Category: ifa 2013

Hands-on At IFA: LG G Pad 8.3

Abe Olandres Leave a comment

LG has not had an Android tablet for the longest time but when they recently announced one here at IFA. The LG G Pad 8.3 is a comeback and it’s making a big splash with a powerful hardware in a popular size and form factor.

In 2011, LG had a limited release of the Optimus Pad P980 and it retailed for Php50k (with Php15k pre-order discount).

This comeback looks pretty much spot on — full HD IPS display, really good hardware, LTE support and running Jellybean.

Here’s the complete hardware specification of the G Pad 8.3.

LG G Pad 8.3 V500 specs:
8.3-inch IPS LCD @ 1920 x 1200 pixels, 265ppi
Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 1.7GHz quad-core processor
Adreno 320 Graphics
2GB RAM
16GB internal storage
up to 64GB via microSD card
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
HSPA+/LTE 100Mbps
5MP AF rear camera
1080p video recording @ 30fps
2.1 MP front-facing camera
4600mAh Li-Ion battery
Android 4.2.2 Jellybean
216.8mm x 126.5mm x 8.3mm
338 grams (weight)

NFC is conspicuously missing while LTE modem has hexa-band support (800/850/900/1800/2100/2600MHz).

At 8.3 inches, the display is just enough; a little bigger than the iPad Mini — think iPad Retina display quality slapped into the iPad Mini form factor. Very sharp screen, vibrant colors and really crisp display quality.

The backside is made up of an aluminum panel with polycarbonate trimming, the rear camera is flushed right at the top edge while the two speakers are both situated on the left side which indicates that it’s built for horizontal orientation.

The tablet actually feels light design the metal construction, though unlike the Nexus 7, it’s hard to grasp it with one hand.

LG introduced a software feature called QPair that allows you to pair any Android smartphone to the tablet and reply/compose messages on the tablet. This is the same feature we saw with the BlackBerry Bridge although the QPair with LG supports other Android brands too.

No word though when is the Philippine release date and retail price when it lands on our shores but if we base it on the timeline of the LG G2, it could be as early as October or November.

The post Hands-on At IFA: LG G Pad 8.3 appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Hands-on at IFA: Nokia Lumia 1020

Abe Olandres Leave a comment

We finally got our hands on the Lumia 1020, the second 41MP PureView handset from Nokia (originally featured on the Nokia 808 PureView).

For the most part, the Lumia 1020 looks very similar to its predecessor (the Lumia 920) except for one major difference — the big ass camera lens at the back which houses the 41-megapixel sensor.

The handset’s polycarbonate body feels thicker or more chunky, probably due to the fact that it needed to beef up in order to house the lens. That was not really a surprise since we’ve seen how bulky the original 808 PureView 2 years ago.

Here’s a short video demo of the Pro Camera app:

That manual settings for changing ISO, white balance, etc looks pretty neat. The built-in photo editor looks very comprehensive too.

The Nokia booth had a stage set up so we can use the Lumia 1020 in action and even if the hall was actually dark, the camera performed really well.

The large Xenon flash at the back gives more character to the lens setup. The Lumia 1020 is basically the Windows Phone equivalent of the PureView 808 and unlike most other smartphones with powerful lenses, the Lumia 1020 uses a mechanical shutter, thus the thicker form factor.

The Lumia 1020 basically has the same hardware configuration as the Lumia 925 which is also under the PureView line-up though with a smaller 8.7MP sensor. This means you combine the performance of the Lumia 925 and the camera prowess of the 808 PureView then you get the Lumia 1020 PureView.

Nokia Lumia 1020 specs:
4.5-inch PureMotion HD+ ClearBlack AMOLED display @ 1280×768 pixels, 332ppi
Gorilla Glass 3
Qualcomm Snapdragon Krait 1.5GHz dual-core processor
Adreno 225 GPU
2GB RAM
32GB internal storage
3G, HSPA+, 4G LTE
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 3.0
41MP f/2.2 1/1.2″ PureView rear camera, Zeiss optics, Xenon flash
1080p HD video (low-light, image stabilization, mechanical shutter)
Pro Camera (ISO, white balance, focus & shutter speed controls)
1.3MP wide-angle front-facing camera, 720p video
GPS w/ aGPS support, GLONASS
Windows Phone 8
Li-ion 2,000mAh, non-removable
130.4 x 71.4 x 10.4 mm (dimensions)
158g (weight)

No word yet and when the Lumia 1020 will hit the Philippines but if ever it will land with the same suggested retail price as the Lumia 925 (~Php24k), it should sell quite as well.

The post Hands-on at IFA: Nokia Lumia 1020 appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Hands-on at IFA: HTC One Mini

Abe Olandres Leave a comment

We got our hands on the HTC One Mini here are the HTC booth in IFA (no HTC One Max, unfortunatey). At 4.3 inches, the One Mini is a reduced version of the flagship handset, the HTC One and also making it a direct competitor of the Galaxy S4 Mini.

The HTC One Mini retained the unibody aluminum design of the One and just added a polycarbonate trimming with glossy ceramic finish like the one we saw in the One X.

The dual stereo front speakers are still there as well as the 4MP Ultrapixel camera. The handset feels really good on the hands and has that same premium effect like the HTC One.

The 4.3-inch display has a 720p resolution which makes the screen really clear, detailed and sharp.

The UI is the same Sense 5 UI with Blink feed, the navigation is also smooth and transitions are seemless. We fired several apps and they loaded pretty quickly. We weren’t able to run any synthetic benchmarks though to check how fast that dual-core 1.4GHz Snapdragon 400 processor is.

HTC One Mini specs:
4.3-inch Super LCD2 display @ 720×1280 pixels, 342ppi
1.4GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 CPU
Adreno 305
1GB RAM
16GB internal memory
WiFi
Bluetooth
4G LTE
4MP UltraPixel camera, LED flash, 1080p HD video
1.6MP front-facing camera, 720p HD video
Android 4.2.2 Jellybean with Sense UI
1,800mAh battery
132 x 63.2 x 9.3 mm (dimensions)
122 g (weight)

One of the things that might be of concern is the 1800mAh Li-Ion battery. It may not have enough juice to last the device for the entire day even with moderate to light use. We still have to figure that out once we get a review unit (so far, HTC Philippines still has the Butterfly S and the Desire 600 in their launch line-up).

Placing the One Mini with the HTC One, the hegith fo both handsets are almost the same but the width of the HTC One Mini is tighter but a significant measure. Over-all, we were impressed with the build quality and form factor of the HTC One Mini.

Here’s our specs comparison between the Galaxy S4 Mini vs. the HTC One Mini.

The post Hands-on at IFA: HTC One Mini appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.