ASUS Padfone Review: First 24hr Impressions

24 hours ago, I received the complete review package from ASUS consisting of the Padfone (A66), the Padfone Station and the Keyboard Dock.

It's finally in my hands after almost a year of wait. So obviously I can't wait any longer to share with you my first impressions within a day.

It Is Responsive. It Is Fast.
Padfone is the third Android smartphone I've tried that runs on Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) OS, after Galaxy Nexus and HTC One X. It feels responsive, the homescreen swipes around fast, switching between apps is fast.

I am surprised that despite running on Snapdragon S4 dual-core 1.5GHz, the Quadrant benchmark score of 5076 surpasses the HTC One X 1.5GHz quad-core processor, and blazes past Galaxy Tab 7.7 running on dual-core 1.4GHz. I know the Quadrant tests may not be a true indicator of performance, but still, it's a good feeling to see such high score coming from a modest Padfone.

I do notice sometimes the Padfone got "stuck", probably due to some background tasks. For instance, it took a long while loading the call history when I assessed. But when I tried again later, it feels normal.

Padfone + Station = Transformer Pad

Once I dock the Padfone to the Tablet Station, it took less than 5 seconds to start up the Tablet. The Tablet homescreen displays an entirely different set of icons and widgets from the Padfone.  I do not feel any unusual lag under Tablet mode. It just behaves like any normal tablet, in fact, you might be mistaken as a normal Asus Transformer Pad.

Once the Padfone is removed from the Station, the Padfone instantly resumes to phone mode. However, if your app is on display, there is a high chance that it will be force-closed because it does not support dynamic display switch. Just go back to homescreen before ejecting the Padfone and it will be fine.

And There's the Keyboard Dock
Dock the Padfone Station to the Keyboard Dock and you get a complete laptop solution just like the Transformer. For insights on the Transformer + Dock setup, refer to my Asus Transformer review.


Camera Is Not Up To Expectations
The camera is probably the most disappointing feature of the product. While the quality of the 8mp f/2.2 camera is slightly above average, the camera suffers slow focus, slight shutter lag, and inconsistent auto white balance. The front camera is out of focus and there is no AF option. The ICS camera effects list are absent.

Another 13 Days More

I will be holding on to the review units for 2 weeks. Join my facebook page at http://facebook.com/musicphotolife , add me at my twitter feed at http://twitter.com/musicdiary . Leave comments below and I'll try to answer if I can.


My complete Asus Padfone review is available here.

HTC One X: Review

After Google Galaxy Nexus, the HTC One smartphones are the first Android phones in the market that are launched with the latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS pre-installed. On top of that, HTC has customised the OS with HTC Sense 4.0, transforming the phone to be less geeky and more user friendly, to such extent that even a seasoned Android user like myself could be unaccustomed when handling the HTC phones.

HTC One X and One V

Let's check out the specs of the HTC One X:

• 4.7-inch 720x1280 (HD) resolution
• 1.5GHz quad-core
• Built-in 32GB user memory (no microSD card slot)
• 1GB RAM
• 1800mAh battery
• Uses MicroSIM
• NFC
• 8 megapixel camera f/2.0 28mm with dedicated imaging chip
• 1080p video recording
• Pre-installed with Android 4.0 ICS
• 130g

The review unit is white in colour, made of polycarbonate body and Gorilla Glass. For its size, the phone feels light on the hands. One thing which baffles me is why all the phone makers - except Samsung - continue to position the power button at the top of the phone. As smartphones get larger, it becomes more difficult to reach for the power button using one hand. I also do not favour the micro USB port located at the left side instead of the top or bottom of the phone.

Sense-sational Experience
The experience of a HTC device is defined by its interface and tools, HTC Sense 4.0. The HTC One X is heavily customised to rid the user of the boring Android stock interface.

Using the "Personalize" menu, you can conveniently change the theme, the skin, or customise the lock screen. You can choose from various preset lock screen settings, like "Photo Album", "Productivity", "Friend Stream". These styles will allow specific content to be displayed on the lock screen without unlocking.

HTC has also maximised the homescreen by removing the Google search bar, moving the 3 on-screen button as touch buttons below the screen. The result is a very well-spaced homescreen, but still retaining the 4x4 layout. I thought HTC could have optimised by adding another row or increasing the icon size, but I guess you could use third party launcher apps to achieve that.

HTC One X appears warmer and more pleasing than Samsung Galaxy S2.

The Super LCD 2 panel is a beauty, the colours appear warm, better contrast and more pleasing than the Samsung Galaxy S2. The large 4.7-inch HD screen means you see more information on-screen with less scrolling, as highlighted in my earlier Google Galaxy Nexus review.

Personally, despite running on quad-core processor, the phone does not feel exceptionally fast. There are noticeable lags when performing some actions, for instance, pressing the "Recent Apps" button. Indeed, Quadrant benchmark runs off the roof at 4785, but I still experienced occasional non-response from apps, which I attributed to the stability of the Android 4.0.

The battery does not last longer than my Samsung Galaxy S2, despite a larger battery capacity. And since the battery is fixed, you cannot swap battery when it's low. Your best bet is to keep it charged or buy a portable USB battery pack.

Sound Worthy
HTC has tied up with Beats Audio to incorporate their audio engine. When you plug the HTC One X to any headphones, the Beats Audio sound enhancer will be enabled. Pity that the earphones included in the retail package is not Beats-branded. I find the Beats Audio enhancement natural-sounding and it boosts the loudness and clarity of the music tracks.

Camera Wonder 
The most unique offering of HTC One has got to be the camera. The camera starts up fast and auto-focuses continuously so that you do not need to pre-focus. HTC builds a dedicated imaging chip so the phone can capture 99 frames at one go. Even when shooting multiple single shots, I don't feel any processor lag. I like how you can do video recording instantly without having to switch to video mode.

My favourite feature has got to be the ability to capture full-resolution still images while video recording is in progress. No need to decide between high-quality still image captures and HD video recording. HTC One X lets you do both at the same time without lag.

HTC One V
If you find the HTC One X pricey (and perhaps too large), HTC One V is a more compact and affordable variant. It also comes with HTC Sense 4.0, Beats Audio, and 5mp camera for 99-consecutive shots. As it uses a lower-powered 1GHz processor, some limitations naturally exist: the phone feels more laggy, lower-resolution screen, less supported video formats, capture only HD-size still images while doing video recording. The body feels more rugged and you can expand the memory with microSD.

• 3.7-inch 480x800 resolution
• 1GHz single-core
• Built-in 4GB user memory
• Expandable microSD card slot
• 512MB RAM
• 1500mAh battery
• 5 megapixel camera f/2.0 28mm with dedicated imaging chip
• 720p video recording
• Pre-installed with Android 4.0 ICS

It's The One
HTC One X is the most powerful smartphone in the market now. It's the first Android phone after the Google Galaxy Nexus to be pre-installed with the Android 4.0 ICS. The large screen and lightweight body is an ease to use, plus the camera is the best that any smartphone can offer. This is the phone to capture your memories, both still and video at the same time.

I would buy it because:

• The camera is fantastic. I can capture video and still images at the same time
• The screen is large and bright
• It is lightweight

I won't buy it because:

• There is no microSD card slot to expand the storage
• The battery is not removable
• The power button is hard to reach using one hand
• White colour is hard to maintain

Motorola Atrix 2 and Lapdock 100

Last year when I reviewed the ATRIX with Lapdock, it was a new experience using a phone that transforms into a workable netbook.

Now, the new ATRIX 2 has released and offers improved user experience and specs from the original ATRIX.

• 8 mp camera (vs. 5mp)
• Full HD 1080p video recording (vs. 720p)
• 4.3" qHD screen (vs. 4")
• 4GB onboard system memory, 1GB RAM (original ATRIX has 16GB built-in user memory, but this new one is also priced lower)
• 147grams
• 1735mAh battery capacity (vs. 1930mAh)
• RRP S$699

List of Likes on the ATRIX2:
- Sleep mode lets you turn the phone off and all radio activities, conserving precious battery life, but you can turn on the phone instantly without waiting for the boot up.


- Social-enabled apps like Gallery, Music, help you to reach out to your contacts. When you open the Gallery app, you can browse your camera photos, your phone storage photos, your online photos, and your friends online photos. As you browse their photos, you can comment or like them. When you browse your own photos, you can also select to upload and write comments to them too. Likewise, the music player is also integrated with online content. Easily listen to Internet radio, identify songs, watch YouTube. The ATRIX 2 even streams the lyrics as you listen to songs stored in your phone.


- Over-the-air content management. By installing the free MotoCast software on your desktop or laptop, you can browse your computer multimedia content on the ATRIX 2 and watch them over-the-air.  When you open the file manager app on ATRIX 2, you will see options to browse files either from your phone or from other DLNA-connected devices or your MotoCast computers. The ATRIX 2 also comes with Phone Portal app to let you manage your phone content over a web interface.

- Shortcut camera button, always taken for granted, helps you start up the camera app any time without having to look for the icon on the screen.


- Micro HDMI port, a standard feature on all Motorola Android devices, lets you mirror your screen to any HDMI-supported display.


- Matt rear casing offers good grip and durability.


- 10 free EA games, making the ATRIX 2 a little more appealing. But I find some of the games like FIFA 10 require a larger screen size to better enjoy the gaming experience.

List of Dislikes
- MicroSD card is required to store user content. There is no built-in storage, unlike the original ATRIX.
- Rear casing can be difficult to remove without strong fingernail.
- It's the same uninspiring Motorola interface design like all previous models.
- The fingerprint security has been removed. Pity, as it would have been a unique feature for ATRIX devices. I would go for this compared to the face-unlock feature on the new Android 4.0 ICS.

Lapdock 100
On its own, the ATRIX 2 offers nothing compelling compared to the competitors. But it shines when paired with the Motorola Lapdock.

The new Lapdock 100 is remodeled to allow a wider range of Motorola smartphones to be plugged to it. Its design is a more futuristic take compared to the previous slim compact mould. With the new Lapdock, your Motorola smartphones will be charged by the Lapdock battery when plugged in. The keyboard is also gapless like normal desktop keyboard instead of the chiclet style which I abhor. There are custom functions on the first row of the keyboard, similar to what the Asus Transformer dock is providing.

Other than the design, I don't observe any major difference with the original Lapdock. The webtop app still only supports Firefox browser and every other function is handled by the native phone app via a separate window. You would not get a complete laptop experience with the Lapdock, but if your life depends on desktop web browsers, then the Lapdock will help you attain higher productivity. The speakers are not top-notch, but delivers decent sound for general listening.

Final Thoughts
The ATRIX 2 is a minor product upgrade from the first ATRIX, offering similar feature sets and experiences. The price is competitive and will appeal to Android users who have many social accounts and like to share content yet not tech savvy enough to look for third party apps. The ATRIX 2 easily feeds the user with social news, contact photos and music on the ATRIX 2.

The Lapdock 100 is redesigned to generically work with more Motorola devices as the connector is a flexible cable. Its primary purpose is for you to access a Firefox web browser with a full keyboard rather than surfing on the small phone with half the screen occupied by the soft keyboard. Remember: the Lapdock runs the real desktop version Firefox browser, unlike Android or iOS web browsers. You also get a multi-window interface to let you tile or cascade your windows.

The ATRIX 2 alone might not be a compelling smartphone choice, but when connected to the Lapdock 100, makes a viable alternative to a netbook.

Diana Khir: Portraits

Diana is one of those models who got in touch with me years ago but never got down to collaborate. Yes, it all sounds so familiar (for those who have worked with me before), but well, I don't have all the time in the world.

So, when I made contact with her this month, she requested for - in her own words - "angelic" kind of shots you take, wind in the hair, very bright background. Chiffon, soft flowy dresses.


And that's what we did. Thanks to Mother Nature Wind for styling her gorgeous hair during the shoot.

Location: Punggol Promenade (Punggol Rd End)

More photos at my Facebook page at http://facebook.com/chesterphoto

Nikon 1: V1 Mirrorless Camera

The Nikon 1 is Nikon's late foray into mirrorless system, and chose to size the sensor as 1-inch (13.2 x 8.8mm), which is larger than most compact cameras but smaller than the Micro Four-thirds. With this size, the obvious concern is the image noise. Well, my review is not going to address that, but I am going to share with you the experience of using this camera.

Design and Handling
The Nikon V1 has rather few buttons, but they seem sufficient for what this camera requires. My white-colour gloss coated review copy comes with 10mm (equiv. 27mm) f/2.8 lens. Small as it is, the camera body is thick and heavy to house the same battery as the latest D800 - imagine the power.

The V1 comes with built-in EVF, which adds a bulge on top of the camera. I'm not a fan of EVF, but I must say the quality has improved over the years and it comes in handy when it's too bright to see on the large LCD monitor. An accessory port - not standard hot shoe - allows you to fit an external flash, external microphone, GPS unit.

The camera interface menu is also simple: just 3 main menus: playback, camera, and settings. You can scroll the menu items without lag using the wheel dial. The menu animation is also fast and the fonts clear and it really helps in finding the required settings.

Nikon V1 lets you access the AE-L, EV compensation, Focus mode, and self-timer easily. Depending on the mode, the "F" button lets you make one additional quick setting change.

I wasn't quite sure why Nikon provided options to switch between mechanical and electronic shutter, when the former is limited to 1/4000s and the latter can go up to 1/16000s. However, the flash sync when using mechanical shutter is 1/250s while the electronic shutter only supports 1/60s.

What I Like
Oooh, I LOVE the ability to fire 10, 30 and even 60 frames per second. If you need to capture action shots, this is the camera to own. Plus, the continuous AF is in my view the fastest, which gives me renewed confidence in using this mode instead of re-focusing as I always do. The AF speed is also one of the faster ones in the market. The LCD screen is sharp and bright. Battery life is great.

When it comes to image quality, Nikon V1 has the lowest pixel-count among the latest mirrorless camera systems. The lower resolution probably help to keep the noise level low and despite the race for higher pixel count, 10 megapixel is sufficient for casual photography. Smaller file sizes help the V1 to handle the enormous frame-per-second count.

What I Dislike

• The V1 is too bulky for the sensor size, maybe Nikon needs to fit the DSLR-grade battery to power it up. 
• The ON/OFF button is too flat and I find it hard to locate it by feeling it. 
• After filling the camera buffer, the playback images are slow to load and it freezes the interface. And you cannot shoot video until the buffer if flushed. 
• The video record button doesn't work for Motion Snapshot and Smart Photo Selector.
• The video resolution for the Still Image mode is fixed at 720p. You have to switch to the Movie mode to shoot in your desired resolution. Likewise, the still image resolution for Movie mode is fixed with no focus point options.
• There are only 4 modes on the mode dial. If you want to switch the PASM modes, you have to access the menu. This is a move perhaps to make the Nikon V1 less technical for the basic users.
• The mode dial is easily turned accidentally during handling of the camera, because it's next to where the thumb is as you grab the camera. This results in wrong shooting modes at times when I was handling the V1 in a hurry, and incorrect shooting parameters.
• The zoom lever design doesn't allow me to change the parameters as swiftly as a wheel dial.
• The burst images are not grouped together when playback. So if you just took 60 identical images using 60fps, you have to scroll through all 60 images. 
• White body is prone to paint chipping.

The Nikon V1 is still small whem compared to a DSLR like D300.

Rounding Up

Nikon has created a unique selling point for the Nikon 1. Very fast continuous focusing, very high frame-per-second, makes the Nikon V1 a great camera for action shots. When a customer switches on the camera, the first thing that will impress them is the LCD quality, and Nikon has it. It is clear to me that Nikon 1 is not positioned to be a compact version of a DSLR, but one that offers fast image capture, delivers adequate shooting controls, and simple controls for the general user. Now, if only they reduce the size of the camera and redesign the mode dial. But like every other mirrorless brands, it's a matter of time that Nikon expands the range to cater to a wider market, if it grows large enough.

Instagram for Android

Gene Goh, a good friend who is a great wedding and lifestyle photographer, is also an Android phone user. Like me, he has been waiting for the launch of Instagram on Android. This morning at 2am, it is finally live. Here's his brief note, published with his kind permission.


Visit his Facebook note here.

My Quick Take on Instagram for Android
by Gene Goh on Wednesday, 4 April 2012 at 09:33

Instagram for Android has just been released, and I'm beginning to see why this app has caused such a stir in the iPhone photography world.

This is a review on the Instagram app, and I will modify it as I find more features and find out more on working with this app. Do pardon me if I have made any wrong assumptions.

I've been using Vignette, a paid Android app, to process my photos and share them on Facebook. While Vignette has many customizable options to process your photos, it takes a while to choose which processing style you want. That has deterred me from processing my photos as it simply takes too much time to get my photos processed.

So far, what I'm impressed with Instagram are the following:

• Established Instagram social network
• Relatively fast startup time
• On the fly preview of effects
• Nice lomo/retro effects
• Elegant frames for images
• Option to import existing photos for processing
• Very easy-to-use interface
• Saves an original copy of the photo in the camera folder and saves the processed copy in the Instagram folder, useful for rework

What I think is lacking in Instagram:

• Restricted by square crop
• Somehow I am restricted to a resolution of 1536x1536 even though I have set my native camera to full 3264x2448
• According to engadget, Instagram has a max resolution of 2048px. After some tests, I found that Instagram resizes the image to 1224px if the camera is set to larger than 2048px on the shorter side. However, it does not resize the image if the camera is set to less than 2048px.
• Option to start in camera mode instead of showing Instagram feeds upon startup

Sony NEX-7: Mirrorless Camera Review

The Sony Alpha NEX-7, announced in Aug 2011, was affected by manufacturing delays primarily caused by the Thailand flood. It finally became commercially available in late-Q1 2012. After hearing rave reviews, I finally had a chance to experience it myself.

If you had read my past reviews on the NEX-C3, you would know that my impression on the NEX-series is rather positive, especially on the ISO noise control. The NEX-7 reminds me fondly of the F828 which I previously owned, and it has everything a serious photographer needs in a compact system:

• 24.3 megapixel APS-C sensor
• ISO 100 - 16000
• 10 fps (about 14 shots before shutter freezes due to buffer)
• RAW and JPEG images can be reviewed quickly (except when camera buffer is filled)
• EV adjustment from -5 to +5 (most other cameras are -3 to +3) 
• Electronic viewfinder with 2.4 megapixel resolution
• Tiltable LCD screen
• Video recording allows manual override of EV and Aperture, easily switches from AF to MF
• Built-in flash that can be force-tilted for bounce flash effects
• Sony-mount hot-shoe
• Rubber surface covering the entire grip for a professional-feel
• Numerous custom buttons and dials
• Battery indicator with % remaining
• Tripod mount is aligned with the lens - important for panorama on tripod

If you had read my previous reviews, I do not specialise in reviewing technical quality, but all I can say is that I am happy with the image quality this 24.3 megapixel camera produces. It is consistent with the previous NEX models I have tested.

So in this review, rather than convincing you that the NEX-7 is a good camera, I shall convince you that it might not be as good as everyone perceives.

Steep Learning Curve
You can't just pick up the NEX-7 and start shooting and making quick adjustments. Firstly, there is no mode dial - you had to go into the menu to switch your usual PASM and Auto modes. Then there are all the customisable dials and functions which you must painstakingly configure them. Take note that some custom buttons are actually "quick menus" that lets you toggle among your pre-selected functions to make adjustments. They are not one-button setting short-cut.

Unless you use the NEX-7 so regularly that you remember every single custom features you have set, you would quite likely be confused while shooting. And in the worse-case scenario, you would access the menu to make the changes. And that brings me to the next point.

It's Still a NEX
Sony can throw in more custom dials, functions or hardware into the body, but it's still NEX, and its menu layout is still the same - confusing. It doesn't help when each screen only displays 5 line items, so you really need to scroll a lot and be really observant to find the settings you want to change. Perhaps if each setting had a number, then the user might find the setting he wanted faster.

Of course, to get away with accessing the menu, you might want to ensure all your frequently used functions are customised into one of the several custom buttons - that is, if you can still remember where you configure them.

Interface Lag
The NEX-7 has some lag in between selections. It's very annoying especially when changing EV or Aperture using the 2 unlabeled dials, because you had to wait for the screen to show where the value stops before you ascertain whether you had made the right number of clicks.

Slower AF Against Competition
When the competitors are beefing up the AF speed, the NEX-7 seems to be taking their own pace. There is still some hunting when the camera finds AF a little tricky.

EVF Limitation
Despite a high-res pixel count, electronic viewfinder can never replace optical viewfinder effectively. For one, when moving from dark to bright areas, or vice versa, the EVF takes a while to adjust. Also, the EVF might not be able to show low-light details.

Lens
A great camera is only as good as its lenses. The 18-55mm kit lens degrades the NEX-7 into a normal mirrorless camera. With such a powerful camera body, you should invest in good lenses, and Sony is trying to increase their lens offering over time.

Conclusion
The Sony NEX-7 is a well-built premium camera and I enjoyed using it to capture low light scenes and my playful active daughter. The tiltable LCD screen is sharp and helps in capturing odd-angle shots. The additional dials help to make shooting adjustments easier. And the high ISO is still delivering low-noise quality.

But personally, I still don't feel the additional customisable buttons make a lot of difference in improving usage compared to the competition. Sony is trying to beef up an interface that is built to be simple and cater to advanced users. What Sony should do is to re-design the interface, make the controls more DSLR-like (after all, the NEX-7 is targeted at advanced users!). But then again, Olympus also made the same "mistake": the mirrorless PEN interface was built for advanced users and then stripped down with the LITE and MINI variants to cater to entry-level users.

At the end of the day, a camera like NEX-7 with almost every useful camera feature in it might still be a better choice. That is, if you can afford the RRP S$1999 price tag.