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OnePlus One review: a $300 smartphone has never looked so good
Look at your phone. If you can honestly admit that you love every single thing about it, I have good news: You can stop reading this review, since it won't have an impact on your happiness. But if there's even one thing you wish your smartphone could do better, it means you had to make compromises when you bought it. Everybody wants a perfect phone, but such a thing simply doesn't exist. So, we settle on a phone that has only 95 percent of the features we want, and that... kinda sucks. OnePlus believes it doesn't have to be this way. Its motto, "Never Settle," represents the fledgling Chinese company's mission to build and sell the perfect smartphone. Its first attempt is the One, a premium-looking device that has customizable firmware and top-shelf specs. Oh, and it'll sell for $299 unlocked and free of contract, which is even less expensive than Google's Nexus 5. Seems a little over-ambitious for a small startup with no official track record, doesn't it? Let's find out if the One is too good to be true.
Lenovo ThinkPad 8 review: sharp screen, worst-in-class battery life
Not long ago, I vowed to review every 8-inch Windows tablet. That's partly because they're popular, sure, but there was another reason, too: Their specs are so similar that you'd have to actually use one to know which is best. In a field full of same-y options, though, the Lenovo ThinkPad 8 would seem to stand out: It's the only one with a full HD screen, not to mention a 128GB storage option (good news for folks who'd rather not store stuff on a microSD card). Other bonus points include an aluminum casing -- a step above other tablet designs -- as well as optional 4G. Of course, premium doesn't come cheap; the ThinkPad 8 starts at $429, whereas competing models can be had for around $300. The question, then, is: Could it still be worth it?
Nokia X review: What happens when Nokia makes an Android phone?
For a company now under Microsoft's rule, Nokia has serious grit. The phone maker announced an Android phone called the X just two months before completing its merger with Microsoft. Even more intriguing is the fact that this is no run-of-the-mill Android device: The X comes with a Windows Phone-like launcher, offers Microsoft services and will be sold for around $120 in developing markets. While it may not be a powerful smartphone, it has many unique qualities that help it stand out from the low-end crowd. What's it like, and should Microsoft invest in its success?
Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet review: A top-tier slate with a familiar face
Oh, Sony. Its earliest Android tablet efforts were a little odd (and that's putting it politely), but the company eventually managed to get its act together. Last year's Xperia Tablet Z? Easily the finest Android slate that Sony's ever made. When it came time to craft an upgrade, though, Sony was faced with a choice: Should it try to push the envelope in a different direction? Or simply stay the course and apply a healthy dose of polish to an already-good device? Needless to say, it chose the latter. The new Xperia Z2 Tablet looks strikingly similar to its predecessor, albeit with a swapped-out set of components under the hood. The strange sense of drama that comes with a new product seems absent here. In a cynical age when new devices can fly or flop based on spectacle alone, Sony played it safe. It iterated. But is that such a bad thing? Is "iterating" really as yucky a word as we've all been led to believe? Let's find out.
Sony Xperia Z2 review: a big, powerful slab of a phone
It's been nearly three years since I reviewed the Xperia Neo, manufactured by what was then Sony Ericsson. The Neo represented just the second generation of Xperia phones running on Android, from a period when Sony was finding its feet in the world of mobile and still chucking out plenty of duds (I'm looking at you, Tablet P). Fast-forward to today and things have changed dramatically under Kaz Hirai's stewardship. I'll tell you this right now: The Z2 is an easy phone to recommend, at least for those living in countries where it'll definitely be available (a list that includes the UK and Canada, but not yet the US). The only real caveat is the handset's huge, monolithic construction (a far cry from puny, 126-gram Neo). As you'll see, if you can get past its size, the Z2 addresses some of the most serious gripes we had with its predecessors, the Xperia Z and Z1, particularly with respect to its LCD display. In fact, in some respects, it's far ahead of any other Android phone currently on the market.
