It’s been a while since we last heard rumors of Microsoft’s Cortana coming to Android. Way back in June of 2014 a manager from the Windows Phone team talked about the possibility of Cortana coming to other platforms. Now we’re hearing from Microsoft’s Eric Horvitz, managing director of Microsoft Research, that they are planning a bigger roll-out for Cortana later this year.
Microsoft is currently planning to bring Cortana to the desktop in Windows 10, which could be the perfectly opportunity to launch on Android and iOS as well. You might be thinking “why would Microsoft bring one of the best features of Windows Phone to competing platforms?” The new Microsoft under CEO Satya Nadella is focused on getting more people using Microsoft services. Just look at all the apps they already have in the Play Store.
The big question for most Android users will be “why should I use Cortana?” Microsoft will have a tough job convincing users to switch away from the tightly integrated and powerful Google Now. When Cortana originally launched in beta 0n Windows Phone 8.1 we put it up against Google Now. A lot has changed since then, but it’s still a good look at the two services side-by-side.
Will you give Cortana a shot when it comes to Android?
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The HTC One M9 has officially launched in Taiwan today, but what’s the word on a release for those of us in other parts of the world? The full schedule isn’t out yet, but HTC’s Jason McKenzie says on Twitter that the company has a “big announcement” for US customers this Wednesday, and used the hashtag #HTCOneM9 to make no mistake that it’s regarding their latest smartphone.
Our immediate hope is that this announcement pertains to the US release date of said HTC One M9. Retailers have (accidentally) suggested it’ll be out as soon as March 25th so there’s a good chance we’ll be let in on official details.
While the Samsung Galaxy S6 got a great deal of the Mobile World Congress attention, the HTC One M9 is just as savory a phone and our early hands-on impressions will show you that. These will be the main contenders fighting for your wallet this Spring so it’s worth staying tuned even if your mind is already made up. See you Wednesday!
By now you know the story: a new phone is released and in a made rush for views, countless YouTubers come out of the woodwork and put the phone through a variety of “stress tests.” This is all in an effort to determine build quality by subjecting the phone to a series of drop tests, or even its water resistance by submerging it in water.
Like most Android devices these days, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge doesn’t advertise any kind of IP rating. It’s actually one of the few areas the phone was left wanting. But just because you wont find an Ingress rating on the phone, doesn’t mean it wont survive a quick dip in a puddle, or even a drop in a toilet. Most phones feature some level of water resistance, so it’s to be expected that the Galaxy S6 Edge would last a few minutes submerged in a bowl of water. But over 20 minutes? That’s pretty crazy. Check out TechSmartt’s video below for proof.
As a bonus, we found another video — presumably from the same chick that threw the Galaxy S6 to the floor like a firecracker — this time crushing some walnuts using the Galaxy S6 Edge as a hammer, on top of the regular Galaxy S6. We should warn you. The 240p video is not for the squeamish.
Android 5.0 Lollipop introduced a new screen-off animation on Nexus devices. The fan-favorite CRT effect was replaced with a more subtle black and white fade. We’ve been curious to see if Android manufacturers use this new animation, or opt to make their own. On the Samsung Galaxy S6 we decided to tweak the animations to their slowest speed and check it out.
As you can see in the GIF above they’ve gone with a screen splitting effect that starts from the center and goes outward. It’s like a transition effect you would see in a video editing program. In the video below you can also see the animation for opening apps, which is similar to what you see on Nexus devices. At the end of the day they’re just animations. Yay or nay?
Having a good speaker is not something you can find on every Android device. For most you will need an external feature in order to get loud and clear audio quality from your phone. Bluetooth speakers can be very pricey, but if you’re just looking for something small and easy to carry we’ve got a great deal for you.
The Icon Bluetooth Speaker is just 4-inches wide and 2-inches tall. With 4 hours of playback time, the Icon will keep your tunes rolling and calls streaming straight from your device. It’s easy to recharge, and it even has a built-in mic for taking speaker calls. The range for the Bluetooth is up to 30-feet, which should be more than enough. The Icon usually goes for 0, but for just a few more hours you can get it for only (with free shipping).
Grab this awesome deal while it lasts! Head over to AndroidArea.com to snag this speaker.
After Samsung began allowing casuals to test drive the Gear VR at their local Best Buy, the virtual reality headset will officially make its retail debut this Friday, March 27th. That’s when the Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition — powered by Oculus — will hit more than 100 Best Buy retail locations across the US (with additional locations throughout the year), meaning you’ll officially be able to walk in, test it out, and walk out with a Gear VR if you like what you see.
If you’re still on the fence about the virtual reality craze, our own Kevin Krause was probably the biggest skeptic, but later raved about the Gear VR in his full review. The Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition is only compatible with the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 as of now (there are workarounds), but an official Galaxy S6 version is also expected sometime down the road. In case you missed it, we got a chance to play with that model during this year’s Mobile World Congress and were basically blow away.
The Gear VR simulates movement using your smartphone’s motion sensors and displays dual-images to each eye for an added 3D effect. While there isn’t too much VR content at the moment, the list is definitely growing. It was last week YouTube added support for 360-degree 3D videos via their Android app and Chrome, while Samsung has their own app for watching immersive 3D videos via the Milk VR app. Oh, and if “adult” entertainment is more your thing (we wont judge), we already got people are already working on that too.
The Gear VR IE is currently available online at BestBuy.com for 0 but if you’re interested in waiting until Friday, you can find a list of Best Buy locations where you can walk in and buy one right here.
Hot on the heels of Sony’s 4K Ultra HDTV announcement, the manufacturer is following up with a few new details on their upcoming 2015 soundbars and A/V receivers. While not normally Android-related news, a couple of Sony’s new soundbars (along with both of their new A/V receivers) feature Google Cast technology built right in, meaning you can “cast” any audio streams from apps like Google Play Music straight to the speakers themselves.
Here are the new soundbars and A/V receivers launching in May and July:
Sony Sound Bars
HT-ST9 (July) ,500 – Comes with a wireless subwoofer and features 800 watts and 7.1 channel surround sound from seven amplifiers and nine speakers and a wireless, front-firing subwoofer with passive radiator. There are 3 HDMI inputs along with Bluetooth reception and transmission so you can enjoy music/movies with your Bluetooth headphones. Sony’s LDAC technology provides enhanced wireless listening for all music with compatible products. Sound was tuned by Academy Award-winning Sony Pictures engineers and is Hi-Res capable. Also supports Google Cast and Spotify Connect.
HT-NT3 (July) 0 – Hi-Res Sound Bar with 2.1 channel audio and wireless subwoofer with 450 watts of power. Also incorporates Sony LDAC technology, single HDMI connection with 3 HDMI inputs, and audio streaming with Bluetooth and NFC connections. Google Cast ready.
HT-CT780 (May) 0 – 330 watt 2.1 Sound Bar with wireless subwoofer and wall-mount. Features 3 HDMI inputs with one supporting 4K with HDCP 2.2, HDMI TV connectivity with Audio Return Channel support.
HT-CT380 (May) 0 – 300 watt 2.1 Sound Bar with wireless subwoofer and Bluetooth/NFC support. Like the CT780, it can also be mounted on the wall.
Sony A/V Receivers
STR-DN860 (May) 0 – Hi-Res Wi-Fi Network A/V Receiver offers 7.2 channels and 165 watts of power per channel. Also comes with 4K resolution upscaling and pass-through, flexible connectivity with ten HD inputs, support for two separate powered zones, and hi-res audio compatibility. Wireless connectivity includes streaming of music with built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth reception and transmission, along with support for Google Cast, Apple AirPlay, and Spotify Connect.
STR-DN1060 (May) 0 – 7.2 channel Hi-Res Wi-Fi Network A/V Receiver offers 7.2 channels and 150 watts of power, Wi-Fi music streaming, Bluetooth reception and transmission, Google Cast for Audio and Apple AirPlay. Adjust settings, change inputs, and confirm volume levels on-screen using graphical user interface, refined remote control, or SongPal App.
In case you missed it, we wanted to remind you that of Sony’s 4 soundbars, only the HT-ST9 and HT-NT3 feature Google Cast functionality, as well as both of their new receivers. If home audio is your thing, Sony’s new products should be an interesting prospect.
From one big announcement to the next — Samsung has officially unveiled the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, their 2015 flagship smartphones. The devices are just as we’d imagined them (or just as we saw them in countless leaks, anyway).
Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge specs
They’re quite similar under the hood with the following quick list of specs:
14nm 64-bit Exynos 7 Octa chipset
3GB of LPDDR4 RAM
32GB, 64GB or 128GB UFS 2.0 storage options
16 megapixel rear camera with optical image stabilization, 5 megapixel front camera with real-time HDR
5.1-inch Quad-HD Super AMOLED display (577 ppi)
Dual-mode wireless charging with support for both WPC and PMA charging pads
10 minutes charging for 4 hours of use, 0% to 100% battery in half the time it takes an iPhone to charge
NFC, heart-rate sensor and improved fingerprint scanner
Depth: 6.8mm/7.0mm edge
Weight: 138g/132g edge
The difference will obviously come with the Edge display of the latter. Through software, it’ll enable unique experiences that only an Edge display can provide.
Both devices look stunning, to boot. They’re built with a metal chassis that’s 50% stronger than the metal used in competing smartphones, and is slathered in the latest Gorilla Glass on both the front and rear. It looks and feels like Samsung, but it’s hard to say their devices have ever looked quite this good.
TouchWiz on the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge
One new feature is the ability to set up your “fave 5″ contacts with their own designated color, and the S6 Edge’s display will glow in that color whenever they call or send you a message. You can drag that contact’s color from the Edge of the display to act on that message or missed call.
If it’s laying face down on a surface? You’ll be able to see the glow of that contact’s color, and a touch of the heart-rate sensor on the back and send off a quick message to dismiss the call or message in case you can’t respond right away.
The two share everything else in terms of features. TouchWiz is still TouchWiz — no Nexus-like debloat job here — but they’ve refined it to be less confusing and cluttered. They’ve done away with cryptic icons for text-based interface options to make it clear what you’re able to do. They make good use of white space just as Google has asked folks to for Android 5.0 and higher.
Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge camera
Megapixels alone aren’t impressive, and Samsung knows that. That’s why they weren’t insecure about not being able to match HTC’s 20.7 megapixel sensor or some other ridiculous spec.
What does matter is picture quality, and thanks to both the front and rear camera’s f/1.9 aperture the device is able to capture 60% more light. It should make for much better low light performance for both still shots and video, as well as an overall more versatile sensor for everyday use. Real-time HDR — an industry first — is also present for both the front and rear sensor, as well.
The camera software hasn’t gotten a million new selfie modes and other nonsense, but it has been cleaned up to make it easier to get to the options you need. That seems to be the theme here — nothing crazy, just much improved.
Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge availability
Samsung has already announced a release date for this thing — April 10th, worldwide. You can expect all major carriers in whichever country you live to offer the thing so you won’t have to worry about jumping from your network of choice. There will be 32GB, 64GB and 128GB options available, though pricing for each model has yet to be confirmed.
As you may have seen last week, Samsung is celebrating the (very successful) launch of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge with a handful of “unboxing” videos. These aren’t your typical (read: boring) unboxings and are essentially action shorts shot in first-person. The unboxers finds themselves chased by someone and using a variety of fancy parkour moves, is able to allude them with his brand new Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. Kinda cool, but whatevs. Check ’em out below.
Running with that same idea, Samsung is continuing their unboxing series with a new video uploaded to YouTube today. The video shows off the fast charging capabilities of the Galaxy S6 and all the things you can get done during that time. Samsung claims you can get 4 hours of battery life while fast charging the device for only 10 minutes, something we more or less saw in our own testing (check out our full review here). The point of the video was kind of lost on us but you can check it out the full 90-second version below if you’re interested.
Put this one firmly at the top of the rumor category in bold letters: Best Buy might have Samsung Galaxy S6 demo units in-store as early as this Friday. That much was revealed by a Samsung rep at a Best Buy shop according to this Redditor.
Another user claiming to be familiar with Samsung (his posting history somewhat solidifies that) suggested the user was, in fact, correct, and a horde of other users jumped in to corroborate the information.
What’s more is that they revealed a couple of details about Best Buy’s pre-sales process:
Pre-sales commence March 27th, the day the demo units are expected to arrive in stores.
Pre-sales will only be held for AT&T, Sprint and Verizon, as usual.
Launch is expected to be April 10th for all 3 of those carriers as Samsung has previously announced.
Pre-orderers will get some sort of “free device” with their purchase, though which exact device remains to be seen. The supposed Samsung employee suggested it would be a wireless charging pad worth .
Mostly all stores with a Samsung Experience booth will have the regular Samsung Galaxy S6, but not every store will have the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. Be sure to call and check once the day arrives.
Some Samsung Experience agents might already be walking around with a Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge as part of their training. If you ask around you might find one nice enough to give you a quick showing!
That was about the extent of the information available. Note that rumors are always to be taken with a heavy grain of salt, especially when the source is an unchecked (but usually honest) community.
So first movement on getting your Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge secured could happen as soon as this Friday. There’s only one question left — have you decided to buy one yet? Let us know!
We can’t for the life of us figure out how Samsung came to the decision to hack up TouchWiz for US versions of the device, giving carriers exclusive fundamental options others didn’t get. For instance, only the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge models have an option to change the touch key (capacitive nav buttons) light duration. Yes, that very same option you’ve had on Galaxy devices for years now.
Well, the clever minds on XDA found a workaround, one that didn’t involve root, but involved enabling USB debugging and executing a few commands via ADB just to change it on non-AT&T S6 models. Not exactly convenient, or probably even worth the hassle. That is, unless these lights were bothering you when using your device in the dark (they can be a little bright).
Thankfully, some beautiful soul on Google Play has created an app just for this purpose. Simply put, it allows you to change the duration of those backlit back and recents buttons on the Galaxy S6 (all versions) — even turn them off completely if you’d like. Not sure why Samsung didn’t enable this “feature” on all models, but we’re glad someone out there was able to step up. Link provided below.
Android 5.0 Lollipop is great, but for those on the Nexus 6 there’s no secret there were some troubling performance issues that a phone of its stature shouldn’t experience. We thought much of the issues were due to the infancy of the ART runtime and possibly due to problematic device encryption. We expected much of that to be cleared up with Android 5.1’s arrival.
It was, at least according to some early impressions around the Phandroid office. But what changed to bring about that performance boost, exactly? Google wasn’t keen to go into detail, but renowned kernel developer Francisco Franco gave us a good bit of insight.
Alongside general improvements to the ART runtime as a whole, Google apparently unlocked the device’s CPU to run at full quad-core mode at all times in order to handle task scheduling more efficiently. What this means is that “Job B” no longer has to wait on “Job A” to finish on a certain core before carrying out its task. It can simply jump onto another of three other cores to allow everything else ample time and room to work. Think of it as a one-lane street merging into a multi-lane highway.
Taking things a step further, Google was able to reduce the lag and improve battery life at the same time thanks to disabling a Qualcomm driver that would needlessly boost individual CPU cores whenever tasks migrate from one core to another. Franco says he’d already made these tweaks in his version of the kernel, so kudos to Google for seeing things similarly and following suit.
So if you notice increased performance and improved battery life after upgrading to Android 5.1, it’s not a placebo effect — Google made some significant changes, and the great thing is we haven’t even scratched the surface of what we know to be different in this latest version. Be sure to try Android 5.1 on for size on your Nexus device of choice using one of the available OTA links.
Every company falls victim to a leak or two ahead of their flagship devices’ official unveiling, and LG is no different. The LG G4 has escaped our grasps for far too long, but we might have just gotten our first look at the thing.
Surprise, surprise: it looks like almost every LG flagship device we’ve seen the past couple of years, rear button placement and all. The leak was provided by @onleaks, which is manned by one of the editors from credible French technology blog NowhereElse.Fr.
We’d say that’s pretty good reason to believe this leak will hold up, but if the HTC One M9 debacle taught us anything it’s that no one truly knows anything until the official goods are delivered. It’s also worth noting that the leakster stressed that this was a “non-final” render, so there is certainly a chance for some details to change.
There isn’t much to be known about the LG G4 right now, but it’ll supposedly sport dimensions of 148.9 x 76.5 x 9.9mm — that’s about 5.8 inches tall and 2.9 inches wide — and will undoubtedly come with a top-line Snapdragon 810 chipset. The device’s size indicates LG’s going with a display size somewhere between 5.2 and 5.5 inches. There are also murmurings that LG is thinking about embedding a fingerprint scanner in the rear home button.
With LG looking to a Spring announcement and a possible summer launch we’ll only hear more about the LG G4 from here on out. There’s no doubt in our minds it’ll live up to the eventual hype, but it’s up to LG to make a phone worthy of achieving that goal.
Remember the Sphero? It’s a little robotic ball that you can actually control using your Android smartphone or tablet. Not many practical uses for such a thing, but it’s damn cool. For Star Wars geeks, it just got even cooler.
Sphero and Disney have confirmed that the BB-8 robot featured in the latest Star Wars teasers is not CGI. It’s an actual robotic ball that has a physical presence in all the scenes it’s featured in.
That’s cool and all, but an even better fact is that the two sides teamed up to release a special edition of the ball that is designed to look like the round BB-8 robot that will debut in the upcoming 7th Star Wars film (The Force Awakens). Pricing and release information haven’t been revealed, though we’re sure they’ll want it out on time for the film’s planned December 18th release.
That still not doing it for you? What if I told you it was possible to make one yourself? Industrial designer Christian Poulsen did just that by purchasing a readily-available Spheros ball and customizing it.
He used your typical paints for the look and feel, though he did have to slice into the robot’s innards to install neodymium magnets to make sure the robot’s head stayed put during its frantic rolling.
The paint job isn’t the greatest on his rendition, though he never claimed to be an artist. Be sure to take a look at his step-by-step process in photos over at his website, and if it seems too daunting a task for you then take comfort in the fact that an even better version will be officially available later this year.
It was only a matter of time before the next Moto 360 rumors and leaks started. The Moto 360 was (and still may be) the most popular Android Wear device to date, which makes the next model highly anticipated. An executive from Lenovo (who acquired Motorola last year) may have spilled the beans on their follow-up.
A Chinese Facebook community posted the photo you see above last night. They claim the photo was taken by Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing. We can see a padded case filled with different bands and what appears to be a bunch of old Moto 360 parts. Take a closer look and you’ll notice a few key differences.
The side button is now position slightly closer to the band instead of centered on the side. The bigger difference is the new lugs that connect the watch band to the body. The original Moto 360 didn’t have exposed lugs like most watches. The bands sort of disappeared underneath for a very clean look. The new Moto 360 with the lugs takes on a more traditional design, which frankly I don’t like as much.
It’s not an article about the Moto 360 if we don’t talk about the “flat tire.” Yes, it does appear to still be there. However, there is a good chance they are still using the old displays in these new designs. Motorola would be very foolish to ignore all the complaints about the “flat tire” and not get rid of it. We’ll wait before we rage.
At the end of this month LG is set to announce the LG G4, but until then they can’t help themselves from announcing parts of the device. So far we’ve seen the display, new UX, and a close-up of the sensor. Today LG is sharing even more information about the new camera.
The new camera module for the G4 is 16MP with a f/1.8 aperture. The wider aperture will allow the G4 to take in 80% more light than the camera on the LG G3. Inc case your forgot, the G3 had a really nice camera (which was also used on the LG G Flex 2). LG also announced that the front-facing camera will be 8MP. We should be looking at a phone with a really nice set of cameras. Hopefully the real-world results live up to the specs.
Smartphones are getting a little boring. All of the top devices have roughly the same features and specs. Manufacturers are trying harder than ever to differentiate their devices. The display has become an area of experimentation, but we’re not talking about pixels. More and more devices are getting curved displays, and one of the best entries is the LG G Flex 2.
We’re at a point where many people consider curved displays to be nothing more than a gimmick. Manufacturers keep trying to find valuable uses, but so far no one has made a compelling case for why you need a curved display. LG has taken a much different approach. The G Flex 2 is not full of gimmicky features and silly widgets. It’s all about comfort, and that might be the best reason yet for curved displays.
Hardware & Design
LG has done a nice job of refining the look from the previous LG G Flex. There are subtle improvements everywhere you look. The curved display is not so pronounced, the corners are slightly less rounded, the camera bump has been slimmed down, and the buttons on the back are much nicer to look at. Speaking of the buttons on the back, LG is sticking with this design and I love it. Once you use a device with buttons on the back once you’ll wonder why more phones don’t do it.
The back cover is made of the same futuristic “self-healing” material as the original. It feels like a typical plastic back, but it’s super resistant to fingerprints, and it can heal light scratches in 10 seconds. The first G Flex required heat and rubbing to heal scratches, but LG says the G Flex 2 can do it right before your eyes. I didn’t have a lot of luck with this. The type of scratches it can heal are not the type of scratches most people freak out about.
When it comes to pure specs the G Flex 2 is second to none. It’s one of the first few devices to run Qualcomm’s latest processor, the Snapdragon 810. There has been some concerns about heat issues with the Snapdragon 810 in the HTC One M9, but I had no problem with the G Flex 2. Everything was snappy and smooth, and the device barely got warm at all when playing intensive games.
The battery is a nice 3,000 mAh, and it’s one of my favorite things. The G Flex 2 has the best battery life I have ever seen on an Android device. It took over 3 days for the phone to go from 100% to 15% with limited use. It just barely sips battery when idle. If that wasn’t enough the G Flex 2 can be charged up to 50% in less than 40 minutes with Fast Charge.
LG G Flex 2 Specs
Display
5.5-inch P-OLED
Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon 810
Camera
13MP / 2.1MP
Storage
32GB, microSD card support
RAM
3GB
Battery
3,000 mAh
Display
Obviously, the big selling point of this device is the curved display. LG has trimmed the size of the display from 6-inches down to a more manageable 5.5-inches. It’s still the great P-OLED, but they bumped the resolution up to 1080p (403ppi). All of this makes for one of the best smartphone displays on the market. It might not be as crisp as some 2K displays, but the difference is negligible.
That leaves us with the curve. As mentioned above, LG doesn’t really do much with the curved display. It’s basically just there to be different, however there are some practical benefits. Since the display is curved like a banana it feels great when holding it up to your ear to make calls, that is if you actually make calls with your phone. It’s also ever so slightly easier to reach the top of the display with one hand.
There’s no real reason for why this device needs a curved display. It’s just something to make the device stand out. When you’re walking around in public people will notice the curve and ask about it. That being said, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be curved. The device feels really nice in the hand and it’s much more ergonomic than other devices. There is nothing negative I can say about the curved display, it’s just not terribly exciting.
Software
The G Flex 2 is running the latest version of LG’s custom interface based on Android 5.0. As far as Android skins go it’s one of the more refined and unobtrusive ones out there. The default launcher is clean and easy to use, plus you can do cool things like create folders in the app drawer. LG’s skin is all about customization. Everything from the screen-off animation to navigation bar buttons can be tweaked. The only problem is you have to dig through the settings to find the customization options. It would be nice if they were all in one place.
LG might not have any specific features for the curved display, but the G Flex 2 has many of the same unique features we saw in the LG G3. You can double-tap to unlock the phone (and even use a KnockCode to securely unlock). Dual Window allows you to run two apps at the same time, but it only works with 11 pre-determined apps. The buttons on the back can still be used as shortcuts. One cool new feature that you won’t find on the G3 right now is Glance Screen. Simply pull down from the top of the display while the phone is locked and you’ll get a quick peek at the time and date.
There are a few things that I don’t like about LG’s software. First, when you pull down the notification shade it always shows the Quick Settings instead of requiring an extra pull or a two-finger gesture. I don’t need to see a dozen toggles every time I want to check a notification. They’ve also buried or removed a lot of the new Lollipop features. The new notification priority modes, smart lock, lock screen privacy, downtime, and more are either gone or very difficult to find.
Camera
The camera on the original G Flex was not very good. To fix that LG has adopted the same camera from the LG G3. It’s the same 13MP shooter with the crazy high-speed laser autofocus. Photos look very crisp and well-exposed in most situations. Even low-light photos looks very nice. Optical image stabilization and the fast shutter speed make it easy to snap photos at just the right time. The front-facing camera is nothing special, but a nifty trick allows you to snap a selfie by clenching your fist in the shot.
LG has done a really nice job with the camera software. By default there are only two icons on the screen, a back button and a three-dot menu button. To take a photo you simply tap the screen or use the back volume buttons. Tapping the menu button brings up more advanced options for HDR, timers, flash, panorama, video, and more. You can swipe across the screen to flip the camera, say “Cheese” to snap a photo from afar, and hold the shutter button for burst mode.
Check out the camera samples below:
Conclusion
One of my favorite things about the G Flex 2 is how nonchalantly LG approaches the curved display. They haven’t included any special widgets, gestures, or any other gimmicks. LG isn’t trying to convince anyone that a curved display is going to make their life better. It’s simply a phone with a curved display.
The G Flex 2 doesn’t need any gimmicks. If you straightened out the display this would still be an excellent device. The display is gorgeous, the battery life is great, it has a powerful processor, and a great camera. The fact that it has a curved display is icing on the cake. It looks cool and feels awesome in your hand. People will want to know what phone you have. In a day and age where 90% of phones look-alike you can stand out from the crowd with the LG G Flex 2.
Cyanogen is all grown up. When they’re not making bold statements about how they’d like to “take Android away from Google,” they’re en route to secure 0 million in funding, with a company valuation of somewhere around 0 million. That’s a lot of money. So much money, in fact, it was time to get a new logo because — let’s face it — that sassy pseudo Android mascot, Cid, just wasn’t going to cut if for investors.
CyanogenMod’s current “Cid” boot animation
That’s why Cyanogen introduced a new “brand identity” for commercial devices during Mobile World Congress with a new logo, website, and all-around different tone than the Cyanogen we’ve grown up with. And, after a new Cid boot animation (above) was just barely introduced in CM12 nightlies last month for 3rd party devices, Cyanogen is now giving us a sneak peek at their all new boot animation that will soon arrive in Cyanogen OS 12. You can check out the new boot animation down below, lens flares abound. Be sure to tell us what you think.
Watching this man take the phone apart can seem a bit like surgery to anyone who hasn’t ventured into this territory. All the more reason why you shouldn’t ever try to take your phone apart yourself. Give it a quick viewing above if you’re the type to take interest with what’s under the hood.
LG G Flex 2 Specs
