Category: Technology

The bread and butter of my blog and website. Covering everything from software development, software engineering, programming, and various programming languages.

Surface Book 2 Impressions Part 3 of 3

If you haven’t already please check out my two previous posts about my impressions and experience with the Surface Book 2. The first post can be found here, and the second post can be found here. Enjoy 🙂

This is my third and final part of my Surface Book 2 impressions. The first post was an introduction to how and why I chose the Surface Book 2 as my primary laptop device over everything else on the market. The second post was about how I felt about the design and aesthetics. Now it comes down to one of the most important aspects when choosing a new device, what is the performance like and does it live up to expectations.

I have been using my Surface Book 2 while at home whenever I can. It has essentially become my daily driver when it comes to a PC; I have been avoiding using my gaming PC for most things like programming and word processing to ensure that I test the Surface Book 2 completely.

Display Detached

I have only detached the display a couple of times and it has been an okay experience. The detach process is fairly quick and there are no issues attaching the display back to the base. What I found was that using the display by itself (like a clipboard or a tablet) I would get 4 hours worth of battery easy (which I think is acceptable for its size and what you can really do without a keyboard). I didn’t really do too much with just the display; I watched videos and did some note taking with the Surface Pen and OneNote. In my day to day use I will most likely be keeping the Surface Book 2 as it came out of the box and like a traditional laptop.

Windows Hello 😉

The Surface Book 2 is equipped with Windows Hello, and is also the first Windows device I have ever had with this feature. Logging in to your Surface Book 2 is super easy and quick with Windows Hello and I highly recommend it; just look at your camera on the log in screen and it logs you in if it authenticates you. The entire Windows Hello experience is less than 3 seconds.

One thing I noticed was that when I first launched and configured my Surface Book 2 with Windows Hello, I had a beard so Windows Hello was recognising my face with a beard fine. Recently I shaved my beard off and it didn’t recognise me so I had to improve the recognition, not a major issue but something to consider if you change your facial hair frequently. To its credit though it recognised me with and without glasses with no issue.

Top Shelf Battery Life

The 13.5” i5 Surface Book 2 has an absolutely amazing battery. It has lasted me easily 10 hours before going to around 15% (shown by the battery indicator), and it could go for a little longer. The maximum amount of batter life I have gotten from the Surface Book 2 is around 11 hours (but closer to 12 hours really). Is it the 17 hours that Microsoft claims? Well no, but in saying that I have not been using the top of the line model and have not been watching videos only while offline with the display on a low brightness settings. The 10 hours that I have experienced is an average over several battery charge cycles with the lowest being 8 hours (closer to 9 but rounding down, this was when I was doing some taxing tasks) and the highest being 11 hours (close to 12 but I rounded down and this was with normal tasks).

Surface Book 2 Battery IndicatorA nice feature is the battery display which shows two batteries. From what I can tell “Battery 0” is the battery in the display and “Battery 1” is the battery in the base of the Surface Book 2. Microsoft didn’t need to do this and could have easily only shown a single battery level. What this allows you to do is before you detach the display from the base you can easily check to see if you will have enough battery to use the Surface Book 2 as a tablet. Kudos for Microsoft for adding this feature for the Surface Book 2 through Windows 10. The complete harmony of the hardware and software is present here, very Apple like.

Initially I used the Surface Book 2 fairly lightly and did not do any programming or perform any heavy duty tasks; I mainly did some web browsing, video consumption and document editing. I let the battery completely drain (well around 5%) and then let it completely charge. Once I knew that the battery was charged all the way back up to 100% I started to push the Surface Book 2. To get a good average I did this battery drain cycle and charge a number of times.

Even when taxing the Surface Book 2 with Visual Studio and the Windows Mobile emulator plus a number of other apps running in the background the battery still impressed me. My Surface Pro 3 could get close to maybe 6 hours battery if I was lucky, here with the heavy duty use I was getting close to 9 hours. Can this device be your “leave your charger at home” type of laptop? It sure can, no problem. Personally I would have no issue leaving my Surface Book 2 charger at home and it would last me the entire normal work day. Rating the battery life for the time that I have been using the Surface Book 2 I would give it a 10/10.

Cool to Touch

One thing that is really good about the Surface Pro devices is that all the components are in the display, the keyboard that is attached is essentially just the keyboard and cover. Your lap then would never get hot if you were using the device on the go and not on a surface. This is a major problem with most traditional laptops in the market, but it is not a problem with the Surface Book 2.

I found that compared to other traditional laptops the Surface Book 2 runs extremely cool, I barely even noticed any heat on my lap while doing taxing tasks. I have used some laptops that are incredibly hot after a short period of time making them near impossible to place on your lap. Where you palms rest while you type and where your thighs are positioned under the base of the Surface Book 2 there is no heat generated at all. The only place where there is any heat felt at all is at the center back of the base, and that really isn’t too hot or uncomfortable at all. The heat distribution and management is fantastic.

San Fan (No Fan)

The Surface Book 2 that I have has no fan (i5 version). So unlike the insanely loud fan that would spin up on my Surface Pro 3 whenever I was doing anything taxing (or watching videos in Google Chrome for that matter), there is no noise being generated from my Surface Book 2. This is a welcome change and something that once you realise how quiet your device can be, you may miss it when you go to another device that has a loud fan. If you have an i7 version of the Surface Book 2, you unfortunately do have a fan and I imagine that when you do something that really pushes the device you will end up hearing the fan fairly easily.

No Lag or Compromise

With the combination of some pretty decent hardware and Windows 10, the Surface Book 2 has never lagged or slowed down on me, even when I was on less than 15% battery while doing programming tasks. I imagine that Microsoft has done some optimisations to the OS so that it runs well on the Surface Book 2 (like the battery indicator for example).

Other laptops and even to a lesser extent my Surface Pro 3 when the battery was getting close to being completely depleted the mouse would start to slightly lag and then some apps would take a little longer to respond. To date I have not experienced this with the Surface Book 2. Visual Studio is known to at times freeze/lag and then pick up again (even on my beefy gaming PC), but I have not had any issues with Visual Studio on my Surface Book 2, even when running the Windows Mobile emulator on around 20% battery.

My Final Thoughts

Microsoft has crafted and extremely durable, elegant and pleasant to use device in the Surface Book 2. From the premium unboxing experience to the outstanding battery life and no compromise performance even under heavy use, the Surface Book 2 can pretty much do whatever you need. For me, the Surface Book 2 met all the criteria for me to purchase and use as my primary laptop device, and it has exceeded my expectations from the unboxing to using it.

There really isn’t too much that I can fault the Surface Book 2 on. The keyboard is one of the best keyboards that I have ever used. The trackpad is the best trackpad that I have used. The display is one of the sharpest and crystal clear displays I have seen on a laptop and that is even after using the Surface Pro 3. The battery life has amazed me and can easily go a single work day with one charge and there is still battery life to spare. Windows 10 and every application that I have used on the Surface Book 2 has not lagged, frozen or crashed on me. If I had to fault the Surface Book 2 at all I would say that having the 3.5mm headphone port at the top right of the display when docked is a little annoying.

I would recommend the Surface Book 2 with no hesitation.

Surface Book 2 Impressions Part 2 of 3

If you haven’t already please check out the first part of my Surface Book 2 impressions here. It outlines how I chose the Surface Book 2 and what I was after in a laptop.

This post is going to be about the look and feel of the new Surface Book 2 13.5” version. I will be doing a performance and usability break down in the coming week as I want to have as much time putting the Surface Book 2 through its paces first.

The Surface Book 2 unboxing experience (actually any Surface product I would say) is very close to how I would imagine an Apple MacBook unboxing would be. I’ve never had an Apple product so I wouldn’t know exactly, but from what I hear Apple tries to make the unboxing experience as premium as their device. The box is extremely durable, minimalistic and has each component placed ever so thoughtfully to make the experience as pleasant to the consumer as possible. From the get go Microsoft has made the experience feel premium, kudos.

Once you take the Surface Book 2 out of the box you immediately feel you are holding a premium product. I will probably end up using the word “premium” or the phrase “top of its class” a number of times in this post because that is probably the best word and phrase to describe the Surface Book 2. The Surface Book 2 is not too heavy and not too large, so carrying it and using it on the go or on your lap is not going to be an issue. Note that I am using the 13.5” version and not the 15” one, so perhaps the 15” might be a little different; the 13.5” is the perfect size and weight for me your experience may vary.

Covering the ports and buttons quickly, the Surface Book 2 has on the left of the base two USB A ports and an SD card slot. On the right side of the base it has a USB C port and a proprietary charging port. Something most phones in 2017 don’t have is a 3.5mm headphone port; however the Surface Book 2 has a 3.5mm headphone port. It can be found on the top right of the display/lid which is great when you are using the device as a tablet but not so great when you are using it as a traditional laptop. The top left of the display also has the power button and the volume buttons which is nice to have, especially if you are going to use the device as a tablet.

Every part of the device is made from what appears to be a premium metal, it has a matte finish so there are no finger prints and makes the entire device look and feel luxurious. There are really only two colours on the device (not including the chrome inlayed Microsoft logo on the display). The colours are the light gray and black. I don’t think I can find any plastic on the Surface Book 2. Microsoft seems to have gone the route of “if you are going to be spending big bucks on a new device, then you are going to get premium parts” and I commend them on that. I have bought gaming laptops in the past which come close to the price of the new Surface Book 2 and have significantly more plastic in the build. They could have skimped on some parts but they didn’t.

If you look at the device from the side with the display/lid is closed there is a gap (it does not completely close) and that is a result of the hinge that Microsoft uses. I personally have no concern that my device does not completely close and actually am a fan of the hinge design; it is unique and does the job well in giving the consumer a good display tilt. Lifting the display/lid is extremely easy and takes minimal effort. Closing the display/lid is also just as satisfying as when the display/lid touches the base there is a satisfying magnetic click; most likely they added this to highlight to the consumer that you have closed the display/lid and it will not open up by accident. It is the little things like this that make the device feel premium and well thought out. Microsoft didn’t need to add these little touches, but it shows they really care. This is something that Apple does well and many other manufacturers miss.

One of the top two most important features of any laptop is the trackpad. Many manufacturers like HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc. generally have extremely poor to barely adequate trackpads. They are sized poorly, or placed in an odd location, or feel cheap. The Surface Book 2 trackpad however is top of its class. It is positioned perfectly on the base, is large enough, and feels smooth which to me allows for extreme pointer precision. Apple makes some of the best trackpads in the business, but Microsoft has caught up and its trackpad on the Surface Book 2 is on bar with the best that Apple offer. Kudos to Microsoft for not skimping out on the trackpad, they could have easily given us something smaller and made from plastic but they have gone again with the premium materials used throughout the device.

Something that a laptop needs to truly be useful is a solid keyboard, especially if you are to be typing on your lap or are not docked anywhere. Along with a premium trackpad there is a premium feeling keyboard. I have used many different keyboards, both on laptops and on desktop PCs. Personally I am a major fan of mechanical keyboards. There is something about that key click and key travel on them that makes typing on it such a pleasant experience. The Surface Book 2 has the keys perfectly spaced and the key travel is also near perfect. I don’t know if it is a mechanical keyboard but it sure performs like one. Every time you hit a key you get a satisfying click, and with the optimal spacing and travel you can easily type with little slow down. The keyboard is backlit which is pretty common now and is a handy feature to have. Out of all the laptops I have used this has one of the best if not the best keyboards. A close second would have to be my old Lenovo ThinkPad which also has that satisfying click and mechanical feel. It also worthwhile to note that the device feels perfectly weighted so there is little to no wobble when you are typing on your lap.

With the keyboard and trackpad covered I should probably move on to the display. You get a beautiful 3000 x 2000 resolution display. Some people are really picky about the colours on their displays, me personally I am not overly too concerned. As long as my blue is blue and my red is red I’m happy. The colours on this display are perfectly acceptable and I would not think many people would have any issues with them. The display also can go extremely dim and also extremely bright, so you have both ends of the spectrum covered. Images, video, everything that is presented on the display is crystal clear and extremely sharp. On a laptop, it has to be one of the best displays I have used. I cannot fault Microsoft here on the display. If there is one thing that I would have liked is a slightly smaller bezel, but I can understand why they had to have a bezel of this size. Coming from the Surface Pro 3 which itself had a large bezel and brilliant display, the Surface Book 2 is miles ahead in display quality.

Overall I feel that Microsoft has crafted a premium and top of its class product. I know there really isn’t much different when you first glance at the Surface Book 2 over the original Surface Book but this device really has been refined. From the precise trackpad to the near pixel perfect display, everything has been thought of. Microsoft have designed and engineered a marvelous device that can act as a laptop and a tablet. Nothing feels cheap or tacky, you are getting a premium product with premium looking and feeling parts.

As noted at the start stay tuned for my final post which will cover the Surface Book 2’s performance, and let me know if there is anything specific you want me to test. I’ll be pushing the device to its limit while I use the development tools I have installed and work on my side projects.

Surface Book 2 Impressions Part 1 of 3

My History with the Surface Line

I have been a big fan of the Microsoft Surface line since it first launched. Hell I even purchased a Surface RT, and to the device’s credit it lasted all the way up until mid 2017 before the battery was no longer any good and trying to load a web page was near impossible. Windows RT might not have been the future but Microsoft had something with the original Surface products and I am happy that they continued to refine and rework them. They could have easily thrown the line out like the did with the Zune, RIP Zune I will miss you.

My primary mobile computing device was a Surface Pro 3 and one of the main reasons why I purchased that product was that it was a laptop and tablet in one with decent performance and a good battery. Plus the Surface Pen and OneNote made taking notes in my Artificial Intelligence and Mathematics classes while doing my post graduate Computer Science degree far easier. I also credit that device to my higher average marks overall. With the combination of better note taking and easier material management I recommend that any student who wishes to take notes in class and have everything digital then a Surface product with OneNote and the Surface Pen is the way to go.

While my Surface Pro 3 had done the job while I was studying, some of my side projects were not running as well on that device compared to my gaming PC. Over time the more I started looking at AI and emulation programming the more I realised that purchasing a device with only 128GB of total hard drive space and 4GB worth of RAM might have been a mistake. I should have saved up a little more cash and purchased the 8GB and 256GB model, but we all make mistakes and we all learn from them (I know I have).

With the announcement of the new Surface Pro 2017 edition, and the new Surface Laptop I knew that I had options. Before pulling the trigger I waited a little longer to see if Microsoft will be doing a refresh of the Surface Book line. There was the Surface Book with the Performance Base, but I didn’t want a first generation Surface Book and the discrete GPU did not interest me. Thankfully my patience paid off as Microsoft announced the new Surface Book 2. I started to read and follow any news about the new Surface Book 2, making note of the little details that were mentioned in the videos and blog posts I read. One week before the release date I decided to pre-order the device from the Microsoft Store. It had everything that I needed.

My Laptop Needs

I used my Surface Pro 3 originally as my primary mobile study device while at university, but I also used it as a development laptop while and after I graduated. I used Android Studio, Visual Studio and IntelliJ on it. So any new device needs to be a workhorse, but it also needs to be built like a tank with all the ports that I need. I really appreciate the details that Microsoft put into their Surface line so I decided to stick with them as the build quality of my Surface Pro 3 was top notch.

I have used other manufacturers laptops in the past and they have been hit and miss. I had a Lenovo but the device is very “plasticy” and the trackpad is horrible, but the keyboard is amazing; I had a HP which has a more solid feel than the Lenovo but the keyboard is one of the worst I have used (poor spacing and key travel). I also had an ASUS gaming laptop which has all the necessary power I need but is not very portable.

The Surface Book 2 appeared to check all my boxes (according to the initial impressions from the media and the individuals who had used the device at preview events). It has:

  • A fundamentally solid build, no obvious plastic here.
  • A keyboard that is spaced well and the keys have a near perfect travel, plus there is backlighting to the keys (I sometimes code deep into the night so this is now a necessary feature).
  • A trackpad that is Apple like.
  • More than one USB port (this is something that I needed, as having a single USB port on my Surface Pro 3 was quite annoying and even the new Surface Pro 2017 edition and Surface Laptop only have one USB port).
  • The ability to function as a tablet and has touch/pen support (I still use OneNote to draw up wireframes for apps and take notes, plus at time I just want to watch Netflix in bed).
  • Enough horsepower to run Visual Studio and any emulation software I need when developing my apps and working on side projects.
  • A battery that can last a near full day’s worth of work (so around 6 hours worth of development and Internet browsing at a minimum).

How Big and How Much Horsepower?

I have used laptops from both ends of the spectrum with regard to size and performance. What I have found is that the optimal size for me is a device that does not have a screen much larger than 13”. Any larger and the device becomes too large to lug around and is too heavy. So right out of the gate the Surface Book 2 that I was getting was the 13.5” and not the 15”.

Do I need a laptop with a discrete graphics card? No. I don’t play any video games on laptops, all my gaming is done on my Xbox One X or my gaming PC which has a GTX 980. Maybe a GPU would be useful in regard to AI programming but I doubt a single card would matter too much. The new Surface Book that I would end up purchasing would not have a discrete GPU.

Something unfortunate is that all the i7 laptops have a discrete GPU. This means that the Surface Book 2 that I would be purchasing would have an older generation i5. I had spoken about this with the other software engineers at work and they all felt that having an i7 option with no discrete GPU would have been great. I most likely would have purchased that build. Maybe in the future Microsoft will offer an i7 with no discrete GPU, but I highly doubt it. One nice feature with the i5 version is that it is completely san fan 🙂 Not a major loss here, but having a new generation CPU which has better performance would have been nice.

With the i5 version I don’t really get much choice in regard to RAM and HDD size (in Australia anyway, not sure about the rest of the world). It comes with 256GB worth of storage space, which is going to be a big relief after living with only 128GB worth of space on my Surface Pro 3. Having 8GB worth of RAM is also going to be a nice bump from the 4GB that I had with my Surface Pro 3 (2x worth the bump I might add).

I plan on releasing two more blog posts, one about the build quality of the Surface Book 2 and one about the performance. The build quality post will be released very shortly, but the performance post will take a little longer. I want to spend some more time running the Surface Book 2 through it’s paces while I am doing some development work. So stay tuned in the coming days for part two and in the coming weeks for my final (part three) Surface Book 2 impressions.

My New Nokia 8 Smartphone

My time with the Motorola Nexus 6 has unfortunately come to an end. I loved that smartphone and it has served me well since I purchased it. To Google’s credit the smartphone received constant system and security updates; unfortunately October 2017 would be the last month that Google would officially support the device [1]. So it was time to move on to a new and shiny toy.

I didn’t just purchase a new mobile phone because the software would no longer be updated, but the battery that once lasted me a good work day would now only last around 5 hours. So after doing my research and weighing up all my options the one smartphone that had what I wanted and not break the bank was HMD Global’s new flagship smartphone, the Nokia 8. If you would like to see my Android journey so far and what I want in an Android smartphone, check out my post here.

Premium Build and Feel

Much like the original Nokia handsets, the new Nokia 8 is designed and built extremely well. When I took the smartphone out of the box it was heavy (personally I felt that it is heavier than the Nexus 6 even though it is supposed to be 24g lighter), and it easily and comfortably fit in my hand (most likely because of the curved edges/side). The Nokia 8 appears to be a smartphone that is built to last. I appreciate the high quality design and build, kudos HMD Global. If you would like to see how durable the Nokia 8 actually is then take a look at JerryRigEverything’s Nokia 8 Durability Test. Going forward I will always be looking at these types of tests because I want my smartphone to last at least 3 years.

A 3.5mm Headphone Jack

Last year Apple was “courageous” when they removed the 3.5mm headphone jack. Some other mobile phone makers followed suit like HTC. Google this year followed in Apple’s footsteps by releasing two new Pixel smartphones without a 3.5mm headphone jack. To Samsung, LG and HMD Global’s credit they have kept the 3.5 mm headphone jack in most, if not all their smartphones. As someone who does not have wireless headphones and listens to podcasts and music on the way to work and while at work, a 3.5mm headphone jack is vital. Personally I feel it hurts the mobile phone maker’s brand and it turns people off future devices when they remove such fundamental components. Nearly everyone that I talk to say that they will never consider buying a smartphone without a 3.5mm headphone jack. It is just an option that they are taking away from the consumer.

Stock “Pure” Android

I am a massive fan of the Android OS, however manufacturers see the need to add unnecessary apps, skins, launchers and other elements to their smartphones without the consumer’s choice. By having all these extra items over time the phone begins to slow down due to poor support and optimization, and updates to the OS nearly never come or come months later. The Nokia 8 comes with stock Android :D. When I mean stock Android, I really mean stock Android; there are no fancy skins or launchers, there are no extra or unnecessary apps pre-installed. It is how the Android OS is supposed to be experienced IMO. Google’s own productivity suite (Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides) is not installed on your device for example; for me this is great because I use Microsoft’s Office suite instead along with an Office 365 subscription allowing me access to 1TB worth of OneDrive storage. If you are like me and want the bare minimum with the ability to add what you want and with timely OS and security updates from Google, then the Nokia 8 will most likely fit the bill perfectly.

My Experience So Far

From the 3.5mm headphone jack to the micro-SD card slot next to the nano SIM card, the Nokia 8 has everything I need from a hardware perspective. Sure it might not have dual front facing speakers like my Nexus 6 but the bottom speaker it does have is perfectly fine, and it isn’t waterproof but I don’t plan on taking it swimming with me and if it does rain, it is splash proof. There is also no wireless charging either, but I am not going to pay another $300-$400 AUD for wireless charging capabilities.

Instead of a fingerprint sensor on the back like most Android smartphones, there is a fingerprint sensor where the dedicated home button is usually placed. This is the first smartphone I have ever had with a fingerprint sensor and it is responsive and accurate. I don’t take many photos but the front and rear cameras both do the job; it also has a “boothie” mode where it shoots the front and the back cameras simultaneously (doubt I will be using this mode much).

The battery life is incredible on the Nokia 8. My Nexus 6 had a 3220 mAh battery and my Nokia 8 has a 3090 mAh battery, so you would expect the Nexus 6 to have a better battery life. When I purchased my Nexus 6 it would last close to a full 24 hours before needing a recharge, while my Nokia 8 does better getting closer to 36 hours. The display is also bright and the colors are perfectly acceptable. Moving back to a smaller sized screen would seem difficult but I have adjusted fine.

Using the stock Android experience is just as I expect. Fast, and responsive without any hiccups or stuttering. When I switch between apps there is no lag or delay, and I can easily scroll through web pages loading different media with no problem (something my Nexus 6 eventually had trouble doing). The first thing I did when I started my phone up was check for updates and to HMD Global and Google’s credit there were three security patches waiting for me (one for each month up to October).

I cannot find a flaw at the moment with this device, but if I had to really complain about something it would be the slight camera bump. I am getting a case for my smartphone so that should fix that problem. If HMD Global keeps their promise of keeping the Android OS updated [2] and ensure that security patches are rolled out ASAP then this smartphone is going to last me a long time.

Nokia is finally back through HMD Global and giving everyone a run for their money. Other mobile phone manufacturers watch out.

Please Websites Stop Doing This

I generally don’t rant too much, and if I do I definitely don’t do it on the net. But it has gotten to the point where it has really started to annoy me and most people I talk to say the same thing. So I decided to make this little post about the latest annoying trend on the Internet. Videos that automatically play with or without sound (primarily with sound).

Many sites are doing this now. If you go to a site that has any videos you may notice that the video starts to play automatically at full volume, if you continue to scroll through the page and the video is still at the top of the page all you can hear is the video’s audio, or the video player shrinks and moves somewhere else into view and continues to play. Who in their right mind thought that it was ok to have videos automatically play (with audio)? When did this practice become standard? Does no one think of the consumer of the content? There is nothing worse (when visiting a website) than getting unwanted material/content thrown in their face without your consent, it hurts the eyes and the ears.

I have two main problems with this new trend:

  1. Will someone think of my bandwidth – when I’m on my home network I’m not too concerned about my bandwidth because I am on an “unlimited” plan (thanks TPG). But when I am on my mobile I am on a pre-paid (pay as you go) “plan”. I don’t need to be excessively charged for videos that automatically start streaming.
  2. “Ow my freakin’ ears” – that awkward and frustrating moment when you visit a page, you start scrolling down, while unknowingly to you a video somewhere on the page starts to play and the only thing you can do is hear it. You start to hunt where on the page the annoying video is playing from. It is absolutely rude and obnoxious to play a video with the audio on without the individual’s consent.

The only social media platform that I am a part of, LinkedIn, will start to have this feature as well. However to their credit the audio will be off which covers my second point above, but it will still chew up bandwidth if left playing I assume [1]. So if you produce content on the internet and have a website that contains videos, please for the love of God I beg you do not have videos automatically play. If you truly must (I don’t see why you would though) have videos automatically playing then at least have it muted.

I can see in the near future extensions for browsers that block automatically playing videos, just like individuals creating extensions to block invasive ads on web pages. If the content providers don’t change to be more conscious and consumer friendly then the consumers will take their browsing experiences into their own hands just like they have with ads and ad blockers.

A Microsoft Twist on Google’s Android

Update: Within 6 hours of me posting this Microsoft sent me an email about the availability of the Microsoft Edge browser on Android, in Preview. You can find it here in the Google Play Store. Enjoy your new browser.

I have stated this before but I’ll do it again. I am a HUGE Android fan, I love Android. I like being able to customize my phone (from a stock Android experience) and use the full range of supported first party apps. However, I am a HUGE Microsoft fan as well; even bought the original Surface RT (R.I.P. Windows RT). When I read that the Redmond software king was coming out with a new Android launcher called Microsoft Launcher (seems to be a re-skinned Arrow Launcher from their Microsoft Garage team) and Microsoft Edge I was over the moon. You can read more about the announcement on the Windows Blog here.

I have on and off used the Arrow launcher previously on my Android device, and I use Microsoft Edge on my Surface Pro 3 and Gaming PC (alongside Google Chrome. See here about my experience running Edge and Chrome on my Surface Pro 3). I could not be happier to try out these two new apps from Microsoft on my now nearly no longer security supported Google Nexus 6.

Note: As of writing this blog post the Microsoft Edge browser is currently only on iOS, you can however sign up and get informed when the Microsoft Edge becomes available to use on Android. See here for more information about the Microsoft Edge browser for Android availability. The Microsoft Launcher for Android is in Preview aka Beta and already available.

Several days later my heart sank slightly. The high I was on from the new software announcement did not last. I read that Microsoft is officially not going to be adding new features and build new hardware for Windows 10 Mobile; see here for more info about that news. I was really and truly hoping for a Surface Phone (still am, even after the announcement). Sure I don’t have a Windows 10 Mobile supported OS but it is always good to have competition and the experience I had on the Windows Mobile ecosystem was acceptable with the exception being the lack of first party supported apps. A real shame because the performance and UI to me was superior to that of the all too similar iOS and Android platforms.

With a new launcher in use and a new browser coming to my Android phone all coming from Microsoft I decided to have a look at the apps and services I use on my phone. What I saw was a little shocking at first, I used to primarily only use Google’s services and apps. As time went on my needs and preferences must have changed which in turn led to changes to the apps and services I use. The Google launcher I was using is now a Microsoft launcher, I will no longer be using Google Chrome but use Microsoft Edge (once it becomes available), and I don’t even use Google’s AI assistant, Cortana is my go to AI (she syncs with my Windows 10 PCs so easily it is stupid of me not to use her). The majority of my day to day apps or services are Microsoft now. Recently I even purchased a subscription to Office 365 so having that extra space on OneDrive and having the Office suite on my phone has Google’s suit of “Office” products obsolete.

I have always been dependent on the Google ecosystem (from Chrome to Gmail), but now I feel that I have finally managed to escape Google’s tight grasp. It isn’t that I don’t like their services or apps, it is just that I have found better services and apps. What Microsoft is offering on the Android platform is fantastic and the clear differentiation between the two technology giants is that Microsoft understands that synchronization and integration between mobile and desktop is important, plus getting people to use their services no matter the platform is important. Google’s lack of proper app support on desktop is a major problem for me as doing everything through a browser is not amazing plus the features on their browser supported products pale in comparison to the Microsoft offerings. Google Docs does not come close at all to what I can do in Microsoft Word, even Microsoft Excel completely destroys Google Sheets. What Microsoft offers with Office 365 is light years ahead of what Google offers.

So it appears that even though I am running stock Android (mainly for the performance and security updates), my time with Google’s apps and services appears to be coming to a close with Microsoft’s apps and services easily taking over. Nothing Google showed at Google IO this year has changed my mind and even the hardware they showed in early October has me avoiding their products (no 3.5mm headphone port, really, are you serious). Microsoft may be slowly abandoning their own platform but they are building a strong foundation on both Android and iOS which can in the long run position them extremely well in the mobile space. It is not about having your own platform to gain market share in the mobile space, it is about getting the mobile user to use your services to gain market share which I feel is more important and Microsoft now realises this.

Time will tell now whether I stay on the Microsoft apps and service bandwagon or I jump back on the Google apps and services freight train. What about you guys? Do you mix and match, or are you staying loyal to a single provider?

Google Chrome VS Microsoft Edge On My Surface Pro 3

There have been many tests, and comparisons between Google Chrome and Microsoft’s browser, Edge. Now it is my turn to talk about my experience using both browsers. I am not going to be doing a technical breakdown, but will be doing an experience breakdown, specifically on my Surface Pro 3.

I have been using Google Chrome for an extremely long time and it is still my go to browser at work and on my primary desktop PC at home. When I purchased my Surface Pro 3 and used Google Chrome, my experience using my new device was disappointing. The battery life was extremely poor, I was only able to get three hours out of my device at best and the fan would spin at what would seem full speed whenever I watch online videos making the back right of the device Hell hot. So using Google Chrome on my Surface Pro 3 was a no go it would seem, as it made my mobile device essentially a stationary device.

Luckily Microsoft came prepared with their own browser, Microsoft Edge. I decided to give it a go. At first it was tough to get used to the new browser. I didn’t mind using Bing, it performed just as good if not better than Google for some search results (props to Microsoft there). All the extensions that I used in Google Chrome were not present in Microsoft Edge (at the start Microsoft Edge did not even support extensions, but now it does and it has all the ones I need, so props again for listening to your consumers). But the extension issue I had was not the major problem with Microsoft Edge, loading and viewing web pages was the biggest problem. Not all pages would load correctly, the tab would constantly become unresponsive, UI elements on the page would not behave correctly, etc. Microsoft Edge still has this problem even in 2017 which is extremely frustrating. On the plus side of using Microsoft Edge I would easily get six hours out of my device, the fan would not spin up when watching online videos, and the device would not get hot at all.

So do I use a browser that essentially ruins the mobile experience due to poor battery performance and an insanely loud fan spinning while watching online videos making the device too hot to touch or do I use a browser that keeps the battery charge, has the fan spinning at a reasonable speed, but lacks the ability to perform when it comes to loading and viewing some web pages?

Right now I use both to try and get the best of both worlds. If I need to do some web browsing then I turn to Google Chrome, but if I need to watch any online videos then I always use Microsoft Edge. It may not be the best solution but neither Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge perform as expected on my Surface Pro 3. Maybe Google will work on optimising Google Chrome to ensure that it doesn’t take up all your resources, and reduce your battery to nothing in a short period. Or Microsoft can look into the issue where Microsoft Edge fails to load and display web pages correctly, because really that is the only show stopper for me; and for a web browser it if pretty important to have pages loaded and correctly displayed.

My Android Situation

I am a die-hard Android fan; I would even go as far as to say I love Android. My very first smartphone was Android. I switched to a Windows Phone for a brief period, but switched back to Android. I can foresee myself continuing to buy Android phones until something “better” comes out. Right now I am in a position where my current Android phone is one its last legs. Looking at the current Android device market, I am disappointed in what is out there; nothing matches what I am after. Before I go into why the current Android device market is underwhelming, I’m going to breakdown my Android journey so far. It is this journey that has me feeling this way and hopefully provide some context.

My Very First Smartphone

My very first smartphone was the HTC Desire HD. It was in my mind the greatest smartphone you could ever get. It had everything that I wanted in a smartphone, even a 3.5mm headphone port 🙂 However, the more I started to use it and as the years rolled by, I saw one glaring flaw in the once Superman like device. It had nothing to do with the hardware but the software. It stopped receiving major Android updates from Google, and HTC stopped providing updates to it as well. With the device no longer being supported by Google and HTC, I decided to “root” my phone and install a custom ROM. An unfortunate event caused my screen to no longer work; who would have thought that dropping your phone, display first on concrete will kill a number of pixels? So I decided to move on and buy a new phone.

The Proper Android Experience

It just so happened Google and LG released a new phone a month or two earlier. The phone offered a “pure”, stock Android experience, no skins and no bloatware like my HTC Desire HD. It was the almighty LG Nexus 4. It was my very first stock Android phone and after using it, I am never (ever) going back to an Android device with a skin or bloatware pre-installed; no matter how good the hardware and skin is for the phone (sorry Samsung). With the stock Android experience, I could generally get “timely” Android updates (if my telco provider doesn’t block or take an extremely long time to test the Android update on their network *cough* Telstra *cough*) and experience Android how I imagined the original creators and Google would have wanted. Eventually my Nexus 4 stopped getting support from Google but I still kept it around as it still worked great. Eventually the hardware started to fail. I probably should have just replaced the failing hardware components, but I decided to make a switch to a Windows Phone. I don’t remember exactly why I switched ecosystems but I remember having a spreadsheet with data about a number of phones and the Windows Phone was the best option out there at the time. Goodbye Android.

Hello Windows Phone

The Windows Phone that I decided to go with was the Nokia Lumia 930. At first I loved it. The build quality is still the best of any phone that I have ever had. Extremely solid, heavy and felt like it would not break on you; it is a premium device at the fraction of the cost when I bought it. The only glaring flaw the phone had (which I knew going in) was the Windows Store (more specifically the lack of apps). I could barely get by with the apps the Windows Store had, and I did not realise how much I depended on the Google ecosystem. What was truly annoying was the lack of proper first party app support; there was plenty of third party apps though. Fortunately my mum’s flip phone ended up dying and I decided to give her my Lumia 930 while I picked up Google’s latest Nexus device at the time. It was the Motorola Nexus 6, aka Shamu.

Android My Old Friend

Ah it was good to be back using an Android device. I missed having proper first party app support. After moving to the Nexus 6, something that I didn’t expect to be a major difference but would take some time to get used to was the sheer size of the device. The Nexus 6 is a fairly large device and at first I had some issues getting used to it, but now I love it. Watching videos, browsing the internet and reading documents is fantastic; consuming anything on a large screen mobile device is just too good. Like most Nexus users out there would know, the best thing about the Nexus line is the stock Android experience, and the timely OS and security updates. Overall the Nexus 6 has been a great device, however the battery is now not holding a charge like it should, and I am no longer getting any sort of updates even though officially Google is supporting the device until October 2017. Now I have to decide what new phone to get, but the choices for me are fairly limited for what I am after.

Android Market Frustrations

If you want variety and choice then there are plenty in regards to Android mobiles. You have the super low end budget phones for under $100 AUD or you can spend over $1400 AUD and get the latest premium, top of the line phone. So there is plenty to choose from. However in saying that, many of the phones on the market do not appeal to me. The features/options I look for in an Android phone are in no particular order:

  1. A large capacity battery – I want to hold a charge for a whole day with heavy use.
  2. Stock Android – no skins, overlays, bloatware or any other manufacturer gimmicks.
  3. Support for the device for at least 2 years – this includes timely Android OS updates and security updates.
  4. 3.5 mm headphone port – just because it is 2017 doesn’t mean we should take features away.
  5. Doesn’t cost me an arm and a leg – I don’t mind paying big bucks for a premium device if it truly is premium.

Now as you can see none of these are really unreasonable, and many phone users out there probably would have 3 of these on their list when looking for a new phone. I am not asking for an insane camera as I rarely take pictures or videos, a 4K display, wireless charging, or “squeeze” functionality.

I’m going to start with the battery option. Many phones have a decent sized battery, so this one generally gets a checkmark from me. When I look at phones out now I rarely see phones which have low capacity batteries and many phones can last a solid day with heavy use.

The hotly contested 3.5mm headphone port. I use my phone to listen to podcasts and music while travelling to work and while I code at work, so having a phone without one automatically removes the phone from my purchase list. If I was to go with a phone without a headphone port, I will need to spend even more money on some wireless headphones, and they are not cheap at all.

Stock Android. Something that is super important to me, and is probably number 1 on my list of requirements. The only phones I have seen with stock Android are the Nexus phones (R.I.P), Pixel phones, and the new Nokia phones (from HMD Global). Unfortunately the Nexus line will soon be not getting support for much longer, and the Pixel phones even though they have a premium price tag are not premium devices IMO. I feel that Google has created the Pixel line to directly compete with the iPhone and the Galaxy devices. The only new Nokia phone currently worth looking at is the Nokia 6, however the hardware is generally low mid tier with a high mid tier price. Maybe the Nokia 8 will be the device I am after. Generally all other manufacturers have skins, overlays and other gimmicks on their devices that ruin Android, so they are all out of the picture for me and I am not going to go out of my way to root a new device.

Along with the stock Android comes timely updates. With the heavily customised experience manufacturers provide for their Android device, getting updates is a major pain an hassle. If the device is running something other than stock Android then be prepared to wait for updates unfortunately. So as with the stock Android issue, having timely OS and security updates limits what phones are worth looking at.

Finally there is the price. Again, I don’t mind paying a high price for quality. I have a Surface Pro 3 and I bought it when it came out. It cost a pretty penny, but it is IMO the best purchase that I have ever done so far (in regards to technology and devices). Due to the length of support most mobile devices get from Google and manufacturers, I don’t feel like paying over $700 AUD for a mobile device every 2 to 3 years. Sure I can keep the same phone until it dies, I mean I have generally done that. But I want to ensure my device has the latest OS update and most importantly the latest security patch.

There it is folks. Let me know what you think. Am I being too demanding? What phones do you recommend? I’ll most likely end up waiting for the Nokia 8 or Pixel 2, but time is running out. If nothing is worthwhile purchasing later this year, the Nokia 6 will be the likely choice as my daily driver.

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