PickedGuidebd

 Introduction

All great speeches start with carefully prepared notes. For yet another year Samsung has taken the role of a modern-day orator, pushing for a return to personal handwriting against the trend of detached digital text.
It's the S Pen that gives the Galaxy Note7 and its predecessors their unique identity and writing on the screen with the new S Pen feels the most natural yet. And with this generation, you can even scribble notes where the screen is off and it would happily venture where most electronics would not dare - underwater.

The Note7 also represents the first major design change in the flagship Galaxy line since the S6 (the S7 was just a thicker version of that). The symmetrical dual-curved design makes the beautiful screen appear borderless while making a big phone feel smaller than it is.

Key features

• S Pen stylus; 4,096 levels of pressure, 360Hz tracking; works underwater
• Curved 5.7" Super AMOLED display of 1440p resolution; 518ppi; Always On capabilities; HDR
• Gorilla Glass 5 front and rear panels; metal frame
• IP68 certified - dust proof and water resistant (a first for a Note)
• 12MP f/1.7 main camera with dual pixel autofocus, optical image stabilization, LED flash
• 2160p video at 30fps; 1080p@60fps; 720p@240fps; HDR
• 5MP f/1.7 front-facing camera, 1440p video recording at 30fps
• North America model: Snapdragon 820 chipset - quad-core Kryo processor (2x 2.15GHz and 2x 1.6GHz cores); Adreno 530 GPU; 4GB of RAM
• Global model: Exynos 8890 chipset - octa-core processor with four 2.6GHz Mongoose and four 1.6GHz Cortex-A53 cores; Mali-T880 MP12 GPU; 4GB of RAM
• Android 6.0 Marshmallow at launch; 7.0 Nougat later
• Iris and fingerprint scanners; Knox and Secure folder; Samsung Pay
• 64GB of built-in storage (~52GB user available); microSD slot up to 256GB (hybrid slot)
• Optional dual-SIM; up to Cat. 12 4G LTE (600Mbps); Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2, ANT+; NFC; GPS, GLONASS and Beidou
• USB Type-C; USB On-The-Go
• 3,500 mAh non-removable battery, fast charging (wired, wireless); wireless charging (Qi/PMA)
• Heart-rate monitor, barometer, SpO2

sensor

Main shortcomings

• Unless you need the S Pen, the S7 edge offers the same specs for less money
• Iris scanner needs you to hold the phone awkwardly close to your face
• Hybrid slot means people using the dual-SIM model can't expand the storage (64GB should be enough for most, though)

While the S Pen is undoubtedly the heart of the Note experience, the screen is a close second. The Edge features that debuted with 2014's Note Edge were perfected through the S6 edge and S7 edge of the following years. Even the Always on screen was improved, despite being only months old (perhaps it was just waiting for the S Pen, their interaction is the best new feature).

Some things may not sound particularly exciting, but users have waited a long time for them. The S5 was waterproof, but there hasn't been a waterproof Note before, the Note7 is the first one. The microSD slot came back after only a year of absence but to some Note 4 users looking for an upgrade that was a year too long.
Then there are features that are completely new to Samsung phones in general - the iris scanner, the USB Type-C port, and the HDR video capable display. We think at least two of those will become a mainstay of flagship phones.
 Perhaps we mentioned the Note5 too often for an intro to the Note7 review. But you have to understand that the 5 was the trouble child of the family, and it left a void, especially in Europe, where the S6 edge+ had to replace it.
And it didn't do too good with the Note crowd, which swears by their S Pens. But the dual-curved screen stuck and that's how the Samsung Galaxy Note7 was born.

Introduction

 A quality act is hard to follow, especially so, when you've already done it twice and you are gunning for nothing short of gold with a "never settle" attitude. The third flagship in OnePlus's modest device lineup represents a new and quite difficult approach to the task, juggling between the classic start-up style formula of high-end specs on a budget and a newly found business maturity and company growth. It is a difficult mix, to say the least and yet, somehow, the OnePlus 3 seems to make it work.

 On many levels, the handset preserves that very same fiery attitude and approach that earned the original OnePlus One its "Flagship killer" reputation, but at the same time, it is a radically different device, stemming from a now bigger and stronger OnePlus, that has transcended the need for Guerrilla marketing schemes and the dreaded invite system into a much more mature company.

This is a theme that gets carried over to the OnePlus 3 as well. Sure, it still has that specs-centric excitement to it, but overall, it is a lot more toned-down, mature, if you will, even boring to some. The fact of the matter is that it might not be the most powerful device or the most attractive and ingeniously designed one, but it is undoubtedly a collection of reasonable and well thought-out choices.

Design and build quality

As already mentioned, the OnePlus 3 isn't particularly exciting in terms of design. Don't get us wrong, the 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.35mm body comes with an exquisite finish, a combination of smooth rounded shapes and some sharp well-defined edges and is truly elegant. Plus, the phone can boast a surprisingly slim profile for its metal-clad build.

There is not much really novel or too flashy about the phone's exterior and that is probably its biggest strength. Amid a sea of devices, desperately trying to stand out with things like detachable modules, case add-ons and, arguably, unnecessary curves and accents on all sides, OnePlus has decided to stick to a very restrained approach.
All the controls are logically laid out. Nothing is really out of place and it is nice to see that OnePlus has stuck with its few, but important customizations in this respect as well. Fans will be pleased to hear that the fingerprint reader, touch-enabled, always-on sensor on the front is still a thing and is insanely fast and accurate. So is the notification slider on the side. It allows you to quickly switch through notification modes.
The only beef we really have with the OnePlus 3 is the camera bump. It sticks out quite a bit, which is a natural side-effect of having a 7.35mm body. The device also sadly lacks water-proofing, but that is basically nitpicking, considering the price point. The absence of expandable storage, on the other hand, can not be forgiven quite so easily.

Display

The OnePlus 3 is equipped with a 5.5-inch screen, which still seems to be right in the sweet spot for media consumption and web browsing by current standards. The 1080p resolution has been among the most controversial aspects of said display and frankly the whole phone. The panel uses a Diamond Pentile pixel arrangement, which is far from ideal for this size and resolution, but with a pixel density of 401ppi, it looks pretty sharp from a user standpoint.

It also uses AMOLED technology, one produced by Samsung, to be exact. But, since it is designed by OnePlus specifications, it uses an Optic AMOLED moniker, instead of the familiar Super AMOLED one. Still, you get the punchy, vibrant colors, associated with the technology, as well as the benefit of deep blacks and infinite contrast. 

Speaking of colors, the OnePlus 3 has a tone slider, which allows for custom adjustment. You can easily opt for a more AMOLED feel or choose to go with accurate colors with an average deltaE as low as 6.0, by cranking the setting all the way up. This also affects brightness - 403 nits on the first setting and a respectable 433 nits at the far end of the slider.

Battery life

The OnePlus 3 is equipped with a sealed-in 3,000mAh battery. The OnePlus 3 managed to clock in a respectable 66h endurance rating. This actually falls in line pretty well with what we have seen from previous OnePlus phones - 61 hours total on the OnePlus 2 and exactly 66 hours on the original OnePlus One as well. The traditionally excellent call time has now become even better at almost 32 hours. Video playback has also received a major improvement. The weakest link seems to be the browsing time.
A lot of this can be attributed to the power-efficiency of the 1080p AMOLED panel, as well as the almost stock approach to Android.

Charging on the OnePlus 3 is handled beautifully thanks to the company's new Dash charging technology. It is a variant of Oppo's industry-leading VOOC and it can actually bring the 3,000 mAh battery from 0% to 60% in just under 30 minutes with no overheating. A whopping 20W dash charger is also conveniently included in the retail package.

Introduction

Navigating through Samsung's ever-growing handset lineup seem to be increasing in difficulty year on year. The fresh new "On" and "C" families are a testament to that. But, like the saying goes, never judge a book by its covers and after we already took the bigger Galaxy C7 through its paces in an in-depth review, we can safely approach the C5 with a bit less doubt and a more hopeful predisposition.

 The fact of the matter is that the former proved to be a quite impressive and interesting offer. One that sort of fills a pre-existing gap for a proper Samsung phablet that is not a "Note" and most importantly, one that comes on a budget.
The midrange specs and slim all-metal bodies of the new Galaxy C models bring about another quite obvious parallel with the company's "A" family. We used the A7 (2016) and the A9 (2016) extensively as points of comparison for the C7. With the C5 the obvious go-to parallel is definitely the A5 (2016) - a much closer match. At 5.2 inches, the Galaxy C5 looks like a spruced up version of the A5 (2016), bringing about a few notable hardware improvements.

Samsung Galaxy C5 key features

• 145.9 x 72 x 6.7 mm, 143g body
• 5.2" 1080 x 1920px Super AMOLED of 424 ppi; 2.5D scratch-resistant glass
• Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 chipset, octa-core 4x1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 and 4x1.2 GHz Cortex-A53; Adreno 405 GPU; 4GB RAM
• 16MP, f/1.9 camera; 1080p@30fps video recording and Dual-LED flash
• 32GB or 64GB of built-in storage and a hybrid microSD card slot
• Dual-SIM connectivity
• LTE Cat.4 (150Mbps); Dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n; GPS/GLONASS/BDS (region dependent) receiver, Bluetooth v4.2, FM radio with RDS, NFC compatible with Samsung Pay
• Fingerprint reader in the home button
• Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
• 2,600mAh non-removable battery; Fast charging support

Main shortcomings

• No OIS for the camera
• No phase detection, laser or other advanced autofocus technology
• No 4K video recording
• LTE speed cap

The Galaxy C5 and Galaxy C7 share most of their hardware. The same will likely be true for the alleged C9 as well, if and when it gets released.
Design-wise, the Galaxy C5 and C7 are identical and the only feature that has been scaled down (outside of the obvious screen and body size reduction) is the chipset. The Snapdragon 617 is definitely a step down from the Snapdragon 625 used in the Galaxy C7.
Other than that, both phones have 4GB of RAM, 32GB or 64GB of expandable storage, mostly identical connectivity options and the same camera setup including a 16MP main unit and an 8MP front-facer.
Samsung's excellent Super AMOLED screen tech is also present and if panel size is anything to go by when making parallels in Samsung's portfolio, the C5 match in the A series has got to be the Galaxy A5 (2016). And while the Galaxy C7 slotted in between existing A-series models in terms of screen size (the A8 2016
was only announced today), the C5 and A5 (2016) appear to be direct competitors. Of course, there is nothing bad about some sibling rivalry.
 It is worth noting that both the Galaxy C5 and C7 were originally announced back in May as models exclusive to the Chinese and Hong-Kong markets. They have since made it to the stores internationally but their availability on the Old Continent is by no mean as wide as that of the A-series smartphones.
So the slight hardware advantage that the C5 has over the A5 (2016) makes us wonder how exactly does the C5 fit in Samsung's product strategy. Is this move incidental? Is there a change in portfolio ranks brewing? Is there more to the C5 than meets the eye
?