Huawei has been focused on shifting its lineup towards more upmarket segments, figuring out that’s where the real money is. The Honor 6, which recently showed up at our office, is one prime example of the Chinese company’s new strategy.

The smartphone immediately evokes comparisons to the Sony Xperia Z3 compact. Its a similar all-glass design that looks classy until you touch it, at which point it gets instantly covered in fingerprints. Read more »

The LG G Flex2 was one of the most hotly-anticipated devices at our headquarters ever since it was officially unveiled at CES back in January. It finally made it in this week and gathered much the expected excitement with the entire office flocked around the box.

We quickly set about examining it and subjected it to our rigorous testing routines, and if you’ve missed our in-depth review, now is a good time to catch up. After you’ve familiarized yourself with the G Flex2, we’ve prepped a few polls for you after the break. Read more »

Samsung is gradually updating its flagship smartphones to Lollipop, with the Galaxy S5, Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Note 4 so far receiving the OTA in various parts of the world. Tablet users may have felt left out so far, but an update is in the works, at least for the high-end Galaxy Tab S 8.4.

According to SamMobile, Lollipop for the flagship compact tablet is to be expected in either March or April. Read more »

The Samsung Galaxy S6 is a cornerstone for the company, set to finally bring the feel of the company’s flagships up to top standards. Widely criticized for its choice of materials so far, the Korean giant is rebuilding the upcoming smartphone from the ground up, addressing the issue.

The hype, which has been building around the Galaxy S6, showed its results and it emerged victorious in our weekly poll. Read more »

The amount of Samsung Galaxy S6 details that has made its way to the public ahead of launch has reached critical mass for designers to be able to create a pretty accurate vision of what the upcoming flagship will look like. The leaked schematics left little to the imagination and it actually took too long for people to dress them in proper attire.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen the work of Martin Hajek applied in the field of mobile devices and now we are treated to his take on the Galaxy S6. Read more »

The somewhat uneventful CES in the beginning of January did witness the birth of a strong contender in the cameraphone realm. Asus unveiled the Zenfone Zoom, striking another blow at the already shaky positions of the dedicated digicam.

At less than 12mm thick around its camera and thinner elsewhere the Zenfone Zoom’s waistline is still perfectly acceptable for a phone, and the 13MP sensor behind a 3x optical zoom lens makes your point-and-shoot redundant, on paper at least. Read more »

In the lull before the storm, which MWC is shaping up to be, new announcements are few and far between. Finishing touches must be made and with the deadline nearing, sleepless nights are in order for designers and engineers.

For us users though, the wait is always too long and we need to entertain ourselves somehow in the meantime. One way to do that is to throw a bunch of future flagships in a fight for the imaginary title of “Most exciting upcoming phone”. Read more »

Windows 10, the embodiment of the One Windows concept Microsoft is keen to pursue, appears to be uniting users as well. Our weekly poll results are in, and paint a picture of future success for the Redmond giant.

The all-important new OS carries a lot of weight on its shoulders and needs to succeed if Microsoft is to stand a chance at more than marginal presence in the smartphone world. The dominant position in the desktop market seems stable but shouldn’t be taken for granted. Read more »

After it was unleashed from Windows Phone exclusivity, the HERE Maps app has shaped up to be on a steady rise in the Google Play Store. Less than a month ago, the app was at the 1 million milestone, and today 3 million downloads have been reached.

HERE Maps’ main selling point has always been its support for offline navigation. Currently the database spans 118 countries the world over, and turn-by-turn voice navigation is available in multiple languages. Read more »

App Annie, mobile app analyzer, has published its annual report containing some curious findings. The paper, named App Annie Index:2014 Retrospective, sheds light on the mobile app trends of the year.

Chief among them is that Google is building on its lead over Apple when it comes to downloads, snatching 60% of the total number. In other words, Google Play store has registered close to 50% more app installations than the iOS App Store. Read more »

Microsoft have flooded the lower smartphone segment with a plethora of Lumia 400s and Lumia 500s. New ones are released regularly, and existing ones remain in the lineup. The Lumia 535, which stands atop the 500 series, can now be purchased for £79 off-contract.

A minor note though, off-contract doesn’t mean unlocked in this case, as the Tesco offer is limited to the carrier’s network. Read more »

The Samsung Z1 is the first smartphone to boot the budget Android alternative, Tizen OS. Announced less than a fortnight ago, the device has already landed in the hands of more than 50,000 people in India.

Well, we bring some unexpected good news to those folks, as Samsung is offering 48GB of free Dropbox storage space for a year for owners of the Z1 when they log in to the service from their smartphone. Read more »

The smartphone is already so far removed from its phone legacy, packing an infinite number of functions and replacing a multitude of standalone devices. Samsung went ahead and fitted the Galaxy Note 4 within a headset, offering a virtual reality experience with the Gear VR. Sony capitalized on its PlayStation traditions enabling the pairing of a DualShock controller to some of its Xperia smartphones.

Apple is also set on exploiting the mobile gaming niche, it appears, as recent findings show that the Cupertino company has been granted patents for a number of controller-type holders, presumably for the iPhone. Read more »

If you’ve been postponing the purchase of a Samsung tablet on grounds of unacceptable price, now might be the best time. Provided you’re lucky enough to live in Germany, that is.

The company has announced a limited time €100 cashback offer on its premium models, the Tab S 10.5 and Tab S 8. The promotion covers both the WiFi-only and LTE enabled versions of the tablets, with a variety of color options too. Read more »

Apple is apparently working on a larger tablet, as indicated by schematics published in Japanese magazine Macfan. These drawings have been the source of artist Martin Hajek‘s inspiration to create a 3D model of the upcoming device.

The renderings before our eyes represent an informed guess as to what the iPad Pro might look like. Read more »