Cell phones / Reviews

The Sony Xperia ZL is almost a great phone. Beautiful screen, attractive design, speedy performance, decent camera. Yet in all of those categories there are a few minor problems that collectively mar the overall experience. Any one of them is overlookable, but are they all? And then there’s the price. It’s not cheap.

Read original review at Digital Trends.

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The BlackBerry Q10 is every inch a BlackBerry. It has the traditional BB form-factor and, more importantly – the physical QWERTY keyboard that's coveted by so many BlackBerry fans. This, however, is a device that's exclusively targeted at existing BlackBerry users, we don't think the Q10 is capable of attracting new ones.

Read original review at PhoneArena.

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I had some pretty high hopes out of the Blackberry Z10. Mostly because of Blackberry 10 as a platform. While I do wish they had worked on the design of the Z10 more, some might actually like the industrial design. The star of the show though, is the new Blackberry 10 platform, and the QNX based platform honestly is a joy to use. There is admittedly a very steep learning curve with all the various gestures and settings, but once you master that it becomes second nature. Performance is smooth and consistent and it’s still a great messaging device. Though I’m not a fan of the onboard maps and battery life isnt too great.

Read original review at UnleashThePhones.

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As the smartphone market matures, all major manufacturers have transitioned from leaps-and-bounds development to incremental, evolutionary refreshes. As companies struggle to outdo each other, the battle is essentially fought in three areas: design, performance and software.

Most smartphone owners will cite software features as reasons for claiming allegiance to a platform. Apple's iOS software continues to be the simplest and most predictable throughout its lifespan, while Google's core Nexus experience represents a well-refined alternative with a wider range of capabilities. Samsung's TouchWiz overlay undoubtedly wins in terms of "most features," but some users may be frustrated by the excessive complexity and unreliability of beta options.

Read original review at Electronista.

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Overall I quite liked the BlackBerry Q10, it is not for me though. I can’t type anywhere near as fast as I can on a soft keyboard and try as I might I can’t get to grips with pressing shift and alt keys to get different characters etc. Bear in mind I haven’t used a qwerty device like this for years. In the hands of a hardened BlackBerry user this would be a great upgrade for them, the new OS, the new apps, the new hardware are all great. But in the hands of someone who has used any of the main mobile OS’s this seems inferior.

Read original review at Coolsmartphone.

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The BlackBerry Q10 is a solid step forward in an industry that is known for taking leaps forward. Existing BlackBerry users may like the Q10 and the keyboard is fantastic, but it continues on the path that BlackBerry has found themselves in before, and that is there's no real reason to migrate to BlackBerry. BlackBerry no longer has a lock on any particular feature; a reason that would compel prospective buyers to switch. It's a nice device - it's just not enough.

Read original review at Phonedog.

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Despite the gimmicks and reduced storage space, the Galaxy S4 is a great bit of hardware for the most part, complete with a few useful features. But many others impact on the overall usability of the phone.

It might be a great as a camera, it may play advanced 3D games without breaking into a sweat, and may have the stamina to go on for a full day, but unless you're easily impressed by the gimmicks, you'll feel that this phone is a bit of a handful on a day-to-day basis.

You should also stick to getting all of your music, games, movies, books and magazines from Google and skip all the Samsung stuff. Although the S Health app is worth a look.

The intermittent lagging can probably be eliminated by the new Google Edition, but until that's available I have to conclude that the S4 falls short of perfection.

Read original review at Pocket Gamer.

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The Q10 leaves no key hardware feature out, with Bluetooth, NFC, Wi-Fi and 4G all present and correct, and we still love BlackBerry 10 OS’ messaging facilities and gesture controls. However, with that small screen with middling performance, the Q10 certainly doesn’t justify its premium price tag. The keyboard is excellent, and will no doubt attract a section of BlackBerry devotees, but, for the most part, we prefer the Z10.

Read original review at PC Pro.

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Most of the shortcomings in the Galaxy S 4 are the same as in other Android devices -- such as the issues with its VPN client and its tendency to carry bloatware. Most of its software, UI, and hardware work just like they do in the Galaxy S III. That means, unfortunately, the battery life is still low. I didn't even get 24 hours in mostly standby use on a full charge. Be sure to enable all power-saving modes in the Settings app to stretch the S 4 to run a full workday.

It's too bad that most of the S 4's cool features are limited to a scant handful of apps that don't work all that well anyhow -- but that means you won't get in the habit of using and being frustrated by them.

Read original review at InfoWorld.

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This is still one of the best Android smartphones that you will be able to buy this year. The trinity of specifications, hardware and performance on the Galaxy S4 work in absolute unison. That said, while the abundance of new features are great, they still require a lot of polish, as it can get overly complicated at times.

Samsung has pretty much checked off all the technical aspects that make a great smartphone, but the end product looks as though only their engineers worked on it, while the designers were goofing about. The Galaxy S4 is a technical marvel through and through, yet its distinct lack of personality and finesse to be truly crowned the Android smartphone of the year, even if sales figures might refute that.

Read original review at Mobile88.

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This phone deleted all my pictures I had on here. About 20 of them. My wife had to replace hers after only 32 days of use. Now the new one has quit working again. JUNK JUNK JUNK

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Coming from an iPhone to the Nexus 4 ,I was nervous.
This phone is amazing, I won't go into details about what it does ,but I will say, if u need a phone and u don't want to be locked in with a company this is the phone for u

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This is my 3rd samsung phone, my first smart phone. First thing it does not have a manual, being a very much older user, I am not tech savy, I NEED A MANUAL. I have DIAL-UP service 167 pages of manual takes forever to download.

This phone is NOT BLUETOOTH COMPATIBLE. I spent 1.5 hours at the telus store before someone called the dealer only to have him say, that samsung has not fixed the bluetooth glitch. Needless to say $80 some odd dollars later, I do not have a hands free, wire free connection to my phone.

After having my phone for a week, I accidently learned today how to make outgoing calls and text messages. Sorry, no manual I will probably not buy samsung again.

Louise Kerr Ormstown Q.

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In the case of the Samsung Galaxy Ace II X, you get a little more than what you pay for.

Considering this is a very cheap, entry-level smartphone, it works quite nicely. The screen is big, the phone is very light and slim, battery life is excellent (provided you are not using wifi, that is a killer, as it is with all phones), and the touchscreen works well. Video runs smoothly, and I've not yet had problems with connectivity or dropped calls.

That being said, there are certainly some downsides to the phone. It has very limited RAM, and can be pretty sluggish at times (which can be frustrating). As well, the camera is not fantastic (even as far as phones go) - although I suppose I could call it 'satisfactory'.

If you are looking to upgrade to a smartphone, but you don't want something extremely expensive, buy this phone. It works well and you will like it.

If you want to do a million tasks at once on your phone and need something fast, upgrade to a faster phone, the Samsung Galaxy Ace II X won't cut it for you.

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I did not like this phone waste of money.

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Just don't, it's awful.
Good for your first phone and when you're waiting for another phone, bad for daily usage.

*Current Owner, saving up for a Z10*

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because it is soo SLOWW. you just want to throw it away. The first couple months are great, but as soon as you start to download apps, it is horrible. IT always shuts off randomly and will close all your applications when using them. Definitley do not reccommend this phone for whatever its worth. Save yourself.

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one standout aspect of this phone is its screen.. The screen real estate available is really generous and is incredible for casual browsing and video watching.. Really recommend this phone for anybody who wants to get initiated into android ecosystem.

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Over all a pretty decent phone... had some issues with battery life but after changing som some settings like sync off it is quite good... can last at least 2 or 3 days using it regularly. In comparison with other phones I like it quite a bit... very user friendly... I have had mine for over a year now and it still workd really good... 1 con is the dust gets in the keyboard and scratches the keys... I have dropped it a buncha times and it still hasn't broke!

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Just got this phone yesterday, luvin it alot, like the size, just needed for text and phone really, but I luv the other features, like checkin my email, a great little phone, cant wait til load all my music..

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