Which Phablet

While the original HTC Butterfly was a very nice phablet in its own right, it was never quite a popular device. The fault lies mainly on the part of HTC: the phone was sold to limited markets, it was not marketed enough and the selling price was quite high. It looked that HTC’s strategy from the start has always been to put all its effort in the marketing and selling of the HTC One, which was released not long after the HTC Butterfly.

Now that the HTC One has been out for a few months and selling very well, the company has recently announced the availability of the HTC Butterfly S. The Butterfly S comes with a 5 inch display, just like its predecessor. The display is therefore 0.3 inches larger than that of the HTC One – an advantage in the eyes of some and a disadvantage to those who prefer smaller screens. However, as far as I am concerned, the larger screen is an advantage. The screen is capable of 1080 x 1920 pixel resolutions, just like the HTC One, with a 441 ppi pixel density.

Having dimensions of 144.5 x 70.5 x 10.6 mm (5.69 x 2.78 x 0.42 inches) and weighing 160g, it can come to a surprise that the second generation Butterfly is slightly larger and heavier than the original Butterfly. However there are two main reasons for this: the addition of a second speaker on the front of the phone and a larger battery.

As a matter of fact, the Butterfly S comes with a 3200 mAh battery, which is not removable. As expected, such a large battery gives impressive results and as per GSM Arena’s Butterfly S battery endurance test, the battery rated significantly higher than the Samsung Galaxy S4 battery endurance score.

Benchmark tests have shown that the Butterfly S is slightly faster than the HTC One and about as fast as the Samsung Galaxy S4. The Butterfly S runs on the Qualcomm APQ8064T Snapdragon 600 chipset. Inside the smartphone one will find a quad-core 1.9 GHz Krait 300 processor, an Adreno 320 graphics processing unit and 2 GB of RAM. The new phablet has 16GB of internal memory, which can be expanded by a further 64GB by inserting a microSD card. This is definitely a plus over the HTC One, which does not possess a microSD card slot.

The primary camera supports 4 megapixels and resolutions of 2688 x 1520 pixels. While the lens is the same as that on the HTC One, it does not include image stabilization, a useful feature that is found on the HTC One. Video recording is carried out as 1080p@30fps.

Camera features include LED flash, autofocus, high dynamic range imaging (HDR), face and smile detection, geo-tagging and simultaneous HD video and image recording. When one considers that fact that Samsung, Sony and other manufacturers already use 13 MP cameras on their high end smartphones, it seems that HTC still have to catch its competitors on this regards. The secondary camera comes with a 2.1 MP lens.

The Butterfly S runs on Jelly Bean version 4.2.2, which is the latest Android OS at the time of writing. Useful features on this Android phablet include an FM radio with RDS, NFC and infrared ports as well as compass, gyro, accelerometer and proximity sensors.

To conclude I must say that the Butterfly S is an impressive device from HTC. Some people might prefer it to the HTC One due to the faster processor, the bigger screen and the microSD card slot. Having said this it does not look as nice as the HTC One and its beautiful aluminium body, but for some people this might only be a minor detail. The Butterfly S sells about US $770, which is equivalent to GBP 495 or EUR 580.

According to recent news, Nokia will soon be releasing a new phablet by the name of Lumia 825. The 825 will have a display size of 5.2 inches, which will make it the largest Nokia Lumia on the market. This move was an expected one from LG given that all the major smartphone manufacturers like Samsung, HTC, Sony and LG have been releasing smartphones with large displays as of late.

However, it looks that Nokia will be placing this particular model to compete with middle range smartphones and phablets. As a matter of fact, the 825 is expected to sport a quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor running at 1.2 GHz and a Qualcomm Adreno 305 GPU.

If the rumours are correct, the Lumia 825 is dual SIM capable. It is also expected to support the NFC (near field communication) protocol and well as Miracast wireless connectivity. Miracast wireless connectivity is a new technology that allows you to stream content wirelessly to a TV set. The 825 should also support Qualcomm’s Quick Charge, which would enable the phablet to be charged more quickly.

The Lumia 825 will run on Windows 8 GDR3. This Windows version supports 1080p resolution screens, however the 825 is expected to have a 720p screen in any case. There is no official date for the release of Nokia’s latest phablet, but rumours suggest that the phablet may be released as early as October or possibly early next year.

The Moto X is Motorola’s new flagship smartphone, having been unveiled to the public on 1^st August. The hype surrounding this phone has been ongoing for some time but now the wait is over.

The Moto X has a 4.7 inches display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels and a 312 ppi pixel density. The Moto X weighs 130 g (4.59 oz) while the body has dimensions of 129.3 x 65.3 x 10.4 mm (5.09 x 2.57 x 0.41 in). Even with display size of 4.7 inches, this large smartphone feels narrower than competing devices, maily due to the very narrow bezel. In view of this people who find 5 inch phablets to be very large might still like the size of the Moto X.

Inside the Moto X one will find 16/32 GB of internal memory and 2 GB of RAM. Unfortunately it is not possible to upgrade the internal memory, so one should think about it before forking the money on the 16 GB version.

The Motorola X smartphone uses a Dual-core 1.7 GHz Krait CPU, which runs on Qualcomm’s MSM8960Pro Snapdragon chipset. The graphics processor is an Adreno 320. Thus the processor is no match to the quad core processors running on the HTC One, Sony Xperia Z or Samsung Galaxy S4, at least from a benchmarking point of view.

Having said this, I am no means implying that the Moto X is a slow performer. Truth to be told, Motorola’s new smartphone is a very good performer. As a matter of fact in Phone Arena’s Motorola Moto X vs Samsung Galaxy S4 article, the reviewer suggests that the user interface of the Moto X is on average more responsive than that on the Galaxy S4.

Motorola’s mini phablet runs on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, which is almost in stock form. This is perhaps one of the main reasons why the UI on the X is so responsive and quick.

The Motorola Moto X has some nice features that are not available in other smartphone models. One such useful feature is Moto Assist. This feature first determines that you are driving a car (or assuming you are driving one as you may be in a passenger seat) and then it will start dictating any emails or text messages you receive while you are driving. Another useful feature is that of activating the camera by turning your wrist twice.

Moto X also includes a voice activation feature that can be used to carry out various functions like doing a Google search or searching for an Italian restaurant in the vicinity, all without having to touch the phone.

Reviews suggest that the 10 megapixel rear camera produces good quality photos. Camera features include autofocus, LED flash, high density range imaging (HDR), panorama, face detection, touch focus and geo-tagging. Video recordings are carried out at a maximum resolution of 1080p@30fps. The  secondary camera is a 2 megapixel one that also support 1080p video recordings.

The Moto X also includes a variety of sensors: temperature, barometer, compass, proximity, accelerometer and gyro. The NFC (near field communication) feature is also available rolex replica. Power is provided by means of a 2200 mAh battery, which according to the manufacturer provides up to 576 hours of standby time and up to 13 hours of talk time.

While the front panel of the Moto X is available in black or white, it is quite interesting that the back panel can be found in a plethora of colours, eighteen to be exact. Owners of a new Moto X should be entitled to a few 50 GB Google Drive.

While the Motorola Moto X may not be the revolutionary smartphone that Motorola or Google (who owns Motorola) may want us to believe, it is still a great smartphone in its own right. The X phone should already be available from some the major carriers. However I still have no idea how much will the unlocked version cost.

Nokia unveiled the Lumia 625 about three weeks ago. When it will be released in the stores, it will be the largest Windows mobile phone to date with a 4.7 inch display, having a 199 ppi pixel density and a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. The 625 has dimensions of 133.3 x 72.3 x 9.2 mm (5.25 x 2.85 x 0.36 inches) and weighs 159 g (5.61 oz).

The new Nokia phablet is no powerhouse as it is an entry level mini phablet. In fact, the Lumia 625 has a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual core processor and an Adreno 305 GPU. Internally it has 8 GB of memory, with the possibility of upgrading it by a further 64 GB of memory and 512 MB of RAM.

The 625 will have a 5 megapixel main camera which supports resolutions of 2592х1936 pixels and video playback at 1080p@30fps. LED flash, autofocus, touch focus and geo-tagging are features that will be included in the camera. While the new Lumia will have a front faced VGA camera, no further information is available at the time of writing.

As can be expected with any Lumia, the 625 will run on Windows Phone 8, with the possibility of upgrading it to Windows Phone 8 Amber at a later stage. Lumia 625 buyers should be provided with a free Microsoft SkyDrive storage of 7 GB.

Nokia’s new smartphone has a 2000 mAh battery Lithium Ion battery. According to Nokia, this will provide up to 552 hours of standby time and up to 90 hours of music play time. The manufacturer states that the battery is expected to provide up to 24 hours of talk time on 2G networks and up to 15 hours and 10 minutes of talk time on 3G networks.

The Nokia Lumia 625 also includes an FM radio and should be available in the following colours: white, black, yellow, orange and bright green. An interesting accessory for the 625 is the Coloud Boom headphones, which includes a microphone and control key. If the rumours are correct, the 625 should be available at the stores in August 28. Having said this, it is already available for presale in Russia for the price of 11900 Rubles, which is about US $361, €272 or GBP 231.

The LG Optimus G2 is LG’s latest flagship phablet that have only been announced by the company on August 7^th. The G2 has a beautiful 1080 x 1920 pixels display with a pixel density of 424 pixels per inch. Having a display of 5.2 inches, it marginally larger than the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Sony Xperia Z, however the difference in size is hardly noticeable.

As a matter of fact, the LG Optimus G2 measures 138.5 x 70.9 x 8.9 mm (5.45 x 2.79 x 0.35 inches) when compared to Samsung Galaxy S4’s dimensions of 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9 mm (5.38 x 2.75 x 0.31 inches). On the other hand, the G4 weighs 143 g (5.04 oz) while the S4 weighs 130 g (4.59 oz).

LG’s new phablet comes with a quad-core 2.26 GHz Krait 400 that runs on Qualcomm’s MSM8974 Snapdragon 800 chipset. The graphics processing unit is an Adreno 330. It has 32 GB of internal memory of which 24 GB is available to the user and 2 GB of RAM. The Optimus G2 comes with Android version 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

The main camera can take up to 13 megapixel photos while video recording is carried out at 1080p@60fps. As one can expect, camera features include face detection, optical image stabilization, GEO tagging and high-dynamic-range imaging. The secondary camera has a 2.1 megapixel lens and supports 1080p@30fps videos.

The G2 comes with a 3000 mAh battery. On paper it looks that battery life will be better than the 2600 mAh battery on the Galaxy S4, though one would need to wait for more detailed battery comparison tests to come to a definitive conclusion on this regards.

The Optimus G2 includes a compass, gyro, proximity sensor and accelerometer sensor. Also included is a stereo FM radio, a feature that is nowadays omitted in many other smartphone and phablet models. LG’s latest phablet is available in white or black rolex replica watches. On the downside is the fact that the G2 cannot be upgraded by means of a micro-SD card. Another disadvantage is that the battery is not removable.

According to the information available, there is also a Korean version of the LG Optimus G2. The main difference is that the battery is a smaller one at 2610 mAh, however it is a removable one. The Korean version is also slightly thicker at 9.14 mm (0.36 inches), probably due to the removable battery. Also the Korean version only comes with a 16 GB of internal memory, however it can be upgraded by means of a micro-SD card.

As per my post My Sony Xperia Z Review – Part 2 – Unboxing and Observing the Physical Features, a Sony Xperia Z charging dock (code named DK26) was included when I got my phablet. I have to say that a charging dock is not included automatically with the purchase of any Sony Xperia Z. When a colleague of mine bought his Xperia Z a couple of months before I purchased mine, he did not have a charging dock in the box.

Obviously, the price of the Xperia Z went down in those two months and while I bought my phablet at the same price as my colleague, I got some additional items in the box, namely two Xperia SmartTags, a front and a back screen protector and the charging dock itself.

Why get a charging dock, one may ask, if you can charge the phablet through the USB port? The answer is rather simple. In order to charge the phone one needs to remove the flap / USB protective cover that covers the USB port. Opening and closing the flap day in day out may wear down the rubber lining in the flaps, thus reducing the water proofing capabilities in the process. When using the charging dock, there is no such worry.

The charging dock is in itself a very simple device. The charging process is carried out by two small prongs which touch two small metal plates when the Xperia Z is inserted into the docking station. However, using the charging dock also has the following disadvantages:

1. The charging dock is only useful to charge the phablet. It is not possible to use the charging dock to transfer files. In order to transfer files you need to make the use of the USB port or else you can use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth transfer. On the same lines, you cannot use the dock to display video to a TV.
2. In order to charge the Xperia Z, you need to connect the dock to a mains charger. Connecting the dock to a USB hub or directly to the PC will not work.

While the Xperia Z is being charged in the dock, you can still use basic functions of the phablet like browsing the menus on the phone, accessing applications, viewing videos and playing music.

The Xperia Z DK26 dock is available from Amazon.co.uk for £20.83 while Amazon.com is selling the dock for $26.99. The DK26 dock is also available for sale for Sony’s online store, eBay and online stores. It is worth noting that the dock does not come with a mains charger and USB cable, but obviously, you already get these with your Sony Xperia Z.

While not having the same feeling as the physical keyboard on my old HTC Touch Pro, the on touch screen on the Z is very simple to use. Given the big screen and my fairly small fingers, it is easy to press the right buttons, especially when using the phablet in portrait mode.

There are various keyboard and language related customizations that can be carried out. These settings allow you, amongst others, to change the skin and the layout option of the on screen keyboard and to change the default language. The keyboard settings can be accessed by going to Settings and then choosing Languages & input.

Pressing Languages & input takes you to a sub menu where you can change various other settings:

• Turn spell checker on or off.
• Turn Google voice typing on or off.  Clicking this option takes you to another submenu when you can choose to block offensive words and download offline speech recognition. The English offline speech recognition files are downloaded by default (at least mine were already there) and take 22MB of space. However you can choose to download the offline speech recognition files for other languages.

Pressing Xperia keyboard will take you to another submenu:

• Personalization guide: this will allow you to change the keyboard layout.
• Languages: here you will find two different options:
  • Writing languages: by default English is selected, but you may choose other languages as well.
  • Bilingual word suggestion: this will allow you to select a secondary language so that you can get word suggestions from two languages at the same time.
  • Keyboard appearance: here you will find three different options:
    • Keyboard layout: allows you to change from three different keyboard layouts.
    • Additional keys: Allows you to add the full stop and comma keys and the smiley keys in the keyboard layout, should you wish to do so.
    • Keyboard skins: allows you to change from three different skins.
    • Text input settings:
      • My words: pressing this option will come up with a list of words that you have inputted and accepted but are not present in the dictionary. This will allow you to edit or deleted words in the list.
      • Automatic space: checking this option will add a space automatically when a word suggestion is suggested.
      • Quick fixes: checking this option will carry out some quick fixes, like for example replace two spaces with full-stop followed by space.
      • Word suggestions: pressing this option will allow you to correct misspellings automatically or get word suggestions. Pressing this option will bring the following check list:
        • Select the first option if you want to allow your typos to be autocorrected.
        • Select the second option if you only want upper case and accented letters automatically.
        • Select the third option if you never want to have any letters or words replaced.
        • Select the fourth option if you never want any help when writing, not even suggestions.
• Gesture input: this will allow you to write by sliding your finger from letter to letter, lifting it only between words. (To be honest, I have not understood exactly what this option does, even though mine is enabled).
• Space between gestures: this option will allow you to automatically accept the previous word and add a space before the new input gesture.
• Google voice typing key: check this option will allow you to accept voice input from the keyboard.
• Sound and vibrate: pressing this option will bring another sub menu:
  • Vibration of keypress: selecting this option should cause vibrations with key presses. To be honest I do not know exactly when these vibrations happen.
  • Vibration intensity: pressing this will bring up a slider which will allow you to vary the intensity of the vibrations, provided the above option is enabled.
  • Sound of keypress: check this box if you would like to hear a sound with every keypress.
  • Sound volume: pressing this will bring up a slider which will allow you to vary the sound volume of the key presses, provided the above option is enabled.

Voice Search: pressing this option will bring a submenu:

• Language: this will allow you to change the default language from English to some other language.
• Speech output: selecting this option will bring another submenu:
  • Always: select this option if you want speech output to be available always.
  • Informative only: select this option if you just want informative speech output.
  • Hands-free only: select this option if you want the speech output to be only available in hands-free mode.
  • Block offensive words: selecting this option will allow you to hide offensive voice results.
  • Download offline speech recognition. This option will allow you to enable voice input when offline. The English offline speech recognition files are downloaded by default (at least mine were already there) and take 22MB of space. However you can choose to download the offline speech recognition files for other languages.
  • Bluetooth headset: Checking this option will allow you to record audio through a Bluetooth headset if available.

Text-to-speech output: selecting this option will bring a submenu:

• Preferred Engine: this allows you to select the text-to-speech engine between Google Text-to-speech engine and Pico TTS engine. In either case, you have the option of selecting the language for the spoken voice from one of the following: English, German, Spanish, French and Italian.
• Speech rate: this allows you to change the speed at which the text is spoken.
• Listen to an example: pressing this would sound few words in the chosen language as an example.

Pointer speed: selecting this option will bring up a slider allowing you to change the speed of the pointer.

By default, there are two shortcuts on the main screen of the Z, one to the camera and one to the music player, which shows the music controls when you swipe it.

Sony Xperia Z – Main Screen

When you swipe your finger on the display, you will be taken to one of the home screens. The screen displays the back, home and the multi-tasking button at the bottom. On top of these buttons there is a shortcut to Google Chrome, a shortcut to Google Play Store, an Apps shortcut (which takes you to all the apps installed on the device), a shortcut to messaging and a shortcut to the phone. Any other application shortcuts will fill the rest of the screen.

Sony Xperia Z – One of My Home Screens

When you press the multi-tasking button, you can see the list of all the applications that are currently running in memory on the right. At the bottom you can see Sony’s small applications shortcuts to the calculator, timer, Notes and voice recorder. Near these shortcuts is a plus sign which enables you to download more applications from the Google Play Store.

The Xperia Z enables you to have up to five home screens are easily editable. When you tap on a home screen and hold for a few seconds, a bottom tray appears with shortcuts to widgets, apps, wallpapers and themes. You can then drag widgets or applications to the home screen you are currently modifying or change the wallpaper or theme as desired. In order to change a theme or wallpaper, you just need to press the theme or wallpaper on the bottom tray while the home page is in edit mode.

Sony Xperia Z – Editing a Home Screen

Once you click the apps shortcut, you can sort out the apps as follows: own order, alphabetical, most used and recently installed. An Android notifications bar is available at the top of the display. Swiping your finger at the top of the display will bring you a bar which contains shortcuts to the following settings: sound, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, mobile data and a settings shortcut (which takes you to a whole range of other settings).

Sony Xperia Z – Sorting Apps

These settings include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, data usage, call settings, sound, display, storage, power management, apps, Xperia, location services, security, language & input, backup & reset, setup guide, email, date and time, accessibility, developer options and about phone. Pressing many of the above mentioned settings will take you into other sub-menus accordingly.

Sony Xperia Z – Settings

The Xperia Z comes with a 2330 mAh battery. On paper, this is a bit disappointing, considering the fact that the phablet’s coms with a 5 inch full-HD screen which is capable of supporting 1920 x 1080 and a pixel density of 443PPI. More disappointing is the fact that the battery is non user replaceable.

Having said this, I have to say that the battery performance of the Z is not bad at all. Being only an average user, I normally only charge the phablet once every two days. Still when I charge the phablet, the charge is usually still at 70%. This might be a surprise to some; however the reason is that I only switch on the Wi-Fi for a few minutes per day, just to synchronize my Exchange mailbox and calendar. I don’t send a lot of messages and I don’t do a lot of calls and more important than that, I don’t play games on my phablet and I don’t use my Xperia Z for Facebook, Twitter or any other social networking sites.

I also rarely use my Xperia Z for email communication and for internet browsing. The thing is that when I am not at home, I am not really interested in replying to work related emails, reading my other personal email accounts and doing any social networking stuff. When I am at home, my desktop PC is obviously more suitable for that kind of stuff.

Obviously, heavy users like those who spend hours talking on the phone per day, sending personal messages and replying to email messages cannot expect to get the same amount of battery life. This also applies to people who spend a lot of time browsing the internet, people who like to play games on their smartphones and people who spend a lot of time on Facebook and Twitter. Obviously, there is no need to say that using the Xperia Z as a GPS causes a lot of drain on the battery.

Those who spend a day using pretty much everything on the phone (browser, GPS, watching movies, playing games, making calls, etc.) at 50% brightness will find that the phone hardly lasts for six and a half hours. According to some reviews I read, lot of power is consumed when playing games on the Xperia Z, especially when compared to other smartphones in the same range. However I did not test this and so I am unable to verify whether this is indeed the case.

The Xperia Z has a feature called STAMINA mode for those who want the battery charge to last longer. This setting is one of the first options I turned on when I got my Xperia Z. STAMINA mode disables mobile data and Wi-Fi access when the screen is off. At the same time, most of the applications will be inactive; however you will still receive messages, notifications and alarms. The music and FM radio will still work and so will any active uploads and downloads. However, emails will no longer be downloaded in the background unless you include it in the list of allowed applications.

According to Sony, stamina mode provides up to four times more battery life. However the truth is that this figure is a bit over exaggerated. When using the phone heavily, the battery will serve about seven hours and a half or about one hour more than the expected battery life with stamina mode turned off. Therefore, power users might find that stamina mode will not bring a lot of benefit. However, stamina mode can be very useful if you are not a heavy phone user like me. Another feature is Low Battery Mode, which disables functions in order to save power when the battery level is low.