Consumer Tech’s Special Gift and Graduate Guide to Mobile Phones and Tablets.

By Richard Sherwin, Gary Kaye, Howard Levin and Susan Davis

Yes, we all love the new Apple iPad and with Target, BJs and Costco selling the older 8 inch iPad mini at less than $200, it’s a good buy. And the iPhone 7 and new thin iPad are models of designer delight. However, consumers can do better. Samsung’s Tab A 8 inch, a best seller for under $150 is better, faster, clearer, more expandable device and we think Android has surpassed Apple with more useful Apps. Apple’s more expensive models the 12.9 inch iPad Pro and 9.7-inch Pro with WIFI are nice units, but you can do even better with Samsung’s S12 inch Pro which comes with a robust 128GB if you want or need extra memory  and a comparable high res screen, perfect for viewing streaming and regular video too.

The alternative operating systems beyond Apple and Android are the consistently bestselling Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8, (under a $100) which now comes with Alexa, or the Windows based 11.6 Nextbook touchscreen (under $300) and Nextbook’s smaller models as low as $69. The Nextbook 8 seems to improve every generation and this year’s is no exception. Amazon’s Kindle, though inexpensive and feature laden, still does not support many popular apps that can compete with Amazon’s retail web site.

Our forever recommended Nextbooks,  are a great buy, maybe slightly heavier than other tablets, all Nextbooks provide more inputs for expanded memory and some come with attached keyboards so converting these tablets into more productive work units is very easy. Other underrated tablets are LG’s new 10-inch model and Acer’s multiplatform models including their Google Driven oversized models. Verizon offers a great deal on the new LG and its HD screen compete with clarity, speed and handling with any manufacturer.  Acer’s Iconia models are all budget priced but with many features built-in.

Dell, Lenovo and HP are not in the running for many reasons for Tablets, one is that they are not priced well, two: nor do they provide the competitive edge their PCs have.

At the high – high end of the Tablet or “Convertible” spectrum, you have the still slightly disappointing Microsoft Surface. The Surface, includes a free copy of Office and other Microsoft programs, but still does not include many of the more popular Apps. Has Microsoft spent tons of money advertising it? Yes.  Elegant Design? Yes, Fast processor? Yes, still bad battery life Yes. Worth the around $700 price tag? No!

Now the mobile Phones:

Digital Family Advisor has bravely tested most of the iPhones and Samsung Galaxy’s and even ventured deep into the “other brands” like LG, Motorola, BlackBerry, Coolpad, HTC, Huawei, and Kyocera. In fact, occasionally, a Motorola or Huawei has been ranked very highly as a best buy. This time the venerable LG may have surpassed the entire group of cell phone makers. LG, which years ago made a cellphone called Chocolate which preceded iPhone and Samsung in style, speed and features and then lost its mojo,  has a winner now.

The LG G6 comes with a 5.7-inch QHD+ (2,880 x 1,440 resolution) FullVision display, and for the first time ever in a smartphone, an 18:9 screen aspect ratio. Compared to most mobile phone’s 16:9 aspect ratio displays, the 18:9 format has more viewing space and arguably a deeper richer experience when streaming videos and playing games. Our gamers at DFA liked the G6 Game Collection a retail value of up to a total of US$200 for six games – Temple Run 2, Spider-Man Unlimited, Crossy Road, SimCity Build It, Cookie Jam and Genies & Gems – on Google Play, are offered for free. The games take full advantage of the G6’s FullVision display and single-handed ease of use. If you are used to an on off button on the side,  LG’s rear button might take a while to get the hang of it. In our hands-on test, we found that the design made it easier to fit the whole family into the picture or video. And the specs, as far as camera speed, depth of color, ease of use, exceeded both Samsung and iPhone in many areas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1ksYPToR3s

Our hands-on test for the long awaited, now allegedly safe new Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone was positive too. After months of rumors and leaks about what might be in it, Samsung appears to have delivered a real winner. To say that much of the company’s near-term future rests on the success of this phone is not much of an overstatement. The disastrous Note 7 and its exploding batteries did major damage to the brand, coupled with other product issues and political corruption charges back home in South Korea, Samsung really needs a big win this time around. And as near as we can tell, they’ve got it.

The S8 comes in two versions, the 5.8″ S8 and the 6.2″ S8 Plus. Samsung has been able to increase screen size on the S8 in comparison to the S7 without any additional size or weight by making the screen edge to edge and top to bottom, by virtually eliminating the bezels. They call the screen the “Infinity Screen” and it is spectacular. The S8 Plus is admittedly a bit weightier and larger but still not unwieldy and may be a good fit for those of us who feel that the more screen size, the better, so long as it’s still comfortable to handle. The S8 Plus fills the bill in many categories over the new iPhone. Will the millions of former Galaxy Phone consumers come back? Verizon, T-Mobile, AT@T and Sprint are holding their breathe too.