Asus ZenBook Pro Duo & ZenBook Duo Arrive in Malaysia 14 November

Always wanted a laptop with two screens? Well, you can purchase such a laptop as early as next week: Asus will be introducing the
Asus ZenBook Pro Duo
 and ZenBook Duo in Malaysia on 14 November. The former is especially interesting: it features a stunning 4K OLED display.

Not many laptops use an OLED display, so the ZenBook Pro Duo is definitely a unique laptop in this regard. The primary display is a 15.6-inch 4K OLED touch-enabled screen, while the ScreenPad Plus secondary screen – it sits right above the keyboard – is a 14-inch 3840 x 1100 touch panel.

Performance of the ZenBook Pro Duo is worth highlighting too. Although we still don’t know which variant will be brought into Malaysia, the laptop is available in two processor options in other markets. It can be configured with either a beefy Intel Core i9-9980HK processor, or a more modest Core i7-9750H chip.

In the graphics department, the Pro Duo features an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 GPU. While you can’t exactly game in 4K with the RTX 2060 – it will struggle to provide playable frame rate at that resolution – it should be powerful enough for tasks required by creative professionals.

Other specifications of the ZenBook Pro Duo include up to 32GB of RAM, as well as 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of fast PCIe SSD.

As for the ZenBook Duo, it’s a more affordable and smaller alternative to the ZenBook Pro Duo. It comes with a 14-inch 1920 x 1080 display, a 12.6-inch Full HD ScreenPad Plus secondary screen, a 10th generation Core i7-10510U or i5-10210U processor paired with up to 16GB of RAM, and three PCIe SSD storage options (256GB, 512GB, 1TB).

Unfortunately, the GPU of the ZenBook Duo is heavily downgraded from its higher-end sibling: under the hood of this laptop is only a GeForce MX250 GPU. Now, even though it’s not quite as impressive as the ZenBook Pro Duo, the ZenBook Duo is a much more portable laptop. After all, it weighs only 1.5kg with a 19.9mm thin chassis.

The Asus ZenBook Pro Duo and ZenBook Duo will be launched in Malaysia next week on 14 November. Given the high-end hardware of the Pro Duo, expect to pay a premium for it. Of course, you can always go for the more affordable (and far more compact) ZenBook Duo instead – you’re still getting two screens on a laptop.


Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Unleashed; Likely Coming to Malaysia Soon

Xiaomi just took the wraps off the Xiaomi Mi Note 10, and it is…basically the global version of the recently announced
Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro
. That’s not exactly a bad thing, of course, given the impressive feature set of the CC9 Pro. On top of that, there’s a good chance the Mi Note 10 will arrive in Malaysia soon.

Just yesterday, Xiaomi Malaysia registered a device with the model number M1910F4G on SIRIM, Malaysia’s certification body. Of course, that device is the Mi Note 10; it’s likely Xiaomi is gearing up to launch the new smartphone on our shores.

What makes the Mi Note 10 such an impressive smartphones is its penta-camera system – it received a DxOMark score of 121 – with a 108MP f/1.69 primary shooter. That sensor uses pixel binning to improve camera performance, so it outputs 27MP images instead. Don’t worry, you won’t be running out of storage space quickly with this device.

There are also two different telephoto sensors in the penta-camera configuration. One of it is a 12MP f/2.0 telephoto lens (50mm), while the other one is a longer 8MP f/2.0 telephoto sensor (94mm). Collectively, these two cameras allow the Mi Note 10 to do 10x hybrid zoom or 50x digital zoom.

As for the other two camera sensors, it’s a 20MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle shooter and a f/2.4 macro lens.

Interestingly, despite its sophisticated camera system, the Mi Note 10 is not a flagship smartphone: it’s only powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G chipset paired with 6GB of RAM. This comfortably puts it in the upper mid-range segment, which isn’t too bad if it’s priced right.

In the display department, the Mi Note 10 is equipped with a 6.47-inch 2340 x 1080 dual curved AMOLED screen with a notch at the top. Thanks to the 1080p resolution of the display, the phone’s huge 5,260mAh battery should be able to return excellent battery life.

Other specifications of the Mi Note 10 include a 32MP f/2.0 front-facing camera, an in-screen fingerprint sensor, 128GB of non-expandable storage, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 will be available in Europe in a single 128GB + 6GB variant, which is priced at 549 euro (about RM2,515). If you want more storage, there’s the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Pro; it’s virtually identical to the standard edition, but it comes with 256GB of storage, 8GB of RAM, and the 108MP sensor has an 8P lens. The Pro model goes for 649 euro (approximately RM2,975).

Do note that these prices for the European market include VAT, so expect the Mi Note 10 and Mi Note 10 Pro to be more affordable in countries outside of the region. Given that the smartphone has already been registered with SIRIM, we reckon it will be launched in Malaysia very, very soon.


DJI Mavic Mini Lightweight Drone Now Available in Malaysia from RM1,599

DJI just launched a new drone for the Malaysian market, the DJI Mavic Mini. As its name suggests, the Mavic Mini is DJI’s smallest and lightest drone yet. Despite its small size, it’s actually quite a capable drone, and it doesn’t cost all that much either.

Obviously, one of the “biggest” appeals of the Mavic Mini is its portability. Weighing only 249g, it is light enough to be categorised under the safest category of drones. In fact, it doesn’t even need to be registered under the Federal Aviation Administration in the US.

On top of that, the legs of the Mavic Mini can also be folded, making it a lot easier to store in your backpack.

Given the lightweight nature of the Mavic Mini, flight time of the portable drone is quite impressive. On a single battery pack, the Mavic Mini can return up to 30 minutes of use. Besides that, you can control the drone either with the dedicated remote controller or the DJI Fly app.

Unfortunately, the Mavic Mini doesn’t offer 4K video recording. Instead, it can capture 2.7K videos at 30fps. If you want to shoot in 1080p instead, the drone can shoot at that resolution at 60fps. Still photos, on the other hand, are limited to 12MP shots. Of course, the camera on the drone is stabilised with a three-axis motorised gimbal.

Let’s talk about the DJI Fly app. According to the drone maker, the app allows you to do a couple of neat tricks with the Mavic Mini, making it easy to “create stunning cinematic content.” These are called QuickShots, which are pre-programmed flight manoeuvres.

DJI outlined a number of QuickShots you can do with the Mavic Mini. One of them is Helix: the drone will fly upwards and away, “spiraling around your subject” as it does that. It’s a neat shooting mode for those who want an overall shot of their surroundings, and you can even set the height limit of the shot to 40, 60, 80, or 120 feet.

The DJI Mavic Mini is now available for pre-order in Malaysia from VSTECS’ resellers and DJI authorised retailers. The drone is offered in two packages: the standard bundle offers the Mavic Mini itself, the remote controller, one battery, and one set of extra propellers for RM1,599.

But if you want more value for money, it’s worth going for the Fly More combo. It adds on a 360-degree Propeller Cage, the Two-Way Charging Hub – it can charge up to three batteries at once – two additional batteries, three sets of extra propellers, and a carrying case for RM1,999.

Those who pre-order the Mavic Mini will receive the drone as early as next week. Accessories for the drone, on the other hand, will be available for pre-order at the end of this month.


Honor 9X Coming to Malaysia “Very Soon”

The Honor 9X was introduced in China back in July, but it wasn’t until October that the device was introduced in the European market. Well, according to Honor Malaysia, the mid-range smartphone is expected to be launched on our shores “very soon.”

However, no specific launch date for the Honor 9X was given by the phone maker, but if we were to take a guess, there’s a good chance the device will be introduced here sometime this month. After all, it’s been a while since Honor launched a new smartphone locally; the last phone the company unveiled here was the
Honor 20 Pro
.

What makes the Honor 9X particularly interesting it its all-screen design. Thanks to the use of a 16MP f/2.2 pop-up motorised camera, there’s no need to make room for the selfie camera on the front of the phone. As a result, you don’t have any notch or hole-punch cutout on the 6.59-inch 2340 x 1080 IPS FullView display.

While the 1080p display doesn’t sound particularly impressive, it will help with battery life. Considering the fact that the Honor 9X has a generous 4,000mAh battery, it should be able to offer above average battery life. Plus, Honor smartphones are
generally quite long-lasting
.

If you’re wondering, yes, the Honor 9X will come with Google’s full suite of apps and services, including the Play Store, YouTube, Google Maps, and so on. It’s really quite interesting, given Huawei’s – and by extension, Honor’s –
current debacle with the US government
.

In the camera department, the Honor 9X sports a triple camera system. The primary shooter is a 48MP f/1.8 unit, which uses pixel binning to improve camera performance. As a result, the phone outputs 12MP images. The other two sensors, on the other hand, are 8MP f/2.4 super-wide angle and 2MP f/2.4 depth cameras.

Other specifications of the Honor 9X include 6GB of RAM, 128GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot – it can accommodate cards up to 512GB – a rear fingerprint sensor, and EMUI 9.1 based on Android 9 Pie out of the box.

The Honor 9X, as mentioned, will be coming to Malaysia very soon. Rest assured, we will keep a close eye on the local availability of the mid-range smartphone. It’ll be interesting to see how much the phone will cost here; it goes for 299 euro in the European market, which comes up to about RM1,365. Also, stay tuned for our hands-on of the Honor 9X!


Micron Insight 2019 – What You Need to Know

Micron Insight 2019 saw the announcement of several interesting products from the company. These range from enterprise solutions like the
Micron X100 SSD
 – this is Micron’s very first product to use 3D XPoint technology – to more consumer-oriented ones like the
Crucial X8 Portable SSD
.

In case you missed our coverage of the event, here’s what you need to know about Micron Insight 2019 – more specifically, storage products unveiled by the company.

Micron X100

What makes the Micron X100 SSD particularly interesting is the fact that it offers more than 9GBps bandwidth in read, write, and mixed workloads. Thanks to this extremely fast performance, Micron is touting the X100 “the world’s fastest SSD.” This performance figure is made possible by the use of 3D XPoint technology, which was co-developed by Micron and Intel.

Without a doubt the Micron X100 is a very impressive SSD, but it is made only for enterprise use like data centres at this point in time. In fact, the X100 is only available in limited sampling with selected customers this quarter.

However, we did speak to Micron’s Vice President of emerging memory, Bob Brennan, on the possibility of 3D XPoint technology tricking down to consumer products. While Brennan emphasised Micron’s focus on using the tech for enterprise applications, there’s a chance it will eventually be implemented in consumer products in the future.

After all, as 3D XPoint technology matures (and prices are brought down), it’s only a matter of time before it’s available to general consumers.

Crucial X8

Unlike the Micron X100, the Crucial X8 Portable SSD is a consumer product. Encased in a unibody core made out of anodised aluminium, this SSD feels very solid; the finish is also nice to the touch. On top of that, it can also survive drops up to 7.5 feet, though this is limited to carpeted floors.

Performance wise, the Crucial X8 has a sequential read speeds of up to 1,050MBps, which should be more than enough for most consumers. This is especially the case for those who plan to use the portable SSD with their gaming consoles to store games.

The Crucial X8 Portable SSD is available in two capacities: 500GB and 1TB for $120 (about RM495) and $190 (approximately RM785) respectively. Obviously, the 1TB model offers better value for money, and it comes with a three-year limited warranty. Curious to learn more? Check out
our hands-on of the Crucial X8
.

Micron 7300 & 5300 Series SSDs

Last but certainly not least are the Micron 7300 and 5300 series of enterprise SSDs. The 7300 SSDs are low-power NVMe drives that use Micron’s latest 96-layer 3D TLC NAND flash memory, so the maximum capacity can be increased while retaining the same physical size.

As for the Micron 5300 series, they are touted as the first enterprise SATA SSDs to be built on the company’s 96-layer 3D TLC NAND; the 5200 series, its predecessor, only used 64-layer 3D TLC. If you’d like to learn more about the Micron 7300 and 5300, click
here
.


ReadySet Heroes Quick Review: Diamond in the Rough

If you like dungeon crawler games, you would’ve probably heard of ReadySet Heroes. Developed by Robot Entertainment and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, it’s touted as a “fast-paced multiplayer dungeon crawler that packs a big twist.”

Unfortunately, the multiplayer aspect of ReadySet Heroes could use some work, and while the “big twist” offers some potential, other aspects of the game can get downright frustrating.

What It Is

As mentioned, ReadySet Heroes is a dungeon crawler. There are two game modes: Tower Crawl (basically the single player mode) and Crawl N’ Brawl, which can be played online or locally. Once you’ve chosen the game mode, you pick one of six characters – four more need to be unlocked by completing certain challenges – and you’ll be thrown right into the game.

Tower Crawl is a local-only mode; up to two players can cooperate to clear 30 randomly generated rooms, and you’ve only got three lives. As you progress to new rooms, they get progressively more difficult, and you’ll meet four different bosses too. You may even stumble upon “secret rooms” that offer extra loot.

Once you’ve cleared a room, you’ll get a chest that offer a number of things: weapons, equipment, gears, or spells. Each of them have different rarities too, ranging from Common to Legendary, though the game doesn’t really explain how rarity impacts the gameplay.

Oh, as you progress through the game, you can break barrels and kill enemies to gather “gems” of different colours, which improve your stats accordingly. Red gems, for example, increase your attack power.

That’s generally what Tower Crawl is all about. Crawl N’ Brawl, on the other hand, works on the same premises, but there’s a timer. Once it counts down to zero, all players duke it out in a mini-game to determine the winner. However, I only managed to play very little of this mode – I’ll elaborate more on this further down this review.

The Good Stuff

Although the characters you choose in ReadySet Heroes do not impact the gameplay, the different weapons you get from chests do. There are five weapons in the game: Sword, Axe, Staff, Daggers, and…a Lute. No kidding, you can use the musical instrument as a weapon in this game.

Each of these weapons have their own unique attacks and animations. All weapons have a normal three-hit attack, and you can tap and hold on the attack button to unleash a charged attack. With the Sword, for example, a charged attack is a 360-degree roundslash.

Of course, there is also a secondary attack. Again, let’s take the Sword as an example. Once I’ve activated the secondary attack, the character will hold a pose. If I’m attacked in this pose, the character will perform a counterattack. As you probably can tell by now, the Sword is my favourite weapon.

While ReadySet Heroes isn’t the most impressive-looking game graphically, I do like the cute art style with bright and vibrant colours. On top of that, I didn’t face any performance issue either – I played the game on a PlayStation 4 Pro system.

All in all, I do like the versatility of the weapons in ReadySet Heroes, though it’s too bad this is affected by RNG. This is especially the case if you’re looking to get a specific weapon to suit your playstyle.

The Bad Stuff

Unfortunately, there are quite a number of things that aren’t particularly great about ReadySet Heroes, and the multiplayer aspect is the worst offender. See, it’s
extremely
difficult to be matched with anyone online, with the matchmaking process often timing out.

There are a couple of times where I did manage to get into a Crawl N’ Brawl with a couple of players, but even then the connection quality wasn’t great; I even got disconnected in one match. Really, it got to the point where “online multiplayer” almost feels like a redundant feature in this game.

Switching over to local multiplayer isn’t any better either, no thanks to the split-screen with huge black bars, leaving a rather small screen for each player.

Matchmaking times out after 10 minutes

And then there’s the RNG aspect of ReadySet Heroes, which impacts the game a little bit too much. Depending on your luck, you may get better equipment earlier in your Tower Crawl run, much later, or never at all. In fact, the game gets a lot easier if you manage to acquire the most powerful item in the game: the
Shovel
 gear. Without this one item, I doubt I could finish the Tower Crawl mode.

What makes the Shovel such a broken item is the fact that it can dig up gems to power up your character accordingly. Since there is no time limit in Tower Crawl mode, you can just slowly dig up for gems until all of your attributes are maxed out.

No, it’s not fun and it’s time-consuming, but without this, it’s pretty difficult to clear all 30 room, given that gems are only dropped by slain enemies and breaking barrels. It also doesn’t help that health potions drop very rarely, which is also the
only
 way to heal up. Did I mention it’s also possible to get potions with the Shovel?

Last but certainly not least is the fact that ReadySet Heroes doesn’t really teach you how to play the game. When I started my first match, it took me a while to figure out the controls. If I hadn’t go through the menu to look at the controls, I probably wouldn’t know about the secondary attack.

Is It Worth It?

ReadySet Heroes it not a
bad
 game, per se: it just needs more polishing here and there to really shine. If the online multiplayer actually worked, and the RNG isn’t so punishing, it can actually be a really fun game to play with friends and families.

In its current state, ReadySet Heroes is a hard game to recommend, even if it costs
only RM79 on the PlayStation Store
. But for what it’s worth, it felt
very
 satisfying when I finally managed to clear the Tower Crawl mode. I can definitely see myself getting back into the game occasionally to just relax and wind down.

Maybe I can finally enjoy a proper online match then.


Deal: Sony WH-1000XM3 Now Only RM864

One of the biggest online sales is finally upon us. For 11.11, one retailer on Shopee is offering an extremely good deal for the Sony WH-1000XM3 wireless headphones: it can be yours
for only RM864 now
.

Needless to say, RM864 is an absolute
steal
 for the WH-1000XM3, which is easily one of the best wireless headphones with active noise cancellation. This promotion is offered by Preferred Shopee retailer C Plus Digital, so rest assured, this is a legitimate deal.

In order to reduce the price down to RM864, just claim the RM35 discount voucher from C Plus Digital.

At the time of writing, there are only
four
 units of the Sony WH-1000XM3 in stock. If you want to grab it
for only RM864
, act fast!

Update 11 November, 1:30AM:
 Not surprisingly, the deal above sold out very quickly! Afraid not, we still managed to find some good prices for the WH-1000XM3. Shopee retailer Stars Picker is offering the headphones
for only RM989
, but if you want a Preferred seller instead, renowned retailer All IT is listing it for
slightly more at RM999
. Be quick if you want these deals!


Honor 9X Hands-On: Sleek, Budget-Friendly Smartphone

Affordable smartphones aren’t usually very sleek-looking devices, but the same doesn’t apply to the Honor 9X. Thanks to its use of a pop-up camera module, there’s no need for a cutout on the front of the phone to fit in the selfie camera. The result? A smartphone with a sleek, all-screen design.

If Honor Malaysia prices the Honor 9X right for our market, this may be the ideal device for those who want a handsome-looking smartphone that doesn’t break the bank – other aspects of the phone are reasonably good too.

Since design is one of the Honor 9X’s strongest suits, let’s start with that. As mentioned, the phone’s 6.59-inch 2340 x 1080 IPS FullView display is free of any notch or hole-punch cutout, giving it a sleek, modern aesthetic. That being said, the bezels surrounding the screen are a little bit too thick for my liking, especially right below the display.

Besides that, the quality of the 6.59-inch 1080p display itself is quite alright. While it’s not a fancy AMOLED panel, the IPS screen is good enough for a device at this price point. It can get reasonably bright, it has good colour reproduction, and the viewing angles are decent.

Build quality of the Honor 9X is surprisingly solid for an affordable device. Not only does the curved glass back feels great to the touch, it also improves the ergonomics of the phone. I can’t quite discern if the frame is made out of plastic or metal (I suspect it’s the former), but it certainly doesn’t feel cheap at all.

Unlike most smartphones in the market now, the Honor 9X is still sticking with a conventional capacitive fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone. While it doesn’t sound quite as impressive on paper, I’m sure there are folks that still prefer this kind of sensor over an in-screen one. I certainly do, especially at this price point.

See, even though in-screen fingerprint sensors are becoming increasingly common in more affordable smartphones, they’re not particularly…fast or accurate. With that in mind, I’d gladly settle for the rear fingerprint sensor of the 9X. It is fast, accurate, and I can even slide down on it to pull down the notification shade.

Another hardware that’s worth a mention is the battery capacity of the Honor 9X. Featuring a generous 4,000mAh battery, I’m positive this phone can return
at the very least
 a full day of use. After all, the 1080p display shouldn’t consume too much power.

Given Huawei’s
ongoing debacle with the US government
 – which also affects Honor, given the relationship between the two brands – the Honor 9X still ships with Google’s full suite of apps and services. These include the all-important Google Play Store, YouTube, Google Maps, Gmail, and so on.

Part of the reason why the Honor 9X still has access to Google’s services is simple: it’s actually…an upgraded version of Huawei’s existing smartphone. It carries the model number STK-LX3, which is shared with the Huawei Y9 Prime 2019. In retrospect, this is very similar to the relationship between the
Huawei Nova 5T
 and
Honor 20
 – these two are one and the same phone.

As for the software experience itself, it’s decent. The Honor 9X runs on EMUI 9.1 based on Android 9 Pie out of the box, and it feels lightweight and responsive.

And then we’ve got the triple camera system of the Honor 9X. Unlike the Y9 Prime 2019, the 9X swaps out the 16MP f/1.8 main sensor for a more sophisticated 48MP f/1.8 shooter, which uses pixel binning for improved camera performance. As a result, this phone outputs 12MP images with the primary sensor.

As for the other two camera sensors, they are unchanged. There’s still an 8MP f/2.4 ultra-wide angle shooter, and a 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor to simulate bokeh effects. The pop-up motorised selfie camera, on the other hand, is a 16MP f/2.2 unit.

So how is the camera performance of the Honor 9X? Well, it’s…decent. The camera interface is relatively responsive, autofocus speeds aren’t too bad, and it can adjust for proper exposure pretty quickly. However, detail preservation isn’t very good; even more so for the 8MP ultra-wide angle camera.

Then again, I’ve only spent a brief time photographing with the Honor 9X. It’s only fair to reserve judgment until I’ve put the triple camera system of the phone through its paces in a full review. For what it’s worth, I reckon its camera performance is in line with other smartphones in this price range.

The Honor 9X is a handsome, affordable mid-range smartphone, though the  pricing of the device for our market has not been revealed yet. Chances are, it should be priced below the RM1,000 mark. After all, the Huawei Y9 Prime 2019 only retailed at RM899 when it was launched here.

Local launch of the Honor 9X is said to be happening
 “very soon,”
 so it wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume that the smartphone will be arriving in Malaysia sometime this month. Rest assured, we will keep a close eye on the availability of the Honor 9X here – it could be the mid-ranger to get if priced right.


Honor 9X Launching in Malaysia 21 November

After much teasing, we finally know exactly when the
Honor 9X
 will be coming to Malaysia. Set to be launched here on 21 November, it’ll be interesting to see how much the mid-range smartphone will cost on our shores.

As a point of comparison, the Honor 9X retails at 299 euro in the European market, which comes up to about RM1,365. However, given that this pricing includes VAT, it should be more affordable in other markets like Malaysia. In fact, we reckon the 9X will be priced below the RM1,000 mark.

After all, the Honor 9X is actually based on an existing smartphone in our market. That’s right, it’s almost identical to the Huawei Y9 Prime 2019, which went for RM899 at launch. As mentioned in
our hands-on of the 9X
, both smartphones share the same STK-LX3 model number.

That’s also one reason how the Honor 9X still ships with Google’s range of services and apps despite
Huawei’s ongoing fiasco with the US government
. These include the indispensable Play Store, YouTube, Google Maps, Gmail, and so on. Rest assured, you’ll get the full Android experience with this smartphone.

Despite its similarities with the Huawei Y9 Prime 2019, the Honor 9X does have one distinct difference: it comes with a more sophisticated triple camera system, thanks to the 48MP f/1.8 main shooter. The other two sensors remain unchanged, including an 8MP f/2.4 ultra-wide angle shooter, and a 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor.

What about the selfie camera? Well, the 16MP f/2.2 front-facing shooter is hidden right behind the display via a pop-up mechanism. As a result, the whole front of the Honor 9X has a sleek, all-screen design. There’s no
notch or hole-punch cutout
 to distract your viewing experience.

Speaking of which, the Honor 9X has a rather sizeable 6.59-inch 2340 x 1080 IPS FullView display. Sure, the 1080p resolution doesn’t sound particularly enticing, but it will help in the battery life department. Packing a generous 4,000mAh cell, this phone should be able to return above average battery life.

Other specifications of the Honor 9X include 6GB of RAM, 128GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot (it can accommodate cards up to 512GB), a rear fingerprint sensor, and EMUI 9.1 based on Android 9 Pie out of the box.

The Honor 9X will make its Malaysian debut on 21 November next week. Hopefully, it will retail below the RM1,000 mark – it should make for an interesting mid-range smartphone if it is priced as such.


The Incredibly Light Acer Swift 5 Arriving in Malaysia 19 November

Initially
unveiled at IFA 2019
 a couple of months back, the new
Acer Swift 5
 is now confirmed to be coming to Malaysia on 19 November. Weighing merely 990g, the Swift 5 is easily one of the lightest productivity laptops in the market now.

That’s right, the Swift 5 tips the scales at only 990g, which is ridiculously light for a 14-inch laptop. I’ve
spent a brief time with the Swift 5
 back in September, and just holding up the laptop felt unreal. It’s really quite impressive just how lightweight this machine is.

Despite weighing so little, the Swift 5 doesn’t compromise on performance: it’s powered by Intel’s latest 10th generation Ice Lake chips, with the highest-end configuration being the Core i7-1065G7 processor. On top of that, it also has an Nvidia GeForce MX250 GPU or Intel’s integrated Iris Pro Graphics.

Although the MX250 GPU isn’t awfully powerful, it should be more than capable to run a number of games like Dota,
Diablo III
, and even Fortnite – with reduced graphics settings – at a reasonable frame rate. Plus, for a laptop this lightweight and thin, it’s pretty impressive how Acer managed to fit in an MX250 into the chassis.

Oh, right, the Swift 5 measures only 14.95mm thin. Thankfully enough, despite the slim chassis, this productivity laptop still comes with a good selection of ports. It has two full-size USB-A ports, a USB-C connection with Thunderbolt 3 support, and an HDMI output.

Thanks to the thin bezels surrounding the 14-inch 1080p IPS touch display, the Swift 5 looks like a proper, modern productivity laptop; the overall footprint of the laptop is reduced accordingly too. When I tested the Swift 5 a couple of months back, the display certainly looks pleasant with a good level of brightness and punchy colours.

Rounding out the specifications of the Swift 5 include up to 512GB of SSD storage, a fingerprint reader, and an impressive quoted battery life of up to 12.5 hours. It’ll be interesting to see if it can really deliver this level of battery life in a full review of the laptop.

The Acer Swift 5 will be launched in Malaysia next week on 19 November. There’s no word yet on exactly how much it will cost on our shores, but for the US market, this laptop retails from $900 – that’s about RM3,730. If the Swift 5 retails in the same price range here, it would be quite the attractive productivity machine.


Samsung Galaxy Fold Hands-On: The First Mainstream Foldable Phone

The Samsung Galaxy Fold is finally here in Malaysia, and despite the
rocky launch earlier this year
, it is basically the first mainstream foldable smartphone that you can buy right now. Without a doubt the Fold is a technological marvel; who knew foldable smartphones would become a reality this soon?

However, as it has always been with new technology, the Galaxy Fold does have its fair share of shortcomings. I got my hands on the foldable phone, and while it’s an impressive device, it’s not the most practical one.

As its name suggests, the Galaxy Fold has a foldable display. On the outside, it has a more conventional (and tiny) 4.6-inch 1680 x 720 Super AMOLED display with a tall 21:9 aspect ratio. But once you’ve “unfolded” the Fold, you’ll be greeted by the stunning 7.3-inch 2152 x 1536 Dynamic AMOLED “Infinity Flex” display.

While the 7.3-inch display sounds big, it has a squarer 4.2:3 aspect ratio, so the Galaxy Fold has the form factor of a small tablet. It’s small enough to hold with only one hand comfortably, and the whole device doesn’t feel particularly unwieldy either.

However, as the whole display folds when you close the Galaxy Fold, there is a crease running down the middle of the 7.3-inch screen. Looking straight at the display, you won’t notice the crease, but you’ll definitely see it at an angle. Is this a huge issue? Not really, given that it’s almost invisible in normal use.

What is
potentially
 a huge issue is the long-term durability of the Galaxy Fold’s polymer screen (which is basically plastic). Before you can even use the device, there’s a disclaimer in the setup process detailing how to take care of the display; it’s quite an exhaustive list.

In fact, one of it even warns users to avoid pressing hard on the screen. This could result in indentations on the display, especially if your fingernails are in contact with the soft, plastic screen. If you want to keep your RM8,388 phone in pristine condition, consider cutting your fingernails on a regular basis.

Thankfully, the Galaxy Fold comes with a Premier Service that offers a number of benefits. The most important one is the Care Pack Coverage: those who registered their Galaxy Fold with Samsung Members will receive a one-time accidental screen crack replacement or repair within a year from the date of purchase.

As for the screen quality itself, it’s fantastic. After all, the primary display is a Dynamic AMOLED panel. It supports HDR10+ standard, so it has deep blacks, very vibrant colours, and excellent brightness.

Okay, enough with the Galaxy Fold’s flexible display; what about other aspects of the phone? Well, the build quality of the hinge, for one, is really quite impressive. It feels solid whenever I open up the phone, and it closes with a reassuring “thud,” thanks to the use of strong magnets. Rest assured, the phone won’t accidentally open up once you’ve closed it.

However, with the Galaxy Fold closed, it’s…a very thick device. The hinge part is 17mm thick, while the other side measures 15.2mm. It can still fit into my jeans pocket, but there will be a pronounced bulge. Besides that, there’s also a tiny gap when the device is closed – the screen simply cannot fold completely flat.

When it comes to performance, the Galaxy Fold is a fast, zippy smartphone. It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset – the Fold only uses this chip worldwide – and while it’s not quite as fast as the Snapdragon 855+, it’s still a very capable chip.

Other specifications of the Galaxy Fold include 12GB of RAM, 512GB of non-expandable storage, a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, two front-facing cameras (10MP main + 8MP depth) at the top right corner of the main screen, another 10MP selfie camera above the 4.6-inch outside display, and a 4,380mAh battery.

What about the camera performance of the Galaxy Fold? Given that this phone has the exact same triple camera system as the
Samsung Galaxy S10
 (12MP primary + 16MP ultra-wide angle + 12MP telephoto), it should have similar camera performance too. If it does, the Fold will be able to take good-looking shots regardless of lighting condition.

Of course, I’ll definitely put the Galaxy Fold’s camera system through its paces in a full review, though I’m positive it won’t disappoint in this particular aspect. After all, the camera performance of Samsung’s flagship smartphones rarely disappoints.

Innovation in the smartphone space is always exciting, and the Samsung Galaxy Fold is easily one of the most innovative – and experimental – devices to come from the Korean company. While the long-term durability of the flexible screen is concerning, the Fold certainly has the “wow” factor. How cool is it to be able to fold your smartphone in half?

Then again, you will be paying a hefty amount of money for the Galaxy Fold; RM8,388, to be specific. Not only is it a costly smartphone, you’ll have to take very good care of the device (even more so with the main display) too.

If that sounds manageable to you, the Galaxy Fold will be one of the most unique and awe-inspiring smartphones you’ll ever use; at least, at this point in time. I’ll be using the Fold as my daily driver for the next few days, and I can’t wait to see how well it would fare, especially in terms of durability.


Asus ZenBook Pro Duo & ZenBook Duo Now in Malaysia; Costs up to RM15,999

Asus just launched the
Asus ZenBook Pro Duo
 and ZenBook Duo in Malaysia. What makes these two laptops particularly interesting is the ScreenPad Plus secondary display, which is placed right above the keyboards of both machines. It may sound like a gimmick, but it could just be the tool some creative professionals need.

Let’s start with the higher-end offering of the two, the aptly named ZenBook Pro Duo. It features a wide 14-inch 3840 x 1100 ScreenPad Plus secondary display, a stunning 15.6-inch 4K OLED display, and two processor options: an Intel Core i7-9750H or a beefier Core i9-9980HK chip.

In the graphics department, the ZenBook Pro Duo comes with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 GPU. While an Nvidia Quadro GPU would be better suited for creative professionals – the target audience of this laptop – the RTX 2060 will still do. After all, you can do some gaming on the side with this GPU instead of a Quadro solution.

Other specifications of the ZenBook Pro Duo include 32GB of RAM, a 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD, two USB-A ports, a USB-C connection, and one HDMI output. Surprisingly enough, this laptop has a limited connectivity options despite its large chassis.

Pricing wise, the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo retails at RM12,999 and a whopping RM15,999 for the Core i7 and Core i9 models respectively. Yes, it’s a costly laptop.

If you want something more affordable, there’s the ZenBook Duo. Not only does it cost less, it’s also a much more portable laptop, thanks to its compact form factor. After all, it has a smaller 14-inch 1920 x 1080 display and a 12.6-inch Full HD ScreenPad Plus secondary screen. That’s right, it also has a screen above the keyboard like its higher-end sibling.

However, given its lower price point, the ZenBook Duo isn’t quite as powerful. It’s only powered by a Core i5-10210U or Core i7-10510U processor, and its GeForce MX250 GPU pales in comparison to the Pro Duo’s much beefier RTX 2060.

Then again, as mentioned, the ZenBook Duo is a more portable machine: it weighs only 1.5kg with a 19.9mm thin chassis. Compare this to the ZenBook Pro Duo, which tips the scales at 2.5kg, along with a thicker 24mm profile.

Two variants of the Asus ZenBook Duo are available in our market. The Core i5 model with 8GB of RAM goes for RM4,699, while the Core i7 variant with 16GB of RAM retails at RM5,699; both models also has a 512GB SSD. Just like the ZenBook Pro Duo, the ZenBook Duo is now available for purchase in Malaysia.


The Iconic Motorola Razr Is Back with a Foldable Display & Snapdragon 710, but Should You Get It?

Even though it has been leaked numerous times, it is finally official now: Motorola is bringing back one of its most iconic devices, the Motorola Razr flip phone. Of course, it has a modern twist to it: not only does it retain the clamshell design, it also has an
impressive
 foldable display now.

Unlike other smartphones with a foldable screen, the Razr’s display doesn’t have any noticeable crease when opened. On top of that, the screen also closes completely flat even though it folds inwards. This feat alone is quite impressive, given that the
Samsung Galaxy Fold
 with a similar foldable display still has a tiny gap when closed.

As for the display itself, it is a 6.2” foldable pOLED – that’s plastic OLED – display with a 2142 x 876 resolution. That’s right, it only has a HD resolution, there’s a wide notch at the top, and the tall 21:9 “CinemaVision” aspect ratio makes the Razr quite a tall smartphone. Then again, this is likely done on purpose to stay (relatively) true to the original Razr’s design.

On the outside of the foldable phone is a smaller 2.7-inch “gOLED” 800 x 600 screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio; the G in the name stands for glass. Motorola dubs this screen Quick View, and even though it’s quite a small screen, it can still show notifications you’ve received. On top of that, you can even use it as a viewfinder to take selfies with the primary 16MP f/1.7 camera.

Naturally, there is also a 5MP f/2.0 front-facing camera right above the main display if you want to take selfie shots with the phone unfolded.

On the bottom bezel of the Razr is a conventional capacitive fingerprint sensor; you are not getting any fancy in-screen fingerprint sensor with this foldable phone. Even though this doesn’t sound very enticing on paper, physical sensors are still superior when it comes to speed and accuracy, so it’s not all bad.

What is “bad” is the chipset powering the Razr. Oddly enough, despite its premium positioning, this is not a flagship device: this phone is only powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 chipset. While this comfortably puts the Razr in the upper mid-range segment of smartphones, you won’t be getting flagship-tier performance out of it.

However, it’s entirely possible Motorola decided to use the Snapdragon 710 instead of a more powerful (and power hungry) chipset: power consumption. See, the Razr only has a 2,510mAh battery, which is quite small for an Android smartphone. Thanks to the power-efficiency of the Snapdragon 710, the Razr may be able to provide good battery life.

In fact, Motorola itself claims that this battery capacity and processor combination is enough to provide all-day battery life. Of course, we will only know for sure once we have the Razr in for review; it’ll be interesting to see just how long-lasting this phone would be.

Rounding out the specifications of the new Motorola Razr include 6GB of RAM, 128GB of internal storage, a USB-C port for charging – it can do 15W TurboPower fast charging – and get this: eSIM support. It’s a very interesting feature, given that this phone has
no physical SIM slot
.

Having only eSIM support will limit the number of carriers that can potentially work with the Razr, which is definitely not a great thing. In fact, in the US, this phone is exclusive to Verizon. While there’s no telling if the Razr will be locked down in other markets, there’s certainly a good chance of that happening.

Besides the lack of a physical SIM slot, what could potentially deter potential consumers from picking up the Razr is the camera capability. After all, Motorola smartphones of the past few years don’t exactly offer incredible camera performance. On top of that, this phone only has a single camera sensor.

In a smartphone landscape where there are more sophisticated camera systems that are far more versatile – wide angle, zoom lens, you name it – the Razr certainly doesn’t stand out here.

Even if you are willing to overlook its camera performance and lack of a physical SIM slot, you cannot ignore the premium price tag of the Razr. For the US market, this foldable phone is set to go for a whopping $1,499 once it is available there sometime in January 2020. That comes up to about RM6,230.

For that kind of money, the new Motorola Razr only offers the performance of a mid-range smartphone with the Snapdragon 710 chipset, along with the aforementioned (potential) shortcomings above. Sure, the Razr is still a very sleek, unique smartphone with a very impressive foldable display, but you’d have to live with a number of sacrifices just for that.

If you think you can, great: you’ll likely be very happy with the Razr and its handsome looks. For the rest of us, it may be worth it to see how the phone is like to use once reviews are in.


Thin & Light Acer Swift 5 Lands in Malaysia from RM3,699

If you’ve been looking to get a productivity laptop that’s ridiculously lightweight and thin, you’d want to check out the new
Acer Swift 5
. Now available for purchase in Malaysia, the Swift 5 tips the scales at only 990g; it’s a very,
very
 light machine, thanks to the use of magnesium alloy.

Given that the Swift 5 is a 14-inch laptop, it’s really quite incredible how light it is. Besides its lightweight chassis, this laptop also measures only 14.95mm thin. Despite its slim profile, the Swift 5 still has good connectivity options. It has two full-size USB-A ports, a USB-C connection with Thunderbolt 3 support, and an HDMI output.

One of the biggest possible issues with thin and light laptops like the Swift 5 is battery life, but Acer claims that this productivity machine can return up to 12.5 hours of use. That’s a lofty estimate for any given laptop, and we’ll definitely put this to the test in a full review of the Swift 5.

In the display department, the Swift 5 has a 14-inch 1080p IPS touch display with a matte finish, so glare shouldn’t be an issue with this laptop. On top of that, the display quality itself is quite good too with punchy colours, wide viewing angles, and a good level of brightness.

For the Malaysian market, the Acer Swift 5 comes in three distinct variants. The most affordable model retails at only RM3,699, and it comes with a Core i5-1035G1 processor paired with 8GB of RAM, 512GB of fast PCIe SSD storage, and Intel UHD Graphics. This variant is available in both Moonstone White and Charcoal Blue.

A tier up is the RM3,999 Swift 5, which adds an Nvidia GeForce MX250 dedicated GPU for extra graphics performance. However, this particular model is only available in Moonstone White. If you want more processing power instead, there’s the Core i7-1065G7 variant with 16GB of RAM and Intel Iris Plus Graphics. This model is priced at RM4,699, and it can only be purchased in Charcoal Blue.

Interestingly, the Swift 5 is also pre-installed with genuine Microsoft Office 2019 worth RM529, which includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. If you use any of these applications, you won’t have to purchase it with this laptop. Curious to learn more about the Swift 5? Then check out our hands-on of it
right here
.


Samsung Introduces Star Wars-Inspired Galaxy Note 10+ with Striking Red Accents

Samsung often give its flagship smartphones the special edition treatment over the course of their respective life cycles, and the latest device to get a fresh coat of paint is the
Samsung Galaxy Note 10+
. This time around, it’s a collaboration with Star Wars, and the result is one mean-looking smartphone.

Dubbed Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ Star Wars Special Edition, this unique device is released to celebrate the upcoming release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Naturally, the special edition Note 10+ has a number of Star Wars-inspired aesthetics; more specifically, Kylo Ren.

On the back of this Galaxy Note 10+, for one, is the First Order emblem imprinted right in the middle of the phone. There’s also the familiar Star Wars logo right below that, along with red accents around the camera lens and buttons of the device. Oh, even the S Pen is painted in striking red – almost like a lightsaber, in fact.

Interestingly, Samsung is also bundling matching Galaxy Buds with the Star Wars-themed Galaxy Note 10+. While the Buds are no different from the normal black model, the inner part of the casing is red. Other items packaged together with the phone include an embossed leather case, a metal badge as a collector’s item, as well as special Star Wars wallpapers, shutdown animations, icons, and sounds.

Beyond these changes, this special edition Galaxy Note 10+ is no different from its regular counterpart. It still comes with a 6.8-inch 3040 x 1440 Dynamic AMOLED display – with a hole-punch cutout at the top of the screen – a Samsung Exynos 9825 octa-core chipset paired with 12GB of RAM, up to 512GB of expandable storage, and a 4,300mAh battery.

Of course, even the camera configuration is the same. On the back, the triple camera system is made up of a 12MP f/1.5 – f/2.4 main shooter, a 16MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle camera, a 12MP f/2.1 telephoto lens, and a VGA DepthVision ToF sensor. As for the selfie camera, it’s a 10MP f/2.2 shooter.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ Star Wars Special Edition will be available in selected markets like US, UK, Korea, Australia and Hong Kong from 10 December onwards; no word yet on the Malaysian availability of this smartphone. Pricing wise, this Star Wars-inspired Note 10+ retails at $1,300 in the US, which comes up to about RM5,405.

If you’d like to learn more about the Galaxy Note 10+, check out our comprehensive review of Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone
here
.


Asus ROG Phone II Review: Gaming First, Smartphone Second

Gaming smartphones are tricky. On one hand, it has to offer features that meaningfully improve the mobile gaming experience. Whether it’s in the form of better performance, faster display, or other gaming-centric features, there has to be
something
 that sets gaming smartphones apart from “mainstream” options.

But on the other hand, gaming smartphones are still that: smartphones. I’ve used the Asus ROG Phone II as my daily driver for a few weeks now, and while it’s a fantastic gaming device, the smartphone aspect of it takes a back seat.

Specifications

Display
6.59-inch FHD+ AMOLED (2340 x 1080) 120Hz
Chipset
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ 2.96GHz octa-core
GPU
Adreno 640
RAM
12GB
Storage
512GB/1TB, non-expandable
Camera (rear)
48MP f/1.8
13MP f/2.4 (ultra-wide angle)
Camera (front)
24MP f/2.0
Battery
6,000mAh
Dimensions
170.99 x 77.6 x 9.48 mm
Weight
240g
OS
ROG UI based on Android 9 Pie
Connectivity
LTE
NFC
Bluetooth 5.0
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz)
USB Type-C
3.5mm headphone jack
Price
RM3,499 (512GB), RM4,499 (1TB)

Without a doubt the ROG Phone II is a well-equipped gaming smartphone. The Snapdragon 855+ is Qualcomm’s best chipset yet, it has a fast 120Hz display, and the 6,000mAh battery capacity is
ridiculously
generous. If there’s one thing you don’t have to worry about this phone, it’s battery life.

On top of that, even if the ROG Phone II lacks expandable storage, the base model for the Malaysian market still comes with 512GB of internal storage. In fact, you can even go up to a whopping 1TB if you wish to.

Design

One look at the ROG Phone II, and you’ll immediately recognise it as a gaming smartphone, for better or worse. The ROG logo on the rear panel of the phone lights up – in RGB, of course – the back design has an aggressive styling, and it has two front-facing stereo speakers.

Besides that, the ROG Phone II is also a large, heavy smartphone. To put this into context, this phone is taller and heavier than the
Samsung Galaxy Note 10+
, which is
already
a sizeable device. While I wouldn’t say the ROG Phone II is too cumbersome to use on a daily basis, its sheer size and weight don’t exactly make it a very ergonomic smartphone.

On the flip side, Asus’ gaming smartphone does have solid build quality. The glass back and metal frame feel good to the touch (even if they are quite slippery), and the extra weight does give the impression of a premium smartphone, which it really is.

Oh, the ROG Phone II also has two USB-C ports on the left side of the phone, so it has a grand total of three USB-C connections. The side-mounted ports are meant to be used with Asus’ range of accessories for the phone, but it can also be used to charge the phone when you’re gaming.

This way, the charging cable won’t be blocking your right hand when you are gaming on this phone. It’s quite a thoughtful design that emphasises the phone’s focus on mobile gamers.

User Experience

Okay, so how is it like to game on the Asus ROG Phone II? Absolute bliss. The Snapdragon 855+ can keep up even in the most demanding of games, providing high and consistent frame rate in games that I’ve tested with the phone. Either it’s PUBG Mobile or Call of Duty: Mobile, gaming on this phone is very,
very
enjoyable.

But performance alone doesn’t quite describe the whole gaming experience of the ROG Phone II: the AirTrigger buttons are what make it such a joy. Basically, there are two ultrasonic buttons on the right side of the phone that act as shoulder buttons, which can be configured to activate certain parts of the screen.

So what I can do is set the left AirTrigger to aim, and the right one to shoot, freeing my thumbs to control the camera and continue moving my character. It mimics the functionality of a physical gamepad, and it makes shooter games
a lot
 easier. In fact, it feels like…an unfair advantage, if I were to be honest.

Anyway, you can also adjust the sensitivity of the AirTrigger buttons if you’re having difficulty activating them, though I never had any trouble with this feature. It’s almost as easy as pressing physical buttons – that’s how good the AirTriggers are.

Now, let’s move on to the fast 120Hz 6.59-inch 1080p AMOLED display. It’s a bright, vibrant display, and thanks to the high refresh rate, every element on the screen looks extremely smooth. Whether I’m gaming or just using the phone for other tasks, the extra frames make a lot of difference. If you’re transitioning from a “conventional” smartphone with a 60Hz display, you’ll definitely notice the higher refresh rate.

However, for games to truly take advantage of the 120Hz display, they have to first support it. Thankfully, there are quite a number of games that can run at this frame rate, including Rayman Adventures (pictured above), Assassin’s Creed Rebellion, Don’t Starve, and even Vainglory. You can find the full list of games that support 120Hz in
this list prepared by Asus
.

When it comes to software, the ROG Phone II is quite interesting. When you’re setting up the phone, you’ll be prompted to “choose system style” between the default ROG UI and Classic. Unfortunately, this change is only skin deep; they’re basically different themes. It’s not like you can choose between stock Android or Asus’ own version of Android.

But, thankfully enough, ROG UI is very close to stock Android. Throughout my time with the phone, never did I encounter any major bug or issue with it. It feels lightweight, responsive, and there aren’t that many bloatware either. There’s also a game launcher of sorts that places all of your games in a single place.

And then we’ve got the ROG Phone II’s incredible battery life courtesy of the large 6,000mAh cell. On average, I was getting between eight to nine hours of screen on time with this phone; not many devices can match this level of battery life. If you’re a lighter smartphone user (and you set the refresh rate to 60Hz), I reckon you can get up to two days of usage out of this phone.

Another area where the ROG Phone II is quite impressive is the in-screen fingerprint sensor. A quick tap is enough to unlock the phone, and it can accurately recognise my fingerprint most of the time too. Sure, a conventional capacitive sensor is still quicker and more accurate, but this in-screen one isn’t bad either.

Next up is the camera performance of the ROG Phone II, which is…surprisingly adequate.

Camera

Given its focus on the gaming experience, I wasn’t expecting much out of the ROG Phone II when it comes to photography. After all, it only has a dual camera system made up of a 48MP f/1.8 main shooter and a 13MP f/2.4 ultra-wide angle camera. In a market where triple – or even quad – camera systems are commonplace on mobile devices, the ROG Phone II doesn’t quite stand out.

But to my surprise, it can actually capture good-looking shots. Sure, the pictures can be quite oversaturated, but for the most part, they are pleasing to the eyes. Detail preservation is decent, colour reproduction isn’t half bad, and it can lock in focus relatively quickly.

However, nighttime photography is a bit of a hit-and-miss. The camera interface is more sluggish in less than ideal lighting – which also affects the autofocus speed – and the results can sometimes look…dull with limited dynamic range. But given some time and patience, you
can
capture good night shots with this phone.

Just don’t expect it to be a painless experience.

48MP primary
13MP ultra-wide
48MP primary
13MP ultra-wide

And then there’s the ultra wide-angle sensor. It’s a decent performer under good lighting, but it gets a lot worse in low light conditions; just look at the sample shots above. It can capture a good amount of detail in daytime, but in nighttime, the wide angle sensor has issues with noise control, detail preservation, and exposure.

But at the end of the day, the ROG Phone II
is
 a gaming smartphone: camera performance is not exactly a priority here. For what it’s worth, I do think this phone has above average camera performance, and the ultra wide-angle – even if it’s not particularly great – can be useful to fit more subject into a frame.

Yes, you get definitely get better camera performance with other smartphones in this price range. But if photography is your priority, the ROG Phone II…shouldn’t even be in your list to begin with.

Competition

Retailing from RM3,499 for the 512GB model (RM4,499 for the 1TB variant), the ROG Phone II is positioned slightly above the price range when compared with other gaming smartphones. At this price point, it has a number of noteworthy competition.

Nubia Red Magic 3S

Compared to the ROG Phone II, the Nubia Red Magic 3S’ much lower asking price gives it a distinct advantage. The 128GB model with 8GB of RAM goes for only RM2,299, while the 256GB variant with 12GB of RAM retails at RM2,899. This undercuts the ROG Phone II’s starting price by RM1,200 – that’s a big price gap.

Despite its far more affordable price tag, the Red Magic 3S still has a Snapdragon 855+ chipset, so it should be able to offer the same level of gaming performance as the ROG Phone II. On top of that, the 3S also comes with two touch-sensitive shoulder buttons that are just like the ROG Phone II’s AirTriggers.

Of course, the ROG Phone II does still offer a number of advantages over the Red Magic 3S. For one, the former’s 120Hz display is faster than the 3S’ 6.65-inch 1080p AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate. You’re also getting a bigger battery (6,000mAh instead of 5,000mAh), an in-screen fingerprint sensor, an ultra-wide angle camera, and far more storage capacity at 512GB.

Black Shark 2 Pro

Another decent alternative is the
Black Shark 2 Pro
. Just like the ROG Phone II, this gaming smartphone is powered by a Snapdragon 855+ chipset, and it’s more affordable too. It starts from RM2,499 for the 128GB + 8GB model, which goes up to RM2,999 for the 256GB + 12GB option.

Unfortunately, pricing is really the Black Shark 2 Pro’s only advantage. After all, it only comes with a 6.39-inch 1080p AMOLED display locked at 60Hz, a smaller 4,000mAh battery, and the storage capacity is only limited to 256GB; even the base model of the ROG Phone II has twice the amount of space at 512GB.

On top of that, Black Shark’s gaming smartphone doesn’t  offer the utility of the ROG Phone II’s AirTriggers either. At least, not without adding attachments to the phone.

Conclusion

The Asus ROG Phone II is easily one of the most – if not
the
 most – complete gaming smartphones in the market now. It has a fast 120Hz display, excellent performance, incredibly long battery life, and the AirTriggers make gaming on this device
that
 much more fun and enjoyable.

Unfortunately, too much emphasis was given to the “gaming” aspect of this gaming smartphone. Its sheer size and weight can be a dealbreaker to those who prefer a more compact and ergonomic device, and the camera performance leaves much to be desired.

However, there is no denying this: the ROG Phone II is a fantastic, no-compromise mobile gaming machine. If that’s what you’re looking for, look no further than the ROG Phone II. Even if its starting price is a little steep, you’re getting a lot of value for your money here, especially with the generous amount of storage to store all of your games.


Honor 9X with All-Screen Design Arrives in Malaysia for RM999

Honor just launched its latest mid-range smartphone in Malaysia, the
Honor 9X
. Featuring an all screen-design (thanks to the motorised pop-up selfie camera) and affordable price tag, the 9X is quite an interesting option for those looking to get a sleek Android smartphone that won’t break the bank.

Given Huawei’s
ongoing debacle with the US government
 – which also affects Honor, given the relationship between the two brands – many were wondering if the Honor 9X will still come with Google’s suite of services and apps. Well, you don’t have to worry about that: essential apps like the Google Play Store and YouTube are available on the 9X.

So why is the Honor 9X unaffected by the US government’s sanction? Well, it’s actually…based on an existing smartphone. That’s right, it’s really a slightly upgraded Huawei Y9 Prime 2019. Both devices share the design and hardware – and model number – though the 9X does bring one notable upgrade in the camera department.

Instead of the Y9 Prime 2019’s 16MP f/1.8 main sensor in the triple camera system, the Honor 9X swapped out that camera for a more sophisticated 48MP f/1.8 shooter. The other two sensors, on the other hand, are still the same 8MP f/2.4 ultra-wide angle shooter and 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor to simulate bokeh effects.

The selfie camera, on the other hand (which is hidden behind the display), is a 16MP f/2.2 unit.

Powering the Honor 9X is a 12nm Kirin 710F chipset that should be able to offer reasonably good performance. It’s also a relatively power-efficient 12nm chip, and paired with the 9X’s generous 4,000mAh battery, expect to get above average battery life with this mid-ranger.

Other specifications of the Honor 9X include a 6.59-inch 2340 x 1080 IPS display with an all-screen design, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of expandable storage, a rear fingerprint sensor, as well as a USB-C port.

The Honor 9X will be available for pre-order in Malaysia for RM999 from tomorrow onwards on 22 November; it will then be sold online on Shopee, Lazada, and Hihonor on 28 November. Interestingly, Honor is offering a number of deals if you pre-order the 9X online.

Those who pre-order the Honor 9X on Hihonor and Lazada from 22 to 27 November will be able to purchase the Honor Sport Pro Bluetooth earphones (worth RM299) for only RM0.99. Alternatively, you can also opt to get the Honor Band 5 Sport instead with a gift box at no additional cost.

If you miss the pre-order period, you can still get the Honor 9X with a complimentary Band 5 Sport and gift box or add RM199 to get the Honor Sport Pro earphones. The latter offer is only valid until 1 December 2019.


This Is the Unreleased Honor MagicBook 14, and It’s Coming to Malaysia Soon

Honor will be unveiling a number of new products in China on 26 November, and one of them is this laptop right here: the new Honor MagicBook 14. That’s right, we managed to spend some time with the yet to be released laptop, and it’s set to arrive in Malaysia soon.

The unreleased MagicBook 14 was shown to the media at the
launch event
 of the
Honor 9X
. Although a Honor representative did not specifically tell us it’s the new MagicBook 14, we’re quite confident it is based on the design and size of the display. In fact, we found a listing of the laptop on Tmall with various images of the upcoming product.

Unfortunately, we don’t have much info on what’s under the hood of the MagicBook 14, but we
do know
 there will (at least) be a variant that comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 processor based on the sticker on the laptop. It remains to be seen if Honor will also use Intel processors for the MagicBook 14, though there’s a good chance it is.

What about the laptop itself? Well, we weren’t allowed to power on the MagicBook 14 to really test it out, but we did manage to try out other aspects of the machine. The display, for one, has a matte finish, and we were told that it is not a touch-enabled screen. Just like Huawei’s MateBook laptop, the webcam of the MagicBook 14 is also hidden underneath the keyboard in a pop-up mechanism. It’s a clever piece of engineering.

As for the keyboard itself, it’s decent. The keys don’t have an awful lot of travel, so the typing experience is decidedly shallow. As a matter of fact, it’s very similar to Apple’s flat butterfly switch keyboard found on older MacBook laptops, though the MagicBook 14’s keyboard does have slightly more travel in comparison.

Now, despite the short key travel, I reckon I’ll enjoy doing a lot of typing on the MagicBook 14’s keyboard. Yes, it feels shallow, but I love how “light” the keys feel. It doesn’t need a lot of force to actuate, tactile feedback is great, and the larger than usual key size makes it a lot easier to type accurately – for myself, anyway.

Right below the keyboard is a relatively big trackpad. I wasn’t able to try out the accuracy of the MagicBook 14’s trackpad – given that we weren’t allowed to switch it on – but it does have a smooth surface. This lets my fingers glide effortlessly on the trackpad, and it feels solid too when I press down on it.

Speaking of solid, the build quality of the MagicBook 14 is worth a mention as well. While the top lid flexes a bit with added pressure, the rest of the laptop feels very robust. Aside from the plastic bezel surrounding the display, other parts of the laptop are made out of metal.

When it comes to port selection, the MagicBook 14 is adequately equipped. There are two full-size USB-A ports, a single USB-C connection – this should double as the charging port – an HDMI output, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. A decent connectivity option for a slim and light laptop.

At the moment, we still have no concrete release date for the new Honor MagicBook 14 in Malaysia, but we were told that the Chinese company is aiming to release the upcoming laptop locally sometime this year. We’ll learn more about the MagicBook 14 once it is released in China next week on 26 November.


Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Series Launching in Malaysia 3 December

Initially launched earlier this month, the
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 series
 is set to arrive in Malaysia very, very soon. The Mi Note 10 is basically the global variant of the
Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro
, and both devices in the lineup are coming here, which include the standard Mi Note 10 and Mi Note 10 Pro.

Xiaomi Malaysia itself confirmed the local launch of the Mi Note 10 series on its Facebook page. It’s a simple teaser, prompting consumers to “stay tuned on 3rd December.” Chances are, Xiaomi will launch the device then, though we haven’t received any official invite yet.

Besides that, Xiaomi Malaysia is also running a rather interesting contest for the Mi Note 10. You’ll just need to make your way to Pavilion KL in Bukit Bintang, and take a selfie with the Mi Note 10 billboard. Once you’ve done so, just upload your selfie to Facebook
with the appropriate hashtags
 to be in the running to win a Mi Note 10.

Of course, you’ll have to set the privacy setting of the post to Public to participate in the contest. On top of that, two winners will be selected to walk away with the new Mi Note 10, though Xiaomi Malaysia didn’t elaborate on the selection criteria. Oh, this contest will also end on 6 December, so make sure to post your selfie before that date.

As for the Mi Note 10 itself, it’s a mid-range smartphone with an impressive penta camera system with a 108MP f/1.69 main sensor. The camera configuration also features two telephoto lenses: a 12MP f/2.0 telephoto sensor (50mm), and a longer 8MP f/2.0 telephoto camera (94mm).

Thanks to the combination of the two telephoto sensors, the Mi Note 10 can do 10x hybrid zoom or 50x digital zoom, which is really quite impressive. The other two camera sensors, on the other hand, are a 20MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle shooter and a f/2.4 macro lens.

Rounding out the specifications of the Mi Note 10 include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G chipset paired with 6GB of RAM, a 6.47-inch 1080p dual curved AMOLED notched screen, a very generous 5,260mAh battery, a 32MP f/2.0 selfie camera, 128GB of non-expandable storage, and an in-screen fingerprint sensor.

What about the Mi Note 10 Pro? Well, it’s virtually identical to the standard edition, but it has double the internal storage at 256GB, 8GB of RAM, and the 108MP primary camera is packed with an 8P lens.

The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 series is expected to be launched in Malaysia next month on 3 December. Given the sophisticated camera system, expect these two smartphones to cost slightly more than other Xiaomi devices, even if they are mid-rangers.


Sony WF-1000XM3 Wireless Earbuds Quick Review: Noise-Cancelling Bliss

Wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation aren’t particularly common in the market now. In fact, besides the Sony WF-1000XM3 we have here, the only other notable alternative is the Apple AirPods Pro, which also costs quite a bit more at RM1,099.

That, in turn, makes the WF-1000XM3 particularly interesting. It is not priced exorbitantly at RM949, the active noise cancellation is good, and most importantly, it has very, very long battery life. If you want a pair of compact wireless earbuds that can drown out the outside world, consider the WF-1000XM3.

What It Is

The WF-1000XM3 wireless earbuds succeed the WF-1000X, which had its fair share of shortcomings. Compared to its predecessor, the XM3 brings a number of notable improvements. For one, it promises much, much longer battery life. Sony claims that these earbuds can return up to eight hours of usage on a single charge; six hours with noise-cancellation switched on.

On top of that, the charging case can also fully recharge the WF-1000XM3 three times. Effectively, you’re getting up to 32 hours of play time with this pair of wireless earbuds. It’s a
very
impressive battery life, and throughout my time with the earbuds, I didn’t need to charge the case at all.

Aside from that, the connection strength of the WF-1000XM3 has been improved accordingly too. See, each earbud establishes its own connection to a paired device, so you can even use only one earbud while the other is charging in the case. It’s a neat little feature.

Of course, the most important feature of the WF-1000XM3 is the addition of active noise cancellation – I’ll elaborate more on this particular aspect in the next section.

The Good Stuff

If there’s one reason to get the WF-1000XM3, it would be for the performance of the active noise cancellation, which is excellent for earbuds this compact. I’ve used it primarily in the office to help me focus, and it can drown out ambient noise really well. This is especially the case with low frequency noise.

That being said, the active noise cancellation is not perfect. It doesn’t totally isolate the outside world, but it certainly does once I’ve started playing some songs. I didn’t need to crank up the volume either to enjoy this level of isolation, so the risk of damaging my hearing in the long run is reduced.

Audio quality of the WF-1000XM3 is very good too. Now, I’m not much of an audiophile, and as far as I can tell, they sound just fine. To give the XM3 a fairer assessment, I passed the earbuds around to my more perceptive colleagues to try out.

So what did they say? Well, the WF-1000XM3 has reasonably good audio quality for the money. It has punchy bass (but not particularly detailed), the mids are average, and the highs are not piercing. All in all, perfectly acceptable audio quality for a pair of wireless earbuds in this price range.

Battery life of the WF-1000XM3 is excellent as well. I didn’t quite manage to hit Sony’s quoted battery life, but I was comfortably getting well over four to five hours of listening time with active noise cancellation activated on a single charge. This isn’t too far off from Sony’s six-hour estimate.

As for connection quality, I had absolutely no issue with connection dropouts throughout my time with the WF-1000XM3. While it’s a little jarring for the two earbuds to connect independently to my paired phone, they are perfectly in sync once they are connected.

Oh, I also love the fact that the WF-1000XM3 pauses the music when I take off just one of the earbuds. This is especially useful when I need to talk to someone at a moment’s notice. Alternatively, I can also just tap and hold on the left sensor to activate ambient sound.

The Bad Stuff

Speaking of which, the sensors on the WF-1000XM3 have rather limited controls. While I can tap on the right sensor to pause, skip, or go back a track – and toggle between ambient sound and noise-cancellation with the left one – there is absolutely no way to control the volume. Instead, I’ll need to reach out for my phone to lower or increase the volume. It’s not the end of the world, but it is an annoyance if my phone is not within reach.

Update, 28 November:
 Sony pushed
a new firmware update
 to add volume controls to the WF-1000XM3! You can now tap on the left or right sensor to increase the volume, and tap and hold to lower the volume.

And then there’s the fact that the WF-1000XM3 doesn’t have sweat or water resistance, so you won’t be able to use it when you’re out for a run or sweating it out in the gym. Well, you
can
, but there’s no guarantee it won’t break. It’s a big omission, especially for a pair of wireless earbuds at this price point.

Besides that, there…isn’t much to complain about the WF-1000XM3. If I were to nitpick though, I wish the charging case was more portable. It’s a little bit too bulky to fit into my jeans pocket comfortably.

Is It Worth It?

For RM949, the Sony WF-1000XM3 is a decent buy. I’d argue the official pricing is a little bit steep, so thankfully enough, its market price has dropped quite a bit since it was introduced in Malaysia. Right now, you can easily get this pair of wireless earbuds
for only RM899
.

At this price point, the WF-1000XM3 is that much more attractive. Not only is it one of few wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation (a very good one, at that), it is also long-lasting with good audio quality. Sure, it would’ve been great if it had sweat and water resistance, but other positives of the WF-1000XM3 more than make up for this absence.


Level51 Vapor 15 Pro Hands-On: A Compact, Lightweight, Powerful Gaming Laptop

Update 13 January 2020:
 Our full review of the Level51 Vapor 15 Pro is up!
Click here
 to learn more.

As gaming laptops get thinner and lighter, you’d think they’d be more portable too, but that simply isn’t the case. In terms of dimension, gaming laptops are still quite sizeable. It doesn’t help either that even the smallest gaming notebooks come with 15.6-inch displays.

Well, that’s where Level51’s Vapor 15 Pro particularly excel in. Not only is it a lightweight machine – it tips the scales at only 1.87kg – it’s also noticeably more compact than your average gaming laptop. On top of that, it has capable hardware under the hood too. If you want a portable gaming laptop, the Vapor 15 Pro is one to look out for.

Before we get to the laptop itself, some background: the Level51 Vapor 15 Pro – also marketed under Aftershock (Level51’s parent company) with the same name in certain markets – shares the same chassis as the Eluktronics Mag-15 for the US market. Why is this important? Well, that’s because this chassis is also developed by Intel itself.

In fact, it can be said that the Vapor 15 Pro is the result of Intel’s collaboration with Level51, and the result is fantastic. The whole laptop has solid build quality thanks to the use of magnesium alloy, the lid can be lifted with only one finger, and the palm rest area is nice and cool to the touch. Basically, it’s a refined, well-designed chassis.

The ThinkPad T480s on top of the Vapor 15 Pro

Another strong point with the Vapor 15 Pro’s design is the small bezel surrounding the display,
especially
 the bottom part. This is the very reason why the Vapor 15 is a lot more portable than other gaming laptops with a similar display size. I’ve compared it to my own 14-inch Lenovo ThinkPad T480s, and the gaming laptop is only marginally wider –
that’s
how compact it is.

Besides that, the Vapor 15 Pro is also a lightweight and slim gaming laptop. As mentioned, it weighs only 1.87kg, and it has a 20.5mm chassis. Sure, that doesn’t make it the slimmest machine around – the
Acer Predator Triton 500
, for example, is only 17.9mm thin – but it’s certainly thinner than the majority of other gaming laptops.

There’s one more thing I’d like to bring your attention to: the clean, blank lid of the Vapor 15 Pro. Surprisingly enough, there is virtually no branding at all on this gaming laptop, which I personally love. It’s really quite an understated, minimalist laptop that wouldn’t look out of place even in a professional setting.

Port selection of the Vapor 15 Pro is great too. On the back, it has an HDMI output, a USB-C port with Thunderbolt 3 support, as well as an ethernet jack. Either sides of the laptop, on the other hand, house three USB-A ports, a microphone jack, a headphone jack, and get this: an SD card slot.

Beyond design, the Vapor 15 Pro is a capable gaming laptop. The display, for one, is a fast 144Hz 15.6-inch 1920 x 1080 IPS display. The high refresh rate allows the screen to show more frames per second, so everything looks extra smooth on this laptop. The 144Hz display is a very important feature for a high-end gaming laptop like the Vapor 15 Pro.

Of course, a high refresh rate wouldn’t matter if the GPU isn’t powerful enough to take advantage of it. In this regard, the Vapor 15 Pro can be configured with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q or a GTX 1660 Ti GPU paired with an Intel Core i7-9750H processor. Both options are equally viable, but if you want the best performance, the RTX 2070 Max-Q is definitely the better one.

That doesn’t mean the GTX 1660 Ti is a “bad” choice by any means; the review unit I got is actually packing this GPU. I’ll put the GTX 1660 Ti through its paces in a full review of the Vapor 15 Pro, but if you’re curious, you can check out
my previous laptop reviews

with this GPU
.

As for the display quality itself, it’s quite good. The Vapor 15 Pro’s 1080p IPS display can get reasonably bright, viewing angles are great, and colours are vibrant too. It’s also worth noting that Level51 offers a 30-day zero dead pixel policy with this laptop. If you’re particular about getting a unit with dead pixels – I certainly am – you won’t have to worry.

Rounding out the specifications of the Vapor 15 Pro include 16GB of RAM, a 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD, and a generous 94WHr battery. This being a Level51 gaming laptop, you can also customise its hardware
on the company’s website
.

And then we have the input devices of the Vapor 15 Pro, which is quite interesting. See, this laptop has a “silent” mechanical keyboard of sorts with 2mm of key travel. For the most part, it can provide a pleasant typing experience. The keys definitely have a good amount of travel, and it’s not overly loud either.

However, some may not be a fan of this mechanical keyboard. Unlike normal laptop keyboards, the tactile feedback isn’t quite as pronounced. After all, it doesn’t have any rubber dome; the keys don’t “bounce” back up the same way conventional laptop keyboards do. The actuation force is quite low as well, so the keys feel lighter than usual.

Anyway, the trackpad of the Vapor 15 Pro is reasonably good. It has a nice, smooth surface, and it’s a largely accurate trackpad. However, I don’t quite like how “loose” it feels. It feels wobbly when I tap lightly on the trackpad.

The Level51 Vapor 15 Pro is easily one of the most interesting gaming laptops I’ve come across, thanks to its lightweight, compact chassis, and minimalist design. Performance wise, I’m sure this laptop won’t disappoint either with its GTX 1660 Ti GPU and Core i7-9750H processor.

But what about pricing? Well, the Vapor 15 Pro retails at RM5,999 and RM7,499 for the GTX 1660 Ti and RTX 2070 models respectively; only the GPU differentiates the two variants. Yes, this is quite a costly machine, but it
is
 a premium, compact gaming laptop with a lightweight chassis.

I will be using the Vapor 15 Pro as my daily driver in the next couple of weeks, and I’m pretty excited to see if it can even serve as a decent productivity laptop, given its large battery capacity and compact form factor. Of course, I’ll be doing a lot of gaming on the Vapor 15 Pro too – stay tuned for the full review.


Realme X2 Pro With 90Hz Display & Snapdragon 855+ Coming to Malaysia 2 December

Realme’s very first flagship smartphone, the Realme X2 Pro, is coming to Malaysia as early as next week. Sporting a fast 90Hz display and a
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+
 chipset, the X2 Pro is quite an interesting flagship device.

That’s right, Realme’s first-ever flagship smartphone comes with a 6.5-inch 2400 x 1080 Super AMOLED display with a fast 90Hz refresh rate. Given that there are only a handful of non-gaming smartphones with that kind of refresh rate – especially in the Malaysian market – it’s definitely a good selling point.

In terms of performance, the X2 Pro features a Snapdragon 855+ chipset. Compared to the standard Snapdragon 855, the 855+ promises up to 15% better gaming performance, thanks to the overclocked GPU and CPU. At the moment, the 855+ is Qualcomm’s best chipset yet, so you’ll be getting top-notch performance with this device.

Aside from that, the X2 Pro also comes with 50W “SuperVOOC Flash Charge” technology. According to the phone maker, this fast charging tech allows the phone to be fully recharged in only 35 minutes. That’s a really impressive charging rate, especially with the phone’s rather generous 4,000mAh battery.

In the camera department, the Realme X2 Pro features a quad camera system. The primary shooter is a 64MP f/1.8 unit, which is also paired with a 13MP f/2.5 telephoto lens. The latter is quite interesting: it can do 5x “hybrid optical zoom” or 20x digital zoom. The other two sensors, on the other hand, are an 8MP f/2.2 wide angle shooter and a 2MP f/2.4 portrait lens.

Other specifications of the X2 Pro include up to 12GB of RAM, three storage options (64GB, 128GB, or 256GB), an in-screen fingerprint sensor, and ColorOS 6.1 based on Android 9 Pie out of the box. Of course, it also has a 3.5mm headphone jack, if you’re wondering.

What makes the Realme X2 Pro such an interesting flagship smartphone is its sheer value for money. For the Chinese market, the 64GB + 6GB variant retails at only 2,699 Chinese yuan, which comes up to about RM1,605. The prices don’t go up that much for the higher capacity models either: the 128GB + 8GB and 256GB + 12GB variants are priced at 2,899 yuan (approximately RM1,720) and 3,299 yuan (around RM1,960) respectively.

If the Realme X2 Pro retails in the same price range here in Malaysia, we reckon it will be a very attractive flagship smartphone. After all, there aren’t many high-end devices in the sub-RM2,000 price point. We will find out exactly how much the X2 Pro will cost locally come 2 December next week.


Honor V30 & V30 Pro Official With Kirin 990 & 5G Support

Honor just unveiled its latest flagship smartphones in China, the Honor V30 and Honor V30 Pro. Not surprisingly, these two smartphones are powered by Huawei’s latest Kirin 990 chipset, and they come with 5G support too, making them Honor’s first smartphones with 5G connectivity.

Curiously enough, the 5G implementation of the two phones are not quite the same. The V30 Pro, for example, uses the Kirin 990 5G chipset, which has 5G support built-in. The regular V30, on the other hand, make do with a regular Kirin 990 SoC paired with a Balong 5000 5G modem.

The triple camera system of these two phones differ slightly as well. While the V30 and V30 Pro share the same 40MP primary shooter, the Pro model has a faster f/1.6 aperture; the standard V30 features a f/1.8 lens instead. Besides that, the ultra-wide angle sensor is different too. The Pro has a 12MP f/2.2 shooter, while the V30 comes with an 8MP f/2.4 sensor.

Last but certainly not least is the 8MP f/2.4 telephoto camera, which can do 3x optical zoom; both the V30 and V30 Pro share this one sensor. Beyond that, these two phones are similar to each other.

Let’s start with the display: the V30 and V30 Pro feature a 6.57-inch 1080p display with a hole-punch cutout at the top left of the screen. If the oblong-shaped cutout looks similar, you wouldn’t be wrong: it’s almost identical to the Infinity-O display of the
Samsung Galaxy S10+
.

But unlike Samsung’s implementation, the V30 and V30 Pro has two dedicated selfie cameras. There’s a regular 32MP f/2.0 shooter, as well as an 8MP f/2.2 wide angle camera for wider selfies. This configuration is really more versatile than the Galaxy S10+’s combination of a 10MP selfie camera and 8MP depth sensor.

Rounding out the specifications of both phones include a 4,100mAh battery, 6GB of RAM (8GB for the Pro model), 128GB of internal storage – the Pro maxes out at 256GB – and Magic UI 3.0.1 based on Android 10 out of the box.

The Honor V30 and V30 Pro will be available for pre-order in China from 5 December onwards. The V30 retails at 3,299 Chinese yuan (about RM1,960) and 3,699 yuan (approximately RM2,195) for the 128GB + 6GB and 128GB + 8GB models respectively. As for the V30 Pro, the 128GB + 8GB and 256GB + 8GB variants go for 3,899 yuan (around RM2,315) and 4,199 yuan (about RM2,495) respectively.


HP Elite Dragonfly & Spectre x360 13 Now in Malaysia; Retails from RM5,499

HP just launched two new laptops in Malaysia: the extremely lightweight HP Elite Dragonfly business-class laptop, and the more consumer-oriented HP Spectre X360 13. These are both premium-tier laptops, so expect to pay quite a bit of money for either one of them.

Let’s start with the Elite Dragonfly, a very, very lightweight commercial convertible laptop. Although HP did not mention the exact weight of the Dragonfly, it’s said to be “under 1kg.” Besides that, it’s a relatively slim machine too, measuring 16.1mm thin.

There are also a number of screen options for the Elite Dragonfly. The 13.3-inch IPS display with an 86% screen-to-body ratio can either be configured with a 1080p touch panel, or a more pixel-dense 4K screen; also touch-enabled. On top of that, the display is also protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

Given its status as a business laptop, battery life is particularly important for the Elite Dragonfly. Well, according to HP, this laptop has an impressive battery life; it can supposedly last up to 24.5 hours on a single charge. That’s a lofty estimate, to be sure, and it’ll be interesting to see if it can really deliver this level of battery life in real life testing.

Rounding out the specifications of the Elite Dragonfly include 8th generation Intel Core processors – which maxes out at a Core i7-8665U chip – paired with 16GB of RAM, SSD storage options between 128GB to 512GB, Intel UHD Graphics 620 integrated GPU, and a 720p webcam with a physical privacy shutter.

As for the Spectre x360 13, it’s also a convertible laptop like the Dragonfly. Interestingly, it has a higher screen-to-body ratio than the more costly Dragonfly at 90%, and it can be configured with an impressive 13.3-inch 4K AMOLED touch screen. Of course, you can also opt for a 1080p IPS panel if you want a more affordable option.

Unlike the Dragonfly, the Spectre x360 13 ships with Intel’s latest 10th generation processor. It can be purchased with a Core i7-1065G7 or i5-1035G4 chip, which also comes with Intel Iris Plus Graphics. That’s right, there’s no dedicated GPU here.

Other hardware under the hood of the Spectre x360 13 are 16GB of RAM, up to 2TB of fast PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD storage, and a webcam “kill switch,” which cuts off power to the webcam.

Both the HP Elite Dragonfly and Spectre x360 13 are now available in Malaysia. The Dragonfly retails from RM6,500, while the x360 13 starts at RM5,499.


Oppo Reno Ace Gundam Edition Quick Look – What You Get in the Box

There’s still no news on the Malaysian availability of the
Oppo Reno Ace
, but despite that, we managed to get our hands on the Mobile Suit Gundam edition of the flagship smartphone. On top of that, we’ve got this particular unit from Oppo Malaysia itself, no less.

While this isn’t necessarily a confirmation of the Reno Ace’s availability in Malaysia, it is a promising sign. Regardless, let’s take a look at what you get with the Oppo Reno Ace Gundam edition.

First up is the phone itself. On the back of the special edition Reno Ace are a number of Gundam-inspired elements. The red accent on the back has Oppo’s logo on it, there’s a tiny Gundam head at the bottom of the phone, and the Earth Federation Space Force (EFSF) is printed right beside the camera module.

Aside from that, the back panel is really quite nice to the touch. It has a frosted glass-like finish, which doesn’t catch fingerprints easily. There is, however, one downside: it makes the phone quite slippery. But hey, that’s where the bundled casing come in handy.

The casing is modeled after the RX-78-2 Gundam’s shield, and it looks pretty sweet. The inside of the casing has a soft, fabric-like finish, and the outer shell has a rubberised texture, so you’ll be able to get a good grip on the phone with this casing on. Besides that, it fits the Reno Ace quite snugly too.

Naturally, the charging cable and charger share the same colour scheme as the rest of the special edition Reno Ace. The cable is red with some white and orange (yellow?) accents, while the charger has the SuperVOOC lettering in orange too.

Last but certainly not least is the collectible medal to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Gundam; it has a nice heft to it despite the small size.

Other aspects of the Reno Ace Gundam edition are basically the same as the standard model. These include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ chipset paired with 8GB of RAM, a 6.5-inch AMOLED display with a fast 90Hz refresh rate, 256GB of internal storage, and a rather generous 4,000mAh battery.

Speaking of which, the Reno Ace supports Oppo’s latest SuperVOOC 2.0 fast charging technology. Why is this noteworthy? Well, it’s a 65W fast charging tech that can fully charge up the Ace’s 4,000mAh battery in only
30 minutes
. Needless to say, this is very, very impressive.

For photography, the Reno Ace has a quad camera system made up of a 48MP primary shooter, a 13MP telephoto lens with 5x hybrid zoom, an 8MP ultra-wide angle sensor, and a 2MP monochrome camera. It also has an in-screen fingerprint sensor.

The Oppo Reno Ace Gundam edition is quite a sleek-looking flagship smartphone, and surprisingly enough, it’s actually quite affordable. At least, that’s the case for the Chinese market, where it retails at only 3,599 yuan (about RM2,135). If – and it’s a big if – this device comes to Malaysia at this price point, we reckon it will sell very well.


One of the Biggest Flaws of the Sony WF-1000XM3 Is Finally Addressed

We
recently reviewed the Sony WF-1000XM3
, and while it was an excellent pair of wireless earbuds with good active noise cancellation, one of its biggest shortcomings is the inability to adjust the volume with the earbuds’ controls. Well, this is finally addressed in a new firmware update, making this a much more complete product.

Once you’ve installed the new update, you can set the touch sensor on either the left or right earbud for volume controls. It’s a pretty smart implementation too: to raise the volume, you only need to tap on the sensor. Lowering the volume, on the other hand, requires you to tap and hold on the sensor.

We’ve tried the new controls with our unit of the WF-1000XM3, and it’s really quite intuitive. Continuously tapping on the sensor increases the volume at the same pace, but reducing the volume takes a bit more time for the sensor to recognise the gesture.

On top of that, the new firmware update also allows you to check the battery level of the charging case now. However, Sony wrote that the information will only be updated the moment the earbuds are removed from the case. It’s a little peculiar, but hey, at least the feature is here now.

In order to initiate the new firmware update, you need to have Sony’s Headphones Connect app installed on your paired device; you can download it on the
Google Play Store
 and
Apple App Store
. Once you’ve got the app installed and the WF-1000XM3 paired, it should start downloading the update.

With this updated controls, the WF-1000XM3 is that much more practical. Sure, it’s still not sweat or water-resistant – a big omission for wireless earbuds at this price point – but it offers good audio quality, excellent active noise cancellation, and very long battery life.

In our experience, we managed to get well over four to five hours of usage on a single charge with these earbuds, and that is with noise cancellation active. It’s also worth noting that the charging case can fully charge the earbuds three times.

If you’d like to learn more about the Sony WF-1000XM3 wireless earbuds, check out our review right here. Although it originally retails at RM949, you can easily get it
for only RM899 now
.


Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Series Launched in Malaysia; Starts at RM2,099

The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 series has just been launched in Malaysia, and it’s touted by the Chinese company to be the first smartphones with a 108MP penta camera system. It’s a sophisticated camera configuration, and to top it off, it’s said to be just as good as the
Huawei Mate 30 Pro
‘s camera performance.

At least, that’s the rating
DxOMark gave the Mi Note 10 Pro
. With a total score of 121, this phone sits at the top of the ranking with the Mate 30 Pro. According to the site, the Mi Note 10 Pro offers fast autofocus, great zoom performance, and good detail preservation for the wide angle sensor. The last one is impressive, given that most wide angle shooters aren’t particularly good.

Without a doubt the highlight of the Mi Note 10 series’ penta camera system is the 108MP f/1.69 main shooter with a 7P – or 8P for the Pro model – lens. It uses pixel binning to further improve the camera performance, so it effectively outputs 27MP images; you won’t have to worry about not having enough storage space to store all your images.

Aside from that, both the Mi Note 10 and Mi Note 10 Pro also have a 12MP f/2.0 telephoto lens (50mm) and an 8MP f/2.0 longer telephoto sensor (94mm). This allows the two phones to do 10x hybrid zoom or 50x digital zoom, which is really quite impressive. The other two sensors in the penta camera system are a 20MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle sensor and a f/2.4 macro shooter.

Given its sophisticated camera system, you’d think the Mi Note 10 and Mi Note 10 Pro are flagship smartphones. Unfortunately, that’s not the case: these two devices are only powered by an upper mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G chipset.

In fact, both phones are essentially the same device, though the Pro variant does come with 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. The standard model, on the other hand, has 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM. Oh, there’s no support for expandable storage either.

Other specifications of the Mi Note 10 series include a 6.47-inch 1080p dual curved AMOLED notched screen, a very generous 5,260mAh battery with 30W fast charging (a 30W charger is provided in the box), a 32MP f/2.0 selfie camera, an in-screen fingerprint sensor, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 series will be available for purchase in Malaysia from 7 December onwards. The standard Mi Note 10 retails at RM2,099, while the Mi Note 10 Pro goes for RM2,499. Early birds will get some nice freebies too: those who place their order between 7 to 15 December will get a RM100 PWP discount on a Mi store product. For the Pro model, you’ll also get a 12-month screen replacement warranty.


Book a Proton X70 for Only RM99 During Shopee 12.12 Birthday Sale

Shopee is running a number of interesting promotions for its ongoing 12.12 Birthday Sale. One of the most eye-catching deals for the campaign is definitely this: you can book a brand new Proton X70 for only RM99 on the e-commerce platform. On top of that, you’ll also get RM2,000 worth of Shopee vouchers.

Of course, there are a number of caveats. For one, the RM99 booking fee for the Proton X70 is only available from today until 31 December 2019. Aside from that, to enjoy the RM2,000 Shopee vouchers, you’ll have to be the first 50 customers to “successfully register” your vehicle too; this has to be done before 31 December.

It’s worth noting that only the top-of-the-range Proton X70 Premium 2WD is offered for this deal, which costs RM123,800 excluding insurance. If you want other variants of the SUV, you’re out of luck. This deal is available only for this particular trim.

If you’re keen to book the Proton X70 with Shopee, you can do so through Proton’s official store on the platform
right here
. Once you’ve made the payment for the SUV, Shopee’s Proton representative will get in touch with you within three working days to complete the hire purchase loan.

Changed your mind? Worry not: the booking fee is refundable, according to the listing.

Besides the Proton X70, Shopee is also partnering with the Ministry of Rural Development (KPLB) to launch
Desaauto@KPLB
, which is expected to benefit “over 200 rural entrepreneurs manufacturing and distributing automotive parts.” These include tyres, engine oils, and spare parts.

Needless to say, rural entrepreneurs can reach more people by having their products listed on Desaauto. Plus, thanks to the Shopee International Platform initiative, they have the potential to further expand their target audience beyond Malaysia. At the moment, over 100 products are available in the store.

Naturally, there are also a number of deals offered throughout Shopee’s 12.12 Birthday Sale. There will be RM12 daily deals, 12 million Shopee coins to be won through its mobile game, Shopee Catch, as well as lowered minimum spend (RM12) to be eligible for free shipping.

To sweeten the deal, several banks will have their own discount vouchers on Shopee too. Although the specific amount is not revealed yet, we do know which banks are a part of the offer. If you’re a Standard Chartered, CIMB, RHB, HSBC, or UOB cardholder, pay with your respective credit cards from these banks to enjoy the discount.

Shopee’s 12.12 Birthday Sale is currently ongoing, and it will end on 12 December itself. To learn more about the sale campaign, head on to the
official site
.