Nextbit Robin Review

 Nextbit Robin Mobile

Highlights

•     The Nextbit Robin replaces your SD card with 100GB of cloud storage.
•     The unique design and color really helps it stand out from the crowd.
•     The phone has stereo speakers and runs on Android marshmallow.

cloud storage is now an indispensable part of our lives and all use one service or another, either Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud or OneDrive, to name a few. The idea of ​​having your personal information in a safe place so you can access at any time and from any device is bright, and is easy to take for granted once you start using it. We have also seen that the devices are entirely dependent on cloud services, such as the Asus Chromebox and typical examples Chromebit. But it is time that smartphones to make this transition as well? Well, Nextbit thinks so.

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Introducing the Robin, the first Android smartphone that uses cloud storage deeply integrated. Nextbit is not any other start-up; It is backed by veterans of Apple, Google and HTC. Unlike Chrome OS devices however, the Nextbit Robin is a typical Android phone with a reasonable amount of local storage. It is when you start to run out of space, which kicks smart phone storage system More on this later .; first let's see if Robin is any good at being a smartphone today.

Look and feel

You get a sense of this not your average Android phone right from the first time you see your packaging. It looks like a box of fine chocolates and inside, we have a brief introduction on how to set up your SIM card. SIM removal tool, USB cable flat Type-C and the phone itself is obtained, all presented neatly in the box. Interestingly, however, you do not get an adapter or a headset, as Nextbit confident most of us to have spare parts lying around. You can purchase a power adapter from the company, if necessary.

Robin comes in mint color options midnight, and although we have not seen the latter in person, mint looks very beautiful. Although it is constructed entirely of plastic and some may argue that looks like toy, the build quality is excellent and the phone feels great. The soft texture is easy to grip and mint and white two-tone body will turn some heads when you're away from home.

Instead of simply leaving the area below the empty screen, Nextbit has added a second speaker to complement the one at the top for stereo sound. Next to it, we have a 5 megapixel facing camera and ambient light sensor. The screen is a 5.2 inch IPS panel with full HD resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 4 for protection. Its pixel density is good to  deliver pictures and text, and sunlight readability and tactile response are very good.

Round volume buttons are placed to the left, while the tray button and the unique Nano-SIM power are right. Our test unit had a power button slightly damaged, it was a little more depressed than it should have been. In normal units, the power button is flush with the body by making it easy to use the fingerprint sensor that is integrated into it.

Ports headphone jack and USB type C are placed in the upper and lower part, respectively. There are also LED notification right next to the microphone at the bottom. At the rear, we have 13-megapixel camera, a dual tone flash unit, and a series of LED lights below which vibrate when the phone is LED synchronizing data to the cloud.

Overall, we love the design philosophy Nextbit for Robin. It is refreshing, quirky, and downright pretty. Even without the cloud sync feature, Robin has enough worth in terms of aesthetics and build quality to stand on its own feet.

Specifications and software

Not all is beauty over brawn, though, as Nexbit has equipped this phone with enough to make it relevant for the coming years hardware. Inside, we have a hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 SoC, 3GB of RAM and 32 GB of local storage. That is complemented with 100GB of cloud storage. You also get 4G LTE VoLTE supported by bands of Indians (tested in bands 3 and 40), NFC, Wi-Fi b / g / n / ac, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS. No FM radio and we have confirmed that the USB-OTG is not supported either. Nextbit sell the vehicle unlocked-Robin worldwide, and even boasts of an unlockable boot manager to install custom ROMs, which will not void the warranty.

The phone runs on a customized version of Android OS Nextbit called marshmallow, leaving the drawer of the application of a single layer interface. There are custom icons for APS values ​​such as the marker, gallery, camera, etc, which are mixed with other applications that follow design materials marshmallow. Players have their own layer, which can only be accessed by the startup screen 'pinch'. There is a permanent menu button which is accessible from any Home screen, with tabs that let you filter all applications filed applications and fixed applications. This brings us to the most unique feature of the phone, which is storage cloud integration.

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intelligent storage system Robin uses your Google account for authentication. Once logged in, you can set what type of data that you want to backup. Your current options are photos and application data - videos are not archived at the time. You can choose to let the phone data backup only when charging and connected to Wi-Fi, but that's all you really have control. The rest is handled by Smart Storage. You can check the status of cloud storage from within the intelligent storage submenu in the application configuration, which gives a graphical representation of the types of files in the cloud.

The first batch of photos we took were transferred to the cloud via cellular data, but subsequent syncs only when we were connected to a Wi-Fi network. It alerts about data moving to the cloud for the first time, then after, it all happens in the background. Pulsating lights on the back of the phone are the only indication that synchronization is ongoing. In trying to share a photo from the Gallery application, you can see if you have the original photo ( 'high resolution') or simply the thumbnail ( 'low resolution') on the phone. If you try to zoom in on an image, it will start to download the original file if it is not present, whether it is in the data or Wi-Fi. For now, only the images from the camera on (or the DCIM folder) will be synchronized with the cloud.

Applications that do not use frequently can also be archived in the cloud to free local storage space. These application icons are grayed out on the main screen, and are known as "ghost" applications. They can be activated by simply tapping on their icons, when the system to fetch data from the cloud application and resume their state exactly where you left off. You can prevent the force applications be filed by "fixing" with a simple swipe down on the icon of each.

As their photos and applications begin to fill local phone storage, Smart Storage will continue to move files back and forth between the device and the cloud. Actually, this works well but with some caveats, that could be potential deal-breakers, depending on the which type of android you are using. First, there is no granular control over how the Robin makes his file. For example, say you have a library of photographs dating about a month. If the phone detects a sudden drop in local storage available for any reason, such as the installation of a large 3D game or copy a lot of videos. Robin file applications and photos will automatically start. Sometimes we felt we had archived photos I had taken a few days ago, replacing them with minimum resolution pictures.

The meaning of this is you can not share those image without downloading again. We would like to establish a threshold for the photo file, say that only those who are more than two weeks or a month old. Another possible problem that users may face is that if you fill the 32 GB of local storage with videos and huge amount of songs, there will come a time when Robin does not have any more data to synchronize. You may run out completely local storage and cloud storage will not be used because these types of files are not compatible and can not unpin the application. Participate in our screen as an example, where we have almost 800 MB of spare and almost all free storage in the cloud, but the phone can not move more data. We are not saying that everyone will face this but it is a possibility.

Nextbit says he will consider offering a storage premium level paid in the future if users need. However, we believe that until the media for archiving videos into action, 100GB should be enough for even the most demanding power users.

Performance

We didn't get any complaints with Nextbit Robin during our trial period when it came to handling everyday tasks. Not too comfortable for use with one hand due to its shape and size boxy, but it is comfortable to grip. 4G works well and voice calls are easily audible. Qualcomm SoC Robin is not plagued with problems of overheating, but becomes hot whenwe are using camera. It performs good in benchmarks too, and we got 69.644 points in AnTuTu and a score of 19,801 in 3DMark unlimited ice storm.

The audio players and video file are pretty basic, without any preset equalizer settings or options to change the aspect ratio videos, etc. In fact, the Gallery application lacks video sharing options, which means you have to do it through a file manager. As for playback, the phone works well with 4K videos, although some audio codecs and AC3 are not compatible even with third-party applications installed. The audio output through headphones and stereo speakers is very good.
The rear camera 13 megapixel autofocus detection phase is, but we found is simply unable to focus on objects up close, so good macro shots are almost impossible to get. The focus speed is very good with landscapes, but some bit of shutter lag, even in bright light. The colors are often exaggerated makes scenes look artificial at times. low light shots look good on the phone screen, but the level of detail is not very large, once near the end. The video quality on the other hand is better, as the phone runs a constant frame-rate even when shooting in 4K.

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The camera application is easy to use, giving you basic options for burst mode, HDR, and manual shooting controls. The latter allows you to adjust the focus, ISO, white balance and exposure. The rear flash is powerful enough to illuminate nearby objects and scenes well without much detail is lost. The front camera does a good job for selfies both indoors and outdoors.

Battery duration

2680mAh phone battery supports fast charging Qualcomm 2.0 with a compatible charger. Since it is unlikely that people have a spare those who are around, it is disappointing that Nextbit not include one in the box. We arrived 7 hours and 17 minutes in our video loop test is average. With regular use, we were able to comfortably get through a full day's work, but often a charge is needed at night.

Verdict

The Nextbit Robin is a vision of a utopian future where access to high speed Internet is ubiquitous and things like "fair use policy" and data caps are nonexistent. Robin fit perfectly in a world, shuffling data seamlessly between phone and cloud. It might work today in some countries where data speeds and tops are generous enough to cover this extra activity, but in India, some serious convincing to get will take users to adapt to this style mobile computing. You can set the device to use Wi-Fi only, but if you're outdoors and you need an application that has been filed, you're in luck. Also you have to download the complete application with all your data, which can be enough to download.

32 GB of local storage is not bad for a smartphone, but why not Nextbit also give users the ability to use a microSD card or USB-OTG? Why go to all the trouble of creating a network of dedicated cloud and take responsibility for maintaining private data from users safe? It seems that a solution to a problem that is not really so bad. With a microSD card, which you can potentially get more space than is offering Nextbit, not to mention the inherent benefits of having your data with you at all times, faster access, easier to share, and there is no dependence Internet access.

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Having said this, we applaud Nextbit by thinking outside the box and it delivers something different. In its present state, the Robin might make sense for people who want to have a lot of heavy applications or a huge photo library with them. Provided Nextbit adds more granular controls for intelligent storage and the ability to synchronize other types of content as well, you'll really be able to take advantage of the 100GB of storage space in the cloud. Moreover, since there is no support for archiving videos and other media at this time, you could find yourself fighting for space as you would any other phone. Even when added to the support, video support could easily put a dent in the top of monthly data from the Internet at home, and your mobile data plan. If a friend never comes into your home with a Nextbit Robin, be careful about sharing the password for Wi-Fi!
In Rs.19,999, the Nextbit aggressive Robin has given its feature set price. The phone can stand on its own feet thanks to its refreshing design, excellent build quality, big screen, stereo speakers and integration of unique clouds. The latter is a bonus feature especially considering that many other phones these days have no expandable storage. However, this phone also has its share of shortcomings such as no USB-OTG support, a disappointing camera, the average battery life, and lack of granular control over the Smart Storage function.
The conclusion is that the integration of services in the cloud Nextbit, while certainly unique, is by no means a substitute for local storage expandable. The advantages of the latter are far superior to those of cloud storage for daily needs.