Tag: devices

How Does the ZTE Axon Compare to Other 2015 Flagships?

When people think of ZTE, they don’t consider them a top competitor, but surprisingly the company is the fourth highest-selling smartphone manufacturer in North America. ZTE has managed to create a large range of devices that are selling in truckloads, despite a much smaller marketing presence than a company like Samsung or Apple.

The ZTE Axon is another device by ZTE that has the potential to sell in large quantities. Whilst the device may not be getting a lot of buzzes, it definitely deserves a good, hard look. I’ll be comparing the ZTE Axon with other devices in a few different categories below.

Hardware

Besides the Galaxy S6, which uses the incredibly powerful Exynos 7420 SoC, this year’s 2015 Android flagship lineup relies heavily on the Snapdragon 810. Unfortunately for LG, the G4 has the less powerful Snapdragon 808.

All flagships this year have 3GB of RAM, however, the ZTE Axon will have 4GB – this is obviously going to allow us to see an improvement in multitasking performance, although the scale of this improvement is currently unknown. As it stands, the jump to 4GB is a decent improvement for ZTE, but it should end up being the standard for high-end devices in half 2. For example, both the Note 5 and the OnePlus Two should come with 4GB of RAM.

The ZTE Axon has no microSD card and 32GB of internal storage and a decently sized 3,000mAh battery. Finally, the Axon has a 5.5-inch LCD 2560 x 1440 display. The 13-megapixel camera on the ZTE Axon seems to be able to produce on par results for a flagship smartphone as well.

In the hardware department, the ZTE Axon easily competes with all other devices, and will even be a relevant choice when paired up against any more upcoming devices later this year.

Software

So far we haven’t really had the chance to see if ZTE have any cool software features up their sleeves for the Axon. First hands-on impressions suggest that the Axon will have a very Material Design themed interface, and, for the most part, the ZTE Axon will run and feel like stock Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, albeit with some preinstalled applications.

If you’re looking for some big software functionality, ZTE isn’t going to deliver, unfortunately. With that being said, the close-to-stock interface and high-end hardware should lead to a buttery smooth user experience.

Price

The ZTE Axon has been announced as a smartphone that will go for $450 SIM free. Contract deals will be revealed once the device has been released. The $450 price point is a bit on the fence between “a really good bargain” and “not so much of a bargain.”

On one side of the fence, you’ll find the $700 SIM free Galaxy S6, the $650 One M9, and the $650 Xperia Z3+. Even LG, who are known to offer lower prices on their flagships, offers the LG G4 for around $550 SIM free.

Without delving deeper into it, this makes the ZTE Axon look like an absolute bargain, but there is another side to the fence.

For example, the OnePlus Two has been confirmed to cost under $450, so whilst pricing is still unknown, that’s going to immediately be less than the ZTE Axon and it is expected to include a Snapdragon 810, 4GB of RAM and decent features all-around. Another interesting 2015 device is the $300 ASUS Zen one – once again, this device will have a decent set of specs, including 4GB of RAM and a 64-bit Intel ATOM processor.

What do we think?

At first look, the ZTE Axon seems like a bargain. Closer research reveals that this isn’t entirely true. For now, it’s hard to compare the ZTE Axon with other similar priced smartphones until we hear more about them.

So there we have it. The ZTE Axon will run smoothly, it will have high-end hardware, a great camera, good display, a great camera and the latest version of Android. The price tag is also a great talking point, even if it won’t be the best deal on the market.

Image credit: Androidblizzard; Ubergizmo; AndroidAuthority; Compregadget.

July 15, 2015
The latest trends in Wearable devices
The long list of such devices includes wearable cameras, activity trackers, running watches, smart watches, smart glasses and smart tracking devices. The wearable devices can have multiple features from camera, touch screen, GPS, calculator and even SD cards and rechargeable batteries.
- Activity trackers: They are boon for health-conscious people who prefer to be in shape. This device is evolved from pedometers but with more features and accuracy. Once activated, it takes charge of your fitness by keeping an eye on your lifestyle. Some of its features note down heart rate, consumed calories and blood pressure. Fitbit Surge, Basis Peak and Mio Fuse are some of the best activity trackers in the market. There are plenty others according to your needs and budget.
- Wearable cameras: To capture lifelong memories, wearable cameras are becoming the new trend now. Not only they have low power consumption but also added sense of security, convenience and style. They come with accessories for mounting the camera on yourself or different other places. These small wearable hands-free cameras can clip onto your clothes, bag strap or you can simply hang it around. GoPro, Narrative Clip and Vivitar are few of the known brands.
- Running watches: They are your new partner in running. They can keep track of your full day activities from taken steps, distance covered, calories burned to floors climbed. The latest ones can also sync with your computer and smart phone and let you track your whole workout. Fitbit Surge, Polar FT4 and Germin are some of the famous names in the market.
- Smart watches:They let you make and receive calls, read messages, enjoy music meanwhile they also keep track of your daily exercise program and encourage you to achieve your goal. Not only that but you can also check your emails, access calendars and other favorite apps on your wrist. Today there are many brands in the market like Pebble, Samsung, Sony but Apple really created a buzz with the launch of its smart watch where technology married the fashion. Before we go deep, let me tell you that the stunning Apple watch is not a standalone gadget. You must have at least iphone5 to use it. The smart watch basically works as an extension of the phone. It comes with many functions.
- Smart Glasses: According to Wikipedia, they are a wearable, compact computer that adds information onto reality or actually helps people see better. Basically they are sort of wearable computer that have ‘Hands Free’ operation and lets you access information, data and other resources with ease. Epson Moverio, Vuzix and Recon are few of the trending brands in the market.
June 8, 2015
First look at Ubuntu for Android

Till date we had only heard rumors and seen still images of that project. But today Canonical released a video from the Fórum Internacional Software Livre (FISL) 13 event held in Porto Alegre, Brazil showing a device running Ubuntu and explained many of its features.

Canonical had claimed that the Ubuntu for Android,

“transforms your high-end phone into your productive desktop, whenever you need it.”

While it does look doing exactly that.

In the video, they have plugged the phone into the dock that led to the launch of Ubuntu system. No emulation was there by any means and it used all the power the phone has to offer. Which means that system features like notifications could be swapped between Ubuntu and Android seamlessly. Now the next thing that Ubuntu is supposed to have is the permission of OEMs like HTC, Samsung, Motorola would have to be interested in this project and give Ubuntu the access to their drivers for their devices.

While many experts are debating over whether Ubuntu for Android will prove to be the future of personal computing and that the desktop computers will become obsolete. We believe that both have their own future, their own use and limitation, it depends on the purpose you use it for. Something becomes “obsolete” when the all its functionality can be performed by newer technology taking resource consumption in mind. Mobile devices may well become more “mainstream” however.

August 10, 2012