Will This Be Your Next Gadget?
It's been raining new gadgets over the last couple of months - smartphones, tablets, laptops, convertible laptops, smartwatches, you name it, we've got all. But the inevitable difficulty lies in choosing the best out of them. All things considered, will Google be your pick, or will it be Apple or Microsoft? Whatever be the ecosystem of your choice, there are some pretty impressive gizmos out there (released or waiting to be released in the coming months), and here are some of my picks -
Nextbit Robin - Hands down the most beautiful phone unveiled since the Apple iPhone 5s. Shouldn't be surprising at all, for it comes from Scott Croyle, the designer who gave us the HTC M7 and M8. While the iPhone-like design aesthetics are quite apparent, the phone's real killer feature is that it promises to free your device's storage limitations once and for all by syncing unused apps, photos, music and media to the cloud. Is this the next step towards a complete cloud-driven smartphone? You can read more about the Kickstarter initiative here. It's also up for preorder for $399.
Sony Xperia Z5 Compact - As things stand, Sony is perhaps the only mainstream Android OEM to release a 4.7-inch flagship smartphone this year. And it also wins brownie points for its clean, minimal design and its clever implementation of fingerprint recognition on its power button, unlike other Android phones which either integrate it to the home button or have it separate as an unsightly silver ring on the back (hello Nexus!) - logical but somewhat an inconvenient place.
Google Nexus 6P - Google's last year's Nexus 6 was a behemoth. It made no pretense about its size and was the only phone available if you wanted to try out Google's beautifully designed vanilla Android. It was also way too costly. This year though, in a Apple-like fashion, the search giant has released two phones, a Nexus 5X from LG and a Nexus 6P (P as in Premium) from Huawei. The former has a 5.2-inch display, and the latter a 5.7-inch, but both come with Android Marshmallow, an excellent 12.3 MP camera (unlike the wildly inconsistent Nexus 6) on board, and support for Project Fi, fingerprint recognition (called Nexus Imprint, just like Apple's Touch ID) and USB Type-C charging. Where it gets even more interesting is the price. The Nexus 6P costs a full $150 less than its 2014 predecessor, irrespective of the storage option!
Apple iPhone 6s Plus - Like its pure-Google counterpart, Apple's iPhone is the smartphone that should be on your radar if you crave iOS. And having used the iPhone 6s Plus for exactly a month now (it landed on Sept 25, remember?), I have to say, the phone just works! I am not a big fan of the design though, it feels slippery on the hand, and added to that, the camera bulge and the ugly antenna stripes make you want to put the phone in a case the minute you unbox it, which is what I did. (Plus I wish the phone came in pure black colour, I don't get the space gray!) On the software side, iOS 9 runs silky smooth (like it should, perhaps the 2GB RAM came in handy?), the Touch ID is ridiculously fast, and the pressure-sensitive 3D Touch feature (sort of like Android's long press, but different) is immensely useful, especially in Safari to open links in a new tab. I have used it countless times, and it feels so effortless and natural that I am left wondering what took them so long.
Samsung Gear S2 - Smartwatches are here to stay, but are they compelling enough a reason yet to justify their expensive price tags (outrageous even, like the Apple Watch Edition worth $17,000) and average battery life? Apple's smartwatch 1.0, for a start, is designed quite well (although I prefer a round watch face), but the interface still looks way too clunky to me, and nothing remotely like iOS. On the other hand, Android Wear-based watches are one too many, like the beautiful Moto 360 (marred by a flat spot below the display), Huawei Watch, among others, but functional at best as a standalone contraption. Continuing this trend is Gear S2, the latest smartwatch from Samsung, which runs on its own proprietary operating system called Tizen. But the smartest thing about Gear S2 is the intuitive rotating bezel, which makes scrolling through your watch apps, or whatever you might be looking at on the screen, a breeze.
Microsoft Surface Book - Convertible laptops, like phablets, that bridge the gap between phones and tablets, offer a middle ground between tablets and laptops, purveying convenience, mobility and flexibility as situation demands. Microsoft, for its part, has long had the Surface lineup with mixed success, and Apple recently jumped into the bandwagon with the 13-inch iPad Pro, which can be accessorised with a smart keyboard and a stylus (called Apple Pencil). Google hopped in too, unveiling a Pixel C Android (not Chrome OS) tablet at its last month press event with a magnetic keyboard that can be clamped onto it. So how does Microsoft up the competition? By unveiling the Surface Book. It's one gorgeously crafted device, almost a crown jewel, and like Microsoft says, it's the ultimate laptop.
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| Beauty meets phone - Nextbit Robin (Image: Kickstarter) |
Sony Xperia Z5 Compact - As things stand, Sony is perhaps the only mainstream Android OEM to release a 4.7-inch flagship smartphone this year. And it also wins brownie points for its clean, minimal design and its clever implementation of fingerprint recognition on its power button, unlike other Android phones which either integrate it to the home button or have it separate as an unsightly silver ring on the back (hello Nexus!) - logical but somewhat an inconvenient place.
Google Nexus 6P - Google's last year's Nexus 6 was a behemoth. It made no pretense about its size and was the only phone available if you wanted to try out Google's beautifully designed vanilla Android. It was also way too costly. This year though, in a Apple-like fashion, the search giant has released two phones, a Nexus 5X from LG and a Nexus 6P (P as in Premium) from Huawei. The former has a 5.2-inch display, and the latter a 5.7-inch, but both come with Android Marshmallow, an excellent 12.3 MP camera (unlike the wildly inconsistent Nexus 6) on board, and support for Project Fi, fingerprint recognition (called Nexus Imprint, just like Apple's Touch ID) and USB Type-C charging. Where it gets even more interesting is the price. The Nexus 6P costs a full $150 less than its 2014 predecessor, irrespective of the storage option!
Apple iPhone 6s Plus - Like its pure-Google counterpart, Apple's iPhone is the smartphone that should be on your radar if you crave iOS. And having used the iPhone 6s Plus for exactly a month now (it landed on Sept 25, remember?), I have to say, the phone just works! I am not a big fan of the design though, it feels slippery on the hand, and added to that, the camera bulge and the ugly antenna stripes make you want to put the phone in a case the minute you unbox it, which is what I did. (Plus I wish the phone came in pure black colour, I don't get the space gray!) On the software side, iOS 9 runs silky smooth (like it should, perhaps the 2GB RAM came in handy?), the Touch ID is ridiculously fast, and the pressure-sensitive 3D Touch feature (sort of like Android's long press, but different) is immensely useful, especially in Safari to open links in a new tab. I have used it countless times, and it feels so effortless and natural that I am left wondering what took them so long.
Samsung Gear S2 - Smartwatches are here to stay, but are they compelling enough a reason yet to justify their expensive price tags (outrageous even, like the Apple Watch Edition worth $17,000) and average battery life? Apple's smartwatch 1.0, for a start, is designed quite well (although I prefer a round watch face), but the interface still looks way too clunky to me, and nothing remotely like iOS. On the other hand, Android Wear-based watches are one too many, like the beautiful Moto 360 (marred by a flat spot below the display), Huawei Watch, among others, but functional at best as a standalone contraption. Continuing this trend is Gear S2, the latest smartwatch from Samsung, which runs on its own proprietary operating system called Tizen. But the smartest thing about Gear S2 is the intuitive rotating bezel, which makes scrolling through your watch apps, or whatever you might be looking at on the screen, a breeze.
Microsoft Surface Book - Convertible laptops, like phablets, that bridge the gap between phones and tablets, offer a middle ground between tablets and laptops, purveying convenience, mobility and flexibility as situation demands. Microsoft, for its part, has long had the Surface lineup with mixed success, and Apple recently jumped into the bandwagon with the 13-inch iPad Pro, which can be accessorised with a smart keyboard and a stylus (called Apple Pencil). Google hopped in too, unveiling a Pixel C Android (not Chrome OS) tablet at its last month press event with a magnetic keyboard that can be clamped onto it. So how does Microsoft up the competition? By unveiling the Surface Book. It's one gorgeously crafted device, almost a crown jewel, and like Microsoft says, it's the ultimate laptop.
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