Should You Wait for the PS5, or Get the PS4 Now?

Ever since the PlayStation 5 was confirmed to be released by the end of 2020, sales of the PlayStation 4 have steadily dropped. It’s not exactly a surprise, of course: why would you want to buy a product if its successor is just around the corner?

Well, even if the PS5 will be hitting store shelves in less than a year, there are still good reasons to buy the PS4 right now. This is especially the case if you’ve been eyeing to get it for quite some time now. If you’re still not convinced, read on.

There’s a Great Library of Games

As far as exclusive games go, the PS4 arguably has the best library. You’ve got Naughty Dog’s excellent Uncharted series and The Last of Us Remastered – though the latter was originally released on the PS3 – Guerrilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, and of course, Hideo Kojima’s latest masterpiece,
Death Stranding
.

Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding

To top it off, these are just some of the titles that were released in the past few years exclusively for the PS4: you cannot access any of these games on a different platform. At least, not until the PC version of Death Stranding is released sometime this year, though that’s the only exception here.

Trust us, you’ll definitely have a vast library of games – exclusive or not – to go through if you’re new to the PS4 system. The best part is, the platform’s selection of games are still growing.

More Big Titles Are Coming to PS4

That’s right. Just because the PS5 is due to be released this year, that doesn’t mean the PS4 isn’t getting any new games. Just to name a few, there’s
Final Fantasy VII Remake
, Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima, and arguably one of the most anticipated games of 2020, The Last of Us Part II.

Personally, I believe The Last of Us Part II itself makes the PS4 a must-buy, even if it’s already this late into the system’s life cycle. Naughty Dog’s games are known for their amazing storytelling, and I’m absolutely positive The Last of Us Part II will be the studio’s best story yet.

The PS4 Is a Lot More Affordable Now

It’s been quite some time since the latest revision of the PS4 and PS4 Pro hit the market – back in 2016, in fact – so it’s only natural their retail prices have dropped tremendously since then. The standard PS4, for one, can be bought
for merely RM799 now
. If you want the Pro system, it’s
currently listed at only RM1,259
.

Given that the PS4 and PS4 Pro used to retail at RM1,349 and RM1,799 respectively when they were launched in Malaysia, you’re already saving quite a bit of money by purchasing either one of the two consoles now. Who doesn’t like to save money wherever they can?

The PS5 Is Still Shrouded in Mystery

There have been a lot of chatter on what to expect with the upcoming PS5, but plenty of details regarding the console itself are still under wraps. Does it
truly
 have backwards compatibility as suggested? And if it does, will it work with physical PS4 games? Or can it only play digital versions of them?

More importantly, we don’t even know how much the PS5 would cost. Without a doubt the upcoming console will cost more than the PS4 at launch, but the question is: how much more? If rumours are to be believed, the PS5 may be priced close to the RM2,000 mark. That’s drastically more than what you would have to pay for a brand new PS4  – or even the Pro model – right now.

But If You Can Wait..

If you’re willing to wait, and you don’t care about playing upcoming PS4 titles as and when they are released, it may be worth waiting for the release of the PS5. It will definitely cost more than the PS4, but the PS5 will also likely be superior in almost every way.

Not only will the PS5 be more powerful than the PS4, it will finally ditch slow hard disk drives in favour of much faster solid-state drives for storage. So not only will you be able to enjoy more graphically demanding games on the PS5, loading times will be cut down considerably as well.

Even though it remains to be seen how backwards compatibility will work on the PS5, it will very likely support PS4 titles. Given that the PS5 will be launching before the end of this year, it’s not a horribly long wait either, and it could be worth it for certain folks.

But if you’ve been waiting to get your hands on the PS4 for the longest time, don’t feel bad about buying it now. Not only does it have a huge catalogue of excellent games, it has gotten a lot more affordable since its release. Plus, you’ll be able to play highly anticipated titles like Final Fantasy VII Remake and The Last of Us Part II right when they are released in April and May 2020 respectively.

Can you play these games on the PS5 as well? Probably. But can you wait until the next generation console is released? That’s the
RM799 question
.


Honda Civic Facelift Finally Launching in Malaysia on 26 February

It’s been a while since the Honda Civic facelift was teased by Honda Malaysia for our market. In fact, bookings for the C-segment sedan were opened five months ago back in September 2019. Well, the wait is coming to an end: the facelifted Civic is launching in Malaysia this Wednesday on 26 February.

Honda Malaysia revealed the launch date of the new Civic on its Facebook page just yesterday. It’s a rather simple post, with the wording “3 days to go” above a silhouette of the facelifted car. The Civic pictured in the post should be the range-topping 1.5 TC-P variant, based on the design of the alloy wheels.

So what differentiates the new Civic from the pre-facelift model? Well, the bulk of the change is for the top-of-the-line 1.5 TC-P variant. Besides some styling changes to the front and rear bumpers, the new TC-P model will sport bigger 18-inch alloy wheels with a new design; it was previously equipped with 17-inch alloys.

But the most interesting new feature of the 1.5 TC-P is the addition of Honda Sensing; the Japanese company’s suite of safety and driver assistance systems. This makes the facelifted Civic the third CKD car from Honda to come with this safety feature.

Honda Sensing is really quite a big feature for the new Civic. The safety suite includes Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Low Speed Follow (LSF), Forward Collision Warning (FCW), Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), Lane Keep Assist System (LKAS), Road Departure Mitigation (RDM), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), and Auto High-Beam (AHB).

Complementing the above features is the Honda LaneWatch camera, which enhances the driver’s view of the left side of the car.

Beyond Honda Sensing, Honda is also adding front parking sensors to the facelifted Civic, along with 60:40 split-folding rear seats, automatic wipers, and a volume knob to the infotainment system. The 1.5 TC-P will come with the same 1.5L VTEC turbocharged engine as well that outputs 173hp and 220Nm of torque mated to Honda’s Earth Dreams continuously variable transmission (CVT).

As for the more affordable 1.5 TC and 1.8 S models of the Civic, the former will feature the same 1.5L turbocharged engine, while the base 1.8 S comes with the familiar 1.8L SOHC i-VTEC engine with 141hp and 174Nm of torque. Both variants will also have the same CVT, naturally.

It remains to be seen just how much of the 1.5 TC-P’s features will trickle down to these variants, but what’s for certain is the fact that Honda Sensing will only be available on the 1.5 TC-P variant, along with the new 18-inch wheels.

The new Honda Civic facelift will be unveiled in Malaysia this Wednesday on 26 February. Pricing of the new models have not been revealed yet, but expect them to cost more with the added features. For context, the current pre-facelift Civic costs RM108,165 for the base 1.8 S, while the 1.5 TC and 1.5 TC-P go for RM120,855 and RM128,631 respectively.


Sony Xperia 1 II Introduced With 5G, Snapdragon 865, 4K OLED Display

Sony just unveiled its latest flagship smartphone, the Sony Xperia 1 II – that’s pronounced Xperia 1 Mark II. Unconventional naming aside, this flagship smartphone improves upon its predecessor in several aspects, though it still largely retain the same design, for better or worse.

That means the Xperia 1 II is still a tall, narrow smartphone with a 21:9 display, which remains to be a 6.5-inch 3840 x 1644 OLED panel with HDR support. That’s right, Sony is still retaining the power-hungry 4K screen, though battery life should see some improvement, thanks to the larger, more practical 4,000mAh cell. Its predecessor only had a 3,330mAh battery.

Speaking of the display, Sony isn’t going down the route of other smartphone makers in implementing a display with a higher refresh rate. Instead, the Xperia 1 II features “Motion Blur Reduction,” which can supposedly match the user experience of 90Hz screens. It’ll be interesting to see how true this is once we have the device in for review.

Sony also added two features that weren’t available on the original Xperia 1: wireless charging and a 3.5mm headphone jack. On top of that, the Xperia 1 II features 5G connectivity too, though this is only the case for Europe; the US market will get a 4G only version of the flagship smartphone, curiously. It remains to be seen if we’ll get the 5G or 4G variant in Malaysia.

Besides that, the Xperia 1 II naturally comes with some performance upgrade, courtesy of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset paired with 8GB of RAM. It also comes with 256GB of internal storage.

In the camera department, the Xperia 1 II feature a triple camera system. It’s made up of a 12MP f/1.7 primary shooter, a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle sensor, and a 12MP f/2.4 telephoto lens. There’s also a 3D iToF sensor to improve focus speeds, along with a dedicated camera button on the side of the phone.

One of the headline features of the Xperia 1 II’s camera performance is the ability to take up to 20fps in burst mode – that’s up to 20 images taken in a single second. Sony claims this is a first for a smartphone camera, though we can’t imagine if most consumers will actually find a use out of this feature.

Rounding out the specifications of the Xperia 1 II include an IP65 / IP68 rating, a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, two front-facing speakers, and an 8MP f/2.0 selfie camera.

The Sony Xperia 1 II will be available in Europe from late spring onwards for a steep €1,199 – that comes up to about RM5,500. But do note that VAT is included in that price for European markets, so the Xperia 1 II should cost less in other regions. It remains to be seen if it will be launched in Malaysia though.


Huawei Mate Xs Hands-On: Small Upgrades, Big Absence

Huawei just launched the “second” iteration of its first foldable smartphone, the Huawei Mate Xs. Even though this is technically a new device, it looks pretty much identical to its predecessor, the Mate X. That being said, it does come with some neat upgrades here and there.

But even with those upgrades, one big thing is still absent from the Mate Xs. That’s right, it doesn’t ship with Google Mobile Services, which severely limits its appeal to general consumers. That’s a shame, really: after spending some time with Huawei’s latest foldable smartphone, I’m quite impressed with the Mate Xs, even if it’s lacking vital Google services.

So what kind of upgrades did the Mate Xs receive? For one, it now sports an upgraded hinge design that is made out of “zirconium-based liquid metal.” The result is supposedly a more durable and smoother hinge. While I can’t say if it’s clearly better than the hinge of the original Mate X, it definitely feels robust enough for me to fold and unfold the smartphone without feeling nervous.

Another neat upgrade the Mate Xs got lies in the construction of the flexible screen; notice how these improvements are meant to make the foldable phone more durable. Anyway, there are now two layers of “polyamide films” – Huawei made sure to mention that this material is more expensive than gold – on top of the screen to make it more robust. But…does the film really make a difference?

Well, for what it’s worth, I do think the Mate Xs’ screen feels more resistant to scratches than, say, the
Samsung Galaxy Fold
‘s display. While the screen of the Mate Xs is still soft enough for my fingernail to leave a mark, it doesn’t feel quite as effortless to do this compared to the Fold. Regardless, we’re still looking at an all-plastic display with this foldable smartphone, so don’t hope for glass-like durability here.

Beyond these two changes, the Mate Xs is virtually identical to its predecessor aesthetically, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The display still folds around the outside of the phone, allowing it to be closed flat when it’s folded. While there is some tension when trying to fold the device completely, it feels solid enough once it’s locked into place with a mechanism.

To unfold the Mate Xs, all I need to do is just press on the locking mechanism to release the screen. I can then proceed to fully unfold the display, and it really is quite satisfying to do this. Once the display is unfolded, the Mate Xs feels like a fully functional tablet in a thin, compact form factor.

If you’re wondering, yes, there is a crease running down the middle of the screen when the Mate Xs is fully unfolded. However, it’s not quite as obvious as the crease on the Galaxy Fold’s display. In fact, it’s barely noticeable in normal use, unless you
really
 look for it. I tried to take a picture of the phone to make the crease as visible as possible, and…it’s not an easy task.

The crease is barely noticeable

Okay, what about the display quality of the Mate Xs? As expected, it’s great. The 8-inch 2480 x 2200 OLED display – or 6.6-inch 2480 x 1148 when folded – looks stunning with deep blacks, vibrant colours, and good viewing angles. On top of that, it can get reasonably bright as well. Basically, it’s a high quality panel befitting of a flagship smartphone.

In the performance department, the Mate Xs is equipped with Huawei’s latest Kirin 990 5G chipset with (obviously) integrated 5G. This means it doesn’t have to rely on a separate modem anymore like the original Mate X, which had a Kirin 980 SoC. Naturally, the Kirin 990 can provide a good level of performance; it can run PUBG Mobile effortlessly.

As for battery life, the Mate Xs should behave like its predecessor. After all, it still comes with a 4,500mAh battery that supports Huawei proprietary 55W SuperCharge fast charging technology.

And then there’s the camera performance of the Mate Xs. Just like the original Mate X, the new Xs still has the same Leica-branded quad camera system. It consists of a 40MP f/1.8 primary shooter, a 16MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle camera, an 8MP f/2.4 telephoto lens, and a time-of-flight (ToF) sensor. There’s no front-facing shooter, as the rear sensors also double as a selfie camera, thanks to the secondary screen.

I only managed to take a couple of shots with the Mate Xs, and as a whole, the camera feels…alright. It doesn’t feel particularly amazing, but it’s not exactly bad either, though I do wish it had better detail preservation (especially with the ultra-wide angle and telephoto sensors) as well as a more responsive camera interface. All in all, it’s a decent camera system.

The Huawei Mate Xs, as far as foldable smartphones go, is a polished, attractive-looking device. Its only real competition is Samsung’s Galaxy Fold, and compared to its Korean rival, the Mate Xs features a much more usable outer display, sleeker design, and maybe even better durability with the revised hinge system and display construction.

But no matter how impressive the Mate Xs is, the fact that it doesn’t ship with Google Mobile Services is a big,
big
 absence. Out of the box, it won’t come with essential Google apps like the Play Store, Gmail, Maps, and even YouTube. Sure, Huawei is aggressively growing its own AppGallery to fill the void left by the Google Play Store, but it will take a while before it can be considered a worthy alternative.

Nonetheless, there’s no denying the fact that the Mate Xs is one impressive foldable smartphone, even if it doesn’t have essential Google apps. If you’re interested to get your hands on the Mate Xs, good news: it’s set to arrive here in Malaysia next month on 20 March.

There’s still no word yet on the local pricing of the Mate Xs, but for the European market, this foldable phone goes for a whopping €2,499; that’s about
RM11,440
 for the sole 512GB model with 8GB of RAM. Granted, that price tag includes VAT, so this foldable smartphone should cost less for the Malaysian market.

Still, don’t expect the Mate Xs to be positioned in the same price range as conventional smartphones – it will likely cost just as much (or even more) as the
RM8,388 Samsung Galaxy Fold
.


Huawei MatePad Pro Takes Aim at Apple’s iPad Pro

The Huawei MatePad Pro is now available in Malaysia. The high-end tablet was initially launched in China back in November last year, but the Malaysian debut of the device brings a new feature to the table: 5G connectivity.

On top of the support for 5G networks, the MatePad Pro also comes with a number of features that are aimed to take on Apple’s iPad Pro. Not only does it have a stylus in the form of the Huawei M-Pencil – it can detect 4,096 levels of pressure – it even has a keyboard case that works surprisingly well. I can actually type rather comfortably despite the compact layout.

Of course, Huawei also added a number of features to the MatePad Pro that the iPad Pro does not have. One of the most interesting additions is the ability to do two-way wireless charging. That’s right, you can use this tablet to charge any of your device that supports wireless charging. In fact, that’s how the keyboard case and stylus (when it’s attached to the side of the tablet) are charged with the MatePad Pro.

Besides that, this Android tablet sports a 10.8-inch 2560 x 1600 panel with a 16:10 aspect ratio. Thanks to the small bezels surrounding the display, the MatePad Pro has a claimed screen-to-body ratio of 90%. Compared to other tablets in the market now, it does look particularly sleek. Oh, the screen also has a hole-punch cutout for the 8MP f/2.0 front-facing camera.

Powering the MatePad Pro is none other than Huawei’s latest flagship chipset, the Kirin 990. It’s the same processor found in the company’s other devices like the recently announced Mate Xs and
Mate 30
 smartphones, so needless to say, the MatePad Pro offers more than enough processing power. In my brief time with the tablet, it feels very responsive and zippy.

When it comes to battery life, the MatePad Pro has a rather generous 7,250mAh battery, which supposedly allows the tablet to be used up to 12 hours. It can also do 20W wired fast charging or 15W wirelessly; Huawei says that just 30 minutes of charging gives you three hours of battery life. That’s a reasonably good charging rate.

Other specifications of the MatePad Pro include a 13MP f/1.8 rear camera, up to 8GB of RAM, three storage options (128GB, 256GB, 512GB), and EMUI 10.0.1 based on Android 10 out of the box. Speaking of which, this tablet does not have Google Mobile Services, so it doesn’t come pre-installed with essential Google apps like the Play Store and YouTube; keep that in mind if you plan to purchase this Android device.

The Huawei MatePad Pro is now available in Malaysia. The WiFi only model retails at RM2,399, while the 5G version costs RM3,299. It is offered in Pearl White and Midnight Grey, while the 5G variant is finished in Forest Green.


Huawei P40 Series Launching on 26 March; Likely No Google Apps

Huawei will be unveiling its first 2020 flagship smartphone on 26 March next month. Of course, it’s the Huawei P40 series, and the lineup is expected to be made up of not two, but (possibly) three different smartphones. These include the standard P40, P40 Pro, and the range-topping P40 Pro Premium Edition.

This launch date was revealed by Richard Yu himself, the CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group. He mentioned the release date of the P40 series during yesterday’s product announcements, which also included the new and improved
Huawei Mate Xs
 foldable smartphone.

While the P40 smartphones are still shrouded in mystery, there are a couple of noteworthy rumours. The standard P40, for one, is expected to sport a triple camera system with the usual focal lengths: regular wide-angle sensor, an ultra-wide angle shooter, and a telephoto lens.

As for the P40 Pro, it’s said to come with a more sophisticated quad camera configuration that can do up to 5x optical zoom; it could sport a time-of-flight (ToF) sensor as well to capture depth information. Last but definitely not least is the P40 Pro Premium Edition, which may pack up to
five
 different camera sensors that can do 10x optical zoom.

If these information are accurate, Huawei is clearly aiming to compete with the
Samsung Galaxy S20
 series’ camera performance, especially when it comes to the level of zoom. On top of that, the P40’s square camera module looks very similar to the S20’s design as well. In extension, they’re also not too different from the aesthetic of the
iPhone 11’s camera module
.

Alleged render of the Huawei P40 series

Anyway, besides the camera system, other rumoured specifications of the P40 series include a 120Hz OLED dual curved screen with an oblong-shaped hole-punch cutout – not unlike the Infinity-O Display of the
Samsung Galaxy S10+
 – a Kirin 990 chipset, and unfortunately enough, no 3.5mm jack. It remains to be seen if the absence of the headphone jack will also affect the standard P40, given that its direct predecessor, the
Huawei P30
, had one.

While this hasn’t been confirmed yet, it’s very likely the upcoming P40 smartphones won’t come with Google Mobile Services either. Yes, it is still expected to run on the open-source version of Android 10, but all devices in the series will not be pre-loaded with popular Google apps like the Play Store, Gmail, YouTube, Maps, and so on.

Instead, like other recently released Huawei and Honor smartphones, it’ll possibly come with Huawei Mobile Services, which include the Chinese company’s replacement of the Play Store dubbed AppGallery.

Of course, these are just educated guesses at this point in time. We’ll just have to wait until 26 March to see exactly what the Huawei P40 smartphones will offer. It’ll be quite an exciting announcement, since Richard Yu claims that the P40 Pro will be the “world’s most powerful 5G flagship.”


Honda Civic Facelift With Honda Sensing Now in Malaysia; Price Increase Across the Board

As promised
, the facelifted Honda Civic has just been launched in Malaysia today after months of delay due to pricing issues. With some styling changes and added features, it’s no surprise that prices of the C-segment sedan are up across the board: the new Civic now starts from RM113,600 to RM139,600, which is about RM5,000 to RM11,000 more compared to the pre-facelift models.

Naturally, the trim that sees the most change is the range topping 1.5 TC-P Civic. Not only does it get a new piano black grille, boot spoiler, and 18-inch alloy wheels – the other variants do not have these – it now comes with Honda Sensing too, the Japanese company’s suite of safety and driver assistance systems. In fact, it’s the third locally assembled (CKD) car from Honda to come with this safety feature after the Accord and CR-V.

Thanks to Honda Sensing, the 1.5 TC-P model gets a number of nice features. These include Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Low Speed Follow (LSF), Forward Collision Warning (FCW), Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), Lane Keep Assist System (LKAS), Road Departure Mitigation (RDM), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), and Auto High-Beam (AHB).

Besides that, the 1.5 TC-P (along with the 1.5 TC trim) also gains Honda LaneWatch. Basically, the passenger side mirror has an integrated camera that’ll display what’s on the left side of the car on the Civic’s infotainment screen whenever you’re signalling to the left. This effectively eliminates any possible blind spot for safer lane change. Unfortunately, the base 1.8 S model does not get Honda LaneWatch.

Beyond these two additions, there are some styling changes with the facelifted Civic. The grille, as mentioned, is now finished in piano black (chrome for the 1.5 TC and 1.8 S models), the front bumper has a new, full width lower air intake, and there’s a small strip of chrome at the lower rear bumper. While these are just minor exterior changes, the black grille does add some nice contrast with lighter shades of the car.

Honda also added some new equipment across the three models of the facelifted Civic. There are now 60:40 split-folding rear seats – they were previously fixed in place – front parking sensors, automatic wipers, and a physical volume knob for the infotainment system. The last bit is a small addition, but it is something many existing owners have asked for.

18-inch (235/40ZR18) alloys of the 1.5 TC-P
17-inch (215/50R17) alloys of the 1.5 TC
16-inch (215/55R16) alloys of the 1.8 S

Engine choices remain the same for the new Civic. The base 1.8 S model soldiers on with the familiar 1.8L SOHC i-VTEC engine that offers 141hp and 174Nm of torque. As for the 1.5 TC and 1.5 TC-P, they get the more powerful 1.5L VTEC turbocharged engine with 173hp and 220Nm of torque. Both engine options are mated to Honda’s Earth Dreams continuously variable transmission (CVT).

Okay, so what’s the price breakdown of the facelifted Honda Civic? Here are the on-the-road prices without insurance:

Civic 1.8 S: RM113,600 (RM5,435 increase)
Civic 1.5 TC: RM129,600 (RM8,745 increase)
Civic 1.5 TC-P: RM139,600 (RM10,969 increase)

Obviously, the 1.5 TC-P sees the most drastic price increase, given the number of upgrades it received. While the new 1.5 TC noticeably costs more too, its list of equipment is very similar to the pre-facelift 1.5 TC-P (RM128,631), so it can be thought of as a replacement for that particular trim. After all, the new 1.5 TC now has LED headlights, LED fog lights, chrome door handles, and Honda LaneWatch to boot.

Five colour options are available for the new Civic: White Orchid Pearl, Lunar Silver Metallic, Modern Steel Metallic, Crystal Black Pearl, and a new option, Passion Red Pearl. As usual, it also comes with a five-year, unlimited mileage warranty. More information on the facelifted Civic be found on
Honda’s official website
.


Realme X50 Pro Offers Snapdragon 865 & 5G for Less Than RM2,500

Realme recently unveiled its first-ever 5G smartphone in India, the Realme X50 Pro 5G. Not only does it support 5G connectivity – an increasingly common feature on flagships – Realme’s latest device is a high-end smartphone through and through, and it is set to arrive in Malaysia soon.

As expected, the X50 Pro is powered by Qualcomm’s most powerful chipset yet, the Snapdragon 865. Without a doubt you can expect to get flagship-tier performance out of this smartphone. After all, most phone makers are using this SoC for their respective high-end devices.

In line with the current trend of smartphones with fast displays, the X50 Pro comes with a 6.44-inch 2400 x 1080 Super AMOLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate. Sure, it’s not quite as fast as, say, the 120Hz displays of the
Samsung Galaxy S20 series
, but 90Hz is still better than conventional 60Hz panels.

Besides that, the X50 Pro has a hole-punch cutout on the top left of the screen; very similar-looking to the
Samsung Galaxy S10+
‘s Infinity-O Display. That cutout houses two selfie cameras: a 32MP f/2.5 primary shooter, and an 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle sensor. Underneath the screen, on the other hand, is an optical in-screen fingerprint sensor.

Design wise, the X50 Pro…doesn’t appear to be particularly unique. It still looks very similar to Realme’s other devices, and that also means it has a rather generic design. But what
is
 eye-catching are the colour options: Rust Red and Moss Green. Odd names, yes, but these shades do give the phone an interesting, unique appearance.

Another interesting feature of the X50 Pro is its fast charging capability. According to Realme, the phone comes with 65W “SuperDart” fast charging, which can supposedly charge the phone’s 4,200mAh dual-cell battery to full in only 35 minutes. If it can really achieve this, that’s an impressive charging rate.

In the camera department, the X50 Pro has a quad camera system. It consists of a 64MP f/1.8 sensor, an 8MP f/2.3 ultra-wide angle shooter, a 12MP f/2.5 telephoto lens, and a 2MP f/2.4 monochrome portrait camera. Collectively, this camera system can do up to “20x hybrid zoom,” though it remains to be seen exactly how good is the zoom performance.

Other specifications of the X50 Pro include up to 12GB of RAM, two storage options (128GB and 256GB), and Realme UI based on Android 10 out of the box.

The Realme X50 Pro will go on sale in India on 5 March. Three variants are offered there: the 128GB model with 6GB of RAM goes for 37,999 Indian rupee (about RM2,240), while the 128GB + 8GB and 256GB + 12GB variants go for 39,999 rupee (approximately RM2,355) and 44,999 rupee (around RM2,650) respectively.

We still don’t know exactly when the X50 Pro will reach Malaysian shores, though Realme did say the 5G smartphone
will be coming here soon
. If priced right, we reckon the X50 Pro will be quite popular on our shores.


All-New Honda Accord Lands in Malaysia: 1.5L VTEC Turbo, Honda Sensing, RM186k to RM196k

Launched alongside the
Honda Civic facelift
 is the new tenth-generation Honda Accord. The Japanese company’s D-segment sedan brings with it a number of upgrades, including Honda Sensing, a new 1.5L VTEC turbocharged engine, and of course, new looks.

Given the amount of improvements the new Accord brings, prices of the big sedan have increased accordingly too. Two variants are available in Malaysia: 1.5 TC and 1.5 TC-P, which are priced at RM185,900 and RM195,900 respectively. These are on-the-road prices without insurance, and the Accord also comes with a five-year unlimited mileage warranty.

There are a couple of features that differentiate the 1.5 TC and 1.5 TC-P models. For one, Only the 1.5 TC-P comes with Honda Sensing, which is a suite of safety and driver assistance systems. These include Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Low Speed Follow (LSF), Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), Lane Keep Assist System (LKAS), Road Departure Mitigation (RDM), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Forward Collision Warning (FCW), and Auto High-Beam (AHB).

On top of that, only the Accord 1.5 TC-P gets Tyre Deflation Warning System, Multi-View Camera System (360° camera), Cross Traffic Monitor, and Smart Parking Assist System. Quite an exhaustive list of features exclusive to the 1.5 TC-P, isn’t it?

Beyond these features, the Accord 1.5 TC-P also gets 18-inch alloys wrapped with 235/45R18 tyres, while the 1.5 TC comes with smaller 17-inch alloys with 225/50R17 tyres. Acceleration times are slightly different too: the 1.5 TC can go from 0 to 100kmph in 9 seconds, while the 1.5 TC-P takes 9.1 seconds.

Speaking of acceleration, under the hood of the new Accord is the very same 1.5L VTEC turbocharged four-cylinder engine found in the Civic and CR-V, but the outputs are higher: it produces 201hp with 260Nm of torque. In comparison, the Civic outputs 173hp and 220Nm, while the CR-V does 193hp and 243Nm.

Even though Honda Sensing is only available on the top-of-the-range model, Honda LaneWatch is a standard feature for both variants of the Accord. LaneWatch uses an integrated camera mounted on the passenger side mirror to display what’s on the left side of the car on the infotainment screen. This happens whenever you signal to the left, making lane change safer.

Other standard safety features of the new Accord include six airbags (front, side, curtain), Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA), Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD), Emergency Stop Signal (ESS), Hill Start Assist (HSA), front and rear parking sensors with a multi-angle rearview camera, and rear seat ISOFIX. Thanks to these safety features, this sedan is granted five-star ASEAN NCAP safety rating.

The all-new Honda Accord is now available at over 100 Honda dealerships nationwide, and it is offered in four colours: Crsytal Black Pearl, Lunar Silver Metallic, Modern Steel Metallic, and Platinum White Pearl. More information on the D-segment sedan can be found on
Honda’s official website
.


PlayStation Plus Free Games for March 2020 Include Shadow of the Colossus & Sonic Forces

PlayStation Plus subscribers will get a number of free games every month, and for March 2020, they’ll be getting two titles: Shadow of the Colossus and Sonic Forces. Out of the two games, Shadow of the Colossus is arguably the more interesting title.

Shadow of the Colossus was first released on the PlayStation 2
15 long years ago
 in 2005, and it was then remastered for the PlayStation 3 in 2011. This particular version, however, is a proper remake for the PlayStation 4, which was released just two years ago in 2018.

Even though Shadow of the Colossus has been re-released a few times in the past, the core gameplay still remains the same. You play as the mysterious Wander, who roams the vast environment looking for (surprise) colossi to take down in order to save a girl. It’s a tall task – sorry for the pun – especially considering the fact that Wander only has his trusty horse, Agro, a sword, and a bow.

On top of that, each colossus in Shadow of the Colossus has its own set of weaknesses, and you’ll have to figure out what they are to defeat them. To make the task a little easier, you can use Wander’s sword to reflect sunlight, which you can then move around until the ray of light is focused on a single point of any given colossus: that’s the weak point.

Once you’ve identified a colossus’ weak point, that doesn’t mean you can just start shooting arrows and swing your sword at it to take down the imposing figure. Rather, you’ll need a strategy to defeat them, and it doesn’t help that some of them can actually fly and dig underground. If you’re having trouble figuring out how to take them down, the game does give some hints, but most of them are quite vague and cryptic.

These don’t necessarily make Shadow of the Colossus a difficult game; finding out exactly how to defeat each colossus is what gives this title its charm. The story is also one of the game’s appeals, though it may not be for everyone, given the limited narration.

Nonetheless, Shadow of the Colossus is a great free game for PlayStation Plus subscribers for March 2020 – there’s a reason why it’s considered one of the best cult classics for the PlayStation 2. Plus, who doesn’t like taking down huge bosses?

If you’re not subscribed to PlayStation Plus yet, you can do so over at
the PlayStation Store
. Both Shadow of the Colossus and Sonic Forces will be available to claim from 3 March until 6 April. Of course, once you’ve claimed these games, you’ll have access to them as long as you have an active PlayStation Plus membership.


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip Hands-On: The Most Practical Foldable Phone Yet

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is the Korean company’s second foldable phone after the
Galaxy Fold
. But instead of the latter’s tablet-like form factor, the Z Flip goes for a more practical clamshell design, much like the new iteration of the
iconic Motorola Razr
.

While it’s not confirmed yet exactly when the Galaxy Z Flip will be launched in Malaysia – though it has
already been registered with SIRIM
 – I managed to get my hands on a unit of the foldable phone. After spending a brief time with the device, it’s definitely one of the most polished phones of its kind.

But should you actually buy one once it’s launched in Malaysia? Well, maybe not, unless you’re willing to be extraordinarily careful with it.

Right off the bat, I absolutely love the clamshell design of the Galaxy Z Flip. It sits in the palm of my hand very comfortably when it’s folded, and the compact form factor makes it very pocketable, even if it’s quite thick. Unlike the Galaxy Fold, the Z Flip doesn’t have much of a gap when the screen is folded too.

While there’s still a little bit of gap when the screen is folded, it’s minimal enough to not be particularly worrying. On top of that, the hinge itself feels pretty darn robust when I unfold the Galaxy Z Flip. Unfortunately, because the hinge is quite stiff, it’s not easy to “flip” the display out like flip phones of the past.

But given the sheer cost of this foldable phone, you may not want to do that in the first place.

So how is it like to use the Galaxy Z Flip when it’s unfolded in all its glory? Surreal. When foldable displays were first introduced,
this
 is the smartphone form factor that I personally envisioned. It’s incredible to finally see this become a reality, even if it’s not quite there yet.

See, when I open up the Galaxy Z Flip, there’s no distinct click or mechanism to let me know that the display is fully unfolded. Don’t get me wrong, the display still holds itself pretty well – it’s not like it feels flimsy – but there’s no obvious sign that the screen is
really
locked into place. It just…unfolds with no feedback whatsoever.

This is in stark contrast to, say, the
Huawei Mate Xs
, and even Samsung’s own Galaxy Fold; there’s a noticeable click whenever these two devices’ displays are fully unfolded. Granted, the Z Flip has a different design, but it just doesn’t feel very satisfying to unfold than the aforementioned foldables.

Besides that, the Galaxy Z Flip also has a rather noticeable crease in the middle of the flexible display. Does it affect the user experience? Well, not to me, at least. You can feel the crease with your fingers – and you can definitely spot it if you look carefully – but it’s not exactly super visible when you’re using the phone normally.

As for the display quality itself, the 6.7-inch 2636 x 1080 Dynamic AMOLED “Infinity Flex” Display looks fantastic; like any other flagship-tier Samsung devices. Of course, it’s not quite as impressive as the 120Hz, 1440p screens of the latest
Galaxy S20

smartphones
, but it’s still a very pleasant screen to look at.

That being said, I do have one gripe with the Galaxy Z Flip’s screen: it’s
awfully
tall. Unlike the Galaxy S20 phones’ 20:9 displays (which are already quite tall), the Z Flip’s screen sports an even taller 21.9:9 aspect ratio. With only one hand, it’s very difficult to reach for the top of the display. It feels quite peculiar to use such a tall phone too.

Speaking of which, the Galaxy Z Flip’s screen, even though it’s now covered with a thin glass, is still protected by a plastic layer on top. Basically, it’s not quite as scratch-resistant as the glass screen of conventional smartphones, and the soft nature of the plastic layer also means your fingernails will leave a mark on the display.

Just watch Zack Nelson’s durability test of the Z Flip to get a feel for the robustness of the foldable screen.

Nonetheless, let’s move on to other aspects of the Galaxy Z Flip, like performance. Under the hood of this foldable phone is a fast Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ chipset. It may not be the latest Snapdragon 865 or Samsung’s own Exynos 990 SoC, but the 855+ is still a very capable chip. The phone feels fast, responsive, and I can switch between different apps effortlessly.

Battery life should be reasonably good with the Galaxy Z Flip too, thanks to its 3,300mAh battery. Storage and RAM capacities of this foldable phone are also quite generous at 256GB and 8GB respectively. Unfortunately, it doesn’t support expandable storage.

And then there’s the camera performance of the Galaxy Z Flip. which I really quite like. Sure, it doesn’t have the Galaxy S20 series’ sophisticated camera system, but the dual camera setup of this phone (12MP f/1.8 primary + 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle sensor) can take surprisingly good shots.

I managed to take a few daylight shots with the Galaxy Z Flip, and I’m quite impressed with the results. Detail preservation is reasonably good, it has a wide dynamic range, and the colours look flattering too, though some may be put-off by the saturation.

However, even though the Galaxy Z Flip has reasonably good camera performance, it is by no means in the same league as other flagship smartphones; not even when compared to the one-year-old
Samsung Galaxy S10e
, for example. For a phone at this price point, it should have better camera performance.

And that really is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip’s biggest shortcoming: price. Of course, as it’s not launched here in Malaysia yet – though it’s
only a matter of time
 – we’ll have to take the price of the foldable phone in other markets as an estimate. In Singapore, for one, the Z Flip costs a whopping SG$1,998 (about RM6,040), though it goes for slightly less in the US for $1,380 (approximately RM5,815).

That puts the Galaxy Z Flip well within premium territory, which is expected for a foldable smartphone. While you’re getting flagship-tier performance for the money, you’ll have to contend with good, but not fantastic camera performance. More importantly, the Z Flip is a fragile piece of technology that you will carry around on a daily basis – can you live with that?

If you can, then the Galaxy Z Flip could be the foldable phone for you. It’s an engineering marvel, it’s eye-catching, and it’s a “modern-day” flip phone that most will find appealing. It’s not for everyone – especially given its steep asking price – but that doesn’t change the fact that the Galaxy Z Flip is a unique, head-turning smartphone.

I just wish it has a more durable screen.


Deal: Sony WH-1000XM3 Price Drops Below RM800

Sony’s excellent WH-1000XM3 wireless headphones with active noise cancellation is getting more and more affordable, given that its successor (WH-1000XM4) is just around the corner. How affordable? Well, you can get it now for
less than RM800
.

That’s right: the WH-1000XM3, which used to go for RM1,599 at launch, can now be yours
for exactly RM794.20
. This deal is offered by Shopee retailer Otakuya, which is listing the wireless headphones for RM844.20. To bring down the price to RM794.20, collect the 18% cashback voucher (mobile and gadgets) from
this page
 and apply it to get 5,000 Shopee coins worth RM50.

However, do note that the voucher only works with the Shopee app, and only the Black model is listed at RM844.20; the Silver colourway is priced higher at RM939. Of course, warranty is provided by Sony Malaysia itself.

For only RM794.20
 – even if RM50 is in the form of Shopee coins – the Sony WH-1000XM3 is almost a no-brainer purchase for anyone that wants an excellent pair of wireless headphones with active noise cancellation. There’s no telling when the 18% cashback voucher will run out, so act fast if you want to grab it at this low, low price.


Buy a Samsung Galaxy S20 & Get a Free 50″ 4K TV (Or RM400 Rebate)

Samsung just launched the Galaxy S20 series in Malaysia, and as usual, the Korean company will be doing a roadshow for its latest flagship smartphones. This time around, early birds who purchase any of the Galaxy S20 smartphones will walk away with a brand new Samsung 50-inch 4K Smart TV (worth RM2,599) or RM400 rebate – pretty sweet deals.

Of course, there are some terms and conditions. For one, only 500 units of the 50-inch 4K TV is offered; the RM400 rebate are also limited to the first 500 redemptions. If you’re one of the early birds, you can choose either one of these two deals. Basically, the first 1,000 consumers will get either gifts, though we reckon most folks will go for the higher value 50-inch TV.

On top of that, the number of units available for these two gifts are allocated to each region differently. Here’s the breakdown:

Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur: 220 units
Queensbay Mall, Penang: 120 units
Mid Valley Southkey, Johor: 80 units
East Coast Mall, Kuantan: 30 units
Imago Mall, Kota Kinabalu: 50 units

Also, do note that the RM400 rebate for the Galaxy S20 is treated like a trade in campaign: you’ll have to trade in “any electronic device with a camera function” to claim the RM400 rebate. It’s not quite as straightforward as the complimentary 50-inch 4K TV, but it’s still a reasonably good promotion.

Those that miss out on these two big-ticket items can still get some freebies for purchasing the Galaxy S20 at the roadshow. These include a Samsung Wireless Charger Pad and a 128GB microSD card. Not surprisingly, stocks are limited to the first 2,000 consumers for these items.

Naturally, these freebies are valid for all three devices in the Galaxy S20 series, including the standard Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20+, and the biggest device of the bunch, the Galaxy S20 Ultra. Given that the free gifts are the same regardless of which phone you get, the S20 would offer the best value for money; it’s the most affordable device in the series, after all.

If you’d like to learn more about the Samsung Galaxy S20 series, click
here
 for our hands-on of the S20 and S20+. Our thoughts on the S20 Ultra, on the other hand, can be found
here
. More information on the roadshow, which is happening from 6 to 8 March, can be found
on Samsung’s official website
.


Final Fantasy VII Remake Demo Now Available for Download

Originally,
Final Fantasy VII Remake
 was supposed to be launched tomorrow on 3 March 2020 for the PlayStation 4. If you’re not thrilled the game’s been delayed to 11 April, you’ll be happy to know that you can download the demo of the game
on the PlayStation Store now
.

That’s right, the demo of Final Fantasy VII Remake can now be played by the general public, and it’s quite an extensive demo. In fact, it’s much,
much
 more elaborate than
the demo we’ve played back in January
, though it’s still focused in the first Mako reactor part of the story.

On top of that, the demo also includes the ability to switch modes; a feature that was missing from our demo. Basically, every character in FFVIIR have two modes. Cloud, for example, defaults to Operator mode, which can be switched to Punisher mode if you want to deal extra damage at the cost of slower attacks. This dual mode system adds more depth to the revamped combat system.

Speaking of which, the turn-based approach of the original game is now based on a real-time combat system, though there are still some turn-based elements here and there. Normal attacks and dodges can be performed with the Square and Circle buttons respectively, but any time during combat, hitting the X button summons the Commands menu.

Once you’re in this menu, you can perform a number of actions, like selecting abilities, spells, or items. Time is also slowed down quite a bit when accessing this menu, allowing you to “pause” the action. If you prefer a more fluid combat experience, you can perform pre-selected actions instantly with the L1 button instead.

Another improvement the FFVIIR demo brings lies in performance. In the demo we played through a couple of months ago, the frame rate was not consistent, the environment didn’t look like it was rendered in high resolution, and the character models were not very detailed. Well, the new demo seems to have resolved most of these issues, especially when it comes to frame rate consistency.

The Final Fantasy VII Remake demo can now be downloaded
from the PlayStation Store
. If you download the demo before 11 May, you can also get an “exclusive theme” on 10 April. Considering the sheer length of the demo, it should keep fans satiated until the full game is released on 11 April next month.


Realme C3 With Helio G70 & 5,000mAh Battery Lands in Malaysia for RM499

The Realme C3 mid-range smartphone has just been launched in Malaysia. Sporting a MediaTek Helio G70 chipset – it’s touted as a gaming-oriented processor – and a generous 5,000mAh battery, the C3 is quite an interesting device for those on a tight budget.

Even though MediaTek chipsets aren’t particularly favoured by consumers, the Helio G70 is a very respectable mid-range processor. If you’re an avid mobile gamer, the G70 should be able to deliver a good level of performance for a pleasant gaming experience, even in popular games like PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty: Mobile.

Of course, it’s not in the same league as higher-end chips like, say, the
Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
, but the G70 really does offer good performance for the money.

Besides that, the Realme C3 also has a generous 5,000mAh battery, which will come in handy for those long gaming sessions. Thanks to this large battery capacity, we reckon the C3 will be able to return above average battery life, especially with the 720p display.

That’s right, the Realme C3’s 6.5-inch IPS display only has a resolution of 1600 x 720. While a 1080p screen would look more pleasing with better clarity, this
is
 a budget-friendly smartphone; expectations have to be managed. Plus, the 720p display is less power-hungry than a sharper 1080p panel.

This, together with the phone’s large 5,000mAh battery, should translate to even better battery life.

In the camera department, the Realme C3 features a triple camera system on the back. It is made up of a 12MP f/1.8 primary shooter, a 2MP macro lens, and a 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor. There’s no ultra-wide angle or telephoto sensor here, which is really expected for a smartphone at this price point. The selfie camera, on the other hand, is a 5MP f/2.4 shooter.

Rounding out the specifications of the Realme C3 include 32GB of storage, a microSD card slot, 3GB of RAM, a rear fingerprint sensor, a microUSB port, and Realme UI 1.0 based on Android 10 out of the box.

For the Malaysian market, only the 32GB + 3GB variant of the Realme C3 is available here, and it retails at only RM499. You can purchase the C3 later today at 4PM from Realme’s
official store on Shopee
, and for today only, you can even get RM20 discount.


Death Stranding Coming to PC on 2 June With New Features; Retails at RM239

PC gamers will soon be able to experience Hideo Kojima’s latest masterpiece. Originally released for the PlayStation 4 system back on 8 November 2019, the PC version of
Death Stranding
 is coming seven months later on 2 June 2020. On top of that, the PC version will get several new features too.

Among them is support for ultra-wide monitors, which is fantastic for a game like Death Stranding. After all, you’ll be traversing through awe-inspiring landscapes making deliveries in the game, so being able to see more of the environment will further enhance the gaming experience.

Of course, the many, many lengthy cinematic cutscenes of Death Stranding will also benefit from this. They will look that much better in ultra-wide resolution.

Besides that, Death Stranding will also support high frame rate on PC, though this does depend on how powerful your system is. Given that the game only runs at 30 frames per second on the PlayStation 4, the game will definitely feel more responsive on PC. That being said, it remains to be seen if there’s any frame rate cap.

Interestingly, the PC version of Death Stranding will also see the introduction of Photo Mode; a feature that is still not available on the PlayStation 4 version. But given that Photo Mode is coming to PC, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume that it’ll also be made available on Sony’s console in the near future.

On top of these additions, there appears to be some sort of crossover with Half-Life on the PC version of Death Stranding. This is shown with cosmetic items taken from Half-Life, including the headcrab, Alyx Vance’s gloves, and Gordon Freeman’s glasses. Of course, even the iconic valve from Valve’s logo makes an appearance, which is placed on the back of Sam Bridges’ head, the protagonist.

The PC version of Death Stranding is now available for pre-order on
Steam
and the
Epic Games Store
 for RM239, and it will be released on 2 June 2020. As usual, there are a number of pre-order goodies, which include HD wallpapers of the game, special cosmetic items, and new colours for certain in-game equipment.

Death Stranding is a bizarre title, but it’s definitely a game worth checking out for its star-studded cast, compelling storyline, and stunning graphics. If you’re not sure Kojima’s latest game is worth the hype, check out
our comprehensive review of the game
.


Lexus UX 200 Test Drive: Luxurious City Slicker

Lexus is known for its range of big premium SUVs and sedans, but if you’ve always wanted something a little more compact from the Japanese luxury carmaker for city driving, this is the SUV for you. Enter the Lexus UX, the company’s first-ever compact crossover.

With a starting price of RM243,888, the fully-imported UX is the most affordable offering in Lexus’ lineup. On top of that, it’s also packing a number of neat features, not to mention excellent driving experience. I managed to take the UX out for a quick drive around KL, and it certainly impresses in many areas.

First up, let’s get to the prices and trim levels of the Lexus UX first. Three variants are offered in Malaysia: Urban, Luxury (pictured here), and F Sport. The base Urban, as mentioned, goes for RM243,888, while the more well-equipped Luxury and F Sport models are priced at RM283,888 and RM299,888 respectively. These are steep price tags, but it’s par for the course with a luxury crossover like the UX.

Anyway, all three variants of the UX are equipped with the same 2.0L naturally aspirated Dynamic Force four-cylinder engine that produces 169hp and 205Nm of torque. This is paired to a Direct-Shift continuously variable transmission (CVT) with a 10-speed virtual ratio, which allows the car to sprint from 0 to 100kmph in 9.2 seconds with a top speed of 190kmph.

So why is it called a Direct-Shift CVT? Well, there’s actually an additional gearset for starting off from a stop, giving the UX better, quicker acceleration from standstill. I’ve tried flooring the pedal to see how this transmission behaves, and it really does feel like a conventional automatic gearbox without the usual “rubber band effect” of CVTs.

In fact, the UX’s Direct-Shift CVT actually feels very, very refined with silky smooth acceleration whenever I floor it. There’s zero sign of roughness, power delivery feels direct, and the car pulls quite a bit even when I’m doing 80 to 90kmph. This may not be the fastest luxury crossover in the market, but the engine and transmission do feel extremely refined.

In my brief time driving the UX – I tried out the Luxury trim – I was pretty darn impressed with the handling of the car. This crossover is built on Lexus’ Global Architecture – Compact (GA-C) platform; a premium version of the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA). This gives the UX a low centre of gravity and rigid chassis, which in turn improve the handling of the car.

While I wasn’t able to throw the UX into hard corners to see how well-composed it would be, it does feel agile with direct steering as I make my way across KL’s heavy traffic; I especially love how much feel and feedback I get from the steering wheel. Of course, it also helps that this is a rather compact car, so squeezing through tight spaces doesn’t feel particularly intimidating.

NVH of the UX, on the other hand, is befitting of the crossover’s premium positioning. The moment I closed the door, the outside world is filtered out, and even at high speeds the car remains quiet with minimal road noise. Tyre roar does get into the cabin a tad – the engine also makes itself heard in hard acceleration – but it is by no means unpleasant.

Given the premium appeal of the UX, you’d expect to be comfortable whenever you step into the cabin. Not surprisingly, this is a given with the UX, and I absolutely love the leather upholstery with “sashiko quilting” – a technique used on Japanese martial arts uniforms. It gives the leather seats a unique-feeling texture, and I can’t get enough of it.

Other aspects of the UX’s cabin are equally good too. Every button has a satisfying tactile feedback, the digital meter is bright and vibrant, and I really like the large 10.3-inch freestanding centre display. That being said, I’m not sure I like navigating through the infotainment system with the trackpad right beside the gear lever; a touchscreen would feel a lot more intuitive.

Overall, the Lexus UX feels like a premium, luxurious compact crossover through and through. Personally, I like the aggressive styling of the car too, especially the LED taillights that extend across the width of the car in a single line. It gives the car a very…”contemporary” appeal. This, paired with the car’s excellent driving experience and compact size, make it the perfect city car.

It’s also worth highlighting the car’s extensive safety features, courtesy of the Lexus Safety System+. This gives the car Pre-Collision System, Lane Tracing Assist (LTA), Lane Departure Alert (LDA), Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, and Adaptive High Beam System (AHS). There are also additional safety features like Panoramic View Monitor, Blind Spot Monitor, and Rear Cross Traffic Alert that are exclusive to the Luxury and F Sport trims.

The Lexus UX is now open for booking in Malaysia. All prices mentioned here are on-the-road without insurance, and it comes with a five-year unlimited mileage warranty as well. More information on the premium compact crossover can be found on
Lexus’ official site
.


Armaggeddon MKA-17 Quick Review: Affordable Wireless Mechanical Keyboard

Wireless mechanical keyboards aren’t particularly rare in the market, but more often than not, they’re quite costly. This, in turn, makes the Armaggeddon MKA-17 Avenger quite an attractive product. Not only is it pretty affordable, it’s also quite a good mechanical keyboard with a number of neat features.

It may not offer the best typing experience, but the MKA-17 is definitely worth considering for anyone looking for a decent wireless mechanical keyboard without breaking the bank. Without further ado, let’s get to the review.

What It Is

The MKA-17 is a Bluetooth-enabled, wireless mechanical TKL (tenkeyless) keyboard that is compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. That’s right, it can be used with the mobile operating systems too, making it quite the versatile keyboard. Besides that, it is also offered either with Blue or Black “MEN” mechanical switches.

Unlike Outemu switches found on
previous Armaggeddon mechanical keyboards
, it appears the company switched (excuse the pun) to these MEN switches for the MKA-17. For the most part, the Blue and Black switches on this keyboard don’t feel remarkably different from similar switches of other manufacturers, which is a good thing.

Of course, the MKA-17 also sports 19 different RGB lighting effects. To cycle through the different effects, all I have to do is use the scroll wheel at the top left of the keyboard; no software necessary. The lighting itself is also quite bright, so you don’t have to worry about it being too dim.

To connect the MKA-17 to your PC or Mac, you just need a USB Type-C cable that’s provided with the keyboard; you can also charge the 2,000mAh battery this way. Thanks to the reasonably sized battery capacity, this wireless keyboard can last quite a bit on a single charge as well. I’ll elaborate more on its battery life further down this review.

The Good Stuff

Typing experience of the MKA-17, as expected, is like your everyday mechanical keyboard. The Blue switch model, for one, has a low actuation force with a pronounced tactile bump and audible click with every key press. Basically, it has the characteristics of any Blue mechanical switch in the market now.

As for the MKA-17 with Black switches, it’s a linear switch with a higher actuation force, so it feels “heavier” than the Blue switch. But thanks to this, the Black switches give a more solid, muted typing experience. In contrast, the Blue switches feel more hollow and louder, though I do prefer the lighter actuation force and tactile feedback of these Blue switches.

Battery life is also one of the MKA-17’s best features. After charging it to full, I’ve used the wireless keyboard for at least 50 hours now, and it is still going strong. Of course, I switched off every lighting on this keyboard to get this kind of battery life. Regardless, this wireless keyboard can definitely last quite a bit with the 2,000mAh battery.

Oh, have I mentioned that this keyboard charges via USB-C? Yes, it’s worth repeating.

I also quite like the RGB lighting of the MKA-17. With over 19 different lighting effects to choose from, you should be able to find at least one effect that you like. As mentioned, the backlighting is reasonably bright too, though I do wish it’s possible to change the colour ofasd the lighting effects.

Throughout my time with the MKA-17, its Bluetooth connection is stable when connected to my desktop system or laptop. On top of that, with a simple key combination, I can switch between three paired devices seamlessly. If you want to use the same keyboard across devices, you’ll love this feature.

But most importantly, the MKA-17 is a reasonably affordable wireless mechanical keyboard, retailing at only RM299. Sure, this makes it Armaggeddon’s most costly keyboard yet, but I do think it’s a fair asking price for a keyboard of this pedigree. You’d be hard-pressed to find for another wireless, mechanical keyboard at this price point.

The Bad Stuff

One of my biggest qualms with the MKA-17 is its build quality in several areas. The scroll wheel to change the lighting effect doesn’t feel very robust, the mostly plastic construction doesn’t give the keyboard a particularly solid feel (though it does have a metal top cover), the keycaps get scratched easily, and the typing experience feels quite hollow, especially with the Blue switch model.

Granted, it’s a relatively affordable mechanical keyboard, so expectations have to be managed. Plus, a solid typing experience is usually a trait found on much more expensive keyboards.

Notice the scratches on the bottom side of the keycaps

Another issue I have with the MKA-17 is a small one. While the battery life of this wireless keyboard is very respectable, I don’t quite like the fact that it’s not possible to check the battery percentage. In this case, not having any dedicated software for the keyboard is not a good thing.

Is It Worth It?

For RM299, the Armaggeddon MKA-17 Avenger is a good buy, especially if you want an affordable wireless mechanical keyboard. It has good battery life, a decent typing experience, stable Bluetooth connection, and the RGB lighting is a nice addition. You’re getting pretty good value for your money here.

If there’s any shortcoming with the MKA-17, it would be the build quality and refinement of the keyboard. It would’ve been great if it felt more solid with higher quality keycaps, but, again, this
is
 an affordable wireless keyboard. Plus, the MKA-17 is still a feature-packed keyboard that will serve its purpose well.

It’s also worth noting that the MKA-17 comes with a two-year warranty, which should give you peace of mind. If you’re keen to get your hands on this wireless mechanical keyboard, you can do so over at Armaggeddon’s official store on
Shopee
 and
Lazada
.


Sony WH-1000XM4 Images Leaked; Manufactured in Malaysia

We’ve been waiting for the successor to the excellent Sony WH-1000XM3 for quite some time now, and it seems like the wait is coming to an end soon. Not only has it been registered with our local certification body, SIRIM, we finally got a look at the design of the upcoming Sony WH-1000XM4 thanks to a new leak.

These leaked images of the WH-1000XM4 come from Brazil’s Anatel, which is SIRIM’s equivalent in the country. These images were tweeted by
Mishaal Rahman
 with English description, who got the original pictures from another Twitter user,
Everton Favretto
. Anyway, these images show the yet to be released wireless headphones in multiple angles.

Photos and the manual of the Sony WH-1000XM4, the successor to Sony's excellent XM3 Bluetooth wireless headphones, just went up on Brazil's Anatel (equivalent to the FCC).
h/t
@evefavretto

pic.twitter.com/sjXb4XaCN9
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman)
March 6, 2020

Looking at these alleged images of the WH-1000XM4, it bears a striking resemblance to its predecessor. It still comes with a USB Type-C port on the bottom for charging, along with the 3.5mm headphone jack. It’s also worth noting that there’s a label that shows the wireless headphones are manufactured right here in Malaysia, just like the XM3.

On top of that, the user manual of the WH-1000XM4 was leaked too. While it doesn’t reveal much of the headphones specifications, it does state that the XM4 can last for up to 40 hours in wired mode with active noise cancellation switched on. That’s reasonably good battery life.

Other details mentioned in the manual include support for Bluetooth 5.0 and a “speak to chat” function. The latter is quite vague, but it should be a new feature.

Chances are, the WH-1000XM4 will bring some notable upgrades over the XM3. Now that it ships with Bluetooth 5.0, it’s possible the headphones will be able to pair with more than one device now; this is one of the biggest shortcomings of the current XM3 headphones. If it does pair with more than one device, the XM4 will be a lot more seamless to use with multiple audio sources.

Besides that, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect better active noise cancellation performance with the upcoming WH-1000XM4. Audio quality of the headphones could be further improved too, which would make the XM4 a worthy upgrade over its predecessor.

Given that the Sony WH-1000XM4 has been registered with our very own SIRIM and photographed by Brazil’s Anatel, we reckon the wireless headphones will be made official very soon. But does that mean you shouldn’t get the XM3 until then? Not necessarily, given that it’s currently going for
well below its original

asking price
.

(Source:
Twitter (Mishaal Rahman)
 via
Amanz
)


Oppo Find X2 Pro Unleashed with 5G, 120Hz QHD+ Display, 65W Charging

Oppo just introduced its latest flagship smartphone, the Oppo Find X2 Pro. Sporting a fast 120Hz QHD+ display, 5G connectivity, and an impressive 65W charging rate, the Find X2 is quite a complete flagship device. In fact, it could very well be Oppo’s best premium smartphone yet.

What makes the Find X2 Pro such a compelling smartphone is the fast 120Hz display. Sure, even the
Samsung Galaxy S20

smartphones
‘ screens have this refresh rate, but what gives the X2 Pro an edge is the fact that the 120Hz option can be enabled even in QHD+ resolution. The S20 phones, on the other hand, can only be set to 120Hz at Full HD+ resolution.

As for the display itself, the Find X2 Pro has a 6.7-inch 3168 x 1440 OLED panel with a hole-punch cutout at the top left of the screen that houses the 32MP f/2.4 selfie camera. It’s a searingly bright panel too, with a peak brightness of up to 1,200 nits. The dual curved nature of the screen is also a nice design element.

Powering the Find X2 Pro is none other than Qualcomm’s best chipset yet, the Snapdragon 865. Without a doubt this SoC will be able to deliver excellent performance, and in combination with the X55 modem, this flagship smartphone supports 5G connectivity as well.

In the camera department, the Find X2 Pro is quite capable too, topping the DxOMark ranking
with a total score of 124
. It has a triple camera system made up of a 48MP f/1.7 primary shooter, a 48MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle sensor, and a 13MP f/3.0 telephoto lens with a periscope structure.

Collectively, this triple camera configuration can do 10x hybrid zoom. If you want to push it even further, it can even do up to 60x digital zoom, though we can’t imagine the image output to be particularly great at that level of zoom. Nonetheless, it is a nice feature to have.

Other specifications of the Find X2 Pro include 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, 512GB of non-expandable storage, a 4,260mAh battery with support for 65W SuperVOOC 2.0 fast charging (the phone can supposedly be fully charged in only 38 minutes), an optical in-screen fingerprint sensor, and ColorOS 7.1 based on Android 10 out of the box.

The Oppo Find X2 Pro is certainly a promising flagship smartphone, and it’s set to arrive here in Malaysia as early as next week on 10 March. We don’t know yet how much it will cost locally, but we were told it will be priced quite competitively.


Oppo Find X2 Pro Hands-On: Oppo’s Best Flagship to Date

Oppo doesn’t put a lot of focus in the flagship segment, so when the Oppo Find X2 Pro was officially introduced yesterday, it was quite an exciting announcement. After all, it succeeds the Find X, which was released back in 2018. The fact that the X2 Pro is also feature-packed makes it that much more attractive.

I got to spend a brief time with the Find X2 Pro, and I’d argue it is by far the Chinese company’s most promising flagship smartphone to date. If priced right, not many premium-tier phones can stand toe-to-toe with it.

Let’s start with one of the most highlighted features of the Find X2 Pro: the 120Hz display. It may not be the first smartphone to offer this refresh rate, but it
is
 the first to support 120Hz at QHD+ resolution. This is in contrast with its Korean rival, the
Samsung Galaxy S20

series
, which limits the 120Hz refresh rate to Full HD+ resolution only.

But does this make a lot of difference? Well, I can’t say with absolute confidence I can tell the difference between FHD+ and QHD+, but the option is definitely there. This gives the Find X2 Pro an edge over the Galaxy S20 series, even if the advantage of QHD+ at 120Hz refresh rate is not immediately noticeable.

As for the screen quality itself, the Find X2 Pro’s 6.7-inch 3168 x 1440 OLED panel looks great with vibrant colours and wide viewing angles. Given that this is an OLED display, it has very deep blacks too, making it ideal for content consumption. Basically, you will get a very pleasant screen to look at with this flagship smartphone.

Another unique selling point of the Find X2 is its impressive 65W charging rate, thanks to the company’s propriety SuperVOOC 2.0 technology. This fast charging rate is made possible with the two-series connected cells of the phone, which are rated at 2,130mAh each. Combined, it’s a reasonably generous 4,260mAh battery; Oppo says that this cell capacity be fully charged in only 38 minutes.

Of course, whether or not SuperVOOC 2.0 can truly deliver this level of charging rate can only be tested in a full review of this phone.

Design wise, the Find X2 Pro is a handsome smartphone. I love the feel of the ceramic back panel, the dual curved screen feels great in my hands, and the bezels surrounding the display are relatively minimal. I also like that the hole-punch cutout at the top left of the screen for the 32MP f/2.4 selfie camera is quite small, so it doesn’t look particularly intrusive.

When it comes to performance, the Find X2 Pro is no slouch. Powering this smartphone is none other than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset, the chipmaker’s best SoC to date. While I haven’t run any graphically demanding games on the phone yet, I reckon the X2 Pro can take whatever I throw at it. It also helps that this phone comes with 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of fast UFS 3.0 storage.

For biometric security, the Find X2 Pro features an optical in-screen fingerprint sensor, and it is blazing quick. While it’s still not quite as fast or as accurate as conventional capacitive sensors, it doesn’t feel cumbersome to use, and that’s important.

Last but definitely not least is the camera performance of the Find X2 Pro. Unlike other flagship smartphones’ wide array of camera lenses, the X2 Pro “only” has a triple camera system. It’s made up of a 48MP f/1.7 primary shooter, a 48MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle sensor, and a 13MP f/3.0 telephoto lens with a periscope structure.

Optically, the 13MP f/3.0 telephoto camera can only do 5x zoom, but Oppo is emphasising the 10x “hybrid zoom” capability of the sensor. On top of that, it can even do up to a whopping 60x digital zoom. Shots taken at 10x zoom still look rather good in my testing, but at 60x, detail preservation and colour reproduction suffer quite a bit.

But as a whole, I’m quite impressed with the camera performance of the Find X2 Pro. The primary and ultra-wide angle sensors can take great-looking shots, the camera interface is responsive, and it can lock in focus
very
 quickly. However, I can’t say the same for the telephoto sensor, which has a tendency to hunt for focus.

Regardless, I cannot wait to put the Find X2 Pro’s triple camera system through its paces. After all, there must be a reason why it’s at the top of DxOMark’s ranking for mobile devices, with an impressive
total score of 124
. That puts it in the same league as the
Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro
, which shares the same total score.

The Oppo Find X2 Pro is the Chinese company’s most complete flagship smartphone yet. It is IP68-rated (finally), it has a fast, vibrant 120Hz display, its camera performance is very promising, and it features flagship-tier performance courtesy of the Snapdragon 865 chipset.

If there’s anything that could be improved upon, it would be the addition of expandable storage and a 3.5mm headphone jack, though this phone does come with 512GB of internal storage as standard. Beyond that, the Find X2 Pro really does seem like an extremely competent flagship smartphone.

The only thing that’s left now is for Oppo Malaysia to reveal the price of the X2 Pro for our market. The phone maker says that it will be priced competitively here, but it’s worth noting that in Europe, this phone goes for €1,199, which comes up to about RM5,645. Granted, this price tag includes VAT, so expect the X2 Pro to cost less in markets outside of Europe.

But exactly how much less the Find X2 Pro will cost once it’s made available here in Malaysia still remains to be seen. We’ll find out for ourselves once the flagship smartphone is launched locally on 10 March next week.


Xiaomi Mi 10 Series Arriving in Malaysia Soon; Global Launch on 27 March

After the initial delay caused by the cancellation of Mobile World Congress 2020, the
Xiaomi Mi 10
 series’ global launch is finally taking place on 27 March. While it was officially unveiled in China last month, the global launch could mark the availability of the flagship smartphones in other markets, including Malaysia.

In fact, there’s a very good chance the Mi 10 series will be sold in Malaysia very, very soon. While we were going through SIRIM’s database, we noticed that Xiaomi Malaysia registered a device with the model number M2001J2G on 6 March. We can’t quite pinpoint whether this is the regular Mi 10 or Mi 10 Pro, but it’s definitely one of the two smartphones.

Given that the Mi 10 series has shown up in SIRIM’s database, we reckon Xiaomi Malaysia is gearing up to launch its latest flagship smartphones on our shores. For comparison, its predecessor, the
Xiaomi Mi 9
, was introduced here on 3 April 2019. It’s entirely possible the Mi 10 series will be made available here around the same time.

Out of the two devices in the series, the Mi 10 Pro is naturally the higher-end smartphone. The headline feature is its quad camera system, which is made up of a 108MP f/1.69 primary shooter – it outputs 27MP images by default thanks to the use of pixel binning to improve performance – a 12MP f/2.0 telephoto lens (50mm), a longer 8MP f/2.0 telephoto sensor (94mm), and a 20MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle shooter.

As for the standard Mi 10, it has the same 108MP primary sensor, but the other three sensors are not quite as sophisticated. It has a 13MP f/2.4 ultra-wide angle shooter, a 2MP f/2.4 macro lens, and a 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor.

Besides the different camera configuration, both the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro share quite a bit of hardware. These include a Snapdragon 865 chipset paired with up to 12GB of RAM, a 6.67-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display with a fast 90Hz refresh rate, 512GB of non-expandable storage (256GB for the Mi 10), as well as 5G connectivity.

Rounding out the specifications of these two phone are a 20MP f/2.0 selfie camera, an in-screen optical fingerprint sensor, and a 4,780mAh battery for the Mi 10. Oddly enough, despite its Pro moniker, the higher-end Mi 10 Pro comes with a slightly smaller 4,500mAh cell.

The global launch of the Xiaomi Mi 10 series will be happening on 27 March. Now that the Mi 10 has been registered with SIRIM, we expect the flagship series to arrive here in Malaysia soon.


Honda March Special 3onus Offers up to RM10,000 Discount on Selected Models

If you’re considering to get a new Honda car, good news: the Japanese car maker is offering up to RM10,000 discount on selected models for its March Special “3onus” promotion. These include the popular Honda City, Jazz, HR-V, CR-V, and even the fully-imported (CBU) Honda Odyssey MPV.

This promotion include 2019 and 2020 models, and as expected, the best deals are reserved for the former. The discounts are divided into three parts: a “thank you bonus,” March rebate, and an additional RM500 discount given either in cash form or a petrol card.

Let’s get to the discounts, starting with the 2019 models. The total savings start from RM4,000 for the petrol variants of the HR-V, and it goes up to RM4,500 for all trim levels of the CR-V. The compact B-segment hatchback, Jazz, on the other hand, gets RM5,000 discount. As for its sedan counterpart, the City, you can get RM6,000 in savings – that’s quite a bit of money. Lastly, there’s the Odyssey, which also receives RM6,000 discount.

If you want even
more
 savings, consider the hybrid variants of the HR-V, City, and Jazz. The B-segment hybrid cars get RM9,000 in total savings, while the HR-V Hybrid receives a whopping RM10,000 discount. In fact, the HR-V Hybrid gets the highest amount of cashback in this promotion.

Not keen to get 2019 models? Then the discounts for the 2020 makes could catch your fancy. Naturally, these savings are not quite as generous, but they’re still quite attractive. Four 2020 models are discounted for this promotion: the CR-V, HR-V, City, and Jazz. Do note that there are no 2020 hybrid variants on offer for the latter three models.

So how much saving will you get for these 2020 models? It starts from RM2,000 for the HR-V, which goes up to RM2,500 for the compact Jazz. The City and CR-V, on the other hand, each receives RM3,000 in rebate. These total savings are the same across all trim levels for the respective four models.

Honda’s March Special 3onus promotion is currently ongoing, but do note that it is only applicable for vehicles registered in March 2020. These discounts are also only valid which stocks last, so you may want to act quickly to secure these savings.

Wondering why the
Honda Civic facelift
 and
new Honda Accord
 are not part of this promotion? Given that these two models were only launched a couple of weeks ago, it’s not much of a surprise.


Oppo Find X2 Pro With 512GB Storage & 5G Retails at RM4,599 in Malaysia

The Oppo Find X2 series has just been launched in Malaysia, and we finally know the local pricing of the two 5G smartphones in the lineup. The standard Find X2 retails at RM3,999, while the higher-end
Find X2 Pro
 goes for RM4,599. While these are unmistakably steep price tags, you do get a lot for your money with these two devices.

Let’s start with the more exciting phone of the two, the Find X2 Pro. One of the most highlighted features of this flagship is its triple camera system, which is made up of a 48MP f/1.7 primary shooter, a 48MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle sensor, and a 13MP f/3.0 telephoto lens with a periscope structure. Collectively, this camera configuration offers 10x “hybrid zoom,” with up to a whopping 60x digital zoom.

Besides that, it’s also worth noting that the Find X2 Pro’s camera performance earns it the top spot in DxOMark’s ranking for mobile devices. With an impressive total score of 124, this phone is in the same league as the
Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro
, which shares the same score.

Beyond its camera setup, the Find X2 Pro also comes with a fast 120Hz 6.7-inch 1440p OLED screen with a hole-punch cutout at the top left of the screen for the 32MP f/2.4 selfie camera. What makes this display particularly attractive is the fact that it still supports 120Hz refresh rate even in 1440p; this is not possible with the
Samsung Galaxy S20

series
.

Rounding out the specifications of the Find X2 Pro include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset paired with 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, an in-screen optical fingerprint sensor, 512GB of fast UFS 3.0 storage (not expandable, however), and a 4,260mAh battery with support for Oppo’s proprietary 65W SuperVOOC 2.0 fast charging technology.

As for the more affordable Find X2, it shares many of the Pro variant’s hardware, though it comes with a less sophisticated triple camera setup. It consists of a 48MP f/1.7 primary shooter, a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle sensor, and a 13MP f/2.4 telephoto lens. The battery capacity is also slightly smaller at 4,200mAh, with half the internal storage of the Pro at 256GB.

The Oppo Find X2 and Find X2 Pro are now
available for pre-order
 in Malaysia. The regular Find X2 will be available on 14 March, while the Pro model is arriving later on 21 March. All pre-orders will receive a complimentary VOOC Powerbank, a one-year extended warranty, and 90 days of screen protection. In total, all of these are said to be worth RM528.

If you want to try your luck, you can also attend Oppo’s roadshow for the Find X2 series at Pavilion KL. The first 100 pre-order or walk-in customers will walk away with an Oppo Enco Free wireless earbuds, which are worth RM499. More information on the roadshow can be found
here
. Curious to learn more about the Find X2 Pro? Then check out
our hands-on
.


MSI GS66 Stealth Gaming Laptop With 300Hz Screen Coming to Malaysia Soon

Initially unveiled at CES 2020, the thin and light MSI GS66 Stealth seems to be making its way to Malaysia soon. Sporting an incredibly fast 300Hz display and a very generous 99.9WHr battery, the GS66 is one impressive gaming laptop.

As usual, we were combing through SIRIM’s database when we noticed that the GS66 was registered under two applicants just today: Ingram Micro Malaysia and VSTECS Astar. These two companies are reputable distributors on our shores, and since the gaming laptop have appeared in SIRIM, it’s possible MSI Malaysia will be launching the new gaming laptop locally soon.

What makes the GS66 Stealth a particularly enticing gaming machine is its extremely fast 15.6-inch 1080p 300Hz screen. In a market flooded by gaming laptops with 120Hz or 144Hz panels, the GS66 definitely has the unique factor in this respect. While most games won’t be able to run at that refresh rate – especially on more graphically demanding games – we reckon competitive gamers will appreciate this fast screen.

Besides that, the GS66 is also equipped with a huge 99.9WHr battery. Even though MSI did not give any estimate on the battery life of this gaming laptop, it’s safe to assume it will be quite long-lasting. After all, that’s practically the biggest battery capacity that can be fitted into a laptop before it’s not allowed to be brought on a flight – 100WHr is the limit.

That being said, fitting such a large battery into the GS66’s chassis does make it a heavier, thicker laptop than its predecessor, the GS65. For comparison, the previous iteration weighed 1.9kg, while the GS66 tips the scales at about 2.1kg. Its chassis, on the other hand, measures 19.8mm thin, compared to the GS65’s 17.9mm thin profile.

Unfortunately, other specifications of the GS66 have not been revealed yet, even though it’s been two months since its debut at CES 2020. The processor options, for one, are only said to be from Intel’s 10th generation Comet Lake-H CPUs, which have not been officially announced yet by the chipmaker.

Same goes for the GS66’s GPU: MSI only mentioned that the gaming laptop will be packing Nvidia’s latest RTX GPUs. Given the vagueness surrounding the GS66’s key hardware, there’s a good chance it will come with the next generation of Nvidia’s GPUs. Perhaps the mobile version of the company’s Super graphics cards?

Regardless, we expect to hear more about the Malaysian availability of the MSI GS66 in the coming weeks, now that it’s been registered with SIRIM. It’ll be interesting to see how much this premium thin and light gaming laptop will go for once it’s officially available here.

Read more:

MSI GS66 Stealth With New 10th Gen Core i9 & RTX 2080 Super Now in Malaysia for RM16,999


Acer Swift 5 Quick Review: Excellent Lightweight Productivity Laptop

Lightweight, premium productivity laptops usually don’t come cheap, but the Acer Swift 5 is the exception here. Not only does it weigh only 990g – that’s
ridiculously
 light – it’s also a relatively affordable laptop that offers good value for money, sleek design, and decent performance.

While it doesn’t particularly excel in any one area, the Swift 5 does everything just right in a very portable and lightweight chassis, and that makes it a pretty darn attractive laptop.

What It Is

Display
14-inch FHD IPS touch-enabled (1920 x 1080)
Processor
Intel Core i5-1035G1 quad-core (1.0GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz, 6MB cache)
GPU
Nvidia GeForce MX250 2GB GDDR5 VRAM
RAM
8GB LPDDR4
Storage
512GB PCIe SSD
Camera
HD resolution
Battery
56WHr
Dimensions
318.7 x 210.5 x 14.95 mm
Weight
990g
Audio
Bottom-firing stereo speakers
Ports
1x USB 3.1 Type-C (Thunderbolt 3)
1x USB 3.1 Type-A
1x USB 2.0 Type-A
1x HDMI
Price
RM3,699 (Core i5), RM3,999 (Core i5, MX250), RM4,699 (Core i7, Iris Plus Graphics, 16GB RAM)

There are three variants of the Swift 5 for the Malaysian market, and the one in this review is the RM3,999 Core i5 model with an MX250 dedicated GPU. In my opinion, this is the variant to get if you want the best mix of processing power and graphics performance, given that the other two variants don’t have any dedicated graphics card.

Overall, the Swift 5 is a well-equipped productivity laptop. The Core i5-1035G1 processor is more than enough for most productivity tasks, the MX250 is good enough for some light gaming, and with a 14.95mm chassis, this is without a doubt a slim notebook. You should be able to slide it into your backpack effortlessly.

The Good Stuff

Of course, one of the best reasons to get the Swift 5 has to be for its ridiculously lightweight nature. As mentioned, it weighs
merely 990g
, and it feels very surreal every time I pick up this 14-inch laptop. Needless to say, I can barely feel the weight of the Swift 5 when I’m carrying it around in my backpack.

Besides that, this is quite a sleek-looking laptop too, and I especially like the Moonstone White colourway pictured here. The thin bezels surrounding the Swift 5’s 14-inch display also give it a modern aesthetic, though I do wish the bottom bezel was a tad smaller to further reduce the footprint of this laptop.

Display quality of the Swift 5’s 14-inch 1080p IPS panel is quite good as well. It can get bright enough for comfortable use outdoors, the matte finish helps to minimise glare, and I appreciate the fact that this is a touch-enabled screen. Usually, laptops with a touchscreen come with glossy panels.

Throughout my time with the Swift 5, I never encountered any performance-related issue. Granted, I only did light photo editing, a ton of web browsing, and word processing with this machine, but that’s really the usage scenario of a laptop in this segment. It’d be unrealistic to expect the Core i5-1035G1 and MX250 combo to handle heavy video editing or intensive gaming.

That being said, you
can
 do some gaming on the Swift 5, provided it’s not too graphically demanding. With the right graphics settings, I managed to get over 60fps in Diablo III. Even with maxed out settings, the MX250 can churn out over 30fps – that is a very playable frame rate.

If there’s any hardware that a productivity laptop absolutely need to excel in, it would be the keyboard. In the case of the Swift 5, its keyboard is reasonably good. It’s not the best keyboard I’ve ever used on a laptop, but the keys do have enough travel to not feel shallow. The tactility of the keyboard is good too, which make for a comfortable typing experience.

And then we have the Swift 5’s battery life. Acer’s quoted battery life for this laptop is up to 12.5 hours, but in my testing, I only managed to get seven to eight hours of use on a single charge. This isn’t exactly fantastic battery life, but it is not terrible by any means either. To get this level of battery life, I set the power mode to power saver with the screen dimmed to a comfortable brightness.

Overall, these qualities make the Swift 5 a joy to use as my daily driver, but it does have its fair share of shortcomings.

The Bad Stuff

While the Swift 5’s keyboard is pleasant to use, I can’t say the same for the trackpad. It’s accurate enough when I’m using it to surf the web and what not, but it’s not
quite as sensitive
 as I would’ve liked, especially when I need to do more precise selections. If the trackpad was a little bit more responsive to my inputs, it would be a lot more pleasant to use.

Aside from that, the Swift 5’s selection of ports are not super great either. Not only does it lack any form of card reader – it doesn’t even have a microSD card slot – it also has only one USB-C connection that isn’t even accessible when you’re charging the laptop. Thankfully, it still offers two USB-A ports, so it’s not too bad.

Is It Worth It?

Retailing from only RM3,699, the Acer Swift 5 is notably more affordable than other productivity laptops while offering an incredibly lightweight chassis, a generous 512GB SSD storage, and a sleek-looking design. If you want some extra graphics performance, I highly recommend this RM3,999 option, which adds on an MX250 dedicated GPU for only RM300 more.

At these price points, the Swift 5 is an excellent choice for those who are looking for a lightweight productivity laptop that offers great value for money. Despite its finicky trackpad and limited connectivity options, you’d be hard-pressed to find for a better alternative in this price range. This is especially true if you want a laptop as lightweight as the Swift 5.

After all, there are only a handful of 14-inch laptops that weigh below 1kg, and the Swift 5 is the most affordable one you can find in the Malaysian market now.


Call of Duty: Warzone Is an Accessible, Beginner-Friendly Battle Royale

Over the past few years, many battle royale (BR) games have flooded the market. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds really started the whole craze, followed by arguably even more successful titles like
Fortnite
and
Apex Legends
. The latest entry in this genre to take on these big titles is from an equally big franchise – Call of Duty: Warzone.

Not only is it free to play, Warzone is also a very accessible BR game in the sense that even the most casual of gamers can thoroughly enjoy it. On top of that, it also has a number of unique elements not found in other games of its kind, which adds a breath of fresh air to the BR genre.

If BR games were never quite your thing, give Warzone a chance – it might surprise you.

What makes Call of Duty: Warzone particularly different from other BR games is what happens after you’ve been eliminated. In PUBG, for example, you’re done the moment you kicked the bucket. It’s a punishing mechanic, and to address this, Apex Legends – followed by Fortnite – introduced a way for teammates to revive you after you’ve been eliminated.

Warzone, on the other hand, takes this a step further. There’s still the same mechanic of reviving your fallen teammates with in-game cash earned in every match, but that’s not the only way to get back into the game. After your first death in Warzone, you’ll be taken to a gulag to duke it out with another eliminated player.

From here, all you need to do is to win the one on one match to be redeployed back to the field to join your teammates. Pretty cool, right?

Beyond that, you can even purchase a self-revive kit from buy stations scattered throughout the map. This, along with the gulag and ability to revive teammates with cash you’ve collected in every new match, give players plenty of second chances. So even if you’re not particularly great at BR games, all of these mechanics ensure that not all deaths are frustrating.

Besides that, the inventory system is Warzone is very simplified too. In fact, there’s actually…no inventory system to speak of. Instead, you can carry two primary weapons, a couple of bombs, and armor plates. Ammo, on the other hand, are picked up automatically when you walk over them, so you don’t need to juggle various types of ammo in your inventory at all.

Speaking of armor plates, that’s the only kind of protection Warzone offers. In the beginning of the game, you’re equipped with two armor plates, and you can put on another one if you manage to find any in the battlefield. In essence, you can equip up to three armor plates, and you can carry another five in your reserve.

It’s a very simple armor system, and I absolutely love it. I don’t have to worry about getting helmets or armors of a specific level for the best protection, and it’s easy to equip more armor plates as and when necessary with the single tap of a button. This, complemented by the regenerating health bar, is very beginner-friendly.

That’s right, in Warzone, your health bar will regenerate back to full when you haven’t received any damage in a fixed period of time. In other BR games, if you’re low on health and out of med kits, you would have to resort to more defensive plays. Let’s be honest here: that’s not a very fun thing to do.

Thanks to the regenerating health bar, Warzone encourages a more active, dynamic approach to battle. You won’t have to hide and patch yourself up for the next skirmish anymore, and taking damage – so long as it’s not lethal – is a lot more forgiving than other games of this genre.

I’m also a big fan of the combat system in Warzone, which is attuned to those who are not particularly keen to their environment, like myself. See, whenever someone drives a vehicle or fires a weapon in your vicinity, a red dot will appear in the mini-map. The game will even show you the direction of the enemy in the compass above you.

Instead of trying to determine the direction of enemies based on audio cues in games like PUBG, these red dots make it incredibly easy to spot enemies in Warzone. On top of that, opposing players using scopes aiming at your direction will also give out lens flare, so you won’t be caught off-guard (too much) by sneaky sniper shots.

Graphically, Warzone looks good too, and you don’t need a particularly powerful GPU to get more than 60fps on PC. I played the game with a
modest Radeon RX 580 GPU
 paired with an AMD Ryzen 5 2600 processor, and I was getting more than 60fps consistently at 1080p with the graphics settings maxed out.

As far as battle royale games go, Call of Duty: Warzone is by far one of the most accessible, beginner-friendly games of its kind. The combat system is easy to grasp, spotting enemies isn’t super difficult, and there are plenty of ways to get back into the battlefield even after you’ve been eliminated. Permadeath is one of the most punishing and frustrating aspects of BR games, and Warzone implemented a very smart mechanic to address it.

Beyond that, Warzone is simply a blast to play, especially with friends to form a three-man squad. Unfortunately, that’s the only mode available at the moment, and I’m personally hoping for a solo mode in the near future. Until then, I’ll still be having a lot of fun in Warzone, even if I’m paired with two other strangers.


It’s Official: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip Coming to Malaysia

A few weeks ago, we spotted the
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip
 in
SIRIM’s database
. Fast forward to today, the product page of the foldable smartphone is now up on
Samsung Malaysia’s website
. This basically confirms the imminent arrival of the Z Flip on our shores.

Unfortunately, that’s all the details we have on the Galaxy Z Flip. The exact availability and local pricing of the foldable smartphone have not been revealed yet. But given that the device has already appeared in Samsung Malaysia’s website, we expect to learn more about the phone’s local availability in the coming weeks.

What makes the Galaxy Z Flip such a unique smartphone is its foldable nature. But unlike the
Samsung Galaxy Fold
‘s tablet-like nature, the Z Flip sports a clamshell design, which is similar to the form factor of the new
Motorola Razr
. it’s a “modern flip phone,” if you will, and it’s a lot more pocketable than the bulkier Fold.

The Galaxy Z Flip’s screen itself is a 6.7-inch 2636 x 1080 Dynamic AMOLED “Infinity Flex” Display. Just like the
Samsung Galaxy S20

smartphones
, there’s a hole-punch cutout at the top of the screen for the 10MP f/2.4 selfie camera. It’s also quite a tall screen, with a 21.9:9 aspect ratio.

Powering the Galaxy Z Flip is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ chipset. While it’s not quite as new as the latest Snapdragon 865 or Samsung’s Exynos 990 SoC, the 855+ can still deliver very respectable performance. After all, it’s the same chipset found in, say, the
Asus ROG Phone II
 gaming smartphone.

Battery life of the Galaxy Z Flip should be reasonably good too, thanks to its 3,300mAh battery. It’s not the largest battery capacity we’ve seen on a smartphone, but given the phone’s rather compact chassis and unique two-part construction, it’s a respectable capacity.

Rounding out the specifications of the Galaxy Z Flip include a dual camera system (12MP f/1.8 primary + 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle sensor), 8GB of RAM, 256GB of internal storage, and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.

Now that the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is promoted on Samsung Malaysia’s website, it’s only a matter of time before it’s officially launched here in Malaysia. Rest assured, we’ll keep a close eye on the local availability of the Z Flip. In the meantime, check out
our hands-on of the foldable smartphone
.