Samsung's Galaxy A5

Samsung's Galaxy A-series smartphones are the next best to its flagship Galaxy S lineup. This series is meant for those who want a premium Samsung phone without the bloated price tag. Of course, these devices come devoid of some of the bells and whistles of the uber-premium S-series but you'll find most of the essential flagship-class features. Ourreview of the Samsung Galaxy A8 last August is testament to a formula that is working for Samsung.

Towards the tail end of last year, Samsung refreshed this series with a new Galaxy A7, Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A3; all ready to make their 2016 debut. After our initial impressions of the A5 and A7 (which are now available in India), it's time to take a closer look at the new 2016 Galaxy A5 and see how good it really is.

Look and feel
As you've probably already gathered from Samsung's TV commercials, the Galaxy A5's biggest trump card is its metal-and-glass construction. To put it simply, the phone feels every bit as premium as the Galaxy S6, from which it borrows some design cues. This time, there's curved Gorilla Glass 4 for the front and the back of the device, which makes it look and feel a lot classier than its predecessor.

In the front, we have a 5.2-inch full-HD Super Amoled display that delivers vibrant colours and excellent sunlight legibility. The colours tend to get oversaturated in Adaptive Mode, which can cause a bit of eye fatigue after a while. This can be remedied by switching to another display mode. The A5's display also has very thin borders which gives it an edge-to-edge look.

Navigation buttons are where you'd expect them on a Samsung phone and a fingerprint sensor is integrated into the Home button. Oddly, there's no notification LED for incoming alerts. The headphones socket, Micro-USB port, and speaker grille are all placed at the bottom.

The A5 launched in India (codename A510FD) is a true dual-SIM phone, and you get a dedicated slot for a microSD card. The tray on the right houses the primary SIM and storage expansion while a separate tray on the top of the phone is for the secondary SIM.

Samsung bundles a 10W charger, data cable, headset, and SIM ejector tool in the Galaxy A5 retail package - only our review unit was missing the latter two. Samsung has done an exceptional job with the construction of the new phone, making it look and feel as good as the flagship Galaxy S6. The glass on the back does make the phone a bit slippery to hold and we wish there had been a notification LED.

Specifications and software
With the cosmetic refreshes also come performance upgrades. The Galaxy A5 (2016) sold in India features Samsung's octa-core Exynos 7580 SoC, which we found a little puzzling because it's the same SoC that powers the lower mid-range Galaxy J7. Some modifications have been made, as the SoC in the A5 runs at a slightly higher 1.6GHz and supports faster Category 6 LTE. 

Despite its older 28nm fabrication, it's still a very capable SoC and offers similar performance to the Snapdragon 615. We managed to get 41,907 points in AnTuTu and 13fps in GFXbench. The GPU score was a bit lower when compared to the Adreno GPU in the 615 SoC.

The rest of the specifications include 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage which can be expanded up to 128GB, dual-band Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, FM radio, and USB OTG. The A5 supports 4G on both SIM slots, however there's no support for VoLTE yet.

It's a little disappointing to see the Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) ship with Android Lollipop but we guess Samsung was saving its Marshmallow debut for the Galaxy S7. The phone runs TouchWiz, which has gotten slicker over the years but continues to stay true to its colourful roots.

Samsung throws in some of its own apps such as S Health, S Voice, and My Galaxy. There's also the Ultra Data Saving mode found in the J-series, powered by Opera Max. This helps compress Internet data so you don't end up exhausting your monthly data pack too soon. MixRadio is also present but you won't be able to use it for too long as the service is shutting down. You get a USB Backup app which lets you back up data to an OTG pen drive. Samsung also bundles several of Google's and Microsoft's popular apps.

Most of the stock apps and some third-party ones support split-screen view. This can be activated by tapping the Recents button for a few seconds when in a supported app.

Samsung Galaxy S5

The Samsung Galaxy S5 can be defined by one word: evolution.

The camera has evolved to give clearer, faster snaps. The fitness-tracking abilities of the S5 are enhanced over the Galaxy S4 by packing in a more powerful S Health app and a dedicated heart rate monitor on the rear. A fingerprint scanner adds to the most secure Galaxy phone ever made.

The battery is larger, the screen bigger and brighter, the processor quicker and the design altered.

The spec sheet certainly doesn't let it down: a 2.5GHz quad-core CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 2800mAh (removable) battery, 16 / 32GB of memory (with up to 128GB extra through microSD), one of the world's most vibrant screens that's been extended to 5.1-inches and added biometrics.

Mud still penetrated the casing

However, it's hard to point to one stand out feature that will grab the prospective user when they handle the Galaxy S5 for the first time.

To many, that won't matter, as Samsung's built a fan-base that only Apple can rival, and a number will be picking up the new Galaxy without a second thought over whether it competes adequately with its rivals.

But now - you can scrap all that. The Galaxy S6 is here, and it's a phone with a lot, lot more going for it.

• Hands on:

For one, the design is awe-inspiring in comparison: the metal and glass edges might be a lot more iPhone-esque than Samsung's lawyers might like, but it's certainly a much nicer design.

The power is much higher in the new phone, but it's shed the microSD slot and removable battery - plus the new S6 isn't waterproof. If those things are important to you, the S5 has dropped in price now and is a much better buy as a result.

• Already sold? Check out the best Samsung Galaxy S5 deals here

Price-wise, if you're shocked by the cost of the Samsung Galaxy S5 then you've not really been paying attention to the previous flagship models. It's actually a little cheaper than previous years in some territories, and has been dropped around more recently, coming in at around £370 these days SIM free in the UK.

As you can imagine contract offers are flying all over the place at the moment, but the Galaxy S5 is being offered for a near identical price to the HTC One M8, and cheaper than the iPhone 6, give or take a few dollarpounds.

The messaging around the launch of the Galaxy S5 was that Samsung had listened to the consumers and dialled down the gimmicks, focusing instead on what makes a phone special to the consumer.

It promised a 'fashionable' and 'glam' design, a camera that works in the way you'd want it to and strength through being water resistant.

There's also the small notion of an improved version - I was told that it was very likely the Galaxy S5 was going to launch with a Samsung Galaxy S5 Primeversion in February, with oodles more RAM, a faster processor and QHD screen on board.

Yooz s400

Processeur	MT 6572
Modèle	Double Sim
Nombre de Cores	Dual Core 1.0 Ghz
Ecran	4 pouces, 480 x 800 pixels, IPS
Mémoire RAM	512 MB
Stockage	4 GB, Extensible à 32 GB via Micro SD
Réseau Internet	3G
Dimensions (mm)	122 x 63 x 8.5
Caméra Avant / Arrière	0.3 MP / 2.0 MP
Connectivité	Micro USB, DC jack, Audio
Autonomie de la batterie	1200 mAh
Poids	133 g
Coque	Plastique
Bluetooth	Oui
Wifi	Oui
HDMI	-
Alimentation	USB
Système d'exploitation	Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
Couleur	Noir
autre	Coque additionnelle bleue offerte
Certification	CE

IPHONE 6S PLUS

WHAT IS THE IPHONE 6S PLUS?

The iPhone 6S Plus (not to be confused with the upcoming iPhone 7) is Apple's second phablet, and like last year's model it's properly big.

The 5.5-inch screen is the biggest you can get on an iPhone and a massive step up if you're used to an iPhone 5S. It takes some getting used to.

Usually 'S' models of the iPhone tend to have a few small additions over the previous phone. This year, though, Apple has made some serious improvements to the iPhone 6S Plus that make it more interesting compared to what we've become accustomed to.

The 4S and 5S introduced useful additions, the first with Siri and the second with Touch ID. A few other performance improvements were thrown in for good measure.

These were good phones, but they didn’t particularly excite the imagination.

ou drop what’s on screen closer to your thumb. Gently tap the home button twice and out-of-reach icons become instantly accessible.

image: http://static.trustedreviews.com/94/000035723/e439/iphone-6s-plus-drop-screen.gif

It doesn’t solve everything – I still struggle to reach the bottom left corner of the screen with my right thumb – but it's a useful feature.

The 6S Plus is also heavy, 20g more so than the iPhone 6 Plus before it. The extra weight is due to the new Taptic Engine used with 3D Touch – and it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I like weighty phones – they feel more substantial; others might find it a little too cumbersome, however.

Acer Predator 17 (G9-791)

Design and construction

As expected, the Predator comes in a big, heavy and thick chassis that houses all this powerful hardware. It’s a necessity for almost all notebooks from this class and it will take some time for the OEMs to start building slimmer machines. The notebook feels really sturdy, solid and has great design, at least in our opinion.

Starting with the lid, its surface is covered in soft-touch, black, matte plastic with two red stripes with LED backlight and the Predator logo in the middle, which is also backlit. It features several curves and linings giving a distinguished and aggressive looks. It doesn’t bend under pressure and the hinge feels just fine – it’s not overtightened and the lid can be opened with just one hand. The bottom part of the notebook consists of the same materials, but after the disassembly we found out to be reinforced with thick layer of aluminum and due to that it feels pretty solid and can’t be twisted even when big pressure is applied. Other than that, the lower part of the chassis has several vent openings for better airflow and can be paired with external cooling pad. You’ll also notice the subwoofer and two openings for the loudspeakers that are paired into groups of two making a total of four loudspeakers.

EDIT: We received valuable information about the build of the machine and it turns out that the rigidness we’ve talked about in the paragraph above is due to a glass fiber construction. The main body is made of plastic (polycarbonate) and 40% glass fiber in a 1.8 mm layer. The glass fiber properties assure more lightweight and tougher construction than a normal aluminum composite. While the aluminum bends a tad easier, the glass fiber is more rigid and unbendable.

As you can see from the image below, the properties of the fiber glass are pretty useful in this situation and it’s a better option compared to other alternatives that are oftenly used in this industry.

As we mentioned in our first impressions article, the sides of the machine kind of reminds us of Dell’s Alienware offerings due to their flat design. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. The left side contains the DC charging port, two USB 3.0 ports, one SD card reader and two 3.5 mm audio and microphone jacks. There’s also the swappable optical drive that can be replaced with the additional fan module. We do have to address our concerns on that one because at times the fan module doesn’t fit as it should and you should pop it in with some extra force. Nothing too serious, though. Continuing with the right side where another two USB 3.0 ports reside along with an additional USB Type-C connector. Interestingly, Acer has included not only one HDMI port but also a DisplayPort for better 4K gaming with an external monitor. The LAN port isn’t left out as well. Moving to the back we see the main exhaust vents that are made of plastic, but look pretty nice. In fact, it looks so nice that can be easily mistaken with a sports car, for example. And at the same time, it continues the aggressive design signature blending with the rest of the chassis. The front, however, only has two grills intended for the two pairs of loudspeakers.

The interior, on the other hand, is where actually the Predator shines. We absolutely fell in love with the keyboard – it offers good tactile feedback with long key travel and it even mimicks a traditional mechanical keyboard. And as we all know, mechanical keyboards are perfect for gaming. The presented keyboard here is not only suitable for gaming but for typing as well. The LED backlight is separated into two zones – one for the main keyboard and one for the NumPad as the latter’s light is in blue. Moreover, the arrow keys and WASD keys are well separated from the rest of the buttons and the extra space for the palm rest comes in handy.

Basically, the keyboard is placed a little closer to the screen in order to provide bigger palm rest area and we really liked it. The macro keys appear to be a bit small, but you’ll get used to it quickly. Another thing worth mentioning are the functional keys for adjusting the volume and media player buttons. They are all too far from the “Fn” button and both hands are needed when hitting play or adjusting the volume for example. It’s a small and negligible issue for some, though.

As for the trackpad – it’s flawless as expected. It’s rare to come across a bad touchpad at this price range and we are happy with the performance. The dedicated mouse buttons offer long key travel while the touch panel is responsive and accurate. There’s a small button with red LED indicating that the touchpad is active and you can disable it with one press during gaming to eliminate unintentional touches. It’s rather strange when the button is green when the touchpad is inactive and red when it’s active.

We are happy with the design and construction presented in this notebook. It looks and feels like a high-end machine offering enough sturdiness and aggressive looks. And as expected, the notebook’s weight is a bit high and the thick profile suggest the same. Still, this is quite normal for a notebook in this category. While the overall design of the chassis is rigid and the matte, soft-touch plastic surface used for the making of this laptop feels great, we have concerns about its durability. In the long run, the surface’s properties might wear off and scratches and dents will be more noticeable. We’ve addressed this issue on other notebooks as well, including the ASUS ROG G751 and Lenovo Y50.

Disassembly and upgrade options

The teardown of the notebook is rather easy and the upgrade is even easier. Only one service cover gains access to the most commonly upgraded hardware – 2.5-inch HDD/SSD slot, two M.2 SSD slots with one being 2280 and the other 22110, 2 RAM slots, and another two on the other side of the motherboard. You can read about the disassembly in detail in our dedicated article 

Specs sheet

The specs sheet provided below is for this model only and may vary depending on your region or configuration.

CPU	Intel Core i7-6700HQ (4-core, 2.60-3.50 GHz, 6MB cache)
RAM	64GB (4x 16384MB) – DDR4, 2133MHz
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M (4GB GDDR5)
HDD/SSD	500GB M.2 SATA SSD + 2TB HDD
Display	17.3-inch Ultra HD (3840×2160) IPS, matte (optional)
Optical Drive	Yes
Connectivity	LAN 10/100/1000 Mbps, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0
Other features	4x USB 3.0 1x USB 3.1 Type-C LED keyboard backlight with different zones HDMI DisplayPort RJ-45 SD card reader 3.5 mm jacks for microphone and headphones 6 programmable macro keys 4x built-in loudspeakers + subwoofer
Battery	88.8Wh / 6000 mAh