HP Slate 7 – Design and Features

Like most budget Android tablets, the HP Slate 7 is made of plastic. Its rear is an unassuming grey shade, letting the Beats Audio logo pop out clearly. The inclusion of Beats Audio here shows quite how simple it is – it’s a set of software algorithms used to jazz-up a device’s sound output, with increased bass. It’s not magic.

The HP Slate 7 is a little on the heavy side for a 7-inch tablet at 372g, which is 30-odd grams heavier than the Google Nexus 7, but not so weighty than you can’t hold it one-handed comfortably.

One of the key hardware benefits of this tablet is that is has a microSD memory card slot up top. This makes the limited 8GB of internal memory only a minor issue. Several big-name budget tablet don’t offer expandable memory.

HP Slate 7 – Screen

The HP Slate 7 has a 7-inch screen, but its resolution is significantly lower than all the current big players. With 1,024 x 600 pixels, it’s a lot less sharp than its rivals. This is the same resolution seen in the original Samsung Galaxy Tab, released all the way back in 2010.

HP was keen to big-up that its FFS display offers the viewing angle benefits of an IPS screen with better brightness. However, in person what stood out were the weak-looking colours, the clearly limited resolution and its clinical tone. The Google Nexus 7 display isn’t perfect, but we prefer it to the HP Slate 7’s, by a significant margin.

HP Slate 7 – Software and Performance

HP has sensibly decided to use a more-or-less vanilla version of Android in its HP Slate 7. This will help bring out optimum performance for the spec, as fancy animated extras will generally only serve to slow the system down.

The processor of the HP Slate 7 is capable but, like most aspects of the tablet, a little limited. It has a dual-core 1.6GHz Cortex-A9 processor – nippy enough for Android but not quite on-par with the quad-core devices that are rapidly becoming the norm slightly higher-up the food chain.

Performance was decent during our hands-on, no doubt in part down to the Project Butter speed increases introduced in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean – this performance alone is enough to make the HP Slate 7 worth keeping an eye on for some.

HP Slate 7 – Camera

The HP Slate 7 has two cameras – some manufacturers leave out the rear camera with the justification that at the price they could only bung-in a bad one. The main camera of the Slate 7 is a remedial 3.2MP snapper. This is the sort of “bad” camera Asus was talking about when it omitted one from the Google Nexus 7 – it can only capture basic low-detail shots.

The user-facing camera is equally basic, with a VGA-resolution sensor.

HP Slate 7 – Impressions

The HP Slate 7 is an aggressively-priced tablet. Set to sell for $169 in the US, it’s cheaper than the bargain basement Google Nexus 7. However, that the screen has been whacked with the ugly stick a few times makes it worth spending a few extra pounds on a better spec’d rival if you can afford it. However, performance is decent – we’ll see if it really makes up for the screen shortfall in our full review.

That said, having using the Razr HD it’s difficult not to conclude that Page’s comments were a little harsh. The Razr HD may not be going for broke with an amazing spec, but there’s still plenty to like about this upper mid-range handset. Our review model was supplied by Expansys, where you can buy it Sim-free for £409.99.

Motorola Razr HD – Design

Like the Razr i that we looked at back in November last year, Motorola has used Kevlar (the same stuff bullet proof vests are made of) on the rear of the phone. Obviously one of the benefits of Kevlar is that it’s much tougher than other materials, but it’s also useful because unlike metal it doesn’t impede wireless signals.

Oddly, for something so strong it actually feels quite soft to the touch – a little like the rubberised finish on the likes of the HTC One X. Motorola has embedded a jagged, chevron pattern into it, which may not be everyone’s tastes, although it does help the Razr HD stand out from the crowd.

To give it a slightly more premium feel a grey metal band circles the edge of the handset, and the corners have been cut away slightly to lend it a more aggressive air.  The phone is reasonably light at 145g and it’s pretty slim too at just 9mm thick. As with most Motorola phones build quality is top notch. Motorola has even made it splash proof, although sadly not fully waterproof like Sony’s Xperia Z.

When it comes to controls the power/lock button has been shifted to the right hand edge so it sits above the volume rocker switch. Both of these buttons are made from metal and Motorola has added a roughened texture to the top of the power button, so it’s easy to tell without looking at it that your pressing it rather than the volume button.

The Razr HD has a sealed design, which means that you can’t change the battery. Thankfully though, it does have an SD card slot positioned next to the microSIM slot. Both of these are hidden behind a cover that needs to be released via a pin hole, much like the SIM slot on the iPhone. Beneath this there’s not just a microSD port, but also a micro HDMI port, so you can connect the handset directly to a HDTV without the need for an MHL adaptor. There’s no microHDMI cable supplied in the box though, so you’ll have to buy one separately.

Motorola Razr HD – Screen

Like many of Samsung’s Android handsets, the Razr HD uses an OLED screen. It’s a fairly large 4.7-inch display, and it’s got a resolution of 720×1280 pixels, which is sort of standard at the moment on 4.7-inch phones, although some 5-inch handsets are starting to offer 1080p resolutions.

Nevertheless, the first thing you noticeable about the display is just how bright it is. Its black levels are cavernously deep too, which helps video to look very impressive. Colours are bold, but like a lot of OLED displays, whites (such as the back ground on most webpages) have a slight blue-ish tinge and overall colours don’t look quite as accurate as the IPS displays used on the iPhone 5 and HTC One X. Nevertheless, a lot of people prefer the slightly more in-your-face look of OLED screens, so really it comes down to personal preference and the screen used here is definitely one of the best OLED displays we’ve seen on a 4.7-inch phone.

ZTE Blade III – Design

For an £80 phone the ZTE Bade III’s design is remarkable. It blows the more expensive Huawei G330 clean out of the water in terms of looks, with the phone benefiting from a premium feel thanks the way ZTE has combined a piano black bezel around the screen with a chrome band on the top and sides of the handset. Admittedly this does give way to a slightly less premium secondary band that’s finished with a plasticky, silvery effect, and which doesn’t look anywhere near as high quality. Nevertheless, the lock button at the top is easy to reach with your index finger when you’re holding the phone single-handed and the volume control on the left hand edge isn’t as spongy as some other phones that we’ve used. The rubberised battery cover also apes high-end handsets like the HTC One X and should make sure it doesn’t slip easily from your grasp.

Beneath the screen you get four touch buttons rather than the usual three that now adorn most Android handsets, so sitting alongside the Menu, Home and Back buttons there’s a Search key. It’s not exactly an essential extra, but it can still be quite handy to have, especially if you want to quickly jump to search in the Gmail app or on the homescreen, for example.

You can prise the back off to get at the removable 1600mAh battery or the full-sized SIM card slot, and there’s a microSD card slot here too. Thankfully you don’t actually have to remove the battery to get at the latter.

ZTE Blade III – Screen

Apart from the impressive styling, the other thing that stands out at you when you first clap eyes on the ZTE Blade III is its screen. The 4-inch display really is top notch. You’ll struggle to find another £80 handset with a display that has a 480 x 800 pixel resolution, but even more pleasing is the fact that its viewing angles are actually reasonably good, unlike most budget handsets which have really tight viewing angles that make them difficult to read unless you’re staring head-on at them.

The ZTE Blade III’s display looks fairly bright when used indoors, and colours are much bolder and more vivid than on the vast majority of budget phones, so videos actually look top-notch. Its black levels aren’t quite as deep as higher-end mobiles, but this is difficult to spot unless you’re looking at it back to back with a higher spec and higher priced handset. However, used outdoors the screen does wash out, so you’ll often find yourself diving into the menu to boost it’s brightness on sunnier days, something that does cut down on battery life a bit.

On paper a true rival to the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S3, Google Nexus 4 and iPhone 5, the Sony Xperia Z runs Google’s Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean OS from the box – although a 4.2 update is already on the cards. Pairing a selection of premium innards with a raft of new, consumer appeasing features, the handset plays host to the likes of an IP57 waterproof coating.

Officially unveiled back at CES 2013 ahead of a late February launch, the ‘Z’ hits the high notes on all fronts, with the Sony Xperia Z specs sheet boasting a veritable what’s-what of high-end innards.

Kicking things off with a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm processor, the Xperia Z’s zippy CPU is matched up with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, creating a base setup to rival any Android device on the market. Adding a 13.1-megapixel rear-mounted camera, a 2330mAh Lithium-Ion battery and integrated NFC connectivity options, and the Sony Xperia Z quickly stands out as a leader of the smartphone scene.

Despite the handset measuring in at a superbly svelte 7.9mm thick, the Sony Xperia Z screen is an expansive and vibrant 5-inch 1080p Full HD affair, one which benefits from a shatter and scratch resistant coating, 10 finger multitouch compatibility and an inbuilt light sensor.

With a premium price tag to match the premium components, the Sony Xperia Z is available from a selection of leading UK network providers and smartphone retailers, including the likes of Vodafone who are offering the device for free when tied to a £42 per month, 24 month contract. For those not wanting to tether themselves to a two year deal, one that will set them back a hefty £1,008 during that time, the Sony Xperia Z is also available on a SIM-free or PAYG basis from £549.99.

Sony Xperia Z Design

Highlighting Sony’s renewed efforts on the smartphone scene, the Sony Xperia Z is one of the most visually impressive handsets on the market today, with the device’s expansive 5-inch Full HD display encased by a sleek, narrow bezelled design that screams of quality. Making the handset more appealing to all manner of personal tastes, the device is available in black, white and purple colour schemes.

With a glass backed finish, similar to that of the iPhone 4S or Google Nexus 4, the Sony Xperia Z design sees the high-end manufacturing components held together by a minimalist, soft-touch rubber edging, a feature that, whilst maintaining a compact classy appeal, also helps protect the device from inevitable knocks, drops and bumps.

However, as attractive as the Sony Xperia Z design might be out of the box, within minutes of use the device looks like a scruffy smearing pot of greasy fingerprints and unappealing grime marks. Dramatically exaggerated by the glass rear and expansive 5-inch touchscreen display, the handset is hard to keep in an aesthetically pleasing manner, quickly reverting to excessively smeared after frequent wipe downs. What’s more, thanks to its glass-backed design, the Sony Xperia Z is prone to sliding of all but the flattest of surfaces, an issue only marginally rectified by the slight overhang of the rubberised edging.

Despite its IP57 certification, a rating that sees the handset capable of being submerged in up to 1 metre of water for 30 minutes at a time with no damaging effects, the Sony Xperia Z, like many self-titled ‘rugged’ or ‘lifeproof’ phones, does not suffer from the same aesthetics depleting design issues.

Having run the device under a tap, plunged it into a washing-up bowl and even made a call from the shower, we can safely say that the Sony Xperia Z waterproof credentials live up to their billing, leaving the handset in need of just a simple wipe down before going about its day-to-day tasks. Aiding this IP57 rating, all the handset’s ports are covered by hinged protective caps, tethered to the handset by sturdy plastic connections, components which offer more reassurance and a longer expected lifespan than those featured on some rival devices. Helping further ensure against water damage, the handset alerts you if these ports are left open.

Although the 5-inch form factor feels sizeable within the hand, thanks to the device’s slim line design, it is by no means overpowering, presenting a largely comfortable user experience when grasped in either a left or right handed manner.

One area where the Sony Xperia Z design could be improved, however, is in its button placement. Featuring just two physical controls – the customary power/sleep button and a volume rocker – both buttons are located in the middle of the device’s right hand side, a positioning that saw a stray finger accidentally toggle the volume setting on all too frequent a basis.

Sony Xperia Z Screen

One of the handset’s key selling points, the Sony Xperia Z screen is a bright, vibrant and expansive delight, offering pin-sharp detail to images whilst making video playback an immersive joy.

A 5-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen offering that boasts 10-finger multitouch capabilities, the Sony Xperia Z screen benefits from a staggering 441 pixels-per-inch image density for ultra-sharp, detailed images, as well as featuring a 16 million colour contrast ratio. What’s more, with a 1920 x 1080p resolution, Sony’s latest flagship offering is capable of supporting Full HD video playback, perfect for those keen on on-the-go movie and TV consumption.

With fluid, fuss-free screen transitions, the display found on the Sony Xperia Z helps create a more natural and engaging user experience, with tasks such as skipping between homescreens, scrolling through menus and browsing across web pages all handled with aplomb and not even the slightest hint of trouble.

Dwarfing the likes of the 4-inch iPhone 5 and seemingly set to line up parallel to the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S4, the 5-inch nature of the Sony Xperia Z screen sees the handset further blurring the lines between smartphone and tablet devices, just about fitting in a trouser pocket whilst still offering copious amounts of on-screen real estate.

Although the handset’s viewing angles are strong, they are not quite the best on the market, dulling brightness and muting colours when viewed from an extremely acute angle. In truth, however, this is an issue which will have little effect on day-to-day usage of the device.

Standing up to performance depleting glare quite well, the Sony Xperia Z screen is coated it a protective shatter proof and scratch-resistant coating, a feature that stood up well to being placed in a pockets with loose change for a couple of days. With an inbuilt light sensor, the Z’s display coped well with jumping between areas of shade and direct sunlight, quickly attuning the handset’s brightness levels to best handle the surrounding elements.

Perfect for movie playback and app-based gaming, the full HD display brings content to life with movies downloaded from the Google Play Store packing more visual punch than on rival handsets. On top of this, games such as Real Racing 3 are accompanied by virtually no motion blur or degrading faults and stutters.

As impressive as the 5-inch Full HD Sony Xperia Z screen is, it does have one major drawback, the monumental drain it has on the handset’s 2330mAh battery reserves, an issue that we will fully address later.

Leading the range is the One Touch Idol X, a quad-core 5-inch Full HD handset. But can Alcatel really compete in the cut-throat world of high-end touchscreen smartphones? We went hands-on with the One Touch Idol X to find out.

Alcatel One Touch Idol X – Design

There are certain things we’ve come to expect with budget smartphones and one of them is that design will be compromised. This often results in devices which feel cheap and plasticky, and which could all too easily be the butt of “Yo mama so ugly” jokes.

The One Touch Idol X bucks this trend by looking every bit as good as most of the high-end phones available on the market today. At just 7.1mm thick it’s 0.5mm slimmer than an iPhone 5 and a whole 1.5mm thinner than the Galaxy S3. On top of that the Idol X sports a tiny screen bezel, just 2.4mm thick which makes it one of the most compact 5-inch phones out there.

Available in a variety of colours the soft-touch plastic on the back of the Idol X is pleasing to hold and gives the Idol X some additional grip that’s sorely lacking in the majority of phones on the market today. It also gives the phone a surprisingly premium feel, unlike the sensation of smooth plastic which often feels cheap.

Dan Dery, Alcatel’s Chief Marketing Officer told Trusted Reviews that the One Touch range isn’t designed to compete directly with the Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5, rather it’s about providing consumers with “simple, easy to use and easy to choose” phones and creating “devices for people”. This seems like a sensible marketing angle to us, however good design will be paramount if Alcatel is to be successful with their One Touch range of smartphones.

Alcatel One Touch Idol X – Screen

As with the One Touch Star, Alcatel have surprised us with the quality of the screen on the Idol X. The 5-inch 1920×1080 Full HD IPS display is stunning, and not just for a budget phone either. Unlike on some AMOLED displays colour reproduction is excellent, with full HD content also looked particularly lively. . Viewing angles are also very good with no noticeable colour shifts.

Alcatel One Touch Idol X – Software and Performance

With a 1.5GHz quad-core processor and 1GB RAM on board the Idol X runs Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean smoothly with no apparent jerkiness when opening apps or scrolling quickly through the phone. There’s no lag with multitasking either, as we’d expect with that much power under the hood.

In terms of storage the Idol X offers 16GB of internal memory, which can be increased by 32GB thanks to the addition of a microSD card slot, which should be sufficient for all but the most content hungry users.

One concern we do have One Touch X, as with so many smartphones, is battery life. It’s impressive that Alcatel have managed to cram a 2000mAh battery into such a slim phone, however that 5-inch Full HD screen and quad-core processor will doubtless be power hungry and we can imagine the battery draining fast. We’ll have to wait until we can perform our own battery tests before we have a true indication of how long it can last.

In terms of user interface, there’s not much to differentiate the One Touch Idol X’s version of Android from the vanilla offering so those used to Jelly Bean shouldn’t have a problem getting to grips with it at all.

There are presently conflicting reports on whether the UK version of the One Touch X will be 3G or have 4G capability. We’d expect to see a 3G offering for the UK market, but 4G for the Asian market which has a more developed 4G infrastructure.

Alcatel One Touch Idol X – Camera

With an 8-megapixel camera the Idol X won’t exactly be cutting edge when it comes to mobile photography. We don’t expect good performance in low-light conditions either, however the camera should be perfectly adequate for basic snapshots. Full HD video recording will also feature. A 13-megapixel dual-SIM version of the phone (sans microSD slot) will also be produced, but it’s unlikely this version will appear in the UK, US or Europe.

First Impressions

It’s safe to say that we were impressed with the One Touch Idol X prototype we got our hands on and with a potential price of under £250 (TBC) it looks to be an absolute bargain. The four colour options and sleekness of design will appeal to the style conscious who don’t necessarily want to spend more than twice the money on an iPhone 5 or Galaxy S4 for features they’ll never use such as NFC, 4G or (the much mooted) eight-core processor. Barring an issue with battery life we expect the Idol X to be a heavy hitter in the mid-range phone category. Keep your eyes peeled for a full review soon.

With a metal-topped body, excellent screen and interesting – if not 100 per cent successful – camera, it deserves to become one of the hit phones of 2013.

HTC One – Design

One thing HTC has been pretty good at over the last few phone generations is in experimenting with different phone constructions. We’ve seen mobiles made of plastic, ceramic and metal – often within the same range.

The HTC One opts for a mix of aluminium and white plastic. It’s a plastic-metal sandwich. Viewed from the side, it’s pretty clear that the meat of the phone’s body is matt finish plastic, with plates of aluminium covering the front and back.

These aluminium plates give the phone the cool, hard feel that you get with an iPhone 5. If anything, though, the HTC One is ergonomically superior. Its rear is smoothly curved to hug your hand and its edges are bevelled to remove any sharp bits. Although its look may be a little severe, the feel of it is anything but.

Although cleverly and carefully designed, it falls a way short of real beauty, though. There are just a few too many visual bits vying for attention to have the simplicity factor of the prettiest phones.

The HTC One’s roll-call of attention grabbing elements is fairly long. We have the dual front speaker grilles, the oversized camera housing, the concentric circles texture of the volume rocker, and the high-contrast look of the front camera, light sensor and power button up top.

The HTC One is a looker, we won’t deny, and a phone that’s easy to recognise in the ever-expanding sea of mobiles, but it is a tiny bit busy, visually.

Build quality is excellent, though. The seams between the HTC One’s plastic and aluminium layers are tight aside from a tiny gap on the top edge of our review sample, and there’s none of the flex you’d see in a plastic-bodied phone.

The cost is that the innards of the HTC One are inaccessible unless you get out your Dremel and saw the thing in half. You have no access to the battery here, and there is no memory card slot, which you do get with the Sony Xperia Z. The phone also lacks that handset’s waterproofing, although this means you don’t have to deal with any irritating rubber-sealed flaps – used in ruggedised phones to keep water out of sockets.

The HTC One’s body also won’t appreciate rough treatment much. Aluminium feels great on the fingers, but it’s a relatively soft metal and really won’t appreciate being slung into a pocket with loose change and your car keys – it will get scratched. The white plastic is also a terrible dirt magnet – it’ll be fine one minute and covered in dark smudges the next. Unless your personal hygiene is much better than ours, of course.

Like any phone this size, one of the trickiest bits to get used to is how large the screen is. It’s smaller than some – at 4.7 inches across when many new phones rock 5-inch displays – but reaching to the opposite end of the screen with a thumb is a real stretch. For right-handers, the power button also requires a stretch.

It’s one to add to the growing list of first-world problems – having a phone so big you need two hands to operate it.

However, the HTC One disappears into pockets easily enough, thanks to its fairly slim body. Its ergonomic curves ensure it’s not aggressively thin at 9.3mm thick, but we’d rather have a comfy phone than one whose figurative ribs poke through into your palm.

The HTC Phone’s two soft touch nav keys are easy enough to operate one-handed too, handling “back” and “Home” functions. They’re lit-up with swish-looking cool blue light when operated.

HTC One – Connectivity

With no removable backplate and no memory card slot, the HTC One keeps its on-body features simple and spare. Offset from the centre of the phone’s bottom edge is the microUSB slot, which is used not only to charge the battery and transfer data, but can also transmit video and audio to an HDMI-equipped TV. This is because it’s MHL-compliant, giving it similar skills to a microHDMI connection. The required cable isn’t supplied with the phone, mind.

The only other connector socket you get with the HTC One is the obligatory 3.5mm headphone jack on the top edge.

Much like an iPhone 4S or a Nokia Lumia 720, the HTC One has a discreet microSIM tray that needs to be popped-out with the help of a paperclip – or the tool HTC supplies in the box.

Wireless connectivity is far more comprehensive than the old fashioned wired kind. Connections like GPS, HSPA and Bluetooth go without saying, and the HTC One also features NFC and – most interesting of the lot – an IR blaster. This is integrated into the power button up top, which helps to explain why it’s translucent black rather than more congruent matt white plastic. We’ll cover exactly what this is capable of when we talk about Sense TV later.

Nokia Asha 309 – Design

The Asha 309 is much dinkier than most other touchscreen phones on the market. It measures just 52mm wide, and the battery cover on the rear is nicely rounded so even if you’ve got smaller hands, it’s going to feel very comfortable to hold. However, there are big gaps between the screen and the top and bottom edges of the phone, so it’s not much shorter than a lot of budget Android phones that have roomier 3.5inch screens.

The bezel around the display has a traditional glossy black finish, but Nokia has used a dark chrome effect on the end-plates at the top and bottom of the phone. The Asha 309 does feel quite solid, but it also looks a bit plastiky and its design, although not unappealing, isn’t going to turn heads either.

The two call control buttons beneath the screen look like touch buttons, but actually turn out to be old fashioned push buttons that are just covered with a flexible membrane. Apart form these two buttons, the only other controls are the volume rocker switch and the lock button, both of which are located on the right-hand side. The lock button is positioned towards the bottom of the phone too, making it awkward to get at when you’re holding the handset in the normal way. At the top there’s a standard 3.5mm headphone jack and next to this is the microUSB port. Hidden behind a flap on the left-hand side you’ll find the microSD card slot, which is very welcome given the phone’s paltry amount of internal storage space.

Nokia Asha 309 – Screen

The older Nokia Asha 306 used a resistive touchscreen display which wasn’t very responsive. Thankfully Nokia has made the wise decision to update the display for the Asha 309 by using a capacitive display that’s much zippier at responding to finger presses, helping to make the whole experience of using the phone a bit more immediate and less frustrating.

However, the display is still a weakness. The problem is not only that – at 3-inches – it’s small, but also that it has a very low resolution of just 240×400 pixels, whereas most of today’s budget Android phones have larger 3.2 or 3.5 inch screens with higher resolutions. As a result, web browsing on the Asha 309 just isn’t all that much fun; viewing webpages feels a bit like trying to scan a room by peering through a keyhole.

Viewing angles aren’t particularly wide either, so colours wash out when you tilt the phone up or down by too extreme an angle, although they’re not as bad as on some other budget handsets we’ve used. The display is reasonably bright too, and remains pretty readable outdoors under direct sunlight.

The most eagerly awaited handset of the year, the Samsung Galaxy S4 has entered the realms of reality as a 5-inch Full HD powerhouse, running Google’s latest Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean OS while boasting the accolade of being the world’s first eight-core smartphone. Sadly, whilst certain markets are set to receive the eight-core option, Samsung has this week revealed Samsung Galaxy S4 UK models will line up as the 1.9GHz quad-core option, a move that is sure to disappoint many.

“Samsung Galaxy S 4 is equipped with a 1.9GHz Quad-core AP or a 1.6GHz Octa-core AP. The selection of AP varies by markets,” a statement from an official Samsung spokesperson to TrustedReviews said. It went on to reveal: “In the UK the Galaxy S4 will be available as a 4G device with a 1.9GHz Quad Core Processor.”

With a 13-megapixel camera, slimline bezel design and a selection of new software features, including the likes of Smart Pause and Smart Scroll, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is lined up as the Android handset to beat for the next 12 months. What’s more, the HTC One challenging handset hosts a selection of intuative new additions such as integrated translation options for the likes of emails, messages and web content. Read on to see what we make of the Samsung Galaxy S3 replacement.

Samsung Galaxy S4 – Design

Taking on a near identical form to that of the S3, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is an inoffensive yet somewhat uninspiring affair with Samsung’s trademark plastic finish detracting slightly from what is otherwise a high-end, cream-of-the-crop device. Lining the two handset’s up against each other, and front-on it is slightly difficult to distinguish between the two.

Weighing in at a comfortable 130g, the Samsung Galaxy S4 feels secure in the hand, not too heavy as to cause distress while also offering enough heft to offer reassurance against the inevitable knocks and drops that will occur over the course of a typical 24-month contract.

Featuring a heavily reduced bezel, Samsung has managed to squeeze a larger 5-inch display on to the Samsung Galaxy S4 without having to make a jump in size over the Samsung Galaxy S3’s form factor. What’s more, at a mere 7.9mm thick, the handset is in fact slimmer than its 8.3mm predecessor. In addition, even with the larger screen it is exactly the same height as the S3 at 136.6mm and is ever so slightly narrower at 69.8mm as compared to 70.6.

Although the removable back panel of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is still crafted from extremely flimsy plastic, the handset feels sturdy and well built, offering little flex when placed under considerable pressure. Further adding to the handset’s high-end appeal, an almost checkerboard effect has been ingrained within the plastic body, adding some variety to the Samsung Galaxy S4 design.

With Samsung scrapping the Pebble Blue colour scheme that caused manufacturing woes with the S3, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is set to land in ‘White Frost’ and ‘Black Mist’ colour schemes. Both devices look impressive with either hue providing a strong, high-end look.

Samsung Galaxy S4 – Screen

Measuring in at a considerable 5-inches, the Samsung Galaxy S4 screen is a bit of a beaut. With a stunning 1920 x 1080p Full HD resolution matched with an iPhone Retina display trumping 441 pixels-per-inch, the Samsung Galaxy S4 screen is a Super AMOLED HD marvel, helping create an immerse user experience from the off.

During video playback, the Samsung Galaxy S4 screen provides strong, bold, detailed colours with strong contrast ratios able to show the nuances of scenes. With motion blur practically non-existent, the handset’s display further benefits from a Full HD 1080p resolution meaning images look impressively detailed.

Protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 coating, the Samsung Galaxy S4′s screen is further enhanced by a 441 pixels-per-inch image density, a PPI that, whilst eclipsing that of the iPhone 5’s Retina display, ensures ultra-crisp text-based content when browsing web pages or viewing emails and message based content.

Although there is no denying that the Samsung Galaxy S4 screen is a stunning affair, and one capable of offering highly impressive video playback, like many AMOLED displays, there is a slightly undesirable blue hue to content at times, especially when the device is viewed from more acute angles. Further inspection of this potentially performance depleting issue will be required during our full Galaxy S4 review in the coming weeks.

Samsung Galaxy S4 – Operating System

Running Google’s Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean OS, the S4′s operating system is much the same as that of the S3 before it. A familiar affair with the usual Android heart, the Korean manufacturer’s much loved TouchWiz UI is also in residence offering a selection of performance-improving software features such as the customary Swype keyboard interface.

The Samsung Galaxy S4′s keyboard is a well spaced affair, making use of the handset’s new 5-inch display to provide a simple and fluid usability. With no accidental key presses recorded during our hands-on time with the device, we were impressed with the intuitiveness of the keyboard – an aspect of the handset that will receive heavy usage.

With the usual selection of Samsung and Android apps pre-installed on the device, the Galaxy S4 OS is complemented by the likes of the Chrome browser and the Google Play Store. What’s more, the Samsung Hub offers wide-ranging access to all manner of music, movie, gaming and educational content direct from the device.

Samsung Galaxy S4 – Camera

Avoiding the Ultrapixel route taken by the HTC One, the Galaxy S4 instead sticks with the numbers game, pairing the device with a 13-megapixel rear-mounted camera. As if this wasn’t impressive enough, a 2-megapixel snapper also features on the front of the S4 to allow for improved video calling.

Initial testing reveals the Samsung Galaxy S4 camera to be a strong performer, able to produce seemingly impressive results in somewhat less than ideal shooting conditions. Although at this stage we have only been able to view images taken with the device on the handset’s display, first impressions are good with strong colour management and good light balance.

Where the Samsung Galaxy S4 camera comes into its own, however, is in a selection of new features. Kicking off with Dual Camera shooting, the S4 camera is also enhanced by the likes of Eraser Shot (which can remove unwanted moving content), intuitive Story Album creation and the same interface as the Samsung Galaxy Camera.

On the Galaxy Camera interface, the usual stoic list of menus is gone, replaced instead by an intuitive touch-based scroll which houses options from cinema and panoramic shooting to the likes of filters and effects.

One of the best Samsung Galaxy S4 camera features, however, is the Dual Camera shooting mode, which allows you to snap an image with both the rear and forward-facing cameras simultaneously, featuring the two snaps either side-by-side, or as picture-in-picture options.

In practice, based on our hands-on with the device, the Dual Camera shooting functionality is fast and responsive with both cameras tracking content quickly and with little fuss or motion blur. Bolstering the nifty new option, either camera can take the lead allowing you to focus on either what’s in front of you, or your reaction to an event. Although requiring further testing, we can see this option being a favourite amongst party goers, gig attendants and those at special occasions.

The Sony Xperia SP is a phone you can expect to pay £20-odd for a month on contract, making it an upper-mid range mobile.

Sony Xperia SP – Design

A little less design obsessed than the Xperia Z, the Sony Xperia SP is a plastic-bodied phone that, at 10mm thick, doesn’t strive for supermodel-style dimensions. The white version we had a go with has a largely inoffensive, plain design – apart from one part.

Like some previous Sony phones, the Sony Xperia SP has a transparent plastic lip at the handset’s bottom, through which an LED shines. When you’re playing music, this will match the colour of what’s on-screen. It’s pure fluff, of course, but also acts as a nice way to relay notifications.

Sony Xperia SP –Screen

With a 4.6-inch screen, the Sony Xperia SP display is a little smaller than today’s flagships – several of which have 5-inch screens. Sticking with the mid-range theme, its resolution is 720p, rather than the 1080p you get with an Xperia Z.

However, 720p offers more than enough pixels to make images and text look super-sharp. The only negative comment is that the display itself didn’t seem to be of particularly remarkable quality – contrast and viewing angles were just decent, rather than excellent. This may have been affected by the dodgy lighting of Sony’s demo area, though.

Sony Xperia SP – Software

Looking a bit deeper than surface level, the Sony Xperia SP runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and sports a custom user interface similar to that seen on Sony’s other Android phones. It’s slick and serious rather than cute and cartoonish.

It’s also packed with Sony extras, including Sony’s Unlimited video and music portals. We imagine many people will ignore these, though, and the main thing is that the UI doesn’t add too much animated bloat to slow Android down. The phone uses a dual-core Snapdragon 1.7GHz CPU with an Adreno 320 GPU and 1GB of RAM. Not top-end, but not bad either.

Sony Xperia SP – Cameras

Its software may be up to date with this year’s phones, but the camera smacks of an upper-tier 2012 phone – although that’s hardly a bad thing. The Sony Xperia SP uses an 8-megapixel main sensor, which may be the same one used in many Samsung Galaxy S3s. We’ll have to wait for our review unit to see what sort of shots it takes, though. The secondary camera is a lowly VGA model.

Sony Xperia SP – First Impressions

With a dual-core processor and less-than-skinny body, the Sony Xperia SP isn’t going to turn anywhere near as many heads as the Xperia Z. But it’s not meant to. This is a more down-to-earth phone for those who don’t want to fork out top dollar. Our only concern is whether it’s quite cheap enough, with retailers suggesting it’ll cost £329.99 SIM-free.

Once again igniting the increasingly heated Apple vs Google battle that is currently spanning the two company’s smartphone (iPhone 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S3) and tablet (iPad mini vs Google Nexus 7) offerings, the new Google Chromebook pixel is a true MacBook rival, with the anodized aluminium casing playing host to a raft of premium specs including the highest resolution found on any laptop, a stunning 2560 x 1700p touchscreen offering.

More than just a hugely impressive display within a stylish body, the Google Chromebook Pixel, the first laptop crafted solely by Google without any third-party manufacturing partners, is a true powerhouse of the portable computing scene with Inter Core i5 innards paired with 4GB of RAM. We go hands-on with the device ahead of the April 1 Google Chromebook Pixel release date.

Google Chromebook Pixel Design

With the 12.8-inch device playing host to a luxurious anodized aluminium shell, the Google Chromebook Pixel design offers more than a slight nod to Apple’s MacBook aesthetics, with the brushed metal finish providing a strong, striking design that visually displays the unit’s high-end nature.

Although the Google Chromebook Pixel offers an air of Apple aesthetical likeness, the device is still unique enough to stand out from the crowd with a small light bar on the unit’s shell glowing in Google colours once the device is closed. With a well-spaced keyboard once again taking design hints from Apple’s leading laptops, the Pixel is a joy to type on with responsive, comfortable keys.

With a strong build quality, the aluminium body of the Google Chromebook Pixel feels good in the hard with the cooling metal well weighted, spreading the laptop’s comfortable sub 1.5kg heft evenly throughout the units 3:2 aspect ratio body.

Lining up at just 16.25 mm thick, the Pixel’s seamless full metal body is easily portable, with the slightly bulbous nature of the unit’s hinge detracting slightly from the otherwise smooth edge design. Despite this, thanks to the laptop’s comfortable, smooth and sturdy opening action, the marginal aesthetical issue of the hinge is quickly overlooked.

Google Chromebook Pixel Screen

A feature that gives the Google Chromebook Pixel its name, the unit’s display is an unparalleled joy to use, offering stunning visuals with exquisite levels of details, vibrant colours and strong viewing angles. Simply put, the Google Chromebook Pixel screen is a stunner.

Offering truly incredible images, the Google Chromebook Pixel screen pairs a frankly outstanding 2560 x 1700p resolution with an equally staggering 239 pixels-per-inch image density, a PPI greater than that on Apple’s Retina displays, and one which offers the 3:2 screen a stunning 4.3 million pixels. The result of this premium combination is a visual experience unrivalled by anything else on the market.

With brilliant colours and a strong contrast ratio, the Chromebook Pixel is capable of creating images of lifelike clarity, with the display’s 400-nits brightness rating 25 per cent higher than that of any rival machines, creating an enjoyable viewing experience.

Further enhancing the already exceptional Google Chromebook Pixel screen, the laptop’s touchscreen credentials are impressively strong with hugely responsive reactions offering seamless scrolling, through web pages and menus.

Not just a simple, single finger touch offering, the multitouch display also handles actions such as pinch-to-zoom with equal aplomb and a complete lack of fuss or fanfare.

Google Chromebook Pixel Features

With Google confirming that although it is responsible for piecing together the Chromebook Pixel, the device plays host to a selection of “components that are manufactured globally,” the Chrome OS laptop features a full-on bevy of premium innards from 4GB of DDR3 RAM to a 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, a powerful partnership that ensures smooth, speedy access to all desired content.

As well as being zippy, the laptop hosts a 720 HD integrated camera that, on first-impressions at least, is capable of capturing strong, well rounded images that when displayed on the unit’s hugely impressive display look far beyond usual laptop expectations.

With the standard collection of two USB ports, integrated Bluetooth and inbuilt Wi-Fi, the Google Chromebook Pixel is missing one key connectivity option, especially for a device so heavily reliant on the web to function, an Ethernet port. Whilst this omission helps keep down the device’s thickness, it could prove troublesome when using the Chromebook Pixel in hotels or conference rooms.

On top of all this, the unit’s etched glass touchpad is extremely comfortable and responsive to use, offering accurate, intricate movements.

Google Chromebook Pixel OS

Whilst the Chrome OS isn’t without its merits, thanks in large to its cloud based nature that offers instant access to all content, is web centric OS can still be quite limiting.

Fast, responsive and easy to navigate, the Google Chromebook Pixel OS offers similar functionality to many of its manufacturer branded Chrome predecessors, with a smooth and fluid user experience partnering an enjoyable, streamlined browsing experience.

Further analysis of how the Pixel works alongside the Chrome OS will be required in our upcoming full, in-depth Google Chromebook Pixel review.

Google Chromebook Pixel Verdict

On first impressions, there is no denying that the Google Chromebook pixel is a stunning piece of kit, whether or not it can capture the consumer’s imaginations with its premium £1,049 price tag, however, is another question.

Fast, efficient, well styled and a joy to use, the Pixel is a brilliant device, that thanks to its stunning 2560 x 1700p touchscreen display is taken into the realms of the world beaters. A true MacBook rival could be on our hands.