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At the start of this year's awards, we compared and commented on how things have changed over the last 15 years. Nowhere has the change been more dramatic than in the mobile arena. Back in the year 2000, we were still fixated on WAP and being able to get the sports scores – on the move and in text-only mode – from web sites like the BBC was considered a bit of a miracle.
In the year 2000, the most powerful desktop systems would have had a Pentium processor running close to 1.5GHz with a 45GB hard drive and 256MB of system memory – and that would set you back almost £2,000. Modern phones leave that spec in the dust and we expect mobile devices to be ‘free' with a connection contract.
Mobile Phone – Overall
We ramped up our testing on mobile devices for 2015. In order to win in this category, a mobile would need to show off a considerable range of features – including a Quad HD screen (4x 1280×720) that's over 5 inches, maybe a 16 megapixel main camera and an 8 megapixel one for shooting yourself.
To drive that experience, we might choose a 6-core processor running at 1.8GHz and include a 3,000mAh battery. Lastly, it would be nice to have an expansion slot for additional storage. With its latest G4 model in August, LG comfortably ticked all of those boxes and also offered a newly re-designed user interface called LG Optimus UX 4.0 which provided an impressive/intuitive way to use Lollipop 5.1.
On the more practical/physical side of things, LG has created a texture rear for this phone that definitely reduces the chances of it slipping out of your hand. It is available unlocked and SIM free for just £310, which makes it a bit of a bargain when compared to the latest high end phones from Apple or Samsung. Only measurable downside is that the battery life could be a little better.
KitGuru's choice for the Best Mobile Phone Overall in 2015 goes to the LG G4.
Mobile Phone – Value
This is a very tough category. Over the last couple of years, phone feature sets have become increasingly homogenised. This is something that you only really discover when you (or a family member) destroys their uninsured contract phone.
You suddenly realise that there's a spread of very capable handsets around the £100 mark. So what do you have to sacrifice? Well, our winning choice includes a 1080p display that is 5.5″ across and it offers a good quality 13 megapixel main camera and a decent 5 megapixel selfie-cam. It's no slouch when it comes to processing, with the industry's first 8-core 64-bit CPU architecture processor, the Qualcomm SnapDragon 615.
Like our overall winner, it is supplied with a 3,000mAh battery. While PPI (Pixels Per Inch) isn't the only measurement of screen quality, it is a good indicator and a higher number is generally better. The iPhone 6S gives you a 1,334×750 pixel screen with 326 PPI.
Our value choice phone offers a full HD (1920×1080) screen with 401 PPI. Also, this is an IPS screen, which delivers colours that pop and a strong contrast between black and white – alongside a wide range of viewing angles.
In our final analysis, we concluded that the specification and build quality offered by our winning choice, could easily have come with a £300 price tag and not looked out of place. At £125 it is a complete bargain.
KitGuru's choice for Best Value Mobile Phone in 2015 goes to the Vodafone Smart Ultra 6.
Tablet
Despite pioneering the tablet market with its iPad, Apple's market share has dipped below 25% in 2015. That means 3/4 of you are opting for non-Apple tablets. Alongside the obvious candidates from Samsung, the ‘darlings' of the non-iPad tablet market include the Nexus range from Google.
On paper, that would make the Nexus 9 a candidate in this category, but unfortunately we couldn't get past the cheap design and all of the corners that appear to have been cut with this HTC-produced tablet. The Nexus offered that unfortunate combination of ‘lemonade lifestyle for champagne money', coming in around the £300 mark. Apple iPad Air pricing for a plastic unit is not a ‘Must Have' combination in our books.
KitGuru's winner in this category suffers from none of those issues. Just 6mm thin, the Dell Venue 8 7840 has a machined aluminium body that looks amazing. Even though it only weighs ~300 grams, it still feels really solid.
The 8.4″ OLED display gives you 2560×1600 resolution that's beautifully sharp in use (although it doesn't offer the same range of viewing angles that more expensive tablets give you). Despite the incredible thinness of the design, the battery still lasts close to 2 days with normal use (9.5 hours ‘straight') and you can expand the built-in storage with the microSD reader.
It offers Intel RealSense photography – which allows you to play with the depth of field of your photos later – unfortunately the camera optics themselves need a re-think and we're hoping for more with the next generation – especially with a £319 price tag.
KitGuru's choice for Best Tablet of 2015 goes to the Dell Venue 8 7840.
