Motorola ELECTRIFY Review [Video]

Let’s go ahead and get hands-on with this above-average super powerful dual-core Android handset that’ll make your robots explode with pleasure. This is the Motorola ELECTRIFY and it’s being carried here in the USA by none other than U.S. Cellular. This is the first time we’ve gotten to see such an amazingly powerful device on this carrier, the ELECTRIFY running with the big dogs here with a dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor as well as what Motorola calls Webtop functionality for a fully immersive multi-purpose Android experience, complete with Motorola’s newest user interface to guide you.


Before we get into the review, have a look at what we’re looking at here with a lovely hands-on video featuring an unboxing of the device itself as you’ll get it right from the store.

Hardware

For both the hardware and to a slightly lesser degree the software here on the ELECTRIFY, I’d encourage you to check out our review of the Motorola PHOTON 4G, a device that was released a few weeks ago here in the USA with another carrier, it being basically the exact same hardware and software as what you’re seeing here, now with a different box and a new name. The difference here is the carrier, while Motorola remains the manufacturer in both cases of course. The first and brightest feature you’ll notice on this unit is its 4.3-inch qHD (quarter high definition) TFT LCD 960 x 540 pixel resolution display. Brightness and sharpness should be no concern of yours.

You’ve got a generous NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core 1GHz processor inside right beside 1GB or RAM, and 16GB of internal storage expandable with a microSD card slot that can take up to 32GB more. The ELECTRIFY totes a lovely 8-megapixel camera on the back with dual-LED flash and a VGA resolution camera on the front for video chat. Up the right-hand side of this device you’ll find both a volume up/down and a dedicated camera button. On the top you’ll find a headphone jack as well as a power/lock button. On the left there’s a microUSB port as well as a microHDMI port, these spaced very similarly (but not certainly the same) as those on the PHOTON, this leading us to believe that all the standard docks would work, but if you don’t want to use them, you sure don’t NEED to do so.

On the back of the device there’s a kickstand. This kickstand holds your device up in landscape mode and also upon kicking activates a special display mode (which you can exit out of in a single tap.) The odd thing about how this stand holds your device up, and I’ve mentioned this before with other kickstand-popping devices, is that when it’s out and your device is sitting there looking nice, your microHDMI and microUSB ports will be facing down, basically flat against your sitting surface. That don’t work to well for them, let me yell ya. Instead you’ll be working with a device that’s on its own with power and display should you be sitting it up with the kickstand.

As this is a Motorola device, you can expect a heavy-duty build. The back is made of soft plastic that’ll never break on you, the rim around the display is made out of a reflective chrome-surfaced plastic, and the display is fronted by some hot curved-edges-having Corning Gorilla Glass with dual anti-reflective display. All the ports and all the buttons are strong and are not going to let you down, the buttons for volume and camera being particularly nice with some ridges so you can get a grip.

Software

Inside the guts of this device, once again, you’ll find the NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor clocked at 1GHz. This core will allow you access to all the finest NVIDIA-optimized app with the NVIDIA Tegra Zone, a game guide for Super Chip device owners. Most of the apps available through the Tegra Zone are exclusive to those of you using an NVIDIA processor in your device – lucky you, ELECTRIFY owner, you’re part of this neato club.


Profile choices – save and flip!

You’re going to be running Android 2.3.4 out of the box which is, at the moment, the second-newest version of Android released at the moment, that only being true if you consider the leaked Android 2.3.5 out there right now for the Nexus S 4G that’ll give it Google Wallet access.
Apps are sparse, just like we like em to be, hitting up all the regular Google-centric apps like Gmail, Places, Navigation, then drops a few oddities on you with Zappos, Motorola Phone Portal, Audible, the second-newest Asphalt racing game Asphalt 5 (strange they dont just drop 6 on this device, isn’t it?), and Audible. Then there’s a bit of a bomb: you get both the Android Market AND the Amazon Appstore installed right away out of the box. These two big guns must peacefully coexist somehow – is it possible?! Yes of course it is, silly, they sit really nice to one another and compliment eachother’s hair style. Android Market still has a wider selection, but the Amazon Appstore has free apps every once in a while. Tough choice.


Motorola ELECTRIFY next to the LG Optimus U also on U.S. Cellular

Performance

We’re clocking this device in on a few different tests like Quadrant, Quadrant Advanced, Vellamo, Linpack, AnTuTu, and CF-Bench. See how they all add up here, and take special note of how they compare to the Motorola PHOTON 4G, which should have essentially the exact same numbers going for it unless one carrier or the other did an extra awesome job of pimping their version of the hardware out best.

Battery and Camera

There’s a just-right 1700 mAh battery in this device which, if you’re not a max heavy user every day of your life, should be adequate to get you from waking up in the morning until your pre-bedtime cold pizza. If you’re a heavy user, you might be in line for a charge at least once halfway through the day. The camera, on the other hand, is the best that Motorola has yet offered on a mobile device. Compared to the DROID BIONIC, this device has much better autofocus and what appears to be a quicker shutter speed. Check out the video and photos below to make your ultimate judgement.

Wrap-Up

At just $199 attached to a two-year deal on U.S. Cellular, this is a no-brainer for those that have some loyalty to the U.S. Cellular brand and want the nicest Android device they carry right this moment. If given the choice between this device and the PHOTON 4G, I’d take this one any day of the week. The WiMAX network the PHOTON is working with does not stand up well where I live (Minnesota) and the battery does tend to suffer more while the device searches for a 4G signal all day long. The ELECTRIFY, on the other hand, works only on U.S. Cellular’s 3G network and has a good coasting day.

The ELECTRIFY is also the only phone on U.S. Cellular to be running the newest version of Android 2.3.x Gingerbread. That’s something to consider as well if you’re the sort of person that likes to have the best phone on the carrier. You’ve got the option to find yourself some docks to use this device with, docks like car docks, HD media docks, and even a laptop dock not unlike the original ATRIX 4G, but you don’t need those things. This device does not need them and you do not need them – the computer is here, and it can grant you all your wishes. Also the color scheme is nice, and plugging this device in simply to your big-screen HD TV will result in nothing but good times and HD fun – for kicks, try Riptide GP, a game demoed in the video you see here:




Vector Unit’s Matt Small Demos Riptide GP on the PHOTON 4G

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Samsung Pure Breeze Android Launcher app Review [Video]

If there’s one thing that device manufacturers across the board are NOT known for, it’s optional user interfaces. Instead it’s nearly always a face over the top of Android that, if you’re not too keen on hacking your device, you’re sort of stuck with. Of course manufacturers don’t want you to see it that way, promoting their devices alongside their user interfaces as added value – take TouchWiz for example on Samsung devices (video included below aside Pure Breeze video). TouchWiz is what Samsung places on the vast majority of their Android devices, namely their Galaxy S II line coming to the USA this month and the Infuse 4G which we’re using for this hands-on look at what Samsung has silently released as a brand new Launcher – Pure Breeze!

What you’ve got here is a launcher like you may likely have never seen before. If you’re not the type to go hacking or have never heard of ADW Launcher EX, you’ve probably only used the interface given to you by the manufacturer out of the box. What Pure Breeze does is give you another option for how you go about using your phone, especially in regards to how apps are managed. What you get, quite simply, is a set of drawers / folders that you can name and color-code, each of these situated around a single apps drawer with all of your apps and a single “Kite” screen which takes the place of your homescreen(s).

The video below shows features you’ll be getting with the newest version of Samsung’s more famous user interface TouchWiz, new features outlined here specifically for the USA release of the Samsung Galaxy S II. An interesting bit to note here, and again you’ll get to see this briefly in the hands-on video above, is that you can, if you wish, use TouchWiz (or whatever launcher you use usually) and Pure Breeze concurrently. They do not interrupt one another and can add a bit of odd flavor to your everyday app tapping experience.

Check out the lite version of the full version of Pure Breeze on the Android Market today, and let us know what you think!
BONUS here’s Samsung’s official YouTube spot for Pure Breeze as well:

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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Review

Despite the similarity to an increasing number of ultra-slim notebooks, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 stands out from the crowd – especially for ThinkPad fans.
Being a ThinkPad means the X1 has a distinctive design that has been given a welcome refresh without losing its signature look and feel. The magnesium alloy chassis has the familiar soft-touch matte black rubberised paint finish, which shrugs off fingerprints, stands up well to scratches and gives you a superb grip.
The sharp angles give the illusion of being thinner and lighter than the X1 actually is -it slopes from 17 to 21mm thick and weighs in at 1.71kg, which is noticeably thicker and heavier than the Samsung Series 9. It's an evolution of the classic ThinkPad look, only sleeker, but sleek isn’t always better and here, sealing the battery tidies up the underside of the case but means you'll need to invest in the 'slice' battery if you want to carry a spare. We also don't really care about the port cover on the left-hand side, as it's as much for looks as for protection.

You do get plenty of protection though. The glossy screen is covered by Gorilla Glass which does add enough weight to be noticable and gives the same irritating reflections around the screen we disliked on the plastic bezel of the Samsung Series 9. The spill-proof keyboard has drainage holes, the chassis has an internal cage to protect it and Lenovo counts up eight military specification tests for ruggedness that the X1 passes. Sturdy doesn't mean chunky or ugly, although there's no designer bling, just practicality here.

Keyboard and trackpad ?

A ThinkPad keyboard is something you either love or hate and while the 13.3-inch size doesn't leave room for all the ThinkPad idiosyncrasies, there are still a few. The action of the keyboard is excellent, with plenty of travel -though not the full firm click of classic models. The rounded keytops with concave surfaces locate your fingers wonderfully so you don't roll off onto the next key. That's useful because there isn't much space between the isolated island-style keys.
The keyboard is also an?oddity with the function key where the control key is on almost every other keyboard. There's also a print screen key between alt and ctrl on the bottom right of the keyboard. The page up and page down keys are a little cramped in the corners of the navigation arrows, and a long way away from the home and end keys at the top of the keyboard.

The secondary commands on the function keys include microphone and camera settings as well as the usual brightness and media playback keys. Dedicated volume controls at the edge of the keyboard are a nice touch, with mute buttons for both speakers and microphone that business users will find very useful. There's also a tiny button that launches one of the many ThinkPad software tools as well as a fingerprint scanner.
The trackpad combines a ThinkPad signature feature – a second set of buttons between itself and the keyboard, to use with the TrackPoint in the middle of the keyboard. As on Apple's laptops, the usual two buttons found beneath the trackpad are gone. The Lenovo advantage here is that you can use the buttons intended for the TrackPoint, if you hate these new button-less trackpads.
Extending the touch surface over the button area gives the touch pad a square aspect ratio that doesn't fit the widescreen 1337 by 768 resolution at all and while we like the deep palm rest, the touch pad itself feels a little small. The pronounced texture does give you an excellent combination of smoothly responsive cursor and accurate clicking.
The trackpad also offers multi-touch gestures. These work as well as they ever, but their sheer number can confuse. Should you be a gesture fan, you'll be pleased to see the three-finger click, three-finger tap along with the more common pinch-zoom, rotate, scroll and flick. It's also possible to tweak the settings for the TrackPoint and use that as a button.

Inputs and ports ?

Nearly all of the ports on the X1 are on the back of the case. We find this odd on a machine designed to be ultra-portable because this layout works best for keeping cables out of the way on a desk, rather than putting ports where you need them on the move. It's also a very modest selection too. The left side has only a memory card reader, the right has a fiddly cover over the headphone socket and a single USB port.

Along the back you get power, HDMI and DisplayPort, but no VGA. There's one USB 3 port and one combined eSATA/USB 2 charging port and gigabit Ethernet. As well as Bluetooth and dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11n, you get unlocked mobile broadband too. Because the battery isn't removable, the SIM slot is conveniently on the back of the case as well.

Processor and battery

The Sandy Bridge Core i5 2520M is a full-power processor (with the business vPro option); it runs hot when you're watching video and you only get the built-in Intel HD 3000 graphics. This is an ideal everyday workhorse of a processor and you can play games at reasonable frame rates on medium detail, but a multimedia powerhouse it is not.
Battery life is disappointing. Our usual mix of streaming audio, video, continual Web browsing and general Office use gave us only two hours twenty minutes of use. You could stretch that to well over four hours without Wi-Fi though. The bright spot is that 30-40 minutes of recharging gives you an almost full battery. An SSD instead of the 320GB hard drive would improve battery life as well as boot times. From a cold boot, Lenovo's RapidDrive fast boot gets you to the login screen in 40 seconds. That's around half the time it takes most 13-inch Windows laptops, but far slower than an SSD system like the Samsung Series 9.

Screen and audio quality

The screen is crisp and bright, with excellent contrast ratios even in dark areas. We didn't like the reflections from the gloss finish or the even more distracting reflections from the Gorilla Glass surround. Streaming 1080p video from the Web played smoothly, but the details weren't as crisp and clear as we'd like to see on a premium laptop. 720p video streamed from the local network also played back smoothly but the colours are subdued and we didn't see the exceptionally crisp detail other notebooks have delivered in recent reviews.
Audio quality is generally good, with more than enough volume and reasonable bass, mid-range and treble. That said, it's good sound for a business machine rather than the highest sound quality we're hearing from the best consumer models this year. We also noted that there was a lot of distortion at high volume.
Along with the usual Office Starter, Live Essentials, Skype and Norton Internet Security, you get Internet Explorer 9 with a Lenovo-branded 'Bing bar' and a collection of 1,500 business document templates called Business in a Box.
Lenovo is one of the few PC makers to use Microsoft's Device Stage to organise the tools and utilities you get, and it works well for organising what would otherwise be hard to find but useful tools. It's confusing that there's also a PC-Doctor powered Toolbox with tools and tips in. We particularly like the power controls, instead of making you tinker with individual settings you can just drag the slider to show whether you want more performance or longer battery life. There's also a 'battery stretch' option that can eke power out for another 60-90 minutes when you just HAVE to keep working, and with this battery life, you need it.
Verdict:
Practical is the X1's middle name, along, perhaps, with pricey -although this depends from whom you buy it. The choices Lenovo has made won't suit everyone though, and at this price you start to resent something that would be a mere quibble on a cheaper system.
Overall, you get almost everything you need, from performance, sturdiness through to the ports people actually need and useful extras like 3G. Nothing is arranged the way you're used to though, and the screen and battery life are slightly disappointing.
We think X1 willl make a great business machine though, and business users will mind the price less, especially with the three year guarantee.




           

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