Samsung Gear S2

Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch, running on Tizen OS! 

I purchased my Samsung Gear S2 last week and have been using it for a week now. My choice was the silver and white edition. My previous Smart Watch was the LG G Watch R. These are my thoughts and opinion on the Gear S2. 

PROS:

• Tizen OS
• Decent Battery Life for a Smart Watch
• Light Weight
• Compact Size
• Sharp Screen
• Intuitive Rotating Bezel

CONS:

• Pricey
• Lack of App Support Compared to Android Wear
• No Support for Google Apps such as Maps, Keep & Google Now
• S-Voice Doesn't Match Google Now for Voice Search 

SPECS:

• Size: 49.8 x 42.3 x 11.4mm 
• Weight: 47g
• IP68 Certified 
• Super Amoled Screen
• 1.2" Full Circular Screen
• 360 x 360 pixel density 
• Duel Core 1ghz Exynos 3250 CPU
• Wifi, Bluetooth, NFC, Accelerometer, Gyro, Heart Rate Monitor, Barometer 

  

EXPERIENCE/OPINION: 

I previously owned a LG G Watch R smart watch, running Android Wear, for about a year. Having switched over to Tizen with the Gear S2, i immediately find the software to be a long way ahead of Android based smart watches. Tizen feels far more polished, smoother and quicker than Android Wear. Android Wear feels very much like a work in progress whereas Tizen feels and acts like a smart watch should. 

The watch itself is a great size, smaller than my previous watch but large enough that even with the text size set to the smallest, text on the 1.2" screen is easily viewable. It also looks very sharp and clear, colours are great also. You can even sync photos to the Gallery App, which also look great. As for the rotating bezel, the idea behind that is absolutely genius. It feels extremely intuitive and is a great way of navigating the watch and apps without your finger getting in the way of the screen. There is a little bit of feedback when rotating the bezel so you don't find yourself over rotating and going past the apps or widgets you want to select. The watch has a great weight, it doesn't feel too light that it feels cheep, but also doesn't feel too heavy. 

The selection of Apps is a problem for many from the reviews and comments i've seen and although the number of apps pales in comparison to Android Wear watches, i don't feel it is such an extreme gulf when you consider that the majority of apps available for Android Wear are just variants of the same type of app. For example, i wanted a calculator app for my G Watch R and i had dozens to choose from, when i downloaded one for the Gear S2, there was just one. It does the job perfectly, so i don't feel like i need more options to choose from. With regards to apps, my biggest gripe is a lack of support for Google apps such as Maps and Keep (two of my most used apps on the G Watch R). You do get Here Maps, but as a long time user of Google Maps, i would have preferred to have that option. There also doesn't appear to be a decent note taking app which i miss. Other than that, there are the types of apps you would expect to find for all manor of activities such as running, diet and nutrition, heart rate monitoring, sports scores, news, stocks etc. as well as a host of watch faces. 

The battery life appears to me to be on a par with the G Watch R. Samsung claim you will get two to three days life on a single charge, however this will depend on your usage. Personally, i end the day with around 50% but i use always screen on, with a relative high brightness level and never turn the watch off which eats battery life but can still get the best part of two days. 

Unlike the G Watch R, the Gear S2 features two buttons on the side of the watch, one works as a back button and the other one a home button. The home button also has an option to choose what the watch does when you double press it. I chose to open music controls as this is the most useful to me. This is useful as you require less swiping and touching of the watch screen to close apps which keeps finger prints to a minimum.  

 

RECOMMEND?
Anyone who is looking for a smart watch should definitely consider the Gear S2. As i mentioned already, Tizen OS is a much more polished OS than Android Wear. The rotating bezel is a fantastic idea which feels like it should be the standard and is the best way of navigating a smart watch there is. Having come from an Android Wear watch, there is no way at this moment i would go back, not unless Google bring Android Wear in line with Tizen, which is frankly a long way off. I enjoyed Android Wear but once you try Tizen first hand, you can see and feel a huge difference. There is the lack of support from developers and that doesn't look like changing any time soon, but there is the large selection of app types which should enable you to find everything you need. As a big Google supporter and user, i am very entrenched in the Google ecosystem, but this hasn't been a stumbling block in using Tizen. Although i do miss Google Keep! It's a slightly more expensive option than some alternatives, but worth the extra investment in my opinion. I don't think, anyone who is interested in purchasing a smart watch would be disappointed in choosing the Gear S2, unless they feel that smart watches in general are just not for them. A very happy purchase that i will get my worth out of and then some. Definite recommend.    

  

Steam Controller

The Steam Controller for Use on Steam Machines and Steam Big Picture Mode! 

These are my thoughts and experience using the Steam Controller. 

I have had an Alienware Alpha (i5) Steam Machine for a while now, but at the time of purchase, the Steam Controller was not available so it came with an Xbox 360 controller. Upon release of the Steam Controller, i picked one up as it was one of the things i was interested in when the Steam Machines were announced. 

The Steam Controller offers a different experience from traditional gamepads because it is isn't geared towards consoles only. It is also capable of playing more traditional keyboard and mouse PC games, via Steams Big Picture mode on your PC, TV using Steam Link or via Steam Machines. This, for me, is why Steam Controllers are worth the purchase, or at least worth trying out. My steam collection is not the largest in the world, but i have tried it on a few games. The controller has weaknesses in some areas and strengths in others. However, whether you are used to playing games exclusively with a mouse and keyboard, or you are a console gamer or gamepad user, you will encounter a learning curve. 

 

The steam controller comes with one thumb stick, rather than two, a d-pad which also operates as a trackpad, another trackpad, the traditional face buttons, two shoulder buttons and two rear paddles. All buttons, triggers and paddles on the controller can be remapped to suit your needs and brilliantly, you can download and apply pre-configured layouts created by the developer or the Steam Community.

The controller itself, is fairly bulky but not uncomfortable, even with small hands, and is easy to hold. But the placement of the face buttons is unfamiliar to anyone who uses a gamepad as they are placed where you have become accustomed to using a right thumb stick, so takes some getting used to but isn't difficult once you've used it for a short time. The trackpad is very responsive and the triggers and paddles all operate as you would expect. The controller doesn't come with a rechargeable battery, but instead takes two AA batteries, one inserted in each of the controllers handles, or can be played wired via the included micro USB cable.

 

Playing first person shooters with this controller is a slightly awkward experience in my opinion, because for consoles gamers, you are used to using one thumb stick for movement and one for aiming, and the familiarity of that is thrown off by having to use a trackpad for aiming instead, which is very difficult to get used to and accuracy is affected. Thumb sticks also have the advantage of popping back into the central position when let go of, this means in order to turn around 180 degrees for example, you simply push the thumb stick all the way to one side and hold, your character will then keep spinning until you let go. The Steam Controller on the other hand, will only turn as long as you reach the end of the track pad, you then have to lift your thumb, place it back in the centre and move again, this creates a jerky movement on screen and is very difficult to get right in quick sequences. You are supposed to be able to change the trackpad to operate more like a thumb stick, but i'm yet seen this done to any standard which matches a more traditional controller. People who play FPS's with a keyboard and mouse will also have trouble with this as the accuracy of the trackpad simply cannot match that of a mouse. In short, FPS's are not the game of choice for this controller at all.

Playing other games, however, has been a great experience. I've been a console gamer far longer than PC gamer and i prefer the use of gamespads over mouse and keyboard. Racing games feel excellent as the trackpad isn't really required. Third Person adventures are served very well, especially as the controls are mappable meaning you can change buttons to suit your needs. Also, the trackpad doesn't suffer from the accuracy issues like it does with FPS's as the camera angles aren't such an issue as accurate shooting is.

I have played Cities: Skylines for hours with this controller so far and the experience is fantastic. The game itself was built for use with a mouse and keyboard, but after applying the controller layout created by the developer themselves, it is very easy to use. the trackpad in this instance doesn't have any accuracy issues compared to a mouse and moving the screen with the thumb stick actually feels more natural to me then using the WASD buttons on keyboard. The same goes for playing TerraTech, this is a game which feels more natural to play with a controller than keyboard and mouse and again, the WASD buttons work better as an analogue stick.

 

Recommend?

I would recommend the Steam Controller to a gamer who uses Console and PC. The familiarity of using a gamepad for any PC game you choose just feels more natural and a lot of the times more efficient than using a mouse and keyboard. However if you are a strict PC only gamer, it will likely feel very alien, and the learning curve will likely feel too cumbersome for you to stick it out.

However, whether you are an exclusive PC gamer or both PC and Console, i would not recommend this for any FPS. The trackpad just fails to offer the level of accuracy and speed of a mouse and keyboard or analogue stick.

I am very pleased with the product and it's also great to see a company offer something different and untraditional. After all, having options can never be a bad thing. The ability to offer re-mappable controls is great and downloading pre-configured layouts from the community and devs is a great addition. Worth a purchase.  
 
 

Elephas EPR60 Portable Projector

The Elephas EPR60 is a portable projector, purchased from Amazon for £65. Compact in size offering great value for money! 

I was looking for a budget projector which wouldn't break the bank as i had booked a holiday to the south of Spain and in typical geek fashion, was looking to take a games console with me for those day's when staying in and relaxing on the terrace was the plan! The television in the house in Spain doesn't have HDMI input and i wanted to take my Nvidia Shield Console. So a cheap portable projector was the perfect option. 

I looked around on Amazon and came across the Elephas EPR60. At £65, it offered affordability for the two weeks i would be away. 

My expectations, given the price paid, were that it would likely get the job done to a half decent level and if not, the price point was at a level where it wouldn't be a large waste. But i have to admit, my expectations were actually surpassed. I was very pleased with it overall, and while it remains a budget option, it did the job exactly how i wanted, and i have found myself still using it back at home for watching movies or just spending nights watching YouTube videos on a larger screen (a wall in my house). 

This is my opinion on the ELEPHAS EPR 60. 

 

PROS:

• Affordability
• Decent Picture Quality 
• Compact Size, Easy for Storage and Travel 
• Remote Control Included
• Lots of Input Options
• USB Output slot

CONS:

• Quite Noisy
• 1000 Lumens Bulb Requires a Dark Room 
• Resolution Decent, but not up to 1080p HD Standards 
• Low Speaker Volume 

SPECS:

• up to 130" Equivalent Screen Size
• 800 x 480 DPI
• Input for USB, AV, SD Card, VGA & HDMI
• 1000 Lumens Bulb

EXPERIENCE/OPINION

As stated in the intro, i bought this initially to take away with me on a break in order to play my Nvidia Shield Games Console, via HDMI. But i have found myself using this more than i had expected since returning home. While being low in price, it offers a decent picture quality. It won't play back at 1080p, so if you're looking for PS4, XBOX ONE picture quality similar to your HD television, you will be disappointed. But if you can look past the numbers, the quality of picture is still there. I used it for videogames and watching DVDs and was an enjoyable experience on both occasions. The 1000 Lumens bulb is bright enough to give an enjoyable experience, but this does require a very dark room. I have black out blinds in my room, so achieving this is easy for me, but if you are looking to use this during the day and you aren't able to black out your window, it might make for a difficult experience. 

I use this just against a white wall, as opposed to a dedicated screen, and don't have any issues. The projector can project images up to an equivalent screen size of 130". It offers a small leg at the bottom which screws out so you can prop up the front of the projector to display the image higher on the wall without having to stack things underneath in order to get the projector itself higher up. You can also adjust the focus and the orientation of the image via two levers next to the lens. 

 

The projector has a number of input options via USB, VGA, SD Card, AV and HDMI. This covers you for a host of different devices, including DVDs, Games Consoles, SD Cards and USB Drives meaning you shouldn't find too much trouble playing the content you want. It also offers, a USB Output slot for charging a device such as a Phone or External Speaker.

While in Spain i was using it to watch movies via a DVD player and to play games on my Nvidia Shield. Both of those connected to the Elephas EPR60 via HDMI.. while the output on those devices in native 1080p, the projector cannot natively play content at the same resolution, but does offer a decent picture quality given the size of screen (mine was 97") and the price paid. My biggest issue was the speaker on the projector which is quiet at best, and is drowned out largely by the projectors aggressive fans, which while they do an excellent job of keeping it cool, is very loud in itself. The sound quality is also shallow and offer little bass. So i plugged in a portable, rechargeable bluetooth speaker for a better sound quality. This plugged in via 3.5mm headphone jack and was a more than adequate option. The speaker i chose charged via USB, so i was also able to use the projectors 5v USB Output slot to charge the speaker at the same time, ensuring the battery didn't run out. 

 

RECOMMEND?

I would recommend this product to anyone who is looking for a very easily portable projector, who is happy to sacrifice a small level of picture quality for ease of use and convenience. It offers a large picture, with decent quality. It does require a very dark room to get a great screen brightness. If you are a looking to play HD quality content and are fussy about resolutions and graphics then this is probably not the projector for you. However, the price point makes this a great choice for anyone who wants a projector for casual use and for travel. The amount of inputs is great, allowing compatibility with a host of different devices. And that the price paid, it really is worth the purchase.