These three new devices announced by Samsung at Mobile World Congress are each intended to occupy different spaces in the mobile market. The Galaxy Mini 2 is a diminutive little smartphone with pretty unimpressive specs, but it is aimed at the entry-level crowd where it may fare well. The 3.27-inch small handset sports a single-core 800mhz processor, Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread with TouchWiz, a 3.2 megapixel camera and a positively terrible HVGA display. It feels odd to use the word “terrible” when describing a Samsung display, but Samsung cut some corners to keep this phone’s cost down and the display was definitely one of them. Performance in use was lackluster as well, but then again, if you’re in the market for a phone like the Mini 2 you’re probably not very concerned with the latest and greatest. Hit the jump for more.

The Galaxy Ace 2 is the European version of the Blaze 4G and, as such, slots in between the last-generation Galaxy S and the current Galaxy II. A dual-core 800MHz processor powers a TouchWiz-skinned version of Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread, and the WVGA display is far less impressive than the Super AMOLED screens used in other Samsung devices.

Finally, the Galaxy S WiFi 4.2 provides an alternative for those who don’t need a device with embedded cellular connectivity. Sporting Wi-Fi only, the Galaxy WiFi 4.2 has a nice glossy white finish and it is extremely responsive. It’s also just 9 millimeters thick, and the TFT IPS screen is quite beautiful. It only has a 2-megapixel camera though, so you’re not going to be shooting any Leibowitz-grade images with this puppy, but all told it’s a nice entry into the PMP game.

Be sure to check out our hands-on photos of the Samsung Galaxy Mini 2, the Galaxy Ace 2 and the Galaxy S WiFi 4.2, which are linked above.

ZTE doesn’t have a strong presence here in the U.S., but the vendor revealed several smartphones at this year’s Mobile World Congress trade show that will be big sellers in a number of markets. The Era, Orbit and PF112 are among the new ZTE phones that will launch this year, and we spent some time with each of them on Monday. The Era and the PF112 both run Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, while the Orbit is a Windows Phone. The Era is a quad-core Tegra 3-powered beast with a 4.3-inch screen and high-end specs that rival any device launched here at the show. The PF112 sports an even larger 4.5-inch screen, tri-band HSPA+ and an 8-megapixel shooter. The Orbit is the company’s low-end Windows Phone model, with a 4-inch display, a 1GHz processor and 4GB of on-board storage. In use, the Windows Phone-powered Orbit was definitely impressive for an entry-level smartphone, exhibiting the smooth user experience we’ve come to expect from handsets powered by Microsoft’s mobile platform. The Android phones weren’t operational, so we can’t comment on their performance. We can definitely still admire their sleek designs though, so check out our hands-on gallery for photos of each of these new ZTE phones.

We were only able to spend a few minutes with Sony’s new Xperia P smartphone as we rushed from Sony’s press conference to HTC’s press conference on Sunday, and we didn’t get any time at all with the Xperia U. Thanks to a slightly lighter event scheduled on Monday, we were able to make it over to Sony’s booth and spend some quality time with its new smartphones. These are the first smartphones that will be launched by the new Sony Mobile Communications unit that picks up where Sony Ericsson left off, and to be frank, we’re a bit concerned. This pair of Android phones is well-made and we like what Sony has done to its UI atop Android 4.0, but we’re still seeing some things that concern us. Check out our hands-on photos in the gallery linked below, and then hit the break for our initial impressions of the Xperia P and Xperia U smartphones.

First and foremost, these smartphones will hit the market in a very Sony Ericsson-like fashion. They will both launch running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and Sony has stated that the Xperia P and Xperia U will each receive an update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich some time in the second quarter. Slow software updates have historically been a big issue for Sony Ericsson’s Android phones, so this definitely isn’t a great way to instill confidence in users who might still have a bad taste in their mouths.

The devices themselves are solid phones, however. They share a very similar design identity that includes the transparent light bar near the bottom of each handset, and they also sport Reality Displays that make use of Sony’s Bravia engine.

The larger of the two phones is the Xperia P, and it features a 4-inch display with “WhiteMagic” display technology that Sony says is ultra-bright and power efficient. After spending some time with the phone we can definitely confirm that the screen is extremely bright, and colors don’t get washed out at all as the brightness increases. The 1GHz dual-core processor doesn’t really do Android 4.0 justice on this handset, but hopefully things will be a bit smoother in the release version of the software.

The Xperia U features a significantly smaller form factor and a 3.5-inch Reality Display. It’s powered by the same dual-core processor and it it suffers from the same occasional hiccups that we saw with the Xperia P. The display isn’t quite as impressive as the panel on the Xperia P unfortunately, but beyond that the two phones are very similar.

We’re looking forward to spending some more time with these phones but in the mean time, be sure to check out our hands-on gallery above.

Samsung and AT&T are getting ready to launch a new smartphone, superphone, phablet or whatever else you want to call it, and I picked one up earlier today. It’s the first time I have used or even held the device personally, and I really need to share some immediate thoughts even though a full review is forthcoming. This is a phone, after using it for a few hours, that feels like it is too big to be taken seriously. That’s the end of it. I don’t care if you like large screens on mobile devices, I don’t care if you love Android, and I don’t care if you love 4G LTE — this is a device fit for use only by such a small subset of the human population that I can’t fathom how AT&T and Samsung are putting so much marketing resources behind it. Check out images of the Galaxy Note in the gallery below, and the rest of my thoughts follow after the break.

The Galaxy Note essentially has everything you’d want in a smartphone: a great dual-core processor, a solid camera, a beautiful display and good build quality, and it runs on AT&T’s new 4G LTE network that delivers incredibly fast downloads speeds. Plus the battery seems actually decent so far, which is a triumph for modern smartphones.

Throw all of that right out the window.

The phone is too big. You will look stupid talking on it, people will laugh at you, and you’ll be unhappy if you buy it. I really can’t get around this, unfortunately, because Samsung pushed things way too far this time.

You can’t use it one-handed, and I can’t even type on it easily with two hands. I’m almost offended by this product, and I love a lot of what Samsung is doing — in fact, the company’s current flagship is my favorite Android smartphone in the world. But the Galaxy Note just feels like a joke. And the worst part? Look at the display and how it’s manufactured and designed. See any resemblances to anything else?

I feel like no one else is saying this, and since I’ve not ever been one to hold back what’s on my mind I absolutely will — enough is enough. I’ve had it with incremental updates to Android smartphones every two weeks, I’ve had it with the super-sized ridiculousness, and I’ve had it with all of these marketing gimmicks. Just focus on a quality product, and you won’t have to release eight “flagship” models a year.

But you have a stylus that comes with it, so I guess that makes up for any similarities with rival devices. Kind of like those lollipops you’d get at the dentist after someone just went Mike Tyson on your tooth.

Samsung and Sony each brought their A-game to the Consumer Electronics Show this year when it comes to high-end HDTVs. If there was one other brand that could easily give these tech giants a run for their money though, it was LG. The South Korea-based company had a handfull of other devices to show off at CES 2012, but televisions took center stage in the firm’s booth and sets on display ranged from entry-level offerings to high-end stunners that were absolutely beautiful. Of all the TVs LG had on display at CES, our clear favorite — it’s not even close, really — was the company’s new 55-inch OLED model. The gorgeous panel on this HDTV gives Samsung’s Super OLED displays a run for their money, and we would be hard pressed to say which screen produces deeper blacks and more vivid colors. No pricing has been announced and we’re sure this set will cost a pretty penny, but it could very well find its way to BGR headquarters once it hits the market. Pictures can hardly do LG’s new OLED HDTV justice, but several photos can be found in our LG booth tour, which follows below.

Microsoft had a massive booth at the Consumer Electronics Show this year. It was home to brand new laptops, a huge array of Windows Phone devices, demo stations for Xbox 360 and SkyDrive, and plenty more. Sadly, however, there were no Windows 8 devices on display to give show-goers a closer look at Microsoft’s next-generation operating system. We love Windows Phone in its current state and it seems like we aren’t alone; there were tons of people gathered around the phones playing with them and it looked like plenty of people were impressed, too. Whether or not this new wave of enthusiasm will translate into sales remains to be seen, of course. There were plenty of other sights to see in Microsoft’s booth, so be sure to check out our full gallery below.

In addition to spending some time with the new Motorola DROID 4, we just went Inside The Actor’s Studio with Ed Zander’s old the new RAZR. The Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX is similar to the DROID RAZR but offers a larger battery for up to 21 hours of usage on a single charge. Despite the larger battery, however, the device still feels super thin. We didn’t notice a hint of lag while flying through menus, but we did notice that there was some sluggishness inside the web browser while loading websites. The DROID RAZR MAXX also comes equipped with 32GB of on-board storage, which should be plenty for storing movies, music and photos. Unfortunately it still runs Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) but we hope, and suspect, that Motorola has plans to upgrade the phone to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). The RAZR MAXX will cost $299 with a new two-year contract when it makes its debut on Verizon Wireless. Photo’s are all in the gallery, minus James Lipton.

Leading up to the Consumer Electronics Show this year, Nokia’s first Windows Phone for AT&T was definitely one of the smartphone announcements we were anticipating most anxiously. We were fans of the Lumia 800 when we reviewed it, but when our sources let us know that a bigger handset that maintained the Lumia 800′s design aesthetic would launch soon after CES, the 800 lost its luster. In line with our exclusive report, Nokia’s brand new Lumia 900 features the same unique design and build as the Lumia 800 Nokia launched last year, but there are two key differences that make this smartphone our clear favorite. It includes compatibility with AT&T’s new 4G LTE network, and it packs a larger 4.3-inch ClearBlack AMOLED display. The larger form factor was designed with the U.S. market in mind according to Nokia, and the size of the device is ideal. The Lumia 900′s build is outstanding as well, and Windows Phone 7.5 is beyond smooth thanks to the phone’s 1.4GHz Snapdragon processor. Nokia and AT&T haven’t yet revealed pricing or a launch date, but Nokia did say it will become available in the coming months. We can’t wait to review this gorgeous smartphone but in the mean time, check out our hands-on Lumia 900 photo gallery below.

Nokia proved it was back in the smartphone game when it launched the Lumia 800 last year. But can its Lumia 710 gain the attention of U.S. consumers? Many would argue that Nokia should have decided to launch the Lumia 800 to make a bigger splash in a market that has long forgotten the Finnish smartphone maker. But the Lumia 710 is affordable — it only costs $50 with a new two-year contract — and it’s also powerful. It’s not as feature-rich as the Lumia 800, but can it still compete with other smartphones in its price range? My full review follows after the break.

Hardware

The Lumia 710 looks and feels like a decent device. The back cover is plastic but it has a nice soft-touch rubber feel and the entire face is glossy black, although a white version is also available from T-Mobile. There are three hardware buttons below the phone’s 3.7-inch display, which actually isn’t that impressive. While the curved glass AMOLED ClearBlack display on the Lumia 800 was very impressive, the standard ClearBlack display on T-Mobile’s Lumia 710 is not. Colors are washed out and the brightness is not where it needs to be, but this was likely required in order to keep the cost of the phone down.

The volume controls and a camera quick-launch key are in easy reach on the right side of the phone and there is a power button, a microUSB port and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top of the device. The back is home to a 5-megapixel camera and a single LED flash.

Under its hood, the Lumia 710 is powered by a 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and is equipped with 512MB of RAM, a 1,300 mAh battery and 8GB of storage. As is typical with other Windows Phone 7.5 devices, you can’t add more storage using a microSD card, which is unfortunate if you’re like me and prefer a phone with a bit more memory.

Like the iPhone 4S and the Lumia 800, the Lumia 710 uses a microSIM card that pops in under the battery as opposed to on the top of the device, as it does on the Lumia 800.

While it’s far from a deal-breaker, the most upsetting point about the hardware is that T-Mobile decided not to offer the device in the various colors that are available on international carriers. I think Nokia really could have turned heads if it launched a yellow, pink, green or blue Lumia 710 in the United States, but instead the Lumia 710 will sit camouflaged on store shelves next to other black and white smartphones.

Software

The Lumia 710 runs Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango), Microsoft’s latest mobile operating system. I wrote about Windows Phone 7.5 in great detail in September when it launched, so we’ll stick to discussing what Nokia has done to the phone.

Nokia, unlike other manufacturers, has an agreement with Microsoft that allows it to customize the phone in a number of ways. You won’t find anything intrusive, but Nokia did add its own free GPS navigation software and its own Nokia Maps application, which I like better than Bing Maps. It’s not incredibly accurate, however. A search by name for a bar a block away from me didn’t turn up any results, for example.

As I said in my aforementioned overview of Windows Phone 7.5, I really, really love the Windows Phone 7.5 operating system. It’s one of the cleanest and most intuitive mobile operating systems on the market today, and for that reason it should be a top choice for first-time smartphone buyers or anyone who wants the functionality of a smartphone without complicated menus or settings.

I love the live tiles on the home screen as well, specifically how foursquare shows the leaderboard and how my avatar jumps around the Xbox Live tile. I also enjoy the fluidity and speed of the entire OS. My biggest gripe overall is that there’s a lack of applications for Windows Phone right now, but the Windows Phone Marketplace is growing every day and recently just surpassed the 50,000-app milestone.

Camera

The Lumia 710 packs a 5-megapixel camera and it’s not the greatest sensor I’ve used. The pictures were mediocre at best and not near as good as the shots we snapped with the Lumia 800, which has an 8-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. The camera is capable of recording 720p HD video and it was satisfactory. There was a bit of blurriness from time to time, but otherwise it was OK. The device also lacks a front-facing camera for video chat, which is supported on other Windows Phone 7.5 phones such as the Samsung Focus S, Samsung Focus Flash and HTC Titan.

Call Quality / Data

The Lumia 710 supports T-Mobile’s 14.4Mbps HSPA+ “4G” network in the United States. Data speeds were decent in New York City, but they were nothing compared to AT&T or Verizon’s 4G LTE networks. Using the http://dslreports.com/mspeed speed test, my download speeds averaged between 1.1 Mbps and 1.26 Mbps with the device reporting a full signal. That’s on a par with most 3G networks.

Calls placed on the Lumia 710 were pretty solid in New York City. I wasn’t blown away by the call quality, but I didn’t have any real problems with it either. The speakers were satisfactory during a phone call with the speakerphone turned on, but my caller could easily tell when I was using speakerphone.

Battery

Windows Phone 7.5 has been praised for its solid battery life in the past and the Lumia 710 wasn’t an exception. It’s equipped with a 1,300 mAh battery, which is a bit smaller than the 1,450 mAh battery inside the Lumia 800, but it lasted two full days with moderate usage and was able to idle for many more. Overall, I’m impressed with the battery life and think it’s better than most smartphones on the market today.

Conclusion

The Lumia 710 isn’t as exciting as its big brother, the Lumia 800. Nokia announced a flagship device that is, in many ways, a game changer for the company moving forward. And yet even still, T-Mobile decided to launch the company’s lower end device, which surely won’t turn as many heads. Worse, it decided to launch the phone without a wide color selection that could have made the device stand out more in public. It just seems like Nokia and T-Mobile missed an opportunity to really hit the U.S. market with a bang, but perhaps Verizon Wireless or AT&T will do that with Nokia’s expected 4G LTE device.

No, there’s nothing inherently wrong with the Lumia 710. It offers decent battery life, fair data speeds and a really solid hardware design. In fact, even its letdowns are justified by its affordable $50 price point, and the Lumia 710 is absolutely not aimed at seasoned smartphone users. Instead, this phone is aimed squarely at feature phone users that T-Mobile hopes to turn into smartphone owners. The handset is reliable and easy-to-use, and I highly recommend the Lumia 710 to first-time smartphone buyers.

We finally got our hands on Verizon’s Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and… well, it’s almost identical to the HSPA+ version we reviewed last month. It’s thicker, though we actually like holding and using the Verizon unit better because the slightly thicker case makes one-hand a bit more comfortable. There’s also a small, small, (notice how we’re saying small?) lip around the display that isn’t there on the HSPA+ version, but most people probably wouldn’t even notice such a minute case difference. The problem with the display’s auto-brightness being overly aggressive doesn’t seem to be an issue on the Verizon version of the Galaxy Nexus, but everything else seems identical. We’ll chime in over the next few days with a few more thoughts, but here’s a spoiler: provided there aren’t any huge issues we discover, this is easily the best smartphone to ever hit Verizon Wireless. Ready to go hands-on? It’s all in the gallery below.

We just elbowed our way through crowds, crawled on the ground under legs and ducked beneath cameras to bring you a look at the insanity that is Apple’s Grand Central Terminal Apple Store (grand) opening. The line to get in was wrapped deep inside and around the corridors of Grand Central Station, and there were hundreds of people gathered around the steps of the East Balcony entrance as well. Those who are smart enough to steer clear of the bedlam should be sure to check out our photo gallery below, and stay tuned for more pictures once if we can manage to fight our way inside.

When a product emerges that is created by a team of ex-Apple employees — including one responsible in part for leading the hardware teams behind the iPod and iPhone — that product sells out almost immediately. The latest device to fit the bill isn’t a new smartphone or even a tablet; no, this time around it’s actually a thermostat. As odd as that sounds, the Nest thermostat is exciting in many, many ways. For starters, the amount of thought that went into just the hardware alone is, well, Apple-like. It’s miles ahead of any comparable product in terms of look, form and function. It’s sleek yet is based on a classic and familiar Honeywell T87 round thermostat, and it is packed to the brim with technology including, among other things, a vivid color LCD display and Wi-Fi support.

The Nest thermostat doesn’t just provide control from your smartphone or web-browser from anywhere in the world, which is impressive in itself — it’s a learning product that will adjust to your preferences and habits. It will also adjust to factors like outside weather and other conditions to always make sure the temperature in your home or office is comfortable. Above all else, it will reduce your energy consumption by automatically adjusting your heat and airconditioning usage based on whether or not you are home. Go out for a bit, and the thermostat will lower your heat to save energy. As soon as you walk in, it senses you’re home and it will instantly dial up the heat to suit your preferences.

Installing the Nest thermostat was incredibly straight-forward even though I’ve never installed a thermostat or light fixture before. The directions are very simple to follow and well thought out. After removing the plastic piece of garbage that used to be attached to the wall, I quickly leveled the thermostat thanks to the built-in level on its base, screwed it in, connected the labeled wires to the backplate and connected the front display. There’s an outer ring wheel you rotate just like that classic Honeywell thermostat, except this one also doubles as an Apple iPod-like clickwheel, letting you select and enter text or scroll through options.

After you’re set up, Nest immediately starts learning your heating and cooling preferences. I installed the unit yesterday evening and since then I’ve successfully set a schedule from my web-based Nest account and adjusted the temperate from the Nest app on my iPhone, and the unit has performed perfectly. It’s hard to believe that I’m excited about a thermostat, but this is much more than a thermostat to me, especially if it can conserve energy. Plus I don’t have to get up to change the temperature anymore.

We’ll have more on the Nest learning thermostat soon.

We just dropped by an LG event in New York City to check out AT&T’s third 4G LTE phone, the LG Nitro HD. The device packs a sharp 1280 x 720-pixel HD display, which is easily one of the Nitro’s biggest draws. The display offers a noticeable difference in color clarity compared to the Samsung Galaxy S II; we took a picture of a Ducati motorcycle with both phones and while the red paint job really popped on the Galaxy S II display, the LG Nitro’s display reproduced colors much more accurately. The Nitro HD is also equipped with an 8-megapixel camera that’s capable of recording HD video and we were impressed with the pictures it captured during a few minutes with the phone. We’ll reserve our final judgement on the camera until we compare it with other devices, however. Hit the break for more and don’t forget to check out our photo gallery below.

The dual-core 1.5GHz processor is certainly fast — there doesn’t seem to be any lag during standard operation — but there weren’t a ton of applications installed on the Nitro we were using so we couldn’t really test multitasking under heavy use. A quick test of AT&T’s pre-launch LTE network gave us download speeds between 6.81Mbps and 8.98Mbps, which is pretty fast. We know AT&T is still testing its 4G LTE network here in New York City though, so only time will tell what performance looks like post-launch. We’re definitely excited to run the Nitro 4G through its paces in the coming days, so stay tuned for our full review.

Spotify’s New York City press conference just wrapped up and we spent some time checking out several of the popular music service’s new apps. There’s a new section on the left sidebar that lets you quickly access applications from LastFM, Rolling Stone, The Guardian and more. Rolling Stone and other publications will release playlists, some as frequently as each day, with bands the publications think Spotify users should take note of. The applications are seamless and are so tightly integrated with Spotify that they launch almost immediately. If you’re playing a song with tunewiki for example, simply tap the tunewiki application on the left sidebar and it immediately begins displaying song lyrics inside the software. We’re fans of Spotify here at BGR and we’re definitely looking forward to checking these features out a bit more when the app service officially goes live. Apps will be accessible to all users, whether they subscribe to Spotify’s premium services or not, and the beta should be made available today on Spotify’s website around 2:00 p.m. EST. Be sure to check out our full gallery below, and hit the break for a video from Spotify.

We’ve been playing with a Samsung Galaxy Nexus for the last day, and after shuffling between a Motorola DROID RAZR, an HTC Vivid and an HTC Rezound, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is a welcome change in many ways. It’s obviously the Google reference handset for Ice Cream Sandwich, and in almost all cases, it is the best Android handset we’ve seen far as hardware and software go. Android 4.0 is the most cohesive release from Google yet, and while it’s not that straight forward out of the box, you do eventually get the feeling that this phone has a distinct personality as opposed to many other Android phones, which often seem to blend together. Be sure to check out our hands-on photos in the gallery below, and hit the break for more thoughts.

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus we were sent from Google is an HSPA+ unit as opposed to the 4G LTE handset for Verizon, and while the device came with a T-Mobile SIM card that worked on T-Mobile’s 4G network, we’ve been using it with an AT&T SIM card and have been able to use the device on AT&T’s 3G network as well. This looks like one of the few pentaband UMTS devices in the United States; one UMTS device to rule them all, we suppose.

As far as Ice Cream Sandwich goes, it’s the most cohesive release from Google ever. The phone finally feels like it has a personality, even if it’s that of a robot from a TRON-like world. Android 4.0 also feels like an actual operating system, not just one designed for tablets and smartphones, but that’s due to the amount of options and flexibility the OS gives users, not necessarily because the OS is more powerful than competing platforms. Ice Cream Sandwich at times feels like a frozen onion, one that’s a bit hard to thaw, and then you have to peel back each layer to get to exactly what you want.

In terms of hardware, the Galaxy Nexus is definitely a unique handset. It has a huge 4.65-inch Super AMOLED display but it’s still easier to handle than a device like the DROID RAZR because it’s much more narrow. One-handed operation still isn’t as comfortable as it should be, however. The curved body of this phone is great and it feels solid, but the back of the case is still built from cheap-feeling plastic similar to other Samsung phones, and it spoils the feel of the device in your hand.

BGR’s full review of the Galaxy Nexus will be published in the next few days.