Nexus 9 Review: Tablets have never been sweeter!

Google has taken both their tablets, the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10, and combined them into a single powerhouse. The Nexus 9, which Google debuted on October 15th alongside the Nexus 6 and Android 5.0 Lollipop, is a top of the line device due to its killer hardware and build quality. The Nexus 9 doesn’t have all the extra features, but it does come with Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box, the 64-bit NVIDIA Tegra K1 processor, and 2 GB of RAM to power it all. Let’s jump right into the Google Nexus 9 review.

Design

The Nexus 9 has three color options available: indigo black, lunar white,and sand. It also has two storage options: 16 or 32 GB. There is an LTE version available, but it is only available in indigo black with 32 GB of storage. The device I have is the 16 GB indigo black version.

This Google tablet is constructed by HTC, who is well-known for their premium design quality on their One series. With a first glance at this device, you can tell that it is made by HTC, but it still has the familiarity of a Nexus device. The Nexus 9 comes with an 8.9 inch display in a 4:3 ratio, that I think makes the tablet easier and more enjoyable to hold.

The Nexus 9 is a very solidly built device, and that is due to the surrounding chassis that is constructed of metal. It is squared off, yet slightly angled towards the display away from the back of the device. Coming in at 7.8 mm thick, it gives enough real-estate to rest your fingers on comfortably without touching the bezels and accidentally touching the display.

On the right side of the frame are both the power button and volume rockers. HTC did a great job of hiding the buttons, and it makes the edge look seamless. This is both good and bad. While it makes the device look as sleek as ever, it also is a chore to find which button to press. Since the buttons are near flush with the chassis of the device, it tough to know if you are on the volume rockers or power button until you press them.

The back of the device has the classic Nexus soft-touch feel that can be seen on previous Google devices. While it is a fingerprint magnet, it is definitely worth it. The soft-touch back makes the device very easy to hold without the fear of dropping it.

Display

Google has stepped up their display quality in 2014. The Nexus 9 packs an 8.9 inch IPS display with a resolution of 2048 x 1536. The ppi for this device comes in at 281, which is higher than Apple’s iPad Air 2 at 264 ppi

The display which is a 4:3 ratio, looks its best when it is showing dark content, especially while watching movies. Since the device doesn’t have a 16:9 ratio, videos will naturally have black bars on the top and bottom of the video to compensate for the extra space. Darker games and movies look amazing on the Nexus 9, but once content has brighter and flashier graphics, the display doesn’t pop as well.

Aside from content, Android 5.0 Lollipop takes full advantage of the display and everything Google branded looks great and very crisp. You can tell that the Google-based apps are optimized for the 4:3 ratio.

While the Nexus 9 excels at displaying darker content and its own operating system, it also is very good at displaying text. The IPS display isn’t very bright or saturated, so it makes it easier on the eyes while reading.

Sound

This category is just for this device, since the Nexus 9 is HTC made. The Nexus 9 features HTC’s own BoomSound speakers on the front panel of the device, one on the bottom and one on the top to create a stereo effect. Front-facing speakers have been one of the more popular features to come on devices since HTC made it popular, and for good reason.

Front-facing speakers is a feature I think all devices, especially tablets need to have. I am glad Google included this, and they are loud. The sound is very crisp, even at loud volumes. Mids and highs come through very well, and low-end/bass is better than average. When bass gets too low, it drones out, but that is expected from such small speakers.

My only complaint about the speakers on the Nexus 9 is that they are sunk down into the front of the device. As you can see in the picture, it leads to dust being caught in the speaker grill.

Performance

This tablet sports top-notch specifications that render the device ‘future proof’. Google went with the 64-bit NVIDIA Tegra K1 dual-core processor that is clocked at 2.3 GHz. It’s supported by 2 GB of RAM and the all-new Android 5.0 Lollipop.

This is a stock-Android device, so there is no bloatware, just pre-installed Google apps. There is nothing this device can’t handle. On all my previous Android devices, I always tend to modify the animations speed in the developer options and set it at .5x, but this is the only device I decided against it.With the updated Android OS, navigation is as smooth as ever and transitions are always at a high frame rate.

I found myself using the multitasking button more than ever due to how smooth Android 5.0 Lollipop is on the Nexus 9. It is quick and painless switching between apps, and like I stated earlier, the animations and transitions make it everything more enjoyable.

The device does take a little longer to open and close heavier apps/games such as games like Leo’s Fortune. When more screen-intensive apps are open, expect the processor to get warm. It isn’t anything too outrageous.

Battery

The Nexus 9 sports a modest 6700 mAh battery that can travel the distance, but it also can be underwhelming. The battery life will definitely be determined on how you use this device, which can be said for all devices.

One thing the device has going for it in the battery department is the excellent standby time. While I consistently use my tablet, it is left to idle the majority of the time during my busy schedule (working, sleeping, and going to school). I will lose around 1-2% over a 8-10 hour period, which is very good.

While the standby time is great, I expected more optimization due to the new ART run-time and the latest 5.0 update. I will give Google a beak on the Nexus 9, due to the fact that Lollipop just got released, and more updates will ensue. Not only did battery life not live up to my expectations, the charging time is the worst part. It regularly takes hours to charge the device, especially if you are down on the 10-15% range.

I can expect around 4-6 hours of screen on time with normal to heavier usage on one charge. Once I start pushing the Tegra K1, there is a steep drop in battery life. Below are some battery statistics screenshots from my device.

Conclusion

Overall, this tablet is one of the best Android tablets I’ve seen, and is the only one to offer a pure Android experience. If you are an Android-enthusiast there is no question; this is the device you want. Between the awesome Tegra K1 processor and prompt updates, you can’t go wrong.

There is not an area that the device falls behind the competition, and the majority of things that are wrong with it are very fixable via software updates. Android 5.0 Lollipop brings the ultimate Android experience with some bugs, but it is still fairly new. I expect the performance of the Nexus 9 only to improve. Google has brought me back into the tablet world with how well this device performs and I would definitely recommend the Nexus 9 to anyone.

If you are in the market for a tablet, this one won’t come at the cheapest price. The 16 GB version is $399.99, the 32 GB version is $479.99, and the LTE version is $599.99.

My original post can be seen below

Read more: http://www.androidguys.com/2014/11/15/google-nexus-9-review/#ixzz3JSWjpTjG
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Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet (Verizon Wireless) Review

Tablet popularity has been on a slight decline ever since smartphones manufacturers have begun to push out devices with five plus inch screens. Anything our tablets can do, our phones can do as well. This leaves manufactures to come up with different features on tablets aside from a bigger display. If one manufacturer has the ability to to bring the tablet back to popularity, it would be Sony.

Sony has been in the tablet market since 2011 with the release of its first device called the Tablet S, so they are well-versed in both function and design. Sony is taking the approach of a solidly built device that is equally strong in the aesthetics category as it is in the performance category. Let's take a look at the Xperia Z2 Tablet LTE version.

Design

The Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet has a very familiar design, one that everyone will recognize immediately from other Xperia devices. It comes with a 10.1 inch display with marginal bezels to compensate on the sides of the device. It has the very square, yet rounded design that gives a sleek look, that is still comfortable to hold in the hand.

To make the form-factor even better, the Xperia Z2 Tablet comes with an IP55/58. This makes the device waterproof and dust-resistant. Do you ever feel like taking the tablet to the lake, but are afraid of getting a little water on it? A little water never hurt anything, and this device can be submerged in water as deep as 1.5 meters for up to 30 minutes, although we don't recommend risking it! Leave it to accidents only.

This Sony tablet comes in with dimensions of 6.8 x 10.47 x .25 inches (172 x 266 x 6.4 mm) which give it one of the slimmest designs to-date in a tablet form factor. Comparing the Z2 Tablet to a Surface 2, and iPad Air, Sony's tablet is considerable thinner. The Surface 2 comes in at .35 inches or 8.89 mm and the iPad Air comes in at .29 inches or 7.5 mm. This makes the Z2 Tablet 18% than its Microsoft-built competitor and 15% thinner than its Apple-built competitor.

To top off the amazing thinness of the tablet, it only comes in at 15.48 ounces or 439 grams. It is very well-balanced and light so you can hold the it in your hands for hours as you watch movies, YouTube, or play games. This also comes in lighter than the Surface 2 (1.49 lbs or 676 grams)  and the iPad Air (1 lbs or 469 grams).

The Z2 Tablet has the classic Xperia style lock-button and volume rockers that are tight to the frame, yet have a satisfying click to them. Both of these buttons are on the left side of the device. On the top side of the device, there are the slots for both the SIM and microSD cards. Just to the right of the slots, is the microUSB charging port. All of these slots are housed under water-tight flaps. The Xperia Z2 Tablet also comes with an RF blaster to control your TV programming.

Display

Sony has always been a leader when it comes to crisp displays and that doesn't change on the Z2 Tablet. This device comes with a 10.1 inch Triluminos display with IPS technology, and a resolution of 1920 x 1200. This display comes in at a very respectable pixel density of 224 ppi. The IPS technology is a key feature on this the Z2 tablet. IPS makes it so the display can be seen at sharp angles. This makes it great for watching movies, games, etc., with a few friends no big deal.

Sony has taken their Triluminos technology from their TV line and it was definitely a great choice. The picture is immersive, yet it isn't over-saturated as much as Samsung's displays are, so they did a great job of finding the middle ground.

Like we mentioned above, the viewing angles on the Xperia Z2 Tablet are phenomenal. They really stand out when the device is in a darker room and there is minimal glare on the screen. 

This display is great for watching videos in full HD. We would turn to using this device over my current phone just to watch videos on YouTube due to the great color-match and the devices ability to enhance the color/contrast to make the video more vivid. It has deep blacks which make watching darker films, such as Batman look amazing.

Performance

Sony did not skimp on specifications when it came to developing their newest Xperia Tablet. The Z2 Tablet comes with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 801 processor that is clocked at 2.3 GHz, 32 GB of ROM, 3 GB of RAM, and it is running Android KitKat 4.4.2 out of the box. This makes it one zippy device.

Sony does fill the device with Sony-tailored applications such as Walkman, PlayStation, and Xperia Lounge. It isn't to the point that other OEM's like to do, which is a good sign.

Performance was never an issue with this device. Sony has always done a good job of not laying their UI too heavy over stock Android, and this device is no different. Multitasking and app switching is a breeze with little-to-no lag whatsoever. The Snapdragon 801 combined with 3 GB of RAM makes going through this device as easy as a hot knife cutting through butter. There was never a delay from switching through apps or navigating through the application drawer.

If you are a gamer, this device can handle the best of them. We've tried games such as Leo's Fortune and Dead Trigger 2 with no ill-effects. The device kept pace and did not bog-down or cause the device to heat up.

Battery

One of the biggest selling points of this device aside from its vivid display, is its massive 6000 mAh battery. Sony has been one of the leaders when it comes to battery life, and the Xperia Z2 Tablet is no different. The device consistantly got us through the day, with as much as five-plus hours of on-screen time. Below you can see a view device screenshots.

As expected. the screen takes up the vast majority of the battery life. With moderate usage such as Facebook, email, and YouTube, we had over three hours of screen-on time with just 40% used up. With a full days usage of playing games and watching YouTube videos, we got around 6 1/2 hours of screen on time. We didn't change any display settings, all were factory set. This means we had auto-brightness going the entire time, to mimic standard usage as much as possible. 

The device definitely gets great battery life and it charges very quickly, as the above picture shows. If you were to turn the brightness to a very low level, we have full confidence you could squeeze out 7-10 hours of screen on time with this device. It can definitely handle long trips without a need for a power outlet. 

Other Features

• Dual front-facing speakers
• Sony's S-Force surround sound
• PS3 Dualshock controller connectivity
• 8.1 megapixel rear-facing camera (no flash)
• 2.2 megapixel front-facing camera

Conclusion

Overall, this tablet is a great device and we hard a hard time finding something that we didn't like about it. The device comes with a solid spec sheet that does not disappoint. If you are a very media-oriented person, the Xperia Z2 Tablet is perfect for you. The full HD display with 3 GB's of RAM is more than enough for any thing that might need to be done on a tablet. 

If you are looking to pick up a new tablet in the near feature, especially one with an Android operating system, we strongly recommend the Z2 Tablet. With a $499.99 price-tag, it is definitely not a budget device, but if you want a well-performing device, this is it. It gives the iPad Air and Surface 2 a run for their money.

Sony Store

Overall 9/10

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Review: Motorola Moto E

I've been excited to have a look at the Moto E since its announcement in the middle of May. At $129 US, the Moto E is about the same price as dinner and a movie, and the buzz about how well it performs in the entry-level smartphone domain put it at the top of my wishlist. I've had a little time with it, and have to say I'm not disappointed in the least. After years of low-priced models that failed to deliver, Motorola found their niche. Now they have expanded it with an even lower priced model in the Moto E. Let's have a quick look at how it fares in daily use.

HIGHS

• It costs $130
• Comes with Android 4.4 KitKat
• Comfortable to hold
• Great battery life
• Decent-sounding speakers
• Moto Alert is useful
• MicroSD slot included for expanded storage

LOWS

• No 4G LTE
• 4GB of internal storage is not enough
• Crappy rear cam, no front cam
• Screen has poor viewing angles
• Battery cover rattles
• No NFC

Design:

The Moto E looks very much like it's big brothers the Moto G and the Moto X — two phones I'm very familiar with. You've the same friendly rounded design with a scalloped top on the back, the same rounded corners and camera trim ring, and even the buttons and ports are in the same spot. The back is a removable plastic shell, and like the Moto G there are replacement covers in an assortment of colors. It's slightly smaller — especially compared to the Moto X — but aside from a few small cosmetic differences, the design language follows through the whole family. Ask anyone using a Moto X or one of the Droid variants on Verizon and they'll tell you that this is a good thing. It fits well in your hand, feels solid, and while not made of any fancy materials like wood or aluminum, it's very well built. Better built than the $129 price tag suggests.

Screen:

One of the main cutbacks of the Moto E is the screen. It’s a 4.3-inch 960 x 540 pixel display, a little smaller and significantly lower-res than the Moto G’s 4.5-inch 720p screen.

Those used to high resolution phones will notice the slightly more jaggedy edges of text characters, and a lack of fine detail in games.

Is it a big sacrifice for the sake of £20 or so? Yes, but the Moto E display can still go head-to-head with phones that cost upwards of £150. At £80 it's class-leading. Many far more expensive phones than the Moto E ‘make do’ with a similar 960 x 540 pixel screen. 

These include the Sony Xperia M2 (4.8 inches), the HTC Desire 601 (4.7 inches) and LG G2 Mini (4.7 inches).  All cost more than twice the price of the Motorola Moto E. It’s an eye-opener.

Image quality is good too. Colours are well-saturated among sub-£150 phones, contrast is good and viewed straight on black level is marginally better than the Moto G. Viewing angles are a bit weaker, though. There’s a bit of brightness loss at an angle, although we doubt many will try to share a screen this size anyway. 

Camera:

The Motorola Moto E has a very basic camera get-up. There’s no front-facing camera and no rear flash. This means no selfies, no video chat and any photos you take at poorly-lit parties will probably look dreadful. Just as important, the Moto E’s main 5-megapixel camera has a fixed focus, rather than an autofocus lens. You can’t make the camera lock onto a specific subject, just point and shoot. Moving the ‘aim’ reticule in the camera app only affects exposure. 

It has been a while since we’ve seen a fixed focus phone camera, and despite the low £80 price we find this a little disappointing. A fixed camera means the Moto E cannot take close-up photos at all – the subject will simply be out of focus: 

Image quality is acceptable given our limited expectations of a 5-megapixel camera these days, but it is most definitely a serious compromise. Pictures are often a little glum-looking, with somewhat anaemic colours and low contrast, but you can just about scrape together some share-able shots with the phone. 

Battery Life:

The Motorola Moto E has a fairly chunky battery of 1,980mAh. That’s a mite smaller than the 2,070mAh unit of the Moto G, but the difference is accounted for by the smaller, lower-resolution screen.

You can pop the plastic cover off the back to see the battery's footprint, but it's locked in place. You can't replace it easily.

With light use you'll be able to squeeze about a day and a half out of the phone, but so far we've struggled to get the near two day's performance we commonly get from the Moto G.

Part of the reason may be that the Moto E's Snapdragon 200 chip is rather less efficient that modern chips like the Snapdragon 801 - the opposite of what you might expect. We're trying to find out from Qualcomm whether the Moto G's Snapdragon 400 has slightly more advanced power efficiency measures. The battery still drains down a bit overnight at a rate of a few per cent an hour. This precludes getting the sort of 15 to 20-day standby some pricier phones claim.

Should I buy the Motorola Moto E?

The Motorola Moto E sits in a tricky spot. Among its sub-£100 peers, it offers better basics than the competition. The screen, software and design are great for the price.

But if you’re willing to pay a little more, you get a significant bump-up in quality by moving up to the Moto G. Its screen is better, its camera much more versatile and there are very real benefits in moving up to a quad-core Snapdragon 400 CPU from the Moto E’s dual-core Snapdragon 200.

However, we think that more casual users not obsessed with tech specs will find the Moto E a dream to live with. Motorola has picked its battles carefully with the Moto E, and as such it is almost as great a success as the Moto G, but one with a different audience in mind. That audience is not the typical TrustedReviews reader, but this is a phone even tech enthusiasts will be able to live with happily enough.

As long as you don't want a good camera. It's rubbish.

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Sony SmartWatch 2: Full review

Smartwatches are slowly entering our lives whether we like it or not. They are becoming more and more popular with every feature that gets added to each device. Eventually, smartwatches will be as popular as Bluetooth headsets and just as powerful as our phones. Slowly, but surely, manufacturers like Sony are ironing out bugs, adding performance, and designing watches that don't make the user... well for lack of a better term, look like a nerd.

The SmartWatch 2 is Sony's second stab at the smartwatch market. It has an overall sleek design that comes with an aluminum body that is IP57 rated, supports Android 4.0 or higher, and sports a 1.6 inch transflective LCD screen with a resolution of 220 x 176 (176 ppi). It comes with an ambient light sensor and three off-screen buttons: home, back, and menu. The device supports NFC and Bluetooth connectivity for pairing it to your device.

Design

The overall design of the SmartWatch 2 has a both the premium feel and look. Sony did a very good job of mimicking the look and feel of their Xperia phone line on this watch. It has the same flat edges, rounded corners, silver lip protecting the screen, and a circular lock button.  The chassis is made out of aluminum that comes with an IP 57 rating, which means it is not entirely protected from the ingress of dust and it can sustain being under one meter of water for at least 30 minutes. This means you can wash your hands without worry of wrecking your brand new smartwatch.

Overall, the device is very light. It comes in at 122.5 grams, or just of 4 ounces including the stock wristband. The device has an option of two wristband styles, silicon and metal. The silicon version comes in at a cheaper price, but don't worry, any 24 mm wristband will fit the watch-face. Sony did a good job not limiting its customers to only their wristbands. It is very easy to find an alternative.


Screen

The screen may not have the most crisp display, but it definitely does its job as far as being a watch. Going from inside to outdoors, the watch does a good job of adjusting the display. It makes it very easy to glance at the watch to get the time with out tapping the screen or pressing the lock button to brighten the display. We had no trouble seeing the time or other notifications in broad-daylight.

The main reason the device is so successful outdoors, is its transflective display. This means that along with transmitting light for the display, it reflects the incoming light back out. It has the ability to have the pixels be illuminated from both the front of the display and from behind the display. Along with the benefit of being able to see the watchface in daylight, it saves battery consumption. It does not have to continue brightening the LCD panel to compensate the ambient light.



This is one thing Sony did exceptionally well. It made the SmartWatch 2 functional for what its main purpose is: being a watch. Sony made sure that while the device is a 'smart' watch, it didn't lose sight of its most important, yet most basic feature. With the smartwatch market on the rise, many manufacturers are trying to pack as many features as possible to 'one up' or make theirs better than the competition. They lose focus on the reason of having a watch: to see the time at a glance.

Battery

Battery life has been the big surprise for the SmartWatch 2. On the box, it says battery life is three to four days, and that is definitely on par. We got a full four days out of the device with ease. Coming to the fifth day, we were around 20% battery, so we gave in and put it on the charger. We had all notifications enabled, so it would vibrate due to text messages, Facebook notifications, phone calls, etc. Although the it may not have the best screen, it definitely makes up for it with the extended battery life; especially when comparing it to the all-new Moto 360 that makes it around one or two days (the Moto 360 does have more features though). 

Operating System

The big question on the Sony SmartWatch line has been the operating system. Sony hasn't adopted Google's Android Wear operating system because of the amount of time and research they have put into their own. The plus side of this, is that it adds to the overall battery life. Android Wear has been known to drain battery life with its amount of features, but that isn't the case of the SmartWatch 2.

For those who consider Android Wear a deal-breaker, don't worry. Sony's SmartWatch 3 does comes with Android Wear as its Operating System instead of Sony's in-house OS.

Performance

For the most part, our time with the SW2 was pleasant one. The device is very responsive alerts the user of the notifications almost instantaneously. When we had an incoming call, the SW2 would actually start vibrating before our actually phone, so that was nice.

Occasionally, if we wanted to reject a call with a message or reply to a text message, the application would freeze up. We could scroll through the pre-made messages and smiley-faces, however when we would press the option we wanted, it would not send. This became bothersome, and the only way to get it to work, was resetting the device. Fortunately, the SW2 has a relatively quick boot time. 

Missing features

Some features that are a must that don't come on the SmartWatch 2 is a microphone and speaker. Without a microphone mounted on the watch, texting custom messages from the watch is impossible; minus the fact that you can send emoticons and pre-made texts such as "I'm in class." The SW2 also gives you the option of dialing phone numbers or contacts straight from the device, but it seems counter-intuitive. You can dial from your watch, yet you have to take your phone out of your pocket to field the call.

Conclusion

Overall, the Sony SmartWatch 2 is a great starter smartwatch. It doesn't have all the features that a $200-300 smartwatch would have, but it only comes in at around $140 on average, which makes it a great value. It may not have the flashy features, but we didn't mind. The first and foremost reason for having a watch is the ability to tell the time, and the SW2 does a fantastic job at that. We will give the credit on that one to the transflective display.

If you are looking at test-driving a smartwatch to see if this is the device you 'can't live without', we recommend picking up the SmartWatch 2. It is a great starter watch at a very reasonable price.

It is a great start and step in the right direction for Sony's version of the smartwatch. We are looking forward to the SmartWatch 3 to see how Sony improved upon this solid device.

Overall: 7/10

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Reasons why you should install Chrome Beta

One of the most popular internet browsers on today's market is Google Chrome. It has over 500,000,000 million downloads making it the most dominant internet app on the Play Store. Trailing it is Firefox with a mere 50,000,000+ downloads.

Google Chrome makes it easy to integrate web browsing from all of our devices with just one click. It transfers bookmarks and browsing history, making it very convenient to get to very website on all devices.

What makes Google Chrome Beta even better, is that you see what Google Chrome will become before the next major update. It is almost an entirely different app. Chrome Beta comes with a flatter appeal to it, similar to the style expected on the upcoming Android L. The text and icons are a little smaller, but it makes the design look better, cutting away any extra bloat.

Along with the new look, it seems to have enhanced performance. Changing through tabs is a breeze and the animations are crisp and don't delay. Swiping away tabs has a refined animation where they fade away into the distance making it look cleaner. Opening a new tab has a quicker, more fluent animation as well. They have also moved the search bar when opening a new tab. It is in the middle of the page under the Google logo making it much quicker to search from a new tab.

If you like Google Chrome as is, we strongly recommend you give Chrome Beta a try because it is stock Chrome and then some. Plus, if you want a sneak peak as to what is to come on Chrome and even Android L, it is worth giving it a download.

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