Jiayu G5 : Quick Review

Summary :

1) Introduction
2) Design
3) Display
4) Benchmarks
5) Battery Life
6) Conclusion

Buy Jiayu G5 from 217.49 €

Xiaomi Mi3 vs Mi2S vs Mi2A vs Red Rice (HongMi) : Photo Shootout Full Comparison

Welcome to the most impressive Photo comparison between all the Xiaomi Devices.

Summary : 
1) Outdoors: Park Scene

2) Outdoors : Macro Photos

3) Indoors : Good Light Conditions

4) Indoors : Low Light Conditions

5) Indoors : Very Low Light Conditions

6) Indoors : Pitch Black Conditions

2013 Christmas Guide : Best Chinese Smartphones

Welcome to our 2013 Christmas Guide. It has been a full year with several big flagships from different manufacturers especially Xiaomi and Meizu : Mi2S, Mi2A, Red Rice, MX2, MX3. So which one should you buy ? Here is your answer.

Summary :
1) Entry Level Smartphones
2) Mid Range Smartphones
3) High End Smartphones

Xiaomi RED RICE (HongMi) WCDMA : In Depth Review

Summary :

1) Introduction

2) Design

3) Display

4) Software

5) Benchmarks

6) Camera

7) Speakerphone & Battery Life

8) Conclusion

Buy Xiaomi Red Rice WCDMA at PhonAsia.com.

MediaTek Octa Core MT6592 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 : This is 2014 !

MediaTek presented its "True Octa Core" back in July and now, it is nearing its launch with several manufacturers set to release devices in the coming hours/days : ZOPO ZP998 (November, 21st), Coolpad Grand View 4 (November, 20th), Mlais MX69 Pro (November, 20th), Green Orange NX (November, 21st).

A few hours ago, MediaTek finally gave us the final specs of the upcoming MT6592 and earlier today, Qualcomm presented the Snapdragon 805 which will be coming next year.

In Depth Comparison Review : Xiaomi Mi3 vs Xiaomi Mi2S

Summary :

1) Introduction

2) Design

3) Display

4) Software

5) Benchmarks

6) Camera

7) Speakerphones & Battery Life

8) Conclusion

Official Xiaomi Mi3 Tegra 4 In-Depth Full Review (Video available)

Summary

01) Introduction
02) Design and Handling
03) 5 Inch Full HD Display
04) ROM MIUI V5
05) Web Browsing
06) Camera & Photos
07) Benchmarks
08) GPS
09) Keyboard
10) Call Quality & Battery Life
11) Conclusion

The Truth behind Android Benchmarks' Scores

The Beginning : How it all started

Even yesterday, an allegedly Snapdragon S800 Mi3 leaked out on Antutu and there was a lot of talking surrounding the low score and a few theories quickly attached to it.
Cheating in benchmarking has always been the most popular sport in the PC world. We were just hoping it wouldn't becoming one so fast so soon in Android. The first one caught was the Samsung Galaxy 4 in late June via a post at Beyond3D from @AndreF.
Lately, Samsung, has been caught doing it again with the Note 3. This time, it was Arstechnicawhich spotted it.
Samsung took most of the heat, but what about others manufacturers ?

New iPads, what will change in the Chinese Tablets market

While the 10 inch tablets market is quite done for, meaning that the standards have been out for a bit now, people are still waiting towards the growing 7-8 inch market.

It's Sunday : Photo of the Week 07, Paris : La Seine by Night

This photo has been taken by my Xiaomi Mi2S.

It's Thursday : Weekly App Review 03, Ducktales : Scrooge's Loot

This week, we are going to review a freenium game : Ducktales : Scrooge's Loot

Let's open with the official trailer.

HTC One Max finally unveiled, what about the new kid on the block ?

Basically, this is a HTC One extra large in every aspects. The One Max inherits the same good looks from its brother, the One : aluminum unibody and also every others specifications.

There is no bump in the power department, so the One Max sports the same Snapdragon S600 at 1.7 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 16 GB internal storage this time expandable with a Micro SD slot (a 32 GB version might come as well), 4 Ultra Mega Pixels lens, 2 MP front camera, a 3300 mAh battery removable this time since the back cover can be detached and a enormous 5.9 inch FHD display.
We kept the best for the end, the overall size of the bezel is quite something : 165.5 x 82.5 x 10.29 mm (6.52 x 3.25 x 0.41 inches) and weighs 217 g (7.65 oz).
The new feature is under the rear camera, it is a fingerprint sensor "à la" iPhone 5S.

It is very big, it as big as the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 and it is heavier. Here are some comparisons photos where the Galaxy Note 3 appears to be a mini smartphone :

While the same size OPPO N1 offers a brand new way to capture photos, the HTC One Max fails to wow its audience. It is only a bigger HTC One but more expensive. It should be offered at the same price tag as the iPhone 5S, around the $600 mark (which would translate into €600 somehow).

It's Sunday : Photo of the Week 06, Athens' Parthenon

This is a public photo from Wikipedia.

The Parthenon is the temple dedicated to the Goddess Athena and is built on the Athenian Acropolis. It took Athenians 9 years to build it from 447 BC to 438 BC when Athens was at its peak. Democracy, philosophy, knowledge and already such a civilization.

I can't help be feel like the Middle Age has been a real set back in our evolution and only during the Renaissance, the Occidental World has been able to resume its former glory. Imagine if it were at this time, during Renaissance that smaartphones would have been invented, what would we be using now ?

It's Thursday : App Review of the Week 02, Tower of Saviors

Welcome to our second In Depth Review of the week : Tower of Saviors (Free)

It's Sunday : Photo of the Week 05, LeBron James

As the NBA pre-season just started, LeBron James is "en route" to his possible first 3 peat.

This photo was taken when LeBron got the Bill Russel trophy awarding the the Finals MVP. LBJ is showing like he is untouchable at this very moment while he was under an enormous pressure during the Finals.

If he had not won his 2nd consecutive title, it would have been a disaster media wise for LBJ while he did manage to go the Finals 3 times in a row.

It's Sunday : Photo of the Week 04, the Grand Canyon

This is a public photo of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA. 

I still haven't got the chance to to so, but I intend, someday, to do a road trip across the USA from the East to the West, from New York to Los Angeles. 

In most of the greatest road trips movies like Thelma and Louise, the Grand Canyon is the place for the final scene. The recent (not so good) comedy Guilt Trip starring Seth Rogen, the Grand Canyon is part of it at some point. 

There is definitively something special about road trips and maybe the USA is the best place for it. It is one of the rarest place where such trips are can be easily done : one big country but quite practical in a vehicle due to fair landscape and weather overall. 

Try to make road trips in Russia or in South America... Yes, thought so. 

Road trips represent one of the ultimate way of evasion while staying in contact with the rest of the civilization. Best of both worlds I guess. There is somewhat a certain romance, adventure and very intimate about it. You share it with your best friend or a close relative most of the times. 

And when you happen to travel with a stranger in movies (Forces of Nature, Due Date, Midnight Run) , you become way much closer because there is a sense of accomplishment and you can see multiple facets of the personality of the other person. Being very intimate on the road and how one interacts with others when you're making stops in towns or cities. 

Somewhat, the Grand Canyon represents a big part of that. I haven't even told the best part of it : what happens on the road stays on the road. 

Anyway, it's Sunday and I'm not really physically traveling, so I might as well doing it in my head. 

It's Thursday : Welcome to our App Review 01, FIFA 14

PhonAsia blog is changing its usual Thursday formula. Instead of an app selection, we will offer an in-depth app review (often a game) instead.
Like Jerry Maguire would say : "Fewer clients, more attention" (he did get fired for saying that).

With this new format, we feel like we can provide much more quality and we notice more often that it should be, those in-depth review are lacking when it comes to Mobile Apps especially regarding Android. All we can find, it is lists of apps with 2 lines of description.
Maybe it is time for something different. Anyway, if there is an app that you would like me to review, please let me know by leaving a comment or contacting me through social media.


Our very first In Depth Game Review : FIFA 14 (Freenium)

It's Sunday : Photo 03 of the Week

This is a public photo of the city Damascus by night in Syria. The photo has been taken before the current's civil war.

Damascus is arguably the oldest city of our world. It became a city around 9000 BC and nowadays it the second biggest city of Syria.
I have been there once a few years back and it really is a beautiful city so rich in history. And it remind be that while the world as we know it seems relatively stable, things tend to change and when they do, it is very fast.

Syria is trying to resolve its civil war in which at least 3 factions are fighting and it is rather an ugly one. At some point, the international community might have to intervene especially if abusive means are being used such as chemical gas attacks.

In the past, way back then, Damascus must have been the place to be, it offered jobs and dreams like New York or Hong Kong nowadays. The first time I heard about Damascus was part of Alexander The Great's history. The historic city was part of his vast territory.

Anyway, I'll see you next Sunday for another photo of the week.

HTC could be the official CyanogenMod phone maker

CyanogenMod just transforms itself into a full fledge firm a few days ago taking the same path as MIUI.

It is a huge step forward for CyanogenMod and maybe, things around are changing. The phone industry has been largely hardware maker driven except those last years with the rise of iOS and Android.
The new era allowed company such as MIUI to be created where everything originated from a software standpoint first.

Android brought a smooth OS worldwide licensing it to the manufacturers but almost no one could keep up with the new regular software updates especially when the OS was young and really needed the updates to be pushed as fast as possible.

The success story of XiaoMi is not a surprise, after establishing itself as solid software company, the Chinese firm started to launch key devices.

Now it is CyanogenMod's turn, and once again, the industry might get another surprise changing how business is done bringing every enterprises to dedicate more themselves on the software end.
According to the Japanese Blog of Mobile, HTC could be the partner that CyanogenMod is looking for.

HTC has lot of experience in the hardware field and is used to manufacture phones for software companies. The Taiwanese firm released the Nexus One for Google and several Facebook phones.

Hopefully the price tag will be around something like $ 300.

It's Sunday : Photo 02 of the Week

This photo has been taken by a XiaoMi Mi 2A.

It is a photo of small city in the province of ZheJiang. 20 years ago, the whole area didn't look like anything and this part of the city has small houses around the river. People used to go to the river to wash their dishes ans clothes.

Those last years, many cities enforced some environmental friendly rules and got rivers cleaned from most of the pollution. 10 years ago, it would have been unimaginable to get into the water, nowadays, you can swim in this very river and cross it if you want.
New houses have been built and they are extremely expensive, the average square meter of the house in this photo cost at least RMB 60 000 (US$ 9800).

This photo has been taken from my aunt's home which is in building.