Review – Plextor M8Se: NVMe SSD On A Budget

NVMe SSDs are becoming more and more common. With the growth of more PCIe lanes directly wired to the CPU, it’s no surprise that many people will go for the speedier route of PCIe NVMe SSDs. Let’s take a look at the Plextor M8Se NVMe SSD – specifically the 256GB Plextor M8SeGN that I have here. It’s an M.2 form factor NVMe SSD and no heatsink.
The Plextor M8Se is a family of SSDs, each varying from each other. We’ve covered the differences initially, but here’s a quick rundown on its differences:

M8SeG – M.2 with heatsink
M8SeGN – M.2 without heatsink (the one I’m reviewing here)
M8SeY – PCIe Gen. 3 x4 card

Let’s proceed with the review of the Plextor M8SeGN.
Unboxing
The M8SeGN comes in a rather plain and simple box. The included features were stated clearly, and kept everything very clean, in my opinion.

Opening up the box reveals a large plastic clamshell that holds the M.2 NVMe SSD at the center, alongside with a screw beside it. That’s all you’ll get from the box – literally. No manuals, nothing. I mean, what else do you expect, actually? Most of us are not even going to look at the user manual for an SSD.

Design
Quick one here – the Plextor M8Se – particularly the M8SeGN – has a dark green PCB with components occupying the entire length of the M.2 2280 NVMe SSD.

By the way, M.2 2280 means it’s using the M.2 interface and has a physical dimension of 22mm x 80mm. By using the M.2 2280 form factor, the heatsink-less Plextor M8SeG NVMe SSDs will fit into many motherboard’s M.2 slots without any issues. However, I can’t say the same for Plextor M8SeG that has a heatsink – placing the Plextor M8SeG onto motherboards with its M.2 slot underneath the PCIe x16 slot might cause interference with the dGPU heatsink or shroud.

Specs
As per the datasheet provided for the Plextor M8SeGN PCIe Gen. 3 x4 NVMe SSD, here is the list of specs. The specs listed here are pretty similar if not identical with the M8SeG and M8SeY, with the most prominent difference being the physical dimensions and form factor.

Plextor M8Se Series PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD

Specification

Model

PX-128M8SeGN

PX-256M8SeGN

PX-512M8SeGN

PX-1TM8SeGN

Capacity

128 GB

256 GB

512 GB

1 TB

Cache

512MB LPDDR3

512MB LPDDR3

1024MB LPDDR3

2048MB LPDDR3

Controller

Marvell 88SS1093

NAND Flash

TOSHIBA 15nm Super High Performance TLC

Performance (Under Windows NTFS)

Sequential Read Speed (MB/s)*

Up to 1,850

Up to 2,400

Up to 2,450

Up to 2,450

Sequential Write Speed (MB/s)*

Up to 570

Up to 1,000

Up to 1,000

Up to 1,000

Random Read Speed (IOPS)*

Up to 135,000

Up to 205,000

Up to 210,000

Up to 210,000

Random Write Speed (IOPS)*

Up to 80,000

Up to 160,000

Up to 175,000

Up to 175,000

Environment and Reliability

Power Requirement

DC 3.3V 3.0A (Max.)

Temperature

0°C ~ 70°C / 32°F ~ 158°F (Operating)

MTBF

>1,500,000 Hours

Endurance (TBW)

80

160

320

640

Warranty

3 years

Compatibility

Operating System Supported

Microsoft Windows 8.1, 10/ Linux OS

Agency Approval

UL, TUV, FCC, CE, BSMI, VCCI, RCM, KCC, EAC, ROHS, WHQL

Command Set Support

TRIM, S.M.A.R.T, IO queue, NVMe command

Interface

M.2 PCIe Gen 3 x4 with NVM Express

Firmware Upgrade

Supported

Form Factor and Connectors

Form Factor

M.2 2280

Power Connector

M.2 connector for DC 3.3V input

Data Connector

M.2 Connector

Dimension and Weight

Dimension (L/W/H)

80 x 22 x 2.3 mm / 3.15 x 0.87 x 0.09 inch

80 x 22 x 3.65 mm
3.15 x 0.87 x 0.15 inch

Weight (Max.)

10g / 0.35oz

Package Content

Drive

128GB / 256GB / 512GB / 1TB SSD

Specifications subject to change without notice.
Actual performance may vary based on hardware, software, and overall system configuration.
* Performance measured using CrystalDiskMark ver.3, IOMETER with queue depth set to 32.
Test Platform: Motherboard: ASUS Z170-Deluxe (Microsoft Windows 10 Professional x64)

Testing Setup

Test hardware configuration

CPU Cooler
Noctua NH-U12S/Noctua NH-D15

CPU
AMD Ryzen 7 1700

GPU
MSI GEFORCE GTX 1060 3GT OC

Motherboard
ASRock Fatal1ty X370 Gaming K4

Memory
Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 16GB

Primary Hard Drive
Plextor M8SeGN

Power Supply
SilverStone ET-650B 650W

Chassis
BitFenix Aurora

Fans
Noctua NF-F12

Others
SilverStone LS02 RGB LED Strip

Benchmarks
Plextor claims that the M8SeGN that I’m benching here has a theoretical limit of up to 2,400MB/s sequential read speed and up to 1,000MB/s sequential write speed. To quickly verify this claim, I launched CrystalDiskMark and tried it out.

The performance claimed by Plextor is true – it did reach 2,400MB/s and 1,000MB/s on both sequential read and write speeds respectively. Great!
As for the random 4K read and write speeds with a queue depth of 32, the Plextor M8Se scored about 360MB/s read speed and about 260MB/s write speed.

Then comes ATTO Disk Benchmark. The scores on this benchmark are pretty good overall, but its speed tapers off ever so slightly when larger block-sized files are tested.
Thermal throttling?
This is a concern that is thrown all around the NVMe SSD scene. I get it – there are NVMe SSDs that thermal throttles just like your CPU and GPU. When it gets too hot, the clock speeds go down – and in the case of NVMe SSDs, the IOPS drops and both read/write speeds drop. Does it happen to the Plextor M8Se SSD – specifically the M8SeGN that I have here?
The Plextor M8SeGN with the Noctua NH-U12S
No – not exactly, unless I intentionally cause it to thermal throttle with an unrealistic workload. I did try to mess things up by stressing the Plextor M8SeGN, and here are my findings. I suppose these findings are applicable to the entire Plextor M8Se family of NVMe SSDs too.

Continuously looped CrystalDiskMark on 9 passes of 32GB test size while running Dota 2.
Specs say that its operating temperatures are from 0°C to 70°C. It can reach 75°C before thermal throttling.
Once thermal throttling happened, Dota 2 starts stuttering.
The temperature never exceeded 76°C.
Performance recovered instantly after the benchmark was ended.

Particularly for my setup, the Plextor M8SeGN idles at around 52°C and goes up to about 57°C under my usual workload, and can reach about 64°C while gaming. I can only predict that both the M8SeG (M.2 with heatsink) and the M8SeY (PCIe card) will have better thermals than this M8SeGN barebones version.
Wrapping up the Plextor M8Se review
The Plextor M8SeGN that we’ve got here has what we presume is the lowest price amongst the Plextor M8Se family of NVMe SSDs – which is understandable as it is pretty much the barebones version.
While the Plextor M8SeGN is the barebones version with maximum compatibility, its real use case scenario temperature is still way lower than its maximum operating temperature when air coolers are used. If you use a beefier air cooler or have some airflow through or nearby the SSD, it’ll greatly improve your temperatures – but that’s a story for another time.

Overall, the Plextor M8Se PCIe Gen. 3 NVMe SSD – specifically the M8SeGN – gets a big thumbs up. Don’t let its lack of “cool aesthetics” fool you.
The Plextor M8SeGN that I have here is available from 128GB to 1TB – just like all of the other variants in the M8Se family of NVMe SSDs. Though, for both the M8SeG and M8SeY variants, I can only find them at Newegg.
As for the price, it’s as listed below.

128GB, MSRP USD$109 ($0.8515625/GB)
256GB, MSRP USD$179 (0.69921875/GB)
512GB, MSRP USD$329 (0.642578125/GB)
1TB, MSRP USD$599 (0.584960938/GB)

All in all, the Plextor M8SeGN, in particular, is of fantastic value for the 256GB variant and above.

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vivo will be releasing 5G version of the V21 next week in Malaysia

After a successful launch of the V21 series consisting of the base V21 and V21e last month, vivo Malaysia has announced that 5G support for the lineup is coming to fans and customers next week.

The device has already received SIRIM certifications since the first week of the month and will be ready to launch on May 27 which is exactly 1 week from now. It is expected that the device’s price tag will only be increased slightly due to the use of 5G SoC while other notable features such as the awesome night selfie techs and also the application of virtual RAM providing an additional 3GB to the base 8GB, making it a total of 11GB of usable memory to keep the device running smoothly as possible.
Check out our review of the original V21 and find out our take on the device to gain a fast understanding of it.

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Review – Samsung Galaxy SmartTag: More than just a tag

Samsung announced the Galaxy SmartTag alongside the Galaxy S21 series of smartphones. This device isn’t given much attention – but I think it should. It’s more than just a tag to locate stuff – and it’s very well-made.
And in today’s review, it’s a little difficult to tell by words – but it’s much better to be described and shown via video. And I’ll be showing you how I have been using this little device throughout these days.

Overall, the Galaxy SmartTag is more than just to locate items that it is attached to. The Galaxy SmartTag also has a button – which turns out to bring an amazing feature to the table. Since the Galaxy SmartTag is paired with the SmartThings app, it can be used for automation.

For my use case, since my room is using Yeelights – which I have also connected to my SmartThings account – I can turn the lights on or off via the Galaxy SmartTag.
I mean, the SmartThings app is just very versatile, by the way. With the addition of the Galaxy SmartTag, the entire ecosystem is now even more versatile than ever.

But, I found out one unfortunate thing. Even though the Samsung SmartThings can be installed on non-Samsung phones, the Galaxy SmartTag only works with Samsung phones running on Android 8 or later. Quite a bummer, honestly.
For me personally, the Galaxy SmartTag is very useful. Since my room here is pretty much “smart”, the Galaxy SmartTag does add more “smartness” into my room while keeping track of the location of my stuff. So, I bought another SmartTag.

Yes, I have two now. I hooked one of them to my bag and hooked the other one on my external SSD that holds a lot of important data.
And speaking of hooks – Samsung, why didn’t you include a simple lanyard or carabiner or whatever sort of hook in the box? I mean, this thing is literally made to be hooked onto other things.

But either way, the Galaxy SmartTag is originally priced at RM119 – but it’s already discounted to RM99 now. I bought mine at RM55 during the 4.4 sale.
There’s also a Galaxy SmartTag 2-pack and it is priced at RM209 originally, but it’s at RM159 now. Still not as low of a price as me buying two single-pack SmartTags separately, though.

Where to buy? (Affiliate links)

Amazon US
Lazada
Shopee

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U Mobile gives free 1GB internet every month!

It’s a beautiful day for the internet-hungry people – which I presume is everyone, since we all need internet these days! U Mobile announced their brand new plan that finally puts other telcos to shame, by offering free internet for everyone every month. And that’s a full gigabyte we’re talking about here.

It takes only RM8.50 to get started – you’ll have RM5 of credit to being with too. Though to get the fre 1GB internet, you’ll have to keep your number alive to enjoy that. This is also well-documented in U Mobile’s website – which I really appreciate them for doing so.

Definitely one of the lowest priced mobile internet out there for those who don’t consume much too. This I can #ConfirmSure!
Head on over to U Mobile’s website now!

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ASUS brings ZenWatch 3 To Malaysia

The ASUS ZenWatch series has been great. They’re beautiful – and everyone loves it. ASUS knows this, that’s why they’re bringing in the ZenWatch 3!

They took a radical redesign for the ZenWatch 3 too, as it now has a circular face instead of a square one with humongous bezels. Personally, I think the ZenWatch 3 looks way more elegant than before.

For the full details regarding the ASUS ZenWatch 3, you can check it out at their product page here – or have a look at this beautifully laid out table regarding its highlights.

As for the price, you can take a look at this table. Yes, it’s available in two different strap colours – but they’re still leather.

Model Name
 Colour
 SRP incl. GST

WI503Q-1LDBR0011
Leather Strap (Dark Brown)
RM 1,199

WI503Q-2LBGE0010
Leather Strap (Beige)

If you want to pick one up for yourself, click here to check out the Lazada links. Remember to use those Lazada discount codes to get even better deals!

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Apple now makes face shields to fight COVID-19

Things are getting serious. The entire world is frantically trying to fight the pandemic by practicing social distancing and good hygiene. The front liners are constantly finding out who is infected and to nurse them back to health. Even Apple is getting into the fray by producing face shields to fight the pandemic.
Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, posted this video on Twitter stating that it is a company-wide effort to design and manufacture these face shields.

Apple is dedicated to supporting the worldwide response to COVID-19. We’ve now sourced over 20M masks through our supply chain. Our design, engineering, operations and packaging teams are also working with suppliers to design, produce and ship face shields for medical workers. pic.twitter.com/3xRqNgMThX
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 5, 2020

Like any Apple product, these face shields have some amount of engineering that goes into the design.
As stated by Tim Cook, these face shields can be packed with a total of 100 units inside a box, and the strap can be assembled and ready to use in 2 minutes. The strap is also fully adjustable so that the user can wear it and be comfortable.
Cook also stated that the company is sourcing materials and manufacturing from the United States and China, and aims to produce a total of 1 million units per week.

Currently, the company is focused on getting the face shields around the United States first and to other countries later down the line. I’d say that’s a good move considering that the United States is getting more serious as its number of infected increases exponentially every day.
And hey – I commend Apple for doing this.

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[UPDATED] Vivo V7+ Announced; 2:1 Aspect Ratio For RM1,499

In the year of 2017, there are two trends that appeared out of nowhere for smartphones – dual-camera smartphones and Samsung’s elongated screen with high screen-to-body ratio. We’ve seen the former taking a lot more attention in the market. The brand new Vivo V7+ took the latter route and is equipped with a 2:1 aspect ratio display instead.
By the way, please don’t call it 18:9. It’s 2:1. Please.

Anyway, let’s go through a quick spec rundown of the brand new Vivo V7+.

5.99-inch IPS LCD display with 1440×720 resolution
Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 chipset with octa-core processor at 1.8GHz
4GB RAM
64GB storage
 Cameras

16MP rear-facing camera
24MP selfie camera

 3225mAh battery

Alright, that’s pretty much the gist of the Vivo V7+. Let’s break it down a little, shall we?

Firstly, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 chipset. I’m actually impressed that Vivo is using a brand new chipset from Qualcomm that is fabricated using FinFET technology. That means the 3225mAh battery can last you through a day without breaking much of a sweat.
Learn more about how FinFET can help you save battery here.
With a total of 4GB RAM, the Vivo V7+ can guarantee some degree of multitasking smoothness – but might be limited due to the chipset’s processor performance.
However, that’s obviously not the main highlight of the Vivo V7+. The selfie camera is the main highlight. Boasting a 24MP camera and Face Beauty 7.0, the brand new Vivo V7+ promises clearer selfies and “naturally beautiful shots”, even in dimly-lit environments.

Other than that, the Vivo V7+ also has something called Face Beauty for Video Calls. It’s something similar to ASUS’s ZenFone Live with their real-time beautification mode. What it does is simple – apply real-time beautification to your video calls in real time. Not only that – the Vivo V7+ also has Selfie Softlight kicking in. As for now, it supports WhatsApp, Line, Facebook Messenger, Zalo, Viber, and BBM.
More points worth highlighting about the Vivo V7+ is the Hi-Fi Music with AK4376A audio chip and App Clone, where you can have two of the same app running side by side. As of now, the App Clone feature is available for WhatsApp, Line, BBM, WeChat, Zalo, and Viber.
The Vivo V7+ is available in the market already, and it’s priced at RM1,499. Comes in two colors – Crown Gold and Matte Black.
You can get it now over at Lazada too!

[UPDATE]: The Vivo V7+ is now available on Lazada, Harvey Norman, Senheng, and SenQ nationwide!
To mark the occasion, Senheng customers will be able to own the vivo V7+ with 0% instalment payment plan up to 24 months. Customers will also be offered an exclusive trade-in program in which customers are entitled to RM1800 in rebate. Customers will only have to pay approximately RM62.46 per month to purchase the 24MP Softlight Front Camera smartphone, V7+! PlusOne members are also entitled to a complimentary 1 year extended warranty and receive a vivo branded FIFA backpack worth RM100 and Watsons voucher worth RM10.
Also, from 15 October until 31 October 2017, there will be a variety of promotional offers on Vivo smartphones at online marketplaces including Lazada, 11Street, Shopee, Shoppu, and PGMall.
The promotions available within the period includes:

Free tempered glass screen protector with purchase of the vivo Y25 (RP: RM459)
Free leather slip case & tempered glass screen protector with purchase of the vivo Y53 (RP:RM599)
Free selfie stick with purchase of the vivo Y55s (RP: RM799)
Free vivo limited edition thermo-flask with purchase of the vivo Y69 (RP: RM999)
RM100 off the vivo V5 (RP: RM1099)
Free VR Box with purchase of the vivo V5s (RP: RM1,299)
Free vivo limited edition thermo-flask with purchase of the vivo V7+ (RP: RM599)

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Spotify Reveal 2013 Malaysia’s most-streamed artists

With more than 4.5 billion hours stream in 2013, 1 billion playlist created, 20,000 songs added everyday and more than 24 million user all over the world, Spotify’s Year In Review reveals the hottest songs and artists of 2013 based on the user all over the world.

For the first time, music fans can create their very own Year In Review with all the artists they have been listening throughout the year. If you still facing a problem finding the song that you want to listen, try Spotify! You can discover new music, and why not listen to some electronic while you’re at it?

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Olike Malaysia Brings Hey 3S and XH3 Heart Rate Monitors & Royal Blue Powerbank-03

In case you don’t already know what Olike is, they’re the company that makes accessories. And they’re from OPPO. With a focus on lifestyle accessories and wearable tech, Olike is launching a few new products – the Hey 3S and XH3 wearable, and the Royal Blue Olike Powerbank-03.
Let’s talk about the Hey 3S and XH3 first. It’s quite a typical power bank these days – 10,000mAh battery with dual outputs of up to 2.4A.

What’s interesting about the new Olike Powerbank-03 is its color – the Royal Blue color.
It’s available in black and red – and now, blue!
It’s striking blue color is the main point here. That blue color is seriously one of the color that is not always seen in the tech industry.
However, the Royal Blue color is only available in limited units as it’s a limited edition Olike powerbank after all. Priced at RM109, the OPB-03 is now available for purchase from all Olike Concept Stores nationwide, or from online partners such as DirectD, Satu Gadget, and Mobile2Go.
Honestly speaking, I would personally get one of these blue powerbanks too. Not because I want to charge my phone (my daily driver can last for more than a day) but because of its fantastic blue color.

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Review – Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+: A worthy laptop replacement

I was sent the new Galaxy Tab S7+ to use. Within that bag, I realized that I was also sent the Book Cover Keyboard accessory. Then I realized that the tablet actually comes with the book cover keyboard in the box – and that’s an RM999 accessory which is now included in the box for you for free.
So, I am going to review the Galaxy Tab S7+ with everything that you’ll get in your packaging too.

Let’s first talk about the tablet itself. It’s actually very thin and has a signature Samsung tablet feel to it. Very thin, sleek design while also being very sturdy – no surprises there.
There are a total of 4 speakers – two on each side – and they can get really loud and sounds great too. There is no audio jack, however.

Also please don’t put an under-display fingerprint scanner on a tablet. It’s cumbersome. Make it like the Z Fold2 with that side-mounted fingerprint scanner instead.

The screen is – not gonna lie – big and beautiful. At 12.4-inches with 2800×1752 pixels in resolution, this is essentially a 2K+ resolution and it can go up to 120Hz, with support of HDR10+.

This display is great for watching videos and also got gaming as well. We played a lot of games using this tablet – including the new Genshin Impact.

I have complained that tablets having small bezels because I can’t grab them without touching the screen – but the GalaxyTab S7+ is an exception. Here comes the Book Cover Keyboard accessories.

The back piece attaches magnetically – a humongous piece of magnet, actually, and provides a nook for the S Pen to sit in, so it can be charged wirelessly by the tablet and also protected from damages or potentially falling off the tablet.

And there’s the kickstand – I absolutely love the kickstand, honestly. It can be used at a lot of different angles and it’s excellent! But since it’s using a kickstand design, it has all of the inherent flaws too – like not being able to use the Galaxy Tab S7+ like a laptop on the lap.
How low can you go?
Then comes the front piece. It snaps on magnetically at the bottom and powered by pogo pins. It has a keyboard and a trackpad. Both the keyboard and trackpad are very reminiscent of a laptop. The keyboard keys feel great, and the layout is easy to adapt to. The FN keys do all the functions as expected from a laptop.

The trackpad works fine – even multi-finger swiping works just like a Windows or a Mac. Unfortunately, the trackpad also carried the inherently bad palm rejection from Windows laptops.
Despite the Galaxy Tab S7+ being an Android tablet, I have been using the Galaxy Tab S7+ like a laptop in DeX mode. Surprisingly, even keyboard shortcuts like show desktop, Winkey+Arrow keys for window snapping – they all work, which I absolutely love.
And RAM management is also excellent. This tablet only has 6GB RAM, but I never use more than 4.5GB.

And since this front part flops around, I flipped it back to give a platform for the kickstand to stand on – so that I can use the device on my lap stably. Fortunately, there’s a sensor that turns the keyboard off after the keyboard has been flipped to a certain angle.
One complaint I have here is that when the Book Cover Keyboard is closed entirely, it’s very difficult to open it up again. There is a discrepancy between how the lips of the two parts of this Book Cover Keyboard are made, which I think it’s simpler to show you than to explain it. To open the S Pen compartment, it’s easy. To open up the keyboard, it’s difficult.

Speaking of the S Pen, it’s super responsive with the latest technology just like the Galaxy Note20 Ultra as it brought the latency down to 9ms. The tip is a different story. It’s not the same as the Galaxy Note20 Ultra’s single soft-ish material for the tip, but the Galaxy Tab S7+’s S Pen has this… two different material situation going on. Not sure why, but this particular S Pen feels softer than the Note20 Ultra’s.

And finally, the battery life. With such a beautiful display with high resolution and high refresh rate, there’s a big 10,090mAh battery too. It lasts for a day of use as a laptop and that’s not up to my expectation. Though in fairness, like a laptop – this Galaxy Tab S7+ has great battery life, actually.

For RM4,599 – it’s a hefty price for a tablet – but a very nice tablet at that. It can do whatever you want it to – work, play, watch movies, listen to music, all of those things. This device can do it all – just that the price is a little too steep.

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Best Smartphone For November 2016

Let’s take a look at “Best Smartphone For November 2016”. The ones that give the most bang for you buck. Last year, there was a big hiatus in flagship smartphones, thanks to the controversy surrounding Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 chipset. Particularly, it’s about the efficiency of that chipset – or lack thereof. It was a dark year for smartphones
Skip a year ahead, and here we have a brand new generation of chips in the market. So what’s the best smartphone for November 2016? Of course, I’ll be focusing on the lesser-known smartphones here. That means no Samsung Galaxy S7/edge or iPhone 6/7/Plus for that matter. I’m going to cover smartphones of a few price points which I think will be the most appealing for now.

The best smartphone for November 2016 for me is not the most expensive smartphone money can buy – because we know that the iPhone 7 is expensive but it offers some really unappealing selling points to the us all.
Today, I’ll be pointing some of the critically acclaimed smartphones as of now while pointing out its pros and cons. Then, I’ll recommend you what I think is the best for the best smartphone for November 2016.
Honor 8

The absolute best smartphone for a 5.2-incher. For some reason, smartphone sizes have evolved from 3.5-inches to 5.5-inches as a standard. There are many people who still wants a smaller smartphone with flagship specifications – case and point the Xperia lineup of smaller-than-5.5-inches smartphones in the previous years.
The Honor 8 is definitely best smartphone for November 2016 in the 5.2-inch flagship category. I think Honor got it right with the Honor 7 last year, but accentuates its specialty even further this year with the Honor 8 (review here). There are a few things that I have to list down on why I really like the Honor 8:
Pros

Fingerprint reader is really fast and has a near-perfect success rate even after 1 month of using it. Also has self-learning capabilities.
Fingerprint sensor is also a pressable button, also known as the Smart Key.
Runs on HiSilicon’s Kirin 950 chipset (explained here) with octa-core processor. All of these are manufactured with 16nm FinFET technology (explained in detail here).
Has fast charging (9V 2A) to get 47% of its 3,000mAh battery in 30 minutes.
Dual-rear-facing camera a la the Huawei P9. Takes real good picture too – samples here!
Beautifully manufactured back glass. Gives a unique flair to its aesthetic, thanks to its 15-layer glass a.k.a. the Aurora glass.
Comes in 4 different colours – white, black, blue, and gold!
Actually has an IR blaster!
Has knuckle gesture that might be useful for some only.
Priced from RM 1,699

Cons

Different price for storage option with  different colour.
Camera doesn’t have OIS.
EmotionUI could be better.
Corners get scuffed easily, especially the camera area.

Click here to get an Honor 8 for yourself!
ASUS ZenFone 3

Ah, the ASUS ZenFone 3. It’s does not have the highest end hardware with underutilized performance. I’ve reviewed this piece of magnificent device not too long ago. When there’s under-utilization, there tends to be a waste of battery life too. Not to mention extra cost that we’ll have to pay for something that we don’t even use.
Anyway, the ASUS ZenFone 3 is definitely my personal favourite when it comes to the 5.5-inch devices too. Personally speaking, the ZenFone 3 wins best smartphone for November 2016 for battery-performance balance, alongside with its camera and everything else. They really did understand what customers need and catering for us all. Now what do I mean by that? Here’s my list of pros and cons about the ASUS ZenFone 3.
Pros

16MP camera with TriTech autofocus technology (laser autofocus + PD-AF + C-AF).
Camera has OIS.
Equipped by Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset with octa-core processor; manufactured in 14nm with FinFET tecnhology. Has the same hardware for both 5.2-inch and 5.5-inch version.
The 3,000mAh battery lasts beyond expectated time.
Minimalist glass design
Comes in 4 different colour options – gold, dark blue, white. Cyan for 5.2-inch version only.
ZenUI is more polished than ever.
Zero gimmicky feature.
Sapphire glass for its camera lens
Price starts from RM 1,244 for the 5.2-inch (ZE520KL) version, and from RM 1,425 for the 5.5-inch (ZE552KL) verison.

Cons

Colour availability
A little too slippery

Wanna get yourself an ASUS ZenFone 3? Check the links below.
Click here for the ASUS ZenFone 3 5.2-inch (ZE520KL) version.
Click here for the ASUS ZenFone 3 5.5-inch (ZE552KL) version.
OnePlus 3

It’s definitely a highly-recommended smartphone of 2016. Ever since its super-surprising debut on the OnePlus One 2 years ago, there had been quite a lot of buzz and rumours surrounding what wonders the OnePlus 2 will bring. Needless to say, we were all disappointed. Unluckily for them though, they were caught up with the Snapdragon 810 issue too. Not even the OnePlus X can save them.
Skip a year later, and we have the OnePlus 3. This is a major comeback for OnePlus as a whole, and we can agree that comeback is real. Here are the main highlights about the OnePlus 3.
Pros

16MP camera.
Has OIS.
Equipped with the top-class Snapdragon 820 chipset, with quad-core processor; manufactured in 14nm with FinFET tecnhology.
Has 6GB of RAM.
OxygenOS is very close to vanilla Android experience.
Has Dash Charge (fast charging).
Very low price of RM 1,749.

Cons

No microSD card slot.
Typical metal design.
Poor lens cover material.
Lots of imported sets roaming around.

You can get that very low price of RM 1,749 from Lazada. Click here to have a look!
Sony Xperia XZ

Sony is really putting out some great smartphones this year. Over the years, the Xperia lineup of devices evolved from being a generic flagship smartphone to flagship waterproof smartphones. Sony’s build quality has always been renowned to be great too.
Pros

Stereo front-facing speakers
23MP rear-facing camera with EIS only, uses PD-AF and laser autofocus technology
13MP selfie camera
Has Triluminos display with X-Reality Engine for that beuatiful display quality.
Equipped with the top-class Snapdragon 820 chipset, with quad-core processor; manufactured in 14nm with FinFET tecnhology.
Has a standardized Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0.
Waterproof!

Cons

Price
Only 3GB RAM
No OIS

Prices for the Xperia XZ starts from ~RM 2,469. Click here to check out the deal!
Moto Z

With Project Ara ended prematurely, there’s a gap in all of us fans of modular smartphones. The first ever debut since Lenovo’s acquisition on Motorola’s smartphone division has been mesmerizing with the Moto Z. We’ve talked quite in-depth about it here, too.

Pros

Modularity with wide range of accessories.
Multiple different back covers if no accessories are used.
2K resolution display.
Equipped with the top-class Snapdragon 820 chipset, with quad-core processor; manufactured in 14nm with FinFET tecnhology.
Has Fast Charging.
Moto’s promise that these accessories will last for few generations of devices to come.

Cons

Price of the the entire modular ecosystem, especially accessories.
5MP selfie camera.

The price of the Moto Z starts from RM 2,288, and will start shipping on 24th November 2016. Click here to pre-order now. You can even get the Moto 360 at RM699.
Honor 5C

I’ve reviewed this smartphone not too long ago too. It’s a tiny little smartphone smartphone with commendable specs. In a way, it’s like the Honor 8’s little brother. I highly recommend this smartphone for those don’t see a need to invest on a smartphone priced higher than RM 800.
Pros

5.2-inch 1080p screen.
Runs on HiSilicon’s Kirin 650 chipset (explained here) with octa-core processor. All of these are manufactured with 16nm FinFET technology (explained in detail here).
Battery life is pretty decent.
Metal body.
Price. Starts at a very low price of RM698 only!

Cons

EmotionUI can be further improved.
Camera is very basic.

Again – the price of RM698 for the Honor 5C is definitely the main highlight here. For its specs, I can ignore all of its cons.
Check out the deal right here!
ASUS ZenFone 3 Max

Review coming soon!
The ASUS ZenFone Max is a very basic 5.2-inch smartphone with extremely long battery life in mind. It’s not the first time that ASUS ever cooked up a smartphone like this either. Yet this approach is extremely effective, and gives the user beyond a day’s worth of battery life in a single charge.
Pros

Battery life. That 4,100mAh battery is not a joke!
Uses ASUS’s ZenUI and not iOS-like.
Comes with a USB OTG cable in the box.
Metal body.
Price. At ~RM649, you get battery life beyond anyone’s expectations!

Cons

MediaTek chipset.
720p display.

Before I tell you the price – I’ll have to tell you this – there’s another 5.5-inch version of the ZenFone 3 Max with laser autofocus coming soon. So if need a larger smartphone with an overkill amount of battery life, then get that instead.
Anyway, the ASUS ZenFone 3 Max 5.2-inch version is priced at ~RM649. Check out the deal right here!

Wrap up
So what’s the best smartphone out there? Highest end flagship devices irregardless of budget, I’ll go with the Sony Xperia XZ. Waterproof is a pretty big deal for me, especially for a smartphone that costs >RM2.5k. Also, it has stereo front-facing speakers! I’ve also seen some complaints regarding how loose the magnetic mechanism is on the Moto Z, so I’ll pass on this generation and have a look at the next instead.
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Personally speaking, I’m torn between the ASUS ZenFone 3 and the Honor 8. Why? They both have superior performance. However, the size and feature difference sets them pretty far apart from each other. I really like the Honor 8 for all the feature it offers, but most of it will not be used. Also, EmotionUI can really be improved further. The ASUS ZenFone 3 doesn’t have all of those potentially unused features – but instead gives more value to day-to-day features like its camera.
On the subject of sub-RM,1000 smartphones, it comes down to a single deciding factor – the battery. The ZenFone 3 Max’s battery is just insane. Get that and you’ll never have to worry about losing juice in the middle of the day.

Do you like our buyer’s guide for the best smartphone for November 2016? Share this with your friends if you find it helpful or learned a thing or two! That’ll let us know that you like it and we’ll have more of these coming down in the future.
Also, let us know what you think of our best smartphone for November 2016 guide down in the comment section below!

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“Review” – ASUS ProArt StudioBook One: RM50k for a laptop!

Yes – this ASUS ProArt StudioBook One is priced at RM50k – or at USD $10k. That’s a hefty price for a laptop but this laptop is not meant for plebians like you and me. This laptop is meant for those who are working for places like Pixar, Illumination, and Blue Sky Animation studios.
For them, this insanely high price is actually a good deal considering that we are working from home now, and having a laptop that can help them work at home is a boon. And this is also the world’s first laptop to be using the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 graphics.

Here’s a quick rundown of the specs of the ASUS ProArt StudioBook One:

Intel Core i9-9980HK
NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 with 24GB of VRAM
64GB of LPDDR4-2400MHz RAM
1TB Samsung NVMe SSD

Its design is… reminiscent of a turtle’s shell. Maybe a mecha turtle because of the angles. The screen and cover separate from each other when the lid is opened, by the way. It uses a rail system to hold the screen so that a gap is created on both the intake (bottom) and exhaust (top) for ventilation.

And yes – all of the high-powered components found in this ASUS ProArt StudioBook One is packed behind the screen. And honestly speaking, the cooling solution here works very well.

NVIDIA claims that they’re using an ultra-thin titanium vapor chamber that can wick 300W of heat at a third of the weight of similar-sized cooling technologies and is optimized for system airflow to perform whisper-quiet operation during normal workloads.

Now, I have mentioned NVIDIA here and not ASUS, and that’s because this laptop is made in partnership between NVIDIA and ASUS. It’s a concept by NVIDIA which they’re calling it the “concept car” design with the codename ACE.

What it means to be “ProArt”
In front of all the powerful hardware, we have a 15.6-inch screen. This is a 4K IPS LCD screen that can go up to 120Hz and it also supports G-SYNC. For an IPS LCD screen, it can also go really bright and can also be used under bright daylight outdoors since it’s covered by a slightly matte finish.

Being a creator workstation laptop, this laptop puts a heavy emphasis on colors. While we don’t have a color calibration tool, my experienced eyes have tested many displays over the years, and for all I can say, the StudioBook One’s screen is the best I’ve seen.
ASUS also put a lot of emphasis on colors, so they built-in a color calibration tool in the ProArt Creator Hub software. The calibrator is not included, by the way. It is of best practice to recalibrate the screen’s color every month or so to ensure that the colors are accurate. That’s because the screen color shifts over time.
Also, within the ProArt Creator Hub – we also have other options like a quick dashboard to see what’s going on with the system, or to create a group of apps that you can click on right away and launch all of those applications at once.
This is something that I didn’t know I needed until I saw this because whenever I edit a video, I use 5 of Adobe’s software at once – After Effects, Audition, Premiere Pro, Media Encoder, and also Photoshop.

And the speaking of Adobe and its suite of software, this is where the ASUS ProArt StudioBook One stands out with its RTX6000 graphics card. It can play your games – sure, but content creation is where it’s at. It’s overkill for my relatively lightweight use case too.
When I’m juggling both video and photo editing at the same time, I have Lightroom running at the same time. Honestly, with Lightroom and Premiere opened – my power desktop’s GTX 1080’s 8GB VRAM is used up completely. With the ProArt StudioBook One, that 24GB VRAM is just impossible for me to use up.

One-of-a-kind laptop, but with flaws
Now, I’m grateful to actually have the opportunity to try this laptop that has a completely out of the ordinary design. It’s cool (literally) and all, it definitely has a few compromises. My biggest gripe here is the keyboard. Why did they think using Apple’s butterfly switches is a good idea? I’m sorry, but the keyboard just sucks.

And then, the ports. With all of the guts and the motherboard stuck behind the screen, all of the ports are beside the screen. We have 3x Thunderbolt 3 ports and a single charging port that looks like a USB-C port but it’s actually a proprietary port. There’s no audio jack here.
ASUS also included a dongle dock with the laptop, so you get a few more display outputs and USB-A ports – but there’s no audio jack too. That means we’ll need to buy our own or just use audio over HDMI instead.
And there’s another Ethernet port too.
And lastly, back to the screen. This ProArt StudioBook One also uses Advanced Optimus which means we can change between G-SYNC and Optimus mode without having to reboot, which is a huge improvement over what we’ve seen on the ROG Zephyrus Duo which requires a reboot.
But there are some quirks. The 120Hz refresh rate can only be used in G-SYNC mode, which is fine. But it seems to have amnesia as it goes back to 60Hz when the display goes to sleep, or reboots – even when it’s plugged in. It’s just really annoying.

Tiny 300W power brick
Both ASUS and NVIDIA really pushed the envelope of the future of laptop charging bricks as this tiny little thing here is a 300W power supply. They’re using GaN substrate instead of silicon, which means the components can shrink and be more efficient at the same time. I am honestly very surprised by the size of that power brick, actually.

I’m looking forward to the day where gaming laptop’s power brick(s) shrink in size as well. Currently, those powerful laptops have humongous power bricks and I just can’t wait for the day for them to output like 180W in a super tiny form factor.
If you need this amount of power, then the ASUS ProArt StudioBook One is the only choice – or is it?
Okay, so I think that’s all I want to talk about the ASUS ProArt StudioBook One. I like the cooling system, the power brick, the performance – but I’m not a fan of the keyboard at all. There are some weird quirks here and there, but this is the only laptop that has the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 graphics inside.

I mean, obviously this laptop is not meant for everyone but ASUS also have more conventionally-designed ProArt laptops like the StudioBook Pro 17 W700 – which we will review some time later.

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Xiaomi adds new Watch S1 series and Buds 3T Pro to the smart gadget lineup in Malaysia

Pretty sure you’ve caught on to the launch of the Xiaomi 12 series smartphone. That’s not all as they’ve also released the new Xiaomi Watch S1 wearable and Buds 3T Pro TWS.
First up is the modern professional-styled Watch S1 that runs a combination of sapphire glass and stainless-steel frame to give that streamlined, clean, and high-class aesthetics. Housing a 1.43-inch AMOLED display to display 1 out of 200 available watch faces, there’s a choice to be made of whether going for the classic leather or aiming for the fluororubber straps for more dirt-resistance. As a smartwatch, it can do things like wireless Bluetooth calls, notification displays, NFC payments, fitness tracking, health monitoring, and more. With dual-band GPS powering its location tracking, it offers an all-rounded experience that fills up a big part of life the majority of people are going through nowadays. Additionally, typical usage will have the Watch S1 lasting for around 12 days or 24 days on battery-saving mode.

On the other hand, the Watch S1 Active is created solely to be the companion for fitness-focused individuals with its vibrant colors and highly customizable stylings. Equipped with the same AMOLED display as the former, it offers more sports-related content where in addition to 117 fitness modes and 19 professional modes, the device will automatically initiate fitness tracking when it detects walking and running. Other than that, it offers other features similar to the Watch S1.

Lastly is the new guy in the TWS family – the Buds 3T Pro sporting a set of 10mm dual-magnet dynamic drivers with a sectional DLC coating that pumps out rich sounds with little distortion taken further through the support of the LHDC 4.0 audio codec. With 3 ANC modes of Full, Adaptive, and Transparency to choose from, users can adjust how much they want to delve into the world of music on the fly. The TWS also offers a 360-degree soundscape usable for videos and movies that provides directional audio while the dual-connection allows it to be connected to a smartphone and PC at the same time to answer phone calls without disconnecting from either one of them. For the battery, one full charge can last the pair of buds for 6 hours while the case can hold up to 3 full charges.
Pricing
You may buy the new Xiaomi Watch S1 series smartwatch and the Buds 3T Pro TWS starting right now at the following price:

Xiaomi Watch S1 @ RM899
Xiaomi Watch S1 Active @ RM649
Xiaomi Buds 3T Pro @ RM549

Also, until March 24, each purchase of the Watch S1 will net you an extra Redmi Bds 3 Pro for free while the Watch S1 Active gets the Redmi Buds 3 Lite so treat it as a little bonus for being an early bird. For the Buds 3T Pro, it is RM50 cheaper at RM499 during the same promotion period too.

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ASUS ROG realizes the gamer home dream through partnership with IKEA

ASUS ROG is going to provide a series of exclusive gaming furniture solutions with the help of furniture giant IKEA to leverage the gaming experiences and find a way for players to discover a new aspect of the gaming lifestyle.
The partnership is dictated from the fact that the interest in gaming has never slowed down with an estimated 2.5 billion gamers around the world and what would be the better way to extend and promote gaming to the family members through actions instead of words by furnishing the household etched with the eye of ROG.

ASUS ROG will be tapping into the design philosophy of attractive and functional furniture designs by IKEA and applying them to the needs of gamers by gathering community insights and realize them in the form of a physical household item. On the other hand, I hope my next gaming chair purchase at IKEA will come with a free set of meatballs though.

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Chromebook Enterprise Laptop and 2-in-1 Dell Latitude 7410 available now from RM4,889

Dell Malaysia has announced the Latitude 7410 Chromebook Enterprise Laptop and 2-in-1 that provides the confidence businesses need to embrace the new normal of working from anywhere.

Chrome OS ran by Chromebooks has several benefits that are more productivity-focused such as low software cost due to Google bundling some of them in the OS, less risk, and exposure to conventional viruses and malware that mainly target Windows machines. With security and work from anywhere being the prime attention for industrial users these days, the offerings fit their requirements pretty well.
The Latitude 7410 is the very first Chromebook Enterprise to feature a 4K display with Low Blue Light feature to ease eye strains alongside the largest battery that goes up to 21 hours with a 0% to 80% charge requiring approximately 1 hour only.

Both variants come with mostly similar hardware specs, with a slight difference in build quality and materials which subsequently affects the weight too.

Processor

Intel Core i5-10310U

Display

Laptop: 14.0″ FHD (1920 x 1080) Anti-glare, Non-Touch
2-in-1: 14.0″ FHD (1920 x 1080) Anti-reflective and Anti-smudge, Super Low Power, Touch

RAM

8GB DDR4

Storage

256GB NVMe SSD

Battery

4 Cell 52WHr ExpressCharge Capable

Support Service

3-year ProSupport

Weight

Laptop: 1.39kg
2-in-1: 1.63kg

Build Material

Laptop: Carbon Fiber
2-in-1: Aluminium

The laptop variant of the Latitude 7410 ChromeBook Enterprise will start at RM4,889 while the 2-in-1 starts at RM5,859 and you can start placing your orders through the official Dell website first-hand, with stocks reaching retailers and local sellers in the future.

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Review – Ugreen 100W 3C1A GaN charger: The only one charger you’ll need

With more and more phones not having a charger included in the box, these 3rd party chargers are starting to get more and more attention. Ugreen, one of the brands that I personally recommend, came out with a new 100W GaN charger.
This charger is essentially a higher-powered version of the 65W GaN charger that we reviewed earlier. It also has triple USB-C ports and a single USB-A port with a maximum total wattage output of 100W.

The power splitting of the Ugreen 100W 3C1A GaN charger is an interesting one:

First USB-C: 100W max
Second USB-C: 100W max
Third USB-C: 22.5W max
Fourth USB-A: 22.5W max

However, there is yet another requirement in order to get the maximum 100W power out of the charger – the cable. Yes, this charger requires cables that are rated to carry that 100W of power. These cables look identical to other cables and that’s just confusing.
There is no indication that the cable supports 100W over USB-PD!
But that aside, there aren’t many devices that support 100W. We do have a laptop that uses a 100W USB-C charger, but for some reason – we cannot charge it at 100W with the Ugreen 100W 3C1A GaN charger. But, it does get 65W instead. From what we know, it’s the laptop’s inability to receive 100W through the USB-PD protocol.

Nonetheless, we can charge multiple different devices since this charger can output 100W in total. Perhaps charging an ultrabook laptop with 65W, then charge my phone with 25W, and another 10W to spare – maybe to charge my smartwatch? Or maybe I can slowly charge all my devices by plugging in my tablet too?

All in all, having a charger like this is really nice. Imagine a single charger for all your devices – that really saves a lot of space and no messy cables around the table. The Ugreen 100W 3C1A GaN charger is a fantastic all-in-one charger that can last you for literal years as laptops and smartphones will need quite a long time to move away from proprietary charging standards into USB-PD.
Learn more about the charger here.

Where to buy? (Affiliate links)

Amazon US
Lazada
Shopee

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Review – ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX371: An excellent flip laptop!

Here we have the brand new ASUS ZenBook Flip S with the model name UX371. This laptop was announced a month ago in conjunction with Intel’s 11th Gen processor announcement.
This is actually one of the most interesting flip laptops I’ve tested since it performs great and it also uses an OLED screen.

Design
The new ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX371 is a convertible ultrabook – which means you can use it as a laptop or flip it over and convert it to be a tablet or anything in between. It’s 13.9mm thin and only at 1.2kg in weight – which is surprising considering the fact that it’s made entirely out of metal.

The one we have here has the “Jade Black” finish. And I’m specifically wearing this shirt because the color scheme is way too similar. It has a very deep blue color overall but the accents – including the chamfered edges all around the rim of the ZenBook Flip S – is in a copper color. ASUS is calling it “Red Copper diamond-cut highlight” but hey – all I care is that it looks amazing.

What’s not amazing here though, is the fingerprint magnetism on the lid. It has the usual ZenBook design with concentric circles rippling out from the ASUS logo, and the circles are very fine this time. Not sure if that’s the reason that it has so many fingerprints, but it’s happening.
Screen
I was caught off-guard, actually. This ZenBook Flip S uses a 4K 13.3-inch AMOLED touchscreen, which I thought was an extremely high-grade IPS LCD at first because the colors aren’t as overly-saturated as the Gigabyte AERO 15 OLED XB – which we reviewed here – but have that extreme brightness. What I mean here is that the ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX371 has excellent color calibration.

ASUS also touts that this screen here is Pantone-validated, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, and also has VESA DisplayHDR 500 certification. Yes, HDR is supported.
Specs and performance
Now, 4K resolution is not easy to drive – especially for an ultrabook with lower-powered chips. This is where Intel’s new 11th Generation Tiger Lake is supposed to shine – and it does shine. The Intel Core i7-1065G7 with the Intel Irix Xe integrated graphics can get a lot of things done.
Here’s a quick list of specs:

13.3-inch 4K OLED screen
Intel Core i7-1165G7
Intel Iris Xe graphics (96 execution units)
16GB RAM 4267MHz
1TB Western Digital PC SN730 NVMe SSD

Through my usage experience, the ZenBook Flip S never once showed any signs of lag. And with proper power profile management, the fans can also be dead silent.

Now, if I tuned the power profile to its maximum performance – the ZenBook Flip S UX371 can actually be used to edit videos. I installed Premiere Pro in it for lols and took one of our videos, dumped it into the laptop – since it also has a 1TB NVMe SSD – and tried running it. I was surprised by how well Iris Xe handled the task.

I should also mention that the ZenBook Flip S UX371 that we have here, has 16GB of RAM. In task manager, Iris Xe reports 8GB of shared memory – which I suspect has half of the total system RAM allocated as the Iris Xe’s VRAM. This really is important as my problem with AMD’s Ryzen 4000 series integrated GPUs have only 512MB of VRAM – which means we can’t do much even if that graphic processor is powerful.
Footages from our Sony cameras run smoothly.
Speaking of the graphic processor power, we have another video where we test out games on the ZenBook Flip S UX371. We did that over at Tech Critter’s channel, and we dive deep into the i7-1165G7’s performance and a few other things.

Touchscreen, trackpad, keyboard
Okay, so other than that – let’s talk about some other things about the ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX371. The touchscreen works as expected – why wouldn’t it?
The touchpad has now grown horizontally, making it ultrawide like my 21:9 monitor which also has the NumberPad feature. The trackpad works great but has the usual palm rejection issue.

And the keyboard is something that I truly love. It’s springy, has a relatively long travel distance, and feels like there’s an internal dampener. The typing area’s keys have shorter keycaps vertically, but I got used to it real quick. It also has ErgoLift hinge, by the way, elevates the laptop just a little bit when the lid is opened.

Buttons and ports
Quick complain – the power button on the right side is very mushy. And while we’re at it, let’s talk about the ports.
At the right side beside the aforementioned power button, there’s a USB-A port (5Gb/s).

At the left side, we have a full-sized HDMI port, and two shiny new Thunderbolt 4 bolts.

I have 2 complaints here. Firstly, thank you ASUS for including two Thunderbolt 4 ports, but please move one of it to the right side so I can charge by plugging it to either left or right side. I feel like a broken record for saying this same thing over and over away, honestly.
Secondly, no audio jack – again. Just like the ZenBook 14 UX425 that we reviewed earlier.
Battery life
Packed with a 67Wh battery, the battery life… is quite decent. The ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX371 can last for about 7 hours or so under our usual heavy workload. I’m using it at about 50% brightness and remember – we have the OLED variant of this laptop.

The speaker
Tuned by Harman Kardon, the speakers on this thin and light laptop is surprisingly good! We’ve shown how the speaker sounds in the video at the top of this review.
Should you buy the ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX371?
I can’t really answer that for now. I still do not have the pricing or availability of this laptop in Malaysia as of now. But, the ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX371 is an amazing laptop. It’s beautiful, thin, lightweight, yet powerful thanks to the new 11th Gen Intel Core chipset.

I’ll just say this – if you’re looking to buy an ultrabook right now, then consider getting any of the latest ASUS ZenBook series of laptops with Tiger Lake chips. The 11th Gen Intel Core chipset is such a big upgrade over 10th Gen Intel Core chipsets.

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Kingston partners up with CSD for a new mask design competition; stand a chance to win cash prizes and Kingston products

Kingston has kickstarted a new competition together with leading face mask brand CSD, dubbed the Kingston X CSD APAC Mask Design centered around the theme of “There’s Strength in Memory”.
Designed to bring out the creative minds across markets to unleash the power of memories, the competition is open to people who reside in Taiwan, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, and Hong Kong to come up with a design based on their enchanting memories and life experiences and applying them in the form of face masks.

All submitted entries will be judged based on 2 criteria that one of them based on the portrayal of a maximum of 3 colors and how they bring out the artistic composition while the other is free-range for the color selection with an emphasis on the overall impression and color gradients instead.
The submission period starts from November 24 and runs for a month until December 24 with the finalist being announced during January 27 which will commence the online voting round until February 7 that is also the day that the one who takes the crown is going to be revealed as well. The total prize pool of $14,400 will be spread according to the Best Design Awards, Fan Favourite Award, and Special Award.

Grand Prize: $5000 USD, 50x custom-made face mask, trophy
2nd – 5th Place: $300 USD, 50x custom-made face mask, trophy
Top 5 Fan Favourite Finalist: Product package from Kingston and CSD (~$300 USD worth), ranked based on number of Likes
Special Award: $1000 USD, 20x custom-made face mask

While not joining the competition, the audience can vote for their favorite designs every day, but if you are trying your hand and wish to demonstrate your skill, don’t miss the golden opportunity to submit your design early in order to get maximum likes from the audience and win exciting prizes.
More information about the design contest can be found here.
I think you can also take some inspiration from the Yume Kojo festival that was in Japan. It’s a rather weird festival which actually is where the Mario series Snifit and Shy Guy seemingly originate from. They all wear masks (different types), which were shown at the Yume Kojo festival.

Perhaps we can take inspiration from this weird, bizarre event with its mask designs?

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Youtube Added “Slow-mo” Effect Feature

Youtube just added a brand new feature to enhance your video to have a better effect on your video – Slow- Motion!!!

Now, we can just make tweaks and add effects to our videos directly on YouTube without  reuploading the entire video and our video’s URL, view count, comments, etc., will stay the same, since it’s just like adding another layer on it.
With this slow-motion effect, you don’t even need to capture footage using a high-speed-camera. Just click the edit button and navigate to Enhancements Tool and apply it to any of your existing video. It’s entirely ready for you to use and explore.

Here are two sample video of before and after editing with the Slow-motion effect:
Before: Normal Speed

After: 1/8 Speed

Amazed? So am I!
Via: Engadget

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Spotify summarizes 2015 in music

Spotify is really generous enough to get all these data, put it all into a big list just for us all. Sure, nostalgia doesn’t hit as strong as any songs from a decade ago. Just like how I can remind you of this song and you’ll go “OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH“.

Anyway, here’s the list – all thanks to Spotify!
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Malaysia Year in Music 2015
Top Five Artists in Malaysia

Ed Sheeran
One Direction
Maroon 5
Sam Smith
Jay Chou

Top Five Asian Artists in Malaysia

周杰倫 Jay Chou
BigBang
林俊傑 JJ Lin
EXO
Dato Siti Nurhaliza

Top Five Tracks in Malaysia

See You Again (feat. Charlie Puth) – Wiz Khalifa
Love Me Like You Do – From “Fifty Shades Of Grey” – Ellie Goulding
Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran
Photograph – Ed Sheeran
Sugar – Maroon 5

Top Five Albums in Malaysia

Title – Meghan Trainor
Beauty Behind The Madness – The Weeknd
Delirium – Ellie Goulding
Handwritten – Shawn Mendes
Reflection – Fifth Harmony

Top Five Viral Tracks in Malaysia

Like I’m Gonna Lose You – Meghan Trainor
Stitches – Shawn Mendes
The Hills – The Weeknd
Flashlight – From “Pitch Perfect 2” Soundtrack – Jessie J
Cheerleader – Felix Jaehn Remix Radio Edit – OMI

Top Five Playlists in Malaysia

Today’s Top Hits
Afternoon Acoustic
Pop Ballads
Your Favorite Coffeehouse
Peaceful Piano
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Spotify’s Global Year in Music 2015
Most Streamed Artist of 2015: Drake
Drake is the world’s most streamed artist of 2015 with over 1.8 billion streams this year and 46 million listeners, beating Ed Sheeran, last year’s most streamed artist.
Most-Streamed Female of 2015: Rihanna
With over 1 billion streams and 57 million listeners this year, Rihanna is 2015’s most streamed female artist.
Most Streams in a Single Day: Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber set a record with the most streams in a single day of all time with 36 million streams on November 13.
Most-Streamed song of 2015: Lean On (ft. MØ and DJ Snake) by Major Lazer
Lean On (ft. MØ and DJ Snake) by Major Lazer is the most streamed song of 2015, Spotify users listened to it over 540 million times this year. This popular track also ranks as the most streamed song of all time on Spotify.
Major Lazer thanked fans and said “One Love, One Lazer!! Thanks to you: our friends, fam and global squad, ‘Lean On’ is the world’s most streamed track!!”
Most-Streamed album of 2015: The Weeknd – Beauty Behind The Madness
The Weeknd’s 60 million listeners made Beauty Behind The Madness the most streamed album of the year. Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late comes in at #2.
“It’s been an insane year working with some really talented people. Thank you to the fans on Spotify for making “Beauty Behind the Madness” is the most streamed album of 2015”, said The Weeknd.
Most-Streamed Artist of All Time: Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran is now the most streamed artist of all time on Spotify, with more than 3 billion streams to date, and with over 59 million listeners this year.
Breakout Artist of 2015: Kygo
Norwegian DJ and producer, Kygo, is crowned breakout artist of the year, becoming the first Spotlight artist to reach 1 billion streams, with hits including Firestone and Stole the Show.
Kygo said “2015 has been a crazy year for me, and Spotify have supported me right from the start. It’s an honour to be their Breakout Artist of the year, and I’m super excited to see what we can do together in 2016!”
Most Viral Track of 2015: Sugar (ft. Francesco Yates) by Robin Schulz
Robin Schulz’s Sugar (ft. Francesco Yates) is the most viral track of the year, appearing on Spotify’s Global Viral 50 chart 55 times this year. Drake’s Hotline Bling is #2.
Robin Schulz commented “Things that go viral are normally cat videos, small children doing stupid stuff or both – so it’s amazing when this happens to one of your songs!! Thanks to everyone who shared “Sugar” on Spotify this year!”
Most Popular Playlist of 2015: Today’s Top Hits
Of Spotify’s 2 billion playlists, Today’s Top Hits was the most popular this year with close to 70 million hours of listening.
Most Musical Day of 2015:
June 19 was the biggest day for streams on Spotify in 2015.
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Global Results
Top Five Global Artists

Drake
Ed Sheeran
The Weeknd
Maroon 5
Kanye West

Top Five Global Males

Drake
Ed Sheeran
The Weeknd
Maroon 5
Kanye West

Top Five Global Females

Rihanna
Ariana Grande
Nicki Minaj
Beyoncé
Ellie Goulding

Top Five Global Tracks

Lean On (feat. MØ & DJ Snake) – Major Lazer
Cheerleader – Felix Jaehn Remix Radio Edit – OMI
Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson
See You Again (feat. Charlie Puth) – Wiz Khalifa
Love Me Like You Do – From “Fifty Shades Of Grey” – Ellie Goulding

Top Five Global Albums

Beauty Behind The Madness – The Weeknd
If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late – Drake
Peace Is The Mission – Major Lazer
Stories – Avicii
Title – Meghan Trainor

Top Five Global Viral Tracks

Sugar (feat. Francesco Yates) – Robin Schulz
Hotline Bling – Drake
Ain’t Nobody (Loves Me Better) – Felix Jaehn
Can’t Feel My Face – The Weeknd
Here – Alessia Cara

Top Five Global Playlists

Today’s Top Hits
Afternoon Acoustic
Baila Reggaeton
Hot Country
RapCaviar

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Feel like listening to all these? Check them all out at the embedded playlist below!
You can embed the Spotify Year in Music playlist online using the Spotify Play Button with this embed code

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Ducky Malaysia announces their comeback with upcoming products

Let me first tell you a bit of history. My first ever mechanical keyboard that I bought was the original Ducky One TKL nonbacklit version, which I eventually modded it to have orange LEDs. I love that keyboard so much so the point that I even got it signed by Team Secret. Things happened last year – and now, Ducky Malaysia is back again with a punch as they are bringing in existing Ducky keyboards into the Malaysian market, and announced some upcoming new products as well.
Let’s briefly go through the existing catalog of products that are available in the market first. They’re bringing in their keycap sets into the market which I truly appreciate. Ducky is the only one keyboard brand that includes doubleshot PBT keycaps instead of the conventional ABS ones.

I love their keycaps.
The list of keyboards they have now in the market are:

One 2 Mini Black
One 2 Mini White
One 2 Black
One 2 TKL Black
Shine 7 Blackout
One 2 TKL Midnight

We were also shown some other upcoming keyboards too. One particularly interesting keyboard that I have my eyes on is the Ducky One 2 SF. This SF variant is slightly smaller than a standard TKL, but not quite mini yet. The arrow keys are still retained although the navigation cluster keys are moved into the function layer. If the keyboard can be fully customized, then this is truly a keyboard that I will swap over.
Ducky One 2 SF and Mecha Mini
Another upcoming series of keyboards is the new Mecha series. Ducky said that any keyboards within the new Mecha series will have an aluminium chassis with zinc alloy keyboard stand. Wow.

And of course, the Year of the Pig edition mechanical keyboard. Every year, Ducky will produce a limited edition keyboard that is designed around the Chinese zodiac for that particular year. Since this is the pig year, Ducky collaborated with metalwork master Kulele Ruladen to design the beautiful artwork inspired by the history of the Paiwan people.

I am in awe as Ruladen managed to tell a story of how Paiwan people hunt boar in the wild through an artwork that looks like a cave painting. Its story is dense and packed with details and it is just a piece of art.

For more information on Ducky Malaysia’s comeback and where to buy them, check out their Facebook post below.
For the question where to buy, check the video below. You can also visit their Lazada store here.

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Amazfit announces latest fitness enthusiast-grade smartwatch T-Rex Pro

Amazfit has revealed the latest top dog smartwatch product in the form of an upgrade to the T-Rex, the T-Rex Pro.

The T-Rex Pro is marketed as the superior outdoor companion to date by the company. Through clearing additional military-grade testing and QC, another 3 is added on top of the original 12 with the support of 4 global satellite navigation systems built directly into the device to pinpoint your position no matter you go. Holding a water resistance rating of up to 100 meters, it also included extra sport modes that make up a total of more than 100 sports activities with proper physical status monitoring.

Let’s talk about looks. The design isn’t too far off from the standard T-Rex and looks almost the same but the angles and overall size have been scaled a little bit to be a bit larger to fit in the adventurous theme while being a smartwatch fitted for action, resistance for extreme temperature changes and shocks is just a piece of cake for it. Aesthetic-wise, the 1.3-inch AMOLED screen is great at displaying clocks, faceplates, and widgets for daily and sports use.

Aside from the usual heart rate, sleep quality, and PAI health assessment system, the FirstBeat function adds an extra icing on top for maximum oxygen intake, recovery time, and training load while ExerSense is an algorithm that triggers automatically when you start to perform 1 of the 8 preset movement detection pattern so that the watch starts recording them by its own.
Availability

No pricing has been announced as of now but all we know is that the 3 available colors are Meteorite Black, Desert Grey, and Steel Blue.

UPDATE: The Amazfit T-Rex Pro is available in RM659!
Then, on 4th April 2021, the Amazfit T-Rex Pro will be available for purchase on Amazfit Official Store Shopee.

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Review – ASUS ExpertBook B3 Detachable B3000: Windows on Snapdragon is….. interesting

The unit of the ASUS ExpertBook B3 Detachable B3000 we tested was an engineering sample.
Running Windows on an ARM-based machine had been a thing since the release of Windows 8 and the Microsoft Surface RT. Fast forward to today, we first reviewed one more Windows laptop that is powered by a Snapdragon chip more than a year ago – and today is the second laptop running a Snapdragon chipset.

This is the ASUS ExpertBook B3 Detachable. It’s a weird combination of hardware and software – but is it feasible? Let’s talk about it today.

As the name suggests, this is a detachable machine. What it means is that inside the box, you get the tablet itself, the back cover that also acts as a kickstand, and also the keyboard. All of them are meant to be used together.

The overall design is nice. Its compactness is a plus point. The kickstand’s design is also very innovative as it can make the tablet stand in either portrait or landscape, or inverted. The stand is also supremely sturdy, so the tablet definitely wouldn’t topple.

But the denim material on the kickstand and the keyboard is something that I think wouldn’t last long. It’s difficult to clean and for our unit here, the sides already started fraying.

Opening up the cover reveals that this tablet is using a 10.5-inch IPS LCD screen with a glossy finish. Of course, it is also a touchscreen since it is a tablet after all. While I am usually okay with bezels on a tablet so that we can hold the device properly, the bezels on this ExpertBook B3 Detachable are just way too thicc.

We also tested the color accuracy of the screen and found out that it can reach 98.18% of sRGB and 87.4% of DCI-P3 color gamuts and with low Delta E numbers too. Pretty good.

Even the brightness is decent. ASUS advertised that this tablet can go up to 320 nits of brightness and our colorimeter did report 331 nits – and that’s still not enough for outdoor usage, but good enough for indoors.

The keyboard is fairly decent but needs some time to adapt to the smaller surface area of each key. I can get used to it pretty quickly since I am already using the Apple Magic Keyboard anyway.

The travel distance of each key on this keyboard is actually fairly good and it needs a fair bit of force before it bottoms out.

The keyboard also is lifted up by snapping a part of it to the screen, creating a few degrees of inclination on the keyboard for better typing. However, this also means the Windows taskbar is difficult to be touched, and the keyboard tends to flex a little while typing at the opposite ends of the keyboard – and it also has this echo chamber effect while typing.

Of course, you can also use the keyboard flat if you want, and avoid the aforementioned flexing and echo chamber sound.

The trackpad is fairly squished at the bottom here – but it tracks well and has decent palm rejection – so no complaints here other than the tiny size.

My biggest complaint though, has got to do with two things – the performance and the operating system. Our unit of the ASUS ExpertBook B3 Detachable comes with this list of specs:

You see, the Qualcomm chipsets are based on ARM architecture, however, Windows is originally made for x86 architecture. This means that all the existing software – including the operating system – will either:

have to be rewritten specifically for ARM; or
have a translation layer to translate x86 codes to ARM

I won’t go much in detail about it in this video, but just know that Windows on ARM is still very sluggish and it’s painful to even navigate the web using this machine. Opening Microsoft Edge – which is using the ARM version on this laptop – is sluggish. Maximizing and minimizing YouTube videos is also sluggish.

I tried Chrome but it’s worse since Chrome has no ARM version available for Windows. This is the biggest disappointment since I thought it would’ve been improved since more than a year has passed since I last reviewed a Windows Snapdragon laptop and Windows 11 was launched – but no. Nothing has changed.
Even the boot up time takes forever, by the way.

To add salt to injury, the ASUS ExpertBook B3 Detachable also comes with a stylus, by the way. It’s an active stylus that needs to be charged and it works okay overall – it’s just the lack of applications that this tablet can run. We can now either use the Microsoft Paint, or the Microsoft Whiteboard. I mean, the stylus is fairly decent – but the performance on this tablet can sometimes lag while using Microsoft Whiteboard too.

Okay, back to the ASUS ExpertBook B3 Detachable. Around the tablet, we have the power button and the volume rocker on the top left side, then we have the audio jack and one USB-C port at the bottom right corner. That’s it. This is the one port that is available on the laptop. Want to charge the laptop and transfer files to a USB drive at the same time? Get a dongle. Get your own dongle, actually. Because there is no dongle included in the box.

One good thing about this device though, is that you probably don’t need to charge it that often. For my usage of web-browsing, this laptop can easily last for 10 hours or more. Charging is also simple since it supports USB-PD charging. Once again, I just plugged it into my Ugreen 100W GaN charger and left the included charger inside the box.

However, even with such a long battery life – every minute I spent with the laptop makes me furious. The overall experience of it is just not up to par. You remember the ASUS Vivobook 13 Slate OLED that we reviewed late last year? That tablet with the Intel Pentium Silver N6000 processor felt like a Lamborghini compared to this.

And I’m not blaming Intel or ASUS for this disappointment. It’s because Microsoft did not improve Windows on ARM architecture. It’s been more than a year since I last reviewed a laptop with a Snapdragon chip – and it was still running on Windows 10 at that time. Fast forward to today, and it’s still the same.
Should you buy the ASUS ExpertBook B3 Detachable B3000?
By the way, the ASUS ExpertBok B3 Detachable in Malaysia is only available with this list of specs at the price of RM2,099.

10.5-inch FHD

Touchscreen

4G (soldered)
128GB MMC (soldered)
Windows 11 Pro
RM2,099

I know the ASUS ExpertBook series is meant for enterprises – but please do not waste your money on this. Get a Chromebook or an Android tablet instead. Or maybe even an iPad Air for that matter.

And that’s all I have to share with you. If you want more information about Chrome OS and using Android tablets as a “laptop replacement”, then watch it here. Either one will be a better choice than Windows on Snapdragon.

Where to buy? (Affiliate links)

Amazon US
Lazada
Shopee

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realme C53 confirmed to launch on June 6 in Malaysia

realme Malaysia has announced that the wait is finally over as the upcoming realme C53 is getting an official date for the launch.

Being the second realme smartphone to feature the Mini Capsule design after the C55, at least there’s a “first” this time around as Malaysia will be the 1st country to sell the device as well and the big day is going to be June 6.
Featuring a Shiny Champion design, the gold line texture and light effect visualize the pride of championships and the winner, further emphasizing on the newly revamped C series motto “Champion”.
What’s your price prediction for this thing? Let us know!

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Shopee is helping local SMEs with RM15 million Seller Support Package

With the announcement of a 2-week extension of MCO until 28th April 2020, many businesses that are deemed non-essentials that also do not apply social distancing are to remain closed and from what the past 4 weeks have told us, plenty of people that operate physical shops and deal locally are unable to produce any income.
To solve this, Shopee has introduced the Seller Support Package program to help and attract businesses to join the e-commerce sector while supporting existing sellers to rebound their sales. The program is valued at RM15 million targeting around 70,000 SMEs.

Jumpstart your business with digital transformation

The program is going to aid local SMEs in various sectors such as fresh products, food and beverage, and even retail by incentivizing newcomers to join the e-commerce platform. Existing sellers are not forgotten as exclusive treatments are in for the group as well.
To start things off, new sellers will get RM400 of Shopee vouchers and RM200 of paid advertising service alongside 2-week complimentary participation in the RM19 Free Shipping program. Existing sellers will continue to enjoy 0 registration fees, no commission fee for marketplace sellers and also no listing fees.
On the other hand, all sellers will get up to 45% of fee discounts for RM19 Free Shipping and Coins Cashback programs, a chance for RM100,000 worth of campaign vouchers every week, and RM400 credit for paid advertising.
There are also Shopee University courses for newcomers to learn and adapt to Shopee’s ecosystem and it seems that they are ramping up the number of available slots and range of topics to smoothen the transition process.
Whether you’re an existing merchant on Shopee or interested to join and try out e-commerce, it is certainly a good time to do so. You can start applying today as the last day is on May 31, head over to the campaign page to learn all the details.

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Disney & Pixar has special wallpapers for the Samsung Galaxy S10

I think at this point of time, many of us are aware that the Samsung Galaxy S10 series has a cutout for the selfie camera. Both the Galaxy S10e and the Galaxy S10 has a circular hole, whereby the Galaxy S10+ has an oblong cutout. It quickly became a showcase of creativity when someone thought outside the box and incorporated that cutout as a part of their wallpaper.
By harnessing the power of creativity and memes, even Disney/Pixar is launching a whole new range of wallpapers for the Galaxy S10e and Galaxy S10 – featuring The Incredibles, Frozen, and my personal favorite – Zootopia!

These wallpapers are a testament of framing the wallpaper on how it should look, then creating an appealing yet unobtrusive wallpaper.
These wallpapers are only for the Galaxy S10e and Galaxy S10 which has a circular cutout. Quite a bummer for Galaxy S10+ as we still do not know if there will be specially designed wallpapers for that oblong cutout. It’s not that easy to incorporate the oblong cutout, honestly.
Want to download these wallpapers? Pick up your Galaxy S10e and Galaxy S10 and head on over to the Galaxy Store app. You can download it from there, and it is free of charge!
Samsung also stated that they are planning to expand these specially-designed wallpapers for the Infinity-O notch in the near future. Perhaps official Minions wallpaper?

On Samsung’s official website where they announce this special collaboration, I saw the silhouette of what seems to be Mazinger, some emoji, and also the phases of a moon. I mean, it’s a smart move since the Dynamic AMOLED turns off the pixels that are displaying black colors – hence the magnificent contrast.

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Introducing ASUS ZenBook’s New Ambassador – Gal Gadot

Celebrities are getting more demand in the tech industry these days, as they’re now hired to be featured and working for big brands. Previously, they got Korean star Gong Yoo to launch the ASUS ZenFone 4 – and now, they got Gal Gadot – the Wonder Woman. Literally the Wonder Woman, because she was the one who played Wonder Woman for the recent DC movies.

And that’s where things get interesting. ASUS got Gal Gadot to be the ZenBook’s new ambassador. ZenBooks are known to be made with premium lightweight yet durable materials. They’re also magnificently thin and just a bliss to use. We’ve reviewed a few ZenBooks before, like the most recent ZenBook 3 Deluxe and also the ZenBook Flip S that has a stylus.

With that said, ASUS has a tendency to announce new products during Computex each year too. This year around, it’s no different – because at the end of the Gal Gadot “teaser” video, it says “unleash your creative power”. That word “creative” is bolded. Perhaps the ASUS Pen makes a return? Or maybe they have something even more special this time around?

Only time will tell – as ASUS also announced the date for the new ZenBook announcements in the video. 5th June 2018 is the day – and we’ll surely be there to witness the announcement. Gal Gadot will be there too, I hope? 😉

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Huawei & Honor promises Android Q for existing devices

While we all know that Google has proclaimed that Huawei and Honor smartphones released thus far will receive support despite Trump’s banhammer, future major software updates are still up in the air. Both companies have come out and said the same thing – current users of their smartphones will receive Android Q update.
This is indeed great news for all Huawei and Honor users as we are all worried about software support. If current users are to be forced to port over to whatever software they are going to use next… the transitional process will be problematic.

Either way, for Huawei and Honor to promise us Android Q is a bold move despite not knowing what will be happening in the future. To instill confidence and calm the storm that is brewing on the customer’s side is important.

From SlashGear, we got the quote that reads:
Our most popular current devices, the Honor 20 series,” the company continued, “Honor 20 Lite, Honor 20 and Honor 20 Pro, will be able to access Android Q.
Funny thing is, it mentioned only the Honor 20 series that was launched recently. There was no mention of the Honor View20 that we praised highly of. Perhaps they merely missed out the mention of that phone.
In other note, Huawei launched a Q&A webpage to address concerns. One of it is regarding Android Q arrival and Huawei listed out the phones that will receive the update:

P30 Pro
P30
Mate 20
Mate 20 Pro
PORSCHE DESIGN Mate 20 RS
P30 Lite
Mate 20 X
Mate 20 X (5G)
P20 Pro
P20
Mate 10 Pro
PORSCHE DESIGN Mate 10
Mate 10
Mate 20 Lite

It’s great to see Huawei promising updates for these phones for as old as the Mate 10 series, but not the P10 for some reason. In whichever case, a promise will forever be a promise and we are looking forward to the day where Huawei and Honor deliver their promises.

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Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 Launched At The Forbidden City

The first ever beautifully crafted smartphone with a high screen-to-body ratio is actually from Xiaomi with their original Mi MIX smartphone from a few years ago. After some advancements and tweaks done to the original design, Xiaomi has now unveiled the new Mi MIX 3 at the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City isn’t exactly forbidden, as it is also known as the Palace Museum.
In short, the new Mi MIX 3 takes the screen-to-body ratio race to a brand new level, as it now has broken the barrier of 93.4% screen-to-body ratio. That is achieved by Xiaomi’s new technology – a magnetic sliding mechanism.

Xiaomi has patented this technology where it uses neodymium magnets that has been carefully calibrated to push against each other once the mechanism is engaged and snaps with just the right amount of force. On paper, this magnetic sliding mechanism will last forever if the phone is not dropped. It will also last longer than any sliding mechanisms that is powered by motors. Xiaomi has dedicated substantial resources to the production process to ensure the slider has a life expectancy of 300,000 cycles in lab tests.

The slider design reveals the front cameras and antenna while allowing the maximum full-screen display. The Mi MIX 3 has a a 6.39-inch AMOLED display with 2340×1080 pixelsand the aspect ratio of 19.5:9. With a combination of these technologies, Xiaomi’s Mi MIX 3 is able to achieve a screen-to-body ratio of 93.4%.

Reminiscent of the older slider phones that we used to own, the Xiaomi Mi MIX 3’s sliding mechanism can be customized as well. You can slide open the phone to answer calls or customize it to launch different functions. Additionally, there is a special in-game function for the slider, allowing users to access screen capture, screen recorder, or hide notifications during gaming sessions – though that means there will be an extra piece of thing protruding out from the side of the phone.

The new Mi MIX 3 is available in up to 10GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage, and also equipped with the Snapdragon 845 chipset. As for its camera specs, it has two rear-facing cameras and two more selfie cameras.

Rear-facing cameras

12MP, f/1.8, 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, 4-axis OIS
12MP, 1/3.4″, 1.0µm

Selfie cameras (hidden under slider mechanism)

24MP, 1/2.8″, 0.9µm
2MP, depth sensor

The Mi MIX 3 will also be the first ever smartphone from Xiaomi that has a dedicated AI button called the Xiao Ai. Directly translated from Mandarin, it means “little love”. Essentially, it’s a button to wake Xiao Ai and talk to it to perform actions. Xiao Ai can now understand seven Chinese dialects and can automatically adjust its loudness according a user’s voice.
The new Mi MIX 3 will be available in Jade Green, Sapphire Blue, and Onyx Black on 1st November in China with a starting price of RMB 3,299 (~RM1,979) and there will also be a specially designed version co-branded with the Palace Museum.

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Thoughts on WWDC 2015

Apple oh Apple, you’ve come a long way – and already at iOS 9 and Mac OS X 10.11. Of course, increasing the numbers doesn’t mean anything – so there better be some new features that is actually useful and beneficial if Apple wants to appeal to more users.
There were several things besides iOS and Mac OS X that Apple announced. Instead of giving you another news roundup, here are some thoughts about the announcements.

iOS 9

I think iOS 9 is probably the news that everybody is eagerly awaiting. Apple really does define some part of the future in smart devices based on the sheer number of users.
iOS 9 is a proof that Apple is copying ideas from their biggest competitors. Not in a bad way though – they are copying Samsung’s famous multitasking feature, where two apps can be running side by side at the same time – but only available on iPad Air 2 for now. A feature that only some Android devices has it.
Apple Maps is also said to have public transit directions in the near future.
Siri also got an improvement with Google Now-like features and some of those even works offline – which Apple touts to have even better privacy for users. We’ll see how that goes.
watchOS 2

Their all-new Apple Watch is barely even adopted in the market and now there’s a new major release of the OS already! Dubbed as the watchOS 2, it now has native apps on the Apple Watch itself, breaking its shackles as it does not require to be tethered to an Apple smart device to run apps.
Pretty small update, but we’ll take whatever is given.
Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan

Let’s just say it’s an update to have all the desperately-needed features such as snapping to the sides of the screen and enlarging it automatically. Obviously this feature had been on Windows 7 – an OS that was released 5 years ago.
Safari got an update too – boasting features such as tab-pinning and finding noisy tabs with the little icon at the tab that’s making noise. All these features are great but if you’re using Google Chrome like me, there’s no need to even bother about these features since Google Chrome had them a loooooooooooooooooooong time ago.
One nice thing is that El Capitan is able to run on all Macs that is capable of running OS X 10.10 Yosemite, and promises to provide an even smoother experience than before. Rejoice as Macs can live for another year!
And it’s a free upgrade!!! Coming this Fall on the Mac App Store. *Quietly cheers*
iTunes?
Not exactly. It’s Apple Music. Basically it’s Apple’s answer to Spotify, Google Play Music, and Tidal by Dr. Dre. Apple boasts features like curated playlists and whatnot, but we really have to compare with Spotify to know if Apple really does have the solution.

All hail Apple!
Wait – not yet. Apple is merely doing an update this year – catching up with the competitors and copying their best features that all users seek – multitasking.
The true winner here? Apple points fingers to Google – and some parts even Microsoft for its Windows 7, because Apple obviously copied many ideas that Google and some from Microsoft Windows, then integrated them into Apple’s very own services and operating systems. For example, the all new Siri with some “proactive” mumbo-jumbo, Maps with public transits, OS X 10.11 El Capitan with window snapping, iPad Air 2 with dual-window mode, and Apple Music.
Obviously Apple has their own variation to sweeten the deal up – and that’s exactly what Apple is doing to lure users.

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ZTE teams up with Celcom to provide free smartphones and wireless access points to underprivileged students in Malaysia

COVID-19 has been extremely harsh towards those without much financial stability yet everything is driven by technology and by that, it is going to cost.

As mentioned, the two companies have collaborated to provide low-income families the ability to adopt digital learning by distributing a total of 80 units of ZTE Blade A7 (2019) and 20 units of wireless access points worth around RM60,000. The campaign spans over the month of October until December last year across both the Peninsula and East Malaysia.
Here’s a list of beneficiaries that got the help when it mattered:

SMK Bukit Merchu, Kuala Kangsar
SK Taman Bukit Teratai, Ampang
SRJK(T) Ladang Lanchang, Mentakab
SMK Putra Perdana, Puchong
Selected students from East Malaysia
Long house communities in Kampung Bra’ang Payang, Kampung Batu Bedang, Kampung Payau Achau

Thanks to ZTE and Celcom, receivers are now one step closer to be fully equipped for the digital era without costing them extra as every penny is extra important to them.

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Parrot Reveal Next New Affordable Flying Drone and Two-Wheel Drone

I have yet to find an adult who wouldn’t want to play with a drone. Seriously. Now, the makers of the AR.Drone are revealing two new toys built from their technology — Parrot MiniDrone and Parrot Jumping Sumo.

Parrot MiniDrone is a smaller quadrocopter version of the AR.Drone. Although it doesn’t have a camera, it has a pair of removable wheel that not just enables only to fly, but to to roll along the ground, up walls, or even across the ceiling. The MiniDrone is connected with Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy and can be easily piloted by using the smartphone or tablet app, just like the AR.Drone did.

Parrot Jumping Sumo is controlled by tilting our smartphone or tablet and this one does have a camera which pushes live video to our mobile devices over Wi-Fi.  A quick swipe that makes an instant  90 degree turns and jumps up to 80 cm, with the Sumo’s built-in gyroscope and accelerometer to ensure that it is with remarkable accurate, and there is a separate button to lets us control the length and height of jumps. There are also preset stunts, including a rapid spin mode.

No word on pricing or availability on either of these yet but it will for sure be much more cheaper than the $299 A.R.Drone –  and I’m ready to pre-order both of this drone once is available in the market already!
Via : Gizmodo

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