After a lukewarm reception for the LG Revolution, things are looking up with the well-outfitted Spectrum. This LTE 4G Android smartphone has a lovely 4.5" IPS display running at 1280 x 720 resolution and a fast Qualcomm S3 1.5GHz dual core CPU. It has a front video chat camera and a capable rear 8MP camera that can shoot 1080p video. Reception on LTE is very good as are download speeds. But doe the Spectrum have what it takes to compete against Verizon Wireless' other high end Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Motorola Droid RAZR family and the HTC Rezound? Read on to find out..
Acer's second 10.1" Android tablet is bargain priced at $329 to $349, but you get a solid name brand product for your money. It runs on a 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 CPU that was used in nearly every 2011 Honeycomb tablet, so it won't break any speed records, but it's perfectly adequate for web, email and gaming. The A200 is a little slimmer and lighter than the older Iconia Tab A500, and it loses the rear camera and HDMI port. It retains the full size USB host port, and that's a gem of a feature. This is a WiFi tablet with Bluetooth, GPS and a front video chat camera. It ships with Honeycomb but will receive a free downloadable upgrade to Android OS 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
The Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX wasn't completely designed to make you Droid RAZR buyers feel less enthusiastic about your purchase a few months back. The MAXX is a slightly thicker version of the Droid RAZR with a seriously high capacity battery inside. The RAZR MAXX has a 3300 mAh battery vs. 1870 on the Droid RAZR, and it's sealed inside just like the original. This Android phone has a 4.3" qHD Super AMOLED display that's very colorful. It runs on a dual core 1.2GHz TI OMAP 3340 CPU with a gig of RAM and 16 gigs of internal storage. The MAXX has the an 8 megapixel rear camera that can shoot 1080p video and a front video chat camera.
AT&T has been aggressive with their LTE phone pricing, and the Pantech Burst is their latest pleasant surprise. For only $50 on contract, you get a fast Qualcomm Snapdragon dual core Android smartphone with 4G LTE and a sharp and bright 4" Super AMOLED display. The Burst isn't particularly thin but it's not bad looking and it feels and looks well made. It offers good voice quality and fast data both on LTE 4G and HSPA+. If you're looking for a fast Android smartphone with LTE but don't want to spend too much, be sure to check out the Burst.
HP's second generation 15 inch Envy is a serious improvement over the original model in terms of battery life and portability. The 15.6" Envy weighs 5.8 pounds and can run for 5 or more hours on a charge despite the fast quad core 2.2GHz Intel Core i7 CPU and full HD 1080p IPS display. The Envy 15 has switchable graphics with the new AMD Radeon HD 7690M and 1 gig DDR5 VRAM. We've got a gaming demo video in our review, and you'll see the laptop is capable of playing today's 3D games at 1080p. The HP Envy 15 has an internal optical drive, three USB ports (two are USB 3.0), HDMI, DisplayPort and Ethernet. We look at the 3040nr model that's available as a quick ship model and is sold in stores for $1,299. It has a backlit keyboard, Beats audio with 6 speakers and a 750 gig 7200 RPM hard drive and 8 gigs of RAM. That's a lot of powerhouse portable for the money.
The Samsung Series 7 Chronos is enticingly thin and light for a 15.6" machine with a powerful Intel Core i7 CPU and Radeon HD 6750M dedicated graphics. It's understated, elegant and has a fingerprint resistant aluminum lid that just makes you want to take one home. It's priced a wee bit lower than the Windows PC competition and it has lovely amenities like a 1600 x 900 matte high bright display, the best looking backlit keyboard we've ever seen and an internal optical drive. The laptop has 6 gigs of RAM, a DVD burner, 750 gig fast hard drive, WiFi and Bluetooth.
There's nothing quite like the Galaxy Note. This Android smartphone is a pocket tablet with a 5.3" display running at an impressive 1280 x 800 resolution, just like 10" Android tablets. That means the Super AMOLED HD display is extremely sharp and it boasts the usual super-saturated colors and deep blacks. The phone has a Wacom dual digitizer and comes with a pen that tucks neatly into a silo. It runs on Samsung's very fast 1.4GHz dual core Exynos CPU and it has 16 gigs of storage. Throw in a sharp 8MP camera, a strong GPS and AT&T 4G HSPA+ compatibility, and you've got an amazing Android smartphone. This is an import phone that's sold unlocked for use with any GSM carrier, but you will get 3G and 4G HSPA+ on AT&T in the US. This is full written review plus an in-depth video review.
The Lumia 710 might not be Nokia's flagship Windows Phone, but it's a great phone for $49 with contract. This Windows Phone 7.5 Mango smartphone has a sharp 3.7" ClearBlack display, a 1.4GHz Snapdragon CPU and a very good 5 megapixel camera. The Lumia 710 is available on T-Mobile and it has quad band HSPA+ 4G along with WiFi, Bluetooth and a GPS. The design is distinctly Nokia, and we like the rounded corners and complex curves that you don't usually see on a budget-priced smartphone.
The Samsung Series 7 Slate is one of the few Windows 7 slate design tablets that runs on a powerful second generation Intel Core i5 CPU that offers performance comparable to an Ultrabook or decent laptop. The Series 7 Slate has an 11.6" dual digitizer that supports both capacitive multi-touch and an active digitizer pen. it weighs just 2 pounds and is only a half inch thick, making it almost as portable as some 10" tablets running mobile operating systems. Other goodies include a 64 or 128 gig SSD, WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0 and 4 gigs of DDR3 RAM. The tablet runs all Windows apps, and is easier to use with touch than most Windows tablets.
The world's first Nvidia Tegra 3 tablet is here, but it's darned hard to find and it's a little rough around its figurative edges. The Transformer Prime is Asus' second gen Android 10" tablet and it has a lot of solid specs for the price. It has an extremely bright and high contrast IPS display with what Asus calls Super IPS + mode that brings brightness to more than 600 nits for better outdoor viewing. The tablet is supremely thin and light and features an aluminum casing that looks great but doesn't do wonders for GPS reception. This is a WiFi-only tablet, and it has WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth and a GPS. This is our 30 minute Transformer Prime video review.
The Motorola Droid XYBoard 8.2 is the Motorola Droid XYBoard 10.1's little brother on Verizon. But it's not all that little: at 8.2" it offers more to feast your eyes on vs. more common 7" Android tablets, yet it's much more portable than 10" tablets. The XYBoard 8.2 shares many but not all specs with the 10.1" version. It has the same 1280 x 800 resolution, and IPS display, a dual core 1.2GHz TI OMAP CPU with a gig of RAM, and it's available in 16 or 32 gig capacities. It has a front 1.3MP camera and a rear 5MP camera with LED flash and the usual WiFi 8902.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and a GPS. This is a video review.
The Toshiba Thrive 7 Inch tablet is the miniature buddy to the Toshiba Thrive 10" tablet released earlier this year. It has the same rugged look and rubbery ridged back, but some of the 10 inch model's geek chic amenities are missing, like the full size USB host port for USB peripherals and the (rare on mobile OS tablets) removable battery. The Thrive 7 runs on a dual core 1GHz Tegra 2 CPU with a gig of RAM and 16 or 32 gigs of storage. It runs Android OS 3.2 Honeycomb and is a WiFi-only tablet. It features a high resolution 1280 x 800 pixel display that's ultra-sharp. This is a video review.
The Samsung Galaxy Nexus on Verizon Wireless is no doubt one of the hottest phones of 2011. This is the first time you can get a Google's reference Android smartphone from one of America's largest carriers with a contract in store easily. It's the first Android phone to run Android OS 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich too. The Galaxy Nexus has a 4.65" Super AMOLED display running at 1280 x 720, and it has a dual core 1.2GHz TI CPU with hardware graphics acceleration. And there's lucsiously fast LTE 4G too. Is it worth all the hype? We'd say so. Read our full review to find out.
Motorola's second gen Android tablet earns Moto a most improved award. While the XYBoard retains the first gen Motorola Xoom's bulletproof build, the new model is as thin and light as the waifish iPad 2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 that it joins on Verizon's shelves. It features a sharp 10" IPS display that supports both capacitive multi-touch and the included EMR pen for precise input. The tablet runs on a 1.2GHz dual core TI CPU and has 4G LTE on Verizon's network. Other goodies include the usual dual cameras, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS and less common features like USB host and an IR blaster with AV remote to control home theater gear.
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