There is plenty in the electronics world to get a gadget fan’s geek-o-meter hitting the red, but usually a headset isn’t one of them. Looking at the Parrot Zik, though, that all changes. In the high-end headphone market it is difficult to make yourself heard (apologies). The Zik takes on a lot of competition, among them the B&W P3 and the Philips Fidelio L1.

Where the Parrot Zik tries to differentiate itself is through sheer technical brilliance. It has wireless Bluetooth connectivity, touch operation, noise-cancelling technology and sensors that pause music when you take the headphones off. Sounds pretty good, but is it? Check out our video review below.

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Slowly but surely, Sony has been turning its fortunes around in the smartphone market. It went through some dark days while in a partnership with Ericsson, but has now stepped out of that dark shadow of its history and seems ready to take on the world.

The last couple of flagship smartphones that Sony have brought to market have been their first real step in the right direction and they are trying to make the most of the little momentum they do have with their newest flagship, the Sony Xperia Z. A lot is riding on this device for the Japanese company and they need it to be a big seller. We have learned that they sold 4.6 million devices in the first 40 days after release, but now that the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 have hit the market, can it still compete? (more…)

It is no secret that HTC has been in some trouble in recent years, and their recent phones have been dwarfed in sales compared to companies like Samsung. The fact of the matter is that HTC does not have the marketing muscle of companies like Samsung and Apple, but their previous HTC One X was still amazing (and our favourite Android phone of 2012).

And here we have HTC’s latest flagship, this time around simply called the “One”. So does it have what it takes to become the best Android phone on the market?

Body

The HTC One is the best feeling phone I have held in years. It is as simple as that. While it is indeed big, it is still quite comfortable to use. It is basically reaching the limits of what you might say is a comfortable phone to use, and I suspect most people will use it with two hands. Despite its rounded back, it never feels slippery in your hand due to a few well placed ridges (the previous One X felt particularly slippery).

I have always been bothered by phones that just simply don’t feel like high end devices. The HTC One is a perfect example of what a flagship phone should feel like. The front and back is made of aluminium, and it really feels like a real upmarket phone. It has chamferred edges which contrast well with the matte steel finish. (There is also apparently a black version arriving soon.)

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Even though the Nexus 7 has almost been around for a year, a revamped version was released more recently and we put it through its paces. At such a low price point, the Nexus 7 is a premium device for very little money. We think it’s the best 7-inch Android tablet by a country mile, but how does it compare to something like the iPad Mini? Check out our video review below. (more…)

BlackBerry has left their fans without a premium phone since the Bold 9900, and instead focussed their efforts on the new BlackBerry 10 operating system. The day has finally come that we can spend some hands on time with their new Z10 handset, which is major shift for BlackBerry. Gone are services like BIS and BES, but BlackBerry has finally caught up with its competitors with decent software and a great new gesture based user interface.

So is a BlackBerry without BIS and the lack of a physical keyboard still retain what makes BlackBerry a great device? (more…)

Google welcomed its first tablet to the Nexus line in mid-2012. Unfortunately, it has been very hard for us to get our hands on one, as the demand has been so high that there were only a few review models handed out in SA. This is now something interesting to look at again, as the prices have been lowered in order to accommodate the new 32GB version, meaning that the smaller storage variants are now even more attractive in terms of price than they were before. This was a huge selling point of the tablet since its launch, and Google keeps pushing the envelope to get consumers the best possible experience at unbeatable prices.

This is the first time Asus worked with Google to manufacture a Nexus device, and our first impressions are that Asus did a brilliant job.

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The Sony Xperia T was released towards the end of 2012, but only came to South Africa a couple of months later. Nonetheless, we still think it is an impressive phone. Even though the Xperia Z has been launched, and is coming to South Africa soon, the Xperia T still has a place within the market, especially as its price will now drop dramatically.

You can watch the video review after the break.

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Finally, the much anticipated BlackBerry Z10 entered into the smartphone boxing ring. Being a current BlackBerry user myself and looking to update my phone, I was keen to get my hands on the Z10 to see if BlackBerry would be able to convince me to stay on their team. I was quite fortunate to get my hands on the rare white version and immediately peeled off those “fresh device” plastic covers protecting the screen and battery cover.

Set-up

Setting up the phone was a breeze and BlackBerry takes you through the ins-and-outs with an interactive video, teaching you how to use the new device.  The Z10 has no buttons on the front of the phone, and it takes some getting used to to unlock the phone merely from the touch-screen. This was quite a change for me with most BlackBerry devices having a keyboard with which to navigate around the phone. BlackBerry’s previous success was strongly based on making e-mails easily accessible and I found that they’ve put a lot of effort into letting you set up your e-mail accounts without any hassle. Even with my e-mail accounts at lesser known service providers, it was just as easy as setting up my Gmail account.

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