Gadgetory

at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Spain we saw a lot of great devices but there were some that were standouts in our eyes and we gave them our top picks this is Josh freghar from Android authority what's going on everybody and I'm here to bring you what became our top picks of MWC 2015 our award for this year a nice one if I may add adorns a number of different counters at MWC 2015 and though we saw quite a few huge flagship announcements at this year's event the smaller players had a lot to show for as well and the mid-range game seems to be heating up but our top big list will then start with ZTE with their grand s3 now underneath the surface this is a pretty decidedly mid-range device maybe a little bit higher up on the list given the specs that it has and the nice screen and handling in its design but we give it the topic award mainly for a unique feature called the eyeprint ID and setting it up the 8 megapixel optics on the front facing camera will capture a video of how your eyes look but also zoom in in order to see the blood vessels or round your pupils in order to get a proper print and every time you use this particular feature the scan will further refine the information basically after you have it set up you just wake up the phone swipe down from the top and keep your eyes inside of the area and after a few seconds you will get right into your phone it made a lot of sense to us because you're already looking at your phone when you're going to unlock it so it only makes sense to use your eyes in order to unlock the device despite what may be a mid-range offering this unique feature is the reason why we gave the grand s3 one of our top pick Awards of MWC 2015 standout features in mid-range devices were also the reason why that we went to lenovo and found their vibe shot which also got one of our awards for top pick of MWC 2015 it's easy to mistake the Lenovo vibe shot for a slim point and shoot digital camera when looking at it from the back and that is exactly what the company hope to achieve in its look premium mid-range best describes the look and specifications of this phone but its standout feature is the 16 megapixel rear camera and 8 megapixel front-facing unit and the overall experience that we'll offer in its camera a dedicated tactile shutter button is coupled with a physical toggle to easily switch between smart and pro modes with the latter offering a level of manual control that you'd get with regular cameras the 16 megapixel autofocus rear facing camera also comes with an infrared autofocus tricolor flash oh is and a sixteen by nine BSI sensor and in short while with this device we were certainly impressed with it and we couldn't wait to put it through its paces to see its true picture quality but for this nice innovation and the ability to create a camera on the back of what is otherwise a mid-range smartphone we are looking forward to getting more from this phone and for now it gets our top pick at MWC 2015 we take a visit over to the tablet game with Sony and their Xperia z4 tablet now there aren't really too many enhancements on this particular tablet but that is already considering that the Xperia Tablet from before were some of our favorite devices coming out of Sony with a very thin profile at 6.1 millimeters thick the Xperia z4 tablet further refines what was already a fantastic design language and handling experience and of course there are some bumps and specifications that you would expect from current generation high-end Android tablets the minimalistic Xperia UI on top of Android 5.0 lollipop really lets the Snapdragon 810 showcase its performance and media consumption will be a blast on what is now a quad HD display sony staples like water and dust proofing also returned with this device which is just one of the many reasons why we gave it this award we return one more time to the mid-range offerings with the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 and Alcatel has really stepped up their game in terms of providing the basics in a very nice way but also adding a few features underneath the surface that you may not be thinking of before what we have here in this mid-range phone is a 1080p display a 13 megapixel rear camera and a megapixel front-facing unit that would be a delight for selfie lovers but the idol 3 also boasts a fantastic audio experience with dual front-facing speakers featuring JBL audio and the built-in mix music application that we got showcased where you can actually mix two different audio tracks together even if they are coming from streaming services so you can let the amateur DJ in you shine but another really interesting feature of the idol 3 is the ability to flip the phone whichever way you want even if it's upside-down you are still able to use this phone as normal as you normally would and you are actually able to take calls with it upside down as well which is kind of cool if you're just going pick up your phone any which way and use it no matter which way you want the world will game continues to grow and at MWC 2015 we got a look at LG's new watch urbane and it was announced a bit ahead of MWC 2015 but it wasn't until that particular week that we had the opportunity to go hands-on with the latest LG watch this watch features a premium metal designed that sleeker and more elegant than the G watch R that was side from aesthetics we're looking at pretty much the same device but that means you'll get the snapdragon 400 with half a gigabyte of ram a one point three inch p OLED 320 by 320 display and a 410 milliamp hour battery there's also the same stock Android wear experience which judging by the G watch ours should fly through its elements with these particular specifications but really what makes us really like the watch urbane is its aesthetic it manages to look a lot like a regular watch but have the smart capabilities underneath that we are seeing in the wearable space of course the urbane will be as attractive as your personal tastes dictate but there's no denying that LG continues to step up their game with each new wearable that they create but LG wasn't the only company coming out with a watch that really took to a timeless design well for MWC were heard a few rumors and whispers about Huawei's plans for wearables and for Android wear and at MWC 2015 the Huawei watch became a reality and what a stunning looking watch it is the new wearable stands out as the most watch like SmartWatch today barring a full circle display like the LG G watch an urbane but with in a less bulky package the watch also offers a 1.4 inch AMOLED display with the resolution of 400 by 400 as protected by a sapphire crystal display and the body is equally durable thanks to a 3/16 L corrosion resistant stainless steel as far as internal hardware and specifications go the Huawei watch should perform similarly to its existing brethren from the likes of LG Samsung and Motorola there's a snapdragon 400 underneath with half a gigabyte of ram and the software is pretty much the same stock experience you would find elsewhere in Android wear watches but why we give the Huawei watch the award is because of its timeless design because Huawei decided to take on the original watch aesthetic and really improve on it much like LG did but in their own way we finally move into the flagship space with the HTC One m9 it may not have been the aesthetic and that's um we're hoping for but that doesn't mean that this isn't a device worthy of your attention further refining the design language started with the m7 and arguably with the NIR perfected m8 the m9 takes what we loved about those predecessors and puts them together with a few coats of extra polish gone is the much criticized ultra pixel rear cam replaced with the 20 megapixel shooter other improvements include a jump to the Snapdragon 810 and three gigabytes of RAM and inside of Sense 7 it now has HTC themes along with a couple of other enhancements in things like the blink feed but it's design is really what we give HTC a lot credit for because they stick to their guns with an aesthetic that is still one of the most attractive in the Android space today the back material is now not quite as slippery as found in the m8 and it's backing moves to the front with a lip that provides a bit more of a pinch so this is one of the best-handling HTC devices yet maybe HTC could have done a little bit more to set the m9 apart from its previous phones but we don't really fault them too much because we do love what we see from HTC one devices and don't be fooled because this is still one really premium device on the inside as well as on the outside another one of our top picks went to Samsung and you are probably expecting this already but the Samsung Galaxy s6 edge gets another one of our top pick Awards announced alongside the Galaxy s6 the s6 edge might not be dramatically different from its standard screened brother but it's unique dual curved display helps it stand out from the crowd and that is exactly why we think a lot of users will like it the galaxy s6 edge packs the same specs as its brother including that powerful Exynos processor with only a few minor changes like a slightly larger battery but you still get the 5.1 inch qHD display and three gigabytes of RAM and one area that the edge does stand out from the gs6 aside from aesthetics is when it comes to the software the s6 edge offers two special features the first of which is people edge which allows you to assign colors to up to five contacts and when you put the face down you can know who is calling because you will see the color glowing from that right edge the other special feature is the ability to show notifications and other bits of info on the edge giving users a quick way to see text calls and more for those that are impressed by what Samsung did with a Galaxy s6 but are looking for a product that will stand out in an even better way you can't go wrong with yes edge is definitely going to be a conversation piece and something that will set you the user apart from some of the other devices that are available in the markets after MWC 2015 and finally our last topic from MWC 2015 goes to the Samsung Galaxy s6 if you're going into MWC hoping to see something really new from Samsung maybe you expected that that wasn't going to be the case but the galaxy s6 actually exceeded those expectations as Samsung finally brought the world that much-needed infusion of premium materials building a glass back with a metallic frame the design may have required a few sacrifices such as the lack of a microSD card slot and a removable battery but the latest member in the Galaxy S family certainly takes things up a notch when it comes to its looks on the hardware front you still get that really good bump up that you expect from the next Galaxy S device like the XE no 720 as there are no snapdragons here anymore you'll also find three gigabytes of RAM a 5.1 quad HD display and internal storage options that begin at 32 gigabytes and go up to as high as 128 Samsung hasn't just changed up the aesthetics and given us a hardware upgrade the software site has also received improvements maybe better put that it was dialed back a little bit a dramatic reduction in the bloatware and several other improvements that should make the galaxy s6 software the latest iteration of TouchWiz to date one of the best that is coming out of this crop of flagship devices I can't emphasize this enough and I already have in my first look that's the smoothness in this particular version of TouchWiz is something to really remember and I'm really looking forward to putting this particular device through its paces when I get my hands on it for a long form review the s6 finally brings Samsung's design language a bit more on par with premium devices like those from HTC and Sony which we already gave our top picks for at MWC 2015 and for the most part the device seems to be well-received by the tech world at large but there's no doubt in our mind that the latest galaxy is worthy of being deemed an Android authority top pick we hope you enjoyed this presentation of some of our favorite devices coming out of MWC 2015 but remember that there are so many other ones that were seen at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Spain so make sure you keep it tuned to Android authority to see all of that great coverage and beyond as we are going to get our hands on these flagships in the coming weeks stay tuned for all of that and even more drop us some likes on our videos and subscribe to our channel if you haven't already so you can keep up with all of the great flagship talk that's coming out of android authority comm because we are your source for all things Android