Last week, I pitched the new LG V50 ThinQ, with its Dual Screen system, against the Lumia 950 XL, showing that the LG flagship is a fast and capable Android device with interesting, if quirky, possibilities. But there was a question mark over its camera system, so let's rectify that now with a traditional imaging head-to-head against the 950 XL. Has LG messed up its image processing, or is this a return to form?
It's a fair cop, the headline is a bit sensationalist, but it does link the two smartphones after a fashion, in that they each do interesting things with extra screens. Plus there's the extra link in that Microsoft's new Surface Duo ('Surface Phone') will be a two screened hinged affair, albeit available in a year's time, and the LG V50 Dual Screen is available right now, but with some of the same ideas.
Forgive a little rant, but I thought my general level of 'cross-ness' over the behaviour shown below might a) help guilty developers mend their ways, and b) attract your attention to what I consider to be shady practice when getting users to download applications from the Microsoft Store. PS. This news post is normally £399 to read, but today it's absolutely free!!
Whether you have/had a Lumia 1020 or 930 or 950, one of the core 'must haves' for you is probably cutting edge imaging - the absolute best photos possible from a phone. iPhones have been gradually 'coming up on the rails' in this regard and with the new iPhone 11 Pro I showed a few weeks ago that its cameras are right up there, and even exceeding those of the Lumia 1020 and Lumia 950. I'll revisit the subject when the 11 Pro's 'Deep Fusion' update hits, but in the meantime here's a feature comparison across the board between the flagship iPhone 11 Pro and the similarly sized previous camera champion, the Lumia 950. Cost notwithstanding, maybe the time is now right to move to an iPhone (and not just the cheaper '11')?
The Samsung flagship for 2019, the Galaxy Note 10+, was launched a month or so ago, but I'm just catching up with it now. I'm expecting similar results to those from the Galaxy S10 series earlier in the year, but I know how much you like my Lumia 950 shootouts - can the triple-camera-ed Note 10+ surprise us by keeping the edge enhancement dialled back?
The dust is settling around Microsoft's shock announcement of the Surface Duo, running Android but with much of Microsoft's UI ideas. Some see the Duo as the next Holy Grail device, some see it as the ultimate betrayal of Windows Phone. As usual, the truth is somewhere in between, though I do have multiple worries over this new 'not a phone but kind of is' Surface product.
Last weekend I went hands-on with Samsung's brand new Galaxy Fold in London. Yes, it runs Android and this is being published on AAS and AAWP, but I believe it's a very relevant current data point in terms of mobile computing on the go. Not least because it's a modern equivalent to the Nokia Communicators of old. But it also paves the way for thoughts on where Microsoft is going next with its Surface Duo...
Following my detailed general head-to-head between the Windows 10-powered IDOL 4 Pro and a new budget-priced flagship, the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro, earlier in the week, I did promise an imaging shootout too, this time with the Lumia 950 XL. Does the Mi 9T Pro measure up in the imaging stakes as a Lumia replacement? Let's find out...
In the continuing search for reasonably priced replacements for Windows 10 Mobile smartphones, the name Xiaomi keeps popping up, offering high end specifications at very low prices. In that vein, I've managed to get my hands on the new Mi 9T Pro, its flagship at only £350 or so in the UK, which is amazing. So how does it compare, blow by blow, with my top specced W10M handset, the Alcatel IDOL 4 Pro?
I have to say that I find it quite amusing that the tech industry is falling over itself in 2019 to embrace concepts that were commonplace back in the early days of Windows Phone - from well over six years ago. For every naysayer that slams Windows Phone for its weaknesses, remember that it also led the world in several ways, not least UI responsiveness, dark themes, and augmented reality mapping!
