Don’t cry, readers, but this is the final Tech Dump of the summer. These eight weeks sure have flown by, but I cannot be more excited for the fall semester. I have a bunch of plans to make this the best tech blog you’ve ever seen so stay tuned this upcoming year for the biggest news and hottest reviews.
Ironically enough we will be ending the summer with news, the same way we began. Topping the amount of news this week is next to impossible. There were not one, not two, but three huge reveals this week. I will be covering the news in chronological order in an attempt to stay unbiased. I was really excited for two out of the three reveals, but I know the third one affects just as many people as the other two, if not more.
OnePlus 2 announcement
The highly anticipated smartphone from the independent company in Asia was finally revealed to the world at 9 p.m. Monday night through a 360 degree filmed video. I liked the idea of it, but, as someone who just wanted to listen to the reveal in the background, I hated the idea of turning my phone in uncomfortable ways to see what was happening.
The OnePlus 2 had the had the job of following the immensely popular OnePlus One, the unlocked premium flagship device that costed less than $400 upon launch. The price itself was one of the most attractive features of the device because users could get everything from a flagship phone for half the price of one. That, mixed with the heavily customizable Cyanogen OS and later OnePlus’s own Oxygen OS created the perfect storm of what hardcore and casual users wanted in a device.
Leading up to the 2’s unveiling, most of the specs of the device had been revealed in the last month or so. The last bits of information that we had yet to see were the screen, price, and what the device looked like.
I’ll start off with the good and work my way back to the bad. First of all, I love the device’s look. The glass face and metal sides make the OnePlus 2 look highly premium. That, mixed with the swappable backs of various materials make the 2 look like one of the nicest phones of the year. Added to that is the pricetag.
For only $329 for the 16 gigabyte model, which is underwhelming as far as storage capacity goes, you can buy the phone. The 64 gigabyte model is only $389. For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S6 at 32 gigabytes which is entry level, is $600. That is serious savings.
The one last thing that I was underwhelmed by was the screen. OnePlus is sticking to the 1080p display rather than upgrading to a QuadHD display used on many of the flagship phones this year. The company said that QHD displays drain battery and hardly add to the experience, which from an experience standpoint, is only true about the battery. In terms of experience, the HTC One M9 screen that came out less than 4 months ago also packed a 1080p display. I can say that it was nowhere near as bright or crisp as a QHD display. For some users, I can easily consider this a dealbreaker. However, that is all speculation as I have not used a OnePlus phone before. I just wanted to let you know that I have used a 1080p display this year, and it left plenty to be desired.
Besides that the phone is packing a couple of unique features that I find attractive. There is a switch on the side, reminiscent of the iPhone that toggles what notifications your phone will notify you of. Flip it all the way down to be completely shut off from receiving notifications. The phone also has a rectangular fingerprint scanner that doubles as a touch sensitive action button. You can customize it to do many different things besides reading your finger.
Motorola Announces a Slew of New Phones
In an effort to keep this sectioned as streamlined as possible and as clear as I can, I will only talk about the phones that we can expect in the US.
Tuesday morning, Motorola announced the next evolution of the Moto X and G series of phones. The two series have been immensely popular due to the X’s near stock Android experience and the G’s cheap price tag.
This time around, the X comes in two different flavors: The Moto X Style and the Moto X Pure. The two are exactly the same besides the way they are distributed. The Style is available through your carrier per usual, but the Pure can be purchased straight through Motorola. It is unlocked and works with LTE bands on many major networks. Both devices from my understanding are customizable through the Moto Maker webiste that is run by Motorola. You can make the device look practically any way you want with a wide array of materials to choose from. You can even change the color of the metal bar on the back that makes a new appearance this year.
The Moto G is a downgraded version of the X in the way that the specs are lower than what is offered. From what I can tell the outer shell is the same, but the internals, including the camera is dumbed down for the low-price, budget market.
Windows 10 Finally Released to the Public
Microsoft finally released Windows 10 to the masses, and for the most part it is free to those who want it.
While the OS has been highly anticipated and supposed to be the best version of Windows we have ever seen, hold off for now. While the OS is groundbreaking and great so far, there are many different glitches and bugs that can mess you up. If you have a secondary laptop or desktop computer, I would recommend trying it out there first.
It has been a blast writing this summer. I’ve loved working for The Reveille, and if you’ve read anything I have written this summer, thank you. I am looking forward to the fall where I can continue making content to put in front of your faces, and hopefully I will get to break some more stuff. Fingers crossed.
As always, I can be reached on Twitter at @rkatz94.
Enjoy the rest of your summer!

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Courtesy of Microsoft