Gadget Trend and Reviews

The 2-in-1 form factor invented by Microsoft in 2012 has flourished lately, becoming the silent killer of the traditional tablet that only a few people seem to be interested in these days. While a tablet is useful for things like watching YouTube videos, playing games, or listening to music, a 2-in-1 device has much more potential, becoming a fully-featured PC when a keyboard is attached. This is the idea that Microsoft embraced five years ago and which attracted so many other companies, including some of which are trying to fight with the big guys using an approach that in many ways is way too close to Microsoft’s. Chinese company Chuwi is one of the names making the headlines regularly these days, not necessarily because they’re going with the flow, but thanks to the ambition of delivering the performance that you typically get with a price of $1,000+ in a device that costs less than half of that. [YOUTUBE=https://youtu.be/KNG1ZT04FJA] Their latest device is c... ( read mor...

Apple launched the Apple Watch Series 3 earlier this year with LTE support and only some other subtle improvements, so it’s now Samsung’s turn to refresh its wearable lineup with a new model. After the Gear S3 , which was received with much enthusiasm by customers across the world, Samsung took the wraps off the so-called Gear Sport, a device that doesn’t give up on the watch look, but whose name suggests a somewhat increased focus on activity tracking. At first glance, the Gear Sport seems more of a successor of the Gear S2, though by putting it in the sports category, Samsung doesn’t seem to be interested in marketing the device as such. Instead, the Gear Sport appears to be positioned somewhere in between the read more )

While the iPhone X was clearly the big star of the show at Apple’s September 12 event this year, the Apple Watch Series 3 was one of the devices that received lots of praises during the conference, especially because it comes with a feature that the parent company claims everybody has been waiting for. At first glance, the Apple Watch Series 3 looks similar to the Apple Watch Series 2, which looks similar to the Apple Watch Series 1, which looks similar to the original Apple Watch. In other words, the third-generation Apple Watch looks 99 percent the same as the original model, with Apple sticking with the same design (and nearly the same dimensions) for a very simple reason: the firm wants the bands that you already own to fit any other model, as some customers have made it a hobby to purchase as many straps as possible and collect them. Some people collect coins, others collect Apple Watch bands. At closer inspection, the Apple Watch Series 3 does have some ph... ( read more ...

The wearable biz has grown at a super-fast pace in the last couple of years, and Samsung has been trying to be one of the top players here from the very beginning. This year, the South Korean firm released updates to all of its devices, and in addition to the Gear S3, which is one of the most advanced smartwatches to date, it also took the wraps off another fitness band that’s specifically focused on activity tracking. As compared to the Gear S3, which tries to mix the best of two worlds, smartwatches and activity trackers, the Gear Fit2 Pro does the same thing but with an obvious fondness for training and exercises. A successor to the Gear Fit2, which it actually replaces in Samsung’s line of wearables, the Fit2 Pro is an upgraded model that doesn’t necessarily look entirely different but comes with some welcome improvements that are mostly aimed at its activity tracking side. The Gear Fit2 Pro is available for $199 and comes in two colors that are more or less ... ( read more...

Garmin is historically a company that’s been all about fitness and activity tracking, so when buying one of its devices, you pretty much know what to expect. The recently-released fenix 5 series makes absolutely no exception to the rule and puts the focus entirely on fitness, but without forgetting features that are important to buyers today, including smartwatch capabilities when connected to a smartphone. This is something that the majority of wearable manufacturers tried to obtain, though it’s been proved that mixing smartwatch and activity tracking features isn’t always the easiest thing to do. In most of the cases, devices end up making a smaller or bigger compromise, lacking functionality exactly in those places where users expect the least. The Garmin fenix 5, however, has been clearly designed with activity tracking in mind, and to better tackle the needs of customers, the company designed three different models with a little something for everyone. [GALL... ( read more...

September is the month for a big, big 8 – your pick of the brand new Samsung Galaxy Note 8 or Apple's iPhone 8 Plus. Both are pretty fab phablets . The Galaxy Note 8 extends the Galaxy S8's design philosophy to a slightly larger display and packs in the S Pen stylus – and unlike last year's Note, none of them have exploded (yet). Meanwhile, the iPhone 8 Plus makes modest improvements and alterations to last year's winning iPhone 7 Plus, bringing in some nice perks to Apple's previous best handset. However, it's overshadowed by the forthcoming iPhone X. Still, if you're not compelled to splash out £999+ on a smartphone and want to 'only' spend between £799 and £869 instead, then this is a showdown worth considering. Here's our take on which big phone to get, now that we've properly reviewed both handsets. Design: Note this We could almost cut and paste the design showdown from our recent Galaxy Note 8 vs iPhone 7 ...

The market for a flagship smartphone in 2017 is almost entirely dominated by Apple and Samsung. Apple has sold over 1 billion iPhones over the last decade, and Samsung’s devices are the most popular in the world, with designs that are starting to approach Apple’s quality. And yet, other than rumblings from Google, the rest of the smartphone market has been divvied up between companies trying to make the best, cheapest phones they can. Unlike most other upstart smartphone manufactures, Essential thinks its newest device can go toe-to-toe with these heavyweights. Earlier this summer, the startup launched by Andy Rubin, the creator of the Android operating system, unveiled his vision for the modern smartphone. It’s one that focuses heavily on design and modularity. Quartz spent the last few weeks with the Essential phone, to get an understanding of what living with it is like, and whether it’s different enough to make Apple or Samsung acolytes abandon their paths and think d...