Inconsistent reviewing

[The_Lhc]

Preface: this is NOT an anti-Apple rant or any kind of accusation of bias, it's simply a request that reviews are more consistent. So:

Got the new issue through the post yesterday, flicked through the Smartphone group test, very interesting, won't spoil it because there'll be people that haven't read it yet but interesting result.

However... The HTC One X+ has a couple of things flagged as "Cons" against it, from memory, "average" battery life and no SD card slot.

Now, I wouldn't argue with that, if it weren't for the fact that the iPhone 5 has, according to the review, almost the same battery life (they're both quoted as being able to drain the battery within a day's hard use, actually seems quite optimistic to me) and NO SD card slot. Both phones (as tested) are 64GB devices and yet there's nothing in the iPhone "Cons" section about the battery or the card slot, suggesting that these aren't actually problems for the iPhone, only for the One X+, which seems a little unfair to me.

Would it be possible to make these tests a little more consistent? If something is an "issue" for one phone, then it must be for any other phone that shares the same "issue". I could understand if the One X+ only had 16GB of memory, for example but it doesn't, it has 64GB (and bear in mind the iPhone is available with only 16GB, would the lack of SD card slot be an issue then?).

I also understand that that isn't the reason the One X+ was docked a star.

For clarity, I own neither an iPhone or any member of the HTC One family, although I do own an older HTC phone.

 

[BenLaw]

Maybe there were so many cons with the iPhone that they couldn't fit in the sd card and battery?

 

[The_Lhc]

No, that got 5 stars!

 

[RobinKidderminster]

Annoys me how little emphasis is ever made of signal strength & call quality. Not absent in the whf test but its a PHONE. Too much emphasis on smart

 

[roger06]

Annoys me how little emphasis is ever made of signal strength & call quality. Not absent in the whf test but its a PHONE. Too much emphasis on smart

It's not about that though. It's about the device's video and audio capability as it's What Hi FI 'Sound and Vision' - not What Hi Fi Mobile Telephony... If you want a review on the phones per se then there are other mags for that.

 

[professorhat]

Annoys me how little emphasis is ever made of signal strength & call quality. Not absent in the whf test but its a PHONE. Too much emphasis on smart

The other thing is, for a lot of smartphone users nowadays, this isn't as important as other factors. I do use my iPhone as a phone on occasion (hardly ever though to be honest), but I use it far far far more for web browsing, emails, music, sat nav, games, watching videos etc. etc.

And yes, I do realise this doesn't apply to everyone, but I'm pretty sure it represents the majority of smart phone users now.

 

[The_Lhc]

Annoys me how little emphasis is ever made of signal strength & call quality. Not absent in the whf test but its a PHONE. Too much emphasis on smart

The other thing is, for a lot of smartphone users nowadays, this isn't as important as other factors. I do use my iPhone as a phone on occasion (hardly ever though to be honest), but I use it far far far more for web browsing, emails, music, sat nav, games, watching videos etc. etc.

And yes, I do realise this doesn't apply to everyone, but I'm pretty sure it represents the majority of smart phone users now.

Yes but that's because we're all geeks with no friends, so who'd want to ring us?

 

[RobinKidderminster]

Sorry but for me the word phone is important. I would not dream of watching a movie on my phone. I have a decent system to play music and watch films. Some modern smart phones are appalling for calls. A camera may be useful and an mp3 is reasonable but surely a good phone needs to be a good phone.

 

[The_Lhc]

Sorry but for me the word phone is important. I would not dream of watching a movie on my phone.

What about if you're on an 8 hour bus journey?

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Annoys me how little emphasis is ever made of signal strength & call quality. Not absent in the whf test but its a PHONE. Too much emphasis on smart

The other thing is, for a lot of smartphone users nowadays, this isn't as important as other factors. I do use my iPhone as a phone on occasion (hardly ever though to be honest), but I use it far far far more for web browsing, emails, music, sat nav, games, watching videos etc. etc.

And yes, I do realise this doesn't apply to everyone, but I'm pretty sure it represents the majority of smart phone users now.

Yes but that's because we're all geeks with no friends, so who'd want to ring us?

Sad but true.

 

[philipjohnwright]

A recent study showed that making calls was only 6th on the list of things that people use smartphones for.

I don't have the link to the study but from memory it was one of the better ones. Obviously there will be variation between individuals, but smartphones do seem to be realising the vision of being a 'remote controls for our lives'. I have mine with me 24 x 7 nowadays (charging on my bedside table when I sleep).

 

[RobinKidderminster]

Then I accept I am in a minority. I have a phone for calls and texts. A camera for good photos. A tablet for internet, email & movies on a bus. HiFi for movies & music. An MP3 player when on the move. Can any one device do all these things well? Except for occasional use I would say no but for many without the need for quality then so many options are available

 

[The_Lhc]

Then I accept I am in a minority. I have a phone for calls and texts. A camera for good photos. A tablet for internet, email & movies on a bus. HiFi for movies & music. An MP3 player when on the move.

What do you carry all these things around in? Is the table 3G? If so that's two mobile contracts you're paying for if you're out and about.

Can any one device do all these things well? Except for occasional use I would say no but for many without the need for quality then so many options are available

I think you need to investigate a bit further, a couple of years ago you might have been right, but I don't personally think you are now. I certainly don't see any point in a standalone mp3 player for example and there's some pretty decent phone cameras around now, not comparable to a dSLR obviously but then you can't carry one of those in your pocket.

 

[hammill]

Sorry but for me the word phone is important. I would not dream of watching a movie on my phone.

What about if you're on an 8 hour bus journey?

If I were on an 8 hour bus journey, I would need my head examining. If I tried to watch a film on a phone on a coach I would probably throw up. Listening to music/audio books is what one should do in a car or on a bus.

 

[daveh75]

Can any one device do all these things well?

Yes!

 

[RobinKidderminster]

Then I accept I am in a minority. I have a phone for calls and texts. A camera for good photos. A tablet for internet, email & movies on a bus. HiFi for movies & music. An MP3 player when on the move.

What do you carry all these things around in? Is the table 3G? If so that's two mobile contracts you're paying for if you're out and about.

Can any one device do all these things well? Except for occasional use I would say no but for many without the need for quality then so many options are available

I think you need to investigate a bit further, a couple of years ago you might have been right, but I don't personally think you are now. I certainly don't see any point in a standalone mp3 player for example and there's some pretty decent phone cameras around now, not comparable to a dSLR obviously but then you can't carry one of those in your pocket.

Accepting I am in the minority I don't wish to argue but just offer an opinion. I carry all my devices in the car using tethering for my tablet. A large usb stick has all the photos, music & videos I need and aare used in the home, car or on the move. Can I use a phone to watch a movie? No thanks. A phone to take a good hd video? No thanks. Each to his/her own but I still wish phone reviews helped us to choose a phone which worked well as a phone

 

[The_Lhc]

I carry all my devices in the car

"I'm sorry sir but I'm afraid I can't allow you to bring that car on my bus."

 

[Andrew Everard]

And no way will carrying all those gadgets affect the handling, sir...

 

[Alantiggger]

Preface: this is NOT an anti-Apple rant or any kind of accusation of bias, it's simply a request that reviews are more consistent. So:

Got the new issue through the post yesterday, flicked through the Smartphone group test, very interesting, won't spoil it because there'll be people that haven't read it yet but interesting result.

However... The HTC One X+ has a couple of things flagged as "Cons" against it, from memory, "average" battery life and no SD card slot.

Now, I wouldn't argue with that, if it weren't for the fact that the iPhone 5 has, according to the review, almost the same battery life (they're both quoted as being able to drain the battery within a day's hard use, actually seems quite optimistic to me) and NO SD card slot. Both phones (as tested) are 64GB devices and yet there's nothing in the iPhone "Cons" section about the battery or the card slot, suggesting that these aren't actually problems for the iPhone, only for the One X+, which seems a little unfair to me.

Would it be possible to make these tests a little more consistent? If something is an "issue" for one phone, then it must be for any other phone that shares the same "issue". I could understand if the One X+ only had 16GB of memory, for example but it doesn't, it has 64GB (and bear in mind the iPhone is available with only 16GB, would the lack of SD card slot be an issue then?).

I also understand that that isn't the reason the One X+ was docked a star.

For clarity, I own neither an iPhone or any member of the HTC One family, although I do own an older HTC phone.

So the answer to the OP is ....... :?

 

[chebby]

Sorry but for me the word phone is important. I would not dream of watching a movie on my phone.

What about if you're on an 8 hour bus journey?

If I were on an 8 hour bus journey, I would need my head examining.

Last time I was on a train journey (sorry for the mention of public transport again Robin) from Portsmouth to Tiverton, I had good 3G coverage for 90 percent of the journey and thoroughly enjoyed catching up favourite programmes on iPlayer, surfing the web and reading the forum.

What would you expect me to do? Even reading a new copy of WHF? wouldn't occupy one past the first 20 miles now it's mostly photos, ads and buyers guide

 

[Joe Cox]

Firstly, we did mention the battery in the iPhone cons! "Battery life only so-so".

Secondly, the for, against and verdict - and indeed star rating - are only meant to be brief points pulled out from 500ish word reviews. So we wouldn't uniformly mention every pro/negative every time, more the highlights of each one on a case by case basis. Of course all the pros and cons, such as the lack of storage, would always be considered in our overall verdict on a product.

The iPhone has obviously never had a memory card slot so it's fair to say we might be more likely to assume a level of knowledge amongst readers – more so than on the HTC One X+ phone, which we'd expect fewer readers to know all about.

 

[hammill]

Sorry but for me the word phone is important. I would not dream of watching a movie on my phone.

What about if you're on an 8 hour bus journey?

If I were on an 8 hour bus journey, I would need my head examining.

Last time I was on a train journey (sorry for the mention of public transport again Robin) from Portsmouth to Tiverton, I had good 3G coverage for 90 percent of the journey and thoroughly enjoyed catching up favourite programmes on iPlayer, surfing the web and reading the forum.

What would you expect me to do? Even reading a new copy of WHF? wouldn't occupy one past the first 20 miles now it's mostly photos, ads and buyers guide

Reading WHF used to take me 15 minutes, that is why I stopped buying it. Trains are not buses, even as a very car sick child I never felt unwell on a train and I might consider watching a blu-ray/dvd on my laptop on a train (I have done on a plane). I have travelled to Portsmouth by train on many occasions, but never from Tiverton - does it take 8 hours? I normally drive to the alps every year and the family listen to Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter in preference to the in car DVD player, ipods, DSs etc.

 

[AnotherJoe]

Actually the reviews in WhatApple are remarkably consistant.

Apple products (bar the AppleTV) never get marked down despite their shortcomings, whilst rivals can lose marks just for launching products on days that end in 'y' oke:

 

[Paul.]

In the 22 days I have owned my phone, I have made 3hrs and 40mins of calls. Somehow, I have done over 189,000 meters in Temple Run, so pretty sure that took longer than 3:40! Maybe they should rename it iWastehugeamountsoftimeicouldbeusingtobeproductive5 to reflect its primary usage...

 

[The_Lhc]

In the 22 days I have owned my phone, I have made 3hrs and 40mins of calls. Somehow, I have done over 189,000 meters in Temple Run, so pretty sure that took longer than 3:40!

I dunno, that geezer runs pretty fast!