Reviews - 18/69 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Sep

[Game Review] Noodlecake's HueBrix Is A Deceptively Simple Puzzler That You Won't Be Able To Put Down

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Games, Reviews

Android developer Noodlecake has a reputation for making clean, incredibly fun games. Its newest effort is called HueBrix, and it just arrived in Google Play a few days ago. This is a puzzle game that has a simple premise: fill in all the squares. You will only make it a few minutes before the cunning level design starts the slow process of melting your brain.

Gameplay And Controls

There are over 400 levels in HueBrix, but all of them start in basically the same way. You have a grid of white squares that need to be covered with colored lines. Just drag a path from the various starting blocks to fill in all the spaces.

Sep

Diamond Multimedia AMP1000 Set-Top Box Review: It's Like Putting A Giant Gingerbread Phone In Your Living Room

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Other Reviews

While GoogleTV still hasn't really taken off, the idea of an Android-powered set-top box is still a good one if properly executed. Diamond Multimedia recently tried its hand at such an execution with the AMP1000 (Android Media Player), its first venture into the Android realm.

But, like with any new project attempt, there is plenty of room for failure. As we've seen so many times before, what seems like a good idea on paper can easily be a disaster in execution.

While I wouldn't go as far as calling the AMP a "disaster," Diamond's attempt at an Android box is... not very good.

Sep

[Quick Review] Satechi BT Lite Headphones: Cutting The Wrong Corner

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Other Reviews

Satechi is known for offering good products for a good price. Recent examples: an awesome $30 portable Bluetooth speaker, a high-quality headrest mount for tablets, and a whopping 10,000mAh portable charger for just $50. So when the company announced some new lightweight Bluetooth headphones (creatively named "BT Lite Headphones"), it caught my attention.

With the promise of light weight, good features, and quality sound at $45, I cracked open the package with high expectations. At first, the sound produced by the BT Lites is impressive. But run through a range of songs and you start to notice a fatal flaw - one severe enough to prevent a buy recommendation entirely.

Aug

Horn For Android Is Finally Out, And It's An Awesome Action-Adventure Game With Great Looks And Brains To Match [Review]

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Games, News, Reviews

When Horn arrived on that other mobile platform a couple weeks ago, it was met with plenty of praise. Now Horn is available on Android, and it still stands out among all categories of games. Horn is built from the ground up with an awareness that it will be played on a touchscreen device, and it shows. From the impressive graphics to the unique story, Horn has a lot to show off. Let's dig in and see if it's a must-have.

The Story

You play as Horn, the blacksmith's apprentice who awakens one day to find everyone in the village has been transformed into mechanical monsters by a curse.

Aug

[Review] Magisto Is An Automatic Video Editor For Android That, Against All Odds, Doesn't Suck

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, Reviews

One of the worst phrases a human being can put together is "automatic video editor." The whole thing feels like it's set up for failure. Like "vasectomy in a box" or "snooki's pregnant." Add in "for Android" and, well, let's just say I've been burned before. So it came as an unbelievable shock when I tried out Magisto, which claims to be both of these things, and it was good. I mean, really good. It doesn't offer you any control at all, but it does the job for the regular Joe or Jane in fantastic form.

How It Works

The process is stupid simple.

Aug

Archos 101 XS Review: Too Many Compromises In A Suddenly Competitive Budget Market

Posted by Ron Amadeo in 101 XS, ARCHOS, Reviews, Tablet Reviews, Tablets

"Unique" is the name of the game with the Archos 101 XS. Just about every design decision goes against the status quo. Most tablets are made out of aluminum or plastic, but Archos went with stainless steel and a plastic rim. It's a tablet-laptop hybrid, but there's no hinge, everything is held together with a kickstand and some magnets. The included keyboard dock also doubles as a magnetic cover. At a time when some Android OEMs are ~~accused~~ found guilty of doing little more than firing up a photocopier, some out-of-the-box thinking is very much appreciated.

It's only $400 for the tablet and keyboard, so we're firmly in budget territory here.

Aug

[Lightning Review] SuperTooth Melody Bluetooth Headphones: Wireless, Compact, And That's About It

Posted by David Ruddock in Accessories, Other Reviews

Wireless headphones are a rapidly emerging market, thanks to the continually growing proportion of the population that own Bluetooth-enabled smartphones and tablets. On-ear wireless headphones, in particular, are picking up. We've reviewed several of these style of headphones, and found performance and price to vary wildly. You can spend $30 on a bargain-bin set of wireless headphones, or upwards of $400-500 for some of the name brand audiophile products out there. And at those extremes, it's a little easier to weed out the "real deal" from the junk. But in the middle of the road, around the $80-150 mark, things get a little less clear.

Aug

[Lightning Review] Edifier Prisma BT 2.1 Bluetooth Speaker System: A Quick And Dirty Way To Smarten Up Your Stereo

Posted by David Ruddock in Accessories, Other Reviews

Bluetooth connectivity is an increasingly common feature request in our ever-more smartphone and tablet-centric world. It has grown from the simple communication medium of the god-awful earpieces everyone hates you for wearing into a widely-used wireless audio standard. Portable speakers, cars, and headphones are all latching onto it. But what about your 2.1 system? I know I've always wished I could easily push music to my own stereo setup without messy PC software or dongle attachments. I want it to just work. Luckily, such a thing does exist.

And if you're in the market for a stereo speaker system, one that's well-suited for a desktop or smaller bedroom television setup - and you demand Bluetooth connectivity - the Prisma BTs are one of your very few choices, though they are a pretty good one.

Aug

[Quick Look] Satechi Car Headrest Mount For Tablets: Pimp Your Ride Without Xzibit

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Other Reviews

My significant other likes to pretend the next car we buy will have TVs integrated into the headrests to keep our kids occupied on long trips. I can assure you, it will not - after all, that's an option that costs thousands of dollars, and is usually only offered on luxury cars (which we can't afford) and minivans (just no) as it is. But, as it turns out, it's not all that hard to one-up integrated TVs: you can slap on a sleek, adjustable headrest mount.

The benefits of using a mount rather than buying integrated are obvious. The first is, of course, cost - most people can't afford to buy a high-end luxury car or topped-out minivan plus the few thousand dollars it costs for the option. Even those who can will likely find outdated systems, and one that's probably not touch-driven and definitely doesn't have the flexibility of Android.

Aug

[Lightning Review] Soundfreaq Sound Kick Portable Bluetooth Speaker: An Amazing, No-Frills Product In A World Full Of Pretenders

Posted by David Ruddock in Accessories, Other Reviews

Last Updated: November 11th, 2012

I am sort of becoming the Bluetooth speaker guy here at Android Police, and the more such products I review, the more I find I'm not impressed with a lot of the current market leaders. Most of all, I'm unimpressed with their price-to-performance ratio. So often, Bluetooth speakers overpromise with buzzwords like "amazing clarity," "deep bass," and "rich sound" (how the hell is sound rich?). I get tired of it, especially since most of these promises are meaningless, recycled advertising drivel that belongs on a late-night infomercial. You have to separate reality from marketing-speak. Luckily, today, I haven't had to.