Reviews - 23/69 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jun

Asus Transformer Pad Infinity (TF700 Wi-Fi) Review: At The Crossroads Of Pixels And Power

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in News, Tablet Reviews, Transformer Pad Infinity

Fun fact: a 1080p display packs 2,073,600 pixels. The Asus Transformer Pad Infinity (or TF700)? 2,304,000 - or 230,400 more. Most 1080p HDTVs are somewhere around 40-60 inches. The TF700 checks in at just 10. Compared to a 40" HDTV, that's 111% of the pixels in a package that's 6.25% of the size.

The screen may be the real headline feature with the Infinity, but it's not the only one worthy of note. It's still powered by NVIDIA's Tegra 3 "4-PLUS-1" CPU, but it's a newer revision that packs a little more punch. The RAM, too, has seen an upgrade, and the screen is now protected by Gorilla Glass 2.

Jun

[Lightning Review] Geneva Model XS Portable Bluetooth Speaker: Really Cool, Just Don't Ever Buy It

Posted by David Ruddock in Other Reviews

The portable Bluetooth speaker market is rapidly heating up, and one of our favorite designs in recent memory in the super-portable range was the Geneva Model XS. It's sleek, minimalistic, and so retro. Unfortunately, one crippling design flaw (along with some strange control choices) means this $250, almost art-like speaker / clock-radio just doesn't work in the real world.

The flaw? The hinge on the outer case is made of like, paper-thin plastic. That's it. So, when I was first playing with the Model XS and figuring out how its interesting folding mechanics functioned, I dropped it - from a staggering height of about one foot.

Jun

Samsung Galaxy S III Review: Not Revolutionary, But Another Solid Step Forward For Android

Posted by Ron Amadeo in AT&T, Galaxy S III, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Reviews, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: June 24th, 2012

The Galaxy S III is a big deal. It's kind of hard to overstate it. Samsung is the biggest, baddest Android manufacturer out there, and this is their new flagship device for the next year.

Samsung is taking advantage of their newfound clout in the Android ecosystem: it's the first Android phone to escape the cellular carriers' meddling changes. Sammy managed to pulled off a unified launch across all the major US carriers - there will be no weird variants, and no names that sound like Street Fighter II sequels. It's just the "Galaxy S III." They are all the same, and you can get one on whatever carrier you want.

Jun

Fuhu Nabi 2 Review: A Quad-Core Android 4.0 Tablet Designed Just For Your Kids - And It's Surprisingly Awesome

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Tablet Reviews

If you read this site, there's a good chance that you consider yourself a geek on one level or another. If you're also a parent, you undoubtedly want to share your geekdom with your children. Sometimes this means sharing your digital devices with the little one(s), which is something that I don't normally condone (it's just a disaster waiting to happen, in my opinion). But what if you could give your children a tablet of their own? And I'm not talking about some knock-off Leapfrog "tablet," either; I'm talking about a real Android tablet, designed just for children.

That's exactly what the Nabi 2 is: an Android 4.0 tablet designed with kids in mind.

Jun

Review: For Those Willing To Part With The EVO LTE's Paper-Thin Frame, Seidio's Surface, Active, And Convert Combo Cases Offer A Full Spectrum Of Protection

Posted by Liam Spradlin in EVO 4G LTE (Jewel), Other Reviews, Reviews, Sprint

Although I've dropped a phone a total of about three times in my life, and although manufacturers are continually touting more and more durable glass, polycarbonate plastic, and even metal that's 3x stronger than stainless steel, there lingers in the back of my mind the question of what may happen if and when that fateful day comes – the day when I finally drop my phone onto an unforgiving concrete, asphalt, or otherwise hard surface. Looking to calm the fears of high-end device users everywhere, Seidio created their signature Surface, Active and Convert Combo cases.

I recently got my hands on a set of cases for my new EVO LTE, a device that (despite its quirks) is certainly worth protecting.

After living with the cases for a while, I've learned a few things – first, Seidio has covered the full spectrum of protection from super light and compact to ultra-durable monster case that would keep your EVO unscathed through a hurricane.

Jun

Game Review: Babel Rising 3D Is A Rich, Well-Made Time Waster - But Is It Worth $5?

Posted by David Ruddock in Apps/Games, Game Reviews, Games, Reviews

Last Updated: June 19th, 2012

Update: Previously, I mentioned that Babel Rising 3D contains in-app purchasing options. These have since been removed.

It is the conventional wisdom of our time that smartphone and tablet gaming are "the future." Like plastics. It's inevitable, it's going to happen - more and more people will move away from the PSPs, the PCs, and the Xboxes to their all-in-one portable devices. Now, that's not to say these other industries are going away any time soon - console and PC gaming will likely to continue to stand on their own for decades (maybe not so much portable consoles). Console gaming, in particular, is having something of a second "golden age" with the Xbox360 and Nintendo Wii.

Jun

Max Payne For Android Review: Probably The Most Nostalgia $3 Can Buy

Posted by David Ruddock in Game Reviews, Games, Reviews

Max Payne for Android has finally arrived, marking the second classic Rockstar title to hit Android (GTA3 having been the first) officially. Let's cut to the chase: for $3, there's really no reason not to buy this game if you own a compatible tablet. Well, maybe if you just hate shooting things.

There are also quite a few compatible phones, though unless you're using an Xperia Play or Galaxy Note, I can't say I'd recommend spending the money. This was a game designed for 17" monitors and full-size televisions back in 2001, and while it scales well to 10.1", anything smaller than 5" is probably going to be frustrating to work with (that's what she said).

Jun

[Hands-On] Smule Ports Popular iOS App 'Magic Piano' To Android: It's The Tap Tap Revenge Of Piano Emulators

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Applications, News, Reviews

First, Smule turned speech into music (and pontifications into pop) with Songify, and now the developer is looking to get into the instrument-emulation side of Android music apps.

Indeed, Magic Piano, another popular iOS Smule app that has now made its way to Android, lays out a series of dots which you have to tap in tune to your favorite song (assuming it's in Smule's inventory, of course).

So, is it as cool as it sounds? To some degree, yes; if you've ever played Tap Tap Revenge, you should feel at home - both games involve tapping on-screen dots to play music (obviously, there are myriad nuances that differentiate the apps, but Magic Piano's overall style is decidedly reminiscent of Tap Tap).

Jun

[Quick Look] Arkon Desk & Travel Stand For Tablets: Simple, Compact, And Convenient

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Other Reviews, Tablets

If you own a tablet, then you probably realize a good tablet stand is clutch. The thing is, though, there are so many stands on the market, it's almost impossible to find exactly what you want. Personally, I want something as minimal as possible, functional, offers a variety of viewing angles, and doesn't take up a lot of room in my bag. Enter the Arkon Desk & Travel Stand for Tablets.

As you can see, this stand is not only extremely compact, but equally as versatile. I've spend the last few weeks using this stand, and I have to say that the overall quality of the product has left me impressed; in fact, it actually surprised me in ways that I didn't expect.

Jun

LG Optimus 4X HD Review: The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Posted by David Ruddock in LG, Optimus 4X HD, Phone Reviews, Reviews

LG has never been a company particularly well-known for its smartphones. And the occasional notoriety the company has received for its Android-powered hardware has rarely been positive. The original Ally, for example, despite its Iron Man-marketing and substantial launch hype, turned out to be an unremarkable, painfully slow phone. The next handset from LG to attract much attention (in the US, at least) was the G2X (or Optimus 2X, internationally). It too failed to gain much in the way of critical acclaim, and customers found the phone laden with major usability bugs. Then came the Revolution, a device that, as it turns out, did not have a very fitting name at all.