Amazon kicks off Black Friday early with Kindle Paperwhite price cut

Black Friday is still 25 days away, but you can already start to stack up the deals already as Amazon has kicked off the proceedings early by launching a Black Friday Deals Store.

The number one option is the Kindle Paperwhite, which has been cut by $20 and is now just under $100. Amazon hasn't announced if the deals will come to the UK or Australia, but we hope it's a good indication of what to expect in the run up to Black Friday worldwide.

The Kindle Voyage has had a price cut too, with 10% off putting it at $179.99 while the original Kindle is now down to $59.99 as well.

Amazon is going to constantly refresh the deals daily on its Black Friday store page, giving you up to 20 deals in a single day all the way up until November 27.

Get in there early

Whether it’s headphones, accessories, charging packs, laptops, camera equipment or much, much more, you’re going to find something you want on the Black Friday deals page in the next month.

The 2016 Roku Streaming Stick has also had a $10 price cut down to $39.99.

On top of that, there’s an upcoming price cut to the Fossil Q Founder in the mix as well as a slashing of the Asus ZenWatch 2’s price.

It’s also worth checking out Start Up Week on Amazon where it’s offering much better prices on its crowd funded deals. It runs until November 8.

• Black Friday 2016 to be the biggest day of spending of all time

from TechRadar: Phone and communications news http://www.techradar.com/news/amazon-kicks-off-black-friday-early-with-kindle-paperwhite-price-cut

The best Microsoft Lumia 950 XL deals in November 2016

Savvy bargain fans out there, you've waited long enough, November and Black Friday month are finally here. time to grab yourself that mobile phone deal you've been waiting for.

Microsoft's finally brought out a top of the range smartphone in 2015, and while we're deep into 2016 now, this is the phone for you if you're thinking of getting a handset that could actually begin to replace your PC.

The Lumia 950 XL is a phone with a huge 5.7-inch QHD (2560 x 1440) screen, oodles of power thanks to the Snapdragon 810 chipset inside (combined with a useful 3GB of RAM) and for those that love customisation, there's a removable back, battery and microSD slot as well.

Let's talk camera - the sensor is a 20MP effort but with the Pureview technology nabbed when Microsoft acquired Nokia, which really helps to bring much better photography all over the place - low light, general landscapes, selfies, they're all accounted for if you're a fan of mobile photography.

It's a phablet that offers the very best from Microsoft in a simple package - top end specs and something very different from the rest on the market.

More options: iPhone 6S Plus deals | iPhone 6 deals | iPhone 6 Plus deals | iPhone deals

Techradar's Lumia 950 XL review highlights:

We liked

Firstly, it has to be said that the Lumia 950 XL has a great camera. In almost every situation it coped admirably, nearly always turning in great shots, and a few particularly stunning examples.

In terms of general performance, the XL is also a champ. No matter what I threw at the device, it was able to handle every app and game with aplomb. With an lovely 2K screen, watching videos and reading for extensive periods was a treat, and the ClearBlack coating really works well to improve visibility in bright sunlight.

As ever, the Live Tiles of the Windows 10 Mobile operating system are a real draw, presenting glanceable information in an attractive way, and offering something different in what is increasingly becoming a sea of copycat and me-too devices.

With expandable storage I was never in danger of running out of space, even when I exceeded the 32GB built-in limit.

We disliked

As has been the case for years, recommending Microsoft's mobile OS to anyone comes with a massive caveat: the app gap. Though some strides have been made, many top apps have yet to make their way to Windows 10 Mobile.

What's more, the apps that are currently available tend to be rather poor, and are only infrequently updated; Instagram is a prime example, being still in beta after several years.

Battery life is also something of a let-down. Given the size of the unit, and the general efficiency of Windows Phone in this area, I had great hopes for the endurance of the 950 XL. Unfortunately battery performance was only ever middling at best.

To top things off, the very, very plain design is a let-down set alongside the design pedigree of the line as a whole. Past Lumias defined what was capable with polycarbonate, with interesting, insistent lines and an almost iconic look. By comparison the 950 XL is drab, and more likely to be seen in the pocket of a used-car salesman than a trend-setter.

Final verdict

It's fair to say that I'm something of an apologist for Windows Phone, having flown the flag for the operating system even when things hit rock bottom. And yet, for all the waiting, the Microsoft Lumia 950 XL doesn't feel like it's making the most of the potential offered by Windows 10 Mobile.

The hardware definitely has its highs and lows. Build quality isn't the best around, but handling is great. All of the lovely pixels on the AMOLED screen, along with the exceptional colour accuracy, make it one of the best around, but the speakers are a bit of a let-down.

Only the camera proves to be a real stand-out feature – alhough many of the former staff of the PureView team went over to Apple, clearly enough stayed around to make a difference. As someone who values the camera over almost everything else on a smartphone, for me the 950 XL was a real gem of a performer.

And yet, that app gap will likely be a problem for many users, while the buggy nature of Windows 10 Mobile is likely to test the patience of even the most dedicated Windows fans.

The real question is: after at least 18 months out of the game, has Microsoft done enough to earn a place at the top division once more? And the answer is yes, but with an enormous proviso.

As a device, the Lumia 950 XL, along with its slighter sibling, has been carved out as a tool for the purist. And to that end Microsoft has delivered, and has shown a promise that will likely be glorious when fully delivered on.

For those not sold on the Lumia dream, however, it's a much harder sell. The stark truth is that, for most people, there are better phones out there, especially the likes of the Nexus 6P.

For the faithful, this will likely be enough to keep them going while rumours of the 'Surface Phone' fly around, and perhaps of a replacement for the Lumia 1020.

First reviewed: December 2016

from TechRadar: Phone and communications news http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/best-microsoft-lumia-950-xl-deals-1311061

The best HTC One M8 deals in November 2016

HTC deals have been a bit pricey of late, but November has always been a great month to grab a cheap mobile phone deal, especially with Black Friday looming large.

Like Samsung's Galaxy S5, the HTC One M8 hasn't suddenly stopped being a good phone just because HTC has launched the updated M9. Indeed the M8 is still a firm favourite with us, thanks to its amazing construction quality and superb design. Some people, though, may prefer to go straight to the HTC One M9 using our HTC One M9 deals but don't dismiss the M8, which is still a good phone with many of the same features as the newer model, at a lower price. 

HTC did, admittedly have some trouble with the M8 camera. In some ways its sad, because the idea was a good one but the dual-sensor produced images that simply weren't as good as those in rival phones. That was altered in the M9 and a new, single 13-megapixel sensor installed that makes for better images. Most of the other main features are similar though, and that's why we still think that the M8 is an ideal choice for people looking for a cheaper phone, but one which still meets modern smartphone demands.

Techradar's HTC One M8 review highlights

We liked

It's been a hard few years reviewing phones – when the smartphone revolution came, they were all pretty poor and finding the best out of them was tricky.

Now it's the other way as, battery life aside, most of those unleashed are flawless in so many ways, and HTC is right at the head of that list.

The design is the huge win here – not one person I showed the phone to didn't hold it for a while and comment on the weight and feel, before being impressed by the screen quality. This is the sort of reaction I've only ever seen for iPhones before, and like them or loathe them, Apple's devices are a good barometer of quality.

We were happy with the battery improvements, we like the re-focused shots and they'll look great on social media. The Boomsound speakers are better, HTC has thrown in some clever new apps and overall, the entire device is much better than their previous phone.

Adding in a microSD slot is great, as while it doesn't really make a difference to many there are some die-hards that won't buy a phone without one. Also being able to take as many pictures, Zoes and videos as I wanted without worrying about filling up the space was really nice.

Even the alarm clock is improved – taking another problem off the table from last year.

We disliked

While we're happy about the battery, it wasn't as stellar as it could have been. We know it's an odd thing to say, and it's really a negligible point given the battery life is great on the One M8, but in comparison it might not stand up as time goes on.

The camera is still disappointing in some areas, meaning those that love to get really good pics they can be proud of from a camera phone might not want to go for such a low megapixel offering, despite the excellent low light capabilities.

And while it's not something we're worried about now, we think HTC might have been smart to dive a little more into fitness and make the phone a little more resistant to dust and water.

I think design is key here, and if it's a choice between that and being able to dunk it or monitor my heart rate we think HTC made the right choice, but only if it's working out a way to put these things into a future iteration of the One.

Verdict

The HTC One M8 is a brilliant smartphone with very few flaws. Its main strength is design, but we don't think that's a negative thing as many brands still seem keen to race on specs rather than attracting users when they wander into a shop to buy something for two years (at a rather high price).

It doesn't really skimp on specs though – even the weaker camera has some rationale behind it, rather than something to apologise for – and the audio capabilities, be it the Boomsound speakers or the music reproduction, are excellent.

You could say that, Duo Camera aside, there's no real headline feature of the HTC One M8, but that would do it a disservice as the brand has made a phone that really impresses at nearly every turn.

We're not sure the shareable Zoes will take off, even a year on, nor are the Video Highlight and BlinkFeed services up to the level where you can call them factors in purchase. But at least HTC has decoupled these apps from the main OS, so when it upgrades them you won't be left waiting for a massive software update to change things.

The One M8 was the phone of 2014 - and given that the One M9 hasn't added much to the mix, it could be a very good buy now it's dropped in price too.

from TechRadar: Phone and communications news http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/the-best-htc-one-m8-deals-1238843

The best Microsoft Lumia 950 deals in November 2016

Deal fans, it's officially November, which is a great time to look out for an early Black Friday deal on a Microsoft Lumia 950.

The Microsoft Lumia 950 - a littler, more compact version of the all-powerful Lumia 950 XL, where only a slightly slower processor points to the difference between these two phones (and that size, don't forget).

That means the Lumia 950 is a phone with a more palm-friendly 5.2-inch screen with all that lovely QHD (2560 x 1440) resolution, a powerful-ish Snapdragon 808 chipset inside (combined with a decent 3GB of RAM) and if you're someone that likes to tinker with their handset, the back comes off (and can be changed for other designs) and you can remove the battery and expand storage through microSD.

When it comes to the camera, it's an equally good affair, thanks to a 20MP effort that uses the Pureview technology Microsoft gained when it bought Nokia, and that really brings a a more professional quality to all kinds of snaps.

More options: iPhone 6S Plus deals | iPhone 6 deals | iPhone 6 Plus deals | iPhone deals

Techradar's Lumia 950 review highlights:

We liked

The Lumia 950 was the first Windows 10 Mobile phone, and that probably fits your style if you're reading this on a PC, Surface Book or Surface Pro 4. The phone revamps the slick Live Tiles interface that we really liked, and the iris-scanning is a fun party trick, even if it takes longer to bypass.

Continuum is the most hyped feature of this smartphone, and it's a handy way of working on full-scale spreadsheets and diving into Word documents with just a phone, Display Dock and several cables. It's not going to replace your PC during travel just yet, but it's something that should excite enterprise folks in the future.

We disliked

There's a lot of work to be done here, Microsoft. All of the top apps need to be a part of Windows 10 Mobile. Furthermore, the existing ones, like Instagram, need to get regular updates so that, next to iOS and Android, they're not lagging behind in more ways than one.

The Windows Hello log in is literally eye-catching, but it's too slow compared to a fingerprint sensor. Microsoft Maps isn't ready for road warriors of any sort, and the phone gets too hot. Call quality could be better, as could the battery life and camera, all things that firmware updates may be able to fix – to a degree.

Final verdict

Lumia 950 feels like a public beta test before Microsoft launches the long-rumored "Surface Phone." It's an incomplete picture that doesn't quite deserve the Surface name, as much as we liked the operating system underneath and some of its enterprise features.

Of course, this more than enough for Windows Phone 8.1 users to upgrade to the Windows 10 Mobile flagship's debut. Seeing that attractive Live Tiles design on the phone and then, in less than a few seconds, transitioning to the desktop-like mode via Continuum is a dream come true. Phones are finally acting like computers in a way Apple and Google have barely tried.

Continuum needs to be fleshed out, and so does the app count, camera, battery life and phone call quality. Again, there's a lot of work to be done. The Lumia 950 and Windows 10 Mobile feel like the first stepping stones before Microsoft dials it up to, say, Windows 11 Mobile.

from TechRadar: Phone and communications news http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/best-microsoft-lumia-950-deals-1311062

The best HTC One M9 deals in November 2016

HTC deals have been a tad expensive of late, but November has always been a great month to grab a cheap mobile phone deal, especially with Black Friday being just around the corner. 

The HTC One M9 is, first and foremost, a beautiful phone. Some say it's not a huge advancement on the HTC One M8 which preceded it but the company has switched the camera to a new, higher resolution version that produces much sharper photos than its predecessor. 

No matter what people think about the One M9, HTC is a leader in design, and its handsets are always solid, well-built and reliable - and this is the best ever in terms of craftsmanship.

Contract options have been phased out now for the HTC One M9, but you can buy the handset on its own then grab one of our cheap 30-day or 12-month SIM only deals.  

Techradar's HTC One M9 verdict

For techradar, a flagship phone needs to hit a lot of marks to be considered impressive: it has to have cutting-edge performance, beautiful design, a powerful camera, long battery life and not be too hard on the pocket.

The HTC One M9 isn't at the top of any of those categories apart from design, where it still shows the rest of the market how it should be done. Upgrades over the M8 include a more mature camera and slightly more professional speakers. It's all nuanced tweaks, not powerful improvements.

We liked

This is a phone that has all the DNA of the HTC One M8 and polishes it well. Theme creator adds a lot of personalisation to create an emotional attachment to the phone, and the Sense Home widget is really useful too.

The main thing we like is the design though. It's easily the best looking phone on the market, feeling almost hand-crafted with a great aesthetic and great feeling in the hand – this is the One range grown up.

And while things like BoomSound, BlinkFeed and Sense haven't necessarily been improved much, they're still really great features that HTC is rightly proud of, showing it's still a market leading brand.

We disliked

The battery: we expected next generation power management in 2015, as most of the smartphone buying world was, and instead we went backwards. That's a reduction in power with no discernible reason either – the full HD screen isn't any different from before, the battery is bigger and the software presumably stable. As with most phones today, you'll struggle to get a full day without needing a charge.

The camera is more powerful than we expected but the loss of the UltraPixel and duo camera combo is disappointing. We wanted to see an 8MP advance on the M8, maintaining the strong snapping speed, and instead we got a sensor with the same specs as the one Sony's been pushing for over a year – although it does take some great pics on occasion.

The biggest issue we have with the One M9 is that it doesn't impress as other models have. Good design is fine, but it seems like HTC's just remade the phone from last year as it didn't have anything new to add into the mix. Taking the DNA from the One M7 and One M8 doesn't mean that's fine for a new handset.

Verdict

Let us make one thing clear: the HTC One M9 is an excellent phone, filled to the brim with good features, a clever interface and a design that it should rightly be proud of, once again showing every other brand how it should be done.

Some might say it doesn't improve enough though. The One M8 was pretty much the perfect phone, and not much has changed year on year. In fact, HTC has gone backwards on battery life and hasn't really done much more than polish throughout the phone.

Except perhaps in the camera, where things are improved and needed to be given that was somewhere HTC was struggling to gain consumer support. It's now just the same experience as on every other phone though.

HTC hasn't been as arrogant as Apple by simply bringing out an S version of its phone though – there are some genuine upgrades, which are evident the second you put the One M9 in the hand. It makes the design of last year's model look sloppy in comparison, for instance.

It's all tweaks and polish, an admission that HTC managed to create something brilliant with the M8 and is loathe to deviate too far from that formula. Which is a shame, as this is a brand we've almost come to rely upon to offer genuinely useful innovation time and again.

This is a phone sold on precision, but comes with far too many ragged edges to be considered worthy of a perfect score again. Fingers crossed 2016 will see something from HTC that lives up to that ideal. But for now we've just got a good phone - a pretty darn good one - but not brilliant.

from TechRadar: Phone and communications news http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/the-best-htc-one-m9-deals-in-april-2015-1290081

The best BlackBerry Priv deals in November 2016

T-Mobile sweetens ‘Bring your Pixel’ deal by extending it to Simple Choice Unlimited users

Your guess is as good as ours regarding the veracity of those awesome purported T-Mobile Black Friday deals, but in the meantime, you can definitely reap the benefits of arguably the coolest Google Pixel promotion around.

No, Magenta still doesn’t directly sell the Pixel or Pixel XL phones, and it will probably never do so, but if you choose to “free” either of them and bring it to the nation’s leading “UnCarrier” after purchasing it from the Google Store, Verizon, Best Buy or anywhere else, you get huge long-term savings on your bill.

Specifically, $13.55 every month for two years, adding up to a grand total of $325, or half of the smaller Pixel’s recommended price tag. The lone downside was you needed to activate the “Google-made” handheld on T-Mobile’s ONE… and only plan (or not a plan, whatever), but now that restriction has been officially lifted.

You’re still required to be on an unlimited data wireless arrangement to qualify for the free $325 credit, but if you haven’t yet migrated from a Simple Choice Unlimited plan to controversial ONE or ONE Plus service, you can keep your old option active, and bring the Pixel over to Verizon’s greatest troll. It’s really that simple.

The post T-Mobile sweetens ‘Bring your Pixel’ deal by extending it to Simple Choice Unlimited users appeared first on Pocketnow.

from Pocketnow http://pocketnow.com/2016/11/01/t-mobile-bring-your-pixel-simple-choice