While some things like app optimization are not Samsung’s fault and it is purely the efforts of developers that will make Android great for tablets, hardware specifications like the display are things the company can address in the next iteration of the Galaxy Tab A.

The Galaxy Tab A has been available in the Kenyan for quite some time now at a starting at Ksh 38,000.

Read On Web → Samsung Galaxy Tab A Review

How do you iterate on an already good product? That must have been the question the engineers and industrial designers at Samsung were faced with as they sought to rethink what has now become the gold standard of the phablet. The Galaxy Note series of devices from Samsung pioneered what was seen as ridiculous in 2011 but has become so mainstream today that devices of its type are no longer seen as anything special.

What’s there to change? The display? The overall design? The camera? The software? The S Pen?

With the Samsung Galaxy Note 5, as you’ll see in this review, all the aspects of the Galaxy Note have been given a facelift. While most of the improvements and enhancements are for the better, some have come at a huge cost for features that past users/owners of Galaxy Note 5 devices can identify with.

I used the Galaxy Note 5 extensively last month as my main device. As a big fan of the Galaxy Note series and owner of previous Galaxy Note devices, I had my expectations of the Galaxy Note 5 based both on my past experiences and interaction with other top of the range 2015 smartphones. For any device, meeting such lofty expectations will obviously be a struggle but for the Galaxy Note 5 it ought to be a walk in the park, right? Let’s find out.

Specifications

• Size and weight: 153.2 x 76.1 x 7.6mm, 171g
• Display: 5.7 inch Quad HD Super AMOLED 2560 x 1440 (518ppi)
• Processor: Octa-core 64-bit Exynos 7420 clocked at 2.1 GHz
• Memory: 32 GB internal memory; 4 GB RAM
• Camera: 16 megapixels rear sensor with optical image stabilization and a f/1.9 aperture and 4K video recording capabilities; 5 megapixels front-facing sensor also with f/1.9
• Operating System: Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
• Battery: 3,000mAh
• Network: 3G, 4G LTE
• Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, MIMO(2×2), Bluetooth v 4.2 Low Energy, ANT+, USB 2.0, NFC

Design

The most notable change in the Galaxy Note 5 over its predecessors in the Note lineup is the new design language adopted by Samsung. While not entirely new (it is a rollover from the Galaxy S6 design), it brings some freshness into the device; something that was clearly missing in the Galaxy Note 4 last year since that device still had hangovers from the textured faux-leather plastic back cover of the Galaxy Note 3 from 2 years ago. With the Note 5, one gets glass on both sides of the device with a sturdy metal frame separating them.

The Galaxy Note 5 is the thinnest Galaxy Note device ever. Even then, thanks to the materials used, it is thicker than last years model.

There’s Gorilla Glass 4 protecting the delicate display on the front and some more glass on top of the aluminium at the back to give the Galaxy Note 5 that premium fit and finish that many have demanded from Samsung for years. As we’ll see later, this approach, while pleasing to the eye, limits the device’s feature set. Also, you’re on your own if you drop the device. There’s no guarantee the glass back will hold after it hits a hard surface. My review unit survived a few accidental falls but you may not be so lucky.

The camera and the heart rate sensor on the upper part of the back of the device are consistent with their placement on the Galaxy S6/S6 Edge while the machined speaker holes at the bottom of the device right next to the USB 2.0 port and the 3.5 mm headset jack give it that iPhone-like look.

The volume rocker on the left side of the Galaxy Note 5 has been split to separate the volume up and volume buttons while the power button retains its traditional place on the right of the device.

The redesigned S Pen sits at the bottom of the device. There’s a difference, though. This time round, there’s no noticeable protrusion for you to pull it out as Samsung implemented a new click-to-pull release mechanism for the S Pen making it easier than before to take the stylus out and take notes on the fly. You have to admit though that the familiar slight bulge at the bottom when you hold a Note is missing.

Front and centre of the device is the iconic Samsung physical home button. While it was previously just for accessing the home screen of the device, its mandate has been expanded in the last two years to include being the key to unlocking the device using the fingerprint sensor that is built right into it.

It’s quite sad that even at this moment Samsung is yet to include handy gestures like double-tap to wake.

Opinion is split on whether cases make a smartphone ugly or not and whether you should consider one or not but if you happen to buy the Galaxy Note 5, getting one is not a terrible idea. This is because by design, the Galaxy Note 5 is the kind of phone to slip and hit the floor when you least expect it. While Samsung managed to make it seem smaller, it still is a rather large device by any standard and it doesn’t help matters that that it has a glass back and the back curves slightly inwards. You may need to hide all that shimmery white beauty behind a cover. Sad, I know, but it’s the price one pays for loving their phones. Or you could be more careful though I am not sure how long that will last.

Display

After toying around with different size configurations, Samsung has finally settled on 5.7 inches as the sweet spot for the Galaxy Note line. Previous Note devices have had 5.3 and 5.5 inch displays before Samsung went with 5.7 inches in 2013 with the Galaxy Note 3 and sticking with it in 2014 with the Note 4 and now in 2015 with the Note 5.

It is not hard to see why 5.7 inches is the sweet spot. With a screen-to-body ratio of 77%, the Galaxy Note 5, despite being massive on paper doesn’t feel the same when you hold it. It just feels in place and not as large as you may think.

The Galaxy Note 5 has one of the most vibrant displays on any smartphone at the moment. The Quad HD Super AMOLED panel is flawless for the most part when viewing multimedia content and reading indoors. In outdoor settings, it is bright as desired but you get some bluish effect on the screen. Blue light is eerily characteristic of just about any smartphone display out there but nowhere is this more visible than on one of the most pixel-dense AMOLED displays on the market. This is the one bit where LCD displays win. For many, though, this is largely unnoticeable and you’ll just be glad to enjoy the crisp display.

Camera

The Note 5’s camera is easily one of the best smartphone cameras this year. You only need to use the device once and fire up the camera app to notice this. In both low-light and well-lit situations, the Galaxy Note 5’s camera lives up to the hype you may have heard around it.

The Galaxy Note 5’s stock camera application caters for the casual smartphone camera user, the photography amateur and the semi-pros who are all the rage on Instagram with their awesome sunset shots. There’s a handy Pro shooting mode that offers most of the manual settings that someone who knows their way around cameras would desire. There’s also the ability to turn on RAW image file capture so that one can still edit their photos later on. For the amateur user, there are several preset modes like Selective Focus that can be downloaded from the Galaxy Apps store.

It is a good thing that Samsung is relegating a lot of the camera’s software add-on features to its application store so that the average user who just wants to take awesome shots without much haggling won’t have a cluttered app full of things they’ll never use.

The image stabilization plays a big role in not just low light snaps but also video capture.

Talking of video, the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and its curved edge sibling, the Galaxy S6 Edge+, allow users to share live streams of themselves on YouTube using a simple broadcast button built right into the camera application.

I am not a camera buff but the colour accuracy and fine detail produced by the Galaxy Note 5’s 16-megapixel camera is appreciable. The same camera can also shoot 4K video but with just over 25 GB of internal storage to spare after the system has taken the rest, unless there is absolute need, it’s just a nice-to-have feature even though shooting in full HD at 60 frames per second is a much better idea.

Here are some image samples:

Full-size versions of the above samples and a few more can be found here.

Software

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 runs on Android 5.1.1. An upgrade to Android 6.0 Marshmallow is obviously in the works but it may be a while before it starts seeding to devices.

Since this is a Samsung device, as expected, there are seemingly endless customizations done to make the experience a truly Samsung one. In the process, several features that are characteristic of Android Lollipop have been discarded in favour of the familiarity of Samsung’s own TouchWiz overlay. The most noticeable is on the notification shade. Instead of splitting it into two with separate focus on the Quick Settings panel and the notifications as is the case on stock Android, Samsung sticks with the standard implementation carried over from Android KitKat. I found that to be particularly likeable as ordinary users coming over from other Samsung devices don’t have to spend some time learning the ropes.

Being a Galaxy Note, there are several experiences that are core to the Note 5. They mostly revolve applications like S Note and nifty features like split screen multitasking – multi-window. Sidesync, Smart Manager and S Voice are the other standout pre-loaded applications from Samsung that you’ll find on the Galaxy Note 5. S Health, which is now available on most other Android devices as well, comes in handy if you want to watch over yourself heath-wise. The heart rate sensor works well and the pedometer won’t miss a step.  Depending on how you use your devices, some of these apps exist for the sake of existing while you’ll actually find some to be quite useful. Thankfully, you can ignore them like I did with the Flipboard-powered Briefing on the home screen.

Performance

2015 is not short of excellent devices that aren’t a pushover when it comes to performance. The Galaxy Note 5 is one of those if not one of the best. As much as Samsung went overboard in optimizing its customized version of Android for maximum performance in its 2015 devices, the Note 5’s performance is way above average. However, that is expected anyway.

The Galaxy Note 5 packs the Exynos 7420 chipset powering all the premium 2015 Samsung smartphones and as it has been proven in numerous tests, it is no slouch. It lives up to its expectations. Coupled with the 4 GB RAM the Note 5 packs, the device is the best Samsung has released as far as performance goes.

However, there is one critical flaw that the company acknowledged and promised to fix but which you may still encounter since by the time this review was being penned the planned update to fix it was yet to be available to most users. The Galaxy Note 5 acts aggressively and closes down any open applications moments after you exit them. There’s no Protected Apps mode as is the case with the Huawei P8 or something similar so there’s no way around it than to sit tight and wait for a fix from Samsung. Hopefully, it will arrive soon.

S Pen

The S Pen, the stylus found on Samsung Galaxy Note devices, is not a must have but it is nice to have. On the Galaxy Note 5, it’s best use case is when there’s need to sign some documents. You just whip out the S Pen and sign on the documents like a boss. Without having to install some third party software. Samsung has everything figured out beforehand. This is easily the feature anyone who buys the Galaxy Note 5 will find the S Pen excelling at besides, of course, its famed note-taking capabilities. It has been possible to do this previously but it required a few additional steps that included downloading some third party apps from the Samsung Galaxy Apps store, something most ordinary users probably never got around to doing.

As highlighted in our preview of the Samsung Galaxy Note 5, one can proceed to take notes directly without having to unlock the device. Just eject the S Pen and you’re good to go. This not only saves you time in case you wanted to jot down something quickly, it also conserves the battery as only the necessary parts of the AMOLED display are “woken up”.

Another feature of the S Pen’s software that got an upgrade is the Air Command menu which springs into action every time you eject the S Pen. The screen write option now allows users to “scroll capture” i.e. take screen grabs of continuous pages like in documents or web pages.

Battery

With the Galaxy Note 5, Samsung went with a rather smaller battery. A 3,000mAh unit in place of the 3,220mAh battery that went into the Galaxy Note 4. Never mind that you can’t pop in a spare battery on the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 as you could on all the past Galaxy Note devices. Samsung, however, claims that an energy efficient chip and a display whose battery sapping is balanced will help matters. Samsung says that the QHD panel on the Note 5 won’t drain all your battery as it is power efficient but from my usage, the difference is negligible at best.

Battery life varies but 4 hours of screen-on-time are guaranteed when not doing a lot of heavy lifting. I managed to get up to 5 hours of screen on time in some instances but you’ll be lucky to get that kind of battery life consistently. Let’s just say you can manage to leave the house in the morning and get back in the evening just on time before it dies on you. Unlike previous generation Note devices, you won’t get two-day battery life with the Galaxy Note 5 unless it’s just lying idle on a table all day long with nothing going for it. Of course there’s the option to squeeze some more battery life using the built in Ultra Power Saving Mode but that is meant to come through for you in emergency situations and not all the time when you ought to be enjoying your swanky $800 purchase.

Note: During the first week of my stay with the Galaxy Note 5, the battery life was very average at best. However, things changed when I received an over-the-air (OTA) update the following weekend.

What the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 misses in its queer battery-sapping traits it makes up for in how long it takes to charge it. Using the bundled Adaptive Fast Charging adaptor, the device charges up in just 90 minutes from 0 to 100%.

Others

Call quality and the network reception on the Galaxy Note 5 is excellent unless one is in an area with spotty network coverage in which case it is not really the phone’s fault.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 packs a fingerprint sensor which is embedded on its physical home button. The fingerprint sensor allows users to unlock the device as well as authenticate payments using specialized apps like PayPal or login to certain applications like Lastpass. I used it to access Lastpass and it was flawless. Since the physical home button is not as large as the thumb may be, it is a good idea to map one’s fingers accurately to allow for use from either side. Once the setup is done right, no challenges will be encountered. It is a plus that users are also able to add other fingers.

The Good

• A fingerprint sensor that works, finally. Well, to be fair to Samsung, this has been the case since the Galaxy S6 but since I never got to use that device beyond some speedy interactions with, there’s nothing more to say about the fingerprint scanner on the Galaxy Note 5. It works.
• One of the best cameras on a smartphone. There is a pro mode for all the Kirutis out there and auto settings that produce stunning results without having you changing ISO and white balance.
• Of course the Note 5’s display, which is the same as what you’ll find on the Galaxy S6 Edge+, is the best you can find on a smartphone right now in terms of vividness, accuracy and brightness.
• Performance, as one would expect, is top notch. Lag and stuttering become rumours when you start using the Galaxy Note 4. Looks like 4 GB RAM is all that the bloated TouchWiz ever needed to be satisfied.
• The software is bearable. The new version of TouchWiz is not only good looking as I noted in my earlier encounters with it on the Galaxy J series smartphones but also functional and no longer a bother.

The Bad

• Though I have become resigned to the fact that expandable storage is dead and gone, at least on premium Samsung devices, I still long for one and the Note 5 not having one is a bummer. It is what makes getting last year’s Note 4 still sound like a good decision besides, of course, the pricing. To its credit, Samsung is throwing in some 100 gigabytes free Microsoft OneDrive storage for two years.

Final Thoughts

Long gone are the days when the Galaxy Note line could be brushed aside for simply being too big. Big is the new cool in the smartphone industry at the moment. Even then, the Galaxy Note lineup is yet to be fronted by Samsung as something for the masses. That honour goes to the Galaxy S. So much that there is even a device that is every bit the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 save for its lack of a stylus and having a curved display. It’s the Galaxy S6 Edge+ and it is the device that Samsung had prioritized. However, if you value the extra level of productivity that you get with the S Pen then you know which way to go.

The Galaxy Note 5 has been available in the Kenyan market since the start of October and there is no doubt that it is one of the must have smartphones of 2015 given that you can afford the Kshs 85,000 that the base model is going for locally. It is available in a range of colours that was recently expanded to include the now popular rose gold colour option which Samsung is calling Pink Gold.

Read On Web → Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Review: The Best Made Better