Live Blog: Made By Google October Phone Event

We’re live from Google’s October phone event in San Francisco

The AnandTech Podcast: Episode 39

Here’s the second part of AnandTech’s smartphone podcast, post the Apple event where the iPhone 7 was launched. On the Podcast are Ian, Josh and Matt (apologies for his microphone) discussing a number of other devices and reviews that were launched around the same time as the iPhone. First up is a recap of Josh’s review of the Samsung Galaxy Note7, which has since been recalled due to issues with the battery – the team discusses some of the other features of the Note7 as well. Next is a discussion on the launch event of the Honor 8, a step up from previous Honor devices and uses HiSilicon’s top smartphone SoC, the Kirin 950, and also comes with dual cameras. Finally, the team covers the LG V20 smartphone launch, with the Josh having a good hands on with the dual display technology as well as some time on the new Android 7/N.

The AnandTech Podcast #39

Featuring

• Dr Ian Cutress, Host, Senior Editor (@IanCutress)
• Joshua Ho, Senior Editor (@JoshuaHo96)
• Matt Humrick, Smartphone Editor, (@MattHumrick)

iTunes
RSS – mp3, m4a
Direct Links – mp3, m4a

Total Time:  1 hour 00 minutes 59 seconds

Outline hh:mm:ss

00:00 – Start
01:44 – Samsung Galaxy Note7
 – 01:44 – Fires
 – 03:11 – A week is not long enough for a full review
 – 05:49 – Note7 Overview
 – 07:06 – Snapdragon 820 (now) vs Snapdragon 821 (in future devices)
 – 08:06 – Clarification on Google DayDream 
 – 09:03 – Specification Breakdown on Note7
 – 10:03 – Why not Android 7?
 – 11:08 – Discussing the Battery Issues
 – 15:06 – Curved Displays
 – 18:45 – Differences in Exynos 8890 vs Snapdragon 820
 – 19:59 – Industrial Design
21:31 – Honor 8
 – 21:31 – How Honor’s events differ to others
 – 25:04 – Hardware
 – 28:24 – EMUI
 – 33:44 – Competition 
 – 34:07 – Color and Feel
 – 35:59 – Honor vs Huawei (Nova and Nova Plus)
38:14 – LG V20
  – 38:14 – Dual Screens
  – 40:34 – Specifications, 3D NAND and Dual Cameras
  – 45:19 – Android 7/Nougat
  – 46:39 – Video/Audio Recording on V20
  – 49:46 – ‘Quad DAC’
51:29 – LiveBlog Adventures (How we’re adjusting our LiveBlog process)
1:00:59 – FIN

Related Reading

The Samsung Galaxy Note7 (S820) Review
honor Press Event Live Blog
Hands On With the LG V20

Recent Podcasts

Episode 38 (9/16): Smartphones Anonymous (iPhone Launch)
Episode 37 (8/30): Intel’s Developer Forum 2016 (Joule, Broxton, AMD Zen)
Episode 36 (2/29): Mobile World Congress 2016
Episode 35 (8/31): Windows 10 and Skylake Launch
Episode 34 (8/25): Interview with Dr. Genevieve Bell, Intel Fellow
 

HTC Announces Desire 10 Pro and Desire 10 Lifestyle

As the holidays approach, OEMs often refresh their device portfolio to make sure that they put their best foot forward as a significant proportion of sales occur towards the end of the year. Today HTC is refreshing their mid-range with the Desire 10. The Desire 10 Pro is the higher-end variant and fits somewhere around the Desire 830, while the Desire 10 Lifestyle is closer to something like the Desire 826. To see what I mean we can take a look at the specs below.

For the most part the Desire 10s are both mainly interesting due to the use of stereo external speakers similar to the HTC 10. HTC is also claiming similar levels of sound quality on the 3.5mm output which is likely to differentiate it from competitors on the market.  The Desire 10 Pro uses a MediaTek Helio P10 SoC which should be ok if it’s below 300 USD, but the Desire 10 Lifestyle is targeted to be somewhere around 250 GBP with a Snapdragon 400 which doesn’t really seem to be enough SoC for the target price. The Desire 10 Pro is going to be more expensive than that, which suggests that the value proposition is not necessarily there.

Putting aside value for SoC, HTC is attempting to differentiate with the use of better audio, better design, and things like laser autofocus for the camera. With the audio experience, design, and AF system of the HTC 10 put in this mid-range device HTC is hoping to remain competitive against stiff competition from OEMs like Huawei and Xiaomi. The Desire 10 Lifestyle will be available by the end of September, and the Desire 10 Pro will be available in October. They will be available in Stone Black, Polar White, Royal Blue, and Valentine Lux.