Last week was pretty crazy in the Android world. There were a barrage of announcements at IFA in Berlin including some heavy weights like the Galaxy Note 4, the Sony Xperia Z3 and the Huawei Ascend Mate 7. Motorola also unveiled its latest flagship — the new Moto X — along with a bunch of other devices and accessories including the new Moto G and the highly anticipated Moto 360.
But, which were the absolute best devices that were unveiled last week that stood out from the crowd and are worth your money and interest? Read below to find out.
Samsung Galaxy Note Edge
The most surprising and exciting announcement last week was perhaps the Galaxy Note Edge. The handset was shown off in prototype stage as ‘YUOM’ just over two years ago at CES, and since then, the technology behind it has matured enough that Samsung could finally release a consumer device based on it.
The Note Edge comes with a 160-pixel wide AMOLED panel on its right edge, which can be used independently of its primary 5.5-inch screen. At its launch event, Samsung showed off a few bundled ‘panels’ on the Note Edge including a ruler, controls for video playback, quick access to features like Torch and more. The company has also provided APIs so that third-party app developers can plug into this panel and show off new and innovative ideas.
The Galaxy Note Edge is not going to top the sales chart and neither is its right-edge display particularly useful for now. It does, however, pave the way for future handsets to come with new and unique form factors to suit the varying needs of consumers.
Huawei Ascend Mate 7
For a company that is hardly known for its flagship devices, the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 is a stellar device from the Chinese OEM. The 6-inch oversized phablet comes with an octa-core processor, a beefy 4000mAh+ battery, 3GB of RAM and a 13MP camera. The Mate 7 also comes with a fingerprint sensor that can even give Apple’s Touch ID a run for its money in the usability department.
The device also has an impressive screen-to-bezel ratio besting even the LG G3, which should make the device a bit easier to use as a phone on a daily basis. If you don’t mind using a phablet from Huawei, definitely have a look at the Ascend Mate 7.
Sony Xperia Z3
The Xperia Z2 was already the most balanced flagship of 2014 but with the Z3 Sony has pushed that bar higher. The Xperia Z3 packs in the best of the Galaxy S5 and the HTC One M8 in a sleek and slim body and adds in an IP68 rating and a battery that can easily last for two days of heavy-to-moderate usage.
While the specs of the Xperia Z3 are similar to its predecessor, Sony has improved the display and camera slightly and topped them off with some excellent software features including PS Play, which allows PS4 owners to stream their games to the handset for remote play.
Moto 360
Ok, not technically announced at IFA but the Moto 360 was announced last week, and is unarguably the best Android Wear smartwatch, at least in the looks department. It is also the first smartwatch to come with a circular display and looks more like a watch rather than a mini computer for your wrist.
The Moto 360 gets a lot of things right, which most other smartwatches have failed to. This includes wireless charging, a beautiful (and round) display, comfortable ergonomics and an ambient light sensor. The watch, however, is far from perfect and has a lot of issues including a battery life that can barely last 12 hours and an ancient TI OMAP3 processor, which leads to performance issues.
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
The Galaxy Note 4 tops the list not because its a ‘Galaxy’ device, but because it is truly a genuine high-end offering from Samsung with some innovative new features. Specs wise, the Note 4 is a complete package and is filled to the brim with top of the line hardware including a Snapdragon 805/Exynos 5 Octa SoC, 3GB of RAM and a 5.7-inch Quad-HD resolution Super-AMOLED display.
For the ‘innovation’ part, Samsung has included a 16MP F/2.0 camera module with OIS, which is a first for the company. Cameras of Samsung’s flagship devices have always performed admirably in daylight but their low-light performance have always been their Achilles heel. With the inclusion of OIS and an F/2.0 aperture, the Note 4 should easily rank among the top smartphones out there in terms of camera performance, irrespective of the lighting.
Another ‘un-Samsung’ part of the Galaxy Note 4 is its build quality. Like the Galaxy Alpha, the Note 4 also comes with a metal frame, which drastically improves its build quality and rigidity that has sorely been missing from Samsung devices up until now. It looks Samsung is finally listening to its consumers after the mediocre success of the Galaxy S5 — better late than never I guess.
Special mention: Moto Hint
http://youtu.be/CLEF-Rq39D4
The Moto Hint is a ‘discreet’ Bluetooth wearable that sits in your ear. The Hint is so small that Motorola wants you to wear it 24*7. When paired with new Moto X, you can directly do a Google Search or call someone without even pressing any kind of button on the Hint itself. The Hint feels like straight from the future, both in form and function.
The Hint can last up to 3 hours on a single charge, which is a bummer. On the plus side, its carrying case comes with a built-in battery, which can be charge the Hint at least twice. If you can afford its $149.99 price tag, definitely pick up the Moto Hint once it goes on sale later this year.
Which were your top 5 devices that were unveiled last week? Drop in a comment and let us know.
