Category: Android

Today’s Deal is on the powerful BLU Life One X2, a solid 5.2″ Android phone with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage built in.  Right now you can pick one up either in Grey or in Rose Gold for $199 on Amazon.  The phone is very well equipped for one in this price range, featuring a 5.2″ curved glass Full HD display and is powered by the octa-core Snapdragon 430 processor running at 1.4GHz.  As mentioned, it has 4GB of RAM which is almost unheard of in the sub-$200 range as is the 64GB of built-in storage.  That storage can be expanded an additional 64GB thanks to the MicroSD slot.

Camera wise, the BLU Life One X2 has a 16MP Phase Detection Auto Focus shooter while the front camera is an 8MP unit that has a front facing flash for improved selfie quality.

As with other deals I post on, the Life One X2 is sold unlocked and works with GSM carriers.  If you are on Sprint or Verizon, sadly it won’t work for you.  Here are the GSM frequencies and LTE bands in this phone:

• 4G HSPA+ (850/1700/1900/2100)
• LTE (2/4/7/12/17)

Finally, the Life One X2 is running Android Marshmallow so you are getting a solid and secure Android build on the phone.  One thing to note is that BLU is no clear on when or if there will be a Nougat update for this phone so if that is a big deal to you, be aware.

To get all the details or to order your BLU Life One X2 in Grey or Rose Gold, head over to Amazon.

Nokia fans, it is official.  The company, at least in name, is back and has a brand new smartphone.  The Nokia 6 was launched with little fanfare late last week as CES 2017 wrapped up, pulling the covers back on the China exclusive phone.  HMD Global, the owners of the Nokia brand, had indicated they would be launched Android powered devices in 2017 and they let little time pass in the new year before making it happen.

The 5.5″ Android Nougat powered phone has some great specs for a phone that will retail for approximately $250 in China.  It fits well with HMD’s desire to offer well featured phones at competitive prices.  This certainly looks like a good start.

When it comes to cases for your Nexus 6P, the options are pretty endless.  But when it comes to an elegant look with excellent protection for your phone, look no further than Noreve.  The French couture designer has been making handmade, premium cases and accessories for devices for years and their line up for the Nexus 6P doesn’t disappoint.  I’ve had the privilege of reviewing several of their cases over the years for a variety of devices and jumped at the change to review the Ambition grain leather folio case for my phone.  As you would expect for a luxury case, this one is fantastically constructed with great attention to detail and a solid fit around my phone.  Here is my review of this great case.

Today’s Deal is on another great charging product from AUKEY.  Today you can pick up the AUKEY Amp USB charger which has two USB-C ports and four USB-A ports for $21.99 on Amazon.  That’s a savings of 37% off the normal $34.99 price.  This is a great charger for those who have a Nexus 5x, Nexus 6P, Pixel C or one of the new Pixel phones as you can charge those devices USB-C to USB-C for faster charging.  All your other devices can use the USB-A ports, two of which are Quick Charge 2.0 compatible.

AUKEY has built in technology on this charger to optimize the charging of your devices without excessive current, overheating and overcharging.  Excessive current and overcharging are the number one challenges when it comes to Lithium-Ion batteries and can damage them or worse, cause them to catch fire.  AUKEY protects against those challenges with their AiPower technology.

The Amp USB charger is designed to sit on your desk so it isn’t necessarily a travel charger.  It comes with a 3′ USB-C to USB-C cable, a two year warranty against defects.  If you have mixed devices when it comes to charging cables, Amp Charger could be the right one for you.

To order yours or to get more information, head over to the AUKEY Amp USB charger page on Amazon.  If you are an Amazon Prime customer, shipping on this accessory is free too.

Today’s Deal over at Amazon is on the solid performing BLU VIVO 5R phone from BLU.  This 5.5″ phone with 3GB of RM and 32GB of storage is down to $197 if you pick it up in white and gold trim.  While BLU has always been known for their budget friendly phones, over the past year the company has made great strides in the quality and performance that you get for that budget price.  The VIVO 5R is a great example of this fact.

The phone comes with a 5.5″ Full HD curved glass display that gives you an eye appealing ~401ppi.  It is powered by the MediaTek 6753 octa-core processor running at 1.3GHz and is coupled with 32GB of internal storage and 3GB of RAM.  That storage can be expanded up to an additional 64GB thanks to the MicroSD slot.  Powering all of this is a 3150mAh battery which should keep you going all day.  The phone ships with Android Marshmallow but it is expected that BLU will update it to Nougat at some point – but when or if is unclear.

As the BLU VIVO 5R is sold unlocked on Amazon, cellular frequencies become part of the equation.  For those of you on GSM networks like AT&T, T-Mobile, Cricket and others, you should be good-to-go.  Here are the supported bands on the phone:

• 4G LTE 2/4/7/12/17
• 4G HSPA+ – 850/1700/1900/2100)

Unfortunately the phone does not support CDMA carriers like Sprint or Verizon.

If you have manually flashed an Android phone before or have unlocked your bootloader, then you are familiar with the ADB and Fastboot commands that you use to make those changes to your Android devices.  The challenge, till now, is that you either had to download the entire Android Developer Studio, all 1.6GB of it, just to get the official ADB or you had to go off piste and get it from a 3rd party.  That, of course, opens you up to all kinds of fun like malware.  Now you have a third option:  Download these platform tools directly from Google.

Google has finally made it where you can download just these tools along with a few others without having to bother with the developer tools.  Frankly, unless you are a developer, those tools eat up a huge amount of storage on your PC or Mac and are somewhat dead to you.