LG G Watch Unboxing and Review
December 5, 2014
The LG G Watch has arrived and it is time I give Android Wear a test drive:
Tag: review
Patriot FUEL+ 5200mAh Dual-Port Power Bank Review
September 29, 2014
The Patriot FUEL+ 5200 mAh power bank is interesting as it balances features and size well. Most power banks that have a dual output system or a 2.5 amp output are much larger than this one. It is nice to see good build quality and solid functionality on a power bank of this size. It is more expensive than its generic siblings but those usually have a single 1 amp output. The 2.5 amp output is great because it allows me to charge big devices such as my OnePlus One much quicker than most other power banks.
Pros:
- Great Build Quality
- Looks Great
- Sits Flat on a Table
- Blue Lights
- 2.5A Output
- Dual Charging Capability
- Ability Charge a Device and the Power Bank Simultaneously
- Very Portable
Cons:
- The Power Button Isn’t Raised For Easy Pressing
- Expensive Compared to Others
Moto G (2014) 2nd Gen In Depth Review
September 18, 2014
I have made an in depth video review and I will list the key points under it:
Pros:
- Affordable
- Fast
- Smooth
- Responsive
- All Day Battery
- Great Screen
- Great Size
- Very Good Camera at Night (No Noise)
- Surprisingly Good Photos For A Budget Device
- Stereo Speaker Configuration
- Great Call Quality
- Micro SD Card Slot
Cons:
- Speakers are weak
- Audio Output is weak
- Camera Can’t Focus Close Objects Well
- Display Contrast isn’t Great
- Buttons Feel Cheap
- Feels A Bit Fat Sometimes
Moto G (2014) 2nd Gen Stereo Speaker Test and Comparison
September 14, 2014
I test and compare the stereo speakers and audio out of the Moto G (2014) to the Moto X (2013) and the OnePlus One.
The speakers aren’t that loud and don’t sound the best, but in a stereo configuration they do just fine. The audio out is good quality but doesn’t have much output power.
Personal Opinion:
Speaker Quality: OnePlus One > Moto X > Moto G
Speaker Loudness: OnePlus One > Moto X > Moto G
Audio Out Quality: OnePlus One > Moto X > Moto G
Audio Out Loudness: OnePlus One > Moto X > Moto G
Immersive Ability: Moto G > OnePlus One > Moto X
OnePlus One 4.4.4 Update XNPH30O Review (CM 11s) (Updated)
August 12, 2014
Finally, the update has arrived, but not for everyone…including me. So if you go here over at Android Police, you can find the zip file that you can manually install. You can put it on the root of your device and just go to the stock recovery and apply update since it is an official update. I did it this way and it worked fine for me. Overall, the update is great so I will list the nice new things and I will also list the bad new things.
- Good:
- New Dialer
- Search Feature in Settings
- Clear Image Feature
- Performance Improvements
- App Drawer Grid is Now 6 Rows
- Gestures Won’t Activate While in Pocket
- Camera Features/Settings Tightened Up
- Audio Recording Issues Fixed (Quality Is Still Bad Though)
- Heads Up Notifications (If you like them)
- New Launcher (Transition Settings and more!)
- Bad:
- Update 8/17/2014: Much worse battery life, getting around half the usage compared to before. A fix was promised to come soon though.
- Screen is Now Too Blue (Let us choose the warmth please)
- Back Removed From Settings Top Nav Bar
- Clear Image Requires a Stable Hand/Tripod (Fine with me :D)
Enjoy the video below showing everything I just wrote about:
Update 8/23/2014: Update XNPH33R Incremental
This update is supposed to address the battery life issues and have security fixes. So far I have not noticed any real difference, but I will make a video after testing it for a few days to see how it is after it settles.
Update 9/18/2014: The update did not help much and the battery drain is still present as are the serious touch issues.
Update 10/7/2014: CM 11S 38R Update is out. It is supposed to fix the many things that were wrong. Check here for the changelog.
ART vs. Dalvik – OnePlus One Battery Life Review
August 7, 2014
We are all wondering…which gets better battery and which performs better? Watch the video to find out. I show two usual cases of standby and screen on time for each. Comparing the same usage on them both with several days of use on each after giving them time to settle in first, I have come to a definite conclusion. ART destroys Dalvik on the OnePlus One. Not only are things more responsive but it feels just lighter as if it is having an easier time running Android. This really showed in the battery life tests as I reached up to 7 hours of screen on time! If you have a OnePlus One, switch it to ART and see what I am talking about.
Here is the video review showing some screencasts and screenshots:
I have finally fixed my audio/mic recording issues and I will share how I did that soon.
Neewer Condenser Microphone Unboxing Review
August 6, 2014
Finally, I have a way to record better quality audio, but is it really that big of a difference? This is a question I have not been able to answer yet. The mic is solid, has a metal body, and seems to have good recording quality, but for some reason I am not fully impressed by it. The recording quality is good but not amazing. For a budget mic I know I can’t expect much, but I expect at least a full sound from my voice. Don’t get me wrong, it recorded just fine as you can hear in the video below, but I want better. I tried many different settings along with my USB Creative Soundblaster and my Internal Realtek Chip and I couldn’t find a level of audio that I was pleased with. I am new to the audio recording game and there may be some things/settings that would make a big difference, but I just haven’t found the right ones yet. So for the price of $30 it is worth it, but until I find a way to unlock its full potential I can’t say its a steal. I have embedded a video unboxing and review below if you want to hear how it sounds so far.
Universal Phone Tripod and Phone Mount Review
August 2, 2014
Most of my videos have been quite shaky unless I found a good spot to place my phone during recording. Now if I plan on doing more videos, I can’t have a shaky camera anymore. Luckily, there is something for everything these days and I instantly found what I needed. eBay had a mini tripod with a phone mount for less than $10. The OnePlus One barely fits in it with the case on and I don’t think anything wider would fit in it. Overall, it may be small and cheap but it gets the job done. It is stable and holds the phone at many different angles which is great.
Here is my first video review and my last slightly shaky recording:
OnePlus One Battery Life Review On ART (Android Runtime)
July 31, 2014
(Updated Comparison Post: ART vs. Dalvik): https://thelostdigit.com/2014/08/07/art-vs-dalvik-oneplus-one-battery-life-review/
I have done a video showing some of the battery life results I have been getting for the past 2 weeks that give a good estimation of how the device performs while using the ART runtime. I have been fairly please getting 6-7 hours of screen on time consistently even though I have the worst signal in my room. I want to compare it to Dalvik and have switched back now to test it thoroughly to be able to compare. Once the testing is complete I will write a comparison post comparing the performance between the two.
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 Review (LGA 1156)
July 24, 2014
There isn’t much to say, it is huge and I had to mount the fan on the other side to suck through the heatsink instead of push through it. It may lower efficiency a bit but it is doing fine. Temperatures went from 40 to 35 while idle and 85 to 60 while under full load. This is good enough for me and while running an overclock of 3.2Ghz the temperatures were around 70 under full load. I am using an Intel Core i5-750 @2.66Ghz stock clocks and when I say full load I mean running prime95 for 10 minutes.
Here are some photos:
The Lost Digit 