review google pixel durability

Ah, the iPhone 6 Plus. Not only was it Apple's first phablet, but after many owners realized that their shiny, huge new iPhones were bending in their pockets, it also became the phone that truly introduced bend tests to the world.

YouTuber Zack from JerryRigEverything performs durability tests on almost every flagship smartphone that gets globally released, and when the world saw him do one(and then another) on a Nexus 6P, it was shocked at the Huawei-built device's seemingly twig-like snapping. Now, Zack has posted a video of himself testing the Google Pixel's durability, and its performance in this arena is definitely more impressive than last year's Google flagship's.

After opening with a clever line and unboxing a Really Blue Pixel, Zack gets right into the durability tests. Highlights include an earpiece made of cloth (most are plastic or metal), a fingerprint sensor that scratches easily but still works after even deep damage, and an aluminum back that is more resistant to scratches than the iPhone's.

When he gets to the bend test, the phone doesn't flex at all when its screen is pushed, and barely budges when the back gets pressure applied. Keep in mind that this Pixel was subject to the same scratched glass and burn test that the Nexus 6P was, yet it still barely moves when Zack (a pretty strong dude) tries to bend it. This is some grade-A build quality.

Check out the video if you're brave enough to see a rare Really Blue Pixel tortured. For reference, here's Zack's first Nexus 6P durability video and here's the follow-up he made when people said that it was only weak because of the scratch and burn test he'd done to the 6P prior to the bend test.

Samsung Galaxy A5 review

Samsung has mastered the high-end with the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, but it has always struggled a with affordable devices. This is because Samsung kept skimping on important features to saveMONEY

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That changed with 2015’s Galaxy A5, and even more so with the updated 2016 version. The Galaxy A5 (2016) ticks all the right boxes; good screen, fast camera and sleek design. But it’s still not perfect, and some of Samsung’s older issues come back to haunt it.

Video: Find out how the Galaxy A5 compares to the Galaxy A3

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SAMSUNG GALAXY A5 (2016) – DESIGN

Remember Samsung’s Galaxy Alpha from 2014? A lot of people don’t, but this minor release was vitally important. It was a turning point where Samsung shifted its design focus and began creating handsets capable of standing beside the iPhone visually. The A5 (2016), like last year’s version, is the spiritual successor to the Alpha.

It’s all metal and glass, with rounded corners and a flat back. It lacks the curved sides that make the Galaxy S7 such a pleasure to hold, but it’s still comfortable in hand.

Metal phones in this price-range are far from rare, Honor and OnePlus have been doing it for a while, but none feel quite as good as this. The volume buttons and lock switch have a satisfying click, while the microUSB port and speaker grilles on the bottom are finely cut and precise. The headphone jack sits on the bottom too, a design choice I’m always on board with.

The Galaxy A5 is slightly taller than both the Galaxy S7 and S6, but ever so slightly lighter. 

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As is typical with just about every Samsung phone, there’s a home button sitting below the screen. Tucked inside is a fingerprint scanner that’s about as fast as the one on the S7, but it seems much less accurate. It can’t compete with the Honor phones for unlocking speed, but it’s absolutely fine.

There’s a strong hint of the Galaxy S6 here, and it’s still a fingerprint magnet. Use the phone for 5-minutes and it will be covered in marks and smudges. There are a couple of improvements in design though; the ugly blue colour scheme has gone for a much nicer black and there’s almost no camera hump.

The Galaxy A5 is easily one of the sleekest looking phones at this price-range. It feels much sturdier than the OnePlus X (£199) and it’s much nicer than the plastic Nexus 5X.

Read more at http://www.trustedreviews.com/samsung-galaxy-a5-review#XQOWzRV8ek0rRB7B.99

Hands on: LG X Power review

The chipset in question is called the helio P10 and, in a few words, it brings high performance at a low cost. It comes with a 1.8GHz octo-core processor and the Mali-T860 GPU, which boasts a clock speed of up to 700MHz.

You can read more information about the chipset and the collaboration right here. And for an eye-opening look at Mediatek's climb to the top of the silicon ladder, read our interview here.

Original hands-on follows below.

The LG X Power is out to solve my biggest complaint about smartphones: poor battery life. And it's doing it within the less expensive mid-range category.

It's an issue that hits close to home when I'm far away, like when I traveled to Seoul, South Korea to test out the X Power and LG X Mach at LG's headquarters.

My other phones were constantly running out of juice throughout the day, with constant GPS use and hours spent looking up places to visit during my short visit.

With a 4,100mAh battery capacity, the LG X Power not only breaks through the 3,000mAh ceiling we see from some of the best phones we've tested, it goes beyond the 4,000mAh attic ceiling.

While there's no price available yet, it's supposed to fall into the mid-range category and arrive in Korea later this month. Here's what we thought of this phone so far.

Design and display

The LG X Power is designed with a little bit of extra heft to accommodate that big battery, but it's a fair trade off since you're still able to hold it in one hand.

Its dimensions are 148.9 x 74.9 x 7.9mm and weighs a reasonable 139g. I was expecting something worse when it was first described to me. It's actually not as thick as the speedy LG X Mach.

There's a pretty standard 5.3-inch HD display, which means that it runs at 720p and skips out on the Quad HD revolution happening among today's top phones. Not a big surprise from a mid-range device.

Pixels on the screen don't stand out - it looks good enough at its size. But the bezel on the white version I tested is noticeable. Luckily it comes in all-black for a better blend. There's also Indigo, Gold and Titan.

Specs and camera

There wasn't enough time to run a Geekbench 3 benchmarks on the LG X Power and that wouldn't be too fair. LG did remind me that both this phone and the LG X Mach were still considered unfinished.

However, I walked away knowing that it runs a 1.3GHz quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM. There's also 16GB of internal storage, but it's not the super-fast SSD variety, it's eMMC.

There's a 13MP camera on the back and I found a 5MP selfie snapper on front. Of the two phones, it seems like the X Mach had the more advanced camera, if you're mainly looking to share photos.

Android 6.0 Marshmallow is here and so is the LG UX skin that runs overtop of all the South Korean company's new phones. "Most" of the LG UX 5.0 features are here, according to LG reps showing it off.

The battery, of course, is the hallmark feature at 4,100mAh and, even when it does run out of juice, it's quick to charge thanks to a microUSB port (not USB-C) on the bottom that supports fast charging.

Early verdict

We got an early look at the LG X Power, and it delivers on its promise of packing a huge battery thanks to the 4,100mAh capacity inside. That's a really significant number.

Truth be told, we can't be sure of how meaningful that is until we run it through our lab tests, but it's bigger than most other mid-range phones. A lot bigger.

The design is appealing if you can look beyond the bezels (or skip the white version) and all of the specs seem to echo its mid-range category.

We're also waiting on the US and UK price and availability, if it makes its indeed makes its way out of Asia. Then we'll see if this affordable Android handset has the right extra capacity for our best budget phones list.

Sony PS4 review

We've all been there. You rush out to buy a new console just months after it's released, and for the first few years everything's great. 

You're new sexy machine sits happily underneath your TV, dealing with every new game you throw at it with good grace and humor. 

• Buy Sony Playstation 4 Slim at Amazon for $299.00

Soon though it begins to look a little tired as slimmer and sleeker consoles come onto the market. That's when you know it's time for a new slimline console. 

It happened with the PS3, it happened with the PS2, and it even happened to the original PlayStation (remember the PSone?). 

Now it's happened to the PS4 with its new slimmer model.

• Check out our guide to the best PS4 games

We still have the 4K PS4 Pro to look forward to in November, but until then we've got the new slimline PS4 to dig our teeth into, which retails at £259 / $299 / AU$599.99 for the 500GB model, with a 1TB model expected further along down the line.

The PS4 Slim might have entered the fray as Sony's budget PlayStation offering, but that doesn't mean it's scrimping on its specs. In all key areas it matches the original PlayStation 4 console, and at many points outperforms it too.

It's also a far smaller console, shrinking the machine down by almost a third in volume, knocking 16% off the original's weight and offering notable improvements in both power draw and noise output.

The best PS4 games are among the finest available on any platform at the moment, with showstoppers like Uncharted 4 and Bloodborne the envy of PC and Xbox One gamers alike. They'll all be compatible with the new PS4 Slim, as will every game going forward – Sony made it explicitly clear that every game for the PS4 Pro will work here, too.

On top of the games themselves, the PS Plus network offering is as good a deal as it's ever been, allowing you to partake in competitive or cooperative online multiplayer play and offering up a selection of three free games on a monthly basis too.

In terms of competition, the PS4 Slim really only has two rivals – the existing PS4 and the Xbox One S. Nintendo can't really compete with its Wii U (though it'll be interesting to see what the so-called Nintendo NX brings to the table).

And it's against the Xbox One S where the PS4 Slim has its toughest fight. Only a tad more expensive, the Xbox One S looks great, has a fine selection of its own games, and comes packing a killer 4K Blu-ray player built in, making it a far more rounded media player than the PS4 Slim. For the time being, the Xbox One S has the edge with HDR color support too, though a firmware update will bring this to all PS4s shortly, levelling the playing field.

But what's on show here is still very, very cool. Should you buy the PS4 Slim? Read on to find out.

Design

It may be hard to remember now, seeing how much joy gamers have gotten out of the original PS4, but its off-kilter shape was met with some raised eyebrows when it was first revealed three and a half years ago.

2016's slim PS4 more-or-less retains the core visual identity of the first PlayStation 4, but shrinks everything down into a more dinky parallelogram package, with newly-rounded edges.

Whereas the original PlayStation 4 measured 27.5 x 30 x 5.3 cm, the PS4 Slim is just 26.5 x 26.5 x 3.8 cm. That's roughly a third smaller than what the original measured up as, and its weight is comparably lighter, too.

Whereas the first PS4 had a finish that mixed shiny plastics with matte ones, the PS4 Slim goes with a simple matte black finish all over. It also drops the top-mounted colored light bar indicator - showing sleep, wake and off statuses - in favor of small illuminated dots over the power button. These are more difficult to see, so be careful to check them carefully before unplugging the console from the wall, or risk corrupting your data.

The disk drive slot remains front-facing, sitting above small, physical power and eject buttons. More recent revisions of the PS4 also featured physical buttons on the console, but it'll be a marked difference for gamers used to the launch edition PS4, which favored touch-sensitive controls instead.

Two USB ports sit on the front of the console, as was the same on earlier PS4 models. But they're now spaced much further apart, making them slightly easier to plug into, and possibly making space for the PS VR headset's processing unit.

Though a 1TB model is on the way, the PS4 Slim launches with a 500GB hard drive. That's pretty small considering all games require a mandatory install, some tens of gigabytes in size. But move around the back of the 2016 PS4 Slim and you'll find a dedicated panel for opening up the console, allowing a user to manually install a larger hard drive in a much more convenient way than the original PS4 did.

Also on the back you'll find the power plug socket (no need for an external power brick here), a HDMI port, the PlayStation Camera's expansion port (set to get more use once the PS VR virtual reality headset launches) and an Ethernet network jack socket.

The only casualty of the slimmed-down design is the Optical Out port on the rear. While HDMI will suit the needs of many gamers when it comes to carrying audio signals, the Optical Out port will be missed by those hooking up older home cinema receivers, or souped-up gaming headsets.

The slim PS4 has lots of nice design touches dotted around its chassis though. The iconic Square, Triangle, Circle and Cross symbols of the PlayStation brand are stamped into the side of the console (with the Circle acting as a fixture for those wishing to stand the console upright with a base accessory). And those same symbols are found stuck to the bottom of the new PS4, acting as feet to raise the machine off a surface for improved airflow.

All in, it's a well considered design the complements the existing range, markedly justifying its "Slim" street name.

Setup

Setting up the slim PlayStation 4 is very easy, especially if you're upgrading from the original PS4, or even a PS3 since you can use the same cables, removing the need to stretch behind your TV.

Simply plug in the included HDMI and power cables and connect to the internet to download the console's various patches and updates.

Alternatively, you are able to skip Wi-Fi or ethernet altogether and just pop in a game. Unlike the Xbox One, you can get to the homescreen without initially connecting to the web and patching.

Once you do connect to the internet, you'll need to let the PS4 update before you can make purchases from the store or play online.

Media

Since the very first PlayStation, Sony's home consoles have led the charge when it comes to media playback support. The PS One made for a great CD player, the PS2 was many gamers' first DVD player, and the PS3 their first Blu-ray deck and USB playback device.

The PS4, while not introducing a new format of its own, picked up the baton passed by the PS3, offering wide-ranging streaming service support, Blu-ray and DVD playback, USB media functionality and even banging out the tunes with its own Spotify player.

What the PS4 Slim doesn't do, however, is offer an answer to the Xbox One S's 4K Blu-ray player. It instead sticks with the original PS4's standard full HD Blu-ray player. It's still a strong deck, but anyone looking to show off their 4K TVs with the new PS4 will be disappointed. It's a feature that's set to be notably absent from the PS4 Pro, too.

• Need a player for your physical media? Check out our guide to the best 4K Blu-ray players.

You could argue that, with 4K TVs a relative luxury for gamers at the moment, it's not a desperately needed feature, especially if it keeps the overall cost down. But it will age the console, preventing it from being fully future-proofed. What's perhaps more annoying is the complete removal of the optical out audio socket, which could cause headaches for those with older AV equipment.

However, one upgrade that is coming to the entire range of PS4s along with the PS4 Slim is HDR support. It adds greater detail to light sources in an image, and is considered the next big thing in TV tech. The roll out is still in the pipeline, so we've not been able to test it yet. But rest assured that the PS4 Slim will support high dynamic range shortly.

All other streaming services and apps featured on the PS4 return for the PS4 Slim. They include (but are not limited to) Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, as well as BBC iPlayer and TV from Sky in the UK, and HBO Go and Hulu in the US. Sony's own movie rental platform is available too if you're looking for the latest Hollywood releases. YouTube is available, as is Twitch game streaming, and a Spotify Connect-enabled version of the popular music streaming service, letting you control tunes on your telly from the comfort of your smartphone.

Xbox 360 review

The Xbox One might be out there in the next generation, but the Xbox 360 has changed since its launch in 2005.

That much is transparently clear from the updated version that debuted in 2010.

• Buy Microsoft Xbox 360 at Amazon for $94.95

The Xbox 360 S is smaller, sleeker and quieter than the previous model and designed to banish the infamous 'Red Ring of Death' hardware failure that forced Microsoft to extend its warranty on the system.

Likewise the arrival of Kinect, which has gone on to sell over 10 million units, has transformed the machine from solely the preserve of hardcore gamers to a casual gamer friendly environment.

While some of the novelty of Kinect may have worn off, if anything the games are improving – finding new ways to take advantage of what is still fascinating technology.

But Microsoft is and always has been a software company first and foremost and, fittingly, that's where the Xbox 360 has changed the most. The NXE update of 2008 binned the old 'blades' system for an interface that was more welcoming to multimedia content and 2011 has seen another major update to the console's operating system. One so substantial, we've felt it necessary to update this review to reflect what a different machine it is.

Whether it's the old model or the new one, the Xbox 360 has now comprehensively changed from a machine primarily about playing games, with a modest selection of online content attached, to a fully featured entertainment and media hub.

The majority of forms of digital entertainment are catered for, there are extensive social networking features available and a new TV tab aims to replace traditional digital boxes with IPTV and catch up services.

The new dashboard, based around the Metro design language that also features in Windows 8 and Windows Phone 7, is a far busier interface, but it's reflective of the huge amounts of content now available within the walled garden of Xbox Live.

Getting to it all has always been the challenge and Microsoft has made admirable steps towards making that a straightforward process.

Xbox One S review

When Phil Spencer told a small panel at Microsoft's Build Developer Conference he wasn't "a big fan of Xbox One and a half," I had almost given up hope on a smaller console coming our way in 2016 despite the mountain of evidence that pointed to its existence.

The Xbox One S – or Xbox One Slim, as some have taken to calling it – has been a rumor for some time, but it wasn't until E3 2016 that we got all the details on Microsoft's mini machine.

• Buy Microsoft Xbox One S at Simply Games Ltd for £219.99

Now, less than two months after it was announced, I finally have a system of my own.

The past week with the Xbox One S has been spent testing out its 4K capabilities – both native 4K streaming on Netflix and up-resed versions of games like Fallout 4 and Rise of the Tomb Raider – as well as navigating the updated user interface.

Using Xbox One S has made me reevaluate how I see the platform as a whole, the good and the bad. The good news is that, overall, the Xbox is the healthiest it's ever been. It's added plenty of first-party exclusives in 2015, and the interface – thanks to the recent summer update – has made the platform even more accessible for first-time users.

The week has also been spent pouring over every inch of the console itself. From its porous white exterior to its reconfigured front panel, it feels more well-constructed and solidly built than its predecessor ever was. Around the back, an HDMI 2.0a port supports HDCP 2.2 allowing for 4K video streaming and HDR in games and movies.

However, all of these features that we've been craving for have come with a trade-off: the new Xbox One S forgoes a standard Kinect port on the console. In order to use the Kinect, the Xbox One S requires you to pick up a USB adapter – which, to its credit, Microsoft has said it will provide free of charge to any original Xbox One owner who asks for one.

While the lack of Kinect capabilities will affect very few gamers, the removal of a Kinect port is one last kick in the pants for all the gamers forced into buying the more expensive console bundle two short years ago.

The other thing to consider is that now the Xbox userbase is slightly fragmented. The gamers who own an Xbox One S will get to play system-exclusives like Gears of War 4 and Forza Horizon 3 in HDR, while owners of the original hardware will only get to see them in the standard color range. That will mean the difference in conversations about which games are beautiful or, more frightening, how games handled loading times and lag.

Microsoft has said that there's no real difference between the hardware inside the Xbox One you own today but others, including Rod Ferguson, studio head of Gears of War 4's The Coalition, said the Xbox One S can "leverage the additional power to reduce the frequency of the frame rate or resolution penalties."

Whether a discrepancy between systems will be a boon for Microsoft or a curse, however, the Xbox One S is quite easily the best system, hardware-wise, since the Xbox 360 Elite that Microsoft released back in 2007, especially when you consider its price – $399 (£349 / AU$549) for the 2TB version that's available in early August, $349 (£299 / AU$499) for the 1TB version and $299 (£249 / AU$399) for the 500GB model that's coming sometime later this year.

To put that price in perspective, you can get a brand-new Xbox One for $279 (£199 / AU$399). So, is the Xbox One S worth the extra $120 (£150 / AU$150)?

Here's the good – and not so good – of the first official refresh of the Xbox One.