OPPO is an electronics manufacturer based in China, already known on several markets for their range of MP3 and portable media players, LCD TVs, e-book readers, and starting recently, mobile phones. We are usually a bit  skeptic when we are  encountering a new smartphone manufacturer for the first time. However, we  have received very good impressions from different sources about their earlier model named Finder which still holds the title of the slimmest phone in the world and is available only on China market. Intrigued, with high expectations and  critical attitude we welcomed OPPO Find 5 in our lab.

After MWC (Mobile World Congress) introduction earlier this year, we were looking forward to meet the latest Padfone as well as Fonepad, new brand in vast ASUS Android portfolio. Presented by Jerry Shen, ASUS CEO himself, Fonepad holds several interesting attributes at aggressive price point. It is the world’s first 7-inch Intel Lexington tablet and features the Intel Atom Z Series SoC with 1 GB of memory, a HD (1280x720) IPS display, microSD card expandability and has cellular data connectivity, but it also features full voice calling and SMS capabilities, allowing it to replace your smartphone. The focus is on staying connected and consuming content on the move, while occasionally making phone calls, likely via a Bluetooth headset (it will be bundled on some markets).

At first glance, this year’s flagship of Android, Galaxy S4 cellphone looks a lot like the last year’s Galaxy S III model.  Although, when we looked more closely, it became clear that improvements in design do exist – the newest addition to the Galaxy S brand of products at the same time has both bigger screen and battery, and is also thinner, a bit smaller and weighs less than its predecessor. For this feat, Samsung should be lauded, although we suspect that good part of this accomplishment is due to implementation of Gorilla Glass 3 protective screen. It’s thinner, but at the same time sturdier, with a greater resistance to scratches, although if numbers are to be believed, it’s also more fuscous. The “inspired by nature” design choice of rounded edges, present in Galaxy S III, is less pronounced here, corners are sharper and the rim isn’t wavy anymore, rather it has the same scope everywhere. The said rim also has another two strengthenings which serve to additionally simulate a metallic hoop, but are still made from plastic. The edges are higher than the screen for a space of less than a millimeter and the whole of the device is covered with a layer of hyperglaze, as is the case with its predecessor, which under the transparent surface has a lattice of thin lines, whose purpose is to change the monotony of large, white-colored surfaces.

LG Optimus G comes in a luxury white box of a surprisingly high quality, with just a silver G on the front and the LG logo at the top. The inside is filled with standard goodies like the charger (with a detachable USB cable), product guide and set of earphones in their own bag with the QuadBeat logo. If you check out the picture, they are much better-designed than previous LG offerings, with flat cables and an aluminium rim. Sound reproduction is solid but a bit light on the bass side, clear in mids and highs. As expected, there is only the mike and one button on the cable; one press is play/pause, while two short ones will skip to next song.

According to both IT experts and market analytics, HTC has been on unstable ground for a while now, feverishly trying to keep its balance and restore the global reputation it enjoyed until only a few years back. In terms of both total profit and general market success, HTC is far below the current market leaders, Samsung and Apple, which used their last year’s respective flagship phones to secure an already established position and make life even more difficult for the decrepit HTC. However, the former leader of the mobile technology domain isn’t the one to surrender easily, so they’ve made a sharp turn and significant change of strategy in order to restore as much market share as possible in 2013. Firstly, there’s a new branding strategy, which admittedly builds on the success of last year’s models, in the form of continuing the One product line, a series of products that attempt to become the best devices out there in both name and spirit, each in its own category. Last year, that was HTC One X, anything but a bad phone, but one that still hasn’t managed to fulfil the plans and visions of the company’s management. This year, HTC has a new incoming model, called simply and effectively One, without any suffixes, bringing a lot of new, outside-the-box features to a somewhat stale Android market.

Lenovo has recently presented the IdeaPad Yoga notebooks, in two versions: one with x86 architecture and a display size of 13”, and one with ARM architecture and a display size of 11”. Having seen the larger version “in person”, we got the chance to toy around with the smaller one, more akin to a tablet than a notebook, with the exact physical appearance of its bigger brother. At first glance, besides the physical size, no other differences exist between the two models. The lid system, keyboard, touchpad, display, everything’s bit-matched, only reduced in size. Even the model’s colour is the same – orange, which caused a few funny looks around the office and the question of why we got the same model for testing again. The reduction in size has its perks, with the keyboard being the most problematic one. A lot of the keys had to be scaled down, with Enter and Backspace keys reduced to criminally tiny proportions, which is a big deal if you do a lot of typing.

If you like the idea of possessing a tablet, but don’t really wish to separate yourself from a smaller notebook, why not have both? True enough, most tablets rely on Android OS, especially the well-known ones such as ASUS’ Transformer. However, this time around, it’s not an ASUS product that we’re presenting, but a Samsung one, their first venture into this grey area of the market.

If you’re even remotely interested in Android and associated smartphones, you’ve probably picked up some info about the latest representative of the Nexus line, namely Nexus 4. Switching partners yet again, after a double cooperation with HTC and one with Samsung, Google has picked LG for partner in creating the ideal smartphone as they see it. Speaking of which, the process of partner selection usually goes like this – Google creates a list of prerequisites that the new Nexus has to fulfil, while potential partners match that list with their offers and proposals within the set limits. What pleases Google’s executives most becomes the new Nexus.

Since Sony ceased their joint venture in Sony Ericsson and started presenting models under the Sony name exclusively, it’s become clear that new winds have been blowing. While we were very satisfied with last year’s accessible Xperia U model, Xperia T (better known as the James Bond model) used its tremendous marketing campaign to try and sell the phone and its solid, but not top-notch hardware base. That made us even hungrier for Sony’s freshly presented new flagship model, namely Xperia Z. The stellar hardware in this phone showcases the sheer scope of Sony’s plans for the Android platform, and the plethora of unique features make the phone even more fun to test.

After the global success of Samsung Galaxy line, it’s no wonder that Samsung started using this brand for other phones, which are not counted among the best of the Android devices. Still, this is the first time that Samsung explicitly linked its strongest model (Galaxy SIII) with an average one (Galaxy SIII Mini), so the question remains whether it’s justified, or if SIII Mini is really that good.