#to be specific the middle one is my current homescreen

[ayayayayouch]

좋아합니다~ | please reblog or like if you save this, thank you!

[jewelslover]

My Expectation

Chapter 2: Strawberries

Summary:

XY is feeling discouraged when she can't get over her obstacles.

Pairing: J-Hope/Jung Hoseok x Original Female Character(s)/Reader

Word Count: 2.9K

Length: 2/? | MASTERLIST |

Comedy, Angst, Fluff

AO3

Important Fic Info:

COMPANY NAME: WatchList Ent. ~ BASIC MEMBER INFO (In order of Leader/Oldest-Youngest): IOU-Park Jiwoo (19 years old) Genie- Im Mijin (24 years old) Angel- Im Misun (24 years old) XY- Kim Soobin (21 years old) E- Lee Eunki (17 years old) ~ CURRENT TIME TABLE: October 2017

Beep, Beeep, Beeeep~

I felt around blindly for the alarm clock, meeting nothing but cotton bed sheets. The beeping had been going on for the past five minutes and the high pitched noise was driving me insane. Granted, the noise would have stopped by now if I’d just open my eyes, so in reality I was bringing this insanity upon myself.

Someone walked into the room, and with a click, harsh fluorescent lights pierced through my eyelids. I groaned and stuffed my face into a flattened pillow when hands started shaking my shoulder.

“Unnie~” a voice whined.

I slowly lifted my head and forced my eyes open just enough to see E’s face hovering above my own. She smiled down and laughed at what must’ve been my exhausted expression. She pushed my shoulder again and balanced precariously on the edge of the mattress.

Seriously, what was people’s problem with letting me sleep? I stuck my tongue out at the younger girl and sat up with some help from her. “What time is it?” I asked, rubbing the butt of my palm into my eyes.

The other laughed at the question and shook her head in disappointment, blonde curls bouncing around her face. Wait… Blonde? I looked at her quizzically and furrowed my brows. Grabbing one of the curls in my hand, I proceeded to examine it, which only made Eunki laugh more.

“Soobin-Unnie, what are you doing?” She laughed, pushing my hand away and letting the pulled curl bounce back into place.

“Your hair is different…” I noted, leaning my weight onto my supporting hand. She rolled her eyes and pulled me to my feet, dragging me to the dresser across from my bed.

“Silly, we have restyling today. Angel-unnie and I finished early, but Jiwoo and Genie-Unnie are still there. They’re waiting for you.”

“Waitin- Wait! What time is it?!” I asked, my eyes going wide. I looked around for the earlier offending alarm clock and looked at the numbers displayed on the screen.

Do you know the flip-flop your heart does when you feel for your phone, only to find that it’s not in your pocket? That’s what my heart did, but ten times over.

“Oh my god! It’s passed noon! I’m gonna be late!” I reached into the roots of my hair and quickly snapped out of my tired daze.

“Yeah… I just told you that,” Eunki said, looking at me with a confused expression. I quickly grabbed my phone from it’s charger, pocketing it in the jacket that I still had on from yesterday. Holding my hands out to pause, I quickly looked around for anything else I would need, deciding to grab a clean change of clothes for when I arrived at BigHit.

I nodded to myself when I had everything I needed and started to walk out of the room when Eunki stepped in front of me, her hands settled on her hips in an authoritative manner. However, considering her small stature, she looked more pouty than threatening.

“Unnie, what on earth are you doing?” She stood there with her lips settled into a slight frown, her big eyes narrowed into concerned crescents. I looked past her and into the living room, finding my dance bag settled in a lump near the door.

“I’m late to dance practice! Hoseok-Oppa and Jungkook-ah will be waiting for me,” I started, trying to move past her and into the other room.

“You… have practice today? You didn’t tell management. We already have a schedule today,” She continued blocking my path, following me as I tried to get around her.

“Unnie stop,” she said, grabbing me by my arms. Her eyebrows furrowed as she got a closer look at me, “Are you even fully awake?”

I looked down blankly at her, wondering what she was going on about. A styling appointment? I had already told management about the practice I had planned- I told them every time Hoseok and I aligned our schedules. That’s exactly what I told Eunki.

“I’ve taken care of it Eunki. We aligned our schedules already.”

“Unnie, we haven’t gotten this month’s schedule yet. Do you even remember what yesterday’s date was?”

I shook my head and grabbed my phone to check the date on the homescreen.

“Sunday, October 1”

Oh.

Reality sunk in as I looked at the screen and started to collect my thoughts. Bangtan was busy with meetings today, Hoseok and I hadn’t met about scheduling yet, and I wasn’t late for anything… other than my styling appointment. I pressed the pads of my middle and index fingers to my temples and rubbed, trying to calm myself down. The adrenaline from my panic started to trickle away, being replaced by exhaustion.

“Soobin…” Eunki asked in genuine worry, dropping the honorific.

“I’m fine. Just a little disoriented that’s all.”

She pressed her lips together and took hold of my arm once again, dragging me down the hall. “You’re taking a shower. Take some time to clear your head. I’ll tell Styling that I held you up.”

I sighed in disagreement and stopped halfway there, only to be met by a pitiful pout from her until I caved and continued walking. She smiled triumphantly, pushing me into the bathroom. After hearing the lock of the door, she headed back down the hall to call the stylist Unnies.

Four hours later, I came out of styling, complete with a new hairstyle and color. Travelling into the company dance studio I caught sight of myself in the mirrored wall and cringed.

Red. Why did they have to choose red.

I tugged on the braided pigtails and groaned. Scratch what I thought yesterday, I was no longer looking forward to meeting Hoseok and Jungkook for our next dance practice. I didn’t even want to think about the amount of teasing I would receive. Aside from the fact that my face would probably be indistinguishable from my hair, the dye was ironically the same shade as Hoseok’s. I let go of my hair and shook my head, dropping my duffle near the closest wall.

Reaching in, I grabbed the clean change of clothes from earlier, my favorite tennis, a water bottle, and a short aux cord. Setting the other various items next to the bag, I cradled the bundle of clothes under my arm and slipped away to the nearest bathroom.

-

I shook my hand through the sleeve of the sweater, forcing it through the soft material. Letting out a sigh of relief, I stepped out of the bathroom and headed back towards the studio. It was almost pitiful how much joy comfortable clothes could bring someone. I shoved open the studio door with my back whilst trying to pin my bangs up and out of my face with a bobby pin. However, due to their new (aka: annoying) lack of length, the small clip did nothing as the hair flopped back onto my forehead.

Rolling my eyes, I reached into the duffle and pulled out a thick Nike headband, stretching it over my head. Holding out my hands, I let the band sit to see if it would do its job without me holding it in place. After successfully remaining unmoving, I pulled my phone from my sweater pocket and grabbed the aux cord I had set on the floor earlier.

Connecting both to the soundboard in the studio, I scrolled through my music library until I found Yoongi’s track. Tapping play, his deep voice pulsed through the speakers accompanied by the rough cut of instrumentals and effects. I settled in the middle of the studio and closed my eyes for a moment, focusing on the beat of the track.

Opening them again as the track grew closer to where I entered, I pressed my lips together in concentration before beginning the familiar steps.

It was funny actually. Compared to a few spots here and there, the choreography looked near completion. If I were looking at it from an outside view, I would say it only needed a little polishing. At least, that’s what I would say if it weren’t for the spin…

I closed my eyes, shaking my head in frustration as I slipped mid-routine. I groaned and walked over to my phone, pausing the track right before the bass drop and spin. I leant my back against the cool reflective glass of the mirror and breathed out. I was overthinking, exactly what Hoseok had told me not to do.

I thought back on yesterday’s practice, specifically the dialogue that had occured when the two of us were alone.

. . .

“You seem frustrated with the second verse,” Hoseok commented. When he paused the music, I looked up at him and shrugged, shaking out an arm that was tired.

“The spin is proving to be difficult, but I’ll get it… eventually.”

“That didn’t sound too confident…”  He said, quirking an eyebrow.

“Look it’s not a big deal. Run it again please,” I asked, moving towards the soundboard. He stepped in front of it and I stopped. I made a face, “What are you doing, Oppa?”

“You’re tired and frustrated. I’m stopping practice because you won’t make any progress in that mind set. It’s not healthy Soobin-ssi,” He frowned, a rare expression on his face.

I rolled my eyes. “Hoseok-Oppa I’m not tired,” I said… and yawned. He smirked at my yawn and I scrunched up my nose. “That was just… bad timing. I can still practice, I swear.”

“We’re stopping Soobin.”

. . .

I took a breath and pushed off the mirror. Reaching over, I changed the playlist to one that was full of songs I enjoyed. The piano of Sunday Candy started playing through the speakers and I instinctively smiled at the good-vibes song Hoseok had introduced to me during our first practice together.

After making sure the playlist was set on shuffle, I readjusted and took the time to stretch, something I should’ve done as soon as soon as I had re-entered the room. Reaching one arm across my chest and pulling on it with the other, I hoped this would release whatever tension I had built up.

The pastel colors of the sunset had faded into blackness as time grew later. Two hours had passed and I only seemed to be getting worse.

I had paused the music and now laid in the middle of the room, spread out like a starfish. Sighing at the amount of time wasted, I reflected on my progress if you could even call it that. Aside from the fact that I couldn’t get the dumb spin down, the rest of the moves seemed to be going downhill as well. What had seemed polished earlier grew jerky and forced, the complete opposite of the smooth and effortless movements I had practiced yesterday.

I tugged at my braided hair in frustration, unraveling what the stylists had done earlier. There was now hair sticking out at odd angles throughout the pigtails and I decided to just undo them completely, sitting up and pulling the loose hair up into a top knot.

As I was wrapping a spare band around the mess of hair, the door to the practice room opened and Mijin-Unnie, or “Genie”, walked in. I assumed that she was on a facetime call with her twin sister as she played with her newly cropped black hair in front of her phone camera. When she realized that she wasn’t the only one in the room, her focus turned away from whatever she was doing.

“Oh!” she exclaimed once she saw that it was me that occupied the room. “Everyone,” she said, addressing the phone once again, “I’ve just found our XY, working hard as always.”

My eyes widened as she hurried over to me, wrapping a bare arm around my sweaty form and putting the phone in front of us. “A V-live?” I asked, forcing a practiced smile. The older girl eagerly nodded and positioned the phone higher, showcasing our new hair.

“I wanted to show everyone my new comeback look. Now they get to see both of ours!” she laughed, patting down the bun on my head. I smiled and batted her hand away, keeping up the playful facade in front of the camera.

“Hello everyone! Thank you for supporting Expectation’s comeback! We look forward to seeing you all soon!” I said, giving a slight bow to the camera.

“Aish~ So formal. Our fans are family,” Mijin smiled, lots of chat bubbles with heart emojis popping up on the small screen.

I just continued smiling and bowed again. Mijin continued talking and I kinda spaced out, slipping into my own little world. I repeated the choreography steps in my head, subconsciously moving my shoulders and pursing my lips with each transition. What had Hoseok said about the third verse? Was I supposed to face more to the left or right?

“-strawberry!”

I snapped out of my trance as Mijin bopped me on the head, her phone now tucked into her back pocket. Turning, I stared at her, confused. “What?”

“I said you look like a strawberry,” she laughed. “You should never pair your red hair with that green headband again unless you’re aiming to look like a fruit. In which case, if you are, you’re killing it.”

“Oh… okay,” I responded half-heartedly.

She jokingly shoved my shoulder, gaining my full attention. “Hey. What’s up?”

“Me? Uh, nothing. Just thinking,” I said, standing up and brushing off my leggings. I disconnected my phone from the soundboard and slid it back into my sweater pocket. I started going around to collect my things and Mijin followed, crossing her arms in front of her.

“Don’t give me that Soobin-ssi,” she said, frowning. “I know that when you’re ‘thinking’ something bigger is always going on. What’s wrong? You’ve been in a sour mood for weeks now.”

I shrugged and zipped up my duffle bag once all my belongings were safely stored inside. “It’s just… choreography block. I’m a bit frustrated, but I’ll get out my funk soon.”

“I’ll accept that excuse… for now,” she smiled, nudging her shoulder into mine. “I’m sorry for pushing you into that V-live earlier.”

I smiled back at her, “It’s fine, Unnie. You didn’t know I was having a hard time.”

I stood up, pulling my bag over my shoulder and we walked out of the studio together, meeting Jiwoo-ssi in the hall, and all took the same van back to the dorm. When we pulled up to the front of the apartment complex, Angel, or Misun-Unnie, met us outside.

“Finally! E and I have been worried. Wher-” She stopped herself short and grinned when she looked up at us. “Awwe! Soobin-ssi, your hair looks like a strawberry!”

“Why does everyone think that I look like a fruit?” I sighed as Mijin shot me a pointed look. I stuck out my tongue at her, causing her to laugh before hurrying inside with her twin, complaining about Seoul’s chilly fall weather. Behind me, I felt an arm link around my own as a body pulled closer to mine.

I looked over and saw Jiwoo’s shivering form hunkered into herself, latching onto me for warmth. Even after three years of living in Seoul as a trainee, she still hadn’t adjusted to the cold weather. Coming from Busan she had pretty thin blood. Snuggling against me like this had become a pretty common occurrence in the last 2 years of living together.

We walked together, using each other as wind-protectors, unlatching once we were inside the warm building. My phone vibrated and I urged Jiwoo ahead of me, telling her that I would catch up. She nodded, smiling, and ran to meet the twins at the elevator. I pulled my phone out and saw that I had 2 missed messages from Hoseok.

Happy Feet

“Just got my schedule ^.^”

“*click to open attachment*”

I tapped on the file box and opened the attachment listing Hoseok’s times off. These weren't necessarily days that he didn’t have schedules, but days where he had the time to practice.

I tapped out a quick message in reply, telling him that I would get back to him soon, and headed to the elevator.

The next week, I had a schedule full of comeback preparation, making it impossible to meet up with Hoseok. I spent any spare moment I had in the studio practicing comeback choreo as well as the original that Hoseok, Jungkook, and I created. It was filled with trial and error, and I could almost feel my practice time quickly deteriorating into wasted energy. The difficulty I would have with one of the choreographies would affect the other, and our dance instructors were starting to take notice.

“Soobin-ssi, take some time to sit out. You need to take a breath,” one of them finally said, taking me out of formation from the rest of the girls. I insisted I was fine, but she ended up sitting me up against the wall anyway, forcing me to watch the rest of my members dance while I did nothing. I pressed on top of my head through my beanie and sighed.

It looked like I couldn’t get anything right this week no matter how hard I practiced. I sat there with my head in my hands trying to calm down and hide tears and sweat, our new song droning on in the background. I could hear the sounds of the room around me, but it all seemed drowned out by the thoughts of failure swimming around in my head.

[gta-5-cheats]

Samsung Galaxy A8+ Review

New Post has been published on http://secondcovers.com/samsung-galaxy-a8-review/

Samsung Galaxy A8+ Review

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Nearly a year after the first smartphones with 18:9 screens debuted at MWC 2017, nearly every manufacturer has jumped on board. This kind of design started out as a novelty, quickly became trend, and is now pretty much a mainstay of smartphone design. It isn’t any surprise, since this is the first time in a very long time that phones have looked any different, and people do feel like they’re getting something better and more modern. Phones with 16:9 screens, (and heaven forbid, actual buttons on the front) do now seem old-fashioned.

Samsung gained an early lead with its Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus (Review) at the beginning of last year (though it went with 18.5:9 which it calls “Infinity Display”) and then released the Galaxy Note 8 (Review) six months later, but didn’t seem think the rest of its range deserved the update. Meanwhile, its competitors were clambering over themselves to make sure they didn’t fall behind the curve. Over this past year, we’ve seen dozens of new 18:9 phones launching across the price spectrum. The most notable example of that is OnePlus rushing to replace its barely five-month-old OnePlus 5 (Review) with the 5T (Review), just to make sure it didn’t cede even the slightest ground to its competitors.

That makes today’s review subject all the more interesting – the new Galaxy A8+ (2018) is Samsung’s first non-flagship phone to be graced with an Infinity Display, and it’s priced to go right up against the OnePlus 5T. Is Samsung too late to the party, or has it been worth the wait? We’re about to find out.

Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018) look and feel

As its name suggests, this is one large phone. Samsung hasn’t launched the smaller Galaxy A8 (2018) in India, which is a pity, because the A8+ (2018) can be a bit of a handful. It’s relatively thick and heavy at 8.3mm and 191g. That weight also feels unbalanced, especially when typing, which requires you to hold the phone from close to the bottom. It will stick out of many pockets and generally make itself felt wherever you try to stash it.

Samsung has listed two colour options for this phone, black and gold. We had a black unit for review and with the removal of buttons from the front face, it looks really plain and monolithic. The front and back are both shiny glass, though only the back curves around the matte black metal frame. While some might like this look, others will prefer the gold version which has a black front face and camera module providing a bit of visual relief.

The front face is broken only by the earpiece and dual front cameras right near the upper edge. When the phone is on, Samsung’s Always-On Display readout is splashed across the screen, taking advantage of the sAMOLED panel’s ability to selectively light up pixels without consuming a lot of power. By default, there’s a large clock, the date, the battery level, and four icons representing your most recent notifications. You can choose different clock styles and hide other information, or only enable the Always-On Display between hours of your choosing.

The power button is on the right, and the phone’s single mono speaker is positioned right above it – an unusual position, but one that Samsung has been using on multiple models of late. On the left, there’s a volume rocker and a tray for the primary Nano-SIM. The second Nano-SIM as well as a microSD card fit in another tray that slides into the top. There’s also a USB Type-C port and a 3.5mm audio socket on the bottom. An advantage of the all-black look is that the antenna lines are barely visible.

The primary camera is in the upper middle of the rear, with a single-LED flash to the side and small, rectangular fingerprint sensor right below it. Unusually for phones these days, the camera doesn’t protrude at all. There’s a surprisingly subtle Samsung logo lower down, and some barely visible regulatory text at the bottom.

One feature that we’re always happy to have is weatherproofing, and the Galaxy A8+ (2018) is certified IP68 for water and dust resistance. The SIM trays are flanged with rubber to prevent ingress. However, there’s no mention of whether the glass is reinforced, which is concerning.

Samsung’s Galaxy A-series phones are meant to be more affordable versions of the current reigning S-series flagships, in this case the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. The Galaxy A8+ (2018) inherits many of their design cues, but it doesn’t look quite as slick or refined. It’s a bit too bulky and awkward to handle, and in fact it more closely resembles last year’s oversized Galaxy C9 Pro (Review). In fact, with its pricing and specifications, it serves the same market. In terms of look and feel alone, it doesn’t really stand out compared to the competing OnePlus 5T or Honor View 10 (Review) either.

Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018) specifications and software

Samsung usually plays it conservatively with specs outside its flagship tier, but with this launch, it’s hoping to take on upstarts like OnePlus and Honor. The Galaxy A+ (2018) uses Samsung’s brand new Exynos 7885 SoC, which has two high-speed 2.2Ghz ARM Cortex-A73 cores and six supplementary 1.6GHz Cortex-A53 cores, plus an integrated ARM Mali-G71 GPU. There’s 6GB of RAM, and the only Samsung phones to ship with so much before now have been the Galaxy Note 8 and the aforementioned Galaxy C9 Pro.

You get 64GB of storage, of which about 51GB is available to users. MicroSD card support goes up to 256GB. Because of Samsung’s unique 18.5:9 aspect ratio, the screen resolution is 1080×2220, giving you a tiny bit more height than the 1080×2160 that you get at 18:9. It measures 6 inches diagonally but the corners are rounded for aesthetic purposes, so you lose a little screen space.

The Galaxy A8+ (2018) also features dual-band Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5, NFC, GPS, and 4G with VoLTE. There’s a rich complement of sensors, including a barometer and gyroscope in addition to the standard ambient light and proximity sensors. The battery comes in at 3500mAh which is the least we’d expect for a phone this large. Fast charging is supported, but not wireless charging.

This phone and its smaller siblings are Samsung’s first to feature dual front cameras. There’s one with a 16-megapixel sensor and another with an 8-megapixel sensor, and both have F/1.9 apertures. The rear camera is a 16-megapixel unit with an f/1.7 aperture. While most companies boast upfront about how a second camera is different in terms of its lens or sensor’s capabilities, we had to dig through Samsung’s documentation to discover that the second lens is intended to deliver better low-light performance. Surprisingly, video recording tops out at 1920×1080. There’s also no optical image stabilisation for any of the cameras.

Samsung ships the Galaxy A8+ (2018) with Android 7.1.1 which is disappointing in 2018. The Samsung Experience skin on top is beginning to get as bloated as the company’s reviled TouchWiz UI from years past. At first boot, we were allowed to choose which Samsung apps we wanted installed. We were happy to ditch Samsung Email, Samsung Notes, and Samsung Internet Browser, but there was no way to know what exactly Samsung Connect and Samsung Members are. It’s also surprising that Samsung Voice Recorder and Samsung Pay are optional apps – these should be part of the phone’s core experience.

On the homescreen, there’s a giant My Galaxy widget showing off the phone’s various features and advertising services such as ordering a meal or taxi and paying bills. You need to sign up with your phone number, but when we tried it we didn’t receive the required one-time password by SMS for hours. Unfortunately, you have to register for My Galaxy if you want to be able to find a phone service centre and book an appointment, or chat with tech support.

Samsung’s Bixby voice assistant takes up a page to the left of the first homescreen and requires you to create a Samsung account which is a separate process. Interestingly, the Galaxy A8+ doesn’t get Bixby as a voice assistant – you only get reminders of your upcoming calendar appointments and panels for things like the weather and news. There’s no Bixby key on the side of the phone, and long-pressing the Home button brings up Google Assistant (or S-Voice if you choose) so Bixby as a feature isn’t the same as it has been advertised on Samsung’s flagships.

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There’s more bloat around every corner – Samsung has tried to transform even the humble Contacts app into a social network with sharable status updates and profile pictures. The Samsung Gallery creates “stories” and multiple apps want you to use a “customisation service” which collects your stored contacts and tries to determine which people you are closest to, for undefined reasons. Opera Max and a bunch of Microsoft apps are preinstalled whether you want them or not. The default system keyboard is customisable in many ways and supports transliteration into Hindi, Tamil and Telegu which could actually be useful.

In the Settings app, you’ll find options to manage the full-screen scaling for apps that can’t handle it natively, the on-screen Android navigation buttons, fingerprint sensor gestures, a one-handed mode, “Dual Messenger” apps (cloning apps to allow you to use multiple accounts), Samsung Cloud syncing, and split-screen multitasking.

Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018) performance, cameras and battery life

The Galaxy A8+ (2018) has some powerful hardware and for the most part it runs without any problems. Large games load quickly, and the phone doesn’t get too warm at any point. However, there were tiny hiccups on rare occasions, when we felt the UI behave a little sluggishly or touch input didn’t seem to register. Hopefully, periodic software updates will iron these kinks out, because usage was otherwise perfectly fine.

Samsung’s new mid-range processor is fairly powerful, and delivered scores of 78,359 in AnTuTu, 5,192 in PCMark Work 2.0, and 1,525 and 4,349 respectively in Geekbench’s single-core and multi-core runs. 3DMark’s Slingshot test gave us 1,069 points, and GFXBench’s T-rex test ran at 31fps. We can definitely see that this phone isn’t on the same level as the similarly priced OnePlus 5T and Honor View 10, but should still be able to handle most apps and games.

The Infinity Display doesn’t look quite as “infinite” on this phone as it does on Samsung’s flagships, because instead of glass curving around the sides of the phone, there are still distinct edges. Even so, it’s immersive and vibrant. Brightness isn’t a problem even outdoors, and all kinds of content look pretty crisp and enjoyable. The odd placement of the speaker turned out to be a good thing, because it’s hard to block when holding this phone in any orientation and it doesn’t get muffled with the phone lying on soft surfaces. Sound is loud and voices are clear, but music comes out a bit too harsh for our liking.

One feature of the Galaxy A8+ (2018) that Samsung is promoting heavily is face recognition. This isn’t the same as the iris recognition feature on Samsung’s top-end phones, but is much more like what you’d get with the OnePlus 5T. In our experience, it just didn’t work well, either failing completely or taking more than five seconds to unlock the phone every time we tried it. This was despite trying to enrol our faces multiple times to account for poor lighting or angles. There’s an option to make recognition quicker by reducing the security threshold, which we obviously do not recommend. It’s best to just forget that this feature is even there.

The camera app is a little bloated with stickers (some of which are live and animated with sound), filters, and Bixby Vision for object and place recognition. It isn’t immediately clear how you’re supposed to switch between the two front cameras – there’s a Live Focus mode shortcut right within the viewfinder which lets you take shots with background blur, and then there’s a Wide Selfie mode in the hidden menu that you have to swipe right to see. In both cases, there doesn’t seem to be much of a difference in the composition of frames when using the secondary camera. In Wide Selfie mode you still have to physically pan the phone from side to side, whereas other phones have a wide-angle lens that just gives you a wider frame.

This might be Samsung’s first phone with dual front cameras, but there really doesn’t seem to be anything that really takes advantage of the second sensor. Live Focus gave us some fairly decent-looking results, and the phone lets you adjust the degree of background blur from the gallery app long after taking a shot. As far as the promise of low-light performance goes, we couldn’t see much of a difference there either.

As for photos taken with the rear camera, results were a bit weak. If there was even lighting, the Galaxy A8+ (2018) managed well, though we would still have liked to see better handling of details and exposures. Objects at even a slight distance came out looking artificial, with noisy textures, rough edges, and overblown whites. At night, things took a drastic turn for the worse. If there wasn’t a lot of artificial light falling directly on a subject, the phone could barely pick out any details whatsoever. Even on the phone’s bright sAMOLED screen, it was clear that there was a ton of noise, and that you just couldn’t see things even if you were standing right in front of them. We weren’t expecting camera quality to be on par with that of the Galaxy S8, but this was totally disappointing.

Tap to see full-sized Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018) photo samples

In another big surprise for a phone at this price level, video recording only goes up to 1080p with the rear as well as front cameras. You can choose the slightly wider custom resolution of 2224×1080, which at least doesn’t crop your frames in order to fill the screen, but Samsung wisely decided not to make this the default selection. There is digital stabilisation but not optical.

Battery life was good overall, and we were able to get through a full day of normal usage with about 15 percent left over. Our HD video loop battery test ran for 12 hours, 52 minutes which is not too bad for a phone with a screen this size to light up. We found that the phone charged up to 50 percent in slightly over half an hour, which is also good. Wireless charging isn’t supported, in case you were wondering.

Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018) in pictures

Verdict

Samsung is at risk of becoming a slow, lumbering giant that cannot keep up with its nimble competitors. There’s no reason for it to have waited this long to release an updated premium-tier model, and the Galaxy A8+ (2018) is in a bit of an awkward position. It isn’t very convincing when seen next to the OnePlus 5T and Honor View 10, especially because of the features and capabilities that Samsung still reserves for its flagships.

We don’t know who the company is targeting with this phone, other than people who like large screens and blindly trust the Samsung brand. We don’t think the new Galaxy A8+ it’s strong enough to fend off the OnePlus 5T at exactly the same price. Camera quality is severely disappointing, and the half-hearted implementation of dual front cameras just leaves us confused. Despite its Infinity Display, the phone’s design doesn’t really scream for attention, and software bloat is another area of concern.

Samsung needs to figure out how to give its phones at this price level a strong identity and build on unique capabilities such as Samsung Pay, because the Galaxy A8+ (2018) definitely can’t compete on specifications and cost. Right now, the Galaxy S7 is more attractive and has a lower price. The Galaxy S8 is also soon to be replaced, which means it will become more affordable as well.

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[technologywearables]

Moto 360 Sport review - a smartwatch with GPS tracking

Motorola's had a respectable track record with its Android Use gadgets. Its initial Moto 360 smartwatch was just one of the finest early wearables, and also that the 2nd Gen design it launched late last year was even much better, offering even more customisation alternatives as well as a sleeker, more eye-catching layout that can be found in 2 dimensions, so you should find one that suits.

Now we have the Moto 360 Sporting activity, which, as its name suggests, aims to bridge the void in between smartwatches and also physical fitness trackers. With built-in GPS, optical heart price display, a silicone rubber band and also a new flexible display for simple reading both inside your home and out, it sounds like the excellent combination for those after something a bit much more watch-like compared to your ordinary physical fitness tracker. In reality, though, it stumbles over a variety of hurdles, starting from its standard design right via to its rather restricted fitness features.

Looking for something a bit less stylish? Have a look at our ideal smartwatches from 2015

Design

For instance, its silicone elastic band is a sensible selection when it concerns rubbing out sweat and also grime after workout, and also that it's certainly a lot more comfortable to put on than the steel and also that leather bands of its non-Sport Moto 360 cousins. That doesn't quit it from selecting up all way of dust as well as filth on an everyday basis, as you could see in these pictures.

It's not easy to tidy either, as its soft, spongy finish just won't let go of whatever's stuck to its surface area, regardless of exactly how hard you scrub it. This leaves it looking instead hideous following to its glossier, steel siblings, and also that the reality you cannot replace the band implies you're also stuck with it throughout of the watch's lifespan.

It's amazing just exactly how much dirt and also lint the 360 Sport chooses up

With a 45mm diameter, the Moto 360 Sporting activity errs more towards the size of the larger 2nd Gen Moto 360, yet it didn't look too large even on my relatively small wrists. It additionally has an IP67 ranking, which indicates it's both dust-tight and also water resistant, albeit just around a metre for a period of 30 mins. That makes a fast dip fine but you should not do any type of significant swimming with it, so you'll should look somewhere else if you want something for the swimming pool, such as the Misfit Sparkle or Garmin Vivoactive.

Fitness tracking

Instead, the Moto 360 Sport is aimed nearly completely at runners, as well as its optical heart price display and integrated GENERAL PRACTITIONERS go a lengthy way to assist separate it from various other Android Wear smartwatches. GPS by itself is a rarity amongst smartwatches, as well as while we've seen heart rate screens show up on a number of various other Android Wear watches in the past, the Moto 360 Sporting activity can track your pulse continually throughout your exercise to provide you real-time feedback on how your pulse rate's transforming and where it drops within Motorola's pre-defined heart rate zones.

These array from warm-up all the way up to strenuous and also that intense exercise, and are an useful sign if you're attempting to keep your heart price within specific limits. You do have to remember to make on Motorola's Moto Physical body app before you see this details, however, as it won't do it instantly. Fortunately, Motorola's included a huge Start switch in the middle of the display screen to save you from finding the application in its menus.

Moto Body

Once Moto Body is made it possible for, you can establish specific time, range or calorie objectives, or just hop into Flying start mode if you're in a rush. A simple double touch on the screen will certainly after that stop the timer if you wish to take a break, and tapping 'End' will save your information to its 4GB of interior storage, after which it will certainly sync to your phone when it's back in array. It can likewise discuss this information with other apps and also services such as Fitbit, Strava, MapMyRun, UA Document and also that Google Fit.

However, among the Moto 360 Sporting activity's primary collapses is the lack of customisation alternatives. As an example, you can't establish the heart rate limits on your own to truly aid you fine-tune your exercise plan, and also that its day-to-day non-Moto Body information merely isn't really useful, despite whether you're a physical fitness aficionado or a periodic gym-goer. When you do not have Moto Body enabled, the Sporting activity will measure your actions, track your meant heart task and tape-record the number of calories you burn each day via exercise in addition to those melted while relaxing (your basal metabolic price).

However, I handled to comfortably surpass my heart task goals simply by strolling in between the workplace as well as my closest tube stop on a daily basis, which takes around ten mins each method. There's no other way to alter this goal in the app to need even more exercise either, making this certain metric essentially redundant unless you're a genuine, extraordinary couch potato. Its calorie melt information additionally seemed to be extremely charitable, and also I really did not locate its chart data particularly valuable or very easy to decipher.

^ Moto Body's first homescreen is fairly insightful, but its graphs are alongside worthless, as you can't touch on them or zoom in any type of more making its periods more legibile

Admittedly, the correct Moto Body run information is more thorough and also consequently better, however it's still not entirely ideal. It includes charts showing your rate, heart price and calorie-burn per minute throughout your workout, some information on just how your range and also pace as compares to your current documents, along with how lengthy you spent in each heart rate zone.