LG is the only one getting dual-sensor camera right

When buying a new smartphone, there are a lot of factors to consider. Many of you are looking for the best performance possible while others want a device that can last a day or two under heavy usage. But one thing that we can all agree on is that a good camera is a must-have feature on any smartphone. In order to offer a better camera experience, manufacturers have turned to dual-sensor camera systems over the past few years. While adding a second sensor doesn't necessarily mean you'll get a better picture, you typically get the option to have pictures with a blurred background.

Originally, the second sensor was added simply to capture depth information in order to distinguish between the foreground and background, but manufacturers soon realized that the second sensor could be used for a lot more. Some manufacturers increased the resolution of the second sensor, claiming it would add lossless zoom, others chose to equip the second sensor with a 2x optical zoom lens to enhance the "portrait mode" feature and then there are those who use a second monochrome sensor to capture more light and enhance every image that the phone captures.

While all of these options have their advantages and drawbacks, my personal favorite is the approach LG has taken. The new LG G7 is equipped with a dual-sensor camera which offers a 16mm wide-angle lens on its secondary sensor to complement the standard 30mm lens on its main sensor. This setup still gives you the ability to take portrait-style photos with a digitally blurred-out background, but it also allows you to capture images that no other smartphone could capture. The 16mm lens on the secondary sensor gives you a wide-angle view of your scene, mimicking the field of view you might get with an action camera or a wide-angle lens on a DSLR.

Of course, the camera sensors that LG is using on the G7 aren't as good as what you get with the HTC U12+, the Pixel 2 or the Samsung Galaxy S9, but in my opinion, the end results are worth the tradeoff. Take a look at the shots in the gallery and let me know what you think in the comments.

 

from Phandroid https://ift.tt/2Mbfxgo
via IFTTT

DEAL: Xiaomi Mi Band 3 gets at 30% discount

Smartwatches are a great accessory for those who like to track their steps or workouts, but short battery life and high price tags often keep people away. Dedicated fitness trackers like the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 are an amazing alternative, especially since the 110 mAh battery will last you at least 20 days between charges. Typically, the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 sells for $45 here in the US, but GearBest is running a flash sale, offering the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 for $29.59 with FREE shipping.

For that price, you great fitness tracker that can track your workouts, sleeping habits, offers 5 ATM (50 meters) water resistance and also includes a heart rate sensor. The MI Band 3's closest competitor is the FitBit Alta HR, but that fitness tracker will set you back $120 and its battery life is limited to just 7 days.

The Xiaomi Mi Band 3 sale runs now through Thursday (August 9th) so you'll have to act fast if you want to take advantage of this incredible deal.

 

 

from Phandroid https://ift.tt/2nkUXfK
via IFTTT

The HTC U12+ is 2018’s smartphone camera champ

HTC has gotten a lot of flak for the flagship devices it has been putting out recently. The phones have been extremely thick, HTC's software hasn't had a substantial update since 2016 and Edge Sense, the main selling point that HTC's been pushing, is nothing more than a gimmick.

But despite all that, HTC has managed to stay ahead of the competition with its outstanding cameras. The HTC U11 and HTC U11+ were better than almost every other smartphone in 2017 for taking pictures and the new HTC U12+ is by far my favorite smartphone camera of 2018.

32 Amazing photos taken with the Pixel 2

The 12MP sensor setup on the back of the phone isn't dramatically different from last year's, but HTC has tweaked its image processing algorithms a bit to deliver better low-light performance, sharpness and white balance. While I've praised the Pixel 2 for beating out most other 2018 flagship devices in various photo comparisons, the HTC U12+ is the only device I've used which can actually beat Google's phone. The dual-sensor array on the back of the HTC U12+ gives it the ability to zoom in on faraway subjects, but it also allows the phone to capture portrait-style photos by using the depth information to blur out the background. That same trick can also be done with selfies since the HTC U12+ also has two 8MP camera sensors on the front of the phone.

Take a look at the photos I've taken with the HTC U12+ over the past two months and let me know what you think. If HTC's marketing, design and engineering teams performed as well as its camera team, do you think HTC's would look a lot different than it does?

from Phandroid https://ift.tt/2nhb3XL
via IFTTT

How to get the Pixel experience on your Android smartphone

I'm sure that we can all agree that the Android ecosystem isn't perfect. There are dozens of new Android phones released every quarter, each with their own unique software and hardware features which manufacturers use to distinguish them from their competitors. The UI may look a bit different on these devices, but for the most part, a Samsung phone can do all the same things that a OnePlus phone can do. But the good news is that Android gives you the option to tweak your device simply by installing a few applications which can have a dramatic impact on a device's usability.

While you do have the option to download a variety of third-party apps from the Play Store to customize the software experience on your phone, the instructions in this post will allow you to get a Pixel-like software experience on your Android device. By installing the apps highlighted below, your old smartphone will feel like new in just a few minutes.

Rootless Pixel Launcher

The quickest way to change the UI of your smartphone is by installing a new launcher. The Rootless Pixel Launcher is based on the AOSP 8.1 launcher 3 and will make your device look and feel like the Pixel 2. The launcher has all the same features that are included with the original Pixel 2 launcher, but the developers have also added in the ability to install custom icon packs, giving you the option to choose between hundreds of icon packs which are currently available through Google Play.

As a bonus, you might also be interested in having Live Wallpapers that are included with the Pixel 2. Most of the Live Wallpapers are subtle, adding animations to scenes pulled from Google Earth which show clouds moving over a landscape, cars driving on a lonely highway, hot air balloons floating over the desert or waves crashing on a shore. Getting the Pixel 2 Live Wallpapers on your device is a 2-step process. First, download and install Google Wallpapers from the Play Store. Next, you'll need to download and install a modified version of the app over the original one so that the Live Wallpapers appear in Google Wallpapers.

Pixel 2 Camera

A few months ago, I wrote an article about why every Android smartphone should use the Pixel 2 camera app. While the sensor that Google used in the Pixel 2 is phenomenal, the real magic is in the camera app itself. Fortunately for all of us, developers have worked tirelessly, tweaking the pp so that it will also work on other devices. For now, the Pixel 2 camera app works best on devices running newer chip from Qualcomm, but developers have also gotten it to work on devices like their Xiaomi Mi A1 which use older Qualcomm chips as well.

That being said, the Pixel 2 camera app project is still a work in progress. The experience varies from device to device, so make sure you find the app which is best suited for your specific device. Also, check out the video to see how the Pixel 2 camera app can deliver better images even on a top-tier device like the HTC U11+.

Android Messages

Sending text messages is a pretty common occurrence for most Android users (especially those in the US), but you've likely never thought about using a third-party text messaging app on your device. The good news is that Google makes one of the best third-party text messaging apps and it can be downloaded directly from the Play Store. Android Messages is packed with features that you likely don't have on the default messaging app that came with your phone.

The best part is that Android Messages is fully compatible with RCS, allowing you to see when your friends have read your messages, send higher resolution photos and videos and even send text messages over WiFi if you're out of cell range. My favorite new feature is the ability to send and receive text messages from your computer or tablet.

GBoard

The last piece to complete the Pixel experience on your smartphone is the GBoard keyboard which is also available on the Play Store. The keyboard isn't as customizable as SwiftKey and TouchPal, but it does have Google search integrated directly into the keyboard. That means you can search for a YouTube video or restaurant address from within any messaging app you're in and send it directly to your friend without having to exit your app to do a Google Search. And if you love sending GIFs to your friends, GBoard also has GIF search built right in and even suggests that you send a GIF based on what you type.

Installing a few new apps on your phone may not seem like it would do much, but I promise that you'll notice a difference in the experience. You'll still have to contend with your device manufacturer's decisions for the notification shade and likely have to wait for months for the Android P update to show up, but at least you won't have to suffer through the mundane software experience offered by their stock Android apps.

If you have any other suggestions that would improve the default software experience offered by most Android phones, feel free to drop them in the comments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

from Phandroid https://ift.tt/2MiYxBJ
via IFTTT

Android P rumored to launch on August 20

The long-awaited release date for Android P may finally be right around the corner. Famed leakster Evan Blass just posted a new Tweet which places the letter "P" on the 20th of August. While no additional information was shared in the Tweet, it's not hard to deduce that the image is directly linked to the launch date of Android P. While we're not expecting Google's Pixel 3 devices to be unveiled until sometime in October, the August 20th launch date for Android P coincides with the August 21st release of Android O last year.

The final Beta Preview of Android P was released for Google's Pixel devices and a few other handsets on July 25th, giving Google roughly four weeks to wrap up development for the new version of Android and squash the remaining bugs that might still be lingering in the system.

pic.twitter.com/ovby4pC3ph

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 2, 2018

Once the final build of Android P is released, manufacturers will be able to start building their versions of the update. Thanks to Android O's Project Treble, the rollout of Android P to non-Pixel devices should be a lot faster than what we've been used to.

Anyone want to place bests as to which non-Pixel smartphone will be updated to Android P?

from Phandroid https://ift.tt/2n7QDQS
via IFTTT

Google’s Pixel Watch could save Wear OS from extinction

While Google got into the smartwatch game before Apple did with Android Wear, Google's smartwatch operating system hasn't seen the same uptake as Apple's. This fall, Google is expected to unveil multiple Pixel Watches alongside the upcoming Pixel 3 smartphones. There aren't many concrete details to share, but Google's Pixel Watches will likely be the shot of adrenaline that Android Wear (recently rebranded at Wear OS) needs to be pulled back from the brink of extinction.

If you look at the current state of the Wear OS landscape, Fossil is the only real player that's truly committed to the platform. The larger electronics makers like LG, Huawei and Motorola have all built smartwatches with Google's OS over the past few years, but their interest in the category has waned since sales never really panned out.

The only real reason Fossil is still building smartwatches is that the company managed to secure contracts to build watches for Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors, Tag Heuer, Tommy Hilfiger and other luxury brands. These smartwatches haven't been hugely popular, but Fossil appears to be happy with the results and is continuing to design and release more smartwatches than any other company.

But if the rumors pan out, Google will finally have some skin in the game and that may finally make Wear OS a viable alternative to the Apple Watch. Based on what we know so far, there may be as many as three Pixel Watches which will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor. The new chip uses a new 28nm-based Cortex-A7 setup which integrates GPS, Wi-Fi, LTE with VoLTE and Bluetooth to reduce power consumption. But as you might expect, it also allows smartwatches to always be listening for wake-word commands without completely draining the battery in just a few hours. This means the Pixel Watches will give you access to Google Assistant through voice commands without having press a button.

There is gonna be more than one, it seems. More like three.

— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) May 10, 2018

While we don't know what Google's Pixel Watches will look like, if they will have a round or square display, or what other specs they'll offer, the fact that Google is committing to Wear OS by releasing its own hardware will have a huge impact on Wear OS. Other manufacturers will likely follow suit, delivering Wear OS smartwatches with Qualcomm's new chip and adding in new features which will allow them to stand out from their competitors.

I'm not predicting that sales of the Pixel 3 Watches or other Wear OS watches will come close to matching sales of the Apple Watch, but we should start to see a shift in the numbers and Google's Wear OS finally starts to gain some momentum.

from Phandroid https://ift.tt/2n4FhwV
via IFTTT

The Galaxy S9 was an unmitigated disaster for Samsung

The Samsung Galaxy S9 isn't the phone we expected it to be. I'll admit that the title of this article may be a bit harsh, but I can guarantee that the folks at Samsung aren't really happy with how the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ have fared so far.

Now, before you jump into the comments and start defending Samsung and its 2018 flagship smartphones, let's take a look at the facts. The Samsung Galaxy S9 and its larger sibling at two of the most popular Android smartphones of 2018, but Samsung's sales numbers show that consumers aren't as enamored with the phones as much as they were in the past.

Slow Sales

During the first two quarters of 2018, Samsung managed t sell 19.2 million units of its Galaxy S9 phones. That's an incredible achievement when you look at the number as a whole, but things look a bit off when you break them down by quarter. During Q1, Samsung was able to move 10.2 million units with the remaining 9 million units sold in Q2. There's not a huge disparity between those numbers until you add in the March 16th launch date of the phone. That's right, Samsung sold more phones during the last two weeks of March than it did during April, May and June combined. 

In order to boost revenue for its smartphone division, a DigiTimes report claims that Samsung has moved up that launch of the Galaxy Note 9 to "rekindle its smartphone momentum as sales of its latest flagship models Galaxy S9 and S9+ have been lower than expected."

But if you're still not convinced, another report from the China Times claims that sales of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ would not reach 30 million units by the end of the year, making it the slowest-selling Galaxy S smartphone since 2012's Galaxy S4.

Disappointing camera

The Galaxy S9 also disappoints in the camera department when compared to other 2018 flagship smartphones. That's not to say that the phone takes bad pictures, but almost everyone seems to agree that Huawei's P20 and HTC's U12+ fare better in the camera department. Personally, I'd say that even the Google Pixel 2 can capture better photos than the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Google's phone came out in 2017, featuring a single camera sensor on the back.

Adding insult to injury, Samsung only included the dual-sensor camera module on the more expensive Galaxy S9+, forcing consumers to shell out an extra $150 if they wanted to take portrait photos or have the 2x optical zoom.

The only place that the cameras on the Galaxy S9 and the S9+ actually outshine the competition is with video recording and capturing selfies. I honestly can't say enough good things about the front-facing camera and its autofocus lens ,but I don't think that most people are swayed to buy a smartphone based on the performance of its selfie cam.

Design and Durability

It should come as no surprise that the design of the Samsung Galaxy S9 is forgettable. Save for the relocation of the rear-munted fingerprint sensor, the phone is practically indistinguishable from last year's Galaxy S8. I'm not saying that Samsung shouldn't be able to copy Apple and release a phone with a few minor cosmetic tweaks, but it clearly hasn't worked for Samsung.

The bigger issue with the phone's design is the curved glass on the front and back. I love the aesthetics, but the Galaxy S9 wasn't built for the real world. I know more than a dozen people who have purchased the device who have cracked the front or back of the phone (even when using a protective case) and I even managed to crack the back on the Galax yS9+ that I bought for myself. I've also managed to put three deep scratches into the front of the phone. I'm honestly not sure how the crack and scratches got there since I only used the phone for about 3 weeks and never dropped it once.

I can only imagine what the majority of Galaxy S9s will look like after two years of daily abuse.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the larger S9+ are two of the most capable smartphones of 2018. Performance is amazing and battery life of the S9+ is better than I expected it to be. BUt the numbers show that Samsung missed the mark this year. I know that many of you have purchased the Samsung Galaxy S9 or S9+ and I expect that most of you love the phone. But I also know that there are those of you who are disappointed with the phone and wish you would have purchased something different.

Which camp are you in? I'd love to hear your take on the Samsung Galaxy S9 and what your experience has been with the phone so far.

 

from Phandroid https://ift.tt/2Mcv5xy
via IFTTT