The HTC Desire 500 is running on the Snapdragon 200 platform, which should be rather easy on its battery. The trade-off is low performance, but that’s not what we are discussing in this blogpost.

Behind the back cover of the Desire 500 lies a 1,800mAh battery, which is at least on par with most rivals in the same market space. Android 4.1.2 and the Sense 5 UI on top of it are going to be heavily relied on to ensure the Desire 500 lasts as long as possible. Read more »

Today Apple iPhone 5c arrived at our office and as the tradition goes, we unboxed it in front of our camera and took a quick tour around its UI.

The iPhone 5c comes in a brand new colorful and plastic shell, but its internals are identical to the already discontinued iPhone 5. The battery capacity is the only thing that got bumped by a hair. Read more »

The original Angry Birds Star Wars hit the app stores last year in November and came as a breath of fresh air. Although an Angry Birds game at heart, the game featured brand new birds modeled after Star Wars characters and had their own unique new powers that made the game more exciting than what you’d expect from an Angry Birds game.

Now, Rovio is back with a sequel, with the aptly named Angry Birds Star Wars II that is based on the prequel trilogy of Star Wars movies, and once again features several new characters and environments in dozens of new levels. But after four years and several similar games, is flinging birds at pigs still going to be entertaining? Let’s find out. Read more »

We managed to spend some time with the Best Buy exclusive blue HTC One at a press event in NYC. The smartphone is available in the United States for AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless.

In the flesh, the Best Buy exclusive blue HTC One actually sports a darker shade of the color than the version which broke cover during IFA. Read more »

The Nokia Lumia 1020 is for the majority of the company’s fans the best smartphone to have come out of the Nokia-Microsoft partnership so far. It has presumably the best display Nokia currently makes, as well as presumably the best camera that’s even been fitted to a smartphone.

We have yet to test those on our dedicated review, but one thing we did already test is battery life.

A 2,000mAh battery doesn’t sound like much, but it powers a frugal dual-core processor and an AMOLED display. Combine this with the efficient Windows Phone 8 OS, and the Lumia 1020 promises to be a long-distance runner in our battery life test. Read more »

The Nokia Lumia 625 arrives as one of the final Lumia smartphones from Nokia, and looks to build on the name set forth by the budget-range Lumia 620.

This time around the device sports a larger display at 4.7-inches, but also features a 2000 mAh battery. With such a hefty battery having to only power a dual-core device, we expected great battery perfomance and the Lumia 625 delivered. Read more »

The Sony Xperia Z1 draws the crowds with an impressive camera and powerful chipset, but it’s also worth mentioning that the slender phone packs a large battery as well. It’s got a 3,000mAh fuel tank capacity, let’s see if it will go longer than the Xperia Z Ultra, which has virtually the same size battery (and chipset too), but proved to be a bit disappointing.

Well, the smaller screen should make a big difference (that’s 40% less surface area), but will that be enough? Read more »

The Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 made its way officially to the United States, so we managed to spend some quality time with the market-specific version of the phablet. The gigantic handset is offered by AT&T for $149.99 with a two-year commitment.

Sold under the model name SGH-I527, the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 for AT&T sports the same hardware as its internationally available GT-I9200 sibling. Read more »

Following the successful treatment it gave the original, DODOcase launched its line of locally handcrafted covers for the 2013 ASUS Nexus 7. The San-Francisco based designer and maker of bookbound cases has an entire collection on offer for the second generation of the most popular slate in the Android realm.

I managed to spend some quality time with the DODOcase Color Block for the new Nexus 7. Inspired by the artist journals from the past, the cover offers a fresh take with a classic twist on the tablet case concept. Read more »

After rumors made it abundantly clear that Apple will be delivering yet another S refresh to its flagship this year, rather than a proper upgrade, yesterday’s event become all about the iPhone 5c for me. I was quite excited to see Apple leave its comfort zone and do a smartphone that’s quite different from anything they have done so far.

As it turns out, though, the modest only upgrade that is the iPhone 5s, was only the second biggest disappointment of the night, with the iPhone 5c turning out to be the most notable consumer-stabbing, sales-serving excuse of a product. I know those are some strong words, which is why I waited with this article to see if the bitter taste in my mouth will go away, but sadly it didn’t.

Let’s get something out of the way first – the iPhone 5c is a pretty good smartphone. It’s fresh looking and adequately powered to be a decent mid-ranger, plus its camera has proved to be good enough for the last-year’s flagship. So how bad can it be? Read more »

The Apple iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c are now official, which makes this the first occasion when we get two iPhones at ones. It was only logical then that we’ll pit them against each other and see who’s who in the new family. The HTC One is also here – firstly, because it couldn’t make it to our other specs shootout, and secondly, because we need a handset to put the two new Apple smartphones in perspective.

This HTC One and the iPhone 5s share a premium aluminum build, but that is where their similarities mostly end. Apple has refused to take the big screen approach with the iPhone 5s, but that’s not really the point of the ‘s’ in its name, is it? Read more »

Apple has just revealed its iPhone 5s flagship smartphone and it’s everything that rumors made us expect, really. The company hasn’t redesigned the smartphone, but has made plenty of changes on the inside.

But is it enough? That’s what we will be finding out in the following comparison table. The main rivals of the iPhone 5S come from Korea and they’re the LG G2 and Samsung Galaxy S4. Let’s see what Apple has done with the iPhone 5s in an attempt to stop its melting user base jump over to the Android camp. Read more »

The last smartphone we met before we say goodbye to the IFA 2013 was not actually presented on the expo. Unlike Samsung, Sony, Acer and Asus, Nokia didn’t even hire a booth to show its devices to the consumers. We still managed to find the latest Lumia 625 smartphone at one of the IFA side-events, showcased by the company’s new owner – Microsoft. It’s quite an interesting gadget that offers big screen on a budget price.

Nokia announced the Lumia 625 back in July, a couple of weeks after the company unveiled its 41MP Lumia 1020 cameraphone monster. This is also the last Lumia phone unveiled before Microsoft acquisition of Nokia Devices and Services. And while it’s still unclear what will happen with the rumored Lumia 1520 phablet, the Lumia 625 has already gone on sale. Read more »

Alcatel brought out a trio of thin and light Android smartphones in the Idol line. The Alcatel One Touch Idol Alpha is the aluminum-clad leader of three with unibody design and attractive transparent elements for design and notification purposes. Then the Idol S follows close behind with a 4.7″ 720p screen dual and 8MP / 1080p camera. The Idol Mini brings up the rear with a thin and light design – 7.4mm thick, 96g – and a dual-SIM option.

Our hands-on impressions of the three follow after the break. Read more »

You may know 2K Games from excellent desktop and console series such as Bioshock, Borderlands and Mafia. Their sports division, 2K Sports, has now released a new title for iOS, called 2K Drive.

2K Drive is a racing game but not quite in the same league as your Asphalt or Need for Speed. It’s more along the lines of Real Racing, wherein it is a simulation racing game that tries to be more realistic with believable physics and other characteristics. We took it for a spin to see how it performs. Read more »