HTC Butterfly : The Perfectionist

The all new ANDROID FLAGSHIP from HTC : HTC Butterfly

HTC is known for it's quality and perfection in delivering what it says. This time the company has recently launched it's new Andorid flagship the all new HTC Butterfly. But this time it has taken it's hands on the so called "Phablets" category with the screen size 5 inches. But does this really pays off with such a huge price tag? Let's see.
Firstly the Specifications....

Design

HTC Butterfly boasts 5 INCH SCREEN

Device Type - Smart Phone
Operation System - Android

Display
Physical Size - 5 inches
Dimensions - 143 x 70.5 x 9.08 mm
Resolution - 1920 X 1080 pixels FULL HD
Weight - 140 grams
Technology - Super LCD3 capacitive touchscreen
Colors - 16 Million colors
Pixel Density - 441 ppi pixel density
Touch Screen - Capacitive, Multi-Touch
Operating System - Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean,upgradable to Android 4.2
Sensors - Accelerometer, Digital Compass, Proximity Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Gyro Sensor

Design of HTC Butterfly is just PERFECT 

Others - Corning Gorilla Glass 2 with HTC Sense 4+ User Interface, Water Resistant, Shower Proof

Battery 
Capacity - "Non-removable" Li-Po 2020 mAh battery

Hardware
Processor - 1.5 GHz Quad-Core Qualcomm Krait Processor
Graphics - Adreno 320
RAM - 2 GB RAM
Built-In Storage - 16 GB storage
Storage Expansion - Yes, up to 32 GB

HTC Butterfly has 8MP CAMERA with HD VIDEO PLAYBACK

Camera
Camera - 8 MP ( 3264 X 2448 pixels )
Flash - LED
Features - Smart Flash, Continuous Shooting, Sightseeing Mode, Front Focus, Ultra-wide Angle, Auto Focus with BSI Sensor
Camcorder - 1920 X 1080@30fps with video stabilization and stereo sound recording
Front-Facing Camera - 2.1 MP,

Multimedia
Speakers - Loudspeaker, earpiece
3.5mm jack - Yes
Radio - Stereo FM Radio with RDS
Music Player - SSupports MP3, WAV
Video Player - Full HD, supports MP4, 3GP, 3G2 and WMV
Sound Enhancement -  Beats Audio sound enhancement
Ringtone - MP3,WAV Ringtones

HTC Butterfly has excels the connection sector

Connectivity and Data
SIM - Micro-SIM
Browser - HTML5
Positioning - A-GPS with GLONASS
Bluetooth - Yes, v4.0 with A2DP
Wi-Fi - Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac with Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA
Wi-Fi- Hotspot - Yes
USB - microUSB v2.0 (MHL)
Others - GPRS, EDGE, NFC

Availability  
Announced - December,2012
Release - January, 2013

Price : Rs.45,900

Now, lets have a look at the Highs and Lows...

HTC Butterfly has brilliant display with remarkable resolution density

Highs :

• Resolution Density is one of the best in the market ( 441 ppi )
• Superb processor
• Excellent built quality
• Excellent camera
• Design is just perfect

Lows :

• Battery does not pay off
• Large screen could posses a problem for people with small hands
• The price is excess, it could have been between Rs.40K 

Conclusion :
HTC butterfly is fantastic phone that delivers what is expected from it. We are very impressed with it's performance in all sectors. It is the real perfectionist. In few words - It is simply one of the best, high-end, devices till date we have tried our hands on. This device has achieved perfection in top priority sector's like premium feel, design, display and connectivity.
The only flaws we found with device are - the battery and the price. With a typical smartphone usage, the battery would no longer last a little over 10 hrs. Although, so solve this problem HTC has added a 'battery saver mode', but still after the use of this mode, it lasts no longer than 12-13 hrs. Another major drawback of this device is it's huge price, we definitely think it is over priced. In India if we see, it is not the best value-for-money product. We would advice to wait till the prices come down to around 40K or less, or opt one of the alternatives given below.

Alternatives for HTC Butterfly :  Apple iPhone 5, Nokia Lumia 920, Sony Xperia Z, Samsung Galaxy Note II, Nexus 4

Another Milestone!!

We have today jumped another hurdle, we have crossed 2000 Views...We, at UltraLap, Thank You from the bottom of our heart for you support, for you love and for your affection, without you guys this could not have happened. Thanks Again and continue to support us...on this special occasion we are happy to announce that we will soon be buying a Domain of our own, so we could have a Website of our Own.

Stay tuned another Review for "HTC Butterfly" is on the way, and will soon be posted.

Optimus G : The New Giant From LG

The  All New  LG Optimus G 

LG might not be as good as the Sony or Samsung in dealing with the mobile phones. But it's Optimus 'L' series is a hit among the youngsters  Now the company is back with the much awaited and the high-end device - Optimus G. Today, we are here to review the high end device and see if it governs over Xperia Z or iPhone 5 or the HTC butterfly.
Here it goes and firstly the Specifications....

Optimus G has SUPERB DESIGN 

Design

The new ANDOID flagship from LG : Optimus G

Device Type - Smart Phone
Operation System - Android

Display
Physical Size - 4.7 inches
Resolution - 768 X 1280 pixels
Pixel Density - 318 ppi pixel density
Technology - True HD with LCD capacitive touchscreen
Colors - 16 Million colors
Touch Screen - Capacitive, Multi-Touch
Sensors - Proximity Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Digital Compass, Accelerometer, Gyroscope
Dimensions - 131.9 x 68.9 x 8.5 mm
Operating System - Android 4.0 ICS, Android 4.1 ( Jelly Bean ) upgardable

Jelly Bean is NOW AVAILABLE for Optimus G

Others - Zerogap Touch, Corning Gorilla Glass 2 with LG Optimus UI v3.0

Battery 
Capacity - "Non-removable" Li-Po 2100mAh battery

Hardware
Processor - 1.5 GHz Quad-Core Krait Qualcomm Processor
Graphics - Adreno 320
System Memory - 2 GB RAM
Built-In Storage - 32 GB storage
Storage Expansion - No

The FULL HD recording from 13MP CAMERA of Optimus G is superb

Camera
Camera - 13 MP
Flash - LED
Features - Auto Focus, Time Catch Shot, HDR, Panorama, Continuous Shot, Beauty Shot, Cheese Shutter
Camcorder - 1920 X 1080@30fps
Front-Facing Camera - 1.5 MP,

Multimedia
Speakers - Loudspeaker, earpiece
3.5mm jack - Yes
Radio - TBD
Music Player - Supports AAC+, WMA, AAC-LC, AMR-NB, MP3, AAC, AC3, WAV
Video Player - Full HD
Sound Enhancement - Dolby mobile sound enhancement
Ringtone - MP3,WAV Ringtones

Internet Browsing 
Browser - HTML 5, Adobe Flash

Technology
SIM - Micro-SIM
Positioning - A-GPS with GLONASS

Phone Features 

• Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
• TV-out (via MHL A/V link)
• SNS applications
• MP4/H.264/H.263/WMV/DviX player
• MP3/WMA/WAV/FLAC/eAAC+/AC3 player
• Photo viewer/editor
• Document viewer/editor
• Organizer
• Voice memo/dial/commands
• Predictive text input

Optimus G has SOLID CONNECTIONS with no problems

Connectivity
Bluetooth - Yes, v4.0 with A2DP
Wi-Fi - Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac with dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA
Wi-Fi- Hotspot - Yes
USB - microUSB v2.0 (MHL), USB Host
Others - GPRS, EDGE

Availability  
Announced - August,2012
Release - November, 2012

Price : Rs.34,500

Now, lets have a look at the Highs and Lows...



Highs :

Optimus G has NO CARD SLOT for expanding memory

• Processor excels for what it is meant for
• Screen quality is upto the mark
• Pixel-Density is superb ( 318ppi)
• 4G available
• Excellent built-quality

Lows :

• No Expandable Memory
• Keyboard not upto the mark
• Camera could have been much better
• Processor heating
• LG UI not good

Conclusion :
Since the launch of the mobile, late last year, it able to deliver itself well in the category of the high-end devices. Although some cons are there, overall if we see, this is a good phone to buy in the high-end category.
The camera of the device is able capture good and decent pictures, with the video recording capability that works just perfect with the Full HD mode. The performance of the device is just excellent and works far better than the average.
On the negative side, if we see, during our test we found that the processor heats up at the slightest of the task. Also a big problem for the Optimus G is the sunlight legibility issue, its brightness cannot be increased and that plays the worst part.
On the multimedia side, the sound quality is just brilliant, and with the LG provided headphones it works just perfect.
Concluding, we think that with this features available in the phone, the price tag provided is a little higher, although the pros are solid, the cons are able to overcome the price, thus we think that price is little higher. Never mind, every phone has it's own pros and cons, but this one is a great phone in the 30K around budget, but still we feel the Optimus 4X would be a better option from LG to buy instead of this one.

Alternatives for Optimus G : Xperia Z ( If you can expand your budget a little ), Note II, Nexus 4 , Galaxy S III, HTC One X

iPhone 5 : The All New Apple Warrior

The all new Apple iPhone-5

Apple has always fascinated people from the starting. This time the company is back with it's all new iPhone 5, which was launched late in 2012. So we are here today to review the product, which is currently priced at Rs.45,500, and see if it is a good competitor to other high end devices like Xperia Z or Samsung S IV.
Firstly the Specifications....

Design
Device Type - Smart Phone
Operation System - iOS

iPhone-5 is incrrdibly designed

Display
Physical Size - 4 inches
Resolution - 640 X 1136 pixels
Pixel Density - 326 ppi pixel density
Technology - LED-backlit IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen
Colors - 16 Million colors
Touch Screen - Capacitive, Multi-Touch
Sensors - Three-axis gyro, Accelerometer, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor
Dimensions - 123.8 X 58.6 X 7.6 mm
Operating System - Out-of-the-box iOS 6, upgradable to iOS 6.1.3upgrade ready
Others - Corning Gorilla Glass, oleophobic coating

Battery 
Capacity - "Non-removable" Li-Po 1440mAh battery

Hardware
Processor - 1.2 GHz Apple A6 Processor
Graphics - PowerVR SGX 543MP3 (triple-core graphics)
System Memory - 1 GB RAM
Built-In Storage - 16/32/64 GB storage
Storage Expansion - No

Camera of iPhone-5 is capable of taking decent photos

Camera
Camera - 8 MP (3264 X 2448 pixels)
Flash - LED
Features - Simultaneous HD video and image recording, touch to focus, geo-tagging, face detection, panorama with HDR
Camcorder - 1080p@30fps with video stabilization
Front-Facing Camera - 1.2 MP, 729p@30fps with face detection, FaceTime over Wi-Fi or cellular

Multimedia
Speakers - Loudspeaker, earpiece
3.5mm jack - Yes
Radio - No ( using third-party apps )
Music Player - Supports AAC, protected AAC, HE-AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible, Apple lossless, AIFF and WAV
Video Player - Supports H.264, AAC-LC, .m4v, .mp4, .mov, MPEG-4, M-JPEG, .avi
Sound Enhancement - Audible Enhanced Sound
Ringtone - Polyphonic

iPhone-5 is one of the best products from Apple till date

Internet Browsing 
Browser - HTML ( Safari )

Technology
SIM - Nano-SIM
Positioning - A-GPS with GLONASS

Phone Features 

Lighting Connector of iPhone-5

• Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
• Siri natural language commands and dictation
• iCloud cloud service
• Twitter and Facebook integration
• TV-out
• Maps
• iBooks PDF reader
• Audio/video player/editor
• Organizer
• Document viewer
• Image viewer/editor
• Voice memo/dial/command
• Predictive text input
• 4 inch Retina Display
• Ultrafast Wireless network
• Lightning Connector
• AirPrint
• AirPlay

iPhone-5 excels Connectivity

Connectivity
Bluetooth - Yes, v4.0 with A2DP
Wi-Fi - Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac with dual-band
Wi-Fi- Hotspot - Yes
USB - USB v2.0
Others - GPRS, EDGE

Availability  
Announced - September, 2012
Release - September, 2012

Now a look at the Highs and Lows...

Highs :

• Good Processor 
• Siri works just perfect
• Camera works quite well
• Incredible Dimensions
• Light weight and easy to handle
• Perfect screen size for a phone
• Excellent build quality

Dimensions are just perfect

Lows :

• Battery life is poor
• Maps are just terrible
• Fingerprint magnet
• No storage expansion card slot
• Aluminum back is delicate and gets scratch and dents too often
• No Micro-Sim, else Nano-Sim
• No optical zoom in camera

Conclusion :

iPhone 5 is slimmer, thinner and smarter than the previous 4S version

If we go by the specifications the phone is overall well built with some problems it in. But if you want the brand name Apple associated with the device this one is just perfect for you. The screen of the phone is just the best and suitable size that a phone should have, with the build quality being just amazing, even though the back panel has aluminium which posses a problem as it easily catches scratches and dents, also being aluminium it's a fingerprint magnet. But if you can go with it, this one is just the perfect one for you.
Now, coming to camera, the camera of this phone is well built and perfectly designed that is capable of taking decent photos and good video recordings, although there is no "optical zoom" available.
The phone got excellent features with it with some flaws. It's a Apple A6 processor that works as perfectly as it is advertised, with Siri that works brilliantly. Now coming to some flaws, battery life is not so good for a 4-inch device, it's not even 1500 mAh battery. The maps are just terrible, due to which the CEO of the company recently apologized  We would have been more happier if there was a micro-sim capability for this device, it's not easy for everywhere and for everyone to get a nano-sim, also there is not Storage-Expansion card slot available.
But still, if you can go with all these flaws and you like the iOS and Apple, this one is the best product available for you in the over-crowded market for high-end smartphones.
Alternatives for iPhone 5 - Sony Xperia Z, Samsung S IV, HTC One, Nokia Lumia 920

Sony Xperia Z : The Ultimate Super Smartphone

Xperia Z 

The much awaited review from us is here - the Sony Xperia Z, although we were planning to wait a few days more to test this device's capability on heavy games and the battery life in a deep manner, but some of our fans mailed us regarding this product, so here we are today to review this massive super smart phone.
Lets get started by Specifications first...

Design
Device Type - Smart Phone
Operation System - Android

Display
Physical Size - 5 inches
Resolution - 1080 X 1920 pixels
Pixel Density - 441 ppi pixel density
Technology - TFT capacitive touchscreen
Colors - 16 Million colors
Touch Screen - Capacitive, Multi-Touch upto 10 fingers
Sensors - Accelerometer, Ambient Light Sensor, Gyroscope Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Magnetometer
Dimensions - 139 X 71 X 7.9 mm
Operating System - Out-of-the-box Android v4.1.2 (Jelly Bean), 4.2 upgrade ready
Others - Shatter proof and scratch-resistant glass with Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2

Xperia Z has a Dust-Resistant screen with Bravia Engine 2

Battery 
Capacity - "Non-removable" Li-Ion 2330 mAh battery

Hardware
Processor - 1.5 GHz Krait Qualcomm Quad-Core Processor
Graphics - Adreno 320
System Memory - 2 GB RAM
Built-In Storage - 16 GB storage
Storage Expansion - microSD, up to 64 GB

Xperia Z has a 13.1 MP Camera

Camera
Camera - 13.1 MP (4128 X 3096 pixels)
Flash - LED
Features - GExmor RS, Auto Focus, Face Detection, Geo-tagging, Image Stabilizer, Object Tracking, Red-eye Reduction, Scene Recognition, Self Timer, Smile Detection, Image Sensor, Superior Auto, Sweep Panorama, Touch Focus, White Balance, Smile Shutter, Shutter Sound, Auto Upload with unlimited "Burst Mode" technology
Camcorder - 1080p@30fps, dual-video recording
Front-Facing Camera - 2.2 MP,1080p@30fps

Multimedia
Speakers - Loudspeaker, earpiece
3.5mm jack - Yes
Radio - Stereo FM radio with RDS

Build Quality of the Xperia Z is simply brilliant

Music Player - Supports FLAC, MP3 and WAV
Video Player - Supports H.264, MP4, H.263, 3GPP, Full HD
Sound Enhancement - 3D Surround Sound, ClearAudio+, xLOUD Experience
Ringtone - Polyphonic

Internet Browsing 
Browser - HTML5 Technology
SIM - Micro-SIM
Positioning - A-GPS support and GLONASS and Google-Maps

Phone Features 
One Touch Connect with NFC, Pinch-to-Zoom, Dynamic Normalizer, PlayNow, SenseMe, Track ID, Walkman Application, Handwriting Recognition, MMS Enabled, Predictive Text Input, Audio Recorder, Face Unlock, 3D Games, Audio and Video Streaming, TV Launcher, Flight Mode, Alarm, Calculator, Calendar, Stopwatch, Tasks, Timer, HDMI Support, Media Go, NFC Support, Screen Mirroring, DRM Support, Data Roaming, Smart Dial, International Call, Call Waiting, Visualiser, Metering, Neo Reader Application, Album Art, Voice Input, TV Out Port

Connectivity

With excellent phone features this is currently one of the Best from SONY

Bluetooth - Yes, v4.0
Wi-Fi - Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA
Wi-Fi- Hotspot - Yes
USB - microUSB v2.0 (MHL 2)
Others - NFC, GPRS, 3G

Availability :
Announced - January, 2013
Release - Available, February, 2013

Now a look at the Highs and Lows...

Xperia Z is 30 Min Water-Resistant

Highs :
Brilliant processor
Brilliant screen engine
Water-resistant
Dust -proof
Massive internal storage
Excellent build quality

Lows :
Little over weight
Size (5'') is too large
Camera app slow to open
Off-angle display is poor
Loudspeaker quality not up to the mark
Fingerprint magnet
Adobe Flash support is missing

Image taken from Xperia Z - Outside

Image taken from Xperia Z - Inside

Conclusion :
Well, with this kind of specifications this phone has been able to deliver quite brilliantly in the crowded market of high end super phone like HTC One , Samsung Galaxy S IV and Nokia Lumia 920 among others. But till the time Galaxy S IV is launched this phone is the best buy according to us. The camera of the phone is a brilliant one with the exceptional "unlimited photo's capturing" in the Burst Mode technology. The phone has ability to capture decent photos.
The feature of water-resistance makes is one of the most extra-ordinary one in the high end class phone. This means you make your dreams of listening to songs while taking a bath come true. The we experienced
"zero-lag" , even when we were using multiple heavy games of apps. The connections are just fabulous  with extra fast wifi the works pretty well and decent in low connections as well. Although it is quite bulky, with a 5-inch screen and weight over 145grams, this possesses a problems for the one with small hands.
Concluding, this is a must buy for those who are looking for high-end super smart phones with big screen and a brand name like Sony associated with it. With brilliant features, this is one of the best to buy till Samsung and HTC hit the store's with new products.

Samsung Galaxy S IV

Samsung Galaxy S IV - The Life Companion 

The successor of the phone of the year, Samsung Galaxy S III, is here the all new, much hyped the Samsung Galxy S IV. Although we expected the Korean Maker to reveal this giant in the MWC '13, but unfortunately Samsung couldn't make it. Dubbed as the "Life Companion", this seems much better than the phone "Designed For Humans".
Anyways, today we at UltraLap will review the phone to see whether it is perfectly delivering as we expected or not, and to check whether it is really the world's best phone ever made till date or not.
Here it all goes...

Design
Device Type - Smart Phone
Operation System -  Android v4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)

Display
Physical Size - 5 inches
Resolution - 1080 X 1920 pixels
Pixel Density - 441 ppi pixel density
Technology - Super AMOLED Touchscreen
Colors - 16 Million colors

Galaxy S IV  view from different angles

Touch Screen - Capacitive, Multi-Touch
Sensors - Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, temperature, humidity, gesture
Dimensions - 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9 mm
Others - TouchWiz User Interface, Corning Gorilla Glass 3

Battery 
Capacity - Li-Ion 2600 mAh battery

Hardware

Processor - 1.6 GHz Cortex-A15 Exynos 5 Octa eight-core processor
Graphics - PowerVR SGX 544MP3
System Memory - 2 GB RAM
Built-In Storage - 16/32/64 GB storage
Storage Expansion - microSD, up to 64 GB

Camera
Camera - 13 MP (4128 X 3096 pixels)
Flash - LED
Features - Dual Shot, Simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization, HDR
Camcorder - Yes, 1080p@30fps, dual-video recording
Front-Facing Camera - Yes, 2 MP,1080p@30fps, dual video call

Samsung Galaxy S IV  and S III

Multimedia
Speakers - Loudspeaker, earpiece
3.5mm jack - Yes
Radio - No ( Through third party apps )
Infrared port - Yes

Internet Browsing 
Browser - HTML5, Adobe Flash

Technology
SIM - Micro-SIM
Positioning - A-GPS support and GLONASS

Phone Features 

• Messaging - SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS
• Other Features - Wireless charging (market dependent)
• S-Voice natural language commands and dictation
• Smart stay, Smart pause, Smart scroll
• Air gestures
• Dropbox (50 GB storage)
• Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
• TV-out (via MHL 2 A/V link)
• SNS integration
• MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player
• MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player
• Image/video editor
• Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)
• Google Search, Maps, Gmail,
• YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa
• Voice memo/dial/commands
• Predictive text input (Swype)

Connectivity
Bluetooth - Yes, v4.0 with A2DP, EDR, LE
Wi-Fi - Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct
Wi-Fi- Hotspot - Yes
USB - microUSB v2.0 (MHL 2), USB On-the-go, USB Host
Others - NFC, Infrared port, GPRS, EDGE

Availability 
Announced - March, 2013
Release - Expected 26th April, 2013

Benchmarks for Galaxy S IV 

Now a look at the Highs and Lows...

Highs :

• Brilliant processor 
• Brilliant display
• Realistic colors
• Lightweight
• Durable 
• Excellent camera with great performance 

Lows :

• Plasticky material design
• Size (5'') is too large 
• Battery is only 2600 mAh

Conclusion :

Galaxy S IV and Iphone 5

Samsung has definitely done a lot to make this one as better and brilliant as it could. But on the same time it posses a problem for the price. It is expected that this giant will come with a price tag of anywhere between Rs.45,000 to Rs.50,000, here, in India. Although it is having one of the best and the fastest processors till date and one of the best displays and camera, at the same time it's large screen is possessing a problem to many, especially those with small hands. Also the battery is not enough to run the whooping 8-core Exynos processor, and to deliver fully to run this 5 inch device.
But every thing in this world has some cons and some pros, the same goes for the Galaxy S IV. We would be eagerly waiting for other companies like HTC to launch One as a review will we waiting for you guys. Also we will soon be posting a comparison between iphone 5, Xperia Z and the Galaxy S IV. Stay Tuned till then!