New format for Smartphone Buyer's Guides

There have been some discussions with readers of this blog, on how best to revise the buyer's guides on this blog. Right now, I divide it into three categories:

• Entry Level
• Mid-Range
• High End

I have also limited it to not more than 5 phones per category, occasionally throwing in a Wildcard (a niche market phone). The current classification really looks to be insufficient, especially considering the heaviest competition these days is in the lower price ranges.

I was thinking of a new scale which would look something like this:

Entry level (up to Php5K)

- MyPhone Rain, Php2988
- Cherry Mobile Life, Php2,999
- Cherry Mobile 2X, Php4,499
- Cherry Mobile Burst, Php4,699
- Arc Mobile Nitro, Php4,999

Low cost (up to 10K, it is a bit strange calling 720p quad core phones, as entry level)

- Arc Mobile Memo, Php6,150
- Cherry Mobile Apollo, Php6,700
- Nokia Lumia 520, Php7,450
- MyPhone A919i, PHP7,990
- Cherry Mobile Omega, Php8,990
- Cherry Mobile Blaze, Php9,490

Lower Mid-Range (up to 15K)

- Nokia Lumia 620, Php10,800
- Cherry Mobile Cosmos S, Php10,999
- ZTE Grand X, Php11,500
- Cherry Mobile Cosmos X2, Php11,699
- MyPhone Agua Iceberg, Php11,988
- MyPhone Agua Vortex, Php12,388
- Nokia Lumia 625, Php12,200 (LTE on Globe only)
- Lenovo S820
- Nokia Lumia 720, Php12,700
- Lenovo P780, Php13,500
- HTC 8X, Php13,500

Upper Mid-Range (up to 20K)

- Sony Xperia SP, Php15,990
- HTC Desire 600, Php16,390
- Huawei Ascend Mate, Php16,700
- HTC One X 32 GB, Php16,990
- Huawei Ascend P6, Php17,990

High End (up to 25K)

- LG Optimus G, Php20,990
- Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3, Php20,900
- Nokia Lumia 925, Php21,500
- Sony Xperia ZR, Php22,990
- Sony Xperia ZL, Php24,500

Flagship

- LG Optimus G Pro, Php25,550 (LTE on Globe only)
- Sony Xperia Z, Php25,990
- LG G2, Php26,650
- Samsung Galaxy S4, Php28,700
- HTC One, Php30,990
- Nokia Lumia 1020, Php31,990
- Samsung Galaxy Note, Php34,450

This is not the list, just a sampling of contenders. This list has six categories. Maybe five categories (6/12/18/24/24), with three recommendations each for a total of 15 phones might be better? Adding a wildcard per category where appropriate for a maximum of 20 phones. What do you think?

Nokia Lumia 1020 - Too much of a good thing?

Nokia just launched in the Philippines its Nokia Lumia 1020. Essentially, the Lumia 1020 is a bigger bulkier Lumia 925 with a big 41 MP camera and double the storage. You will need a lot of storage to save to 38 MP stills. At Php35,650 this is one expensive phone. Basically it will compete with the Samsung Note 4 and the Apple iPhone 5S 32 GB.

The problem with the Lumia is it really has the specifications of a late 2012 Windows Phone, launched in later 2013. All it really has going for it to justify the high price, is its camera.

Using GSM Photo Arena Compare Tool I compared sample shots of a Lumia 1020, Lumia 925 and Samsung Galaxy S4. For comparison, the stills are scaled down to 8MP.

I also compared it with the upcoming Sony Z1 and with the Galaxy S4 scaled down to 12MP.

I also compared it to an Apple iPhone 5S and LG G2 scaled down to 8MP.

I am just not seeing it. I mean, the Nokia Lumia 1020 has a nice camera, but it does not seem better than an 8MP shooter on the iPhone 5S, or the 13 MP camera's on the Galaxy S4 or LG G2. 

MyPhone Agua Iceberg & Vortex now available at 24 months zero interest

The demand for locally branded Android smartphones is high. These phones sold by Cherry Mobile, Cloudfone, MyPhone, Starmobile and a dozen other local players offer specifications comparable to phones from established brands at a fraction of the cost. 

Still, there appears to be some price point where people feel they are too expensive. The MyPhone A919i and Cherry Mobile Omega HD 2.0 originally priced at Php9,490 and Php8,990 both seem to have done fairly well. I base this on the size of their user base at local forums like Tipidcp.com. The response to the newer breed of higher end 10K plus Cherry Mobile Cosmos and MyPhone Agua series seems to be that they are too expensive. The announcement of the new Starmobile Diamond V7 at Php12,990 generated little interest. 

Seeming to confirm this observation is MyPhone's latest promo. Both its new Agua phones are being offered at 24-months zero interest at Automatic Centre and SOGO. The MyPhone Agua Iceberg was originally offered at 24-months zero interest on the launch, then after that on 12-months zero interest. The MyPhone Agua Vortex was available on 6-months zero interest at launch.

These 24-month zero interest offerings are good deals in my opinion, and if MyPhone keeps this promo up, I think this may be a marketing trend the rest may be forced to follow.

Smartphone or phablet? Which is best for you.

Smartphones, even larger ones, are still better choice for those who make a lot of voice calls. 

Today, you have Android smartphones ranging from 3.2 to 5-inches, and phablets with sizes from 5.3 to 6.4-inches. Which is a better choice?

Large 5.7-inch phablets are more comfortable to use for modern smartphone use,
which is basically the function of a mobile internet device

You carry your smartphone more than you use it (smaller is better). We carry our smartphones 12-18 hours and use them for 1 to 4 hours per day. This means they spend more time in our pocket or handbag than in our hands. So this is the first thing you should consider in selecting a smartphone. How do you plan to carry it around. 

For the gents, this usually means something that can fit in their pockets is better, and how big the pockets are depends on whether you are the type to wear cargo pants and loose jeans or fitted slacks. I think you will find that one reason why the Apple iPhone is popular with the business set, is sticking a Samsung Galaxy Note II in you finely fitted suit is not all that comfortable and breaks the contour of the suit.

For the gals, well most phablets should nicely fit in a handbag.

One handed use is not as important as it used to be (bigger is better). I still prefer a phone I can use with one hand, but that is really old habits of an old dog. Okay, I will admit it. I am a smoker, so often time during breaks, I will have a cigarette in one hand and a smartphone in the other.

But even I SMS and type with two hands having come from a series of QWERTY messengers before migrating to the touchscreen. No one multi-taps these days anymore and typing with a QWERTY keyboard with one hand is slow. When typing with two hands, a large phablet is usually more comfortable than a narrower smartphone. With smaller smartphones, typing is usually easier in landscape mode.

Phablets can be awkward when making calls (smaller is usually better). If you spend a lot of time making voice calls, you probably would prefer a smartphone. Holding a phablet to your ear can look and feel awkward. If you are used to using a Bluetooth headset, than size does not matter.

As far as displays go, bigger is better (yup, bigger is better). If you spend more time sending SMS, instant messages, social networking, browsing the web or playing games. The experience is more pleasant with a large display. It is also better for your eyes.

The smaller the smartphone you buy, the more likely that you will buy a tablet later.

My advice. Ask yourself if you will feel comfortable using it to make calls and if it will be easy for you to carry given the clothes that you wear. If the answer is yes and yes, a phablet it the way to go.

  

Cloudfone has something BIG coming up this week!

The best phone Cloudfone ever released

I do not know what Cloudfone will be releasing, but they promise that it will be something big. This is all they told me:

"We have something BIG coming up this week."

It sounds like it could be a 5.3 or 5.7-inch phablet. I think most of us would prefer a part 2 to the Cloudfone Thrill 430x with its 4160 mAh battery. We have to wait and see.

Aqua Iceberg,Cosmos and Knight: Do the higher priced locally branded phones have a market?

The O+ 8.15 was the first locally branded phone which we saw go past the 10K barrier. While O+ is a US registered brand, this company sell smartphones in the Philippines only. This was followed by Starmobile with its Knight and MyPhone with its Aqua Iceberg. Cherry Mobile released a gaggle of new phones starting at Php9,999.

Following a thread on TipidCP, it would seem that the consensus is, locally branded 10K phones are too expensive. At this price, they match comparable offerings from more established brands like Lenovo or ZTE. 

The Starmobile Knight seemed to do well enough, being out of stock wherever you looked. But it really looks like few were actually distributed for sale, with dealers taking waiting lists. Interestingly, the Starmobile Diamond V7 announced two months ago, has not been launched. This 5.7-inch phablet, would have been priced over Php10,000. I wonder whether feedback on Starmobile Knight sales convinced the company not to release the Diamond V7. 

The MyPhone Agua Iceberg sold pretty well at launched, but this was helped a grand launch event last July, and a 24-month zero interest plans. I have been inquiring with a MyPhone dealer about the availability of the midnight blue version, and they told me it might arrive when they consume their existing stocks of Icebergs. Apparently, they have about two dozen units available in one branch right now. 

It is also not difficult the three Cherry Mobile Cosmos phones that have been released in the market so far, the X, S and X2. In a previous article I wrote, comparing the Cherry Mobile Omega HD 2.0 (Php8,999) to the Cherry Mobile Cosmos X (Php9,990) five readers gave feedback and all chose the Omega HD 2.0.

So, is the consensus that the higher priced locally branded phones are priced beyond what the market is willing to bear?

Pictures from the BlackBerry Q5 Swap & Switch Promo at Glorietta, Makati

Philippine online mobile operating system usage for June 2013

Megabolt requested I update an article posted two years ago, so here goes.

Tracking online use of mobile operating systems using StatCounter's services gives as an idea of market penetration. The figures do not represent the number of phones sold, but the number of web pages accessed by the different mobile operating systems.

Android is now the top mobile operating system in the Philippines:

• June 2011 - 9.61%
• June 2013 - 47.15%

Nokia's Symbian reporting has been split into two (S40 and S60) but I will combine them for this comparison. It has fallen a lot in the past two years, and with Nokia now pushing Windows Phone, this figure will continue to fall:

• June 2011 - 55.33%
• June 2013 - 20.30%

Combined, it still holds second place.

iPhone/iPad/iPod has grown moderately in the past two years, but I expect it to stay at this level:

• June 2011 - 16.02%
• June 2011 - 20.29%

After these three, the rest hold small shares.

BlackBerry is on the decline in the Philippines:

• June 2010 - 2.02%
• June 2011 - 1.28%

Windows Phone is on the map (but it is a small dot):

• June 2011 - No data
• June 2011 - 0.85%

Should you turn off LTE in a area without LTE coverage?

Smart Communications has announced that it has completed the roll-out of its in Luzon, with 250 LTE sites in 46 cities and 69 municipalities. This means 250 LTE towers in 115 different cities and municipalities. This phase of Smart LTE rollout does not result in blanket coverage of areas with LTE coverage. LTE coverage is centered on heavy traffic commercial areas like malls and business centers.

This means as you move around, your smartphone will switch between LTE, HSPA and 3G connections. Depending on where you go, your phone will probably spend most of its time on HSPA. 

LTE and 3G/HSPA connectivity is done using two separate radios on your phone. LTE chips on phones with Qualcomm chipsets is very power efficient, since it uses a System-on-Chip LTE solution. Still, if you are frequently in areas without LTE coverage, you may want to turn off the LTE radio from time to time.

When you have a 3G or HSPA connection, and LTE is enabled, the phone will check for an LTE signal from time to time. This task consumes battery life. You could save some battery life when disabling LTE in a non-LTE area. Given that the new Qualcomm LTE radios are power efficient, the savings might not be all that much.

For other battery tips. check out this post on how to preserve your battery.

Buying a laptop - Haswell is worth waiting for

1.92 pounds in weight...

Intel's new Haswell processor is worth waiting for. It is only a bit faster, and on laptops the improvements are likely to be only in graphics performance. But it is really not about the speed. The new models with a 15W thermal design point will result in being to double or almost double battery life on a laptop. Basically, you can expect smaller 11.6-inch models having battery life between 6 to 10 hours, and larger 13.3-inch units going up to 15 hours.

... and sliver thin.

Sony has used the new technology bring its 11-inch Sony Vaio Pro to a unprecedented 1.92 pounds in weight and that is packing a Full HD display and all. That is about the weight of a Apple iPad with a carry case. The 13-inch Sony Vaio Pro is down to 2.3 pounds in weight, which is lighter than Apple 11-inch MacBook Air.

Apple felt is MacBook Air's were light enough, and used the new technology to maximize battery life. The 11-inch MacBook Air is not rated at 9 hours endurance, and the 13-inch model has a 12 hour endurance rating. At the same time, the new MacBook Air models are cheaper. 

Basically, Haswell allows manufacturers to come up with impressive new devices. 

If you are buying a low cost laptop, price at Php25K or below, or want to get a MacBook Air, go ahead and buy one. But if you are looking at higher end Windows laptops, or a MacBook Pro or retina version, it is probably best to sit tight for a bit and wait for the new generation of Haswell powered units.

Trimming the Field: The Cherry Mobile Flame 2.0, Cloudfone Thrill 430x, Huawei Ascend G510 and the ZTE V956 Blade E

Rather surprisingly, you find a lot do diversity in low cost mid-sized Android phones offered in the Philippines. By mid-sized, I mean more or less 4.5-inches. With the smaller 4-inch Android's you have many similar devices with nearly identical specifications, and generally the one with the lowest price is the best value for money choice. The same is true for the new breed large entry level 5-inch HD Android phones. 

A good representative of the basic mid-sized Android is the Huawei Ascend G510. It has a 4.5-inch FWVGA (480 x 854) display, a dual core Qualcomm S4 Play processor, 512 MB of RAM and a decently sized 1700 mAh battery. Distinguishing its self from the pack, of other phones with similar specifications is that it comes with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.  Now, at Php5,990, this cost Php2K more than the Cherry Mobile Flare which has nearly identical specifications but a smaller display. If you can spare the cash, the additional half inch (diagonal) in display size is well worth the money. Your eyes will thank you for it, and the larger display is better suited for serious productive apps like photo editors and document editors.

For Php1K more you have the Cloudfone Thrill 430x. This 4.3-inch Android Jelly Bean phones up the ante in a few ways. It has 50% more RAM and a sharper qHD (540 x 960) than the Ascend G510. But the real draw of the Cloudfone Thrill 430x is the 4160 mAh battery which is 2.5 times larger than that on the Ascend G510. Now it strength is also its main weakness. This Thrill 430x is a tad over 14 mm thick and weighs in a heavy 182 grams. The Ascend G510 is slimmer 9.9 mm and lighter 150 grams. You can't have you cake and eat it too. Large batteries weigh a lot.

After this you have the low cost quad core phones like the Cherry Mobile Flame 2.0 and the ZTE V956 Blade E. 

As I have written before, I plan to change my buyers guides to only include five phones per category. There probably won't be room for more than two mid-sized Android on a list of five phones. So which two?

I think the Ascend G510 is shoe-in for having a low price and well balanced feature set. The Trill 430x  will appeal to a niche market. Those who value long battery life over, Not helping its cause is that build quality is a step below other low cost Androids. Still, there is nothing else like it, even at higher price points. 

The Flame 2.0 and the Blade E appeal to gamers on a budget. The biggest weakness of these two quad core phones is the Adreno 203 graphics. Despite high benchmarks scores. the graphics package is weak. Gamers on a budget are best off buying a device based on the MediaTek MT6589 chipset with the more powerful PowerVR 544SGX graphics. This does mean spending another Php2K.

But if limited to two, I would recommend the Huawei Ascend G510 and Cloudfone Thrill 430x. The Ascend G510 will make the average person happy, and the Thrill 430x will satisfy the power user. The buyers of the Cherry Mobile Flame 2.0 and the ZTE V956 Blade E will likely regret the purchase. Best to wait for one more pay day and just pick up something like the Cherry Mobile Omega HD 2.0. Now, that will be truly satisfying even for the hardcore gamer.

New Directions: Apple iOS 7 and Google's Key Lime Pie

Apple has recently unveiled it iOS 7 operating system at WWDC.  iOS 7's design borrows a lot from other operating systems. The new \look of iOS 7, a move away from Steve Job's skeuomorphic design, looks like it was inspired by Microsoft's Windows Phone 8.  PCMag's Sacha Segan wrote: "The flatness, the focus on large fonts and sliding panels, even the fonts themselves; you see a lot of Windows Phone 8's much cleaner, more "modern" approach." Even the lock screen looks like Windows Phone. 

And it does not stop there.  Quick settings, automatic update of apps and live wallpaper? Android has had these features for some time. Today sounds like Google Now. Tab browsing on Safari now looks like Chrome OS. The weather app and multitasking menu look a lot like HTC Sense apps. The new more colorful or playful icons, remind me of Samsung's TouchWiz. Car integration was started by BlackBerry. It is really hard to find anything new in iOS7, except that it is new to Apple. 

But that does not really matter. When I first tried BlackBerry 10, I felt the same way, that it had taken the best of what other operating systems offered, and put it together in a really nice package. In the end, iOS 7 is more competent operating system, and ultimately, all operating systems will have the same feature sets.

Sadly, iOS 7 continues the trend started with iOS6 to leave older devices behind. While Apple will update devices as old as the iPhone 4 and iPad 2, to iOS 7, only the iPhone 5, iPod 5G and iPad 4 get all the new features. I really do not see any reason why the iPad 3, which is just over a year old wont be getting Air Drop or Camera filters. The iPhone 4S, does not get these updates too. The newer iPad mini is not getting camera filters.  

Key Lime Pie, the next Android OS release which we expect to see with the Nexus 5 in October, appears to be going a different direction. TheDroidGuy reports that while packing new features "the biggest new features from Key Lime Pie in the report is optimisation. The new Android update will run on almost all devices fast and smooth, including even the budget 1.0GHz single-core, 512MB of RAM Android smartphones."

This is an interesting piece of information. On the one hand it looked looked like single core devices with 512 MB of RAM were soon to become history. If this is true, we may see even cheaper Android smartphones last year running Google's latest and greatest. Smartphones running JellyBean have broken the US$100 barrier. If Key Lime Pie can run well on older hardware, the US$75 barrier could be breached early next year. 

So while Apple iOS does a good job of playing catchup, it looks like Google Key Lime Pie intends to inflict the death blow on feature phones.

Samsung Galaxy S4 beats Apple iPhone 5 in a CNET's brutal destruction test

CNET tortured both the Apple iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S4 in a series of tests.

If you don't want to watch the whole video (or are on an iPhone or iPad which don't have support for Adobe Flash.. Yup, I know flash is supposed to be dead), the Samsung Galaxy S4 did a much better job of surviving the water immersion and drop tests. Both phones fare equally well in terms of screen scratch resistance, and neither one survived being run over by a truck.

In the end, premium aluminum is harder to make watertight, and does not far as well to to drop tests compare to plastic. But really, drop a Coke in can and a Coke in a PEP bottle, and you should already know that.

Trimming the Field: Cherry Mobile Flare versus the Huawei Ascend Y300

Competition in the entry level smartphone market is intense. More so than any other segment in my opinion. This month, when I wrote the entry level smartphone buyers guide, I had such a difficult time trimming the field, that I wrote the article in two parts and came out with nine recommendations. After, I felt this was entirely too many. In the coming month, I will try a new format, with each guide from entry level to high end, offering not more than five recommendations.

In preparation for next months article, lets start trimming field. This months buyers guide started with two 4-inch Android phones, the Cherry Mobile Flare and the Huawei Ascend Y300.

Both these phones are rather similar. Both have 4-inch WVGA displays and both run on dual core processors of the Qualcomm S4 Play variety. RAM and internal storage on all phones is identical. With the Cherry Mobile Flare being updated to Android Jelly Bean, both phones stand on equal footing insofar as operating systems are concerned.

The two vary in configuration of the capacitative buttons. The Cherry Mobile Flare still uses the four dedicated bottom setup which was standard during the Gingerbread days. The Huawei Ascend Y300 gets a more modern three button setup, but it is not the Jelly Bean standard set-up. Instead of Back, Home and Recent Apps, you have a Menu button replacing recent apps.

The two vary also in software. The Cherry Mobile Flare runs on something very close to stock Android. The Huawei Ascend Y300 has a launcher which removes the Applications Menu and adds widgets which seem reminiscent of the Live Tile design on Windows Phone. The Huawei approach seems to make sense. You can have up to nine home screens to manage your widgets and apps, and you can organize you apps into folders. This is probably a simpler set-up for first time Android users, and the App Drawer is a bit redundant. It is not a big deal either way, since you can always get a third party launcher to make the Huawei Ascend Y300 operate more like stock Android, and you can do the same for the Cherry Mobile Flare and hide the App Drawer.

Where the Huawei Ascend Y300 apps the ante is in terms of the glass used to protect the display and the battery. Originally, I wrote that the phone came with Gorilla Glass. Apparently, this is a mistake, The phone does come with a scratch resistant glass similar to what was used in the 2011 Sony Ericsson Xperia phones, but it is not Gorilla Glass. Still, it is a cut above the Cherry Mobile Flare in this regard.

The Huawei Ascend Y300 also comes with a 1730 mAh battery, which is 15% larger than the 1500 mAh in the Cherry Mobile Flare, which should mean correspondingly longer battery life.

What the Cherry Mobile Flare has going for it is price. The Cherry Mobile Flare is priced at Php3,999, lower than the Php5,490 price of the Huawei Ascend Y300. Smart Communications will give you a Hauwei Ascend Y300 for Php4,590 with a Freedom Plan. But to be fair in comparing phones in my buyers guides I use street prices. For a unlocked phone the Cherry Mobile Flare is all of Php1,491 cheaper. That is a substantial sum of money, enough to buy you a second phone. 

This is the other advantage of the Cherry Mobile Flare. If you normally carry two phones, you won't have to. The Flare supports two SIM's. 

So which one is better. At this point, I think it is clear I am partial to the Huawei Ascend Y300. But I would not buy it. At this price, I would spend Php500 more and get its bigger 4.5-inch sibling, the Huawei Ascend G510.

As for the Cherry Mobile Flare, at its price of Php3,999, nothing else comes really close. I would have to say it is the best value for money 4-inch smartphone in the market.

David versus Goliath: Cherry Mobile Squares Off Against Samsung

Yesterday I wrote an article christening the Cherry Mobile Blaze 2.0 as a "Mega" killer, a reference to Samsung newly announced Samsung Galaxy Mega. But the way the local market is shaping up, it looks like, in the Philippines the big fight is not between Samsung and Apple, Samsung and HTC or even Samsung and Sony. It's Samsung versus Cherry Mobile.

While the Samsung Galaxy S 4 is the most desirable smartphone in the Philippine market today, Samsung is going to have a harder going with its mid-level offerings. Samsung 5-incb Galaxy Grand. This 5-inch smartphone which can be found for as low as Php15,990, has a WVGA (480 x 800) display and a dual core processor. It performs well enough scoring 6053 points in the Antutu benchmarks.

The problem is, it has to face off against Cherry Mobile Omega HD 2.0. Cherry Mobile offering is priced much lower, at Php8,999 but comes with a much sharper 5-inch HD (720 x 1280) display and more powerful quad core processor. The Cherry Mobile Omega HD 2.0, which goes North of 12000 on the Antutu benchmarks, basically gives you twice as much phone, for half the price. 

The newly announced Samsung Galaxy Mega is in the same situation. This new 5.8-inch offering from Samsung sports a qHD (540 x 960) display and a dual core processor. It performs well enough scoring 7338 points on the Antutu benchmark. It is priced at Php18,900, and this is where it again runs into trouble.

The Cherry Mobile Blaze 2.0, well also sports a giant sized display, this one at 5.7-inches. But it is a HD display. Inside, it has the same quad core processor, which has basically pounds the dual core unit on the Mega into the dust. Priced at Php9,499 you can buy two Cherry Mobile Blaze 2.0 phablets, for the cost of one Samsung Galaxy Mega.

Samsung made it big, by creating what many consider the worlds greatest smartphone, three years in a ROW,  but also by offering better value for money products at lower price points than HTC, Sony and LG. Now, it looks like the things are changing. You have a resurgent Sony, aggressive China based players like Huawei and even humble companies like Cherry Mobile all geared to take a bite out of Samsung's share in the pie. In the Philippines, it looks like the greatest threat to Samsung comes from Cherry Mobile.

Laptop and Desktop Sales Projected to Fall 10% in 2013

In 2012 the sales of personal computers was broken down as follows:

Laptops - 201 million

Desktops - 148 million

Tablets - 144 million

TOTAL - 493 million

Citi Research is projecting that the breakdown of 2013 sales will be as follows: 

Laptops - 179 million (down by 22 million)

Desktops - 137 million (down by 11 million) 

Tablets - 237 million (up by 93 million)

TOTAL - 553 million

Source: Citi Research via CNET

This continues the trend of declining laptop and desktop sales which started in 2011. Gartners figures show laptop and desktop sales having dropped from 365 million to 353 million. This represented a 3.5% decline in laptop and desktop sales. The 316 million units Citi Research projects to be sold in 2013 represents an even steeper 10% drop in sales.

The Demise of the User Replaceable Battery

Your typical smartphone Lithium Ion battery will last for 300 to 500 cycles before its remaining capacity is 70% of its original charge. A cycle is one full charge and discharge. So if you recharge your battery at 50%, it counts as just one cycle. Your phone will still display a full 100% charge even as your battery life diminishes, but after 300 to 500 cycles, 100% really will just mean 70%. Given that modern smartphones are charged daily, even those with higher quality batteries will be down to 70% of their original battery life in 15-18 months. This is a bit problematic, since we are usually stuck with our phones now on 24 month to 30 month contracts.

Back in the old days, when we would charge a phone once every four days, getting the battery life cut down by half was not all that big a deal. With todays smartphones barely lasting a day with moderate use, lasting 70% of a day is a bit problematic. Making things a bit more difficult is today, you cannot swap batteries on many phones anymore, and usually this is a problem with the more expensive phones.

Pick up one of several low cost budget models, and you usually have a removal rear cover and removable battery. Go into the mid-level and higher end models, that is no longer the case. You cannot replace the battery on Apple's iPhones.  User replaceable batteries were standard on HTC phones. Now since the One X, all high end have batteries sealed into the phones case. LG's Optimus G and Nexus 4 also do not have user replaceable batteries. The same is true for Sony smartphones. The last higher end Sony smartphone with a user replaceable battery was the Sony Xperia V. Even Nokia has gotten into this trends, with the battery on their Nokia Lumia 920 not being user replaceable.

One reason given for the loss of the user replaceable battery is the need to make phone thinner. But this is not really true. Samsung Galaxy S 4 has a user replaceable battery and is all of 7.9 mm thick. The BlackBerry Z10 also has a user replaceable battery, and it is as thin as a HTC One. It is not really the thinner part that makes user replaceable batteries difficult to incorporate into current phones, but the use of materials other than plastic. Notably, both the Samsung Galaxy S 4 and BlackBerry Z10 have plastic cases. 

The sad part is without user replaceable batteries, instead of these older models ending up in second hand shops in Greenhills after two hard years or use, they will wind up in dumpsites, landfills or hopefully some recycling facility. 

The demise of the user replaceable battery has gone unnoticed. Apple users are used to this and many slap on an external battery pack on their phones on its second year. This is not going to be a good solution for a 5-inch superphone. Most Android and Windows Phone users, have phones with sealed batteries which are just a year old. So its another six months to one year, before diminishing battery life turns todays prized possession into a paperweight.

Dual Core Mobile Processors Compared

Qualcomm S4 Play. The Qualcomm S4 Play MSM8225 is Qualcomm's chipset for low cost phones, and is one of the most common chipsets in the market. It is found in the popular Cherry Mobile Flare, Cloudfone 430x Thrill, Huawei's new offerings, the Acend Y300 and G510, as well as mid-level phones like the HTC Desire X.

Qualcomm S4 Play MSM8225 (Dual Core ARM Cortex A5 Processor/Adreno 203 Graphics) -  5147 to 6849 Antutu Benchmark Points

HTC Desire X (1 GHz) - 5177

Cherry Mobile Flare (1.2 GHz) - 6849

These performance levels may not look too impressive, but basically they destroy all the 2010 flagship phones, comes close too, or even exceed the 2011 flagship phones like the Samsung Galaxy S II (6173 Antutu Benchmark Points)  and HTC Sensation XE (6409 Antutu Benchmark Points). So if you are looking at the second hand market, you are probably better served by one of these brand new low cost offerings.


NovaThor U8420. Another low cost chipset which we saw a lot of in last years phones was those made by NovaThor. A Novathor chipset found its way into Samsung Galaxy S III. Performance is at about the same level as Qualcomm's S4 Play, despite having a more advance ARM Cortex A9 processor. Graphics performance is better than the Qualcomm S4 Play.

NovaThor U8420 (Dual Core ARM Cortex-A9/Mali-400MP Grapics)

Samsung Galaxy S III mini (1 GHz) - 5823

MediaTek MT6577. Another low cost chipset you find on a lot of low cost phones is the MediaTek MT6577. Performance is comparable with the NovaThor U8420.

MediaTek MT6577 (Dual Core ARM Cortex A9/PowerVR SGX531 Graphics)

Cherry Mobile Titan (1 GHz) - 5445

Starmobile Diamond (1 GHz) - 5577

Cherry Mobile Omega HD (1 GHz) - 5999

The Qualcomm S4 Plus. The Qualcomm S4 Plus was the companies top dual core platform for 2012. It performs substantially better previous dual core chipsets, with its main weakness being the Adreno 225 graphics.

Qualcomm S4 Plus MSM8960 (Dual Core Krait Processor/Adreno 225 Graphics) - 11075 Antutu Benchmark Points

Sony Xperia V (Dual Core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Krait/Adreno 225) - 11075

Qualcomm S4 Pro. The dual core version of the Qualcomm S4 Pro is able to outrun quad-core phones from 2012.

Qualcomm S4 Pro MSM8960T (Dual Core Krait Processor/Adreno 320 Graphics) - 15847 Antutu Benchmark Points

Sony Xperia SP (Dual core 1.7 GHz Qualcomm S4/Adreno 320) - 15847

Just how fast is the MediaTek MT6589 chipset?

The latest set of locally branded smartphones are powered by MediaTek's new MT6589 chipset with a quad core ARM Cortex A-7 processor and PowerVR SGX544 graphics. I prepared a short chart comparing quad core processors in the market from 2012 to 2013

Qualcomm S600 (Quad Core Krait 300 Processor/Adreno 320 Graphics @500MHz) - 22678 to 247176 Antutu Benchmark Points

Samsung Galaxy S 4  (1.9 GHz)  - 24716
HTC One (1.7 GHz320) - 22678


Qualcomm S4 Pro APQQ8064 (Quad Core Krait Processor/Adreno 320 Graphics) - 15146 to 20794 Antutu Benchmark Points

Sony Xperia Z (1.5 GHz) - 20,794
Sony Xperia ZL - 20774

Google Nexus 4 (1.5 GHz) - 15146

Samsung Exynos 4412 Quad (Quad core ARM Cortex A-9/Mali 400MP Gaphics) - 15574 Antutu Benchmark Points

Samsung Galaxy S III  (Quad core 1.4 GHz Exynos 4/Mali 400-MP) - 15574


Nvidia Tegra 3 (Quad core ARM Cortex A-9/Nvidia ULP Gaphics) - 11633 to 13519 Antutu Benchmarks Points

HTC One X+ (Quad core 1.7 GHz/Tegra 3) - 13519
HTC One X (Quad core 1.5 GHz/Tegra 3) - 11633

MediaTek MT6589 (Quad core ARM Cortex A-7/PowerVR SGX544 Graphics) - 11345 to 13189 Antutu Benchmarks Points

O+ 8.15 (1.2 GHz)  - 13189
Cherry Mobile HD 2.0 (1.2 GHz)  -12668

MyPhone A919i Duo (1.2 GHz) - 11345

Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8225Q S4 Play (Quad Core ARM Cortex A-5/Adreno 203 Graphics

Cherry Mobile Flame 2.0 (1.2 GHz) - 10819



Roughly, the MediaTek MT6589 chipset is about as fast as Nvidia's Tegra 3 chipset.

A Good Model for Customer Service: Globe @Twitter

Globe Telecom has doubled up on its effort to provide speedy technical support on Twitter. In addition to @talk2Globe, people discussing problems with Globe services may get a friendly visit from @KenOFGlobe, @RolandOfGlobe or @KirkOfGlobe, or another @_________OfGlobe representative. Providing technical or customer support on Twitter is not new. The way that Globe's new team does is.

First, they respond quickly. You can expect a response within a few hours or even minutes. Second, when one technical or customer support personal leaves his shift, if your concern is still not resolved, your concern will be passed on to another who will continue trying to resolve your concern. Third, even after a concern is resolved, a follow-up is made by a different representative to make sure that the customer is satisfied. Oftentimes when I seek technical or customer support, I feel like they just want to "resolve" the issue as soon as possible… i.e. get rid of the query as quickly as possible. Lastly, the quality of the response is good. I can understand the response. I have had several experiences with online customer service from several different companies where I have always felt the answer was not responsive. It is like they are cutting and pasting generic responses from a book.

The level of technical and customer support has left users opening up a lot of self-help forums. In fairness these forums have been very helpful. In the case of Globe Telecom, it looks like that may not be necessary anymore.

In my case, my concern was not resolved in my favor. Still I was impressed with the quality of service provided. That maybe, is the hallmark of good support. When the customer does not get what he was hoping for, but is still satisfied that his query was properly addressed.