Review: Samsung Fold6 folding phone

Ever wish you could have a large display on a phone that still fits in your pocket? The Samsung Fold6 (which as of January 8, 2025, costs £1498 on Amazon) is the answer.

Design

I like the way the phone "unfolds" to have a larger display. The device is a cross between a [mini] tablet and a slab phone phone.  This phone is the best of both worlds since if you need a large display, you can simply unfold it, and when not in use, it folds down to a compact device that easily fits in your pocket.

This makes it an ideal media consumption device. I found myself using the fold more than my tablet, even around the house, since it's compact enough to put in my pocket when I'm out and about and then use it to play media when I'm cooking.

Additionally, the large inner screen makes it easy to read emails, news articles, websites, and other content. No more squinting and trying to zoom around on a website.

As with other Samsung phones, the display is quite bright and vivid, and despite its size, the phone is quite light.

The large display also makes it an ideal note-taking device with an S-Pen. I've used the Fold to take notes during courses.

Performance

The phone is quite fast and doesn't display any lags.

The camera on this device is also quite decent, and you can’t tell the difference between a picture taken by the Fold and one taken by Samsung’s other flagship devices.

One drawback of the phone is that the battery is smaller compared to traditional phones at just 4400 mAH, though there are battery improvements compared to previous generations.  However, in my experience, the device lasts about a day and a half before having to charge up again.  But again, your mileage may vary depending on your use pattern and device installed.

Usability

In Fold6, Galaxy AI is front and center, taking up space in the menu item.  I haven't fully used all the features of Galaxy AI, but I frequently use the feature to remove items like people in the background from photos that I have already taken.

Galaxy AI also has a sketch-to-image mode, which looks quite fun. I haven't used the feature extensively, but I can see where it could be useful.

One area where Samsung devices shine is the Samsung Dex feature. On my recent vacation to Scotland, I forgo my laptop and brought a touch-screen monitor, which I plugged into my phone.  This greatly reduced the number of devices I had to carry around and keep track of.  Plus, I could play media content from my phone.

Durability

One of my concerns about getting a folding phone was its durability. In my time with it, it has withstood the rigors of daily life. Unlike previous generations, the hinge looks robust, and the device folds flat, which leaves a small gap between the two screens.

The phone has an IP48 rating, which means it should be resistant to water and dust, for the first time.

Summary

In summary, the Fold6 is a good all-round device.  Though its battery life may not be that good or the camera that great, its biggest strength is compactness.  It offers the benefits of a large screen without the bulkiness.

Jabra 75T review

Pros:

• Comfortable

• Does not fall out

• Long battery life

• USB C charging

• IP55 waterproof

• Allow auto-pause of the video when you take out the earbuds

• Aware mode

Cons

• Stuttering

• Not a lot of bass

• Audio sounds flat

The Jabra 75T is an OK headphone but not worth the price.  The headphone is quite comfortable in the ear and you don’t notice that it’s in place.

Another feature that I like is that it allows you to hear your environment.  With a tap on the ear bud you pass the sound from your environment.  So if you’re walking on the go, this can be used for safety as it allows you to hear the surrounding.

Long battery life, USB C charging, and IP55 waterproofing is a plus. 

However, its biggest let down is when it comes to the audio quality, the one thing you expect from a £169 headphone.  The audio sounds a bit flat, something common on cheap headphones.  Bass and treble is sorely lacking.

In summary, is it the worst headphone?  No.  But I don’t think it’s worth the current selling price.

Review: Huawei Nova 5T. Great phone, camera letdown

I received this product as part of a review program in return for an unbiased review.

Pros:

• Flagship level performance
• Crisp clear screen
• Fingerprint reader on the power button
• Large screen
• Great value for money
• No notch
• Long battery life
• Dual sim capability

Cons:

• No waterproofing
• Camera is OK
• No wireless charging
• No headphone jack
• Punch hole camera does not provide 3D facial recognition.  Also, face unlock doesn't work without ample lighting

On paper, the Nova 5T has an impressive specs sheet.  It shares the same Kirin 980 processor and memory size (6 GB ram and 128 GB storage) as Huawei's other flagship phones.  It also packs a camera with a quad-camera layout:

• 48 MP, f/1.8, 28mm (wide), 1/2.0", 0.8µm, PDAF
• 16 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide), 1/3.1"
• 2 MP, f/2.4, 27mm (wide), dedicated macro camera
• 2 MP, f/2.4, depth sensor

And it is almost half the price of Huawei's flagships.

But this is where the similarities end.

Design

The Nova 5T has a notchless 6.26 inch 19.5:9 screen.  Instead, it sports a punch out in the left corner of the screen for the 32 MP front-facing selfie camera.  The display is crisp and bright.

The back of the phone is clad in 2.5d hard glass, and there is a distinct camera bump for the 3 cameras + LED flash and depth sensor.  However, despite the metal backing, the phone doesn't have Qi wireless charging.

Overall the design of the camera is curvy and easy to hold.  The only concern I have is with the bump which juts out from the phone.  Therefore, the phone doesn't sit flat on the table.

On the side of the phone is the power button, which also doubles as a fingerprint reader.

The reader works like a charm.  It quickly and accurately unlocks the phone.

Camera

This phone has 3 cameras and one depth sensor.  In theory, the 48 MP camera would mean great pictures, but in practice, I noticed that the camera quality is a bit lacking.

Fruit taken with adequate lighting

Nova 5T night mode.  Blurry as hell

Picture of the peg taken under daylight

Nova 5T 48 mp (Ultra Clarity mode)	Shot of my neighborhood (48 mp)
Mate 20 Pro	Google Pixel 4

The camera performs well under adequate light, but once lighting drops, the phone starts to struggle.  Also, unlike the Mate 20 Pro, the Nova doesn't perform that well if your subject is close to the lens.

The front-facing camera lacks 3D sensing capability.  Therefore, the face unlock won't work in dull lighting.  However, the aforementioned fingerprint in the power button makes a nice backup.

Performance

Nova 5T is powered by Kirin 980 and has 6 GB of ram and 128 GB of storage.  This is the exact same specs as in Huawei's flagship phones.  Thus, the interface is as smooth as butter.  One thing I like about this phone is that it has dual sim capability.  That means that I can have two sims in the device, one for my main phone and one for a back up.  Therefore, I can use different network providers to improve my coverage.

Summary

This is an excellent device with flagship-level performance.  However, its camera is a bit poor, especially in low lighting.

Rant: Luxury smart phones

I am appalled with so call "luxury" phones like the Vertu Ti Android Ferrari.  They can fetch of up to $11,999.99, which seems quite a lot for a simple phone.

But what's so great with the phone?  Specs?  Nope.   As seen from the chart below, the specs fall in with other mid range phones, such as the Google Nexus 4, which came out a few months ago.  And the Google Nexus 4 have a cheaper price tag of around £135.00, depending on whether you want it brand new or used.

See comparison here.

Vertu claims to be made in England by a single craftsman who makes each unit by hand (like sculpt it by hand? I'm sure you can't make the battery by hand... or the processor) at the company headquarters in Hampshire. In addition, What sets the Vertu apart from other competitors, other than the titanium and sapphire crystal, is its "live personal assistant on-call" at the press of a button. Vertu's Concierge Services enables the user to call a live person in the same region as the user to do functions, such as booking exclusive hotels and dinner reservations that can easily be done via apps.

Another example is the Bellperre Touch, which like the Vertu, has abmismal specs. According to the website, its specs are:

• Dimensions: 138.0 x 69.4 x 9.4 mm
• Weight: 166 g, Micro-SIM
• 4.9 inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
• 48 GB MEMORY + 2 GB RAM
• 3.5mm jack, NFC, Multitouch
• GPRS Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
• EDGE Class 12
• Speed: HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSUPA; LTE
• WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct
• DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
• DISPLAY, 720 x 1280 pixels, 16M colors
• 2G Network: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
• 3G Network: 850 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100
• Bluetooth: v4.0, A2DP, EDR
• Android OS, CPU Dual-core 1.5 GHz
• MicroUSB v2.0 (MHL), USB On-the-go
• Autofocus CAMERA 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels, LED flash
• Simultaneous HD video and image recording
• 1080p@30fps Video
• Secondary cam: 1.9 MP, 720p@30fps
• Accelerometer sensor, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer
• GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS
• Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
• TV-out (via MHL A/V link)
• MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player
• MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player
• Organizer, Photo/video editor
• Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)
• Stand-by: (2G) / Up to 330 h (3G)
• Talk time: (2G) / Up to 14 h (3G)
• Music play: Up to 48 h

In conclusion, are luxury phones worth it? Definately not. Unless you're looking for a phone for a permanent showcase, they quickly get outdated. And an advice for luxury phone makers, please make your phones specs worth the price. You could maybe stuff your phone with like 4 GB no 8 GB of ram, 128 GB or 1 TB of internal storage with microsd card expansion, and the top of the line custom octo-core (8 cores) processor with a clock speed of 3 GHz or greater.

Review: Samsung S5 - the Windows 8 of the Galaxy Range

 Today I received my Samsung S5 and to be blunt, I hated the general interface. It's like Windows 8 of the mobile world.

Samsung had changed things a lot, and not for the better. For example, the volume keys are mapped to take photos rather than the zoom controller of the previous iteration. Then there's the menu section. It's a jumble of settings strewn everywhere.  Also, frustratingly, the phone maps the menu to the left of the menu and the back button to the right. This is the opposite of stock Android. Almost all other phones have it the other way around.  In addition, the location causes me to accidentally mash on the keys when in landscape mode. 

However, the waterproofing is a welcome though. I am also a fan of the multi-window view for Samsung phones.

I like the Sony Xperia Z2, but the battery is it's Achilles heel. When on mobile Internet, even when charging, the phone battery drains rapidly.

Fix it: Deleting manufacturer bookmarks

I bought a Sony Xperia SP and when I launched the browser Chrome, I noticed there was a folder named "Sony" that I couldn't delete. Nothing in the browsers could be deleted. And to make matters worse, Chrome keeps defaulted to that folder most of the time I launched it.

I searched Google and I came upon this forum post on the XDA forums. As mentioned in the forum, to disable the folder, go into settings then apps find the app "com.android.providers.partnerbookmarks." Then click "Disable" and then "force stop." You could reboot the phone if necessary.

Fix it: Hijack of the "default" page on stock Android browser

After installing some Android apps, you may notice that the "default" home page has been changed to www.searchmobileonline.com or the likes. To get rid of the "default" home page, perform the steps below.

1. Open Settings > Applications > Manage applications > All (tab on top) or Settings > Application manager as shown
   
2. Go to the "All" tab on the top and scroll down to "Internet"
   
3. Click "clear data" in the resulting window
   

Credits for the instructions go to Getting rid of "search mobile online" browser hijack in Android.