Author: Clinton

I began tech writing back in 1998 and over the course of those 18 years I have reviewed well over 100 different phones, tablets, PCs, Chromebooks and the like.  When it comes to phones, I’m a bit jaded admittedly.  I tend to not get caught up in all the hype of new phones or even phones that are a few months old because, let’s face it, the next new phone is on its way.  That is certainly the case for the Nexus 6P.  The Huawei built Nexus phone has been out since September of last year and you can almost certainly bet that its replacement will be here about that time this year.  But of all the phones I have used over the course of my tech writing, the Nexus 6P may be the most complete package to date.  It is shockingly good on almost every level.  Here are some of my initial thoughts on it as I prep for a larger, detailed review later this month.

Today over at Amazon, you can pick up a great deal on the iClever dual port USB wall charger.  This charger, about the same size as the single charger for Apple’s iPad, sports two USB 2.4A ports and 24W of power to easily charge two devices at once.  It also has built-in LEDs in each port so you can find it in the dark and has iClever’s SmartID technology to charge your devices efficiently and quickly.

Normally this sells for $29.99 but right now it is on sale for $9.99.  However, for ClintonFitch.com readers, if you use the Promotion Code PWFALWTA when you check out, you get an additional $3 off, making it just $6.99.  While you can pick up as many of these dual port chargers as you need, the promotion code will only apply to one of them so keep that in mind as you shop.

As I posted yesterday, OnePlus plans to launch their next flagship device, the OnePlus 3, on June 15th.  Perhaps the better news for OnePlus fans is the fact that, for the first time, you won’t need an invite to purchase the company’s new phone the day it goes on sale.  That’s right, the invites are gone!

For those of you who aren’t familiar with what I’m referring to, let me give you some background.  With the launch of the original OnePlus One, the OnePlus 2 and the OnePlus X, the company required that you have an invite to purchase the phone.  An invite was acquired by requesting one from the company and later by contributing to their forums, you could move up in queue.  The idea for OnePlus was to allow them to see a reasonable representation of demand for the device so they could keep manufacturing overhead (extra inventory down) under control.  It was a great concept for the company, but one that pretty much failed from a customer experience perspective.

Building upon the success and design of the Stylus 2, LG has announced the launch of the updated Stylus 2 Plus today in Taiwan with a broader release coming over the course of the next few weeks.  LG states that this updated stylus driven phablet “… design remains consistent with the original LG Stylus 2, the smartphone features significantly better performance than its original cousin.”  And upgrades it does have indeed.  It keeps the 5.7″ Full HD display with some some improvements, adds a fingerprint sensor and has an Intel based 1.4GHz octa-core processor powering things.  That is coupled with 2GB of RAM on the 16GB storage model while the 32GB storage model will have 3GB of RAM.  There is also a MicroSD slot.

For those of you who own the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 on the Verizon network, it is a good morning for you.  The carrier has begun rolling out the Android Marshmallow update for the tablet today, bringing the latest major version of Android to it.  The updated build, according to Verizon’s support site, is MMB29K.T817VVRU2BPE1 for those keeping score at home and it will come to you as an OTA update.  You can expect about a 1GB download which you will need to do via Wi-Fi and once you have the download, the installation will take about 20-30 minutes and require a reboot.

On Amazon today, they have a stellar deal on the Asus ZenFone 2.  Today you can pick up the 128GB storage version of the phone for just $269.99.  That is $130 off the regular price for the phone and it is good today only at the online retailer.  This phone is packed with 4GB of RAM, an Intel Atom Z3580 Quad-Core processor running at 2.3 GHz, a 5.5″ IPS display that renders 1080 x 1920 and has a 3000 mAh battery to keep you going for the day.  Plus, because Amazon is selling the Deluxe version of the device today, you get two interchangeable backs for the phone:  carbon fiber and metallic silver.