Less bulky than a DSLR, the LUMIX G85 is the compact 4K video-enabled Micro Four Thirds Mirrorless (DSLM) camera with true-to-life photo image quality.
Class leading 5-axis body stabilization that when mated to LUMIX 2-axis optically stabilized lenses for a “Dual IS” effect.
4K Video recording at 30p/24p 100 Mbps plus a 3.5mm port for external microphones. (Full HD 60p 28Mbps)
Weather sealed splash proof and dustproof, rugged enough to withstand even the most challenging environments.
16-Megapixel MFT eliminates the need for low-pass sensor filters while boosting fine detail resolving power sensor.
Recording file format: Still image - JPEG (DCF, Exif 2.3), RAW, MPO (When attaching 3D lens in Micro Four Thirds system standard) ; Motion picture - AVCHD (Audio format: Dolby Digital 2ch), MP4 (Audio format: AAC 2ch)
Micro Four Thirds Lens Mount - Compatible with a huge variety of lenses, capable of shooting both wide and telephoto zoom lengths, capturing different views on the world. Built-in Sony IMX269 sensor supports 4K video recording and 20MP still image.
Smaller Light-weight Design - A blend of ease-of-use and advanced shooting, great for travel light. 3” LCD touchscreen shows a live preview of the image, and easily changes focus mode/ISO/white Balance/metering mode/file formats/driver mode with a quick control panel on-screen.
Speedy & Refined Autofocus System - Focus with contrast detection, single AF speed hits mainstream level. Electronic Image Stabilization ensures less blurry and more smooth footage for video shots.
Seamless Connectivity with Wi-Fi / BLE - Enable to remote shoot, images transfer, instant share, firmware update via YI M1 App. HDMI (only for still image & video playback) and Micro-USB dual output supported. To enjoy additional features, upgrade your camera to the latest version of the firmware(v3.0), keeping your hardware healthy and system stability.
Advanced Features - Focus Mode (S-AF, C-AF, MF, MF+Peak Focus), ISO (Auto, 100-25600), File Format (JPEG, RAW, RAW+JPEG), Drive Mode (Single, Continuous, 2s and 10s Self-Timer), Time lapse still image shoot, exposure control in the mode P/A/S/M for video capture.
The Phab 2 Plus boasts of a 6.4-inch display and octa-core SoC
Build and display quality are good but CPU performance is weak
The Lenovo Phab 2 Plus is priced at Rs. 14,999
Lenovo is steadily expanding its Phab series of smartphones. Rather than spamming the market with a hundred variants, the company has only just launched the successor to last year's Phab Plus (Review). We felt that phone had great potential as a media consumption device but its size made it incredibly awkward to carry, even if you have abnormally large hands.
This year, we have the Phab 2 Plus, which was announced as part of a trio including the Phab 2 and Phab 2 Pro. The Plus variant is the only one to make it to India so far, and it serves as a successor to the existing Phab Plus. With more manageable dimensions this time around, the highlight feature here appears to be a dual-camera setup. At Rs. 14,999, the Lenovo Phab 2 Plus locks horns with Huawei Mate 9 review, which is pretty much the only other model in this price segment with similar features.
With the Mi Max being perpetually out of stock everywhere, is Lenovo’s offering a viable alternative? Let’s find out.
Lenovo Phab 2 Plus design and build
The phone gets a metal unibody and curved Gorilla Glass on the front. It feels tough enough to withstand a drop or two. The Phab 2 Plus is a massive phone and despite Lenovo trying its best to minimise the footprint with thin bezels and no excess space above and below the display, it still requires two hands to operate. There is a one-handed mode but that only lets you shift the lockscreen's numeric PIN keypad and the dial pad to one corner for better reach, rather than shrinking the entire screen.
The display measures 6.4 inches diagonally and is an IPS panel with a full-HD resolution, which results in a crisp 344ppi pixel count. Text is sharp and icons lack jaggedness around the edges. Colour reproduction is pretty good too and the Lenovo Phab 2 Plus fares well under direct sunlight. However, the ambient light sensor can be a little slow to react at times. Touch response is also spot-on.
The Phab 2 Plus gets backlit capacitive navigation keys at the bottom and a notification LED on the top. There’s a SIM tray on the left that can house either two SIM cards or one SIM and a microSD card (up to 128GB). The volume and power buttons have good tactile feedback and are placed fairly ergonomically on the right. There’s a mono speaker at the bottom along with a Micro-USB port, and a headphones socket up on the top.
The back is slightly curved so the Lenovo Phab 2 Plus sits comfortably in your palm. You’ll find the dual cameras and the fingerprint sensor on the back. The latter works well and authentication is fast and painless. We rarely had any misreads. However, you can only use it to unlock the phone, not secure apps or folders. The Phab 2 Plus ships with a 10W charger, data cable, SIM ejector, instructions, and JBL earphones. The quality of the accessories is good although we didn’t like how short the supplied cable is.
The Lenovo Phab 2 Plus scores well in terms of build quality. The design feels a bit generic but the most annoying thing here has got to be its size and weight. 218 grams is a lot for something you’ll be carrying around in your pocket every single day, and it's very noticeable when you’re holding the phone up to talk or do anything for an extended period. The sheer size of the phone makes it cumbersome to carry around. It sticks out everywhere, which might not be an issue if you carry your phone in a handbag or backpack, but it's almost impossible to sit comfortably with the Phab 2 Plus in a trouser pocket.
Lenovo Phab 2 Plus specifications and features
On paper, the Phab 2 Plus meets the core specifications we’ve come to expect from smartphones in this segment. You get an octa-core MediaTek SoC (MT8783), 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage.
It’s interesting to note that this SoC isn't a very popular one. It consists of eight ARM Cortex-A53 cores and is built on a 28nm fabrication process, so it isn't too different from other MediaTek chips.
The rest of the specifications include Bluetooth 4.0, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n/ac, FM radio, GPS, and USB OTG. The phone also supports 4G on all Indian bands and also VoLTE. This recipe works very well with the near-stock implementation of Android Marshmallow, which is a refreshing change from the custom interfaces we've seen in the past. Apart from a custom icon set, it’s pretty much untouched.
The Settings app has a Smart Assist feature that lets you control things like one-handed mode and auto-answering a call when you bring it to your ear. Smart Shortcut gives you a floating menu to which you can add app shortcuts. Lenovo pre-installs apps including McAfee Security, Netflix, and Swiftkey. There’s also SHAREit, SYNCit, which unites multiple cloud services in one place, much like the equivalent programs on Lenovo's laptops.
Lenovo Phab 2 Plus performance
General performance is relatively smooth thanks to the near-stock Android, but performance begins to throttle once you try juggling between apps, using the AR features of the camera, or basically anything CPU intensive. We noticed intermittent stutter when multitasking and when using the camera. We also noticed that the Lenovo Phab 2 Plus heats up quickly if you’re watching a video, using the camera or even having a long call. Heat can be felt along the edges where the buttons and the headphones socket are placed, and the back.
Benchmarks tell the story better. AnTuTu returned 36,629 points; GFXbench gave us just 12fps; and the Jetstrem browser benchmark retuned 17.2 points. Gaming performance seems to be limited as the Mali-T720 GPU appears to be a bit too weak for full-HD gaming. As a whole, this SoC is definitely weaker than the Snapdragon 6xx series chips which we see in many other phones in this price range. The Lenovo Phab 2 Plus deserved better.
One big feature that Lenovo is promoting with this phone is Dolby Atmos audio. An app lets you customise sound profiles based on the type of media you’re listening too. Atmos is all about 360-degree sound, which is obviously not possible with one single speaker. However, it does get fairly loud compared to most other phones with a single speaker, and audio quality is decent for games and other media. The bundled JBL earphones aren’t very good at isolating ambient noise or at audio playback. Videos encoded with Dolby Atmos support have good aural separation. Videos look great on the Phab 2 Plus, which can handle up to 1080p files.
The Lenovo Phab 2 Plus features two 13-megapixel camera sensors, laser auto-focus (AF), and phase-detection auto-focus (PDAF). The secondary camera sensor is used for measuring depth but it didn't seem to do anything to improve the quality of pictures. We tried taking photos with that lens both blocked and clear, and didn’t really see any significant difference. We recommend that you use HDR for landscapes in daylight, as without it, pictures look pretty dull. The Phab 2 Plus struggles to capture good details in distant objects, but macro shots fare much better, with good levels of detail, background blur, and colour saturation.
Focusing is quick, and continuous autofocus works well even with video, although we would have liked a tap-to-focus feature too. Once the phone starts to heat up though, focusing speeds dip, and the app begins to lag. Dual-camera mode offers the ability to manipulate focus after a shot has been taken, and even swap and merge objects from one image into another.
Focus manipulation doesn’t work nearly as well as it does on competing phones, or even the Refocus app on old Lumia phones. There’s also an AR mode, which you can use to add cats, dogs, and other virtual elements into a scene. It’s not new as Sony has been doing this on its Xperia phones for years now. Plus, Lenovo’s implementation is a bit clunky - switching to this mode opens another app. Again, the phone heats up while doing this.
Video recording maxes out at 1080p, but the Phab 2 Plus also has the option to record in HDR. We tested this out on an HDR TV and the differences, though slight, were noticeable. Video is recorded with Dolby 5.1 audio by default. Thanks to the three microphones, the captured sound is crisp and even small nuances are amplified and can heard clearly. The front 8-megapixel camera manages decent pictures in day/ under natural light, but doesn’t do so well under artificial lighting, though the front flash helps to an extent.
The first run of our HD video loop battery test lasted just 6 hours, 19 minutes. Even with regular usage, our review unit refused to run beyond 13 hours. However, we reset the device and ran the tests again, and managed to get better results of 8 hours of video playback and roughly 16-18 hours with actual usage. The 4050mAh battery thus delivered average performance. We observed that the battery holds its capacity very well at night when the phone is not in use, but begins to deplete quickly if we played a game or used the camera. There’s no official fast charging here, but the 10W charger manages to top up the phone within a couple of hours.
Verdict
The Phab 2 Plus should have had all the makings of a good, large-screened phone for media consumption, but in our opinion, a couple of poor choices stop it from being a viable alternative to Xiaomi’s Mi Max.
It does well enough in terms of build, display, software, and audio quality. The dual-camera setup is a bit unnecessary and the supplementary features feels a bit gimmicky, but image quality isn't too bad, especially for macro shots. We also like the fact that manufactures are incorporating HDR video recording. But a phone like this should have had a better SoC, and the one Lenovo has gone with simply lacks the power needed to handle things like augmented reality apps, heavy games, and even multitasking. The Phab 2 Plus heats up too quickly, which is quite annoying. We also expected great battery life but it turned out to be pretty average in our tests.
In our opinion, the only reason one would put up with the bulk and heft of a phone like this would be to consume a lot of content, and as such, the Xiaomi Mi Max would make a better choice thanks to its slimmer profile and much better battery life. If you don't need a huge screen and are just looking for a good all-rounder, you have plenty of options such as the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro(Review) and iPhone 7 Plus, to name a few in this price segment .
It is no secret that the affair of the flammable Note 7 caused enormous damage to Samsung. Besides the enormous financial damage, it also seriously affected the image of the world’s large smartphone manufacturer in general, and especially its Note brand. It is no surprise that many people believed that Samsung would have to abandon the series, or at least its name, by issuing its phablet under a new name.
A new and reliable report, however, states that Samsung may have completely different plans.
Note Users: You Should (Probably) Wait
Samsung Galaxy S8 models are indeed skipping SM-G94* model numbers, will ship as SM-G950 & SM-G955. Know what else is in the works? SM-N950. -- Evan Blass (@evleaks) November 9, 2016
The report is by well-known leaker Evan Blass (@evleaks), who is known for his accurate leaks. Blass’s leaks usually come from many sources in the supply and production chain of various manufacturers. He wrote in his Twitter account that Samsung was currently developing two models of the Galaxy S8 with the model numbers SM-G950 and SM-G955 (this refers to the ordinary S8 and the larger S8 Edge). At the end of the tweet, however, Blass added, “Do you know what else Samsung is working on? SM-N950.” This model number refers to a Note 8, which Blass says is already in development.
The Note 7 [pictured above] model number was SM-N930. Samsung, however, chose to skip the digit 4 in its Note 8 model number, because this digit is associated with bad luck in South Korea and East Asia, like the number 13 in other cultures. That is called reducing risk.
Another tweet by Blass confirmed that both of the two new Galaxy S8 devices would have curved convex screens. This contrasts with the current situation, in which there is both an ordinary version of the device and a larger Edge version with a curved screen. If this is the case, the devices may receive a slightly different name, perhaps even Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 plus, as is the case with Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Pixel.
Both Samsung Galaxy S8 models will reportedly have an edge display https://t.co/o2LZJw6Mzx pic.twitter.com/qsd6YFuYEd -- Evan Blass (@evleaks) November 9, 2016
Global Launch for the S3 Watch
Smartphones, however, are not the only thing being concocted in Samsung’s kitchen. Samsung unveiled the Gear S3, its new smart watch, two months ago. The watch has already been launched in South Korea. Samsung has now announced, however, that the watch will be launched this Friday in a number of markets, including Australia, Dubai, France, Germany, Singapore, the UK, and the US.
The new watch has been upgraded slightly from the successful S2. An array of new features has been added, such as a loudspeaker, LTE connectivity, and payments support. The watch will come in two models with different designs and specs. The Frontier model will have a black matte finish and LTE connectivity. Together with the loudspeaker, you can actually carry your watch around and leave your smartphone at home. The watch can also receive alerts and send messages independently of your cellular device. The other model, the Classic, with a metallic finish, but without LTE, can communicate with the world only through your smartphone. Both models will be based on Tizen OS, Samsung’s operating system, instead of on Google’s Android Wear.
For people who feel that we are a little bit too connected these days, Kickstarter project Light Phone was promising a respite. It was scheduled to ship in May this year, but has seen a number of setbacks. This week, the company issued a statement. It says that while it missed its goal, it hopes to start shipping late this month.
Light Phone’s goal was to be the opposite of a smartphone. Including a 2G SIM card and the ability to take and make calls only, the phone aimed to have three weeks worth of battery life on a single charge.
Tiny, pretty, and with a three-week battery life. What’s not to love?
The company suggests “A few limitations in our initial user experience goals due to some iOS restrictions” is the reason the device is shipping late, but the company has received some criticism for how it has handled its Kickstarter campaign, too. It hasn’t posted any public updates since August last year, instead opting to post updates exclusively to its campaign backers. Not a big problem for backers, of course, but a bit iffy to those of us who were following the company’s progress from the sidelines.
The company came under fire for only offering a dated cell technology for the telephony side of the phone, suggesting that relying on 2G may have been a poor solution. In some countries, the 2G network is scheduled to be switched off soon. “Australian 2G is being switched off on 1st December 2016,” one backer writes, referring to the first round of switch-flicking during a 9-month shutdown process of 2G networks down under. The Light Phone company, in turn, offered to refund backers in countries where the phones would no longer be usable.
When the Light Phone was first announced about 18 months ago, it seemed like a novel and interesting idea. At $100 per device, it’s undoubtedly cool, but the device is also entering a spectacularly competitive space. You can pick up a no-name quad-band phone for a seventh of the price, and most carriers will let you turn off SMS functionality altogether, if you feel passionate about only receiving phone calls. That raises the question; who is the Light Phone actually for?
I look forward to trying the Light Phone out and learning what it feels like to live a life without fending off the barrage of social media notifications. Realistically, however, if this was a problem someone was passionate about solving, they’d have found a way of turning off the notifications or get a no-features burner phone already.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the design and the general concept, but it can’t be denied that creating a phone is a complicated process. On top of that, the types of radios used in mobile phones is heavily regulated throughout the world. The icing on the “hmm, is this gonna work” cookie: in telecoms R&D and manufacturing, a $400k budget (the amount the company raised from Kickstarter) to bring a product to market is an incredibly daunting prospect.
Either way, Light Phone is an incredibly inspiring company; it takes some serious focus and dedication to bring a complex product in this space from cocktail napkin to brick-and-mortar shops. The company is bringing a fresh pair of eyes to the humble mobile phone, and I’ll be cheering them on from the sidelines.
Xiaomi
is not only about high specifications yet affordable smartphones, more
importantly is the MIUI system that comes together with the phones. Up
to date, MIUI has been developed until MIUI 7 and yet, improvements are
being introduced weekly with the China Dev ROM. The simple and yet
functional MIUI system has attracted lots of users to try out Xiaomi
smartphones.As a loyal MIUIers,I would like to share a few simple tricks
in MIUI that MIUIers can’t missed. Let’s learn together the awesomeness
of MIUI.
1. How to turn on the “developer options” in MIUI
You
can turn on the developer options through Settings>About
phone>tap 3-6 times on the MIUI version tab. Tada…You have turned on
the developer options for MIUI.
2. Why there is a bit yellowish tint on my Xiaomi smartphone display?
To
reduce the yellowish tint on the display, please go to
Settings>Display>Colors & saturation>Choose Standard/cool.
This should reduce the yellowness of the display.But if the screen is
still yellow tinted after changing the settings, then this might be due
to production failure. Please do not hesitate to contact the Xiaomi
customer service in your country or take the phone to the nearest
service center to solve the problem.
3. Why sometimes during phone calls there is echo?
This can be solved by: Settings>Sounds>Suppress noise during calls> Single-mic noise suppression.
4. Xiaomi phones could not sent or deliver MMS
This
can be solved by logging into the Mi account. Settings>Mi
Account>Mi cloud. Some of the users who changed the password in PC
are required to delete the account and re-login again.
5. There are some noise on my Mi phone screen.
Dial
*#*#6484#*#* (Which is also the T9 input for MIUI, isn’t this
convenience), choose tab number 11 Touch sensor>Recalibrate the touch
screen
6. How to solve the black screen during phone calls?
Dial
*#*#6484#*#*, number 8 Proximity sensor>recalibrate the sensor. If
it is still the same, the tempered glass might have blocked the sensor
and thus failed. Change another tempered glass/screen protector that do
not block the proximity sensor. If problem still persisted, please visit
the nearest Xiaomi service center for a full checkup.
7. Why when there are calls coming in, the ringtone will only ring after 1-2 second?
When
there is a stranger phone calls come in, the phone will determine
whether this is a harassment phone calls, the system will take about 1
second to decide, that’s why phone will only ring after 1-3 seconds
(this is predetermined by the developers). If the phone calls are from
the number inside contact list, the phone will ring immediately.
8. The sound quality of Mi phone it not that great.
Try
to turn on the Settings>Sound & Vibration>Audio
settings>Mi sound Enhancer. Try to match the earphones that you are
using currently with the available choices in the list.
9. Why my mi phone ringtone is not loud?
Setting>Sound
& vibration>Volumes>Ringtone and notification (Set it to the
loudest). Or you can try plug in earphones, setting>Sound and
vibration>Switch on. With this option on, although there is no
earphones if the phone rings, the speaker volume will be louder 20% as
compared to this function turned off. The last option is there are some
phones the speaker is located beneath the phone, try to turn the speaker
on the upper side.
10. Why I always feel my phone is lagging?
This
is because the animation for the phone is turned on. If you don’t like
the animation, can go to Settings>Additional settings>Developer
options>Window animation scale>Animation off. If you still feel
there are some lags, can try to reflash the phone.
11. How to turn off the in-game vibration?
Settings>Sounds
and vibration>Vibrate on touch>off. Normally, the vibration
during gaming can be turn off in the game menu setting.
12. How to change ringtone easily?
You
can place your ringtone (.mp3) in the File Explorer>Internal
Storage>MIUI>Ringtone. Or, Settings>Sound and vibration>Call
ringtone and vibrate: here, you can choose to have long or short
ringtone for the choices available. The last resort is:
Contacts>Default ringtone>Select the tone you like.
13. When I am playing games, I always accidentally touch the bottom three buttons.
Pull
down the navigation bar>Turn on “Buttons” option. To turn on the 3
buttons function, simply touch home button and power button
simultaneously.
14. Can I switch off the notification for Mi App Store (China ROM)?
No. But you can try to root your phone and uninstall the default MI app store.
15. How to enable the camera in MIUI to detect the gender and age?
Camera>Swipe
to right>At the bottom, setting>turn on the Face detection, then
in the Age and gender, turn on show age and gender when beautify is on.
Then go back to camera, choose selfie mode, at the bottom, the star
icon, choose to turn on the beautify mode (low, mid or high). Then you
can see the age and gender in the selfie cam.
16. Can Xiaomi phone scan and detect barcode and QR code?
Yes. Camera>Setting>switch on the scan QR codes mode. The other place where you can scan QR code is Tools>Scanner.
17. How to easily transfer files between phones and PC?
First,
make sure your phone and PC is connected to the same WiFi. Then,
Explorer>at the bottom screen, FTP>Start server>There will be a
link on the screen, started with ftp://xx.x.x.x:xxxx.
Go to your pc>My Computer>Paste the ftp link in the Computer
address bar. Now, you can easily transfer files between PC and Mi phones
without cables.
18. My PC can’t recognize when I plug in my phone through USB connection
If
the data cable and USB port is working well, then
Settings>Additional settings>Developer options>switch on the
USB debugging.IF your pc still can’t detect your phone then uninstall
all phone drivers such as samsung,motorola,htc,micromax etc., and then
plugin your USB cable.It should work fine!
19. My Mi phone is drop dead, can’t start up with any button pressed
Long
press the power button at least 10 seconds, this will turn on the
phone. If the phone is lag in a screen, this will help to restart the
phone. Currently, Xiaomi flagship phones do not support removable
battery anymore, thus remove battery and restart is not possible. But,
you still can remove battery in selected Redmi series.
The
other way is press the volume up button and power button
simultaneously, your will be directed to Mi logo and recovery page,
choose you language of choice and choose to Reboot.
If
the phone is in off mode, they to press the volume down and power
button simultaneously, to enter the Fastboot mode (Mi bunny fixing
Android robot pic), then try to long press (really really long) the
power button.
If all the method above proven to be failed, it is the time you pay a visit to the nearest service center
20. The screen is dark, but bottom 3 navigation button lights are turned on.
Long press the power button (at least 10 seconds) and try to reboot the phone.
My
friend faced this problem before, is scarce, because he turns off the
auto-brightness and set the phone brightness to the lowest. This can be
solved by blind testing. Unlock the phone, pull down the navigation bar
and try to manually adjust the brightness.
21. The screen turned off during gaming and the phone can’t be turned on
Sometimes,
when you’re enjoying the game with your phone so much, you forgot about
the phone battery where you played until it is out of juice! Try to
charge the phone and power on, if the phone can be on, then today is
your lucky day. If can’t on, charge it for minimum 30 mins, then turn it
on. IF after 30 mins of charging still can’t turn on, please visit the
nearest customer service, if the phone is still under warranty, you can
actually change the motherboard for free..Yay!!
22. If my Mi phone is spoiled, under what circumstances I can repair it for free?
If
the phone is not spoiled due to fall down (the physical condition of
the phone is bad) or drop into water, you can repair it for free in
1-year period from the date of purchasing.
23. The phone has not been use for quite sometimes, how to adjust the time and date back to current accuracy?
Normally,
the time and date is automatically updated when the phone is connected
to the internet. There is no need of manual adjust them. But, make sure
you choose the correct time zone for your phone.
My colleague Vanessa Hand Orellana and I spent hours chasing pigeons, children, dogs and sunsets to put the two cameras to the test. The Pixel XL had its moments, but on the whole, we agreed the iPhone 7 Plus captured better video.
Its biggest advantages were color, image stabilization, sharpness, contrast, low-light shooting and zoom, unsurprisingly given its second camera.
The Pixel XL, which offers the identical cameras and image processing as the Pixel, did lead the iPhone 7 Plus in some areas, though. Its autofocus was faster, and it sometimes kept a nice exposure when the iPhone went overboard with brightness. Google's phone handily beat the iPhone 7 Plus when it came to slow-motion video with sharper imagery, too.
When Apple debuted the first iPhone in 2007, it couldn't shoot video at all. That's unthinkable today even for a low-end phone. Good mobile video is crucial in the era of YouTube, Facebook and Snapchat. Even if you're not into sharing, video is key to chronicling our lives. So it behooves you to pay attention to video quality.
Don't consider this a final judgment. Much of Google's approach to photography and videography involves extensive image processing, including its excellent HDR+ technology used for photos. There's no HDR+ for video, but Google still could offer camera app software updates to address some Pixel shortcomings.
Here's a look at some of the details of our tests.
Image stabilization
The two phones take a very different approach to image stabilization, a critical aspect of video quality. The iPhone 7 Plus uses an optical approach that physically moves lens elements to counteract the camera motion caused by shaky hands or movement when you're walking. The Pixel XL uses digital stabilization, which uses motion sensors and image data to try to mathematically compensate for camera movement.
Each has its advantages when it comes to camera size, component costs and other factors, but we found the iPhone's approach generally resulted in a smoother, more human feel. The Pixel XL would try hard to stabilize a shot, but when it figured out you really had pointed the camera in a new direction, there would be an abrupt stop-and-start shift to the new perspective. This made video jerky. The iPhone wasn't as good at compensating for the bobbing perspective you'll often see in videos shot while walking, but it still looked more natural.
And likely because the Pixel XL relies on its processor for stabilization, it struggled when shooting video at 60 frames per second -- double the rate of ordinary 1080p video and thus double the number of pixels to process -- or when shooting higher-resolution 4K video at 30 frames per second.
iPhone 7 Plus videos at times were overexposed, a problem I've found in iPhone photos, too, where foreheads and cheeks in the sun are glaring white, orange or yellow. In dim conditions, details in shadowy areas often disappeared into the murk. The Pixel XL handled exposure better overall, though I preferred the iPhone 7 Plus with sunrises and sunsets that are a challenge for any camera today.
The Pixel XL gets a big demerit in one area of exposure, though. When I shot while walking, sometimes the exposure would pulse darker with each footfall. This happened in several videos.
Color
The iPhone generally selected more pleasing, warm tones. In good lighting conditions both cameras were reasonable, but I found the iPhone 7 Plus colors to be vibrant while still natural -- perhaps a result of the wider P3 color gamut it uses compared to the Pixel XL's more limited sRGB range of colors.
Sometimes skin tones with the Pixel XL video had a yellowish cast. I think of this as the "putty effect." Under warm-hued indoor light, the Pixel XL showed people as too orange. It could switch color settings rapidly, too, in one case switching back and forth distractingly between an orange and blue tint.
Sharpness
Here the iPhone won, perhaps a result of its six-element lens design or better image processing technology that creates the video from the raw image-sensor data. The Pixel XL was usually adequate, but with videos of subjects like city skylines and nature landscapes, the edges on the iPhone were crisp without appearing over sharpened.
The Pixel XL was sharper taking slow-motion video, though. We shot at 240 frames per second, a speedup factor of 8 compared to regular video. Both the Pixel XL and iPhone 7 Plus can only shoot at 720p resolution, which is fine but not as sharp as full high-definition video at 1080p.
Of course, if you want to zoom, the iPhone 7 Plus has dual cameras -- 28mm and 56mm equivalent focal lengths -- and the 2X setup is much better for portraits, kids who aren't in front of you, concerts and many other situations with distant subjects. But there's a big caveat: there's no optical image stabilization for the 56mm camera. Because of that, and a lens that doesn't let in as much light, the iPhone 7 Plus uses the wider-angle camera in dim conditions, making it just like a plain old single-camera iPhone 7.
Lens flare
Both cameras suffered from lens flare, the streaked and washed-out areas that result from shooting toward the sun or other bright light sources. The Pixel XL sometimes would produce a ring around the sun even when the sun was outside the frame -- the Pixel XL "halo effect" that Google hopes to easewith better processing at least in photos. The iPhone 7 Plus would wash out details nearer the sun and add a green ghost image of the sun diametrically across the frame from the sun. I was disappointed in both cameras, frankly, but the edge goes to the Pixel XL for better contrast and less haze when shooting directly toward the sun.
Autofocus
I enjoyed the Pixel XL's snappy autofocus, especially its ability to lock in more quickly on close-up subjects. It also did better locking focus during slo-mo shooting, where you're more likely to notice a longer wait.
Low-light conditions
I had high hopes for the Pixel XL, whose pixels are 60 percent larger than the iPhone 7 Plus' and therefore in principle are better able to shoot in dim conditions where photons are scarce. Instead, the iPhone gave the Pixel XL a drubbing. iPhone video suffered from the transient jittering of noise speckles, but the edges were sharp, and the noise was far less distracting than the Pixel's crude, smeary noise reduction. Both cameras struggled at times to catch focus, a common affliction in the dark. When shooting indoors, the iPhone again showed superior performance, though in smaller rooms, the Pixel XL's wider-angle field of view is a big advantage.
Front camera
The Pixel XL did a nice job exposing faces and keeping focus, but it sometimes struggled with backlit faces, choosing to silhouette me. Sometimes it underexposed even without silhouettes. I liked its sharpness better, but overall the iPhone did a better job with skin tones and showed a more lifelike degree of contrast.
4K video
For this higher-resolution format, the Pixel XL was nicely exposed, but the iPhone 7 Plus outdid it when it comes to sharpness. And why bother shooting 4K video if you're not paying attention to sharpness? Again, the iPhone's optical image stabilization was more natural. On the Pixel XL, I spotted some compression artifacts in even-toned areas, a blue sky and a red ceiling.
Overall, it's an iPhone victory for video. Perhaps we'll see a software update from Google that will help it catch up.
The Apple Watch does a lot of things, but it didn't have a camera. Now it does, thanks to a new band. Are you ready to start taking wrist-snaps?
Glide, makers of a video chat app for iPhone, just launched CMRA, a new Apple Watch band that has dual cameras built in. Much like Samsung's long-departed Gear watches with cameras onboard, the CMRA will let you take photos and even videos on the fly. The band has an 8MP outer camera and a 2MP selfie cam, along with 8GB of in-band storage for photos and video clips.
CMRA band in all its colors (the sides get thick).
Glide
The band also has its own shutter button for photos.
CMRA promises real-time video chat via the Apple Watch Glide app, plus instant on-watch sharing of photos and videos to Twitter, Facebook, Facebook Live and YouTube. The band syncs content to the iPhone when the Apple Watch is paired.
The CMRA band comes in four colors, and has a rubberized design that looks like a thicker version of Apple's elastomer sport band. It doesn't ship until spring 2017, but the early-order price is $149 instead of $249 later on. The band also comes with a charging dock but you'll need to supply your own Apple Watch charge cable.
I haven't tried one out yet, but it certainly sounds promising. CMRA requires WatchOS 3 and iOS 10 to work.
