Our in-depth review of the 6″ Sony Xperia T2 Ultra has been around for a while and it’s time we give you the full battery breakdown. The phablet packs a huge 3,000 mAh battery to power the massive 6″ IPS 720p display, plus it’s quad-core Cortex-A7 processor should be lightweight on the battery.

We were disappointed from the battery performance of the Sony’s previous phablet – the Xperia Z Ultra – so we didn’t expect miracles from the T2 Ultra either. We couldn’t have been so wrong. Read more »

We met the Gionee Elife S5.5 back at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and we were absolutely impressed by its build quality. While the brand may not be terribly familiar with most people out there, it’s going to quickly gather traction if it continues to make such extraordinary smartphones.

Why this fuss? For starters, the Elife S5.5, along with the Allview X2 Soul, is the slimmest smartphone in the world right now and measures just 5.55mm thick. It features a metal frame which gives it a premium feel, while the glass back panel improves the feel in the hand even more. Read more »

The HTC One Mini 2 is up there with the best looking compact smartphones currently on the market. The competition in this particular market segment has heated up considerably as manufacturers give their best to remain an important part of the 4-4.5″ market even after the flagships shot way past this mark.

So, it’s time for one of our classic poll battles to reach out for your opinion on how much of a chance does the One Mini 2 stand against its competitors. We’re pitting it against the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, LG G2 mini, Samsung Galaxy S4 mini and the Motorola Moto G LTE. Read more »

Google has a launched the long-awaited mobile-tailored version of its Play Store. Google’s app store is now a lot easier to navigate through a mobile browser and the internet giant has managed to retain most of the features from its app. So, browsing through the Play Store app or through the browser, you will have easy access to the same content.

Google’s updated mobile-friendly web store is complete with a very nice design. The full featured mobile web version has the ability to send the apps directly to your Android smartphones. Read more »

Announced late last month, the HTC One (M8) Harman/Kardon edition brings enhanced audio abilities to the Taiwanese company’s already excellent smartphone flagship. The latest addition to the M8 lineup is exclusively available for Sprint Wireless in the United States.

In addition to its solid audio credentials, the Harman/Kardon edition M8 also comes with a brand new, exclusive paint job. To top things off, the handset comes bundled with a high-end Harman/Kardon in-ear headset and six months of free Spotify Premium music streaming. Read more »

LG has just released a trio of G3 promo videos and they are available for everyone to see. The clips cover key features of the phone focusing on the camera, design and display of the upcoming flagship.

LG has even put up a special website for its May 27 event. It’s all but confirmed that the company is going to host a live stream there, too. Read more »

With things in the virtual reality headset space starting to get interesting, what with Facebook acquiring Oculus VR and Sony working on one of its own, it wasn’t long before others decided to try their hand at it as well.

It’s no surprise then that Samsung has decided to throw its hat in the VR headset ring, considering the company’s reputation of throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. According to a new report by Engadget, Samsung is working on its own VR headset and that it will be announced some time this year. Read more »

Massive corporations are known to launch charitable initiatives (they are tax write offs, after all), and Samsung has decided to start an interesting one of their own.

This past Tuesday, May 20th, Samsung made their own charitable gesture by opening the first internet school in Kenya that runs entirely on solar energy. Read more »

The HTC Desire 816 has one of the smaller batteries of all 5.5″ smartphones, 2,600mAh. There are a couple 2,500mAh but that’s hardly an excuse. Great battery life is one of the key selling points of phablets, second only to the large screen (actually those are the two selling points), so has this hurt HTC’s second phablet?

The answer is not so much, even without the use of HTC’s power saving modes. Read more »

Analytics and research company IDC has conducted a survey asking some 50,000 people across 25 countries what are their main drivers when it comes to getting a new smartphone.

The results are quite interesting as they show what customers are looking for in a smartphone and 40% of buyers who went the Windows Phone route looked specifically for a device running Microsoft’s operating system. Read more »

Just as earlier rumors hinted, HP is starting to announce its 2014 line-up of Android tablets. The first of the batch to go official in the US is the HP 7 Plus tablet, which HP has priced at just $99.99.

The tablet is available in the US and it seems to offer some good hardware for the price. The most notable is a Cortex A7 1GHz quad-core CPU on an Allwinner Technology SoC. Read more »

Battery maker Mugen has come up with yet another outrageously large battery replacement for a flagship smartphone. The company has released a 5,900 mAh juice pack for the Samsung Galaxy S5, which promises to take its already great battery life to unbelievable heights.

The catch is that you will have to give up on the marvelously slim waistline of the smartphone – the extended battery comes with its own replacement cover and it’s obviously way thicker than the stock one. Mugen hasn’t specified exact dimensions, but has confirmed that the replacement cover also enables Qi wireless charging and retains the NFC functionality. Read more »

After passing our review gauntlet it’s now time to shine a light on the Huawei Ascend P7 battery life.

The phone managed a decent endurance rating of 53 hours and we’re going to break down why. The Ascend P7 has to power a 5″ IPS LCD of 1080p resolution along with a quad-core 1.8 GHz processor with a 2,500 mAh battery – a slightly below average capacity compared to direct rivals of similar specs. Read more »

In a manner fitting for a high-profile smartphone, Spigen released a full range of cases and screen protectors for the Samsung Galaxy S5. They range from ultra-slim snap-on cases, all the way to properly rugged offerings.

Over the past couple of weeks, I got to spend time with three members of the Korean accessories manufacturer’s range for Samsung Galaxy S5. Made in Korea like the handset they adorn, the Spigen Tough Armor, Slim Armor, and Neo Hybrid bring different levels protection without breaking the bank. Read more »

Do you own an Oppo Find 5 or a Find 7 / Find 7a and love flashing new firmwares? You might be just the person to help Oppo develop its Color OS launcher. The company is looking for advisers among its “Ofans” to take part in the development and testing of its custom Android skin.

Here’s what you’ll need besides a compatible phone and the desire to participate. Read more »