HTC 10 review — almost a perfect 10/10

I really have some sweet memories with HTC. My very first Android device was the HTC One X. Yes, the very first of the One family. The One we were all waiting for. Not exactly, but it was the device that set my expectations for HTC. And let us not forget, the whole Nexus line started with the Nexus One, by HTC. And of course, the latest Pixel is also manufactured by HTC, heralding the beginning of a new series of Google smartphones. So yeah, my expectations for HTC is high, and I finally have the HTC 10 (which has already been in the market for some time) is the perfect beginning after ending their faltering One series.
Unboxing

The HTC 10 comes in a standard squarish box, with the HTC 10 branding right in the middle and a cool embossed texture. It looks good and simple, but if we are talking about the premiumness of it, many manufacturers ship their flagships in packaging that outclasses HTC.

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Opening up the box allows you to immediately lay your eyes on the very sleek HTC 10. As is pretty standard for smartphone packaging nowadays, the rest of the package will be under the tray the smartphone was found in, and lifting it up reveals a few more compartments.

HTC did a great job labelling each and every compartment with the contents. However, I was very disappointed to find my review sample to not come with the Hi-Res Audio earphones that will and should take advantage of the audio capabilities of the HTC 10. The compartment with the tray ejector pin stores the documentation.

So here we have the entire package sans the earphones. The cable is a USB Type-C cable, but is only wired for USB 2.0. As the HTC 10 supports USB 3.1 connections, I have no idea why HTC did not bundle one that would allow us to take full advantage of the faster transfer speeds that the newer standard can offer. The charger offers Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 and is capable of outputting [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]
Appearance

The HTC 10 carries on HTC’s signature look, which is pretty much a monolithic slab with curved corners and straight lines. However the HTC 10 loses the BoomSound front-facing stereo speakers, instead going for a different configuration. You still get stereo audio, but they are no longer blasting at you from the front of the device. The fingerprint sensor is in front on the HTC 10, not my favorite location, but at least it is solid state instead of a button. The top and bottom bezels are kinda thick for a 2016 flagship too, and with the missing front facing speakers, are now made even harder to justify. The notification LED and proximity sensor are embedded very well in the top bezel, hidden from view, until you get a notification.

The rear of the HTC is clean, and HTC is again back with their smoothly curved sides and seamlessly embedded antenna lines. However on the HTC 10, you get the extra treat of some of the widest chamfered lines I have ever seen. The camera is a new Ultrapixel 2.0 one, with laser autofocus to aid autofocusing. Two antenna lines run along the top and bottom of the device, being both functional and also aesthetically pleasing. HTC really did a good job making the HTC 10 look clean while maintaining their signature design language.

On the right side we have the very noticeably textured power button, the smooth volume rocker and the SIM tray slot. Over on the left there is the microSD tray.

Over on the bottom, we have the microphone hole, the USB Type-C port and the better half of the BoomSound audio system on the HTC 10.

The top edge is home only to the 3.5mm jack. HTC apparently dropped the IR transmitter found on every HTC One device since the M7 because very few people use it. And oh, the call speaker also doubles up as a loudspeaker, completing the BoomSound system on the HTC 10.
Specifications

CPU:
Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 (2 x Kryo @ 2.15 GHz, 2 x Kryo @ 1.6 GHz), Adreno 530 @ 624 MHz

RAM
4GB LPDDR4

Display:
5.2″, QHD (1440p) SuperLCD 5 display

Storage:
32GB internal (expandable with microSD up to 128GB)

Camera
12MP f/1.8, 26mm, 1/2.3″ UltraPixel 2, OIS, laser AF, dual LED flash
5MP f/1.8, 23mm, autofocus, HDR front camera

OS:
Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with HTC Sense UI

SIM:
nanoSIM

Battery:
3000 mAh (non-removable)

Performance

Qualcomm really knows what they are doing, and the Adreno 530 is definitely one of the fastest GPUs out there. As expected, the scores here are the highest we have seen here in our labs. However if we refer to 3DMark’s rankings, the HTC 10 is one of the slower devices among all the smartphones packing the Snapdragon 820.

HTC 10 blazes through Antutu, once again being the fastest phone we have tested. Despite being just a quad core CPU, the powerful performance each core is capable of, along with one of the strongest GPUs in the market helps it to attain such high scores.

In PCMark, it falls behind some of the lower end devices that have entered our labs. In our experience, PCMark prefers more cores, which can be one of the reasons the HTC 10 fails to be a killer here.

The HTC 10 with us is a weird outlier in the Geekbench Benchmark. It scores on par with the other benchmarks I see online in the single- core test, but the multi-core scores are a far cry from what other reviewers managed to squeeze out of their HTC 10. I have no idea how they do it, as I have enabled high performance mode and the scores did not change.

Battery life of the HTC 10 is decent, with 4 hours of on screen time, over around 20 hours away from the plug. It is good, but you will definitely have to charge it every night. This was obtained with an active data connection and quite heavy usage of Facebook, Messenger and Whatsapp with the random Google search here and there with Chrome.
User Experience

Let’s start off with the nano SIM and microSD trays. HTC has decided against the increasingly popular hybrid dual SIM solution here, instead going for a honest to God single SIM tray. For some reason, HTC’s engineers or designers decided that it would be a good idea to put the slots on opposite sides of the device. I would advice loading the trays one at a time, as you can be prone to mixing up the two trays if you take both of them out together.

Holding the HTC 10 was a most enjoyable experience. The ergonomic shape feels extremely comfortable in my hand. It feels absolute exquisite to hold it. The large chamfered lines, curved back and flat edges meshes perfectly into a surface that is so comfortable to hold, I could not imagine it to be possible. The weight is also well balanced, allowing the HTC 10 to sit securely in my hands all the time. I really love holding on to it. Which then leads me to my main grouse with the HTC 10: the warmth. While its shape was very comfortable to hold, it does get warm quite easily. Even doing simple tasks like replying to messages via the FB Messenger app, Whatsapp and Facebook can cause the phone to warm up. I do understand that the aluminium chassis will wick heat away from the internals faster, but I wish HTC had a better place to dump the heat than directly into my palm.
Over my time of use, I noticed that the screen picked up quite a lot of really really fine scratches, as did the body. Quite a lot of small bits of paint was chipped off the edges of the chamfered lines, which can get quite frustrating to see. However, it did survive drops better than any other aluminium device I have used, with a very slight dent formed, compared to the catastrophic deformations that is observed on phones with thinner aluminium. Regarding the glass, the scratches are very fine and can only be seen under close scrutiny, but to avoid the heartache, just slap a tempered glass on it.

Front-mounted fingerprint sensors are not my favorite kind, but at least the one on the HTC 10 is a solid state one. And it also functions almost like rear-mounted fingerprint sensors, allowing you to wake it up by resting your thumb on the sensor and simultaneously unlocking it. It is responsive to even the slightest touch, but the HTC 10 takes quite some time to wake the screen. If the screen is on, the fingerprint sensor shows that it is quite capable of being fast, but then, who is going to wake the device either via double tapping the display or the power button, then press their thumb onto the home button to unlock it? Flanking the home button-cum-fingerprint scanner are the capacitive keys, which are a great idea to reduce wasted screen real estate. The back and multitasking keys are where they should be, and I really find them great to use. They light up for mere 3 seconds when you tap them, conserving energy, but when they are off they are truly invisible, thus not affecting the visual appeal of a clean black bezel.

HTC Sense was one of my favorite Android overlays, and it still is. The UI is clean, and there is no bloatware to speak of. Most of the common apps like the music player, gallery, calculator and calendar are all replaced by their stock Google counterparts. This should help HTC push out updates faster. HTC has promised to push out Android Nougat updates to the HTC 10 by Q4 2016, so it should be arriving quite soon. While it looks absolutely clean in its classic layout, checking out the Themes app will reveal a Freestyle Layout, allowing you to be as messy creative as you want to be with your homescreen’s arrangement. Oh and there is the Blinkfeed on the left most homescreen page, which gives you a feed from News Republic, Twitter or even your Calendar so you will not miss your day’s agenda. It was a lot more comprehensive back in my HTC One X, even allowing me to add my Facebook feed into my Blinkfeed, so I guess there must have been some updates on Facebook’s side that disallows this now.

Well, let’s be honest. HTC had a really bad run with their cameras in the recent years. The HTC One M7’s 4 MP UltraPixel camera was remarkably short of pixels when most other brands were pushing into the 13 MP region. They continued to gamble with their UltraPixel camera, adding the Duo camera system in the HTC One M8 for fancy depth-detection effects, which also did not gain much traction among consumers. For the HTC One M9, it was as if HTC finally gave up on their UltraPixel technology, going for a much more “normal” 20MP sensor which also, did not perform that well. In certain markets like in Malaysia, HTC marketed their HTC One M9+ which combined the 20MP sensor with a Duo camera system. That’s the short history of HTC dabbling in their camera department, and here, we have the improved Ultrapixel 2 camera, with 12MP worth of 1.55µm large pixels. Coupled with a bright f/1.8 aperture, OIS and also a laser autofocusing system, it should be great, right? Hell yeah.

There really is no way of starting the camera up quickly from sleep except with a quick double downward swipe after picking it up, which makes you look like a cowboy fanning the hammer on your revolver. The camera starts up quickly, and you will be shown a very clean interface. A shortcut to HDR mode is just on the lower left corner, and snapping non-HDR images allow you to fire off in quick succession, while HDR shots will take a second to process and save. There are several modes accessible by tapping on the little menu key on the left, including HTC’s unique brainchild, HTC Zoe. It takes a photo with three seconds of 1080p video recording after the shot. I am sure some will find a spectacular use for it, but I am not feeling it. Pro mode will reveal manual controls, but the viewfinder is annoyingly slow to respond to your changes to the parameters, taking a second to reflect the exposure of the shot with the parameters you just dialed in. There is RAW support too if you want to do some post processing later on. You can shoot videos at resolutions up to 4K, with the option of recording 24-bit Hi-Res audio. There are some differences in the field of view between the different resolutions, and there seems to be no option of recording 60 fps videos. With even mid-range devices like the ASUS ZenFone 3 being updated to support 60 fps recording, this is quite a glaring omission on HTC’s part, one which also hopefully see a software update to solve.

Image quality is top notch, and the output is clean at normal ISOs. It’s noise reduction at the upper end of its ISO range does leave some to be desired though. I did my fair share of snapping some shots at Sunway Putra Mall to help my girlfriend with her interior design assignment, and the results look great enough that I stopped using my mirrorless to shoot. That should give you an idea of how great the HTC 10’s camera is. One niggle about the camera is despite the addition of a laser autofocusing system, it still hunts for focus a bit. It will get a solid lock quite fast though, but I do wish it was just that bit faster. Sadly despite the presence of a laser autofocusing system to determine the distance between the subject and the camera, the HTC 10 lacks a depth of field mode for some software bokeh. While enthusiasts frown upon it, it does help you separate your subject from the background very nicely. Maybe we will need to wait for the HTC 11 with the Duo Camera system for that? If you suddenly find your shots looking cloudy or dreamy, you should definitely wipe the lens, as I have encountered poor image quality more than a few times simply because the protruding lens was marked with my fingerprints. Check out the full samples at our Flickr.

Listening to music on the HTC 10 is an absolutely stunning experience. The HTC BoomSound speakers are really impressive, and offer audio that is not only loud, but actually enjoyable. The unique implementation of HTC BoomSound in the HTC 10 sees the driver on the lower edge pushing for the lower frequencies, while the call speaker target the higher ranges. This hardware in combination with Dolby Audio enhancement really delivers a great listening experience. Plugging in headphones allows the Hi-Res audio capability to shine, and HTC even included profiles to suit their in-house earphones, and allows you to tailor the sound for your own pair if they aren’t in the list. Sadly, despite the move towards the future without 3.5mm jacks, the HTC 10 does not enhance audio over Bluetooth.

The 5.2″ 1440p SuperLCD 5 display is sharp, as you would expect from a QHD display, with colors that are as punchy as AMOLED displays. And if the colors are too punchy for you, there is even a sRGB mode for you to have more realistic colors on your HTC 10. 1440p on 5.2″ may be slightly overkill but as a flagship smartphone, it would be a sin not to cram the best they can into it. Viewing angles are wide too, standard for an IPS-based display.
Conclusion
Is this HTC’s saving grace? I would say the HTC 10 has brought the Taiwanese company in line with the other brands in 2016. While HTC once offered unique features no other device had, it now has to play catch up with the other big dogs in the industry. Certain brands like Huawei and Honor have already stepped up their software game, with software features that are still missing in the HTC 10, i.e. long screenshot and screen recording. Still, it is worth applauding HTC for finally giving us a device that is at least on equal footing with the other flagships in the market right now. I would say that the HTC 10 is definitely a great option right now, whereas it was definitely quite hard to pick the HTC One M8 or M9 over the other flagships in the past. For RM2799 (SRP), you are getting a great device for your money, but HTC may be a little too late as their fans may have moved over to the other brands while it was experimenting around. I would give it our Silver Pokdeward, as it is a truly great phone, but misses the mark just ever so slightly.

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Exclusives has always been the way game companies attract a crowd to a specific platform. Occasionally, some of the exclusives will be ported over to other platform, albeit much later. In this case, Valve may port some Steam exclusive PC games over to console gaming.
Valve May Port Steam Exclusives Over to Console Gaming
Picture credits: Tech Times
According to Valve President Gabe Newell at a talk in Sancta Maria College in Auckland, New Zealand, there were subtle hints given out at a possibility of Steam exclusive PC games being ported over to console gaming.

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When asked by a student on whether Steam would be porting games over to consoles, Gabe Newell responded with “You will have a better idea of that by the end of this year.” Given that the VR is available in the PlayStation ecosystem, with a new VR headset said to be coming to the PS5, there is a possibility that Half-Life Alyx will be ported over.
Another possibility is that Valve is working on a number of new games, and those games will have a multi-platform launch. Nothing is known yet about these games other than the fact they will be announced eventually.
The least likely possibility here is the availability of the Steam digital marketplace being added to consoles. The reason why this will likely not happen is because each console already has a digital marketplace of their own, which is the PS Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.
For now, we won’t be able to learn about this until later this year. We will report more on this as soon as information becomes available so stay tuned.
Source
Pokdepinion: To me, there are plenty of PC games that wouldn’t translate well in console gaming, particularly due to the use of a gamepad rather than a keyboard and mouse combo. I wouldn’t say that’s the case for most games however, but we’ll have to wait and see what gets ported over first.
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Opera 42 browser now ships with built-in currency converter — makes international shopping easier

Opera celebrates its 20 years of making a browser with new features and performance update. The latest iteration of Opera 42, is the first internet browser to add a built-in currency converter. It makes it easy to check what items cost, and is ready to improve the way people shop online.
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According to research from Alizila in four years’ ranges, 45% of online shoppers worldwide purchased products from foreign online stores. There are even some countries in which has more than 50% of people do purchases globally.
With this trend, the use of online currency converters has become one of the most commons needs when looking for products. As of yet, there is no browser with this feature built in, which make Opera the first browser to offer this solution.

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To use the currency converter is very easy, simply select the price you want to convert on the webpage and Opera will automatically show it in your local currency. You can also change your output currency in the browser settings.
In addition the new Opera 42 also has a faster startup mechanism. The browser now take into account which tabs were most recently used before you quit Opera, instead of relying on the order of tabs to determine which ones to load on startup.

Pokdepinion: I agree that Opera 42 is the first browser that comes with built-in currency converter, but for other browsers like Mozilla Firefox, there are numerous add-ons available to enable this feature.
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Pos Laju Warns Of Impersonators Trying To Get Your Information

Just recently Pos Laju posted on their Facebook, warning people about a scam that’s been going on that involves impersonators.

In the statement, Pos Laju has revealed that there are individuals who are acting or impersonating themselves as people from Pos Malaysia and Pos Laju.
They’ve advised their customers to not give away any personal details such as their names, MyKad number, or any other that’s sensitive through telephone, SMS, email, or even on social media.

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They have said that the act is against their own policy and it may be an attempt by scammers to get private information.
Expecting a delivery or parcel from them? You are advised on going to their website or even mobile app instead to track your items.
Pokdepinion: Be cautious everyone. Do share this to your friends and family. You never know, they might give away their details easily.
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Join the AORUS CHALLENGE MODE to win prizes worth a total of $7000!

How creative are you? If your answer is “yes”, then you should definitely join the AORUS CHALLENGE MODE campaign that’s running until 30th September, that will give you the chance to win 4K gaming monitors, motherboards as well as other AORUS products, worth a total of $7000! There are four challenges that will test your mettle!
Challenge 1: #AORUSSetup Challenge

This is the challenge for all you PC builders out there. Regardless if you have a blinged out build with blindingly bright RGB, or a subtle all-black setup, GIGABYTE AORUS wants to see your AORUS gaming rig! All you need to do is share photos of your AORUS gaming PC with the list of the AORUS products in your buildon Twitter or Instagram, and use the hashtag #AORUSSetup to be in the running to win!

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Every week, selected AORUS gaming PCs will be chosen to be featured on AORUS social media accounts, with winners also taking home the AORUS FI32U gaming monitor, Z590 VISION D motherboard and AORUS keyboard/mouse set.
Challenge 2: #AORUSDTIYS Challenge

Design this in your style (DTIYS) is the name of the game for this challenge. Be free to create whatever you want, an AORUS PC mod, lego builds, cosplay or a desktop wallpaper. You decide how you want to define AORUS. GIGABYTE challenges you to think outside the box, and may the most creative and unique creations win! Tag #AORUSDTIYS when you are sharing your creation to win big!
Challenge 3: #EagleChallenge

TikTokers, this one is for you. To participate in this challenge, all you need to do is create your own dance cover of the AORUS Eagle Dance song that you can view on TikTok or from the website. Show everyone your killer moves, use the hashtags #EagleChallenge and #AORUS, and you can win some cool prizes!
Challenge 4: #AORUSGameOn Challenge

This is probably the most natural challenge for all gamers out there. All you need to do is to show how good you are in the AORUS GAME ON game, and the highest scores will win prizes! Easy as that. There’s a leaderboard for you to see how well you are doing, so it should really help drum up your competitive spirit!
For more information about the AORUS CHALLENGE MODE campaign, you can head on over to the event landing page here.
Pokdepinion: I think most us are going to just be joining the 4th Challenge… But I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of you acing the first challenge!
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Xbox Teasing Potential Game of Thrones-themed Console

And now your wait begins.
Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/gfnM1vtAEO
— Xbox (@Xbox) May 6, 2019

To celebrate the latest season of Game of Thrones, the official Xbox account on Twitter have teased a crossover between the series and their line of Xbox gaming consoles that appears to be in the works.
In a brief video shared from Xbox on Twitter, we can see a blast of fire appearing before then a small glimpse of the surface of what seems to be an object can be seen. The object in question contains the Targaryen house emblem from Game of Thrones and is surrounding by a pattern that resembles dragon scales. The message shared with the video simply states, “And now your wait begins. Stay tuned.” Whatever this is, it seems like we’ll learn more sooner rather than later.

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The easiest guess in my estimation here is that this could be a new Game of Thrones stylized Xbox One console. The dragon scale design seems to resemble what could be the surface of an Xbox One console. That being said, I have a hard time believing this will be a mass-produced Xbox, if that’s what it is. No, instead I think it would be more along the lines of the limited edition consoles that are given away from time to time, much like the ones associated with the upcoming film Godzilla: King of the Monsters. I’m sure if this was mass produced, it’d make a ton of money.
What do you guys think? Could it be a new console or perhaps something simpler in nature?
Pokdepinion: See below for accurate description of my reaction.

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Xiaomi Malaysia Opens 10 New Stores — Offers RM200 Off On Xiaomi 11T Series In Celebration

The folks at Xiaomi Malaysia has recently announced that they’ve opened up 10 new Xiaomi stores in the country. To celebrate the occasion, they have prepped up several offers for customers to enjoy.
Xiaomi Malaysia opens 10 new stores in the country

They have announced the opening of 10 new Xiaomi Stores across Semenanjung Malaysia, as well as a new service center in Mid Valley Megamall on the 23rd of October.

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In conjunction with the launch, they are hosting a special promo from 23rd to 25th of October 2021 for shoppers in-stores, including RM200 off on the new Xiaomi 11T and Xiaomi 11T Pro as well as special deals on selected AIoT products.
The deals will be offered at all newly launched stores. You can get the RM200 discount on both devices on 25 October starting from 12pm, whereas special deals on selected Xiaomi AIoT products will be offered from October 23 to 25.
Here’s the new outlets list:

Sunway Velocity, Kuala Lumpur
KL East Mall, Kuala Lumpur
Giant Hypermarket Bandar Kinrara, Selangor
Alor Star Mall, Kedah
Kulim Central, Kedah
Kompleks Bukit Jambul, Penang
Prangin Mall, Penang
Lotus Bertam Kepala Batas, Penang
AEON Tebrau City, Johor Bahru
Pusat Perdagangan Mega, Jalan Sakeh Muar, Johor

In addition to that, those who want to service their out-of-warranty smartphones can get 50% off on labour fee at Xiaomi’s Mid Valley Megamall Service Centre, where the first 50 customers will also get a free limited edition Xiaomi Coffee Cup Set.
For more on the latest tech and gaming news plus reviews, stay tuned to Pokde.net.
Pokdepinion: In case you have no idea what the Xiaomi 11T Series has to offer, be sure to check out our full review on them by heading to their respective links.
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Bungie Officially Announces Destiny 2; There’s Some Good News and Some Bad News

Bungie announced Destiny 2 with a single tweet.
Destiny was said to be the multiplayer game with so much added content that it should last a long time. That apparently didn’t happen and now, it seems like a sequel is coming. There’s some good news and some bad news here with regards to Destiny 2 so bear with us for a moment.

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Bungie Officially Announces Destiny 2

pic.twitter.com/n1M4zdGE5K
— Destiny The Game (@DestinyTheGame) March 27, 2017

In a tweet on Destiny’s official Twitter account, a picture of Destiny 2 is shown for the world to see. This followed after an apparent leak in a Gamestop store in Italy, where a supposed Destiny 2 poster was seen.
In it, the poster revealed key art of the game, a release date of September 8, 2017, and more. However, until it has been officially announced, we can only take the release date information with a grain of salt. After all, delays aren’t exactly rare in the videogame industry.
So here comes the bad news. Outside of that tweet, there is absolutely zero information on Destiny 2. We don’t what the story is going to be about, what characters will appear, what kind of changes is happening, or when the game is coming out.
However, we are pretty sure that the reason Bungie is doing this is because they are ready to reveal more information about the game. They probably just want to hype up the crowd on the game.
We expect more details on Destiny 2 to be unveiled in the coming days so until then, do stay tuned to Pokde.net for more details and coverage on the game.

Pokdepinion: What do you think of their method of announcing the game this way? To me, it kinda irks me that there’s no solid details to go with it but people have been clamoring for any bit of information they can get about it. This just happened to be that small bit and it’s enough to get people excited. If it works, I suppose there’s no problems with it.
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Taiwan Excellence Esports Cup 2019 kicks off to find the best players in various esports titles

The Taiwan Excellence Esports Cup (TEEC) is organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade (MOEA), and we Malaysians stand a chance to bring the Malaysian flag to the international stage at the grand finale in Taiwan. The TEEC shows Taiwan’s dedication to bring out the best in the competitive esports scene, just as Malaysia prepares itself for the upcoming SEA Games 2019 in the Phillipines where the first-ever esports medal will be up for grabs.
The tournament is supported by renowned Taiwanese brands like ASUS, MSI, Acer, ADATA, Gigabyte, InWin, TeamGroup, Thermaltake, Transcend and ZADAK. TEEC aims to strengthen the ties between Taiwan and Malaysia, all while furthering MDEC’s #HealthyGaming initiative.
With a prize pool worth RM113 000, the TEEC will see at least 10 000 participants from across Malaysia, with the winning teams getting to fly to Taiwan to compete on the grand stage. Games such as Dota2, League of Legends, CS:GO, PES 2019, Super Smash Bros, Mobile Legends, and Tekken 7. They will compete under different categories including mobile, console and PC.

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The final happening in Malaysia will be happening in Berjaya Times Square Mall this 11th to 13th October, so stay tuned for more updates about TEEC!
Pokdepinion: Can’t wait to see Malaysians take the stage in Taiwan!
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Android 9 Pie Rolls Out To Nokia 6.1 Plus And Nokia 7 Plus

HMD Global, the home of Nokia smartphones, has announced the roll out of Android 9 Pie to their Nokia 6.1 Plus and Nokia 7 Plus devices.
Nokia 6.1 Plus & Nokia 7 Plus Gets Android 9 Pie
The new update will be rolled out to the two smartphones in phases throughout this month, October 2018. Users of the Nokia 6.1 Plus have started receiving the update through Nokia phones beta labs.
Early adopters will be able to provide direct feedback to Android after testing the beta version of the new update.

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Coming with Google’s software, where only the essential apps loaded, both the Nokia 6.1 Plus and Nokia 7 Plus serve up Android 9 Pie with no bloatware, skins UI changes, or even hidden processes that eat up your battery life.
The new update focuses on a more tailored experience, with the emphasis on AI, machine learning, and digital wellbeing. Featuring the mentioned AI capabilities, Android 9 Pie comes in with features such as Adaptive Battery and App Actions, ensuring smarter resourcing of power and processing.
With App Actions, which is unique to Android One devices and Google Pixel phones running Android 9 Pie, it learns more about your daily usage and assists you with your everyday tasks. Your device will then predict and recommend your next action at the moment it is needed the most.
If you own a Nokia 6.1 Plus, you can try out these sets of features yourself by registering on the Nokia phones beta labs.
Pokdepinion: Well that’s the best part of having a Nokia device right now, you are assured of getting updates for your device. I’m still stuck here on Oreo..
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NVIDIA Aims to Release GeForce RTX 40 Series Q3 and Q4 This Year According to Rumours

NVIDIA intends to release the GeForce RTX 4090 in August, the RTX 4080 in September, and the RTX 4070 in October this year. According to VideoCardz.com, they have some additional information on the launch dates for the GeForce RTX 40 and dates may and will change quickly.

The RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 may have more in common, despite the fact that both SKUs have distinct GPUs which are AD102 and AD103. Both GPUs may be sharing the same board the PG139. The RTX 4090 has the SKU 330, while the RTX 4080 has the SKU 360.

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Rumoured NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series Specifications

GeForce RTX 4090
 GeForce RTX 4080
 GeForce RTX 4070

Architecture
Ada (TSMC N4)
Ada (TSMC N4)
Ada (TSMC N4)

GPU
AD102-300
AD103
AD104-400

 Board Number
PG139-SKU330
PG139-SKU360
PG141-SKU341

SMs
126
TBC
TBC

 CUDA Cores
16128
TBC
TBC

Memory
24 GB G6X
16 GB G6X
12 GB G6 or G6X

Memory Bus
384-bit
256-bit
192-bit

Memory Speed
21 Gbps
TBC
18 Gbps+

 TDP
450W
TBC
300W+

Launch Date
August 2022
September 2022
October 2022

Source
Pokdepinion: Can’t wait for what NVIDIA has installed for us! I hope there’s a major difference between the 4080 and the 4090 as the 3090 was underwhelming according to its price to performance ratio compared to the 3080!
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128GB on your HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro is insufficient? The NM cards are coming out next week

Malaysians will finally be able to purchase a NM card to expand the storage of their HUAWEI Mate 20 devices. The new proprietary storage expansion card was not launched together with the HUAWEI Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro here in Malaysia, but it will reportedly be available next week.

HUAWEI’s latest Mate 20 series do not support microSD cards, but instead they accept a new proprietary memory card standard called NM cards, which is currently only supported by the HUAWEI Mate 20 series. It is claimed to be 45% smaller, allowing HUAWEI to cram more into the HUAWEI Mate 20 devices.

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In terms of performance, the NM cards offer similar performance to high-end microSD cards with read speeds of 90 MB/s and write speeds of 70 MB/s. HUAWEI Malaysia will offer only the 128GB NM card here in Malaysia, and it will be priced at RM298. With only HUAWEI making the cards, it will remain to be seen if it will take off and be used by other smartphone makers.
Do you think the NM card standard will be a part of future non-HUAWEI smartphones?
Pokdepinion: While Apple embraces a more open standard with the adoption of USB Type-C on the new iPad Pro, HUAWEI is moving backwards with the proprietary NM card. Why?
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Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro to come with free Mi LED TV 4S 55″ for first 500 customers on Lazada

While previously there were only 450 Mi LED TV 4S 55″ up for grabs for the early birds at the Mi 10T Pro’s first sales roadshows, now there are a total of 500 units. On top of that, there’s also an additional 650 units of Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 Basic for the subsequent 650 customers!

All of them are available on Lazada, although there’s still a distribution of the units among Xiaomi’s resellers, as follows:

Mi LED TV 4S 55″
Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 Basic

Xiaomi LazMall Flagship Store
50 units
300 units

Urban Republic
50 units
50 units

DirectD
50 units
100 units

Vivid Concepts
350 units
200 units

You can click on the above links to get to the selected stores that will be running the Lazada Online First Sale promotion. The sales will start tonight at 12AM, so make sure to get yourself ready to snag the first few units. It is a first-come-first-serve deal, so you will have to be quick. At least you won’t have to worry about having to wait for a later date to get your free TV with your new smartphone, only to find out the website is down.

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Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro Specs

Snapdragon 865, octa-core up to 2.84GHz, 7nm
8GB LPDDR5 RAM
256GB UFS 3.1 storage
6.67″ FHD+ LCD display, 144Hz refresh rate
108MP f/1.69, OIS + 13MP f/2.4 ultra-wide + 5MP macro camera
20MP f/2.2 selfie camera
5000mAh battery, 33W fast charging
RM1999

You can read our review of the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro to help make up your mind if you need a new smartphone (and a new TV).
Pokdepinion: Xiaomi is really sweetening the deal here!
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Naughty Dog Releases First Look At Joel And Ellie From The Last Of Us Series

Naughty Dog has just revealed the very first image of Joel and Ellie from HBO’s The Last of Us TV series in celebration of The Last of Us Day.
First look at Joel and Ellie from The Last of Us TV series
Image source: Naughty Dog
Revealed on Naughty Dog’s official Twitter account, the image shared shows us Joel and Ellie, played by The Mandalorian himself, Pedro Pascal and young actress Bella Ramsey overlooking an empty field with what looks to be the remains of a crashed aeroplane out in the distance. The look of Joel and Ellie in the image looks like it was ripped straight out of the game with the clothes and backpacks looking very on point.
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey
We don’t really know much about the series apart from some of the main cast and the fact that the show’s first season will adapt the first game with some “deviations“. Some of the other cast members who will appear in The Last of Us show is Gabriel Luna who will be playing Joel’s brother Tommy, Nico Parker play Sarah, Joel’s dead daughter and Merle Dandridge, who reprises her role as Marlene, the leader of the Fireflies. Merle Dandridge was the original voice and motion actress of Marlene in the original game.

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Other actors joining the show include Jeffrey Pierce (the original voice actor for Tommy) who will play an original character, Perry, Con O’Neil who will play Bill, an associate of Joel, Murray Bartlett who will play Frank, Bill’s partner and Anna Torv who will play Joel’s partner, Tess.
Here’s the official synopsis of the show provided by HBO:
The story takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.
There’s no confirmation on when The Last of Us show will air but there are rumours that it might be releasing sometime in 2022 and will be airing on HBO.
Pokdepinion: I’m pretty excited about this show. The Last of Us is one of my favourite games on the PS3 so here’s hoping the show would do the game justice.
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Embrace hybrid classrooms as the future with the JOI Smart Education Solutions!

Find out more about JOI® Smart Education solutions!
As the government mulls protecting our students from the ongoing pandemic by bringing classes online, it’s definitely worth exploring the technologies to make the transition as seamless as possible. COVID-19 cases are at all-time high in Malaysia, and it probably would be best for everyone involved, from the teachers to the students, to be able to conduct e-learning as effectively as possible. That’s where JOI® comes in with their ready-to-implement Smart Education solutions.
Bring classrooms to the digital space with the JOI® Smart Education solutions

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A lot of people might link e-learning with a lack of focus, or the inability to collaborate effectively. However the JOI® Smart Education solutions are perfectly intended to address that, by enabling students and teachers alike to create, collaborate and stay productive, all from the safety of their homes. Via software like Microsoft Teams and Google Classroom, classes can be made engaging and fun, and at times even more so than traditional classes, as more digital elements can be brought in seamlessly to better deliver the curriculum, be it remotely or even in a physical classroom.

Of course, there are a variety of needs, and JOI® understands that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for every classroom, which is why they have a full range of ecosystem products that will enable an effective hybrid classroom. Depending on the feature set required by the institution or even the specific classroom, the JOI® Smart Education solutions can be tailored to perfectly meet the needs of everyone.

JOI® offers a range of rugged machines, designed with shock, dust and water resistance, like the JOI® Classmate 10 and Classmate 30. These are better suited to younger students, who might be slightly clumsier with their devices. Meanwhile for those seeking a sleeker look, there’s also the JOI® Book 143 Pro, JOI® Book 200 Pro and JOI® Book Touch 330 Pro, which are more premium with a thin-and-light design to enhance portability as well. At the core of these laptops are the latest Intel® platforms to deliver a reliable e-learning experience, as well as software powered by Microsoft Windows as well as Google’s Chrome OS.

Another common issue raised by parents and educators is the cost of adopting e-learning. To address the hurdles to e-learning which mainly pertains to the costs of acquiring the hardware, SNS is offering the SNS One Plan that offers subscription services of up to 36 month. Meanwhile education institutions can also acquire the devices as a service, simply by paying monthly fees. These approaches lower the barrier of entry to an engaging hybrid classroom experience.
Hybrid Classrooms successfully implemented in UTHM

A good case study of how hybrid classrooms is none other than Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), which worked with SNS Network to deploy the JOI® Smart Classroom solutions. UTHM upgraded their lecture halls and laboratories, turning them into digital hybrid classrooms as part of their 21st Century TVET Transformation initiative. TVET, or short for technical vocational education and training, helps prepare students for the real world with useful knowledge and skills for the workplace. And with the sudden shift to virtual learning in recent times, UTHM’s hybrid classrooms have proven to be all the more valuable.
If you are interested to find out more about JOI® Smart Education solutions, you can just fill out the form via the following link:
Find out more about JOI® Smart Education solutions!
This is an exclusive article for JOI® Malaysia.
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MSI begins rollout of AMD Combo PI V2 1.1.0.0 BIOS updates for selected 500-series motherboards

MSI is making sure that their AMD 500-series motherboards are well prepared for current and future AMD AM4 processors by rolling out the latest AMD Combo PI V2 1.1.0.0 BIOS for their lineup of AMD X570, B550 and A520 motherboards.
MSI has currently released Beta BIOSes based on the AMD Combo PI V2 1.1.0.0 for ten of their motherboards. The boards are as follows:

MSI MPG X570 GAMING PRO CARBON WIFI
MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
MSI MEG X570 ACE
MSI MEG X570 UNIFY
MSI MAG X570 TOMAHAWK WIFI
MSI MPG B550 GAMING PLUS
MSI MPG B550 GAMING CARBON WIFI
MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK
MSI B550 GAMING EDGE WIFI
MSI MAG B550M MORTAR WIFI
MSI MAG B550M MORTAR

The BIOS update is slated to bring optimized compatibility for AMD Ryzen 3000 series and AMD Ryzen 4000G series desktop processors, as well as future AM4 socket processors. On top of that, it also solves some OC failure issues, optimized the DDR4 memory overclocking solution and also updated the SMU module.

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MSI will be releasing the finalized stable BIOSes by the end of the month, so if you aren’t experiencing any issues right now, you might want to wait for a bit until the stable BIOS is available for your motherboard. If you want to see if it improves your RAM overclocking, well you can check out the BIOS for your motherboards here.
Pokdepinion: I am not a big fan of beta BIOSes, but I guess those who don’t rely on their PCs for daily tasks can considering trying it out.
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Rainbow Six Siege Limited Time Event Doktor’s Curse Now Playable

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege has always come up with fun and iconic limited time events and this time around, they’ve introduced Doktor’s Curse.

This year’s Halloween event will last two weeks, and runs until November 6. The event will see you play in a 5v5 Monster Hunt mode, where there’s Exterminators and Monsters. The former will consist of 5 Sledges wielding only 3 unique hammers as weapons and a selection of gadgets who face The Monsters, who have no weapons but can use traps.
In addition to traps, The Monsters have the unique ability where they can turn invisible and run faster to escape the attackers. As you can guess, the attackers’ goal is to kill all the monsters. For the monsters however, they need to try and survive the round.

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The Doktor’s Curse event includes new Ubisoft Club Challenge, that allows you to earn one of the 28 packs if you acieve 20 kills while playing the mode. A second pack can be unlocked should you win 13 rounds in the playlist. Not to forget, players that log-in during the special event period will also receive one free pack.
You can also opt to purchase the Doktor’s Curse pack for 300 R6 Credits or 12,500 Renown, with a 10% discount for Y4 Pass owners.
Pokdepinion: Man that looks fun. I’m going to try it out later tonight.
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TEAMGROUP T-Force Dark Za DDR4-3600 CL18 Review — a wallet-friendly good time for everyone

TEAMGROUP releases a rather wide array of RAM and storage offerings, with options ranging from the really high-end all the way to the more budget-friendly picks. Today we will be looking at the TEAMGROUP T-Force Dark Zα DDR4, which is an AMD-optimized version of their Dark Z DDR4 memory kits. We received the DDR4-3600 CL18 kit, which is pretty right on point with the 3600MHz sweet spot for the AMD Ryzen 3000 series processors.
Unboxing + Appearance

There really isn’t much to look at with the T-Force Dark Za DDR4 RAM’s packaging, with it coming in a simple plastic blister packaging instead of the premium box that the T-Force Xtreem ARGB 3600 came in.

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As you might expect from the packaging, the contents are also quite sparse. TEAMGROUP saves some trees by printing the warranty and installation guide on a single sheet of paper, so kudos to them. The case badge is also a nice touch, for those who want to pimp out their build with stickers.

The anodized black finish is perfect to easily match it with most recent motherboard designs. The T-Force Dark Za DDR4 RAM doesn’t have a lot in terms of flair, aside from the chromed T-Force logo and the text “Dark Zα” which is silkscreened onto the aluminium.

The design of the heatspreader is an extension of the T-Force logo which evokes the image of flying wings. The stamped aluminium looks good but it is pretty thin, so while it does expand the surface area of the memory ICs underneath, it’s not going to really cool it much. But RAM doesn’t need much cooling anyway, so the T-Force Dark Za DDR4 RAM will be perfectly fine. There’s no RGB here though, which is a rather serious omission in this day and age.
Specifications
T-Force Dark Za DDR4-3600 CL18 RAM

Memory dies
8Gb Hynix CJR

Frequency
3600MHz

Primary Timings
CL18-22-22-42

Voltage
1.35V

Capacity
8GB x 2

Dimensions
43.5(H) x 141(L) x 8.3(W) mm

You can get the T-Force Dark Za DDR4 RAM in several other options too, including DDR4-3200 CL16 and DDR4-4000 CL18 kits. TEAMGROUP offers them in 16GB and 32GB kits too.
Test Machine

CPU
AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT @ 4.55 GHz

CPU Cooler
MasterLiquid ML240R

Motherboard
ROG Strix B550-E Gaming

Storage
Kingston UV400 120GB
Kingston UV500 1TB
Seagate FireCuda SSHD 1TB
Toshiba OEM PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD 256GB

Power Supply
Cooler Master V850 Platinum

GPU
PowerColor Red Devil Radeon RX 5700 XT

Overclocking
There’s still quite a bit of room to tune the memory for tighter timings from stock, which was my main worry when I saw the default timings of these kits. Tightening up the timings yield a rather nice improvement when it comes to performance as well. I used the DRAM Calculator as a guide to find the appropriate settings to get around to that.

Here’s a good idea of the performance out of the box. It’s pretty good, but we can see that the latency is on the high side no thanks to the rather loose timings.

If your Infinity Fabric cannot handle 1900MHz, well keeping the RAM at 3600MHz and tweaking the timings will be your best bet on AMD. Tweaking the timings down to 16-20-18-20-36 at just 1.35V dropped the latency and bumped up the read and copy speeds by quite a bit. Further increasing the voltage might have yielded extra performance but we decided to go up a rung.

Working at 3800MHz with the Infinity Fabric at 1900MHz, I managed to tighten timings down to 16-20-18-20-38 at 1.42V, which resulted in the lowest latency I have seen on an AMD platform. Most recent AMD Ryzen 3000-series CPUs are capable of 1900MHz FCLK, so this is the true sweet spot. But of course, there are no guarantees at this point.

To satiate your need for speed, well we also check to see how far can the stock XMP profile go. It is apparently good for up to 4333MHz, although you might need to do quite a bit more tweaking to get it to work. At 1.4V, the T-Force Dark Za DDR4 RAM booted up at 4333MHz, but it wasn’t stable enough for MemTest. 1.45V didn’t stabilize it either, so I guess we had to spend more time to stabilize it. We only managed to get 4200MHz at the stock timings and 1.42V to get through 400% MemTest.
The simple heatspreader was sufficient to see that the surface temperatures never exceeded 45°C, even after running MemTest for 2 hours.
Conclusion

The T-Force Dark Za DDR4 RAM is a relatively more affordable kit of RAM that can be found at RM398 or RM359 on Lazada, depending on your store preference. Unfortunately they appear to be out of stock, which is a bummer. Officially, TEAMGROUP’s official MSRP for these are $89 (~RM376). For the performance on offer, they are rather affordable.
At default, the 3600MHz CL18 XMP profile should run reliably on the 3rd Gen Ryzen platform, although the loose timings do benefit from some optimization. I guess in their pursuit of that “Compatible with AMD” label, they decided to go loose to ensure stability with virtually all Ryzen systems. Regardless, just spending a few hours on it will easily net you some nice gains, and you can mark “RAM overclocking” off your bucket list.

Our thanks to TEAMGROUP for sending us the T-Force Dark Za DDR4 RAM for review.
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Celebrate V-Day with OPPO; spice up your romantic season with an exclusive microfilm from OPPO!

OPPO Malaysia has got a Valentine’s Day surprise for you. OPPO will be publishing an exclusive microfilm titled “Listen to Your Heart” (倾听你的声音) this coming 30th January at 12.00pm sharp on OPPO’s Official Facebook Page and Youtube Channel.

The microfilm is centered around the dashing OPPO F5 Dashing Blue Edition which is designed to bring people together. In the story, male lead played by Eric Chou falls in love at first sight with the Min Chen’s character. If I were to say anymore, it would spoil the story, so check out the microfilm when it arrives!
Pokdepinion: Say no more, I am watching this for Min Chen.

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Nokia 5.4 Arrives In Malaysia At RM899

While the Nokia 5.4 was introduced towards the end of December of last year, the device has now finally landed in our shores here in Malaysia, where it is priced at RM899.
Nokia 5.4 now available in Malaysia

If you aren’t aware of what exactly the Nokia 5.4 offers, it is a mid-range smartphone that’s powered by a Snapdragon 662 SoC and comes with quad cameras. For the cameras, it sports a 48MP main camera, 5MP ultrawide lens, 2MP depth sensor, and a 2MP macro shooter.

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It sports a 6.39-inch IPS LCD display which fits a 16MP front camera for your selfies. The variant that we’re getting offers 4GB RAM that’s paired with 128GB internal storage.
Powering it up is a 4000mAh battery which you can charge with its 10W USB-C charger. Should you be interested in purchasing the smartphone, it is available at their official store on Shopee, Lazada, and authorized dealers in the country.
For more of the latest tech and gaming news plus reviews, stay tuned to Pokde.net.
Pokdepinion: Well the phone may be slightly cheaper than the EU pricing.. but then again, I still feel that it is still high for a smartphone with what it offers. What do you think? Would you purchase a Nokia 5.4? Let us know in the comments.
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As a result of finding the PS5 root keys, hackers may have found a way to play pirated games on the next gen console, or at least got closer to it. Here’s what we know thus far.
PS5: Hackers May Have Found A Way to Play Pirated Games

Translation: We got all (symmetric) ps5 root keys. They can all be obtained from software – including per-console root key, if you look hard enough! https://t.co/ulbq4LOWW0
— fail0verflow (@fail0verflow) November 8, 2021

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It appears that a group of hackers have been hard at work as soon as they got their hands on the PS5 console, breaking it down at code level. This group, known as Fail0verflow, claims that they have made significant progress that could potentially lead to a “jailbreak” option.
According to Fail0verflow on Twitter, they claimed to have found the PS5 root keys, which are groups of code that can be utilized to manipulate the PS5 software. Furthermore, Andy Nguyen, a.k.a. TheFloW, claims that he has managed to gain access to the PS5 debug menu, which was only made available to developers.
For those of you who aren’t aware, Fail0verflow is the same group that managed to hack the PlayStation 3 which resulted in the jailbreak option being made available. In the case of the PS5, it’s a major step forward that could lead to them running pirated games on the next gen console.
With that being said however, there’s no guarantee that they can run pirated games on it soon as they would have to reverse engineer the internal software. This process can take ages, and Sony could launch a new update that would make it more difficult for the hackers. For now, we will report more on this as soon as information becomes available so stay tuned.
Source
Pokdepinion: I wasn’t expecting this to happen so soon but if Sony is quick enough with software updates, I foresee the possibility of running pirated games on the next gen console happening in another 2 to 3 years. The longer it takes, the better it is for the PlayStation team.
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Snapdragon 875 enters production on TSMC’s 5nm EUV node

The Snapdragon 875 is probably still a whole year away from debuting in a smartphone, but TSMC is already churning out the chipsets for Qualcomm. This comes after TSMC has rapidly increased the production capacity of their 5nm node to nearly 60 000 wafers per month, an impressive 10% bump up from last month’s capacity.

Qualcomm will be making the Snapdragon 875 chipsets along with Snapdragon X60 5G modems at TSMC’s Nanke 18 foundry. They have reportedly ordered around 6000 to 10 000 5nm wafers per month from TSMC, and is expecting to accept delivery of the chips in September. Perhaps Qualcomm is hoping to unveil Snapdragon 875 smartphones by Christmas?

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TSMC also lists AMD, Apple and NVIDIA among its big clients, so we can probably expect to see 5nm chips from them by next year as well. AMD is expected to order over 20 000 wafers from TSMC for their upcoming CPUs and GPUs, which is 33% of their current production capacity.
Source
Pokdepinion: And yet I can barely afford any other Snapdragon 865 smartphone other than the POCO F2 Pro…
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OPPO A73 Coming This 3 November Exclusively On Shopee

Are you a big OPPO fan? Well you’ll be glad to learn that OPPO Malaysia will be bringing the new OPPO A73 this coming 3rd of November 2020, which isn’t far from now.
OPPO A73 coming soon to Malaysia

The OPPO A73 comes with a 2.5D curved body and sports a 6.44 AMOLED display. Packing a Snapdragon 662 chipset, it packs 6GB RAM that’s mated with 128GB internal storage.
For cameras, it offers a quad camera setup at the back consisting of a 16MP main camera, 8MP ultra-wide shooter, 2MP depth lens, and another 2MP depth sensor. As for the front, it offers a 16MP selfie shooter.

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Under the hood is a 4015mAh battery which you can charge with its VOOC 4.0 30W fast charger. There’s no announcement of the price yet but we’re sure to learn more about it come launch day.
In case you’ve missed the news, OPPO will be having their 11.11 promotions and deals starting from the 1st of November 2020 on Shopee where you can get gifts and vouchers worth up to RM300,000.
Pokdepinion: Let’s just hope that it comes with an attractive price tag at launch. What do you think is the price?
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Nintendo Switch Exclusive Daemon X Machina Confirmed for PC

In a big surprise announcement that no one saw coming, Marvelous and XSEED Games have officially announced that they’re bringing their Nintendo Switch exclusive hit, Daemon X Machina, to PC.
Initially released in September 2019, Daemon X Machina is a mecha action game set in a post-apocalyptic world where you fight against corrupted machines and gigantic robots. Check out the synopsis of the game right below here, courtesy of Steam:
You are an Outer, a new breed of human being that appeared in the aftermath of the Moonfall calamity. As a mercenary for the Orbital organization, you are on the front line of a desperate war for humanity’s survival against the Immortals, corrupted AIs that have rebelled against their human creators.
Piloting a fully customizable mech known as an Arsenal, you must team up with mercenaries like yourself and complete missions to defeat the Immortals once and for all. But be careful, in a war fought by mercenaries, today’s allies can become tomorrow’s enemies.
Daemon X Machina will be priced at USD $59.99 / RM95 on Steam but pre-purchases will get you a 20% discount. Early purchases on Steam will yield some bonus items such as an Arsenal mech, various character suits, and five extra weapons. With the exception of the Metallic Equipment set, all the other items can be purchased later on.

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Daemon X Machina will be coming to PC via Steam on 13th February 2020 (14th February in Malaysia). The game is already available to play on the Nintendo Switch.
Pokdepinion: I’m not surprised that it’s way to PC. I’m more surprised that it’s coming to PC so soon. If you like mechs, you’re going to have a lot of fun with this. The next big surprise here is that it’s really cheap for Malaysians on Steam.
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Get these GeForce GTX 1650 laptops from RM2999 this 7th to 9th September

This 7th September, Gloo and Notebook Plaza will be offering two ASUS laptops powered by the latest GeForce GTX 16-series graphics on a promotion. This promotion is in conjunction with 9.9, and will see the laptops go for as low as RM2999, and also allow you to score exclusive ASUS ROG merchandise with every purchase via SPIN & WIN (while stocks last).

The two laptops involved in this promotion is none other than the ASUS TUF Gaming FX505D and the ROG Strix G gaming laptops. The former sports an AMD processor while the latter touts one from Intel®, giving you a choice when it comes to processing grunt, but both feature the same Turing-based GeForce™ GTX 1650 graphics for mainstream gaming performance.

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The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 promises 70% better performance than the popular GeForce GTX 1050 GPUs from the previous generation, and a whopping 2.5X improvement over the GeForce GTX 950M. Anyone who is upgrading from a laptop a few generations back will be in for a treat.

Here are the specifications of the laptops:

ASUS TUF Gaming FX505D-TBQ222T
ASUS ROG Strix G G531G-TAL236T

Processor
AMD Ryzen™ 5 3550H, 4C/8T, up to 3.7 GHz, 12nm
Intel® Core™ i5 9300H, 4C/8T, up to 4.1 GHz, 14nm

RAM
4GB DDR4 2400 MHz (upgradeable up to 32GB)
4GB DDR4 2666 MHz (upgradeable up to 32GB)

Storage
512GB M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD
512GB PCIe Gen3 x2 NVMe SSD

Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce™ GTX 1650 4GB GDDR5
NVIDIA GeForce™ GTX 1650 4GB GDDR5

Display
15.6″ FHD, 60 Hz
15.6″ FHD, 120 Hz refresh rate

Weight
2.2 kg
2.395 kg

Price
RM2999 (SRP: RM3199)
RM3499 (SRP: RM3799)

Freebies
ASUS ROG Merchandise
ASUS ROG Merchandise

Where to buy
Gloo
Notebook Plaza
Gloo
Notebook Plaza

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The promotion will run from 7th September to 9th September and as you might expect, there will be limited units available, so make sure to grab yours if you want to up your gaming experience!
Pokdepinion: That’s a pretty good deal for the ROG Strix G right there…
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Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 Curved Quantum Mini LED Monitor Lands In Malaysia At RM9,499

The folks at Samsung Malaysia has today announced the arrival of their next-gen curved gaming monitor, the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9. If you’re curious on what it has to offer, read on to find out more.
Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 now in Malaysia

The Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 features a 1000R 49-inch super ultra-wide Mini LED display in addition to Quantum HDR 2000. There’s 240Hz refresh rate plus 1ms grey-to-grey response time for butter smooth gameplay.

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They’ve said that the monitor supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and is NVIDIA G-Sync compatible. In terms of design, it comes with a glossy white exterior and includes a rear ‘infinity core lighting’ system which offers you 52 colours and five lighting effect options.

There’s a DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.1, and headphone jack for you to utilize and connect accordingly. Other than that, it can tilt, swivel, as well the ability to be wall mounted.
You can get the monitor now at the Samsung Official Store, authorized resellers and partner stores for the price of RM9,499.
For more on the latest tech and gaming news plus reviews, stay tuned to Pokde.net.
Pokdepinion: I can’t comment on whether it’s a good one or not, but it sure does look super sleek. Well it’s definitely an option if you’re looking for a curved display and have an immersive experience.
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Nintendo Switch Update 11.0.0 Adds A Host of New Features

The Nintendo Switch update 11.0.0 is now here. If you’re wondering what exactly is new with this firmware update, then look no further. We have all the details on new features, changes, and more right here.
Nintendo Switch Update 11.0.0

With the new system update on #NintendoSwitch, you are now able to wirelessly transfer photos and videos from your Nintendo Switch to a smartphone for easier sharing!https://t.co/FHsNV9djsE pic.twitter.com/unXPYkNej1
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) December 1, 2020

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Most updates for the platform has been minor, stability changes but for Nintendo Switch Update 11.0.0, it’s quite significant. It adds a number of changes includes quality-of-life updates and new additions which make it more convenient for gamers.
One of the major highlights of the update is the ability to share screenshots and video captures directly to your smartphone via a QR code. Furthermore, you can also share the same materials to your PC via USB. It’s worth mentioning that there is no indication of any Nintendo Switch smartphone app to be found anywhere for this.
Apart from that, they’ve also added a new “Trending” feature in the Nintendo Switch UI located on the profile page under the friends list. What it does is that it tells you what games are trending among people on a user’s friends list.
There are also other minor additions, such as automatically downloading save data from the cloud so you can migrate to a new system more seamlessly as well as the ability to prioritize active downloads.
If you’d like to view the full changelog, click right here.
Source
Pokdepinion: I personally feel that some of these features should have been included much earlier, but better late than never.
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[E3 2019] Final Fantasy VIII Remastered is Real and It’s Happening

At the Square Enix E3 2019 press conference, the company has officially announced the long-awaited Final Fantasy VIII remaster.
There were tons of rumours on this that started swirling as of late, but it didn’t seem realistic enough. Mostly because Square Enix already has their hands full with Final Fantasy VII remake and other projects. Especially since they’ve kept quiet during the game’s 20th anniversary, it didn’t seem like something that would actually happen. Turns out it was actually true after all.
It’s no secret that a wide number of Final Fantasy games have been receiving the remaster treatment, and this one is one of the most highly requested ones by fans. The great news here is that it doesn’t seem like we have to wait long for it to be released.

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Final Fantasy VIII remastered will be coming to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam sometime later this year. Be sure to check out the trailer for the game at the top of this post.
It’s worth noting that the current version on Steam is the regular version and not the remastered one. So don’t get surprised and buy it by accident. Just wait a bit longer for the official page on Steam to be up.
Pokdepinion: I personally feel like this is happening way too soon. Then again, it’s just a remaster so I suppose that’s fine. This game really freaked me out as a kid, and I wouldn’t mind reliving that moment.
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Microsoft Officially Allows Windows 11 On Apple Silicon Macbooks, But Only Through Parallels

If you’re waiting for Boot Camp – bad luck.
Image: Apple
macOS users prior to Apple’s ARM switch have always had the option to boot into Windows through a feature called “Boot Camp” – which lets Windows runs on a hardware-level for minimum performance overhead. Since Macbooks transitioned into Apple’s in-house M-series SoCs though, that isn’t an option.
Up until now, those who use M1 or M2 Macs can run Windows 11 through a third party app called Parallels, which is a VM (virtual machine) that operates within its host system. In a support article, Microsoft has christened Parallels Desktop 18 as the software of choice to run the ARM versions of Windows 11 officially.

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Of course, there’s a reason why Boot Camp exists. This ARM flavor of Windows 11 running on Macs will come with some fairly severe limitations – first up, 32-bit ARM apps are no-go: that part is on Microsoft as the company is phasing out 32-bit apps on ARM versions of Windows moving forward. Any external devices won’t work unless relevant Windows drivers are installed; you can’t run VM on top of VM (such as WSL, WSA, VBS); DirectX 12 or OpenGL 3.3 are just plain unsupported – so no games for you. Some performance overhead is a given, as the VM will have to fight against its host system for resources.
Alternatively, Microsoft offers its Windows 365 service which runs the OS on cloud, so you’re effectively remote-controlling a PC somewhere inside Microsoft’s servers. If your use case requires a native system – this may be your only option going forward.
Source: Engadget | Microsoft
Pokdepinion: I guess it makes sense now that Microsoft would much rather sell you a pay-monthly cloud service than a pay-once OS license after all.
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Harry Potter RPG Gameplay Leaked – Soon, You Can Be a Hogwarts Student

Harry Potter RPG Gameplay Leaked

If you have been wanting to sink your teeth in a new game and have been wanting a taste of Harry Potter (as wrong as that may sound), this might just be what you’re looking for. Reddit user VapeThisBro has shared footage of an RPG that is current in development, and it is set within the Harry Potter universe.

https://pokde.net/assets/uploads/2018/10/scyeev.mp4
The leaked footage seems to indicate that it is an RPG played from a 3rd person perspective, with the protagonist being a player creation. That’s right, it’s like you’re living a fantasy of being a Hogwarts student.
According to the description of the leaked footage, the game is set in the 19th century, with players assuming the role of a “newly arrived 5th year student to Hogwarts that demonstrates a latent gift for magic.” It also mentions a new magic system that lets you craft “countless” spells and potions in an open-world setup, and also the option to “pursue a path of good or evil.”

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At the moment, this Harry Potter RPG has not been officially confirmed. However, this may also be because the game still requires some heavy development work. Reddt user VapeThisBro claims they stumbled upon it as part of a “focus group.”
For now, we will just have to wait and see what this game really is and if it won’t end up being a cancelled project.
Source: Engadget
Pokdepinion: Haven’t had a good Harry Potter game, at least in my opinion, since the PS1 days. This one looks very promising.
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EMUI 9.0 Update Now Available For HUAWEI nova 3i

If you are a user of HUAWEI’s nova 3i, well now you can finally upgrade your device to the latest EMUI 9.0 update. The news comes after previously HUAWEI called for users to take part in its beta testing program, which was held last December.
EMUI 9.0, which was introduced at the launch of the HUAWEI Mate 20 series, the interface comes with an improved performance and updated features to complement users’ usability and experience through the element of advanced technology.
With it, you’ll be able to enjoy developed features and experiences using AI prediction technology, which is able to predict your behavior and application that amplifies usability of features such as HiVision, GPU Turbo 2.0, HUAWEI Share, and AI Gallery.

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To get the latest EMUI 9.0 update for your HUAWEI nova 3i, you can follow the following steps;

Download/open the HUAWEI HiCare app
Log in and look for the ‘update’ button
Simply click on the ‘Apply’ button to request for the update
Download and install the new EMUI 9.0 on your phone

For more details on EMUI 9.0, you can click on the link here. Check out the latest HUAWEI devices on the HUAWEI Official Online Store.
Pokdepinion: I guess it’s about time. It’s been quite some time since the HUAWEI nova 3i came out, but hey, at least it’s finally out.
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Tt eSPORTS releases new Draconem aluminum mouse pad

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Taipei, Taiwan – May 8, 2014 – Tt eSPORTS, the leading expert in professional eSports gaming peripherals is releasing the new DRACONEM Aluminum mouse pad. The DRACONEM is a premium aluminum mouse pad that caters to every need in a mouse pad possible. The DRACONEM stands out from other aluminum mouse pads in the market, due to some of its key design elements. The DRACONEM is one of the largest aluminum pads in the market, which also comes with two surfaces to suit all types of gamers

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The aluminum frame which is 2mm thick, also features a brushed anodized finished for great durability and style. The DRACONEM offers gamers two surfaces to use; a low-friction (effortless glide) and a high-control (extreme precision) surface perfect so suit any situation in-game to allow gamers to play their best. Four rubber stoppers in the corners make sure the DRACONEM sits still and secure on the desk. The mouse bungee can be attached from all four sides, to match any setup a gamer may use during gaming. The mouse bungee can be further disassembled into two halves, for convenient carrying on the go.
The DRACONEM aluminum mouse pad MSRP is USD $39.99, and is available from late April in select regions of the world. Please kindly refer to your local stores for information regarding its availability.
Source : LegitReviews
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Symphony Review – a new way to listen to your music library

Combining Tron-esque, wireframe graphics, a simplistic, arcade-shooter mechanic, and a soundtrack pulled directly from your own hard drive . Symphony bring a new way to listen to your music library

When you first start up Symphony, the game will search your hard drive for music files , the supported file that Symphony can read is .MP3 .WMA .WAV .OGG .FLAC .AIFF .WV .

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Take note your soundtrack must be longer than 1.30 for Symphony to generate Level for you

There is 6 level of difficulty you can play on , but to unlock these difficulty you must collect a Symphony page that can be acquired after you defeat a demon . Demons can be found randomly while playing .

The gameplay is very straight forward just like retro arcade shooter games , you have to dodge and destroy or fire your enemies with mouse . The enemies behavior will be determine on what kind of music you playing  . Intense music will make your background change to red and your enemies will move much faster , there are 3 color of background will change according to your music Blue , Violet and Red.

When you finish a level , you will discover a new items for your ship and it can be unlock by using Inspiration or Kudos.

Symphony is a great game for you to listen to music and enjoy it at the same time , if you do not own Symphony yet check out the Humble Bundle : PC and Android 10 only 14hour left to grab .

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Borderlands 3 Official Gameplay Reveal Event Shows Plenty of New and Exciting Features

Borderlands 3 Official Gameplay Reveal

Yesterday, we had a small gameplay footage leak for Borderlands 3. Today, as promised, Gearbox Software and 2K Games have shown off a great deal of gameplay footage via livestream for their upcoming game, Borderlands 3.
The demo that Gearbox showed off took us to many different areas of Borderlands 3. Things kicked off with the game’s tutorial, which featured the franchise’s iconic mascot of sorts, Claptrap. This tutorial section of the game showed off many of Borderlands 3’s new mechanical features which now includes the ability to slide along the ground and vault up ledges. Weapons will also have alternate firing modes now too, which is entirely new to Borderlands 3.
Later on in the demo, it was shown how loot in the game will now spawn differently for players of different levels that are playing together. This is information that we already heard about a couple of weeks back, but it was still nice to see it in action for once.

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As for other notable moments that we saw across the gameplay footage, there were a couple of different boss fights shown in addition to the appearance of a few noteworthy characters. Also, there will be a new ship in the game which will act as your hub within Borderlands 3. It is here that you’ll be able to travel to different planets along with visiting some of the series’ most recognizable vendors.
Overall, the game is shaping up to be an even more awesome game than its predecessors. There’s plenty of new stuff to enjoy and I’m sure many gamers will be delighted to play the game through the end when it’s out.
Borderlands 3 will be coming to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Epic Games Store on 13th September 2019.
Pokdepinion: September suddenly feels like so far away. I wish I could play it very soon.
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PS Plus June 2019 Free Games Lineup for US and EU Regions

Looking forward to see what’s gonna be coming for PS Plus June 2019? Well, look no further as we have all the details you need. Just keep in mind that this is for US and EU regions only. The Asia region’s lineup will be unveiled soon.
First up, we have Sonic Mania. The game is a throwback to the glory days of Sega’s popular mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog. You have the usual side-scrolling platformer action that I’m sure many of you are very familiar with. You can play as Sonic, Tails, and even Knuckles. Interestingly, the game’s development saw contributions by notable fans of the popular mascot. One of them is Christian Whitehead, who made a number of fan games as well as handling mobile ports of 16-bit Sonic games.
Next up, we have Borderlands: The Handsome Collection. What you’ll be getting is Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and a bunch of DLCs for the games. While the first game in the series isn’t included, it’s still a great way to refresh your memories on important events in the series before Borderlands 3’s arrival in September. If you really need the first game in the series, there is a 4K remastered version of the game that was made available for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

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Both of these spectacular games will be available to claim, assuming you’re a PS Plus member, starting 4th June 2019. For now, the free games lineup from May is still available so be sure to claim that if you haven’t already done so.
Pokdepinion: Not gonna lie, the PS Plus June 2019 free games lineup is pretty good. Still wished they offered more games but I suppose quantity over quality. I’m sure there’s a bunch of you out there who wants to try Sonic Mania but would rather not spend money so this would be a good time.
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#Pokdepicks Best Smartphones Of 2018

Moving on from the best gaming and productivity laptops list, now we’re listing on what we think are the best smartphones around for the year 2018. Here are our top picks, in no particular order and are devices that we’ve reviewed here on our website.
ROG Phone

When we heard the news that ROG was on the verge of launching an official gaming smartphone, we were truly excited by the news. Once the phone came out, it didn’t fail to impress (how could it, with all the pretty RGBs!)

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It does sport a unique look that just screams that it is a device for gamers. Well aside from the looks, performance wise doesn’t disappoint with it packing a 2.96GHz specially-binned Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset. Coming with an array of accessories, the phone does offer a whole new experience when it comes to mobile gaming. It wouldn’t be too far fetched if we say that the ROG Phone is the holy grail of gaming smartphones (well at least for 2018).
Huawei Mate 20 X

Some of you may find it surprising that we chose what one of our editors describe as a “Titan-class” smartphone, but it is a great device. It is a multimedia powerhouse with stereo speakers, a large 7.2-inch FHD+ OLED display with very minimal bezels, a tiny notch for the front camera, an IR blaster, and the same awesome Leica Triple Camera system from the Mate 20 Pro.
Not to mention its 5,000 mAh battery capacity, you will easily last two days, maybe even three if you’re lucky enough. If you’re a very heavy gamer, it can definitely last at least a whole day for you. The Kirin 980 chipset may have lost in some areas to the Snapdragon 845 but it is no slouch. It still manages to perform great and its efficiency is excellent.

Like the ROG Phone, it does have some accessories for it such as the attachable gamepad and the M Pen but at the end of the day, it depends on you if the device is worthy of use or not. Mainly, it’s whether you can use such a large smartphone, and if you can live without some of the features offered in the Mate 20 Pro, like wireless charging. It is surprisingly more affordable than its Pro brethren however, retailing for RM3,199.
POCOFHONE F1

Now you may be wondering on why we’ve decided to include the POCOPHONE F1 onto the list. Well, thanks to the device, consumers can feel what it’s like to own a flagship-level performance device at an affordable price.
Needless to say, the phone is impressive with even our editor here in Pokde.net likes to use the phone for gaming. Now who could ever forget that the POCOPHONE F1 managed to beat an array of smartphones in that blind smartphone camera test.
Honorary Mentions: vivo NEX and OPPO Find X

These two devices broke the mold of what we thought possible when designing a smartphone. Instead of using notches to bump up the screen-to-body ratio, the vivo NEX and OPPO Find X used motorized assemblies to hide away the front camera away, only to appear when necessary. The OPPO Find X and vivo NEX both featured different biometric security solutions, which were actually their downfall. The OPPO Find X crammed a lot of sensors on its popup top edge, which raised our eyebrows to its long-term durability.

Meanwhile for the vivo NEX, the in-screen fingerprint scanner was just downright inaccurate. Even unregistered thumbs could unlock the device, which made the whole point of biometric security moot. The motorized selfie camera was a lot more sturdy though. With that said, both devices are deeply flawed, but they definitely raised the question in our mind: how far are we willing to go to achieve maximum screen-to-body ratio?
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Age Of Empires 4 Gameplay To Be Revealed Next Month

If you’re a big fan of RTS game, you should know the Age of Empires franchise. Though the game was announced back in 2017, Microsoft has revealed that they will unveil the gameplay for the title at a livestream next month.
Age of Empires 4 gameplay reveal

Despite the announcement of the game being several years back, Microsoft has stayed quiet on the game, at least until now. The event (or livestream) will be live on the 10th of April 2021 where according to the trailer, you will see new things for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition as well as Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition.

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In a blog post, here’s what Microsoft has said about the franchise:
Since the release of Age of Empires over 20 years ago, the franchise has grown to support a worldwide community of players with a shared love of real-time strategy. Over the last three years, we’ve delighted seasoned players and new fans alike with the Definitive Editions of Age of Empires, Age of Empires II, and Age of Empires III: projects which were made possible thanks to the feedback and passion of the community. We are so proud to have such an energetic, dedicated fanbase at the foundation of our community.
Age of Empires 4 is developed by Relic Entertainment. Though the game was announced for PC, it remains to be seen on whether it will arrive for Xbox consoles as well. For more of the latest tech and gaming news plus reviews, stay tuned to Pokde.net.
Source
Pokdepinion: Being a fan of RTS games, the Age of Empires franchise has always been up there on my list. Hopefully they don’t disappoint with Age of Empires 4.
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Transcend StoreJet 25H3 4TB external drive review

Hard disk drives only have one major advantage over solid state drives: price-per-GB. SSDs are more resilient than hard disk drives, but protecting hard disks from shock with shockproof materials can help improve the durability of conventional hard drives. Today we take a look at one featuring a whopping 4TB of storage, the Transcend StoreJet 25H3 4TB, which is the latest external drive from Transcend.
Unboxing

As usual for Transcend products, the Transcend StoreJet 25H3 4TB also comes in a simple white and maroon packaging. You get a huge window in front to see what you will be getting before you pay for it.

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The back is chock full of details with quite small font. I wish Transcend has went with highlights of the specifications instead of dumping everything here.

The contents of the box include some documentation in case you do not know how to use an external drive, brochures of the other products by Transcend and of course the Transcend StoreJet 25H3 and the USB 3.0 cable.

Appearance

The Transcend StoreJet 25H3 4TB looks identical to the Transcend StoreJet 25H3 3TB, and even comes in a similar color scheme. Purple and grey aren’t my favorite colors, and I do hope Transcend will start selling replaceable protective rubber sleeves to customize these chunky drives.

On the back of the external drive, the sleeve features a nice grippy pattern so you can hold it more comfortably. Considering it is quite hefty, you do want to get a good grip on it.

At the top there is the USB 3.0 port and the One Touch Backup button which doubles as a status LED.

Specifications

Performance
As usual, we will test the performance of this external drive with CrystalDiskMark.

The Transcend StoreJet 25H3 4TB is on par with its 3TB sibling, making them pretty fast for external hard drives, actually. Still, if its blazing fast speeds you are after, perhaps you are reading the wrong review. Take a look at our review of the Transcend ESD400 256GB portable SSD drive for that.

User Experience
I really have no idea what to load a 4TB with, but if you have that much data to store, it is really nice to have them on a single drive instead of multiple ones.

The LED blinks blue when the drive is utilized and is static when idling. If left idle for a long time, it will turn off, indicating that the drive has enter sleep mode.

As this drive is designed for being as resilient as possible to shock, it features a triple layer shock protection. I only managed to remove the rubber sleeve, but was unable to disassemble the thick hard plastic shell protecting the actual hard disk drive within. Note that disassembling the plastic shell will void your warranty, so do not try this at home. It is actually tested to meet US Military drop test standards, so I think you should not worry too much about it.

Transcend bundles the StoreJet 25H3 4TB with the Transcend Elite suite which has quite a few options to enable easy back up, as well as the RecoverRX for some basic data recovery and also the StoreJet Toolbox which offers the ability to do a low level format to securely wipe your drive.

Conclusion
This Transcend StoreJet 25H3 4TB can be gotten for RM648, which actually is pretty cheap considering that the cheapest I have found the 3TB variant was for RM598 on Lazada. For an extra TB, you are only paying RM50 extra, or RM56.50 if you count shipping in. When compared to the usual 1TB external drives which cost around RM220, you are paying less than 3x the price for 4x the capacity. I think this is really quite a good deal. And we are still talking about storage capacity only. The shock resistance courtesy of a thick rubber sleeve and sturdy hard plastic shell, considerably fast transfer speeds, are definitely nice bonuses that set the Transcend StoreJet 25H3 4TB apart from the rest. If only it came in more color options..

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