Nokia 2 review cheap smartphone.

After a slew of budget and mid-range devices – Nokia 3, Nokia 5, and Nokia 6 – HMD Global announced its most affordable device as yet, the Nokia 2, priced at €99 ($115).

The Nokia 2 comes with Android 7.1.2 Nougat out-of-the-box, and like with all Nokia devices it comes with the promise of pure and up-to-date Android experience. This means that Nokia 2 will get monthly security updates and will be upgraded to Android Oreo ‘soon’.
If you judge smartphones by their specifications sheet, Nokia 2 is not for you. It packs in modest specifications, not in foolhardiness but backed by obvious conviction and understanding of the market. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 processor, the Nokia 2 packs in just 1 GB of RAM. In the limited time I spent with the device, I found the performance to be generally smooth – although the demo unit did not have any third-party apps installed. It’s not a crawl as many ignorantly expect as soon as they look at the specifications. I’m assuming the hardware optimizes background apps to ensure enough memory is available at all times.

The 8 GB internal storage on the Nokia 2 is of course quite less, more so because less than 5 GB of free space is available out of the box. But thankfully, you can extend storage up to 128 GB with a microSD card, something most users would have to.
The Nokia 2 sports a 5-inch HD LTPS LCD and the 720p display offers nice contrast ratio and looks sharp. It is clearly one of the better screens in this price segment. There’s also Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection which is a sweet addition.
The highlight of the smartphone is it’s much-hyped ‘2-day battery life’. Instead of making a power-bank in the guise of a phone, HMD Global manages to squeeze in a 4,100 mAh battery in a compact chassis and banks on the frugal processor as well as the power-efficient display for that extra juice. We’ll find out if Nokia 2 lives up to that claim when we take it for a spin for a longer duration. There’s no fast charging, mind you.

For a budget smartphone, the Nokia 2 impressed me with its camera performance. I took a few test shots while checking out the device, and the 8-megapixel primary camera looked quite interesting. I’d like to explore it more when I review the device once it’s available. The auto-focus camera comes with automatic scene detection as well as LED flash. There’s also the 5-megapixel fixed-focus front camera which would serve you well for some decent selfies. The Nokia 2 offers unlimited photo and video uploads to Google Photos – a neat deal for a budget smartphone.
The best thing about the Nokia 2 is its design and build quality, which is why I kept it for the last. It looks quite chic with a metal frame milled out of series 6000 aluminum and a sculpted polycarbonate back. The matte finish at the back and the compact form factor owing to a 5-inch display makes gives it pleasant ergonomics and it feels great in the hand. The Nokia 2 looks solid and boasts of design considerations one usually expects on more expensive smartphones.
Overall, the Nokia 2 offers uncluttered Android experience in a smartphone that trades in extravagant innards for practicality and reliability. There’s a thoughtful design that works well in both form and function and a package that might be greater than the sum of its parts.
full specification Nokia 2 

First look at the smartphone LG V30

The LG V30 stands out from the competition enough to be considered LG’s true flagship phone for 2017, not the LG G6, its impressive, albeit instantly outmatched smartphone from six months ago.

That’s an unexpected relief because the LG V20 came onto the scene last year and its rivals frankly picked apart everything unique it had going for it. The HTC U Ultra lifted the second screen for notifications, and just about every flagship phone now utilizes a dual-lens camera.

So how has LG’s experimental smartphone branch move forward? By focusing on the subtleties, ditching the divisive design, and producing its most bold, feature-packed device yet.

But making all of the right moves comes at a high cost. $809 in the US, £799 in the UK when it launches in November, and AU$1199 in Australia for the LG V30+ (the only model this region will be served, which differs only in its internal storage).

(Update: Despite not having Android Oreo, the LG V30 is one of the best Android phones that you can buy, so we'd be remiss to omit that you'll be able to snag one on discount during the holiday season in the US. If you're already set on a smartphone, you can start thinking about LG's next device, the LG G7.)

That amount of money will basically get you any flagship phone on the market, or at least most of one if you’re on the hunt for the iPhone X. And for some, LG took far too long following the V30’s late August announcement to bring it to market. Since then, the Essential Phone, Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and Google Pixel 2 XL have been revealed to the world. But even with this stellar year for Android smartphones, LG’s nearly bezel-free device easily makes its case for the cash.

We’ve now spent more than enough time with the final review unit and have worked to scoop through each and every feature (there are many) to be found within LG’s latest smartphone.
LG V30 price and release date
Available now in US, UK and AU
$809 unlocked in US, £799, AU$1,199 (for the V30+)
For the first time, LG’s V-series smartphone will be more broadly available across the globe. Having been limited to just the US, Australia and part of Asia, the V30 is making the jump to multiple regions, including the UK.

As for the price, LG’s latest retails for $806 in the US. In the UK? Pre-orders for its early November release pin it at £799. For those in Australia, you’ll be treated only to the LG V30+ for AU$1,199 – the same goes for US customers on Sprint. In terms of differences, there are few: onboard storage and carrier compatibility (the latter of which applies if you're in the US). Instead of 64GB by default in the standard model, you’ll get 128GB built-in along with microSD storage.
Design
Understated design lets the screen stand out
Feels very light considering all of the tech inside
Waterproofing and military-grade toughness are always welcome
Instead of straying from the pack, the LG V30 blends in with this year’s fleet of flagships. But that’s not such a bad thing. It even takes cues from the LG G6, evolving that design ID ever so slightly, all while steering itself in a few new directions, too.

Starting on the front, LG’s FullVision 18:9 aspect ratio tech is on display here, complete with a gorgeous 6-inch OLED (finally!) display tuned at 2,880 x 1,440. While there are still bezels at the ends and the sides of the V30, the presentation renders them to be quite understated, letting the screen stand at the center of the stage. In fact, we really appreciate having just a little bezel on the sides, as it lessens accidental presses while typing or playing a game.

LG’s latest measures in at 151.7 x 75.4 x 7.3mm and weighs 158 grams, all of which puts it on par in sizing with the Google Pixel XL. That said, it’s remarkable that LG has fit a screen that’s a half an inch larger inside of a chassis that’s nearly the same size. Interestingly, it’s just a bit wider than the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, though the rest of its dimensions pale in comparison.

Around its glossy steel siding, you’ll find a tactile volume rocker to the left, and a SIM and microSD tray on the right. Down below, there’s a bottom-firing speaker grill next to the V30’s USB-C charging port. Up top, there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is your one-stop shop for experiencing the phone’s Hi-Fi audio capabilities. LG has never been one to let us down in this department.

Flipped over on its slightly curved glass back, the phone’s fingerprint sensor, which doubly works as its power button, sits right in the middle – a more ergonomic location than Samsung’s choice with the Galaxy S8 and Note 8.

Glancing upward has us stumbling upon the V30’s center aligned dual-camera system. This isn’t LG’s first foray into the technology – the LG V10 was released in 2015. But this phone’s duo of lenses puts them to the best use yet. We’ll dive into that more below.

Lastly, LG has done the V30 a solid by implementing wireless charging as well as making it both water and dustproof with IP68 resistance. It also meets military spec standards, meaning it’s very durable. While this doesn’t ensure that its glass won’t break, the tough frame works to prevent bending. And for such a pretty phone, that’s a very good thing.


Where's the second screen?
Unique to the V experience, up until now at least, was the second screen display. The V30 changes that staple hardware feature into a software touch called Floating Bar that looks reminiscent of Samsung’s Edge feature, but operates a bit differently.

The second screen might be gone, but it’s still here in spirit. On our preview unit, the feature was strangely not turned on by default, but when activated, it’s tucked away into the side of the screen. A simple tap opens the bar and holding on the icon lets you move it wherever you’d like.

In addition to letting you customize what sort of app or command goes into the bar slots, the feature also focuses on surfacing some of the phone’s more hidden abilities, like QuickMemo+ note-taking and capturing a picture or GIF of the screen. Full specification for this phone see here http://list-phones.com/catalogue/LG-V30 .

ZTE Axon M smartphone with two displays.

ZTE Axon M with two displays.

Phones have become taller and thinner over the last few years, but their overall designs have remained fundamentally the same. The $724.99 ZTE Axon M for AT&T shakes things up by adding a second display. It's not an E Ink panel like on the Yotaphone, nor a strip on top like the LG V20. No, this is a full-on extra panel that folds out, turning the Axon M into a small tablet, and opening many new possibilities for multitasking and entertainment in the process.
It's an innovative implementation backed by solid hardware, but the addition of the second screen adds bulk, creates a distracting seam in the middle, and makes taking photos unwieldy. Most people will find it smoother to use the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 or S8+ for a big-screen productivity and multimedia experience.

Design and Features
We've seen the dual-screen approach before, in the form of the Kyocera Echo back in 2011. ZTE has refined the concept here, but it's not entirely dissimilar. When folded closed, the Axon M is a thick half-inch slab with a band of metal running along the sides and matching screens on the front and back connected by a hinge. The feeling isn't too dissimilar from glass-clad phones like the S8 or iPhone 8, though the Axon M is quite a bit thicker and heavier.

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When folded shut, the phone measures 5.9 by 2.8 by 0.5 inches (HWD). It weighs 8.1 ounces, making it significantly heftier than phones like the Samsung Galaxy S8 (5.9 by 2.7 by 0.3 inches, 5.5 ounces). The entire right side is taken up by a hinge which can make it feel a little uncomfortable in your grip. That said, it's easy to hold in one hand and reach across the screen with your thumb.

The hinge on the right side means most of the buttons are on the left. There you'll find a volume rocker, a large power button that doubles as a fingerprint sensor, and a semi-programmable button that launches TV mode— a feature that launches a video streaming app of your choice from the lockscreen. There's also a SIM/microSD card slot, which worked fine with a 256GB card.

The top has a 3.5mm headphone jack that supports high-fidelity audio with Dolby Atmos software. Listening with a pair of Meze 99 Classics gives you good audio quality, but it's not something that stands out unless you're using FLAC files. The bottom has a pair of speakers with a USB-C port sandwiched between. The hinge itself feels sturdy, likely it should be able to withstand a good deal of wear and tear.

Displays, Multitasking, and Multimedia
Two displays are better than one, is the reasoning behind the Axon M. What you get are a pair of 5.2-inch, 1080p dual IPS LCDs with 426 pixels per inch, similar to what you find on the Moto G5 Plus, though less sharp than the Quad HD panel of the Note 8 (521ppi). Both screens are still pretty sharp for the size and boast good viewing angles, though screen brightness could afford to be higher for outdoor use.

When the phone is open you have a sizable, almost 6.8-inch screen packed into a form-factor that keeps the phone a reasonable size. Only bezeless, tall-and-narrow phones like the Note 8 (6.3-inch) and S8+ 6.2 (6.2-inch) will give you a similar amount of screen space.

The primary screen is the one where the earpiece and camera are located. The one on the back remains off (and just looks like a plain glass back) until you unfold the hinge. Using the software Multitasking button on the bottom right of the main screen you can choose what the extra screen does. There are three options— Mirror mode, which makes the two panels display the same content; Dual Screen mode, which lets you run two different apps side by side (like a video and Twitter, for instance), and Extended mode, which extends content across other screens.

In Extended mode, the phone becomes closer in size to a small tablet like the Amazon Fire 7. This is ideal for watching video or playing games like Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire. The phone is able to display a large amount of content, relative to even tall and narrow phones like the Note 8. City building games and strategy games that take place on maps seem to particularly benefit from this, letting you easily get a broad overview of the game. Going back to a single screen felt cramped. However, a seam runs down the middle where the two screens meet, which can be distracting in Extended mode, especially when you're watching video or browsing the web.

Moving a compatible app in Dual Screen mode is easy, requiring a three finger swipe gesture to move an app from one panel to another. I liked being able to check my emails while watching a video, for instance, and I can see this feature being useful for productivity. Screen mirroring, on the other hand, I didn't find much use for, though ZTE suggests you can use it to show people slideshows if you don't have another screen available. It still strikes me as impractical.

Ultimately, all the modes worked reasonably well, but I did encounter some hiccups. For instance, snapping the phone closed sometimes resulted in one or more of the apps I was running crashing when in Extended mode or Dual Screen mode. Occasionally, switching between modes also resulted in some stuttering, most notably the three finger swipe gesture often took several seconds to kick in. These issues weren't frequent, but they do show that some of the software is still a little buggy and not completely stable.

Currently, there are about 100 apps optimized for support in Extended mode, with more on the way. You can also enable a setting to force all apps to work, though that can be a little buggy with not all elements being properly displayed.

Network Performance and Connectivity
The Axon M is an AT&T exclusive phone with LTE bands 2/4/5/12/29/30/66 giving you good network connectivity on the carrier. In midtown Manhattan, I got solid network performance with a top speed of 12Mbps down and 10Mbps up, which is standard for AT&T phones in the area. Other connectivity includes dual-band Wi-Fi, NFC, and Bluetooth 4.2.

Call quality is decent. Transmissions can sound a bit robotic, but they come across clearly and noise cancellation does well at blotting out background noise. Earpiece volume is loud enough to hear in a noisy environment.

Processor, Battery, and Camera
The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 with 4GB of RAM. On the AnTuTu benchmark, it scores 145,457 in full-screen mode. That's not quite on par with the Snapdragon 835 you'll find in the Note 8 (173,608) and most other high-end phones, but it's still powerful enough to ensure smooth performance. The phone handled multitasking across both screens and demanding games like Final Fantasy without any significant stuttering.

Battery life is surprisingly good given the fact the 3,180mAh cell has to power two screens. In our battery rundown test, in which we stream full-screen video over LTE at maximum screen brightness, the Axon M clocks 7 hours, 34 minutes of runtime with one screen, and 4 hours, 39 minutes with two. That's a great runtime compared with other big screen phones like the Note 8 (6 hours) and LG V30 (4 hours, 46 minutes). The phone also supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0, so you can charge to full in a little under two hours.

Related Story See How We Test Cell Phones

The camera setup is interesting. There's only a single 20-megapixel camera sensor on what's essentially the front of the phone. That means to take a standard picture (not a selfie) you have to flip the phone around, at which point the viewfinder appears on the rear display. If you're big on taking quick snaps, this can be a pretty big inconvenience since it requires you to flip the camera view around, and flip the phone around as well.

The camera is pretty standard in other regards. It took clear photos in a brightly lit setting and pretty nice selfies due to the high megapixel count. Most shots had a decent level of detail and accurate color reproduction, but I found autofocus to be an issue. The sensor often seemed to blur, even in well-lit settings where it should have been capturing crisp shots. This is more pronounced in low-light pictures which all ended up being quite noisy. You do have manual controls letting you adjust things like ISO and white balance, but the main issue seems to be the lack of optical image stabilization. Video is a sharp 4K at 30fps, but recordings are jittery when panning around.

Software
The Axon M comes running 7.1.2 Nougat with ZTE custom UI, which largely adds the aforementioned Multitasking button to the phone. Other UI changes are light and restricted to visual elements like the lockscreen and app icons.

Like all carrier phones, there's a significant amount of bloatware with 13 preloaded AT&T apps which can't be uninstalled. You also have DirectTV Now, one of the video streaming services you can automatically launch by pressing the TV button. Third-party apps include Amazon, Facebook, and Uber. Out of 64GB of total storage, the Axon M has 43.02GB available for use. That's a good amount of space and if you need more you can always use an SD card.

Conclusions
At $725, the Axon M is priced similarly to the Galaxy S8 and iPhone 8, but nearly $200 less than the Note 8. The thing to understand about the Axon M is that it isn't intended to be a flagship phone or a successor to the Axon 7. It's a niche phone that's likely to be most appealing to business users who want something that can turn into a slate to bang out emails while browsing at the same time. It's also handy for travelers who want to use the phone as their primary media consumption device.

All that said, it's exclusive to AT&T, which limits the phone's reach, and whether the average buyer finds it attractive will likely depend on which apps take the best advantage of the dual-screen design. Most users will likely be better off getting a more traditional phone like the S8, which maximizes screen real estate in a smaller form-factor. Axon M full specification

Honor View 10 hands-on new review

Honor View 10 hands-on: is this a budget winner?
It’s been three years since Chinese smartphone brand Honor first dipped its toes into the European waters. In that time, it’s topped online smartphone sales in its native China, released four flagship phones, and even entered the wearables market.



Despite all that, it’s still a brand that’s battling to get noticed in the UK. So how can it change this? Make like the Honor View 10, cramming plenty of flagship specs into a sub-£500 smartphone – that’s how.

Labelled by Honor as “your first AI phone”, it takes its cues from Huawei’s Mate 10 but in a cheaper offering – which makes it a very tempting proposition.

The Honor View 10 is the latest smartphone to ditch the standard 16:9 screen ratio for a 18:9 one, allowing for a whopping 5.99-inch display to sit in a compact, easy-to-hold body.

It isn’t quite bezel-less, but the screen surround is very slender, reaching almost to the edge of the device on the left and right.

Related: Best cheap phones



Being a unibody design, the View 10’s battery can’t be swapped out. However, it does offer a larger capacity than both the Galaxy Note 8 (3300mAh) and iPhone X (2617mAh) at 3750mAh. More impressive is the fact that it achieves this in a slimmer body than the Samsung and Apple devices at just 6.97mm thick (versus 8.6mm and 7.7mm respectively).

The screen on the View 10 is 2160 x 1080, which equates to a Full HD resolution in real money. There was no video content to test on the demo device, but the display certainly looked bright and sharp in use, with some extra tweaking available in the settings too. This includes the ability to set your own colour balance, as well as choose between standard and vivid picture modes.

At the heart of the View 10 beats a Kirin 970 processor, with an embedded neural processing unit for delivering built-in AI smarts (the same as the Mate 10), and 6GB of RAM.

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Elsewhere, you’ll get the trusty 3.5mm headphone jack, USB-C charging with Honor’s SuperCharge tech (promising up to 50% battery in 30 minutes) and a dual-SIM card slot.


The View 10 uses a dual-lens rear setup, consisting of a 20-megapixel monochrome lens and a 16-megapixel RGB lens, both with native f/1.8 apertures.

That said, there’s a virtual wide aperture option that lets you shoot a range of f/0.9 to f/16 too, adjustable via a bar along the bottom of the screen.

The portrait mode can be used to create an auto depth-of-field effect. Unlike the iPhone, this is available on both rear cameras as well as the 13-megapixel selfie cam.

Like the Mate 10, it’s in the camera app that a lot of the View 10’s AI smarts are currently focused. This includes the phone recognising what it’s shooting and adjusting the camera’s settings accordingly (an intelligent auto mode, ultimately). This saves you the hassle of digging through stacks of pro settings.

I used two devices in my hands-on time with the View 10 – neither of which were running 100% finished software (Huawei’s EMUI 8.0 over the top of Android Oreo).


Both were still admirably fast in use, with next to no waiting around as we skipped between screens and menus. The second one I was given was running slightly more up-to-date software, and showed noticeable improvements in the camera. Pictures were sharper, intelligent scene selection was quicker and shutter speeds faster.

However, neither model was running the View 10’s face recognition software as yet, which promises security features such as tracking your face for auto-rotate, and hiding sensitive notifications unless it sees your face. Honor’s global president George Zhao struggled to get this feature to work at the launch event – here’s hoping the feature is honed to a better standard on the finished device.

Apps on the phone were limited, too, which meant we weren’t really able to try out any of the device’s AI knowhow outside of its camera smarts – such as its real-time language translation. That will be one for us to tackle in our full review.

First impressions
It’s clear the View 10 has some work left to do before its January 8 release date, but in my brief time with it, the device certainly looks promising for its £449 price tag.

It’s fast, well built and has some pretty impressive specs at this level. Whether these specs all come together to produce the premium smartphone experience that Honor is aiming for remains to be seen.
full specs Honor view 10 see here http://list-phones.com/catalogue/Honor-View-10

Samsung Galaxy S8 Active review

The Galaxy S8 Active borrows some of the best aspects of the standard Samsung Galaxy S8, and puts them into a chassis that's more prepared for a busy and accident-prone lifestyle. The result is a long-lasting phone effectively built into its own case.

If you’re looking for a phone that offers the best performance without living on the bleeding edge of design, the Galaxy S8 Active may just be that phone. It’s ready for the occasional tumble, whether that be onto hard ground or a puddle. Brush off any dust, dirt or water, and it’s good to go.

There are some caveats, though. First, it’s $850, well above the price of the Galaxy S8. It sacrifices aesthetics big time, and its ruggedness doesn’t prevent unsightly dings and nicks.

Great hardware and a beautiful display keep things fast and pretty, and the massive battery can keep the phone running for ages. But, it suffers from the same poor placement of sensors and buttons as the Galaxy S8, and Bixby doesn’t make everything better, so it can be tedious to use. The Galaxy S8 Active has a great photo camera, but the new fad that is 4K video recording was less than dazzling on this device.

At its best, the Galaxy S8 Active is a simple and vastly more robust repackaging of the Galaxy S8 just like in the previous generation, but it's definitely not the right fit for everyone.

(Update: The S8 Active has recently broken its exclusivity ties with AT&T, moving along to T-Mobile and Sprint as well. This is the first in the Active line to support other carriers and the S8 Active continues to be a fantastic option for those who want a rugged smartphone)

Design and ruggedness

The Galaxy S8 Active is built to look rugged. It takes the same tall display panel found in the Galaxy S8, flattens it, and reinforces its every edge with metal and plastic bumpers.

The body is what Samsung describes as “military-grade.” It has an IP68 rating against dust and water ingress, so it can hang out in 5 feet of water for half an hour (Note: the standard Galaxy S8 is also IP68 rated). But Samsung didn’t stop the testing there, as it earned the Galaxy S8 Active a passing grade for the MIL-STD-810G military specification testing, which puts the phone through intensive temperature, dust, shock, vibration, pressure, and altitude testing. The LG G6 and LG V30 are a few other recent smartphones to carry such a distinction.

The S8 Active has an all-glass front that is shatter-resistant up to five feet if dropped on a flat surface, thanks to Gorilla Glass 5, which the normal Galaxy S8 also has. In my drop test, the phone shrugged off a five foot drop face-first onto a solid stone floor. The metal frame extends above the surface of the screen, so it should absorb the impact on flat surfaces.. Meanwhile, the rear of the phone is made to look metallic, with a concrete-like texture, but actually feels and sounds like it may be plain old plastic.


For ports, it features a single speaker grille on the bottom, alongside a USB-C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. There’s a SIM-card slot on the top, power button on the right and volume buttons and a dedicated Bixby button on the left. On the phone’s rear side sits its 12MP camera surrounded by a heart rate sensor and a fingerprint scanner, both of which are hard to find without turning the phone over.

In the process of making the Galaxy S8 Active more rugged than the standard Galaxy S8, Samsung sacrificed aesthetics in a big way. The Galaxy S8 Active isn’t exactly ugly (until it meets pavement), and even has a utilitarian sort of charm, but its blocky look can’t compare to the sleek appeal of the Galaxy S8 with its curved edges.

Because the Galaxy S8 Active is branded as a device capable of more survivability than your typical phone, the ruggedness of the phone deserves its own section. At first glance, the phone looks rugged, thanks to the wide metal frame and extra metal bumpers screwed on at each end.

The design ought to offer better protection than the standard Galaxy S8 or Samsung Galaxy Note 8, as the metal edges raise slightly above screen level, so they’ll take the hit on a flat surface. There’s no glass back on the Galaxy S8 Active either, so there’s less to shatter back there. I let the phone take a few tumbles that it easily shrugged off. That said, the structural integrity of the Galaxy S8 Active doesn’t help it resist scratching to the metal and plastic surfaces, which will clearly display where they’ve hit concrete. They don’t like keys either, and a solid design shouldn’t be equated with a license for carelessness for this phone – it’s not an old Nokia.

While I was making a sandwich, I let the Galaxy S8 Active play around in the sink. As could be expected, the touchscreen went haywire, and the fingerprint scanner wasn’t registering fingerprints with all the water everywhere. But after a quick pat dry, it was back in action. A notification appeared on the phone stating that moisture was detected in the port, so I and anyone else would know not to try charging the phone until it had fully dried out.

Display

On the plus side, the screen is still phenomenal, just like that of the Galaxy S8. You won’t suffer from a lack of crispness, as the Galaxy S8 Active packs in a 5.8-inch display with a resolution of 2,960 x 1,440. Oddly, the phone was set to run at a reduced resolution by default, not taking advantage of all the pixels, and actually making text and small icons blurry. This was one of the first things I corrected, letting the pixel density of the display shine.



Making the display all the better is the Super AMOLED technology, which offers incredible picture quality thanks to its high contrast ratio. And while some AMOLED displays can be a bit dim, I found the Galaxy S8 Active display was easy to see even when strolling down the street at noon on a cloudless day, though watching video content in the sun wasn’t so great.

As more top-of-the-line smartphones move away from bezels, shrinking or doing away with them entirely, the Galaxy S8 Active does feel like it’s behind the curve. This high-end display is surrounded on all sides by a noticeable bezel. And since the bezels are black, they do occasional blend in with the screen when there’s dark imagery or backgrounds on the phone’s display.
See full specs http://list-phones.com/catalogue/Samsung-Galaxy-S8-Active

Huawei Mate 10 Lite with thin screen edges for little device

Are you looking for a big phone but do not you think it's too much to pay for a smartphone? According to Huawei, they found the solution with the Mate 10 Lite. We started working for you with the Huawei Mate 10 Lite with more cameras than ever before.

In the Netherlands we mainly know Huawei as a smartphone producer who also brings the bells and whistles of more expensive smartphones to a lower price point. Although the Chinese manufacturer now also makes more expensive devices, they do not forget what they started with. That is why, in addition to the Huawei Mate 10 Pro, a Mate 10 Lite has also been published. You already have the Mate 10 Lite for less than half the price of the Mate 10 Pro.

With the Mate 10 Lite, Huawei follows the trend of the 18: 9 aspect ratios while at the same time there seems to be little left of the edges around the screen. As a result, the screen fills almost the whole front. Also, the Huawei Mate 10 Lite is one of the first devices that appears with both front and rear double cameras. This should not only make landscape photographs, but also selfies, sharp. We are going to experience it.

Design

Just like previous Mate devices, the Huawei Mate 10 Lite is a big phone. At the front is a large screen with a speaker and a double selfie camera above it. There are still relatively thick black edges on the sides of the screen, which makes the device look a little louder. On the back of the device is a fingerprint scanner that is within reach despite the size of the phone.

Above the fingerprint scanner there is a sturdy bump that houses two cameras. This bump is slightly irritating when you want to put the device in your pocket or handbag because the device easily locks behind the edges. The hump, however, ensures that there is not so much scratch on the camera glass. Where the front is equipped with a large glass plate, the back is equipped with a durable matte metal housing. This makes the device feel strong, although we recommend not to drop the device.

Huawei Mate 10 Lite


The Mate 10 Lite is a surprisingly lightweight smartphone for the format. Yet it remains a bit of a rude device. The metal feels good, but the lack of weight does detract from the premium feeling. That certainly does not mean that the Mate 10 Lite feels cheap or fragile. The Mate 10 Lite looks good, it is not a revolutionary design but nonetheless attractive.

Display

The display of the Mate 10 Lite occupies the lion's share of the front. In fact, next to the screen there is almost nothing to be found at the front. It is a 5.9 inch FHD + display with 1080 by 2160 pixels. The plus sign means that the aspect ratio of the screen is 18: 9 instead of the common 16: 9 ratio. This means that you will be faced with a choice for most media content. Either you use the entire screen and some of the image is cut off, or you keep the entire image but keep black edges on the sides. Fortunately, more and more content is being created to properly fit this aspect ratio.

The screen has good viewing angles, ie it does not discolour or darken when you do not look directly at the screen. Very useful when you look at photos together. However, the screen does not become mega clear so that text is difficult to read text in the full sun. The brightness of the device is not so high, but it can be set reasonably low. That's nice with the smartphone use late at night or during the whole winter.

Camera

As far as cameras are concerned, the Mate 10 Lite is better equipped than most smartphones. At least in terms of the number of cameras. Both front and rear, the Mate 10 Lite has 2 cameras to ensure that not only your landscape photos but also your selfies are of excellent quality. All cameras in the device are built with the renowned camera manufacturer Leica. In the protruding hump on the back there is a 16-megapixel camera that is assisted by a 2-megapixel camera. Together they make tight photos, below are examples.

The photos are sharp and even on a larger screen it is so at first glance, but on closer inspection they are a bit woolly. With the number of megapixels it is therefore mustache, the quality can be a bit better. The cameras have a nice balance when it comes to light and dark, which makes the photos look dynamic. Because the cameras on the back are two people, the Mate 10 Lite can focus very accurately and quickly. With much and little light, you can bring the lens very close to your subject and then take sharp macro photos.

Filming can of course also the Huawei Mate 10 Lite, and there the device is not unkind. The automatic mode provides excellent work, although the image stabilization is not always optimal. The pro-video mode gives you as a director just a little more possibilities to manage your images. The cameras correct fairly quickly when more or less light enters the shot. Unfortunately, the Mate 10 Lite can not be flared in 4K, but FHD delivers a sufficiently sharp image at this price point.

Hardware

From Huawei we know that they design their own chips and they do so with great enthusiasm. The Mate 10 Lite has not got the fastest and latest processor, but it is also a Lite version for it. That does not mean, however, that it is a slow smartphone. The Mate 10 Lite contains a HiSilicon Kirin 659 processor that is supported by 4GB of RAM. Together, the processor and the working memory ensure that you rarely go short of performance.

Huawei, Mate 10 Lite

We noticed that the device began to falter after long periods of heavy stress, but also occasionally needed a little longer on quiet moments. In general this happens so little that it is not really annoying. The Mate 10 Lite was not hot or even hot during intensive use, unless the device is on the charger at the same time.

Huawei has taken into account the intensive use of the Mate 10 Lite throughout the day. You can see that especially in the battery life of the device. The battery of the Mate 10 Lite has a capacity of 3340mAh and you can certainly advance all day, even with a more fanatical use. Strangely enough, the Mate 10 Lite is a USB c socket, instead this device is charged via a micro USB connection. This means that charging can take a long time, especially because the capacity of the battery is so great.

Software

Smartphones that come from China are usually provided with bright colors and kneiter many bloatware, fortunately Huawei is largely abandoned. Although the app icons are still fanatically colored, you are no longer blinded when you scroll through your apps. Huawei has provided the Mate 10 Lite with a number of own apps such as Health and HiGame, but these apps are surprisingly useful and if they are still disappointing they can easily be removed.

Huawei Mate 10 Lite

The Mate 10 Lite runs on Android 7.0 Nougat with the EMUI 5.1 interface at the time of writing. Soon the device can expect an update to Android 8.0 Oreo with EMUI 6.0. The software feels pretty light in use and we are also not against fierce bugs, something that is not always the case with Huawei. The Mate 10 Lite also has several options to facilitate use, such as the ability to operate the screen with one hand by swiping the buttons at the bottom of the screen.

Value for money

Nowadays we use our smartphones for everything; besides a telephone, it is also our compact camera, mailbox and a great source of entertainment. That makes it all the more important that the smartphone choice is carefully considered. We take a number of alternatives from the Huawei Mate 10 Lite to get a good picture of what else is around this price point.

First we put the Mate 10 Lite next to an old acquaintance: the Huawei Mate 9. This predecessor has the same screen diagonal as the Mate 10 Lite but still has a 16: 9 aspect ratio and is therefore slightly wider. Both Huaweis have excellent Leica cameras and they do not work for each other. The Mate 9 has a faster processor and a larger battery than the Mate 10 Lite. The Mate 10 Lite, however, also requires less battery capacity because of this less smooth processor. Also, the Mate 9 is currently a bit more expensive than the Mate 10 Lite.

Sony is not necessarily known for smartphones with large screens, yet they came in the first half of 2017 with the Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra. The screen of the XA1 Ultra is just a little bit bigger than the screen of the Mate 10 Lite. The sleek design of Sony is fine in the hand and the fixed camera key is a nice addition. The XA1 Ultra does not have two selfie cameras but a self-flash to make sharp images even in less light. However, the Mate 10 Lite has more storage memory and a significantly larger battery than the XA1 Ultra.

Finally, we draw the comparison with the Lenovo P2. This big whopper has a knuckle of a power supply with a battery capacity of 5100 mAh, you can take it for a while. The P2 runs on a virtually bare version of Android, which usually keeps a smartphone longer. It is only a shame that this case concerns Android 6.0 Marshmallow. However, the Lenovo P2 is a lot cheaper than the Mate 10 Lite.

Conclusion

With the Mate 10 Lite, Huawei has built a more than decent smartphone that is sold at a great price. The screen does not have QHD resolution but we do not feel that we really miss anything. Because of the amount of cameras, we were expecting sparkling pictures, and as long as you look at them on the phone, they look good too, but as soon as they are shown on a larger screen, this picture is a bit lost.

Huawei Mate 10 Lite

As far as larger smartphones are concerned, the Mate 10 Lite is not inferior to the more expensive competition. Especially the software of the device and the large battery contribute to the good price / quality ratio. In general it is a smooth device, thanks to the software, and the occasional hitch is also overlooked. Despite the price, and the interior works, the device feels high-end through the metal housing. Too bad that the cameras stand out like that. You can at least be worse off for this price.
see full specs here http://list-phones.com/catalogue/Huawei-Mate-10-Lite

Alcatel QuickFlip - new clamshell phone.

ATLANTA, Nov. 1, 2017 -- Are you budget conscious, seeking simplicity, or looking to buy your pre-teen their first mobile phone? The Alcatel QUICKFLIP™ is likely the device you're looking for and will be available at Cricket Wireless beginning Nov. 10, 2017 for only $29.99 for new and existing customers. Just in time for the holidays!


The QUICKFLIP is perfect for talk-first, text-next customers who prefer an easy-to-use phone without all the added bells and whistles of most smartphones. It's also a great option for consumers on a budget who depend on a mobile device to stay connected to family and friends. For parents purchasing their child's first mobile phone, the QUICKFLIP helps your child stay connected while alleviating many safety concerns that come with most smartphones.

Not Your Average Flip Phone
The QUICKFLIP delivers essential functionality in a compact flip phone design. The 2.8" display includes an easy-to-use interface and keypad designed for quick dialing and navigation. Check your calendar appointments, reply to email, or surf the web using Cricket's 4G LTE network1 or Wi-Fi connectivity.



Make crystal clear calls thanks to the QUICKFLIP HD Voice* capability, or quickly snap photos or take video with the dedicated side camera key. And thanks to the long-lasting battery, looking for a charger won't be part of your daily worries.

The Alcatel QUICKFLIP ™ Delivers All the Features You Want in a Compact Flip Design

Compact Flip Design:  The compact flip design is great for one-handed use, and helps protects the screen when closed. You can simply open the flip to answer a call, which can also eliminate accidental pocket calls. Close the flip to end a call and also help conserve battery life, which is great when traveling. Also, the external color display makes it easy to see notifications and caller ID without having to open the phone.
Loud Speaker and Long Battery Life: The QUICKFLIP speaker delivers loud audio for ringtones and speakerphone. Don't worry about needing to charge throughout the day, the 1350mAh battery has you covered.
Large Keypad and Intuitive Interface: The large keypad and simple-to-use interface makes navigating the menu and using the included apps quick and easy. Dedicated messaging and camera keys let you quickly read or send a text or snap a pic.
Added Convenience Features: The QUICKFLIP delivers the essential features to get things done. It is preloaded with alarm, calculator, email, and calendar apps so you can be productive when you're out and about. Tune into your favorite FM radio station so you never miss your favorite radio station or show (wired headset required, sold separately).
If you are in need of a mobile phone to stay connected, but want to keep it simple, the Alcatel QUICKFLIP is for you. Don't forget to take advantage of Cricket's simple, smarter and better rate plans starting at $30/month. Data access and unlimited calling, text and messaging to and from, and in and between, the U.S., Mexico and Canada are included in $50/mo and higher plans2.



For more on Cricket's monthly rate plans, special pricing and product lineup, go to CricketWireless.com or visit a Cricket-branded store near you.

About Cricket Wireless
Cricket is bringing consumers more value with a simple, friendly, and reliable nationwide wireless experience with no annual contract. The power of Cricket is our nationwide 4G LTE network that covers more than 319 million people;* easy and affordable plans prices that include monthly taxes; and a great selection of phones customers love. Cricket, Something to Smile About. To check out the new Cricket or find a store near you, visit cricketwireless.com. Learn more on the Cricket newsroom and blog. And connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Cricket is a subsidiary of AT&T Inc. Coverage not available everywhere. © 2017 Cricket Wireless LLC. All rights reserved. Cricket and the Cricket logo are trademarks under license to Cricket Wireless LLC.



*To experience Cricket HD Voice, both callers must have a compatible HD Voice capable smartphone and make the call over Cricket's LTE Network or a compatible network. Cricket's LTE coverage is not equivalent to its overall network coverage. HD Voice calls made on a compatible device and on the LTE network may not experience an HD Voice connection at times of network congestion. Other carriers' networks may interoperate with Cricket's LTE network to support an HD Voice call.
Full specs for this mobile phone you can also see here http://list-phones.com/catalogue/Alcatel-QuickFlip