Category: Android

Today’s Deal is a great one for those looking to pick up a solid performing Android Phone.  Right now over at Amazon you can pick up the Sony Xperia XA Ultra with a 64GB MicroSD card for $298.  That is a savings of about $100 on the phone alone so this is a really good deal.  The Xperia XA Ultra is a flagship device with flagship specs.  It is powered by the octa-core Mediateck MT6755 processor with 4 cores running at 2.0Ghz and 4 running at 1.0Ghz.  That is coupled with 4GB of RAM and 16GB of built in storage.  It has a 6″ IPS display that renders 1080 x 1920 pixels for ~367 ppi.  The cameras built into the XA ultra are pretty awesome too.  The main camera is a 21MP with hybrid autofocus while the 16MP front face camera has a flash and a gesture shutter so you can take that selfie with just a wave of your hand.

The new Huawei Honor 8 is now available online through the company’s store.  The 5.2″ display device has some serious horsepower and will sell for $399.  However, now through the month of September, you can use the coupon code H8PREREG to save $50.  That brings it down to $349.  So what are you getting for that price?  A pretty impressive phone.  The Honor 8 is powered by the Kirin 950 processor which has four Cortex A72 cores running at 2.3GHz and four Cortex A53 cores running at 1.85GHz.  It has 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage built-in but can be expanded an additional 128GB thanks to the MicroSD slot.  The 5.2″ LTPS display renders at 1920 x 1080 which gives you ~423PPI.

Google Wallet isn’t dead and, in fact, has just received a pretty nice update.  The update that is rolling out in the Play Store now allows you to have funds you receive in your wallet to be automatically transferred to your bank account.  This new feature is far faster than the cash out process that use to be your only option in the app.  Now, once you have an account associated with Google Wallet, any time you receive funds, you can have them go to your bank account and be there usually within 2-3 days (your mileage will vary based on your bank).

Today’s Deal over at Amazon is on the powerful but friendly priced BLU VIVO 5.  Right now the 5.5″ device with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage is down to $199.99 in either Gold or Silver.  BLU has made a name for themselves by having low cost devices that pack a fair amount of punch for the price.  The VIVO 5 is no different.  It is a full metal body design with a 5.5″ AMOLED display that gives you full HD quality, it has 3GB of RAM and has 32GB of storage built into it. You can expanded that up to an additional 64GB of storage (96GB total) thanks to the MicroSD slot in the chassis.  The phone is powered by the MediaTek 6753 processor which is a 1.3GHz octa-core processor so you should find it nicely responsive, especially coupled with the 3GB or RAM.

Earlier this week I told you about a deal over at eBay on the Nexus 5X, 16GB storage model for $199.  That’s a great deal but if you want one with 32GB, you can also get a great deal on that model as well on eBay.  Currently the 32GB model of the Nexus 5X is down to $239.99, a savings of about 40% over what you can pick it up from Google directly. The nice thing is, the 32GB model is available in Carbon and Quartz where as the 16GB model is only available in Quartz.

Obviously with the new Marlin and Sailfish Nexus devices on their way, we can expect to see the prices starting to drop on the 5X and 6P but these are still solid devices.  Plus, as you probably already know, the 5X is upgradable to Android Nougat.

The PayPal app for Android has been updated with full support of the Android Fingerprint API.  That addition to the app means that you can use your fingerprint to sign into the app instead of having to use a PIN.  The app, this point, has supported the Samsung Fingerprint API which was to the benefit of Samsung device owners.  Now that they have moved over to the Android API, anyone with a fingerprint reader on their device will be able to sign into the app with it.

The setup of your fingerprint in the app is pretty easy and I’ll cover that after the break.