Category: Gadget Reviews

Reviews of nifty gadgets and technology

Posted on

Surface Book 2 “15 Review

During the fall of last year I needed a new laptop and I was doing a lot of research and decided to go with the new Macbook Pro 15″.  I chose it mainly for the build quality, battery life, and it’s ability to be able to run Windows if I needed it to.  But as it turns out I ended up needed to be in a Windows environment more than I was expected.  Running Windows 10 via Bootcamp didn’t have the battery life I needed, and running it as a virtual machine via VMWare Fusion didn’t have the smooth performance I wanted.

On to the Surface Book 2 review, so I picked this up several weeks ago and I couldn’t be more happier with my choice.  The build quality is excellent and the battery life is great.  Prior to my stint with the Macbook Pro I was using a Thinkpad W520. It was a large portable workstation that I used for about 7 years.  Everything about the Surface Book 2 blows it away.

The 15″ screen is amazing. The 3:2 aspect ratio is great for productivity work.  I work on large spreadsheets, multiple Powerpoint files, and the occasional retro gaming, just to name a few, and the SB2 screen makes the whole experience more enjoyable. The screen is bright and sharp and I can easily use it in bright environments without any problems.

The battery life on the SB2 is exceptional. It’s likely due to it running on the Intel 8th Gen U series processor that is 15 Watt TDP instead of the 7th Gen H series that is 45 Watt TDP as used in the  latest Macbook Pro “15.  I’ve never had a chance to run down the battery completely to get the full battery life time, but on several occasions, as a lecturer at a University, I would take the SB2 to my office hours, then to my 3 hour class. I would go 4.5 hours and end with about 54 percent battery remaining.  On the Macbook Pro,  I would normally end with about 42 percent. For reference, my old Thinkpad W520 would struggle to go beyond 3.5 hours even with a new replacement battery.

I’ve always been a big fan of the Thinkpad line of laptops because of their durability and unassuming designs but at the expense of a more modern and fashionable styles (which is reserved for their Yoga product lines). The SB2 is all about the industrial look. It’s slim and minimalist looking. It’s as close to the Macbook Pro in quality than any other laptop out there in the market.  The SB2 hasn’t gotten hot or warm at all during the time that I’ve used it during my non-gaming use. The keyboard is great. There’s plenty of travel and it is very comfortable to use, and the glass trackpad is smooth and very responsive. I think its one of the best trackpads for a Windows system I’ve used. The trackpad does have a loud clicking mechanism, but I tend to use the double-tap to click function anyway.

Overall, the Surface Book 2 “15 is one of the best laptops out on the market.  It’s a 2-in-1 device as the screen can be detached and used separately as a tablet. I don’t see myself using it as a tablet, but knowing that if one day I do need it that it’s there.  The mechanism to release the screen is ingenious. All I have to do is press a button and a message pops up to say its ready to be removed.  Popping the screen back into the base automatically locks the screen in place.  I’ve taken the screen off a few times to show people how it works, and every time people are surprised how cool the features is.  If there’s only one thing that I wish the SB2 had was a Thunderbolt port. It’s just annoying that as expensive and high-end this laptop is suppose to be that it’s missing something that is standard among mid range laptop released last year.  It’s only saving grace is that it has a USB C port.  I’ve used the USB C port a few times to charge and to output video to a VGA adapter (not at the same time).

Lastly, the thing that surprises me was the Surface proprietary charging port.  I was annoyed that Microsoft decided to use a proprietary solution instead of the USB C/Thunderbolt. As it turns out the port uses a magnetic adapter solution, similar to the old Macbooks MagSafe chargers.  There was a couple of times where I accidentally kicked the power adapter and the cable snapped off as expected. If it was charged via USB C my SB2 would have easily flown off the table. At that point I didn’t feel so bad for having that proprietary charging port.  So, if you’re in the market for a high end Windows laptop that provides smooth and productive computing experience I highly recommend it given you can stomach the high price.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆

Pros:
Incredibly Fast
Excellent Battery Life
No additional Manufacturer Bloatware
Windows Hello Face Recognition is very fast
Great build quality

Cons:
Very expensive
Doesn’t come with Surface Pen
No Thunderbolt 3 port
No Fingerprint reader

Posted on

Southern Watch Straps

In my last post I reviewed the new Pebble Time smartwatch. What I didn’t get a chance to mention was the various straps that I used for the Pebble Time.  Since getting the Pebble Time I wore 5 different types of straps (OEM Pebble, Hirsch Performance, Bonetto Cinturini, Zulu Heavy Duty, and Southern Straps). But the straps that I used the most and consider to be the best nylon (Nato style) strap you can buy for the Pebble Time or any watch that use 22mm straps is Southern Straps.

First and foremost what makes Southern the best nylon base straps is its construction and build quality. Their straps are 2-piece nylons that attaches to the top and bottom of your watch lugs using quick release spring bars. Each of the piece is made of a long durable nylon that is folded over, stitched, and heat-sealed ends. This gives it twice the durability of typical Nato or Zulu straps that you can by today.  Don’t believe me? Southern Straps offers a lifetime warranty on their straps. I checked around and I don’t know any other company that offers that type of guarantee.

As of today I’ve ran over 150 miles with my Pebble Time and Southern straps. That’s hours of my nasty salty sweat and hours of heat and direct sunlight that the straps have endured. And it still looks brand new. In addition, while doing arts and crafts with my son I spilled some paint on my watch strap. I spent 20 minutes with some dish soap and a brillo pad to scrub the paint off. For any other nylon straps there would have been tons of frayed threads, but for my Southern strap it looks untouched. Check out the pictures below.

Military Green and Secret Agent color.
Makes my Marathon JSAR look even more badass.
On Marathon JSAR
Zulu vs Southern Thickness
Zulu vs Southern
Zulu single piece vs Southern 2 piece.

 

Rating for Southern Straps – www.southernstraps.com
Rating: ★★★★★★★★★½

Pros:

Extremely Durable
Lifetime Warranty
Lightweight
Comfortable
Utilize quick-release pins for easy strap swaps

Cons:

Expensive
Floating keeper could be shorter by 1 or 2mm (Floats a bit too much)
Needs more color/pattern options
Needs to have more size options (18, 20, 24mm)

 

Posted on

Pebble Time

20150718_195138

The current state of smartwatches relies heavily on the smartphone you carry with you. For the most part smartwatches acts mainly as a second screen on your wrist giving you notifications of messages, emails, incoming calls, and pertinent information from apps that are installed on your phone. The reasons I chose to get a smartwatch was that I needed a watch that could display the stats of my workout runs, and the ability to notify me of message/calls when I don’t have my phone on me but it is still nearby on my desk or in another room.

Prior to making my decision to go with the Pebble Time I tested 2 other watches; Moto 360 and LG Urbane

The Moto 360 and LG Urbane runs on the Android Wear OS by Google which evidently works with only Android phones. These watches offer the features and functionality that the Pebble Time also provides plus other features such as heart rate monitoring, Google Now voice activation, and among a few others. But unfortunately the battery life for Android Wear lasts at most a day and a half. Just as disappointing is its screen for outdoor visibility. It’s fantastic when indoors, but when I use it with my running app it can be difficult to see when the sun is directly overhead.

The Pebble Time is a watch that takes a different path. It works with both Android and iOS devices and the battery life lasts up to 7 days, but from personal usage 5 days seems to be the norm even with hundreds of notifications alerting throughout the day.  The long battery life is due mainly for its choice of the display technology. It uses a color e-paper technology which is very similar to the Amazon Kindles e-readers. The downsides of using e-paper display is that it has poor visibility indoors, but luckily it has a backlight that can be turned on with a flick of the wrist or a press of a button. Another big factor going for the Pebble Time is it has a large active developer community. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of watchfaces and apps available to install on the watch and all of them are backwards compatible with the previous generation of Pebble watches.

Ultimately, I choose the Pebble Time for two main reasons:

1. The battery life – It’s nice to know that I can still use my watch if I forget to charge it the night before or the last few nights. Even if I drain the battery I can fully charge it within an hour and it’ll last me for another week.

2. Water resistance (up to 30m) – I workout with my watch and I sweat a whole lot. I’ve also showered, wash dishes, and given my children a bath with it. It’s nice to know that it can handle being wet. Unlike the Android Wear watch which can be submerged under 1m of (still) water for 30 minutes which doesn’t provide much confidence in getting wet compared to the Pebble Time.

If you’re looking for a smartwatch I definitely recommend the Pebble Time. But if you’re looking for an Android Wear device I recommend the LG Urbane. It has one of the longest battery life for an Android Wear device and it looks great. There are other options such as the Apple Watch, but my experience with it has been very limited. The smartwatch era is just beginning and it’s only going to get better and more exciting. If you’re the still on the fence on whether to get one I completely understand. As of right now the only justification in getting a smartwatch is if you’re specifically looking for notification device on your wrist or a companion to your workouts.

Rating for Pebble Time
Rating: ★★★★★★★★½☆

Pros:
Long battery life (up to 7 days)
30m Water Resistance
Great outdoor visibility
Works on iOS and Android
Tons of apps and watchfaces

Cons:
Poor indoor visibility (without backlight)
Low resolution screen
Not aesthetically nice as other smartwatches

Posted on

Nexus 5

nexus5

 

The Nexus line of phones have been Google’s attempt to show Android OEMs how they should build their phones.  But companies like Samsung, LG, and HTC all have built their own Android devices that differs greatly from Google’s Nexus phones. It’s not to say that those devices aren’t as good. In some cases they are better.

The past iteration of the Nexus phones they have been lackluster. The Nexus 4 lacked LTE and it had a below par camera. But nonetheless the Nexus brand is very popular among Android die hard fans. With the release of the Nexus 5 Google also released their latest version of Android version 4.4 dubbed “Kit Kat”.  This new version has refined many areas of the mobile OS. Coupled with a 5″ screen, blazing fast processor, and a solid build construction the phone seems destined to be one of the best Android devices of the year.

I’m not going to go deep in depth about the Nexus 5. You can view the hundreds of reviews already on the internet that covers every details of the phone. Here, I’ll be covering my opinion of this phone and whether or not you should buy it.

The Nexus 5 as a whole is a fantastic device. It’s thin, light, and it feels great in the hand. With Kit Kat this new OS focuses a lot on the UI experience. The voice activated Google Now search is fantastic and I find myself using it more and more. The phone is amazingly fast and opening apps and swiping through menus is instantaneous.  If you’re coming from an other Android device then you’ll feel right at home. There are some GUI changes but it shouldn’t be too difficult to get use to. But if you’re coming from another OS then there is a little bit of a learning curve, but it shouldn’t be any more difficult than switching to any other OS. Those who already entrenched themselves in the Google ecosystem will get the most benefits. Gmail, Google Drive, Google+, and Google voice are tightly integrated into Android, and if you rely heavily in anyone of those services its difficult to use any other OS.

Where the Nexus 5 dropped the ball is with it’s camera.  The camera is slow to focus and the options and modes for the camera are lacking compared to what the Galaxy S4 or HTC One offers.  Some research on the web has indicated that Google may release an update that improves the camera, but until then the Nexus 5 camera is almost useless when capturing a dynamic scene with lots of movement. I have a 14 month old son, so capturing photos of him playing almost always produces blurry photos. If there is one positive aspect of the camera it is the HDR+.  Pictures taken with this mode produces great photos assuming you’re taking pictures of a static object.

At the end of the day the Nexus 5 is a fantastic phone and the fact that Google is selling the 16GB model at $350 off contract makes it the value in the smartphone market today. If Google manages to push out an update to improve the camera it can really make the Nexus 5 one of the top phones on the market. So should you buy this phone?   Yes. Buy it or at least consider it when you’re looking to get a new phone.  Keep in mind there are other things to consider. For example, if you’re coming from an iPhone you’ll be losing the apps you purchased from the app store. And if you’re all about taking great photos with your cellphone then you might want to wait and see if Google updates their camera.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★½☆

Pros:
Incredibly Fast
Uses latest version of Android
Inexpensive ($350/$400 for 16GB/32GB)
Great build quality

Cons:
Extremely slow camera focus speed
Average battery life

Posted on

Nexus 7 2013

Nexus-7-2013

I’ve been using the latest nexus 7 for over two months. It’s been a fantastic device. I’ve used it for casual gaming, email, internet browsing, and reading ebooks. The 7 inch size makes this device extremely portable. I take it to my class everyday and use it to follow along with lectures and Powerpoint slides.

This Nexus 7 runs the latest version of Android and unlike other Android tablet this OS is a stock version and doesn’t come with any bloatware you would get from other manufacturers. This tablet has a  1920 x 1080 resolution and videos and pictures look great the front and rear camera are typical tablet quality that are nothing to get excited about. In addition, the battery life isn’t bad either. I can use this tablet all day with a full charge without any problems.  Current tablets on the market today are under-powered and lags behind on the version of Android. This Nexus 7 is fast and smooth and it can handle almost anything you throw at it. When it comes to a 7 inch tablet it doesn’t come any better than this.

Pros:
Inexpensive
Good battery life
Good build quality
Good screen

Cons:
Lack of quality accessories
Power and volume buttons can be difficult to press

Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★

Posted on

Galaxy Note 2 Review

When you first hold the Galaxy Note 2 in your hand the first thing that comes mind is, “holy cow, this thing is huge.”  Samsung’s super sized phone is somewhat a cross between a large phone and a small tablet. When the phone was first announced I knew I was going to get it.  I currently use a Blackberry 9900, iPhone 4s, and an iPad 3 for various activities such as games, taking pictures/videos, web browsing, and email/texting.  The Galaxy Note 2 was going to consolidate at least two of those devices if not all of them.

Last Friday I came into a crowded AT&T store looking to pick up the phone. It seems that the Nokia Lumia 920 was also being released the same day. Both phones were very popular by the time I got mine there were only a couple of Notes left and most of the variants of the Lumia 920s were sold out.

Setting up the brand new phone was easy. If you already have a Google account then signing in with it will sync all your contacts and emails.  For those coming from an Android device they will feel right at home.  The Note 2 comes with the latest Android OS, Jelly Bean 4.1.1, so you know you’ll be running the latest and greatest OS when you buy it (at least until the Jelly Bean 4.2 comes with the Nexus 4).

When it comes to hardware specs the Galaxy Note 2 is the best phone in the market today. The phone is incredibly fast, the battery life is amazing, the camera takes amazing videos and photos, and the screen is bright and vivid. But with all those awesome specs the phone wasn’t for me.  As it turns out size does matter. With my Blackberry or  iPhone I can operate it easily with one hand, but with the Note 2 it can be very cumbersome. As a father with a new born its difficult to use the Note 2 to take pictures or videos of my son.  I find my self fumbling with the phone when I quickly need it. Keep in mind this is when you’re operating it with one hand. But with two hands the phone is great and easily manageable.

The large screen of the Note 2 is its greatest strength and its weakness. The Note 2 isn’t for everyone. Like me, I thought it was, but after using it I realized that having a physical keyboard and operating it with one hand when needed was much more important than having lots of apps and a large screen.  So depending on your lifestyle or your typical smartphone use the Note 2 might or might not be the best phone you can get.

One of the additional features the Note 2 has is the stylus which Samsung calls the S Pen.  Samsung has its own apps that utilize the stylus functionality.  Personally, the S Pen is more of an added bonus to the Note 2. I find it difficult to see how I could use it often, so more power to those who can find the S Pen as a daily use app.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆

Pros:
Amazing battery life
Camera takes great pictures and videos
Large beautiful screen
Runs the latest Android OS, at least until the Nexus 4 comes out next week

Cons:
Cumbersome one-hand use
Very expensive ($299 with two year contract)

Posted on

New iPad Review

I was one of the fortunate ones who was able to pre-order and received it on launch day.  Apple has decide not use a numerical indicator to name their newest generation iPad, so instead it’s just called the ‘new iPad’. I guess people will have to refer future iPads to the corresponding release year.

Anyhow, this new iPad has three big upgrades. First is the rear camera. Its a 5 mp camera which is essentially an iPhone 4 cam.  It takes great photos and records at 1080p videos.  But who here will be snapping pictures and recording videos with this 10 inch tablet?  Probably not many, but just in case you need to its nice to know it can do a decent job at it.

Second, Apple has thrown in LTE capabilities. Now your new iPad, ones with LTE, will be able to access the internet with LTE speeds on Verizon and on AT&T.  LTE coverage is growing quickly across the US for both providers and this new iPad is going to need all the bandwidth it can get.

Lastly, the biggest upgrade is the ultra high definition screen.  With a 2048 x 1536 resolution it doubles that of its predecessor and quadruples its pixel count all in the same size screen.  What does that mean?  Well, one thing you’ll notice is that displayed text is incredibly sharp and clear.  It’s almost as if you’re reading the text off a magazine.  Games and Apps that take advantage of the high  resolution screen will be much more detailed.

I’ve been using the new iPad for a week now and it’s a fantastic device. I love playing games on it and browsing the web.  As a news junkie, reading on the new iPad hasn’t been more fun.  I believe the only thing that is really going to convince you to pick up the new iPad is its hi-def screen. If you’re perfectly fine with the current resolution then there’s really no need to shell out $500 bucks for another one.  Keep in mind everything you do with the iPad is still the same.  The same limitations are there . There’s still no flash support and all apps needs to be installed through the App Store. It’s not going to replace your desktop or laptop, but it’s still makes for a great companion device.

With this new iPad Apple has set the standard incredibly high.  Current tablet makers are still trying to catch up to the iPad 2, but they’re closing the gap, a fairly large one, when it comes to hardware.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★½☆

Pros:
Amazing screen
Decent battery life
Great camera
Supports LTE

Cons:
Expensive
Walled Garden ecosystem

Posted on

Blackberry 9790 Review

The Blackberry Bold 9790 is the latest to be released by RIM. The 9790 is an evolution of the popular 9700/9780 model. RIM has taken it’s flagship 9900 and scaled it down to a smaller form factor.  This device is marketed toward the emerging markets and for users who want to use a smaller device such as women and people with smaller hands; at least that’s what RIM is saying.

There are several improvements over it’s predecessor (9780). The device is thinner, faster processor (1 Ghz), more ram (768mb ), OS 7, and it has a touch screen.  Since the phone’s screen is only 2.44 in the touch screen plays less of a role when compared to it’s bigger brother, 9900.  I find myself using the trackpad more often on the 9790. But the touch screen is great for macro movements such as scrolling through a webpage or a lists of media files, and messages.

Even though the 9900 is touted as the flagship Blackberry there are a couple of features that the 9790 has it beat. For some reason RIM decided to not implement the autofocus on the 9900, but has it on the 9790. Autofocus is very important if you want to take closeup shots or take photos of varying depth of a scene.  But for video, the 9900 is able to record at 720p whereas the 9790 can only record at VGA resolution.  The second is battery life.  The battery life on the 9790 is superb, but for the 9900 it struggles to last a whole work day. To be fair the latest OS updates has helped the 9900 in that department.

So if you’re looking to get a new Blackberry 9790 you’ll need to look outside the US as it’s not sold in the states yet.  Be sure to get it unlocked so you can use it on your GSM carrier. If you’re deciding between the 9790 and the 9900 you’ll have to ask yourself the question; is the trade off of the camera and battery life better than the luxurious and spacious keyboard on the 9900? If it is, then go for the 9790.  For those who prefer the classic curve/Bold 9700 size Blackberry the 9790 would be the best Blackberry to date for them.  For me, to get the true Blackberry experience one must try the 9900 keyboard. It’s hands-down the best mobile phone keyboard by a mile. But then again everyone has their own preferences so it’s best to get these phones in your hands and try it out yourself.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Pros:
Excellent battery life
Fast and smooth UI
Autofocus camera

Cons:
VGA only video recording
Not available in the US yet
Keys can be stiff at first use

Posted on

iPhone 4S Quick Review

So I got the new iPhone 4s. I came from the iPhone 4, so the upgrade isn’t as significant like the previous upgrade. Many of the changes were either internal or software based. The form factor is identical to the iPhone 4 so those looking to get a new design will need to wait another year.  There are quite a few features in the new phone. Hardware-wise the phone is noticeably quicker in video games, browsing websites, and when snapping photos.  The performance improvements won’t be noticed by many, but it’s there.

On the software side the new iOS 5 added many great features. Some of the features that really stood out were the implementations of iCloud. Upgrading from my 4 to 4S was incredibly easy. You just login with your iTunes account and let iCloud do the rest. The whole process will copy all your apps and settings to your new phone.  The other feature that was long over due were the revamped notifications.  Apple clearly ripped it off Android, but I’m not going to complain. It’s a great needed feature and it works well.  The app that many have been talking about is Siri. It’s a voice command assistant app that is built into iOS and is only available for the iPhone 4S.  At first, it was fun to play around with, but I don’t see it as a necessary application for the phone, at least at this time.

Overall, the new iPhone 4S is a great device. Apple has decided to take the conservative update path on this new phone, so if you already have the 4, I don’t believe it’s a worthy upgrade to spend more money on — but if you have any of the previous phones, such as the 3Gs or below, it is a recommended upgrade.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★½☆

Pros:

iCloud will make life easier for future phone upgrades
Amazing camera for video and pictures
Usable Notification features
Speedy performance

Cons:

Short battery life (should be fixed with next software update)
Not a significant update to predecessor

Posted on

Blackberry Bold 9900 Review

It’s been a very long wait, but RIM has finally released the Blackberry many of us fans have been dying for. The new Blackberry Bold 9900 sports a large (9000-sized) keyboard with a touch screen in addition to an revamped OS and a powerful 1.2ghz cpu. Does it live up to the hype, and will this phone help RIM be competitive against the onslaught of Apple and Google’s Android?

Design:

The first thing you’ll notice about this new Bold is how thin it is. At around 10mm It’s the thinnest Blackberry to date. The phone is solid in your hands. It’s balanced and weighs just right; not too heavy and not too light that makes it feel like a piece of plastic. The stainless steel band that surrounds the device gives it that iPhone 4 look, which is a great look. The designers of the phone really took this phone to the next level. As a phone junkie that has rocked quite a few smartphones this new Bold design is on par, if not, better than the best phones on the market right now.

I couldn’t imagine RIM releasing a device with a better keyboard than the 9000. But to my surprise they some how pulled it off. The keyboard on the 9900 is amazing. It’s difficult to put into words how awesome it is. If RIM strictly just sold the 9900 keyboards as a bluetooth mobile keyboard it would probably sell better than most smartphones on the market.

Touch Screen:

This is also the first time RIM has released a keyboard and touch device in a candybar form factor. The 2.8 in screen is bright and vibrant and the touch features are fantastic. The touch operation on the phone is fast, responsive, and accurate. Navigating through the phone or surfing the web browser is a breeze and amazingly fast. It didn’t take me too long to get use to this new touch screen, but once you get use to it it’s difficult to go back to a non-touch Bold.

Software:

The Bold 9900 comes with RIM’s OS7. Its an update to last years OS6. To the untrained eye one would not see too many differences. It is true, visually OS7 is not much different from its predecessor. The entire system is way much faster and smooth, but all of this can be contributed to its blazing fast 1.2ghz processor. Most of the major changes where done under the hood. For example, what makes OS7 smooth is that RIM has manage to bake in GPU acceleration which they named it ‘Liquid Graphics’. Switching apps and going between screens appears to be instant. Overall, it may feel like a brand new OS compared to OS6. A good analogy of OS7 is that it is RIMs Windows 7, and OS6 was its Vista. Those who have used the previous OS will feel quite at home with this version, and the vast speed improvement is always welcomed.

Apps:

If there’s one thing about the Blackberry platform is its lack of apps. The entire architecture is built from an aging Java based platform that was never intended to run high quality apps you see on the iPhone and Android phones.

I don’t use many apps on my Blackberry, but the ones I do use are great. Flixster, Twitter, Facebook, WordPress, and Foursquare is just as good as any of it’s counterparts on other platforms. In the end if you’re looking for a library of quality apps and games Blackberrys in general just doesn’t have it, and the 9900 and OS7 is not an exception.

*note:  if you’re coming from OS6 not all of your previous apps will be compatible with OS7. You’ll have to wait for the devs to make them compatible.*

Battery Life:

Blackberry phones are known for their superb battery life. The 9900 comes with a slightly smaller battery than its predecessor (9000/9700/9780). With a higher resolution screen and a more powerful processor I was worried that RIM would have a difficult time maintaining the same level of battery life and efficiency. I’m currently using .317 of OS7 and my experience with the battery life have been somewhat positive, but by comparison it is not as impressive as my previous Blackberry 9780. The 9900 can easily last a whole work day, whereas my old phone would last about a day and a half. Given that it’s a smaller battery running on a much more powerful device it’s not too bad.

I don’t have any hard numbers, but if I compared it with my iPhone 4 I think the 9900 would outlast it by a couple of hours with similar usage. But if you’re like me who came from a 9700 or 9780 don’t expect it to have the same battery life.

Overall Experience:

This is the best Blackberry ever made. Period. The keyboard is the best for any mobile device on the market today. The Blackberry phone is all about communicating. Whether it’s texting/MMS, emailing, or making phone calls this phone does it better than anything right now. Apps on the other hand is a bit of a let down. Unfortunately, RIM won’t be able to do anything about it until they roll out their QNX phones in the near future.

In the mean time the 9900 is a great device for the existing Blackberry user or anyone looking for a phone with an awesome physical keyboard.  Those who have defected to other devices because of it’s previous shortcoming should take a serious second look. You’ll be surprised. The new design and updated OS is a huge step forward for RIM and it’s in a direction that will not disappoint.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★½☆

Pros:

Amazing Keyboard
Fast and Smooth UI
Solid build quality and form factor
Responsive touch screen
Fast Browser

Cons:

Slightly above average battery
Lack of great apps
Expensive
QNX is right around the corner