Review – Xiaomi Mi 9: What a fantastic surprise

It’s finally here. The highly-anticipated Xiaomi Mi 9 with the latest generation of hardware has arrived to the Malaysian market and of course, it is received with open arms as the price is just unbeatable at this point of time. But is the phone itself any good?
Thanks a bunch for Xiaomi Malaysia for provisioning us a Mi 9 this early to us to review. Let’s take a look at this in-depth review.

Unboxing

The box itself is something different this time around. It’s reflective all over as if it’s wrapped in silver. The “Mi” logo and the big “9” at the front of the packaging is debossed into the lid itself.

At the back of the packaging is where we can find some highlights of the Mi 9 alongside with the list of package contents. Most notable here is the inclusion of a USB-C to 3.5mm audio jack dongle, 20W fast wireless charging, under display fingerprint reader, and obviously the 48MP camera.

Opening up the lid reveals the accessories box – and that is also in reflective silver.

Digging everything out, we find a whole list of things in the packaging itself.

Xiaomi Mi 9
TPU case
USB-C to 3.5mm audio jack dongle
QuickCharge 3.0 charger
USB-C cable
Documentation

[nextpage title=”Design”]
Xiaomi is using a really interesting design this time around. The entire back of the Mi 9 is curved a la a handful of the smartphones that we have tried over the years. This subtle curvature makes the Mi 9 superbly comfortable to hold in the hands

We have the Mi 9 with us in the Piano Black color. It is also available in blue color as well, though I wonder if the violet colored Mi 9 will ever make its way to Malaysia.

The Piano Black here looks a little more grey, and in a way, it’s somewhat like gunmetal grey. It’s also highly reflective and I’d recommend getting a protective case for this since the back of the Mi 9 isn’t entirely flat – and has a humongous camera bulge too.

The included TPU case is adequate to provide enough protection for day-to-day use, but lacks a lip around the camera bulge to prevent direct contact with whatever surface you put the Mi 9 on. Though, Xiaomi uses sapphire glass to protect all of the 3 camera lenses.
[nextpage title=”Connectivity & Ports”]
The Mi 9 comes with a pretty standard flagship level of connectivity here – with a few variations. Firstly, it obviously supports 5GHz AC WiFi, thus you can enjoy your Unifi Turbo on your smartphone.
Secondly, the Xiaomi Mi 9 also comes with NFC though there are no NFC payment systems available on the Mi 9 – yet. Though I do appreciate the fact that I can transfer files, links, and everything in between by just tapping two phones together.

Then comes the ports. On the left side of the Mi 9 we have the AI button. By default, it opens Google Assistant which is handy. This button is configurable though it has some minor software issues that I’ll explain more in the software section of things.

Right above the AI button is also where we can find the cards tray. Unfortunately, the Mi 9 only has two dedicated nano SIM card slots and no microSD card slot.

At the bottom of the phone we have two grills flanking the USB-C port. The left grill is for the microphone and the right grill is for the loudspeaker. The Mi 9 only has a single bottom-firing loudspeaker, though.

At the left side we have the volume rocker and the power button. These buttons are very clicky and satisfying to press, and requires an adequate amount of force to be pressed. There are absolutely zero accidental presses here though I do wish that the AI button is not on the direct opposite of the power button.

At the top is where we can find the secondary microphone and also the IR blaster. Yes, the Mi 9 does come with an IR blaster so you can use the phone as a remote control. A rare feature for smartphones these days.

You might have realized there is no fingerprint scanner on the Mi 9 – that is because they opted for an optical fingerprint scanner under the display instead. It works well, but I still prefer having a physical one at the back of the phone.
The only one thing that is missing from the Mi 9 is the 3.5mm audio jack. I do think that the Mi 9 would have been perfect if there is a 3.5mm audio jack. Xiaomi removed this port and yet there is no IP-rating hence I have no idea why Xiaomi removed it in the first place.
[nextpage title=”Display”]
Xiaomi is going all-out this time around and they’re using Samsung’s Super AMOLED display panels. The Mi 9 is using a completely different color profile compared to the Samsung smartphones and hence not that saturated.

The color temperature is slightly on the warm side. On the display settings menu, you can fine-tune the contrast and colors with a color wheel so you can shift the white balance to whatever hue you want.

Like any AMOLED display, it can go super bright or very dim. Also, displaying blacks mean that the black parts are turned off entirely – hence saving battery if you are to use night mode. Luckily, the Mi 9 does have a system-wide dark mode – sort of.
The “sort of” part is because some parts of the settings menu is not updated with dark mode and hence, have a weird combination of dark bands with white buttons. Not a big issue since this menu in a very obscured part of the settings menu.
[nextpage title=”Cameras”]
This also marks the one of the few rare phones in the market with a total of 3 different usable cameras. The Mi 9 has this triple rear-facing camera setup:

Triple rear-facing cameras

Telephoto: 12MP f/2.2; 2x zoom with laser AF and PDAF
Main: 48MP f/1.9 with laser AF and PDAF
Ultrawide: 16MP f/2.2; 0.48x zoom with laser AF and PDAF

Selfie camera

20MP f/2.0 fixed focus

Lately, it’s great to see the disappearance of depth sensor cameras in favor of a real camera – like an ultrawide angle for instance. That is certainly much more useful than getting accurate post-processed bokeh.
Xiaomi is utilizing laser autofocus for all 3 cameras. I applaud Xiaomi for doing this as even the ultrawide angle camera has laser autofocus – which is something that the Galaxy S10 series lacks. Unfortunately, none of the cameras on the Mi 9 has OIS.
Once again you can click here to head on over to our Shutterfly album to check out all of the images below in its full resolution alongside with the metadata.
Rear-facing cameras
Once again, Xiaomi did a pretty good job with the Mi 9’s cameras here. There are room for improvement, as the colors appear slightly differently between the 3 cameras. Overall, I really like the images that it produces – though the telephoto seems to overexposed some of the time.
It comes with an option to correct the ultrawide angle lens distortion too. It is found in the camera settings menu.
Ultrawide angle camera without lens distortion fix.
Ultrawide angle camera with lens distortion fix.
Here are a few day shots with the 3 cameras for comparison. We have a few sets of images from different scenes.
Set 1
Ultrawide angle camera.
Main camera.
Telephoto camera.
Set 2
Ultrawide angle camera.
Main camera.
Telephoto camera.
Set 4
Ultrawide angle camera.
Main camera.
Telephoto camera.
Then comes the night shots. The Xiaomi Mi 9 does come with a dedicated night mode that takes a long exposure shot. For some reason, the night mode is available only for the main camera and the telephoto camera. The ultrawide angle camera is unavailable for night mode. We hope that Xiaomi will add this feature in the next firmware update.
Obviously, the night shots look brighter than the normal photo mode. It does, however, have a noticeable lost in picture detail – especially for the telephoto camera. Still, it’s very good for social media use.
Main camera without night mode.
Main camera with night mode.
Telephoto camera without night mode.
Telephoto camera with night mode.
There are lots of room to improve and I really think that in time, Xiaomi will further improve the cameras – especially the night mode.
Selfie camera
I’m not much of a selfie fan, but the Xiaomi Mi 9 can obviously take good-looking selfies at arm’s length. The colors are great – but I do wish that the selfie camera has autofocus.

Camera UI
Looking at the camera UI itself, I have only one complaint. Why the button to switch to the ultrawide angle camera is placed at the bottom? Pressing the zoom button only changes from 1x to 2x. The ultrawide angle camera button is completely independent and a little difficult to reach, if you ask me.

All the images taken by the Mi 9 is in 12MP and Xiaomi is utilizing the 4-in-1 pixel technology all the time. If you want to take a picture in 48MP, you need to change to another mode. The 48MP mode does not have AI, though.

Then comes the night mode. Yes, the night mode is also another separate mode. It does not say how many seconds you need to hold to take the shot. The Mi 9 just does its thing and you can see how great the images turned out to be.
Also, there is no option to use the ultrawide angle camera together with night mode.
Video?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Mi 9 can actually capture at a full 4K resolution at 60FPS. Or you can record at 1080p resolution at 240FPS too. This is exactly what we have on the Galaxy S9 which I adore so much and it’s great to see other phones are able to do the same as well.
It does come with a time lapse video option as well. It has a lot of different speeds to select from. We recorded a 30x speed time lapse and created this masterpiece.

[nextpage title=”Software – Andorid 9.0 Pie with MIUI Global 10.2.6.0″]
It’s no surprise that after so many iterations of MIUI, some parts of it is still the same since its inception – like the lack of an app drawer. The launcher is still very iOS-like and there is no option to enable the app drawer.

With that said, the settings menu is still as convoluted as ever. The location of some settings like the screen timeout is in “lock screen & password” menu. This is just one of the settings that I will immediately change after getting the phone and they are just hidden somewhere deep in the convoluted settings menu.

The Mi 9’s AI button is the same as the Mi Mix 3 whereby it is quite versatile in terms of how it works. There is a slew of shortcuts that it can do, and I once again applaud Xiaomi for having this option. Though the system-wide dark mode is not implemented here.

Other buttons can perform gesture shortcuts as well – like double pressing the power button to launch the camera and such. On another note, the Mi 9 has Widewine L1 support so you can Netflix and chill in full HD.
[nextpage title=”Performance & Gaming”]
Obviously, one of the main highlight of the Mi 9 is its performance. This is the first ever smartphone in Malaysia that runs on the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset. Spoiler alert: it wrecks every other chipset in the market today.
The Xiaomi Mi 9 that we are reviewing comes with these core specs:

6.39-inch Super AMOLED display with 2340×1080 pixels in resolution

Waterdrop notch

Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset (7nm fabrication)

1x Kryo 485 @ 2.84GHz
3x Kryo 485 @ 2.42GHz
4x Kryo 485 @ 1.80GHz
Adreno 640 GPU with 384 ALUs

66GB LPDDR4X RAM
128GB UFS 2.1 storage (no microSD card slot)
3,300mAh battery

Bundled with QuickCharge 3.0 charger

Android 9.0 Pie with MIUI 10.2.6.0

As mentioned earlier, the Snapdragon 855 wrecks every single phone in our library of phones. The Snapdragon 855 is really, really powerful.

In day-to-day use, it really depends on how well the software is optimized. In the case of MIUI 10, it works very well. It’s snappy and has gesture shortcuts that work instantly.
Gaming
This time around, we have a new test method to test games. We have a way to know the frame rate of whatever application is running on the screen and that is good since many of you are requesting for frame rates.
Firstly, we tried Honkai Impact 3. It came with a new update and now they separated HD assets into an optional download. So here is what I did – downloaded the HD assets and maxed out the graphical settings, then head on to the open world Sakura Samsara with God Kiana and started playing.

I did realize that the frame rate is mostly around 50FPS to 60FPS, with intense battles dipping to ~40FPS. However, God Kiana’s ultimate skill is really graphically intensive, causing the frame rate to dip to ~30FPS.

Then comes Asphalt 9. For unknown reason, the game does not allow highest graphical setting – hence we are stuck at only the default graphical setting. The game is capped at 30FPS and the Mi 9 can run it at 30FPS smooth throughout.
Lastly, PUBG Mobile. To our disappointment, PUBG Mobile is not optimized (yet again) and the highest possible graphic settings is at HDR with ultra frame rates. We also turned on anti-aliasing and disabled adaptive graphic quality.
The Mi 9 can run PUBG Mobile consistently ran at 40FPS, so there is no issues whatsoever.
[nextpage title=”Battery & Charger”]
The Mi 9 comes with a 3,300mAh battery. And before you say the word “only”, let me reintroduce a PSA we did years ago. Here’s why your 3,000mAh can last longer. And that article is still valid until today because the Snapdragon 855 has a smaller gate length, hence decreasing power consumption. With further optimization done to the architecture, the power efficiency is improved even further.
Hence, the Mi 9 is actually pretty high up in our battery life benchmark. Take a look at it.

Coming in at just shy of 13 hours, the Mi 9 can last you for a full day’s use quite easily – given that there is no gaming involved. Overall, a very powerful chip yet power efficient.
Charger
It’s funny how the Mi 9 is actually compatible with Qualcomm’s QuickCharge 4.0+ but Xiaomi only included a QuickCharge 3.0 charger. But that’s okay – since the QuickCharge 3.0 charger is till way faster than 5V 2A chargers.

For the bundled QuickCharge 3.0 charger, it took about 20 minutes to reach 50% battery and about 33 minutes to reach 75% battery.
As for standard 5V 2A charger, it took about 39 minutes to reach 50% battery and about 68 minutes to reach 75% battery.
[nextpage title=”Wrapping up the Xiaomi Mi 9 review”]
Without a doubt the Xiaomi Mi 9 is one of the most powerful smartphone available in the market today. It packs 3 different cameras at the back – a 48MP main camera, telephoto, and ultrawide. And all of them have autofocusing as well.
The real party is at the its core. Snapdragon 855 chipset found in the Mi 9 is blazing fast and destroys other phones in our benchmarks. With that said, the Mi 9 also comes with good battery life.

While the Mi 9 is near perfection, I still would like to see a 3.5mm audio jack or perhaps IP-rating. Also, I would very much appreciate a microSD card slot on this phone.
When the Mi 9’s price was announced, I was shocked. Xiaomi Malaysia’s “honest pricing” is something that I now applaud them for. For us Malaysians, the Mi 9 comes in two configurations:

6GB RAM + 64GB storage – RM1,699
6GB RAM + 128GB storage – RM1,999 (we reviewed this one)

Honestly speaking, I will recommend the Mi 9 to whoever is looking to buy a smartphone today. It’s a fantastic phone and the price is unbelievably affordable for a flagship smartphone with the latest and greatest hardware available in the market. And you can buy it now at Lazada.

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[UPDATED] Facebook Background Posts Are Here; Currently Being Tested

Facebook has a tendency to test things by randomly assigning us in undisclosed groups. We’ve first had large texts for status updates, then slowly moved towards multicolored and textured status updates not long after that. What’s interesting is the influx of little new things being tested on Facebook that most of us didn’t even have the chance to see it in action. Here, I’m going to show you the new upcoming feature – Facebook Background Posts.
Here’s what we know as of now:

Only a handful of users are able to use them
More users are able to see and “try it” from other users who can use them (mobile Facebook app only)
Majority of users aren’t able to see these Facebook background posts

This isn’t exactly 100% new, actually. The first hints or idea of it began showing up halfway through their multicolored status updates, where I saw there were textured images used as backgrounds for status updates. Not long after the initial “test” of this type of status update, Facebook removed them and only to return about a week ago.
As for how they look like, here they are. They’re actually way beyond the idea of clipart and vector graphics for status updates when it first debuted. Here’s how it looks like now.
Fancy!
There are multiple other designs too, like one with the galaxy, another one showing the ocean and beach, one with a grass field, and potentially a few more that I have no idea that they even exist. Take a look at them here.

You might have realized that those are screenshots, not the real Facebook posts themselves. The reason why I showed that is simple – not everyone can see these posts on their Facebook accounts, let alone posting them.
Here’s where you can find out if you can use any of these Facebook Background Posts.
To test if your Facebook account has these graphical backgrounds already or not, I’ve embedded these posts down below. You can click on them to view them on the Facebook app and also use them on your next text-only status update. I’m not sure if the “Try it” button will appear, but you can try.
See that little “Try It” button?
Anyway, here are the status posts from Facebook themselves. Remember to use your mobile as the desktop version of Facebook still doesn’t have this button as of now.
Click on these statuses below to try it on the Facebook app!

[UPDATE 13th June 2017]: More designs have been unearthed and posted below.

Honestly speaking, I still have no idea how to create these types of Facebook background posts. As of now, it seems like only a handful of select users are able to select them, with a little more users who can actually see and use them, and everyone else is left out of the loop entirely.
not everyone can see these posts on their Facebook accounts, let alone posting them
The conclusion that I can come up with, is that Facebook is again throwing us into their testing program without actually informing us users. There are no clear indication on whose accounts have these features available or if you can even see these Facebook background posts for that matter!
For now, we can only do investigations and pinpoint these Facebook features, then report about their existence. We’ll definitely keep you updated when we have more information and more designs of Facebook background posts available in the future.
Stay tuned!

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Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 compute platform that drives entry-level system performance ratio higher than before

Today, Qualcomm has debuted the Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 compute platform that breakthroughs ceilings of performance and efficiency for entry-level always-on, always-connected devices.
The announcement of the computing platform is also supported by Zoom which the online video call service that will be releasing an optimized version of the app dedicated to Qualcomm’s offerings during the upcoming Summer season where the Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 and Developer Kit are also slated for a similar release timeframe.

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Review – ASUS ROG G752: Absolute Power, zero compromise

Look at ASUS’s brand new G752. It’s a brand new gaming laptop from ASUS ROG – specifically the G752VY-RH71. Personally, I absolutely love the design and how the whole system was thought out and laid out. Here’s out entire detailed take on the ASUS ROG G752.
The box itself is humongous. It’s beautiful though. The ROG G752 has ASUS’s latest design language in packaging, which we even took a look here at the VivoBook Flip. It’s minimalist and has a handle that can support all the weight it has. Mind you, the ROG G752 is a 17-inch laptop with a humongous box. Also, it’s really heavy.

Do be careful of the laptop dropping out too. The only thing that blocks the ROG G752 from completely falling out is the flimsy handle itself. Yet the only thing that secures the handle is cardboard. The best way to secure anything is by using taping the opening of course.
In the box, you get the usual ASUS laptop contents. A cable tie, a user guide, a quick start guide, and a humongous power brick. More on that later.

[nextpage title=”Design”]

Let’s start from the top. It starts off with an amazing impression on both aesthetics and build quality. Just have a look at how the lid lights up, together with both light bars.

To me, I personally think it’s an amazing touch by ASUS right here. The ROG logo looks like it’s a piece of shiny metal, but ended up glowing in red colour. The red here isn’t exactly glaringly bright either – it’s just nice.

View post on imgur.com

Both light bars at the side however are a little disappointing. Sure they’re aesthetically pleasing to have two more bars of light at the side, but it can’t be changed. Those two light bars have to be gradients yellowish-orange from the bottom, and red to the top. They can be either turned on or off. That’s it. I really wish that it can be tuned to react to system temperature, or maybe just have its brightness adjusted.

While on the subject of light, the two vents at the back looks neat too. I’m not too sure what’s up with the light between the two vents, but my only criticism with that is not reacting to system temperatures. The vent design is really nice, although it might hinder cleaning and maintenance with these fins.

Over the front of the ROG G752 there’s a very symmetrical sporty-looking contour with two lights. These two LEDS shows off the battery and its on/off state, of course are from the indicators right below the trackpad.

Speaking of these indicators, it shows the on/off state, battery, hard disk activity, airplane mode (as if anyone’s going to use it), and numlock. The indicator lights are subtle, but those logos that tell the what the indicator lights are, isn’t obvious enough. I had to shine a light at specific angles and play a guessing game to really tell what’s it about.

The entire ROG G752 is sturdy, and even the 17-inch screen doesn’t flex as much as their rivals’ 15.6-inch screens. I mean sure, ASUS did make screen slightly thicker than it needed to be, but it’s a massive 17-inch screen.
[nextpage title=”Connectivity and ports”]ASUS claims the ROG G752 is a full-fledged gaming laptop. By just looking at the ports, I dare not to disagree with them at all. It has all the necessary ports you’ll need. On the left side, you have some pretty basic things – a Kensington lock slot, two SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports and an optical drive. Doesn’t even read Blu-Ray though, but I don’t give a damn anyway. Also, there’s a full size SD card reader too.

On right side of the ROG G752 is where all the magic happens. You have a headphone and S/PDIF combo jack, microphone jack, an audio input jack (for mixer purposes), USB Type-C with Thunderbolt 3 combo port, a single USB 3.0 port with USB Charger+, a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port, mini DisplayPort, full-size HDMI port, and a LAN port.

I was instantly wowed when I saw this slew of ports available. Then I realized there’s one missing port – VGA. Sure, using VGA at this day and age is laughable. However, it’s definitely not obsolete yet of course. Universities are still using VGA ports for their decade-old projectors too. Certain older monitors – which are still perfectly fine by the way – are using VGA or DVI ports. This could be fixed of course, with a simple HDMI to VGA converter. Wish ASUS could have included that in the box though.
In the heart of ROG G752, it comes with Intel’s Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 too. You can expect top-notch 5GHz WiFi speeds on AC network here, guaranteed.
Overall, a definite A+ for connectivity and ports!
[nextpage title=”Screen”]The 1080p IPS panel that came with the ROG G752 is definitely impressive. The screen itself has a matte coating to kill off glare. Also, the intensely bright screen makes it okay be use under direct sunlight, when it’s set to the highest brightness.

There’s only one problem I have with the screen – those bezels. They’re humongous! Luckily, it doesn’t flex much even when I intentionally tried to. Obviously those bezels are meant for some sort of reinforcements for the lid, together with the wiring for webcam and lights behind its lid too.

Pressing at the center of the lid doesn’t flex much either. In fact, it only bends in a little when an excessive force is pushed on the both light bars beside the ROG logo on its lid.
Let’s not forget one of the main features on the ROG G752. It comes with a G-Sync panel with 75Hz refresh rate. Yupe – a built-in 1080p screen with G-Sync. That by itself is already a major plus point for the display already!
On a side note, behind the hinge however is where those stereo speakers are located. They do sound a little muffled and distanced because it’s behind the lid. Also, those speakers are aimed right at my chest!

[nextpage title=”Trackpad and keyboard”]

This is where it gets a little more interesting. The ROG G752 has an interesting layout, and also a sudden change in material. The ROG G752 is wrapped around in its brushed metal look, but covered with soft-touch material on the keyboard, trackpad, and the wrist rest itself. Personally speaking, it looks really weird to have this drastic clash of colours – gray and black with red accents.

The full-sized keyboard does have a red backlight, and I suppose they’re individually lit by LEDS too. I can guess that, only because each key seems to have some sort of weird edge bleed on its backlighting – except for the WASD keys. They got a special keycap for some unexplained reason.
In terms of typing experience, the ROG G752 feels absolutely fantastic to type on. I typed this entire review on the ROG G752 itself! Tactility is definitely great and spacing between each keys are both great. Somehow, ASUS managed to pick a keyboard for the ROG G752 with great actuation force and springy feel. It just feels nice to type on.
Because of the sharply angled edge, it feels like there’s something constantly jabbing and cutting my wrist when I type on the ROG G752. A rounded edge might be the solution here, or maybe just lay some cloth there to dampen the force.

Inclusion of a number pad here is really considerate of ASUS too. There’s a shortcut key to open the Windows 10 Calculator app. However, the keyboard is still tinier than a full-sized keyboard, and ASUS did good by moving the arrow keys one row below the entire keyboard. By doing this, ASUS kept the entire arrow keys at its full size, with zero chance of hitting another nearby key. They even replaced the NumLock with a shortcut key to launch ROG Gaming Center.

While on the subject of the ROG Gaming Center, it gives some pretty cool customization options. Firstly, you can customize the macro keys and set it to each keyboard profile. On each profile, you can even tune it to automagically launch an application when selected. These are 4 different profiles which are available to be customized according to how you like it to be. Then, there are 5 macro keys at the top left.

These 5 macro keys have their own set of profiles too. You can have Profile 1 to have M1 to M5 keys to do certain tasks, while Profile 2 has a completely different set of tasks. That said, these profiles are completely independent from the keyboard profiles. Of course, you can pair specific keyboard profiles to specific macro key profiles. It might seem confusing at first, but I can assure you it’s easy to use.

The trackpad has a really smooth surface, and biased to the left side to center around the spacebar. It’s non-clickable and has two huge separated left and right click buttons. I never really liked trackpads to begin with, but the trackpad on the ROG G752 is a trackpad I can live with. Tracking is accurate without lags, and the two clicker buttons are really tactile with a low actuation force, and feels absolutely amazing to click on.
Then comes the wrist rest issue that I have with the ROG G752. The black coloured soft-touch material all around the wrist rest area is amazing. It feels amazing even after extended hours of use, but those grease marks man. They’re on the keyboard, the wrist rest, and the trackpad! It’s worse when it comes to scratches too.
But damn, this wrist rest and keyboard feels cool. It has absolutely no form of uncomfortable heat at all. I just absolutely love how the cooling system of the entire ASUS ROG G752 series of gaming laptops have a really efficient cooling system. All of the heat are kicked outwards from the back! The main vents are at the back – and not the bottom. The only part that’s a little hot at the far right side where this is found.
Just a little warm.
I guess we’ll need to go to the next part to give you a gist of why its cooling system is great.
[nextpage title=”Performance”]First off, the ROG G752 is the most powerful laptop that I’ve touched to date. It has the latest Intel Skylake processor with 16GB of on-board RAM. Also, it’s coupled with a Samsung M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD too! Talk about raw speed! Here’s a complete spec list of the ROG G752.

Talking about its specs, I mentioned that it uses on-board RAM, and that’s because there are a total of 4 DDR4 SO-DIMM slots. I opened the backplate with a magnificent ROG-Mayan design and there’s nothing on the SO-DIMM slots. However, the laptop can be booted without any issues, and has 16GB built-in.
I realized the RAM and SO-DIMM slots on Speccy.
I then opened up the panel at the back of the G752. It’s somewhat different from the other manufacturers. All the other screw holes are covered by some sort of hexagonal rubber covers, but  the main screw that holds the accessible panel is covered by a plastic tab.

Of course, opening the table does need a single screwdriver.

After that, the panel is quite tough to lift up. For me, I pulled the tab with quite a high amount of force before I can slot something flat inside to pry the plastic tabs apart. Then, it reveals some of the guts of the G752.

As shown above, the two SO-DIM slots are empty! Other than that, there’s two M.2 slots covered beneath the metal plate below the SO-DIMM slots. Other than that, there’s a hard disk slot at the left. There are definitely no hardware that is accessible, unless you take apart these screws.

Throughout my testing though, it’s fantastic. On Unigine Heaven, it can achieve above 30FPS on 1080p with Extreme graphics with Tesselation – no sweat. I played most of my Dota 2 without any issues at all, scoring a maximum 75Hz every single time. Dota 2 even loads way much faster than my desktop too.
That said, the GTX980M here is an intensely amazing card, and the definite plus here is the 4GB VRAM, but this GPU is definitely power hungry.
AIDA64 stress test with power plugged in
However, ASUS is brilliant enough to implement some sort of battery saving feature that technically underclocks the CPU. On AIDA64’s test, it shows zero thermal throttling. The graph shows its performance in temperature before and after I unplugged the power jack. Outright there’s a change in temperature.
Drop in CPU temperature after unplugging the power brick
This actually translates to Unigine Heaven’s benchmarks too – with the FPS dipped to somewhere around 17FPS at most of the times. Obviously it’s a method to prolong the battery life, because the same exact AIDA64 test used for thermal throttling showed the battery life shortened by way too much. I mean it literally tells me 40 minutes of battery left when there’s a full charge.
Temperatures are also really well-done too. The CPU reaches a maximum of nearly 90℃, whereas the GPU goes to a maximum of about 75℃. Both these tests are on the worst case scenario, and the G752 is doing magnificently well. However when the power plug is unplugged, there’s about a 5℃ drop for the CPU, and even the fan speed instantly drops from 4300RPM to 2700RPM.
Back to the M.2 NVMe SSD – it’s a real speed demon. Look at this.

The ROG G752 lasted for only about two games of Dota 2, and each round lasts for an average of an hour or so. Surely it depends on task to task – more on this on the next section.
[nextpage title=”Battery”]Sure, the ROG G752 takes about 2 to 3 hours to charge completely from zero to 100%. It’s quite a long time actually, and the freaking power brick is humongous! It’s a 230 watt power supply, with 19.5V at 11.8A output. And yes, the power brick works at all countries, just change the input cable for an appropriate wall plug.

Seriously, the power brick is so big and heavy that it has its own 4 rubber feet. The weight can actually lock in the entire power brick to the table. That’s because if the power brick falls and it snags onto your ROG G752, you’re screwed. Totally screwed. Also, the power jack itself is a humongous right-angled plug.

The battery itself isn’t removable, and it has about 3 hours of battery life. Not too bad, considering that I can play two games of Dota 2 before it screams “low battery”. Other than that, don’t mind going full PCMR gaming on battery. Probably gives you about an hour of battery if you do that – but it’s really worth it.
[nextpage title=”Wrap up”]

The ASUS G752 is a really great gaming laptop. It gives you the highest specs that a laptop can offer –even including a G-Sync monitor. I can’t stress it enough that the G752 is humongous. The 17-inch screen is absolutely stunning. The keyboard is magnificent. It seems like the G752 is a portable desktop replacer machine. I mean damn, the G752 is literally more than 4kg. It’s really bulky and heavy – but it pays off with the amazing hardware and prominent build quality and design.
Fantastic job, ASUS. I absolutely love this laptop.

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OPPO Reno series comes to Malaysia on 16th May; renews brand logo, color, font

OPPO is currently going through quite a big overhaul overall. OPPO Malaysia themselves just announced that the Reno series is coming to the Malaysian market soon, and they also are renewing the OPPO logo with a new typeface (font), color, and logo.
First off, let’s talk about the OPPO Reno. we said it’s a “series” because yes – it is a brand new family of devices from OPPO. We predict that the new OPPO Reno 10X edition will come to the Malaysian market soon. We were actually using the OPPO Reno 10X edition during our early preview of OPPO 10x lossless zoom technology.

Also, there is a brand new video that is posted by 沈义人Brian on Weibo. Here, it is claimed that the OPPO Reno 10X edition can achieve 60x zoom.

The OPPO Reno 10X edition seems like a pretty great contender against the Huawei P30 series, as the OPPO Reno comes with Snapdragon 855 chipset too. The Reno 10X also has a periscope camera, just like P30 Pro.
The OPPO Reno 5G is also the first ever 5G phone that is available in the European market. Currently, the Reno 5G is available via Swisscom, Switzerland.
OPPO Malaysia is also having a little contest whereby you can upload any image or poster that has the word “Reno” in it, and revolves around the theme “Creativity; Limitless; Inspiration”.

Once you’ve created that art, upload to Instagram with the hashtags #HiOPPOReno and #MyRenoMsia. Remember to set your Instagram profile to public for them to have a look.
Contest runs from now until 10th May, and you can win powerbank, earphone, movie tickets, Neo Smartband, and also a ticket to attend the Reno fans experience event. Also, the winner’s artwork will be displayed on OPPO Malaysia’s official Facebook page.

The new OPPO logo on the other hand, comes with a brand new typeface which will be used in the phones in the future. This font is called “OPPO Sans”.

UPDATE: Reno will be announced in Malaysia this 16th May 2019.
OPPO Malaysia is also mentioned a few things as extras too. The Reno itself will be featuring a 48MP main camera with a 5MP depth sensor, the iconic panoramic screen just like the OPPO F11 Pro (review), and also comes with VOOC 3.0 Flash Charge Technology.

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Logitech brings G29 Driving Force for PS3 & PS4

It is a dream come true for many console gamers as there’s finally a wheel controller for the Sony PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, albeit a little weird to see something new that supports the older generation PlayStation 3.

Introducing the Logitech G29 – it has a realistic force feedback for all the realistic feel of driving a real car to go along with a responsive pedal unit with a pressure-sensitive brake pedal for all the accurate braking feel that every racing gamer dreamed of.

The G29 has a durable design with solid steel ball bearings in the wheel shaft and stainless steel paddle shifters and pedals. Also, the wheel covered in hand-stitched leather too.
Here’s the sad news – the G29 isn’t available till September 2015 – and price is to be confirmed later.

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Mi A3 is here for RM899; Mi Band 4 at RM149

Looking for the latest smartphone under the Android One program? Then have a look at the Mi A3. This is the third smartphone within Xiaomi’s Android One smartphone – and it comes with a lot of perks of an Android One smartphone.
Firstly, your software will be fully supported by Google directly. That means no additional skinning or additional software – everything is handled by Google themselves.

New Android One logo.
The new Mi A3 comes with a few nose highlights when it comes to specs:

6.088-inch AMOLED display with waterdrop notch
1560×720 pixels in resolution
Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 chipset
4GB RAM
Up to 128GB UfS 2.1 storage with microSD card support
Triple rear-facing cameras

Main: 48MP f/1.79
Ultrawide angle: 8MP f/2.2
Depth sensor: 2MP

32MP selfie camera
4,030mAh battery
Supports 18W fast charging

Overall I think that the Mi A3 is pretty solid in terms of specs. The only thing that I’m not exactly keen is screen resolution. Yeah, it’s a rather small device in today’s standard – but having a 720p display is still sub-par.
Employing the funny naming scheme for the colors of the Pixel phones, the Mi A3 comes with 3 different colors:

More than White
Not just blue
Kind of grey

Honestly, I love that “not just blue” color. The river line really pops out especially under direct sunlight.

Once again, this is an Android One device. The one of the most affordable in the market now, too. Xiaomi has also made the Mi A3 to support the faster 18W charging standard but Xiaomi only included a 10W in the box.
Oh, by the way, there’s IR blaster and the headphone jack as well. Welcome back, jack.
The Mi A3 is available in two configurations starting 3rd August at Shopee, Lazada, and Mi Stores nationwide.

4GB RAM + 64GB storage @ RM899
4GB RAM + 128GB storage @ RM999

Then comes the Mi Band 4. Finally Xiaomi Malaysia is officially bringing it into the market.
The Mi Band 4 is the company’s 4th generation of fitness band, and the biggest highlight here is the fully colored 0.95-inch AMOLED display. With that, you can use an animated GIF as your watchface as well.

The price of the Mi Band 4 is at RM149 on Lazada, Mi Store, and also Shopee.

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Xiaomi is world’s number 2 in Q2 2021 global smartphone market report

In the most recent report by Canalys, it has been reported that Xiaomi took second place in terms of global smartphone market share in Q2 2021. Xiaomi boasts a glorifying 17% market share with a massive 83% YoY growth.
Xiaomi has also been investing a lot of money in R&D and has time and time again boasted its RMB10 billion investment in R&D just in the year 2020 alone – and that budget will increase by about 30%-40% in the year 2021.

Xiaomi also claims they hired 5,000 engineers in a year, which is 20% of their total employee count, and launched incentive initiatives. The one million US dollars award project for technology talents, young engineers incentive plan, are just a few of them. Of course, Xiaomi doesn’t sideline its engineers as nearly 700 young engineers were granted 16 million shares, following the incentive plan just in the month of July.
However, we aren’t sure if this massive market share and huge YoY increment are inclusive of other Xiaomi-related brands – namely POCO and Black Shark.
Two phones from the Redmi Note 10 series.
It is also not a big surprise since Xiaomi released somewhere around 6 different smartphones within the Redmi Note 10 family. Including the Mi 11 series and other smartphones from other family of devices, it’s no surprise that Xiaomi got a huge boost in market share.
However, there is very little to no mention of MIUI. Perhaps the all-encompassing “engineer” is inclusive of both hardware and software engineers. I just wish MIUI has a better interface and less buggy in general.
Xiaomi also published its Sustainability Report for 2020 and highlights the importance of sustainability and addresses global issues. This report also includes accessibility, data security, and user privacy, among other topics.
Still, a hearty congratulations to Xiaomi for putting so much pressure on their competitors to strive for the better. Having such aggressive competition will only benefit us consumers.
You can read everything Xiaomi published in full detail here, or click here for the Xiaomi Sustainability Report 2020.

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The OPPO A98 5G is coming in soon and there’s a small contest for you to bring home some prizes

OPPO Malaysia has revealed the new OPPO A98 5G smartphone and yes, it will be launched in the coming weeks but first let’s have some fun.

Through the A-Volusi Power OPPO A98 5G contest which is live right now until May 26, one may follow these simple steps and stand a chance to grab some fabulous prizes while waiting for the value-packed smartphone to arrive.
Here are the steps required to join the contest.

Head to this contest post
Comment on the post what is capacity of the battery alongside which SuperVOOC wattage is used by the A98
Include the hashtag #OPPOA98_5G #AvolusiKualitiUntukSemua in your answer

The lucky one will be able to walk away with one OPPO Watch Free.
The OPPO A98 aims to provide the most value out of the A series through high memory capacity, smooth display with a high refresh rate, and fast charging capabilities.

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Sony EXTRA BASS Audio Lineup Expanded

It’s… a rather straightforward name, in my opinion. Sony has an existing lineup of audio products under the name “EXTRA BASS” – with all caps of course, as that’s how Sony stylized it. Anyway, here are the new audio products that fall under Sony EXTRA BASS lineup.
Everything here are in the Sony EXTRA BASS lineup, so expect more bass from them, obviously. Not quite sure by how much more than usual, but it’s EXTRA. There are no pricing or availability for us here in Malaysia yet, but we’ll definitely keep you posted. So be subscribed to our alerts!

SRS-XB40, SRS-XB30, and SRS-XB20 Wireless Speakers

These are some fancy little portable wireless speakers. Generally, they all have the same aesthetics, but each of them come in different sizes, as listed below:

SRS-XB40: 100mmx279mm
SRS-XB30: 82mmx228mm
SRS-XB20: 68mmx198mm

Of course, you might be wondering, “does it have RGB?”. Perfectly valid question, since it’s 2017 now, and Sony confirms that it does come with RGB! It’s a multicolour line-light that can create patterns, ranging from pure white to a rainbow. This line-light can be synced with the rhythm of the music you’re listening to, and matches the environment.
You can even daisy-chain up to 10 of these speakers together too. and potentially make the entire street into a huge rave party in the middle of the night. All these speakers can use SongPal – an app for your smartphone to control everything on the SRS-XB40/XB30/XB20 speakers. However, the Fiestable app is exclusive for the SRS-XB40 only, which enables DJ-like controls for lighting and colors.
Comes with a USB-A port so the speaker can be a power bank too. Not bad!
SRS-XB10
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An even tinier Bluetooth speaker, coming in at only 91mmx75mm. Sony promises that this SRS-XB10 comes with Sony EXTRA BASS (pun intended??) with incredible loudness and punchy bass with its tiny body, yet manages to pack 16 hours of battery life in it. It’s even IPX5 certified too – it means waterproof.
How? Ask Sony.
MDR-XB950N1 and MDR-XB950B1 EXTRA BASS Wireless Headphones

Both of these headphones are connected with Bluetooth (obviously) and comes with the now-quite-obscure NFC technology for easy pairing too. However, Sony is kind enough to include Qualcomm aptX technology (more information about it here) and AAC codec support for a more enjoyable music experience.
Both these smartphones can be controlled with Sony | Headphones Connect app which brings even more granular control to the equalizer, and to fine tune the bass further. For the MDR-XB950N1, this app can turn the noise canceling settings on or off.
MDR-XB550AP EXTRA BASS Wired On-Ear Headphones
The smaller design of the other two MDR-XB950N1/B1 headphones, but no Qualcomm aptX or AAC codec, since it’s a pair of wired headphones. Pretty basic pair of headphones in terms of features, but still has a Smart Key App to customize those in-line buttons to your liking.
MDR-XB510AS EXTRA BASS In-Ear Sports Headphones

Two things to highlight – it’s a pair of wired earphones, and it is IPX5/7 waterproof certified. Comes in a total of 5 different colours – black, red, blue, green, and white. Feature-wise, it’s pretty much the same as the MDR-XB550AP – as it can be used together with the Smart Key App to manually customize the in-line controls.

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Upgrade your education experience with JOI

JOI has been a brand that is in the Malaysian market for quite some years. In recent years, they’ve shifted their focus into creating some affordable products that will elevate your education experience. Let’s face it – interactivity is the key to learning effectively, and that is what JOI is setting out to do.
There is a multitude of products for both the teacher and the student, so let us go one by one here. For more information about JOI, click here.

JOI Smartboard

From the days of blackboards to whiteboards, we now have the JOI Smartboard. This is a touch-enabled LCD display and of course, it is interactive. That means you can dynamically develop, present, and share your education materials in real-time.
The entire JOI Smartboard is powered by Intel Core Processors and that in a way, makes the experience enjoyable for visual collaboration and interactivity between the teacher and the student.
In a way, using an electronic smartboard is much more environmentally friendly and cleaner for the students too. There is no ink flying around the classroom and definitely no chalk dust floating in the air and choking the everyone in the room.
JOI Desktop

Creating the contents to be displayed in the JOI Smartboard can be a little taxing in terms of performance. Thatis why the JOI Desktop is here to serve as the content creation machine.
This desktop is powered by up to an 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8400, 8GB RAM with 128GB of Intel’s SSD, and also 1TB HDD. To top it all off, there’s also an NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti with 4GB of VRAM.
It’s a pretty powerful machine and you can get lots of things done – like writing papers or creating classroom lessons from beginning till the end. Maybe even create videos to show your students.
JOI NUC

For those who want a smaller-sized machine with plenty of horsepowers, then the JOI NUC should be on your radar. Measures at only 4×4-inches, this mini PC can be your entertainment machine, your productivity companion, or your gaming knight.
Intel Core i5-8259U processor with Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655, and 32GB RAM to boot. Since it is a barebones mini PC, you’ll have to get your own SSD for this powerful little machine.
In addition to being a powerful mini PC, this JOI NUC also comes with 3 years of warranty and 24/7 customer support.

Remember that any purchase of the JOI smart classroom products powered for Intel processors will also score you some free gifts:

Diary Book & Pen (Intel Core i3)
Umbrella (Intel Core i5)
Anti-theft Backpack (Intel Core i7)

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POCO quietly drops two new smartphones over the weekend for the real budget gaming experience

POCO Malaysia has sneakily pushed out a couple of new smartphones into the market without much noise and hype but we’ll see what they are all about.
The devices are the POCO M5 and M5s.

First up is the M5 portrayed in the iconic POCO Yellow color. It is packed with the new MediaTek Helio G99 chip that offers quite a performance yet is made with relatively low cost to keep the value of budget smartphones competitive as time goes.
The screen is big and nice with a 90Hz refresh rate and 240Hz sampling rate to keep things smooth and silky while responsive. The back camera setup, however, can only be described as borderline decent and not entirely bad, especially when u factor in its price.

On the other hand, the M5s shifts a little bit away from the “just gaming” perspective and drops just a little bit of SoC power in favor of a better AMOLED screen, additional camera sensors, and a faster charging protocol.
Therefore, the difference between them is kinda subtle yet not really that obvious so could be some people wondering which one is better for them, and based on the spec sheet, you can apply the 6:4 ruling here where if your 6 is about raw gaming performance and fully prioritizes that aspect, pick the M5. On the other hand, take the M5s if you want more eye candy and more day-to-day use with occasional gaming as your source of entertainment.

Model

POCO M5

POCO M5s

Display

6.58-inch IPS LCD (1080p Resolution, Waterdrop Notch, 90Hz Refresh Rate)

6.43-inch AMOLED (1080p Resolution, Middle Punch Hole Notch)

Chipset

MediaTek Helio G99

MediaTek Helio G95

RAM

Up to 6GB

Storage

Up to 128GB

Rear Cameras

Main: 50MP f/1.8 with PDAF
Macro: 2MP f/2.4
Depth Sensor

Main: 64MP f/1.8 with PDAF
Ultra-Wide: 8MP f/2.2
Macro: 2MP f/2.4
Depth Sensor

Front Camera

5MP

13MP

Battery

5,000mAh (18W Fast Charge)

5,000mAh (33W Fast Charge)

Colors

Black, Green, Yellow

Grey, White, Blue

Pricing and Availability
You may purchase the new POCO M5 and M5s from the official POCO store on Lazada and Shopee at the following price and capacity:

POCO M5

4GB+64GB @ RM649
6GB+128GB @ RM799

POCO M5s

4GB+64GB @ RM699
6GB+128GB @ RM899

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HTC Launches U12+; Available From End Of June

HTC is still alive and kicking! We know that the team that made the Google Pixel was acquired by Google themselves, but that didn’t stop HTC from continuing their spirit in making great smartphones. This is the brand new HTC U12+, their brand new flagship.

Let’s start off with what’s new on the HTC U12+:

HTC Edge Sense 2: New touch feedback mechanism to provide an even easier and more intuitive way to interact with the phone. The new Edge Sense knows what hand you’re using the phone – so you can have one-handed freedom to double tap to navigate the device, hold to lock screen orientation, or squeeze to take photos and videos, zooming in on maps, and “virtually any interaction”.
New UltraSpeed Autofocus 2 that uses full sensor PDAF and also a laser focus to ensure your pictures are sharp (reminds me of TriTech autofocus on ASUS ZenFone 3 series), HDR Boost 2, and the ability to have 2x optical zoom and 10x digital zoom.
Sonic Zoom where you can “zoom” into a sound or voice, together with a one-touch auto zoom
HTC BoomSound, USonic, and Qualcomm® aptX HD audio to provide incredible sound with louder-than-ever BoomSound speakers. USonic earbuds has Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) to keep out unwanted distractions. For wireless audio that goes way beyond expectations, aptX HD is designed to support high resolution 24-bit Bluetooth audio. Learn more about aptX here.

As for the specs, the HTC U12+ is obviously a flagship smartphone. Hence, it needs to have the best of the best hardware. By the looks of it, HTC didn’t disappoint us.

6-inch 18:9 aspect ratio with 2880×1440 resolution and Super LCD 6

HDR 10 support

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset

Octa-core (4x 2.8GHz Kryo 385 Gold + 4x 1.7GHz Kryo 385 Silver
Adreno 630 graphics with 256 ALU

6GB DDR4x RAM
64GB or 128GB UFS 2.1 storage
Rear camera: Hybrid dual-camera system with OIS

12MP wide-angle with f/1.85 and HTC UltraPixel 4
16MP telephoto lens with f/2.6

Selfie camera: 8MP f/2.0
3,500mAh with Quick Charge 3.0
Android 8.0 Oreo

Upgradable to Android P

From the looks of it, the HTC U12+ is definitely up against some tough competition. If the HTC U12+ isn’t more or less around the Huawei P20 (review here) and P20 Pro’s price, then it’ll definitely be tough to entice customers to get the U12+. The U12+ does have a selling point though – it’s IP68 rated and it has the unique Edge Sense 2.
In whichever case, we’ll have to wait until the end of June to know what’s the price. Also, it seems like the HTC U12+ will only available in Translucent Blue. And yes, as the name implies, you can see the innards of the phone.

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Stand a chance to win the new V25e smartphone by joining vivo Malaysia’s ’99 Nights In Portrait’ contest

vivo Malaysia calls out to every Malaysian to capture and submit their best night portraits in the ’99 Nights In Portrait’ contest to win attractive prizes of up to RM5,000, so time to move out, fellow photographers!
Starting from 5th October until 5th November 2022, Malaysians can capture any night portrait photography that showcases their creativity and photography skills in the dark, then submit to the contest for a chance to win prizes.

Follow these simple steps below to take part in the contest:

Capture any night portrait photos with their smartphones. vivo users are encouraged to turn on their device’s watermark.
Upload the photo to any of these social platforms – Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter with the hashtags #vivo99NightsinPortrait and #vivoMalaysia.

For the prizes, there are a whopping 20 units of them to be won this time around, including the new V25e as the grand prize. The following is a complete list of the contest prize:

Grand prize: vivo V25e (1 unit)
1st prize: DJI OM6 (1 unit)
2nd prize: Joyoung Soy Milk Maker (1 unit)
3rd prize: Joyoung Portable Juice Blender (17 units)

Kindly refer to vivo Malaysia’s official Facebook page for further details and updates on the 99 Nights In Portrait contest.

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The new high-end Garmin Enduro 2 is now available in Malaysia

Garmin Malaysia has released the latest Enduro 2 smartwatch, packed with features such as built-in TopoActive maps, multi-continent coverage, multiband GNSS with SatIQ technology, and many more. Let’s have a look at it.

The Enduro 2 boasts a lightweight yet sturdy titanium bezel and back casing, a 1.4-inch Power Sapphire lens, a new touchscreen interface, as well as an Ultra fit nylon band for a snug and comfortable fit. It also has solar charging capabilities which result in even longer battery life compared to its predecessor.
Furthermore, the smartwatch features built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, making it simpler to load the software and update maps.
When paired with a compatible smartphone, users can also receive smart notifications for calls, texts, reminders, social media updates, etc.
What’s more, the Enduro 2 comes with other advanced features including the Body Battery, Fitness Age, and sleep monitoring with sleep scoring.
Another notable feature is the Health Snapshot which keeps track of key stats like heart rate, heart rate variability, Pulse Ox, respiration, and stress and generates a summary of them.
Pricing and Availability
The Enduro 2 is now available with an MSRP of RM5,440 via Garmin Malaysia’s official Shopee, Lazada, AECO e-store, as well as all its Brand Stores and authorized retailers.
You can find out more information on the Garmin Enduro 2 by clicking on this link.

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Get Discounts for Samsung Devices Through mySamsung App!

‘Tis the season to be jolly, and not stressful. Samsung has got your back with their ultimate holiday gift guide for 2016 – and they’re having a special promotion too!
From 19th December 2016 until 19th February 2017 (that’s after Chinese New Year), Samsung fans can enjoy instant rebates of RM300 for purchase of the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. You’ll need to use the mySamsung app to get these discounts though!

Additionally, to celebrate the official launch of the Gear S3 in Malaysia, Samsung is offering 2 additional watch straps in different colours and a limited edition watch collector box with every purchase of the Gear S3 Frontier or Classic.
[alert type=”info” icon-size=”normal”]All the links below go to Samsung’s official Lazada store. We suggest to purchase from Authorized Samsung Retailers if product is unavailable on their official store.[/alert]

Product
RRP (incl. GST)
Links to buy

Gear Fit2
RM699
Click here

Gear IconX
RM699
Click here

Gear VR
RM399
Click here

Gear 360
RM1,299
Over at Authorized Samsung Retailers

Galaxy S7 edge
RM2,799 (after RM300 rebate from mySamsung app)
Click here for Lazada link

Galaxy S7
RM2,399 (after RM300 rebate from mySamsung app)
Over at Authorized Samsung Retailers

Without further ado, this is Samsung’s ultimate holiday gift guide.
[alert type=”info” icon-size=”normal”]We’re not sure if these images shown will be the final retail box. We have reached out to Samsung for further clarification. Personally, I hope it is what we’re getting![/alert]

For Fitness Enthusiasts Desiring Freedom

For the fitness enthusiasts, Samsung has just the perfect on-the-go devices for you. The Gear Fit2 allows you to get the most out of your daily workout routine. An advanced fitness tracker, the sleek Gear Fit2 is embedded with a standalone GPS, heart rate monitor, gyro and barometer that provide instant feedback on workouts when paired with your smartphone. The Gear IconX on the other hand, are cord-free earbuds that can track fitness information and provide feedback on running performance, perfect for those who wish to exercise without restrictions. Designed to fit snug in your ears in the most comfortable way, you can run, jump and carry out your usual workout routine without worrying about them falling out.
RRP: RM699 (Gear Fit2), RM699 (Gear IconX)
Colours available: Black, Blue, Pink (Gear Fit2 only) and White (Gear IconX only)
For the Wanderlusts and Virtual Travelers

For those who love travelling but can’t make the time to do so, the new Gear VR may just be the ideal device. The new Gear VR, powered by Oculus, allows the flexibility to experience a whole new world in 360° premium virtual reality, from almost anywhere when paired with the latest Samsung smartphones. Now in Blue Black colour, the new hue not only enhances the device’s aesthetic, but it also helps to prevent light reflection to provide a more cinematic experience than the previous model. With two different device holders USB Type-C and Micro USB, the new Gear VR is compatible with even more Samsung smartphones, including the Galaxy S7, S7 edge, Note5, S6, S6 edge and S6 edge+.
RRP: RM399
Colour available: Blue Black
For Unique 360 Experiences

For those who take joy in capturing and sharing fond memories and unique experiences with loved ones and friends, the Gear 360 is a new, innovative way of doing so.  With a light and compact, spherical-shaped design, the Gear 360 allows you to easily capture, edit and share snippets of your favourite experiences instantly on social media. Leveraging on the best of the Samsung Galaxy experience, users can now become the creator of their own virtual reality content, then share with friends via platforms such as YouTube 360 and Facebook, and relive the moment with the ultra-immersive new Gear VR.
RRP: RM1,299
For The Ultimate Innovative Mobile Experience

Need we say more? Packed with great features and backed with powerful performance, the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge make consumers rethink what a phone can do. The first smartphone ever to apply Dual Pixel Sensor technology with wide f1.7 aperture, the device captures high quality images in low light environment. This sleek, curved-designed device also includes protection against dust and water (IP68). More than just a phone, this device is complemented with a galaxy of ecosystem, enhancing the mobile experience for users.
Gear S3 not included!
Now with the unique Blue Coral variant, the Galaxy S7 edge is the trendiest piece of technology that allows us to indulge in life’s adventures yet experience mobile innovation at its best.
Special promo price: RM2,399 (Galaxy S7), RM2,799 (Galaxy S7 edge)
Colours available: Black Onyx, Silver Titanium, Gold Platinum, Blue Coral (Galaxy S7 edge only) and Pink Gold (Galaxy S7 edge only)

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[email protected]

Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, Parkinson’s disease … These are some of the incurable diseases that challenge scientists everyday, racing to find a cure. What if common people like us can contribute to finding such cures? All that is needed to be done is to install a client on a computer and let it run in the background? And it only costs a little of extra electricity bills?

[email protected] ([email protected] or FAH), a distributed computing project by Stanford University, attempts to simulate how proteins in our bodies behaves (or misbehaves, which can lead to diseases), and provide the vital data for scientists to research further. Conventional science research will require supercomputer(s) housed in science labs, crunching the data day and night. A supercomputer is not a small investment, and such data crunching do not produce guaranteed results (eg errors in data), leading to wasted time and resources which ultimately would impact research quality. Distributed computing breaks down the data to be crunched into smaller pieces, and put them into several less powerful, networked computers, pretty much like a divide-and-conquer approach.  This approach is much more budget friendly, delivering the same quality of results, and, in the event of miscalculation, can provide partial results which may still be useful. I will not bore you with the technical stuff like “what’s protein?” or “what they do?” The FAH website already has some excellent FAQs which provide much better answers than I can.
Do note that results generated by your computer may or may not contribute directly to the research. The results only form the basic data which researchers can work on. It still take years or even decades of work before something solid can be announced. Published peer-reviewed results can be found here.
There are many other @Home programmes, such as [email protected] or [email protected]. The former is to search for alien life in deep space, while the latter deals with issues like global warming. The idea of distributed computing is the same, just crunching different types of data. Personally I am more interested curing diseases, as I think it is the more pressing concern compared to the other two.
Team NLT (Team No: 224508) has been created if you wish to join us in the fight. Just follow these steps:

Download the client.
Choose a user name
Put “224508” as the team number to join Team NLT
Register a Passkey here and type in the client setup. Doing so will grant you the bonus points of folding if you can deliver the results consistently.
Start Folding!

Some Tips:

Officially there is no minimum requirement, as long as work can be finished on time. Common consensus points to Pentium !!! 450MHz is the absolute minimum in order to complete the work on time. So yes, your Atom machine can contribute too.
GPU can fold too. Any GPU capable of GPGPU qualifies to fold (ie GeForce 8 and Radeon HD 2000 or later). However Radeon HD 2000, HD 3000 and HD 4000 are no longer supported officially, since they lack some hardware to fold efficiently. You can still install the old clients to fold on such GPUs, but it’s going to be hell tweaking them.
AMD GPU requies 1 CPU core to feed it. This is normal due to the way that AMD Catalyst works. No such issue with Nvidia GPU.
Linux and Mac OS X (10.6 or later) are supported too, just saying.

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10 years of wonderful journey grown from Malaysian roots is what the #Grab10Versary is about

10 years have passed since Grab made their decision to step into the world of business filled with technology and challenges and the company is giving its roots – the country of Malaysia and its people some special addressing.

Pretty sure how most Malaysian remembered Grab back in the day as just another e-hailing service start-up that is pitting against local and foreign competitors in the sense of MyTeksi and Uber.
But as time goes by and more users relied on a more mature platform while giving support to locally-grown businesses, Grab managed to stand tall and in return, generated so many work opportunities that are especially crucial during the pandemic years.
And whether it is pure coincidence or not, the inception of the “10 billion rides and deliveries achieved” came just to the right place, at the right time. All these journeys combined made up about 60 billion kilometers of distance traveled.
Aside from thanking Grab users for supporting the company, they are not forgetting the manpower behind these services as well.
Big Appreciation Campaign

So with this campaign, Grab is basically saying a big Thank You to all Malaysians and for the entirety of August 2022, users will be able to obtain tons of savings across different services within the Grab ecosystem and we’ll highlight some of them.

Up to 50% off selected services that include GrabFood, GrabMart, and GrabShopping
Exclusive deals for GrabUnlimited subscribers
Acquire up to RM60 GrabFood vouchers by completing the 10versary milestone challenge within the GrabGifts service
Lots of limited edition throwback collections of merchandise via the Grab Swag Store

With only 2 weeks remaining to enjoy these offers, be sure to treat yourself with some good deals no matter it is good food or some shopping via Grab!

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OPPO is celebrating its 2m members’ milestone with bunch of free gifts and discounts

Take advantage of this opportunity to treat yourself to free phones, vouchers, and discounts on My OPPO 2m Members’ Day, starting 16 May to 18 May.
The ‘My OPPO 2m Members Celebration Giveaway’ campaign is here to offer prizes comprise of:

1 x OPPO Reno7
20 x RM200 TnG Reload Pins
20 x RM100 Klook Vouchers
200 x Wah Chan 999.9 Fine Gold Angpows
200 x KFC Self-Collect E-vouchers, 2000 Reward Points, 200 Reward Points, and 20 Reward Points.

Follow these simple steps to stand a chance of winning the prizes:

Log in to your My OPPO App.
Click into the “My OPPO 2m Member Celebration Giveaway” under “Activities”.
Click “GO” to join the Giveaway by utilizing two hundred (200) Reward Points.

The brand is also rewarding its members with Baskin Robbins vouchers and reward points under the ‘My OPPO 2m Member Celebration Reward’ section.
Furthermore, members who had made offline purchases are entitled to redeem an RM50 promo code for the A96, an RM100 promo code for the Reno7 Series, an RM89 voucher for the Enco Buds, or an RM99 voucher for the OPPO Band. The promo codes are valid for all OPPO Brand Stores.
For online purchases, members are entitled to RM50, RM100, or RM150 vouchers which are applicable at the OPPO Online Store for any purchases. Additionally, the brand is also giving out an extra 20% discount for the OPPO Care Protection Plan.
Click here for more information about My OPPO 2m Members’ Day.

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Google Now updated, has quick settings

Ever since Google Now came out, I had a single most drastic problem with it – how do add the companies I want to track to my stocks card? Going through Google Finance page manually? How do I remove them? Still the same.
And the list goes on and on, especially for sports. Now t though Google brought in the new UI to fix this.

Tap on the little “i” button and the settings for the card appears. Easy isn’t it? It gives more control over what you want to see – right in the front page of Google Now.

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NLT IS NOW OFFICIALLY MEDIA PARTNER FOR MESCORP 2014

Some of you might know that Nasi Lemak Tech is the official media partner for MESCORP 2014! If you have no idea what MESCORP is, here’s a brief overview of what they are, what they do and also the theme for this year.

Multimedia University Engineering Society Overseas Research Program (MESCORP) was founded in the year 2002 by the former Dean of the Faculty of Engineering (FOE), Ir. Professor Dato’ Dr. Chuah Hean Teik, under the patronage of our former Honourable Chancellor, Y.A.Bhg. Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah Binti Hj Mohd Ali.

MESCORP has a history of 11 years of success, and this year MESCORP 2014 hopes to continue the legacy, by proposing the topic ‘Hydrogen Fuel Cell: The Future of Clean and Efficient Energy in Malaysia’. The topic is encouraged by our Faculty of Engineering dean Dr. Wong Hin Yong, and supported by our present Honourable Chancellor Tun Dato’ Seri Zaki Tun Azmi. The global energy crisis is one of the most critical challenges faced by mankind, while alternative energy sources like hydrogen fuel cell proves to be a rising clean and renewable energy in recent years. The team will research extensively on the topic, providing detailed comparisons, analysis done between countries and deduce the recommendations on the current and future potential development of fuel cell technology to give a large positive impact to the technology in Malaysia.
MESCORP 2014 Research Team Member
This coming 20th May – 31st May, with the guidance of research advisor Dr. A.S.M. Mukter Uz Zaman, the MESCORP 2014 team will depart to Tokyo, Japan, to visit various universities, laboratories, research institutes and companies, meeting various prominent figures, professors and researchers on the field of hydrogen fuel cell. The team will definitely make sure it’ll be a worthwhile trip; doing their utmost commitment towards achieving the greater heights of the research.
Do stay tuned on all our updates especially on the photos and videos that will soon be posted in our social pages! We will bring you the most out of fuel cell, and especially our epic adventure on the land of the rising sun!
For more info please visit MESCORP Official Website!
Visit also MESCORP Official Facebook Page!
It’s an exciting year for tech – and we’re here to share all the magic that MESCORP has!

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HTC's New One leaks completely

There was already a lot of leaks and rumours on the internet about the HTC One (codenamed M8) over the past few weeks and it just seems like HTC can’t get a hold of themselves.
Apparently, some guy by the name of Hans Meyer on YouTube gave a very thorough hands-on of the new, unreleased HTC One – giving us a full-fledged 14 minutes of its beauty.

Update : There’s a reupload of the video!
As shown in the video, it seems like there are many leaks and rumours are confirmed to be present in the New One by HTC. The shape of the phone also seems to be a lot more rounded than before, with a very minor facelift on its design. The video itself here is already as if it is a review, pretty much giving away all the surprises that HTC had prepared under their sleeves over the year.
For the specifications of the New One, the video said that the phone will feature :

5-inch 1080p display
Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor
2GB RAM
16GB and 32GB internal memory options
5MP front-facing camera, 4.1MP and 2MP cameras on the back (no 3D capabilities) with dual LED flashes of different hues
Android 4.4.2 with HTC Sense 6

It seems like the new HTC One is going to impress all over again. Set the date for the official announcement on March 26th for our time in Malaysia. Just a day more!

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3 Samsung Galaxy smartphones is on sale right now until July

We have officially entered the 2nd half of 2021 and while things didn’t turn out to be as good as we thought, Samsung is here to offer 3 of its Galaxy devices at a cheaper price to let fans have some reason to stay positive. On the other hand, the budget option Galaxy A32 takes a measly RM100 off and reaches RM999 but hey it is technically under RM1,000 now.
The rebates are now live on Samsung’s official web store in parallel with offline Samsung Experience stores and last until July 4.

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Logitech G502 with RGB LED is here!

In case you didn’t know, the Logitech G502 Proteus Core from last year got updated – and now it’s called the G502 Protus Spectrum. As the name suggests, it has RGB lighting!
It’s not a really huge update other than the RGB lighting though – everything else looks the same, but as we know, looks doesn’t tell the whole story.

The removable weight is still there, the fantastically ergonomic shape is still there, and the mouse is still having the same colour scheme and button placement.

The obvious difference here is of course, the LED colour.
It seems like Logitech just slapped in some subtle LED lights and bump it up by RM90, as the Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum costs RM369, while the blue-only G502 Proteus Core costs RM279 at the recommended retail price. Seriously Logitech, why?

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A lot of Malaysians are ready to head back to the families for CNY as bus and flights bookings soar in recent Shopee survey

Shopee has found out that fellow Malaysians are flocking back to their roots to celebrate this year’s Chinese New Year in their latest round of survey.

According to Shopee Malaysia’s Head of Marketing Campaigns Mr. Kenneth Soh, travel bookings for bus and flights in the first 2 weeks of this month saw a two-third increase compared to the last month with an uptick of 10 times for travel dates within the January 24 – February 2 range, which is high time for everyone to head back and gather with the big fams.
Mainly contributed by Shopee’s partnership with Agoda, Airpaz, and Easybook.com providing an up to RM20 discount on bus and plane tickets until January 26 with support from the government’s decision to not implement MCO during a seemingly worrying state of Omicron spreading around, the increased demand for face masks and ShopeePay Vouchers for COVID-19 test kits on the platform have also been observed, signaling that awareness for staying safe against COVID-19 within Malaysians has also improved over recent years.
If you have not gotten yourself a ticket back to home yet, aside from the offer we just mentioned, anyone that has bought a ticket through Shopee’s service will be enrolled into a lucky draw where a grand prize of a 3D/2N stay at Camar Langkawi Resort with RM250 Flights Voucher is ready to be claimed.
You may get access to the traveling deals via the Tickets, Top-Ups, or Bills portal within the Shopee app.

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Review – ASUS ZenFone Max (M2)

Yep – you read that right. This is the review of the non-Pro version in the latest iteration of the ZenFone Max series – the (M2). This is a smartphone that essentially is the real replacement of the ZenFone Max Pro (M1) that we reviewed here, but with a few different changes although with the same price.
Is the ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) worth your money? Check out in this – hopefully short – review here. And we’ll be comparing with the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro (M1) since it is priced the same. Spoiler – it is not worth your money.

Unboxing
Once I got my hands on the ASUS ZenFone Max (M2), the box itself is nearly identical to the ZenFone Max Pro (M2) that we reviewed here. Still, I have no idea what’s up with that lightning bolt.

Behind the box we can see the quick summary of the specs of the ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) alongside with the color of the phone at the bottom right corner.

Opening up the box, we were greeted with the accessories box right away. The phone, charger, micro USB cable, and earphones are inside the box itself.

The phone does come with a TPU case as well – which seems to be the norm these days.
[nextpage title=”Design”]
Holding the ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) actually feels a lot thinner than the original ZenFone Max Pro (M1). The edges are obviously much sharper and honestly, it does feel better overall in terms of grip and usability.

The overall placement of the rear-facing cameras, flash, fingerprint scanner, and even the ASUS logo is placed around the same position as before. The top and bottom plastic sections that houses the antennas are identical in design too.

However, the overall size of the phone is a little tinier too. Even with a bigger display than the Max Pro (M1), the size was shrunken a little because they have a notched display now.

The ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) also comes with a TPU case with the little dots to prevent direct contact between the case and back of the phone.
One nice addition here is the pre-installed screen protector. It means that you can start using the phone fully protected when you take it out of the box. Neat.
[nextpage title=”Connectivity & Ports”]
The one part that ASUS redeems itself partially here is the connectivity that it offers. For a budget smartphone like this, I was not surprised that ASUS neglected the AC-WiFi like they have already been doing for the past 2 years or so since the ZenFone 3 Zoom.

At the left side of the phone is where the card tray is found. Ejecting it, I found that the ZenFone Max (M2) has the same versatility as over ZenFone Max series smartphones – dual nano SIM card slots and another microSD card slot – all independent from each other.
All of the buttons – the volume rocker and the power button – are located at the right side of the phone at the exact same location as the Max Pro (M1).

At the bottom however, we see a single microphone port, a micro USB port, and also a speaker grill. The 3.5mm jack has been moved to the top, beside the secondary microphone.

It also comes with a pretty slow fingerprint scanner at the back. The reliability is rather poor as well.

[nextpage title=”Display”]
As mentioned earlier, the ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) comes with a larger display than its predecessor thanks to the utilization of a notched display. The ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) comes with a 6.26-inch IPS LCD display with 1520×720 pixels in resolution.

That is quite a step down from the Max Pro (M1)’s 5.99-inch 1080p display. To add salt to injury, the ASUS ZenFone Max (M2)’s display is just hideous. Sorry ASUS, the display quality on this phone is just… bad. The colors appear to be washed out. And there is no option to fix it through settings menu either.

When compared with its predecessor’s display, there is a very noticeable difference in color saturation. The differences are most prominent when viewing yellow/orange and green colors. The ASUS ZenFone Max (M2)’s display is just bad.
Let’s not forget about the notch. While it is considered a budget smartphone with a budget price tag, the notch is humongous compared to others. The slightly higher priced HONOR 10 Lite has a waterdrop notch, better colors, and 1080p in resolution.
[nextpage title=”Cameras”]
When we reviewed the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro (M2), we realized that the camera did improve from its 3GB and 4GB RAM variant predecessors. As for the non-Pro version, it seems to be using the same sensor but with a different lens. Here are the camera specs for the ASUS ZenFone Max (M2):

Dual rear-facing cameras

13MP f/1.8 with PDAF
2MP depth sensor

8MP f/2.0 selfie camera with fixed focus and front-facing flash

The new ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) does come with a bigger aperture for both the rear-facing camera and the selfie camera.

Without further ado, here is the picture samples of images taken with the ASUS ZenFone Max (M2). You can check out the full album of picture with all the metadata over at our Shutterfly album here.
Rear-facing cameras
Let’s first take a look at our usual picture spot – between the two apartments. We took the picture with auto mode first, which turned out rather okay. The white balance is surprisingly good and the overall exposure is decent.

Once we switch over to HDR, we can see that the superpositioning of multiple images of different exposures on top of each other is not clean, and the software tries to blend it all by blurring. And the image does appear to be grainier too. Also, the color saturation is cranked up way too high.

Then onward to the night shots. In auto mode, it is very noisy and the image turned purple – a telltale sign of super ridiculously high ISO and the sensor just couldn’t keep up. Hence, the image… noisy and has a purple tint to it.

Turning on HDR does make it usable in some ways. But the dark sky turned into 16 bit graphics.

When we turned on night mode, the colors of the pictures… are gone. Everything is desaturated.

For indoor shots, the camera is somewhat disappointing too. The focus is slow and jumpy at times because of the terrible camera software.

When the portrait mode is turned on, the blurring is somewhat accurate but once again, it is very, very slow.

Selfie cameras
As for the selfie camera, there is a front-facing flash for the selfie camera. However, the quality turned out really, really bad.

Camera UI
The camera UI is actually exactly the same as the ZenFone Max Pro (M2). It is still based on the Snapdragon camera app but with a few of ASUS’s own twist.

The camera UI is made to be simple to use for point and shoot purposes. Hence the lack of buttons other than a few to toggle the portrait and beauty modes. This camera UI is also made specifically for taking pictures only since video mode is hidden at the top right button.

As for the manual mode, you can go down to ISO 100 and shutter speed to 1/2000s. Not too bad, and the quality of the RAW image is pretty okay.

[nextpage title=”Software – Pure Android 8.1.0 Oreo”]
ASUS’s software update approach is surprisingly similar to other big smartphone manufacturers – it’s always slow but steady. After using ASUS smartphones for so long, I have come to realize that ASUS is indeed one of the slowest when it comes to updates – but their software is stable.

Just like the other ASUS ZenFone Max series of smartphones, it comes with pure Android experience as well. There is absolutely zero bloatware with the ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) – and that is a good thing since the phone only has 32GB of internal storage after all.
However, the ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) does have some unresolved issues. Launching the camera app from the lock screen will result in the notch not being hidden completely.

While on the subject of the camera, there was an issue whereby I kept pressing the shutter button and the picture-taking animation played – but no picture was taken. I had to restart the camera app so that it takes pictures for real.
Also, the touch screen can sometimes fail to register presses entirely. I had to lock and unlock the phone again for the touch screen to regain consciousness.
[nextpage title=”Performance & Gaming”]
Coming on to performance, the ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) comes with an inferior chipset compared to its predecessor, the Max Pro (M1). Here is the full specs list:

6.26-inch notched IPS LCD display with 1520×720 pixels in resolution
Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 chipset

4x Kryo 250 Gold @ 1.8GHz + 4x Kryo 250 Silver @ 1.8GHz
Adreno 506 GPU with 96 ALUs

4GB LPDDR3 RAM
32GB eMMC 5.1 storage (expandable with microSD)
4,000mAh battery
Pure Anroid 8.1.0 Oreo

Knowing all of these specs, here are the benchmark results of the ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) with the lesser-known Snapdragon 632 chipset.

From here, we can see that the graphical performance of the Snapdragon 632 chipset that is used in the ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) is the worst out of all the phones that we reviewed in the past, particularly in 3DMark and VRMark. That brings us to our gaming experience with the ASUS ZenFone Max (M2).
Gaming
ASUS promotes the ZenFone Max (M2) as a gaming smartphone – but how exactly does it actually perform in games? We set out to test it with our 3 usual games.
First off, Honkai Impact 3. The game itself actually recommended graphical settings level 2, but that did not turn out well since it lags beyond imagination. I turned off all fancy effects, turned the resolution to lowest and it still cannot maintain a smooth 30FPS gameplay. It is playable if you can stand the choppy graphics during intense battles.
Then comes Asphalt 9. This game’s graphical settings is either in “default” or “high” only. I turned it down to “default” and played a race match. It actually plays out pretty well with only occasional drops to below 30FPS, but the game looks absolutely hideous. Everything has jagged edges and the nitro tank looks like blurry staircases.

As for PUBG Mobile, it is playable with the absolute lowest settings. The frame rate is acceptable and managed to sustain a smooth gameplay.
Here’s the kicker – I experienced the ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) for myself and I can say that it is not a gaming phone. Not by a long shot. The Snapdragon 632 just isn’t powerful enough.
[nextpage title=”Battery & Charger”]
With a 4,000mAh battery, one would expect great battery life out of it. However, from our test, it is somewhat below our expectations. Take a look at the result of our battery life test here.

The ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) that is equipped with a Snapdragon 632 chipset and a 720p screen scores only an hour more compared to the ZenFone 5 and the ZenFone 5Z, where both of them have 3,000mAh batteries. The Snapdragon 636 on the ZenFone Max Pro (M1) and the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro (M2) with 5,000mAh battery scored much better while providing much better performance.
All in all, in terms of battery life, the ZenFone Max (M2) is below the line of best fit.
Charger
The ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) comes with a 5V 2A charger which is very standard. ASUS has changed the design of their chargers now, making it smaller than the ones included in the previous generation of ZenFone Max phones.

As for the charging speed, check out the graphic below.

For the relatively 4,000mAh battery, it takes about 41 minutes to reach 50% charge and a total of 69 minutes to reach 75% of battery charge.
[nextpage title=”Wrapping up the ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) review”]
On paper, the ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) is catered towards the even lower end market that does not need the performance that its Pro variant offers. However, when compared to the ZenFone Max Pro (M1), the novelty of the ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) wears out.
The ASUS ZenFone Max (M2) has an inferior chipset – the Snapdragon 632 – which under-performs in games, making it unsuitable to be called a “next-generation gaming” phone. The 720p display is not only low in resolution, but the colors are washed out too. It does have an extra gigabyte of RAM and has better camera lenses compared to the Max Pro (M1), but the quality is still poor.

For the price of RM699, I highly recommend you to buy the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro (M1) while you still can. Bigger battery with better performance and a much better screen. but one less gigabyte of RAM. Or splurge a little more to get the HONOR 10 Lite.
Where to buy?

Lazada (promotion now for RM599)
Amazon

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[UPDATED 1st December 2017] Hong Leong Bank Accepts WeChat Wallet Payment In Malaysia Now! – Here’s a sneak preview

Hey – would you look at that? WeChat is finally expanding its Wallet function to other countries other than China! It’s coming to Malaysia now!
Our friend Joshua from The Ideal Mobile is a member of WeChat’s pilot program, and that’s why he got to test the latest and greatest (potentially the glitchiest) functions available on the app first. I’m glad he is in the test program. Here are some of the things he found in his account, which gives us a pretty good idea on what to expect in the future.

Throughout his discovery, we bounced questions back and forth on how “ready” the Wallet feature is for its prime time here in Malaysia.

Head on over to change your region to Malaysia, If you can do it, that means you’re one of the WeChat Wallet early access for Malaysia!

Sadly, I’m not one of those lucky users – yet. If you are, do leave us a comment down below and describe your thoughts and potentially, your experience with it!

[UPDATE]: WeChat Pay comes early next year
Reuters just ran a piece regarding Tencent, the parent company of WeChat, saying this.

Tencent has made a “breakthrough” in gaining an e-payment license in Malaysia for local transactions, and plans a launch early next year, senior vice president S.Y. Lau said in an interview.

When exactly will we be getting WeChat Pay? I’m not sure, but for all we know, we have AliPay and WeChat Pay available soon. That’s excluding other local eWallet systems, too.

[UPDATE]: WeChat Wallet is now accepted in Malaysia!
Merchants – take note! Hong Leong Bank (HLB) is now accepting payments via WeChat Pay.
HLB just got an approval Bank Negara for the agreement between both Tenpay Payment Technology (subsidiary of Tencent, owner of WeChat) to provide WeChat Pay payment solution in Malaysia.
This effort will definitely boost the spending power of Chinese tourists who are currently using WeChat Pay in China. According to Domenic Fuda, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of HLB, there are over 600 million active users in China alone.
Perhaps WeChat Wallet and WeChat Pay will come to us Malaysians soon enough.

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Samsung Galaxy Fold now available in a few countries

Samsung’s category-defining Galaxy Fold is now available in a few countries around the world! Yes, this is the official launch as the date announced earlier this year was postponed. The Galaxy Fold was first shown off to the world before the grand launching of the Galaxy S10 series earlier this year.
Today, the Galaxy Fold is finally available in Korea, and followed by a few countries, including France, Germany, Singapore, U.K., U.S., and more. The Galaxy Fold will be available in a total of 2 different colors – Cosmos Black and Space Silver, and also available in 5G-ready option in select countries.

While the Galaxy Fold’s design is already sophisticated and complicated enough, Samsung has further refined and improved it to ensure the best possible experience.

Samsung also designed a unique foldable UX to provide the most intuitive user experience to be used while folded and unfolded. When closed, you can shoot a quick video, and then simply open the device to watch it on a larger screen. App Continuity here is important as the app automatically scales and goes into the big screen when unfolded, and vice versa. Since you can have a large display, the Multi-Active Window feature allows multiple apps running at once in real-time and effectively multitask.
By opting a 5G option, the Galaxy Fold can be your ultimate smartphone for both gaming and media consumption.

Every Galaxy Fold comes with exclusive access to specialized customer care services – including one-on-one access to Samsung experts, and a 24/7 support hub online or over the phone. Samsung will elaborate on plans in each market to ensure every aspect of the Galaxy Fold experience is as extraordinary as the device itself.
For more information about Galaxy Fold, click here.
As for the specs, check out this table below. Once again, the specs is just half the story.

Galaxy Fold

Display
Main Display
– 7.3” QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED Display (4.2:3) Infinity Flex Display, 2152×1536, 362ppi
Cover Display
– 4.6” HD+ Super AMOLED Display (21:9), 1680×720, 399ppi

Dimension & Weight
Folded: 62.8 x 160.9 x 15.7mm ~ 17.1mm
Unfolded: 117.9 x 160.9 x 6.9mm ~ 7.6mm
Weight: 276g

Camera
Cover Camera
10MP Selfie Camera: F2.2, Pixel size: 1.22μm, FOV: 80˚

Front Dual Camera
10MP Selfie Camera: F2.2, Pixel size: 1.22μm, FOV: 80˚
8MP RGB Depth Camera: F1.9, Pixel Size: 1.12μm, FOV: 85˚

Rear Triple Camera
16MP Ultra Wide Camera: F2.2 ,Pixel size: 1.0μm, FOV : 123˚
12MP Wide-angle Camera: Super Speed Dual Pixel AF, OIS, F1.5/F2.4, Pixel size: 1.4μm, FOV: 77˚
12MP Telephoto Camera: PDAF, F2.4, OIS, Pixel size: 1.0μm, FOV: 45˚
Dual OIS, 0.5x out and 2x in optical zoom, Up to 10x digital zoom, HDR10+ recording, Tracking AF

AP
7nm 64-bit Octa-Core Processor (2.84GHz + 2.41GHz + 1.78GHz)

Memory
12GB RAM with 512GB internal storage (UFS3.0)

Battery
LTE model: 4380mAh (typical) dual battery
5G model: 4235mAh (typical)

Charging
Fast Charging compatible on wired and wireless

OS
Android 9 (Pie)

Network
LTE model: Enhanced 2X2 MIMO, 6CA, LAA, LTE Cat.18
– Up to 1.2Gbps Download / Up to 150Mbps Upload5G model: Non-Standalone (NSA), Sub6

Connectivity
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax HE80 MIMO, 1024QAM
Bluetooth v 5.0, ANT+, USB type-C, NFC, Location (GPS, Galileo, Glonass, BeiDou)

SIM Card
LTE model: one eSIM and one Nano SIM
5G model: one Nano SIM

Payment(Samsung Pay)
Credit & debit cards: supports MST and/or NFC
Membership cards, Gift cards, Transit cards, Reward point service

Sensors
Capacitive Fingerprint sensor (side), Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyro sensor, Geomagnetic sensor, Hall sensor, Proximity sensor, RGB Light sensor

Authentication
Lock type: pattern, PIN, password
Biometric lock type: Fingerprint sensor, Face recognition
*Galaxy Fold has a Capacitive Fingerprint sensor on the side.

Audio
Stereo speakers and bundled Galaxy Buds
Surround sound with Dolby Atmos technology (Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus included.)
UHQ 32-bit &DSD64/128 support*, PCM: Up to 32 bits, DSD: DSD64/128
Audio playback format : MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA, APE, DSF, DFF

Video
Video playback format: MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM
TV connection: Wireless: Smart View (screen mirroring 1080p at 30fps) / Wired: supports DisplayPort over USB type-C. Supports video out when connecting via HDMI Adapter. (DisplayPort 4K UHD at 60 fps)

Security
Knox protection: real-time monitoring and protection.
Virus, malware prevention. (Powered by McAfee)
Secure Folder: a secure space on the device to keep content such as apps, photos and videos, secured by fingerprint scanning.

In the Box
Galaxy Fold, Galaxy Buds, Data Cable, Travel Adapter, Ejection Pin, USB Connector (OTG), Quick Start Guide, Aramid Fiber Cover

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