Reviews - 40/69 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Sep

[Hunt For The Best Dialer, Part 4] GO Contacts EX - Buggy At Times, But Full Of Convenient Options

Posted by Liam Spradlin in App Reviews, Applications, Hunt For The Best Dialer

Bringing us familiar dialer features and fun design touches, GO Contacts EX is coming in at number four on our Hunt for the Best Dialer replacement for your Android phone. GO Contacts comes to us from the always awesome GO Dev Team, the developers behind other popular apps including GO launcher, GO keyboard, GO weather, and GO SMS (Note from the editor: If you haven't tried out GO SMS Pro, I highly recommend it.).

At A Glance

GO Contacts EX appears to be a simple enough dialer replacement, with all the features we've come to expect - the dial pad, call log, contacts, groups and favorites.

Sep

[Keyboard App Shootout Part 1] Swype Is The Hare To The Traditional Keyboard's Tortoise

Posted by Ron Amadeo in App Reviews, Applications, Features, Keyboard Shootout, Reviews

Last Updated: October 6th, 2011

Greetings, dear reader! Tell me, how happy are you with your current keyboard? Autocorrect got you down? Looking for something a little different? Well, AP is here to help. Crack those knuckles and wipe down that screen, 'cause we're doing a keyboard shootout.

I'll bet you the keyboard is your most used app, and you don't even realize it. Just think of all the searches, texts, and notes you poke out on a daily basis. Any improvement would be a big time saver. Luckily, everyone seems to think the keyboard is broken, and that they can improve on it.

Sep

[Mobile Security App Shootout, Part 15] Kaspersky Mobile Security Offers Familiar Security Features, Adds Few New Twists

Posted by Liam Spradlin in App Reviews, Applications, Mobile Security App Shootout

Kaspersky, a huge name in computer security, not only protects your home and office computers, but your Android device as well. Kaspersky Mobile Security, now in its 9th revision, is a robust app packing anti-virus, anti-malware, call blocking, and theft/loss protection into one lightweight package.

At A Glance

Kaspersky's security solution for Android comes in a relatively lightweight app, costing only 1.5MB in storage. The app's loss/theft protection relies totally on SMS commands, meaning your phone is still protected even if data is turned off. Personally, I always like to see an online interface option, because it makes using the app that much easier in case you've lost your handset and don't have someone with a cell phone handy to send commands to your device.

Sep

Review And Comparison Of The Two Otterbox Cases For The Motorola Photon 4G: Defender and Commuter

Posted by Jakub Glodek in Motorola, Photon 4G, Reviews, Sprint

Last Updated: October 13th, 2011

I am a fan of cases. In fact, right when I buy a phone, I always order a case to go with it. When I got my Evo 4G from Sprint last year, I went through a couple of different cases before settling with one for any reasonable amount of time. While I ended up using a Bodyglove case for quite a while, my mind was almost immediately changed when a friend of mine gave me an Otterbox Commuter case. I was in love. Never before had I seen a case this sturdy and light. Actually, I'm still using the case - no cracks or damage to be found.

Sep

Parrot AR.Drone + AR.FreeFlight Control App Review: One Major Flaw Leaves This Bird Grounded

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, Other Reviews, Reviews

Let's be honest: the Parrot AR.Drone is awesome. It's an awesome idea, it's an awesome design, and we had super high hopes for it. Unfortunately, one huge, massive, undeniable flaw means this bird will spend most of its life on the ground: battery life. It's that bad.

But before I, admittedly sadly, twist that dagger into the heart of this toy, let's go over what it does well - and why we're optimistic about Parrot's future smartphone-controlled vehicles. (Hint: mostly because this thing is so. Much. Fun.)

The Idea

Parrot's AR.Drone is a product we've covered in the past, even before its app was available for Android.

Sep

[Hunt For The Best Dialer, Part 3] Dialer One Packs Your Favorite Phone Features Into One Beautiful, Versatile Screen

Posted by Liam Spradlin in App Reviews, Applications, Hunt For The Best Dialer

Last Updated: September 23rd, 2011

Next in our series of dialer reviews is a very popular replacement dialer called simply Dialer One, developed by Yermek Zhumagulov and available from the Android Market for free. It has a slick design with multiple theming options, and combines just about all the features you need into one screen, which seriously cuts down on time spent navigating around to find what you want.

At A Glance

I have a habit of talking a lot about the design of an app, but in this case there isn't much to say. The design of Dialer One is great. It's simple, clean, and interchangeable, including a black, white, gray, and 'wallpaper' theme (which makes the interface transparent, showing your own wallpaper behind it).

Sep

[Mobile Security App Shootout, Part 14] ESET Mobile Security RC Still In Development, Offers Strong Features Nonetheless

Posted by Liam Spradlin in App Reviews, Mobile Security App Shootout

The developers behind the already popular ESET Security solutions for various desktop platforms is responsible for the next entry in our Mobile Security App Shootout: ESET Mobile Security for Android. Before we get started with reviewing the app, it's important to note that right now ESET for Android is in its Beta stage, and the app available on the Market is a Release Candidate, meaning it's not quite finished yet. The good news, however, is that the app is free throughout its stages in beta. ESET's other mobile solutions (for iOS and Symbian) run about $30.00/year.

At A Glance

ESET Mobile Security is a well-designed, easy to use app.

Sep

[Review] Samsung Epic 4G Touch: Big Power, Big Performance, Bigger Package

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Epic 4G Touch, Reviews, Samsung, Sprint

Here we are: the launch of the first Samsung Galaxy S II to hit a U.S. carrier, dubbed the Epic 4G Touch (E4GT) and landing on Sprint today. It certainly took long enough for the SGSII to hit U.S. shores - it was announced by Samsung in February during MWC, and launched as early as May in some markets. It was a huge success even before launch, with Samsung receiving millions of pre-orders, and for good reason - the SGSII was incredibly well rated, with reviewers universally praising it as one of (usually the) best Android device available. Consequently, for months after its international lanch, it was highly anticipated in the U.S.

Sep

[Review] Motorola Photon 4G: A Worthy Device, Despite A Few Compromises

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Motorola, Photon 4G, Reviews, Sprint

A few months ago, I reviewed the Droid X2 and came away unimpressed. Performance was mediocre despite the powerful dual core Tegra 2 CPU, and more importantly, the PenTile display used by Motorola was a step up on paper and a huge step back in practice. Fast forward a few months and I've landed a Motorola Photon 4G (slightly behind schedule thanks to a few logistics issues, but better late than never!) I'm happy to report that despite seeming like it's almost the same device inside, it's quite a different beast this time around.

At A Glance

The specs:

Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread) + NinjaBlur UI
1 GHz Tegra 2 (dual core) CPU
1 GB DDR2 RAM (twice the 512MB of RAM in the Droid X2)
4.3" qHD (960 x 540) PenTile display
World Phone - CDMA and GSM bands
4G (WiMax) support
8MP camera with dual LED flash, 720p video capture
VGA front-facing camera
16GB memory + microSD slot (empty out of the box)
HDMI Mirroring
Kickstand
802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi

The Good:

Smooth and responsive performance all around, including in the browser.

Sep

[Hunt For The Best Dialer, Part 2] Touchpal Dialer Brings Together Useful Features And Subtle Design

Posted by Liam Spradlin in App Reviews, Applications, Hunt For The Best Dialer

Next in our hunt for the best replacement dialer app is Touchpal from the developers at CooTek, the same team behind Touchpal Keyboard and Search.

CooTek's dialer is extremely well-designed, unassuming, and easy to use. It combines most of the features I want in a dialer but doesn't attempt to overdo things with too many superfluous or redundant functions. Best of all, the dialer is totally free.

At A Glance

Immediately after installing Touchpal, I was impressed. The design is clean, simple, and unassuming. It combines the familiar tabbed browsing of Android's stock dialer with a dialpad/call log screen reminiscent of HTC's Sense dialer, in a way taking the best aspects of both and combining them into a simple, lightweight app.