Razer Seiren X USB Condenser Microphone Review – Convenience Comes with a Price

We took the popular Razer Seiren X condenser microphone for a spin. Is this the perfect USB microphone for streaming or should you look elsewhere?

Razer Seiren X USB Condenser Microphone Review

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Gamers, primarily streamers and gaming content creators, have been spoiled with choices when it comes to microphones. Condenser microphones are the most popular choice as it emphasizes on quality. Not many people have / can afford their own preamps / mixer so they tend to go for the USB microphone route, and sometimes it can be problematic.
The big green gaming company decided to offer, as part of their complete streaming package, their own version of the USB condenser microphone and today, we are going to take a look at their latest iteration of the product, the Razer Seiren X.
Unboxing the Razer Seiren X

If you missed out on our unboxing post, which does have a bit of interesting information, click here to get up to speed. If you just want to watch the unboxing video, we’ve included it right above here.
Appearance

Unlike the previous microphone that Razer released, the Razer Seiren X is simpler in nature. It’s small, light, yet surprisingly sturdy. Together with its black colour, it’s meant to be as discrete as possible so people don’t need to have this popping up in their stream’s camera view. This might sound weird but if you have seen / used the Blue Yeti, that is the furthest thing from being inconspicuous.
When added together with the fact that you simply need a Micro USB cable in order to use it, it makes the Razer Seiren X a very convenient microphone to bring around. Perhaps if you’re having a LAN party, want to record some stuff elsewhere, or plan to stream somewhere else, this is a good choice.

Like most condenser microphones, you can see the metal mesh, which serves as a noise protection filter, which is covering the actual thing that is recording your voice / sounds. While this normal for virtually every microphone, what you don’t see inside here is a built-in shock mount, which dampens vibration and either eliminates or mitigates weird sounds being picked up by it.
Upon screwing the microphone to the stand, you can adjust the position of the USB condenser microphone a little. It’s not much but at least there’s a little bit of flexibility in matching up with where your voice / sound is coming from.

On the front, there is a volume dial and a Mute button. The former is to adjust the volume if you’re plugging a headphone to monitor the audio directly, and the latter is self-explanatory. Keep in mind, the volume dial is not for adjusting the microphone’s gain levels. Then on the bottom of the microphone, you have a Micro USB port and a headphone jack for monitoring audio directly.
While some of you may feel that the Razer Seiren X USB condenser microphone looks bland, I see it as a practical design choice. It’s not meant to stand out, the black colour gives it a look that it means business, and it’s easy to bring around. While a headphone jack for monitoring is great, I would prefer if they had a Gain dial as well. What I’m definitely thankful for is the use of Micro USB instead of Mini USB, as the latter has the tendency to break off / wear out relatively fast. I’ve experienced this with the Blue Yeti USB.
Razer Seiren X Specifications

Type:
Condenser microphone made for streaming

Polar Patterns:
Super-Cardioid

Audio Jack:
Zero-latency 3.5 mm headphone monitoring port

Power Requirements:
5V 100mA

Frequency Response:
20Hz – 20,000Hz

Features:
Built-in shock mount, Mute button

User Experience

As much as I could just tell you how it sounds like, everyone might have a different interpretation based on my words. Not to mention that people have different perceptions of audio quality so what is considered bad for some is actually good for others. So, we decided to do a microphone test video, which we included right above here, so you can hear what the Razer Seiren X sounds like, unfiltered and unedited.
In all honesty, it’s not the best sounding microphone out there, especially among USB condenser microphones. I believe this is still being held by the Blue Yeti, with the iRig Mic Studio trailing very close behind. However, that is not to say that this microphone is terrible.

The microphone sounds a little bit maxed out that’s only because the Microphone Level in the Windows Audio Settings is set at 100 by default. At this level, it does give the microphone a bit of range as it can even pick up my colleague typing on his mechanical keyboard about 6-7 feet away (on my right in the video).
It picks up my voice rather clearly and surprisingly, I was expecting quite a bit of white noise or hissing as it is via USB but clearly that’s not the case. If it does happen to you, reducing the Mic Level should solve this quite easily. If you’re a streamer, you can also reduce the microphone’s gain directly on the popular streaming software, OBS Studio.
While some of you may want to consider the Blue Yeti instead since everyone is talking about how good it is, you might want to do that. The Blue Yeti is massive, heavy, and uses Mini USB connection. It’s harder to bring around, you’re limited in terms of microphone stands, and it might just break really fast because of the Mini USB port.

However, do also keep in mind that the Razer Seiren X is meant for those looking for a simple plug-and-play type microphone. It doesn’t have the versatility in terms of multiple recording patterns (the original Seiren does) and is meant to be used as is. Also, if you plan on using a different stand, you will either need to buy a separate accessory to mount it or use a stand that has a clip-on module.
As far as using it is concerned, all you have to do is simply plug in the Razer Seiren X via USB and you’re good to go. You don’t even need Razer Synapse or any kind of software really, just let Windows do its thing and you’ll be able to use it without any problems.
Disclaimer: If you are experiencing low volumes, this could be an issue related to the microphone not receiving enough power from the USB port. This is common among all USB microphones and it doesn’t necessarily mean you have a bad / faulty product.
Razer Seiren X Verdict

The Razer Seiren X may not be the best USB condenser microphone around but for what it is designed for, it works pretty damn good if you adjust the microphone level to the appropriate value. It’s small, easy to bring around, and is convenient as it is a plug-and-play microphone.
It does lack the multiple recording patterns of its predecessor, pick up a bit of ambient noise and the quality doesn’t match up with the likes of the Blue Yeti or iRig Mic Studio, but it is still a good microphone nonetheless. If you’re looking for a fuss-free audio solution, this would be a good buy for you. With that in mind, I award the Razer Seiren X USB condenser microphone with our Silver Pokdeward.

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Razer Basilisk V3 Review – Excellence With Some Odd Changes

Unboxing the Razer Basilisk V3
Razer Basilisk V3 Review – Box

Let’s kick off the Razer Basilisk V3 review with the unboxing. The packaging is your standard issue Razer peripheral design, clad in its signature black and green color scheme. Inside the box, you will find the following items:
Razer Basilisk V3 Review – Box content

User guide
Razer stickers
Welcome note by Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan
The Razer Basilisk V2 itself

Appearance
Razer Basilisk V3 Review – Top
At first glance, the Razer Basilisk V3 looks pretty much the same as its predecessor, the V2. You will really start to notice it as soon as you use it, especially when wired, as it has more RGB lighting zones which makes it a flashier gaming mouse. Looking from the top, you have your scroll wheel, left click, right click, scroll wheel resistance switcher, DPI switcher, Razer logo, two side buttons, and the signature Basilisk thumb rest.
Razer Basilisk V3 Review – Thumb rest
When you look at the left side, you can see that the thumb rest is rubberized for added grip, and the iconic paddle is here. This means you have three buttons on the left side alone. The major difference here is that the paddle is no longer magnetic, which was a feature in its predecessor. There’s nothing to see on the right side, but this side also has a rubberized texture.

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Razer Basilisk V3 Review – Bottom
Moving over to the bottom, you can see the PTFE mouse feet on four sides, a profile switcher, an LED indicator, the optical sensor, and general product information. In case you’re wondering, the dial that adjusts the scroll wheels resistance is no longer here but it’s not to say that you are stuck with one resistance setting. We’ll explain more on that in the User Experience section.
Overall, the Razer Basilisk V3 looks more or less the same as its predecessor but there are some subtle changes here and there. When you plug it in, that’s when you get a clear view of its 11 Razer Chroma RGB lighting zones, which is a nice touch. As always, keep in mind that this is designed for right-handed gamers regardless of using it in the style of claw grip or palm rest.

Specifications

Body material
Textured rubber side grips, matte plastic shell, glossy highlights, side paddle, 100% PTFE mouse feet

Sensor
Razer Focus+ Optical Sensor
26K DPI
650 IPS
50G acceleration
Asymmetric cut-off distance

DPI
100 ~ 20,000 DPI, 50 DPI increments

USB report rate
125/500/1000 Hz

Switch type
Razer Optical Mouse Switches Gen 2 rated for 70 million clicks

RGB
Yes, Razer Chroma with 11 RGB lighting zones

Cable
1.9m Razer Speedflex cable

Weight
101g

Dimensions
130 x 60 x 42.5 mm

User Experience
Razer Basilisk V3 Review
As per the mouse series, the Razer Basilisk V3 gaming mouse is designed for right-handed gamers. It’s especially suitable for medium to large-handed gamers, with my fingers being particularly long, as the size itself lets me rest my entire hand on it. As usual, there’s a dedicated area for my thumb, which is there to minimize drag. If you’re left-handed, you will need to look for other options.
Razer Basilisk V3 Review
Like its predecessor, there are 11 programmable buttons on the Razer Basilisk V3, so there’s quite a bit of functions you can add on this gaming mouse. When used with Razer Hypershift, you’ve effectively doubled the inputs you can make as it toggles a secondary button profile. This is especially useful if you need to switch between two vastly different game genres while using the mouse.
Razer Basilisk V3 Review – DPI test
Based on my own experience, the Razer Basilisk V3 has excellent tracking with no smoothing or acceleration. I wouldn’t recommend using it at the highest DPI (26,000) because the slightest movement could send the cursor from your left-most monitor all the way to the end of your 3rd monitor on the right. Keep in mind that you can make use of the asymmetric cut-off distance feature, so you can have start / stop tracking at different heights from the surface.
In case you want to compare it to its predecessor, click right here.
Just like most of their recent wired products, the Razer Basilisk V3 makes use of the Razer Speedflex cable. The cable is designed to minimize drag, making it feel close to wireless. This results in  a more fluid movement and improved precision which is a major plus point. It’s great to see that this isn’t going away anytime soon.
Razer Basilisk V3 Review – RGB lights on
One new thing with the Razer Basilisk V3 is that it uses the new Razer Optical Mouse Switch Gen 2. This results in more tactile, snappy clicks which can improve performance slightly. To me, the clicks are slightly more audible compared to the older one but it certainly feels good to use. There is no change to the lifespan however, but it’s still pretty high at 70 million clicks.
The Razer Basilisk V3 uses 100% PTFE mouse feet which allows for effortless glide on any surface as if there’s no resistance whatsoever. The smooth glide will let you aim more consistently in shooters without anything slowing you down.
Razer Basilisk V3 Review – Scroll wheel resistance settings
As we mentioned previously, the dial that lets you adjust the scroll wheel resistance is no longer there but that doesn’t mean you can’t change it. Now, you can either make use of Razer Synapse or press the button above the DPI switcher. There are 3 different modes you can use; Tactile Cycling Mode, Free Spin Scrolling Mode, and Smart Reel Mode.
Tactile Cycling Mode allows for a more precise use of the scroll wheel, with a distinct notched feel as you use it while the aptly named Free Spin Scrolling Mode bring a smooth scrolling experience. Smart Reel Mode is a mix of both, which will be tactile until you scroll faster, where it will automatically shift to the smooth scroll.
Razer Basilisk V3 Review – Razer Synapse
While this can make life easier, the dial would have been the better choice for those who want a more tailored experience with the scroll wheel. Apart from that, you can use Razer Synapse to customize the Razer Basilisk V3 to your liking. This includes adjusting the RGB lighting, reprogram all the buttons, set game profiles, and more. At this point, I have no complaints about the software since it works easily with no issues.
The Razer Basilisk V3 can be used on multiple devices while still maintaining your settings thanks to the on-board memory, which lets you save up to 5 profiles. I personally have settings for Apex Legends, Valorant, and general use, and I don’t have to reconfigure every time I move to a new device. This saves time and effort on my end, which is a plus point.
Razer Basilisk V3 Verdict
Razer Basilisk V3 Review
The Razer Basilisk V3 is an excellent gaming mouse, but it’s definitely catered more towards right-handed gamers who play more shooters. It can still do great in MOBA games like DotA 2 or even MMOs like New World, but those games would benefit more from a gaming mouse that caters to them, like the Razer Naga series for example.
It brings some changes from its predecessor, some great while others are a bit questionable. If you have the V2, I wouldn’t recommend upgrading to this but if you’re coming from an older one or a completely different gaming mouse, this would be a solid choice. At the end of our Razer Basilisk V3 review, I award this gaming mouse with our coveted Gold Pokdeward.

Big thanks to Razer Asia Pacific for sending us this gaming mouse for the purpose of this review.
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NVIDIA GTX900M Overclocking Disabled

NVIDIA has quietly disabled overclocking their mobile GPUs in their latest driver update (version 347.29), claiming that mobile GPUs were never meant to be overclocked and it was enabled by accident. This issue was found when it was found that after updating to the latest driver, their clocks dropped back to stock and they found that their GTX900Ms overclocking function was disabled. Here is a reply by one of their representatives on NVIDIA Geforce Forums:
Unfortunately GeForce notebooks were not designed to support overclocking. Overclocking is by no means a trivial feature, and depends on thoughtful design of thermal, electrical, and other considerations. By overclocking a notebook, a user risks serious damage to the system that could result in non-functional systems, reduced notebook life, or many other effects.
There was a bug introduced into our drivers which enabled some systems to overclock. This was fixed in a recent update. Our intent was not to remove features from GeForce notebooks, but rather to safeguard systems from operating outside design limits. – ManuelG
Maxwell has low operating temperatures and low power consumption which makes it a very good candidate for overclocking. This move limits the maximum performance the mobile GPUs may achieve. I believe that this limit is imposed simply to widen the difference between the different models.
After this article on overclocking it does seem rather hypocritical of NVIDIA right?

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Overwatch 2 Purchasing Bug But There Won’t Be Any Refunds

It appears that Blizzard has quietly patched the Overwatch 2 purchasing bug. However, it seems like that there will be no refunds from the issue.
Overwatch 2 Purchasing Bug
Previously, there was a bug in Overwatch 2 which caused players to make store purchases unintentionally via the in-game chat while in the menus. Reddit user Dracyoshi is one such player, purchasing a Junker Queen skin accidentally while going through the Hero Gallery. Interestingly, more Redditors have chimed in with their own experiences as well.
Blizzard has recently patched the bug in the game, though they allegedly refused to issue a refund for his in-game credits. The reasoning for it is:

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We are not able to offer refunds or any compensation for unlocks made with in-game currency in Overwatch.

It is at least worth noting that Blizzard has yet to make a public statement about any potential refunds or about the bug directly. Perhaps they will make a statement at a later time but for now, we will report more on this as soon as information becomes available.
Overwatch 2 is currently available for free on the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Battle.net.
Source
Pokdepinion: I’m thankful I didn’t get the bug but here’s the problem; they still didn’t give me the coins that should come for legacy players. Hopefully, it will come before the current season ends so I can get the battle pass.
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Samsung Named Top Brand In Asia Tenth Year In A Row

In the ‘Asia’s Top 1000 Brands 2021′ research conducted by Campaign Asia-Pacific and NielsenIQ, Samsung was named the number one brand. Samsung has been chosen the best brand in the Asia-Pacific area for the tenth year in a row by customers in an annual survey conducted across 14 regions.
Samsung Electronics is the top brand in Asia

The Asia’s Top 1000 Brands is a consumer study that quantifies brand choice across 15 goods and service categories. The brands that make the top of the list have earned positive mindshare as the most trusted and well-loved by customers.

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The statistics for Asia’s Top 1000 Brands was compiled using information from an online poll conducted by Campaign Asia-Pacific and NielsenIQ, a worldwide supplier of information and insights. The survey took place between April 12 and April 30, 2021. Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam are among the 14 markets studied.
In each market, the research depends on a total of 400 respondents. Participants number 800, 1200, and 1600 in Japan, India, and China, respectively, and these market disparities have been applied to the total weighting of Asia’s Top 1000 Brands. Survey quotas are based on age, gender, and monthly family income to ensure that they are representative of market demographics.
Alcohol, apparel and accessories, automotive, beverages, consumer electronics, delivery, financial services, food, home appliances, household and personal care, media and telecommunications, restaurants, retail, sports and entertainment, and transportation, travel and leisure are among the 15 major categories covered in the study. There are 80 sub-categories within these primary categories.
Samsung, for example, is the top brand in television, cleaning appliances, and smart home technologies in Asia’s Top 1000 Brands this year, up from 12 last year.
Head over here to read more about Asia’s Top 1000 Brands 2021.
Pokdepinion: Congratulations Samsung on bagging such an honour. Looking forward to seeing what the future holds for the company.
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HUAWEI MatePad Pro Bundle Pack Returns Until 7th June

You might remember that HUAWEI’s online official store is celebrating their 6th birthday this week. Well, in case you’ve missed out on the pre-sale offers for the HUAWEI MatePad Pro, it’s back for another round.
HUAWEI MatePad Pro bundle package
Starting from tomorrow, 29 April and up until 7 June 2020, you can purchase the bundle package which includes the HUAWEI M-Pencil and Smart Magnetic Keyboard for a lower price of RM2,898 (originally RM3,197).
Other than that, you can also receive one additional RM100 online voucher through HUAWEI AppGallery until midnight tonight. You will need to register an account on the HUAWEI online official store to redeem the deal. The voucher can be used during their birthday sale on 29 April with a minimum purchase of RM1,100 and above.

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Additionally, from now till 4 June, you can also stand a chance in winning vouchers as well as a brand new HUAWEI P40 by downloading and spending on selected games on AppGallery such as Lords Mobile, Naruto, Game of Thrones, Saint Seiya, Rise of Kingdoms,, and Mobile Royale. You will need to download the games,, login with your HUAWEI ID and spin the fortune wheel within the game to qualify for the grand prize.
Back to the HUAWEI MatePad Pro, if you’re interested in pre-ordering the device, you may do so by heading to the link here.
Pokdepinion: If you’re planning to get the MatePad Pro, you might as well get the discounted price.
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Cooler Master Silencio FP 120 PWM available in Malaysia now

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – 23/04/2015 – Cooler Master, a leading creator, innovator, and manufacturer of desktop components and peripherals, today announced the launch of the Silencio FP 120 PWM here in Malaysia.

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Unheard of Performance
The new Silencio FP 120 PWMSilencio FP 120 PWM fan utilizes Cooler Master’s latest fan technology to bring quality airflow at extremely low noise levels. The Silencio FP 120 PWM uses Loop Dynamic Bearing technology to push life expectancy up to an outstanding 160,000 hours. Next to that an all new patented driver IC on the fan provides both less vibrations to reduce noise and uses ultra-low current to save on power consumption. The driver is also more precise, providing more accurate RPM feedback for better fan management. The SmartFan engine backs up the driver with a low starting voltage and polarity proofing for less headaches when hooking up. The Silencio FP 120 PWM also comes with protections against fan jams and an auto-resume function after any blade obstructions are cleared to help protect the blades and motor.

Any Way The Wind Blows
The Silencio FP 120 PWM is for those seeking performance under silence. With a 6.5 – 14 dBA noise range, the Silent Edition can put out up to 44 CFM at 1.63 mmH2O of pressure at 1400 RPM.

 Availability and Pricing
The Cooler Master Silencio FP 120 PWM case fan is now available locally, priced at RM 59.00 inclusive of 6% GST.

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Patapon 2 Remastered Review — Finding The Beat

If you liked the original Patapon on the PSP, well great news. Patapon 2 Remastered is here to satisfy that in glorious HD graphics for you to enjoy. Is it worth getting? Let’s get started with the review.

What is Patapon 2 Remastered About?
Patapon 2 Remastered Review
Patapon 2 Remastered is a rhythm game that implements a little bit of RPG elements. Players find themselves in a land called Earthend, where you must unite strange-looking creatures together to fight off monsters as well as hostile tribes.
Patapon 2 Remastered Review Main Menu
Since it’s a rhythm game, you will need to tap four buttons while going along with the music to do actions such as march, attack, defend, retreat, magic and use power ups, making it a total of six commands.

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Getting the rhythm
Patapon 2 Remastered Review
As mentioned earlier, there are a couple of commands that you need to remember. It may be hard at first to memorize them but it won’t take long for you to get used to the sequence. The best possible way to play the game is keeping up with the beat of the game (well, duh) while simultaneously issuing commands to your troops.
Patapon 2 Remastered Review
Speaking of troops, you’ll find more and more units as you get through the game. Find yourself on a level that you simply just can’t get it over with? It just means that you need to farm and grind a little more in the game to unlock more powerful units or better equipment.
Patapon 2 Remastered Review
The game rewards you for mastering the control and pace with “Fever”, which will make your Patapon army more powerful, faster, and bolster its defense. Needless to say while you’re in this mode, it gets easier.
Failing to keep the beat running will result in your troops dropping down doing nothing, which will also effectively reset your streak. Easily put, the longer you keep the rhythm, the better.
If you want to play a game where you can flex your creativity, check out Dreams Universe by clicking right here.
Fun at first but slowly gets into the repetitive zone
Patapon 2 Remastered Review
While it is a rhythm game and the music is catchy, I can’t help but get the feeling of repetitiveness after playing it for some time. Another thing that I noticed is that the game doesn’t offer any type of calibration tool. Considering that the game is based on beats, they probably should’ve looked towards implementing it to ensure a more consistent experience for everyone.
Patapon 2 Remastered Review
Patapon 2 Remastered does offer high quality graphics compared to the original but they didn’t do much when it comes to the cutscenes where they look off. Luckily, there’s not much in the game, but hey, it’s still something worth mentioning.
I think that the game would’ve been more fun if it came with a multiplayer game mode. Seeing how the original version came with an ad-hoc mode that lets you play with your friends, having no method of playing with other people in 2020 is kinda sad.
Patapon 2 Remastered Verdict
Patapon 2 Remastered Review
If you’ve played the original or happen to be a fan of the rhythm genre, you would definitely enjoy Patapon 2 Remastered.
For me, the developers could’ve polished a few parts here and there in the game but I can see why some might love the game regardless. Considering that it’s available for just RM59, I’d say that’s a fair price for the game. The game is still a fine mesh between rhythm and RPG, and if you enjoy both genres, you’ll most likely have fun.
With that in mind, I award Patapon 2 Remastered our Bronze Pokdeward.

We’d like to thank PlayStation Asia for providing us Patapon 2 Remastered for this review.
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LG G7 ThinQ Revealed – Coming This 2nd Of May

There has been leaks on LG’s latest smartphone, the G7, which is reportedly to be out on May 2 in New York City. The device is set to have it’s own ‘AI’  branding, hence the ‘ThinQ’ at the end of the device’s name.
LG G7 ThinQ
While ThinQ was originally applied to LG’s list of home appliances in December of last year, it seems that the new device will set to feature AI technology in the form of ThinQ. Despite that, the new G7 ThinQ will not be the first LG device to utilize it, where previously the LG V30S had already implemented it.
The G7 ThinQ was actually leaked during MWC 2018, where it was reportedly shown behind closed doors. It is said that the device features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset, 4GB of RAM, and a 3000mAh battery under the hood. It’s 6-inch OLED display is set to feature a notch, which is quite common in the phones nowadays.

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LG G7 ThinQ photo leak
Mysteriously, the phone has a single physical button on the right hand side. It probably could be a an AI assistant button for users to utilize its ThinQ capabilities. Similar to Samsung’s Bixby in a sense. Other than that, it will come with a 3.5mm jack (which is highly welcomed) and also a USB Type-C port for charging.
While details is still scarce, don’t expect it to come at a cheap price. That has been the case for most recent LG smartphones. We’ll sure to update you if more news gets out. Until then, stay tuned to the site.
Source: Arstechnica
Pokdepinion: The name ‘ThinQ’ sounds silly if i were to be honest. I know that they are trying to indicate that it’s their own form of AI technology, but they could’ve just let that name be a feature instead of being included in the products name.
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ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE users are flashing a custom vBIOS to get 20% higher performance!

The ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE packs a beefy NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU, with a 130W TGP limit on the GPU with Dynamic Boost. Of course, enthusiasts are all about squeezing the most they can out of their machines, so some have come up with a custom vBIOS with a higher 150W TGP limit to get even more performance out of the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE.

The results are quite impressive as it allows the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE to dominate the 3DMark Time Spy charts. The 150W TGP limit does allow the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE to post close to 20% higher scores, which is a nice boost for an already powerful laptop. Making it all the more exciting is the fact that the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE is now unofficially the lightest laptop with a 150W GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU.

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However from the Baidu posts that discussed the custom vBIOS for the laptop, the higher TGP limit does reportedly overwhelm the cooling system on the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE, and is only good for short benchmark runs. On top of that, the 280W power adapter is reportedly insufficient to keep the laptop charged, and the battery level will gradually drop during heavy use even with the power adapter connected.
We do not recommend flashing a custom vBIOS on such an expensive machine, considering that you have a fairly good chance of bricking the laptop. ASUS has definitely put in their fair share of R&D to finetune the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE before settling on the 130W TGP limit on the GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU.

I mean, if the laptop was actually capable of handling more power, why wouldn’t ASUS slap a higher TGP limit on it? Faster, chart-topping performance is always a great selling point.
Source
Pokdepinion: Imagine if ASUS actually release the vBIOS officially as a “use at your own risk” type of thing… I think many enthusiasts would actually dig that.
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HONOR MagicBook Pro Review — scaled up ultraportable

We loved the HONOR MagicBook for what it brought to table: affordable performance in a relatively portable package. Then the HONOR MagicBook 14 was introduced, with the same internals but an improved design along with a small price hike. It came at a weird time as HONOR was just gearing up to release their new lineup powered by the AMD Ryzen 4000 series processors in China. Well, today we are looking at a member of this new lineup. Carrying the “Pro” moniker, the HONOR MagicBook Pro definitely has to offer quite a lot to live up to its “Pro” moniker. Can HONOR deliver? Well, let’s see…
Unboxing

The packaging of the HONOR MagicBook Pro is decidedly more premium than the plain brown cardboard boxes that the previous HONOR MagicBooks came in. Perhaps HONOR really wanted to nail in the “Pro”, starting from the packaging?

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In the box we only get the HONOR MagicBook Pro itself, the 65W USB-C charging brick and the USB-C cable. I do believe the final retail packaging will probably be a bit less spartan, this is all we need to run our tests on the machine. But before we get into the tests, let’s take a closer look at the laptop.
Appearance

If you want a sleek, unassuming laptop, this is it. While they added some blue-purple accents along the chamfered edges of the HONOR MagicBook 14, that’s now gone. In its place is a sleek Space Gray finish all over the laptop, with smoothly curved edges that serve up a more mature look. Even the HONOR logo is now black instead of the colorful one found on the HONOR MagicBook 14.

The underside here sports a long row of tiny holes for intake. As the HONOR MagicBook Pro sports a dual-fan cooling system, this well-ventilated bottom cover allows for plenty of fresh air to be inducted into the fans to cool the beefier 45W AMD Ryzen 5 4600H processor under the hood of this HONOR MagicBook Pro.

Opening up the HONOR MagicBook Pro, we can see that HONOR went with really slim bezels all around the unconventionally-sized 16.1″ display, and made use of the extra free space around the keyboard to cram in stereo frontfacing speakers. Overall, while the screen size has increased from 14″ to 16.1″, the size of the machine isn’t all that much bigger. And because of the narrow bezels, it should fit well into any backpack that fits 15.6″ laptops.
HONOR MagicBook Pro Specifications

CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 4600H @ 3.0GHz (up to 4.0GHz Boost), 6C/12T, 45W TDP, 7nm FinFET

RAM
16GB DDR4 2666MHz, dual-channel (soldered, non-upgradeable)

GPU
AMD Radeon Graphics (6 CU @ 1500MHz)

Storage
512GB WDC PC SN730 PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD

Software
Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 20.9.1
PC Manager

Connectivity
Realtek 8822CE WiFi 802.11ac, 2×2 MIMO
Bluetooth 4.2
1 x USB-C (USB 3.0)
3 x USB 3.0

Display
16.1″ FHD (1920 x 1080) Chi Mei N161HCA-EA3 IPS panel, 60 Hz refresh rate, 336-nit brightness, 100% sRGB
1 x HDMI 2.0

Audio
2 x speakers
1 x combo jack

Power
65W USB-C power adapter
56WHr Li-ion battery

Dimensions
369 × 234 x 16.9 mm

Weight
1.7kg

Performance
HONOR actually made a pretty weird decision with the HONOR MagicBook Pro. Instead of your usual Ryzen 4000U series processor that’s meant for ultraportables, they went with the Ryzen 5 4600H which has a significantly higher TDP. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s check out the storage benchmark scores.

The WD SN730 is actually the client version of the WD Black SN750, which makes it the fastest SSD WD has to offer. It is definitely fitting of the Pro label, as the SSD here is unlike what you will find in most of the mid-range machines that you can get at this price range.

As the HONOR MagicBook Pro sports the AMD Ryzen 5 4600H, it offers pretty good performance here in Cinebench. Boost clocks aren’t as high as the AMD Ryzen 7 models we have previously tested though, which results in the scores here.

While CPU scores place the HONOR MagicBook Pro well ahead of the laptops featuring the AMD Ryzen 4000U processors we have tested, the GPU scores aren’t nearly as impressive. This is due to the fact that the GPU is essentially identical to the ones in the Ryzen 5 4500U.

It does deliver a decent score overall in 3DMark with its great CPU performance, as 3DMark Time Spy gauges the overall performance of the system too. Surprisingly it actually comes in below the AMD Ryzen 5 4500U-packing Acer Swift 3, although marginally so.

PCMark definitely gives it a good score due to the fact that the CPU performance here is nothing short of excellent in a machine of this category.

On top of the good performance, you also get great battery life. Despite a larger display and a smaller battery than the ASUS ZenBook 14, somehow the HONOR MagicBook Pro manages to serve up better battery life.
Cooling

HONOR designed the HONOR MagicBook Pro with a dual-heatpipe, dual fan design, and they do spool down to allow for truly silent operation when you are just puttering around the web. In Realbench which taxes the system with concurrent video encoding, 3D rendering and image editing all at the same time, the temperature averaged at around 88°C, while the highest it ever goes to is 95°C. With all six cores running at around 3.4~3.6GHz, I do consider it quite an achievement on HONOR’s end to be able to keep it this cool in such a slim chassis. When under unusually heavy loads like the above scenario, the fans can ramp up to be quite loud, but that doesn’t happen too often in normal use.

User Experience

HONOR scaled up the display, but it is still a very portable laptop. The hinge here is opened fully, so we know that the 180° hinge from the original HONOR MagicBook is gone. In its place is a very light hinge that opens with minimal effort.

I do believe one of the highlights of the HONOR MagicBook Pro is its unique 16.1″ display that’s larger than your average 15.6″ ones, and thankfully it is not only impressive because of its size. The quality of the panel used here is also significantly better than the ones found in the HONOR MagicBook and HONOR MagicBook 14.
          sRGB: 96.0% gamut coverage          Adobe RGB: 66.4% gamut coverage            DCI-P3: 68.4% gamut control
This display gets much closer to offering 100% sRGB, which is definitely a lot better for displaying multimedia, or even some light content creation if you are feeling up for it. The maximum brightness of 336 nits is also quite good, sufficient for you to work in a brightly lit cafe if you want to. Overall, the display provides a great experience, especially when compared against the HONOR MagicBook Pro’s predecessors.

Moving on, let’s talk about the audio experience. The return of front facing speakers bodes well for those who frequently use their laptops on their bed or other soft surfaces, but it doesn’t exactly impress me in any other way. In fact the sound reminded me of a smartphone’s output, tinny with a lack of bass. I do consider that quite underwhelming from a device like the HONOR MagicBook Pro which is multiple times the size of a smartphone. There’s Nahimic for you to tune the sound, but you won’t be getting any bass out of these speakers here. On a positive note, the fingerprint scanner which is integrated into the power button is integrated into the speaker grille area here on the left, which makes for a clean look.

Thankfully the keyboard fares better than the speakers. It is borderline mushy, but just have enough tactility to make typing on it feel good. More key travel would have been welcome, although it really isn’t too bad, considering the overall thickness of the HONOR MagicBook Pro. We have seen better, but this definitely isn’t the worst keyboard you can get in a laptop. The spacious trackpad provides sufficient precision for browsing the internet and general navigation, and that’s all it needs to do anyway.
          Left            Right
The I/O on the HONOR MagicBook Pro has been upgraded from the 14″ models, with three USB 3.0 ports and one USB-C port that also doubles as the charging input. There’s a HDMI 2.0 display output and a 3.5mm combo jack as well, so I guess it is pretty well fleshed out for a laptop of this size. As usual, more is better when it comes to ports, and I wouldn’t say no to some USB 3.1 Gen2 ports here, to really live up to the “Pro” moniker we have here.

On top of the hardware I/O, HONOR baked in MagicLink 2.0 to the HONOR MagicBook Pro to allow you to pair it with any supported HONOR or HUAWEI device. There’s plenty of features which you can explore with MagicLink 2.0, but one of the main ones is to beam your smartphone’s display to the laptop, and transferring files to and fro without requiring a cable.

Considering that many of us are working from home nowadays, I also decided to test out the webcam. Given its position, you won’t get the most flattering angle, but overall the HONOR MagicBook Pro’s built-in microphones and webcam will provide a decent enough experience for conducting your conference calls without any additional hardware.

Speaking of hardware, there are a few things that HONOR could have improved on that end as well. For some reason, there’s way too much empty space beside the battery. HONOR could have used a bigger battery or perhaps added a SATA connector to make use of that space, but instead we just get an empty space with nothing there.

And yes, I did put a 2.5″ SSD in the space to see if it will actually fit.
Conclusion
HONOR delivers a rather impressive laptop with the HONOR MagicBook Pro, and it is indeed quite interesting to see a 45W CPU without a dedicated GPU. The lack of a dedicated GPU limits its capabilities in gaming and also content creation, but the higher performance from the CPU should allow you to do more of everything than your average thin-and-light laptop, which more often than not won’t come with a dedicated GPU anyway.

It’s by no means a beast when it comes to performance, but considering the price, specifications and performance on tap, I do think it is definitely worth a look. Priced at RM3599, it represents a pretty unique choice for those who want a larger-than-usual ultraportable machine that also offers more-than-usual performance under its hood. A good display, sufficient memory, great battery life and excellent build quality allows us to recommend it with our highest accolade, the Gold PokdeWard.

Our thanks to HONOR Malaysia for sending us the HONOR MagicBook Pro for review.

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PS Plus Asia September 2018 FREE GAMES Lineup – It’s Pretty Good

We now have the official free games lineup for PS Plus Asia coming this September 2018, and just like our US and EU counterparts, it looks pretty good.
PS Plus Asia September 2018 FREE GAMES Lineup

A brand new month is upon us and as usual, PS Plus subscribers will get to enjoy a new lineup of free games. Our US and EU counterparts found out about theirs recently so without further ado, let’s take a look at the official free games lineup for PS Plus Asia this September 2018.
Keep in mind, this lineup is only for the Asia region. The US and EU region’s lineup can be found right over here..

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First up we have Destiny 2. Destiny 2 is an action shooter that takes you on an epic journey across the solar system. In the cinematic campaign, you’ll enter a world filled with compelling characters and fight to take back our home.  Rich cinematic story campaign, you can fight alongside friends in multiple co-op modes and just have fun. You can also challenge other players in 4v4 competitive multiplayer matches.
The other headlining games for this lineup is God of War III Remastered. Play as Kratos as he rises from the darkest depths of Hades to scale the very heights of Mount Olympus to seek vengeance. Armed with double-chained blades and an array of other weapons and magic, Kratos must take on mythology’s deadliest creatures while solving intricate puzzles throughout his merciless quest to destroy Olympus. God of War III: Remastered will be available to download beginning 4th September 2018.
For the full lineup of games coming to PS Plus this September 2018, check it out right below here.
Full Lineup

Destiny 2
God of War 3 Remastered
Zero Time Dilemma
Soul Calibur V
Another World (20th Anniversary Edition)

Source: PS Asia
Pokdepinion: While I do recall getting God of War 3 Remastered sometime last year, at least getting Destiny 2 is still pretty good.
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Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review – Security First

Today, we’re gonna be diving into the Acer TravelMate Spin P4 review. It’s a productivity laptop with safety and security mind with a build quality that meets the MIL-STD-810H rigidity standards and comes with Windows 10 Pro. The latter means that it has built-in features like BitLocker, which allows for additional protective measures via encryption right down to hard-drive level to safeguard your data without you lifting a finger. Let’s jump right into it, shall we?
Unboxing the Acer TravelMate Spin P4
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review – Box
Let’s kick off our Acer TravelMate Spin P4 review with the unboxing. Inside the box, you will find the following items:
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review – Box content

User guide
International Travelers Warranty guide
Warranty card
Charging brick
Power cable
The Acer TravelMate Spin P4 laptop itself

Appearance
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review – Lid
The Acer TravelMate Spin P4 differs from their typical ultraportable offerings as this is a business laptop. While there may be some similarities, this is why it looks different from their Acer Swift, Spin, and Aspire series laptops. Looking at the lid, you’ll get a clean matte finish with the Acer logo on the top-right. You can get a good feel of its aluminum-magnesium build here.

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Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review – Open up the lid
Open up the lid and you’ll see a 14-inch Full HD IPS display, white-backlit chiclet keyboard, the Intel Core i7 sticker, and a trackpad. It’s worth noting that the bezels are relatively thin on the sides but thick on the top and bottom. You get a webcam with privacy shutter on the top bezel whereas the bottom bezel houses the company logo. Right above the keyboard and below the bottom bezel, you have the laptop’s top-firing speakers.
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review – Ports
On the left side, you have the proprietary charging port, RJ45 LAN port, HDMI port, two USB-A ports, and a USB-C port. As for the right side, you have a stylus slot, power button which doubles as a fingerprint scanner, LED indicators, microSD card reader, combo audio jack, and Kensington Lock. There’s nothing on the rear except for a view of the hinges and rear air vent.
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review – Bottom
Flipping over to the bottom, you have 3 rubberized stands consisting of two small ones on the bottom left and right and a long one on top. Then you also have air vents and the usual product stickers. You can see 11 exposed screws here along with one hidden one behind the Warranty Seal sticker.
The Acer TravelMate Spin P4 adopts a simplistic design that differs from their other ultraportable offerings. It has a nice, sturdy build, which makes it easier to believe that it fits the MID-STD-810H standard as soon as you feel and carry it. Having 360° hinges is a plus point as well here but we’ll dive more into that in the User Experience section.
Specifications

CPU
Intel Core i7-1165G7 @ 2.8 GHz (up to 4.7 GHz Boost), 12M, 4C/8T, 10nm SuperFin, 28W TDP

RAM
8GB DDR4 (Can be upgraded up to 32GB)

GPU
Intel Iris Xe

Storage
512GB NVMe PCIe SSD

Connectivity
Wireless
Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 2x2ax (2.4GHz and 5GHz)
Bluetooth 5.0
Wired
1 x USB Type C port (USB 3.2 Gen 2, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 4, USB Charging 5V/3A, DC-in 20V/60W)
2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Port (one supports power-off USB charging)
1 x MicroSD card reader
1 x RJ45 LAN

Display
14″ Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS display with multi-touch support
1 x HDMI 2.0

Audio
2 x Speakers
Array microphones
1 x 3.5mm combo audio jack

Others
Chiclet keyboard with white backlighting
Full HD webcam with camera shutter, supports Windows Hello
TPM 2.0

Power
65W power adapter
3-cell Li-ion battery

Dimensions
325 x 236 x 17.9 mm

Weight
1.53 kg

Performance
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review – CrystalDiskMark
Starting off our benchmark suite with CrystalDiskMark, you can see that SSD storage used by the Acer TravelMate Spin P4 is pretty fast. You should be able to enjoy fast loading speeds / booting times as well as transfer speeds. For those of you wondering, this is the 512GB Samsung PM991 NVMe SSD.
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review – Cinebench R15
Moving on to Cinebench R15, the Intel Core i7-1165G7 powering the Acer TravelMate Spin P4 performed admirably. It had one of the highest single core scores in our list of benchmarked laptops, with multi-core lagging behind high performance machines. The latter part is to be expected since it’s more energy-efficient.
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review – Cinebench R20
A similar pattern can be seen in Cinebench R20, but it’s interesting to see how it managed to outperform an Intel Core I7-1185G7 laptop. It’s shaping up to be a very capable productivity device.
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review – Unigine SuperPosition
Moving on to Unigine SuperPosition in the 4K Optimized benchmark, the score is quite low but that’s to be expected. This is a graphically-intensive benchmark and the Acer TravelMate Spin P4 uses the Intel Iris Xe. The score would be higher if it had a discrete GPU, even something as simple as a GTX 1650.
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review – 3DMark Time Spy
The same can be said in 3DMark Time Spy, though this one doesn’t seem as bad since it came very close to breaking the 1,000 mark. It would be fine for some light gaming, though you will need to sacrifice graphics quality by a significant amount for a smooth gaming experience.
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review – PCMark 10
In PCMark 10, the Acer TravelMate Spin P4 is shaping up to be a very capable laptop, having a good overall score with notable achievements for Essentials and Productivity. It’s no surprise that it scored relatively low for Digital Content Creation as that requires a discrete GPU to achieve a good score. It’s certainly comparable to most ultraportable productivity laptops you can find today.
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review – Battery endurance test
As usual with this kind of laptop, you’d expect the battery life to be excellent. From the PCMark Modern Office endurance test, it lasted 8 hours and 6 minutes (486 minutes), which is good but I expected it to be a little better. Perhaps the battery capacity could see some improvements but it should still serve most people well.
If you’re looking for a different kind of laptop, check out our Acer Enduro N3 review of the Acer by clicking right here.
User Experience
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review – Running the 11th Gen Intel Core i7
The Acer TravelMate Spin P4 is a business-oriented productivity laptop designed for those who want to work anywhere with ease. It’s powered by the Intel Core i7-1165G7 with Intel Iris Xe graphics. As for memory, you have 8GB DDR4 RAM and 512GB NVMe PCIe SSD. While it’s plenty, I would personally like to have it upgraded to 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM for that added peace of mind.
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review – Multi-touch with active stylus
As for the display, the 14-inch Full HD IPS display works great. You get punchy colours, good viewing angles, and touchscreen support. The bezels could be thinner, but it’s not a dealbreaker in my opinion. In case you’re wondering, it has a 360° hinge which allows for greater usage flexibility. This laptop comes with a stylus along with a dedicated silo to store it. It’s great for jotting down notes or writing in general, but it’s not the best for drawing.
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review – Decent array of ports
The Acer TravelMate Spin P4 has a decent array of ports. You get a USB-C port which supports charging and DisplayPort output, two USB-A ports, a microSD card reader, an RJ45 LAN port, a combo audio jack, and an HDMI port. For most people, this is more than enough so you don’t need to have a dedicated dock to make it more usable. If anything, I just wished that it used a full-sized SD card reader instead.
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review – Keyboard and trackpad
As for the keyboard, we have a chiclet keyboard with no Numpad. You get short travel distance but the keyboard feels a little mushy. It’s great that it has white backlighting in case you use it in a dark area. I just wished that the keyboard has a more tactile feel for a more comfortable typing experience. The trackpad is there and it works fine but there’s nothing to shout about.
This laptop does have a fingerprint scanner, which doubles as the power button. The initial scanning when I first sign in the laptop seems to work fine but after that, it seems like the laptop refuses to read my finger input at times. It’s not that I’m getting errors but rather, it just refuses to detect every now and then. This particular review unit may have a defect, and may reflect differently for retail units. When it does work, it’s worth noting that it recognizes very quickly.
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review – Webcam privacy shutter
One nice touch they included with the Acer TravelMate Spin P4 is the webcam privacy shutter. In case you’re worried that people might be spying on you, the privacy shutter completely closes the webcam so no one can see you. It’s an added bit of security for a better peace of mind. The webcam itself works fine but do use it in a place with at least decent lighting for a good experience.
In the sound department, the Acer TravelMate Spin P4’s speakers work surprisingly well. While the bass is completely flat, you get some clear highs with decent volume. The top-firing design certainly works wonders here. Personally, I feel like it’s geared towards hearing people talk, like during conference calls for example, which is understandable as this is meant more for work after all.
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review
While the Acer TravelMate Spin P4 is designed with portability in mind, it feels noticeably heavier than the other Acer ultraportable laptops. 1.53kg is light but the weight feels rather concentrated, and it feels like they could have done more to shed some weight off of it. Perhaps its due to some augmentation as it did pass the MIL-STD-810H standard for rigidity, and it’s a solidly built laptop for sure.
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Verdict
Acer TravelMate Spin P4 Review
The Acer TravelMate Spin P4 is an attractive choice for professionals who want to remain mobile while still being productive. You get good performance, good battery life, a decent array of ports, great display with touchscreen support, 360° hinge for added versatility, MIL-STD-810H standard build quality, built-in active stylus, good speakers, and built-in webcam privacy shutter.
However, it’s not the perfect business laptop by any means. The laptop could be lighter, bezels should be thinner, keyboard feels rather mushy, and the touchscreen isn’t fit for drawing. It’s still a pretty solid choice nonetheless, but if at all possible, do upgrade to 16GB RAM at least so you can maximize your productivity potential.
At the end of our Acer TravelMate Spin P4 review, I award this laptop with our Silver Pokdeward.

Big thanks to Acer Malaysia for sending us this laptop for the purposes of this review. If you’re interested to purchase this business laptop, click right here or use the button below:
Acer TravelMate Spin P4
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Huawei executive: 4GB RAM is enough, more is simply overkill

Just like our personal computers, smartphones have also steadily gained more and more RAM as we advanced forward. Which just seems natural since we have higher expectations for multitasking and also increasingly complex apps which require more RAM to run smoothly. Well, it seems that a Huawei executive believes that optimization is the way forward, and not just throwing more and more RAM into smartphones.

Lao Shi, chief executive of the P-series, said that a smartphone with 4GB and 128GB of storage represents a better combination than having 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Citing Apple as an example — the latest Apple iPhone 7 Plus has just 3GB of RAM — he believes that more RAM just offers a sense of “my phone has more RAM than yours so mine’s better”, doesn’t really translate to an improved user experience and definitely adds costs that are borne by the consumers. Optimization is the way forward, according to his post on Weibo. Huawei is promoting their machine learning algorithms that was introduced in EMUI 5.0, claiming to improve your experience by optimizing its RAM management as you use your smartphone, so this is probably a pitch to draw some limelight to Huawei’s software expertise.

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Of course, he is quick to add that you can do whatever you want with your money, and Huawei does offer smartphones with 6GB of RAM (the Huawei Mate 9 Pro, Porsche Design Huawei Mate 9 and Huawei P10 Plus all come with 6GB variants) if you really want that extra e-peen you will be getting from the additional 2GB RAM. What do you think? Do you agree with the guy, or do you think we should get, and demand, more RAM in our smartphones?
SOURCE: GizmoChina
Pokdepinion: Personally, I don’t really mind if my smartphone has less RAM than the next one, as long as it runs smoothly. I know that upgrading from 2GB of RAM to 3GB RAM makes a lot of difference, but I have yet to see if moving from 4GB to 6GB will yield a similar improvement.
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[MWC2019] The first HUAWEI device to feature 5G will be the HUAWEI Mate 20 X

The HUAWEI Mate 20 X is due for a massive upgrade, with HUAWEI announcing it as their first 5G smartphone. With the HUAWEI Mate X not due till mid-2019, HUAWEI needs something to go up against the myriad of 5G-enabled devices by other brands.
The HUAWEI Mate 20 X is apparently HUAWEI’s choice instead of the HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro, despite the latter packing more innovative hardware. Perhaps HUAWEI decided the HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro already has more than enough on its plate?

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With this upgrade, the HUAWEI Mate 20 X is quite possibly the largest 5G smartphone in the market. While Samsung’s S10 5G comes in at 6.7″, the HUAWEI Mate 20 X sports a massive 7.2″ OLED display. It also touts a huge 5000 mAh battery, perfect for supporting the additional Balong 5000 5G modem.
There are no other details about what other hardware has been refreshed aside from the addition of a new Balong 5000 5G modem. Perhaps more RAM? More storage? Since there is a HUAWEI Mate 20 Pro with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, it doesn’t seem to far fetched.
HUAWEI Mate 20 X Specifications

Kirin 980, octa-core up to 2.6 GHz, 7nm FinFET
Mali-G76MP10 @ 720 MHz
6GB LPDDR4X
128GB UFS 2.1 storage (expandable via NM card)
7.2″ FHD+ OLED display, waterdrop notch
Leica Triple Camera (40MP f/1.8 + 8MP f/2.4 telephoto + 20MP f/2.2 ultra wide angle)
24MP f/2.0 selfie camera
EMUI 9.0 based on Android 9.0 Pie
5000 mAh battery, 22.5W HUAWEI SuperCharge
RM3199

Pricing and market availability is still unknown, but do stay tuned for more news regarding the HUAWEI Mate 20 X 5G from us!
Pokdepinion: Hmm a 5G variant of the best HUAWEI Mate 20 variant… That’s fine by me!
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Latest Genshin Impact 1.7 Leak Reveals Inazuma Namecard and Achievements

With many gamers currently enjoying Genshin Impact’s newest update, especially with the Midsummer Island Adventure, it’s only natural to look forward to what’s coming next. The latest leak reveals the Inazuma Namecard along with an extensive list of achievements expected for Genshin Impact 1.7.
Genshin Impact 1.7 Leaks: Inazuma Namecard

[2.0 BETA] Achievements
Inazuma: The Islands of Thunder and Eternity – Series I
※ Subject to change.#ProjectCelestia pic.twitter.com/QsmnaF2QjE
— Project Celestia (@projectcelestia) June 21, 2021

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It appears that the Inazuma Namecard has been leaked, and it has a purple theme. It’s knwon as Inazuma: Kujou Insignia and the looks basically match what we know of the Inazuma region thus far.
Apart from that, we also have an extensive list of achievements in the Inazuma region courtesy of infamous Genshin Impact leaker, Project Celestia. You can check out the list right below here:

Continental Explorer: Land of the Surging Thunder I- Light up the maps of Narukami Island, Kannazuka, and Yashiori Island in the Inazuma region
Thunderbolting Across the Land I- Unlock the Teleport Waypoints of Narukami Island, Kannazuka, and Yashiori Island in the Inazuma region
Sanctuary Pilgrim: Inazuma Tenryou I- Unlock all the Shrines of Depths of Narukami Island, Kannazuka, and Yashiori Island in the Inazuma region
Eternal Thunder- Upgrade the Statues of The Seven in Inazuma to their maximum level.
Divine Avatar- Reach Max Level for Sacred Sakura’s Favor.
Naku Weed Whacker I- Follow 10 Electro Seelie on Narukami Island, Kannazuka, and Yashiori Island in the Inazuma region.
Naku Weed Whacker I- Follow 20 Electro Seelie on Narukami Island, Kannazuka, and Yashiori Island in the Inazuma region.
Naku Weed Whacker I- Follow 40 Electro Seelie on Narukami Island, Kannazuka, and Yashiori Island in the Inazuma region.
Guiding Light I- Follow 4 Seelie
Guiding Light I- Follow 8 Seelie to their Seelie Gardens on Narukami Island, Kannazuka, and Yashiori Island in the Inazuma region
Guiding Light I- Follow 16 Seelie to their Seelie Gardens on Narukami Island, Kannazuka, and Yashiori Island in the Inazuma region
Shock-Waving Treasure Hunter (I)- Open 100 Chests on Narukami Island, Kannazuka, and Yashiori Island in the Inazuma region
Shock-Waving Treasure Hunter (I)- Open 200 Chests on Narukami Island, Kannazuka, and Yashiori Island in the Inazuma region
Shock-Waving Treasure Hunter (I)- Open 300 Chests on Narukami Island, Kannazuka, and Yashiori Island in the Inazuma region
Welcoming Party- Complete “Sacred Sakura”
Echo of Fury- Complete “Orobashi Legacy”
Now You’re Playing with Power! I- Complete 6 Open World mechanism-activated Time Trial Challenges on Narukami Island, Kannazuka, and Yashiori Island in the Inazuma region
Now You’re Playing with Power! I- Complete 12 Open World mechanism-activated Time Trial Challenges on Narukami Island, Kannazuka, and Yashiori Island in the Inazuma region
Now You’re Playing with Power! I- Complete 24 Open World mechanism-activated Time Trial Challenges on Narukami Island, Kannazuka, and Yashiori Island in the Inazuma region

Genshin Impact is currently available for free on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Android, iOS, and PC. A Nintendo Switch version will be coming sometime soon.
Source
Pokdepinion: I’m pretty certain this will not be the final list of achievements. When the update is out, I’m sure miHoYo would add more and also make small changes to the ones listed there.
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[Computex 2018] TEAMGROUP to come out in full-force — showcasing entire T-FORCE RGB line-up and smart digital products at Computex 2018

TEAMGROUP is at Computex 2018 with their full T-FORCE line-up, with their new T-FORCE XCALIBUR RGB memory modules, VULCAN SO-DIMM RAM, T-FORCE SABLE mousepads and an array of storage options. Some of the previously announced products was also showcased at their booth. We will however highlight only the newer stuff to break cover from TEAMGROUP.
T-FORCE XCALIBUR RGB DDR4

Probably the king of TEAMGROUP’s RAM line-up, the T-FORCE XCALIBUR RGB comes with a rather unique design. The heatspreader is topped off with an eye-catching totem-like lines. Meanwhile those who are more interested in the performance metrics of the T-FORCE XCALIBUR RGB will not be disappointed either with selected Samsung ICs for optimal performance and compatibility. These RAM kits are specced to run at up to 4000 MHz, promising the best TEAMGROUP can offer.

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T-FORCE VULCAN DDR4 SO-DIMM

Laptop users are often forced to be content with inferior RAM modules due to the space constraints. However with the T-FORCE VULCAN DDR4 SODIMM, TEAMGROUP slapped on a thin graphene copper foil heatspreader to enhance heat dissipation. This allowed them to clock the RAM at up to DDR4 3600 MHz, and they are available in 32GB kits too. If you have a high end gaming laptop or NUC, you owe it to yourself to check out these RAM kits.
T-FORCE SABLE L, SABLE XL

This is quite the interesting choice of peripheral to start a gaming lineup with. The T-FORCE SABLE L and SABLE XL are mousepads made of CORDURA fabric for their wear-resistant property. The material is weaved tightly to form a consistent mousing surface for accurate tracking. Available in sizes of 450 x 400 mm and 900 x 400 mm, these should be big enough for any gamer.
MP32 and MS30 M.2 SSDs

As the name would imply, the MP32 is a M.2 PCIe Gen3 x2 NVMe SSD, while the MS30 works over the M.2 SATA III interface. The former delivers speeds of up to 1500/800 MB/s for demanding users while the MS30 touts massive capacities up to 1TB in size, in the compact M.2 2280 form factor. With these two SSDs, TEAMGROUP hopes to satisfy every user who require a compact storage solution.
T183 Tool and T181 Sport USB Drives

The T183 Tool emphasizes aesthetic design and practical function. It comes with an interesting design that serves multiple functions including a bottle opener, ruler, pocket knife and keychain. It’s chassis is crafted out of anti-corrosion coated metal, and it is also waterproof and dustproof, ensuring the safety of the data inside as you bring it everywhere with you.

Meanwhile, the T181 Sport is somehow supposed to invoke expectation of football games and the toughness of football games. It looks more like a roll-on to me though. It’s designed to be as ergonomic as possible, with an anti-slip coating to ensure users can easily grab it for plugging it in or pulling it out.
Dash Card

This is TEAMGROUP’s UHS-I (Class 10) microSD card. It features Dash in its name due to it being intended for use with dashcams, rather than its speed. It is certified to be compatible with major dashcams on the market, with promise of long-term and stable storage.
WD03 Travel Charger

Yet another weird addition to TEAMGROUP’s lineup, this is a portable fast charging travel charger. It comes with two ports, one USB-A port with support for 5V/2.4A output, and a USB-C port which supports the USB Power Delivery (USB-PD) fast charging standard. This allows for up to 2.5 times faster charging via the new standard, which is supported by the latest iPhones, MacBooks, iPad Pro and also the Nintendo Switch.
Pokdepinion: Let us know if you can see how the T181 Sport reminds you of football…
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ASUS Announce RT AC86U Router – Speed And Coverage In One Combo!

ASUS recently announce of their latest AC2900-class-WiFi router, the RT-AC86U which has a built-in WTFast game accelerator and Adaptive QoS.
ASUS RT AC86U
With the RT-AC86U, it gives fast speeds and a wide coverage, making it perfect for gaming at home. It uses a concurrent dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi which is then boosted NitroQAM technology. Its MU-MIMO and AC2900 bandwidth makes it ideal for any modern household and its RangeBoost eliminates any game-interrupting  Wi-Fi dead spots.
For protection, it has a built-in ASUS AiProtection, which is powered by Trend Micro Smart Network. This provides centralized commercial-grade security for all connected devices, helping to detect and neutralize threats before they can reach the network.

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The router’s MU-MIMO allows you to operate of up to four compatible devices at their maximum possible speed, without impacting on each other’s performance. With gaming in mind, Adaptive QoS automatically prioritizes game traffic to ensure the best gaming experience. Its WTFast game-accelerator provides a private optimized connection to game servers that can reduce ping times by 30-60% on average.
RT AC86U is able to deliver bandwidth of up to 2166Mbps on the 5GHz frequency band and 750Mbps on the 2.4GHz band. It’s three antennas features ASUS AiRadar 2.0 beamforming technology that improves speed and stability by focusing radio signals to each device connected.
The ASUS RT AC86U router is available for purchase now and retails at RM1569. It comes with a three-year warranty which is a 1-to-1 swap. For more information on the router or other ASUS products, you can click the link here to go to their official website.
Pokdepinion: If you’ve been looking for a router for your gaming needs, this looks like a decent option.
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ASUS VIVO AIO 24 V241E Review – Office Productivities, Content Creating, and Game?

All in one PCs, or AIOs for short, are a rather unique PC form factor designed with convenience as a priority. As the name implies, instead of having a separate tower housing the components, the PC unit is a part of the monitor. The CPU, GPU, RAM and other key components are all baked into a single unit, making it easy to set up and use, while also saving space. This makes it ideal for offices, retail storefronts and small home offices, where space is a premium.
Today we will be taking a look at ASUS’ take on the AIO form factor with the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E, equipped with the latest 11th Gen Intel i5 processor.
Unboxing
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Due to the large size of the packaging, we are unable to do our usual unboxing but here’s what’s in the box. A quick setup guide, the warranty card, the external power adapter, a keyboard and mouse set and last but not least, the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E itself.
Setup
We did say that AIOs are designed with convenience in mind, so let’s count just how many steps you need to set up the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E.
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Firstly, you will need to plug in the power adapter to the wall. Power up the keyboard and mouse by removing the little bits of plastic between the batteries in them. Then you will need to connect the power adapter and mouse dongle to the rear of the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E, and you are set. Just push the power button and the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E is ready to be used.
You don’t even need to buy the batteries for the wireless peripherals, as the batteries are already preinstalled. And there are no issues with cable management, as you will only need to tuck the power cable away and you will be looking at a clean and sleek setup in less than 5 minutes.
Overview

Once turned on, the 23.8-inch display looks great. That’s the main highlight as there’s no PC unit to speak of. Everything is crammed behind the screen. ASUS also paid attention to keep it as clean as possible, with minimal bezels all around, while hiding pretty much everything in the lower bezel. Facing you are the stereo speakers that are cleverly integrated into the lower bezel, with a webcam installed right in the centre.

Hidden along the bottom edge, you also get a USB 2.0 port and an audio jack. There’s also a little button here that lets you turn the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E into a monitor by switching between the HDMI in and PC modes. Over on the other end is a slot for the standard Kensington lock.

Over on the rear is where the bulk of the I/O for the ASUS VIVO AIO 24 V241E is found. There’s an HDMI out, HDMI in, the coaxial DC-in, four USB 3.0 ports and a Gigabit Ethernet port. They are positioned in the centre right above the stand, which is actually quite difficult to reach from the front.

As mentioned earlier, the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E comes with a full-sized wireless keyboard and a mouse as well. Both are wireless, so cable management won’t be an issue, although you will have to replace the batteries in them as they are not rechargeable.
ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E Specifications
Let’s move on to the specifications. The ASUS Vivo AIO V241E packs the 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7. This processor offers four cores and eight threads, with a maximum turbo frequency of 4.2GHz. It packs 8MB of cache. There’s only 8GB of DDR4 memory and 512GB M.2 PCIe Gen3 SSD for storage. The graphics solution is somewhat interesting in the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E, with an NVIDIA GeForce MX330 partnered up with the integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics.
This combination should be pretty good for an AIO, as you will get to harness both Intel’s QuickSync and also NVIDIA’s CUDA cores for your productivity. We will talk a bit more about the performance later.
The display here is a 23.8-inch FHD IPS-level panel, with an anti-glare finish and a maximum brightness of 250-nits. ASUS claims 100% sRGB gamut coverage, which is sufficient for basic content creation.
Benchmarks

Now that we are done with the specifications, let’s check out the benchmarks. The ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E’s SSD is a pretty average performer, with 1644MB/s read and close to 1000MB/s write. Random performance is decent enough, so it will be more than enough for some snappy boot and application load times.

Superposition which tests the GPU sees a score of 942, which is pretty low. Intel’s full Iris Xe Graphics is generally able to post higher scores, but we are looking at the MX330 here, which is an entry-level pixel pusher from NVIDIA. In Cinebench, we get a respectable score of 515 points in the single-core benchmark, and 2103 points in the multi-core run. This is even better than many 11th gen intel core i7 laptops we have tested, due to the fact that there’s probably a lot more thermal headroom here for the CPU to stretch its legs.

3DMark Time Spy extreme sees a score of just 263, which clearly indicates that this isn’t a machine meant for gaming. Fire Strike Ultra reveals an overall score of 462, with the CPU delivering a nice score in the Physics section with  12969 points, although the Graphics portion holds it back with just 395 points.

In workloads that are probably more suited for the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E, it does really well. PCMark 10 gauges the performance in daily essential applications, Productivity and Digital Content creation, and the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 actually does a good job here. The digital content creation is actually pretty good, but we will get more in-depth into that with the Procyon benchmarks in a bit.
User Experience

Using the machine, I found the screen to be pretty good, with vibrant colours since it is able to fully display the sRGB gamut. The size is also just nice at 23.8” and the brightness is ideal for indoor use. Not like you can use an AIO outdoors, but you get what I mean. Thanks to the characteristics of an IPS panel, the viewing angles are great with no colour shifting. This is a pretty great panel here.

Be it for videos, images or text, viewing content on the display is a pretty good experience with sufficient sharpness due to its resolution and relatively small size. The sound is also surprisingly good for built-in speakers. ASUS threw in DTS audio processing into the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E, which quite evidently has made the auditory experience a much better one. There’s actually a bit of bass here and I would definitely consider it good enough for daily use.

The bundled keyboard offers a very soft keystroke with sufficient travel. It’s membrane-based so do manage your expectations. The mouse is a rather flat one, so it is nigh impossible to palm it around. I needed to use a finger grip to hold it. Overall it does seem like the whole set is designed for smaller hands. It might not be for everyone as peripherals are rather subjective when it comes to fit and comfort, but you can always get another set to replace them if you find the one included with the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E not to your liking.

The built-in webcam is good enough for video calls and stuff, but the angle definitely leaves some to be desired. You get a pretty good view of our video guy’s double chin here, and it can shoot either 0.9MP photos or 720p30 video. The ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E also has a built-in array microphone setup, and it actually sounds good. Better than most built-in solutions I have heard, anyway.
Office Use

As we mentioned earlier, this machine is definitely more suited for your daily essentials and productivity, so we also did some tests with the PCMark Applications benchmark. As you would expect, the scores are excellent as the processor here is more than capable of dealing with your word processing and web browsing. The display looks sharp and ASUS has pre-installed Microsoft office onto the machine so I did not have to set it up myself either. It is already ready to go. Remember what we said about convenience with AIOs?

One drawback of the AIO is the fact that there’s no height adjustment. The display can only tilt up and down to accommodate different heights, but you can’t move it up or down. If you need the display raised, you might have to shell out for a monitor stand which can be gotten quite inexpensively on one of the many e-commerce platforms Malaysians have access to.
Photos and Video Editing

As we are content creators ourselves, we definitely think that to satisfy us, the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E has to be at least capable of some content creation. And it does pretty well.  With decent scores in Procyon’s photo editing benchmark, we also tried it out with some real-life image editing using Lightroom.

There’s nary any delay when manipulating images, even when we are dealing with the Sony Alpha 7iii’s raw files. The 100% sRGB display also makes it good enough for basic editing. There’s no built-in card reader though, which would have been greatly appreciated. Even a USB-C to facilitate newer card readers would have been nice, but we don’t get that either with the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E.

Even for video editing, it does a pretty good job. The scores in Procyon’s video editing benchmark are pretty good, although exporting does take quite some time given the limited horsepower on tap here. Despite that, the experience is actually pretty good.

Despite only featuring the MX330 and Iris Xe Graphics, the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E was quite smooth when editing HLG2 footage shot with the A73. I never thought that I would say this, but thank god for the Iris Xe graphics as it makes the whole editing process a lot smoother.
Gaming

Gaming is definitely not going to be the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E’s strong suit, but we did try to do it anyway. After all, it is an all in one, so we do expect to do everything on it, I guess. Obviously, Metro Exodus is a ridiculously taxing game, and we only managed to get about 40+ FPS at 720p. 1080p is definitely impossible with the GPU we have in the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E. It is still powerful enough for some casual gaming though, and I managed to finish a game of DOTA 2 with a smooth enough experience.
Conclusion

Overall, the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E is a nice machine that can perform well in most environments, given its rather snappy performance. It was also very easy to set up, with me being able to complete the setup process in less than 5 minutes. Surprisingly, despite its rather mediocre specifications, it can still handle the raw photos and HLG2 footage taken with the Sony Alpha 7iii, which is great news for budding content creators not planning to splurge for a full desktop yet.
There are things that I hope ASUS will improve in their next iteration of the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E. I would prefer the USB 3.0 ports to be more accessible from the front, and an SD card slot would be nice to have as well since we already have the performance to handle content creation here. A USB-C port would be welcome too, just for the sake of future-proofing for quicker external peripherals, among other stuff.
At RM3299, it is a decent buy if you want a desktop PC without the hassle involved with a conventional tower PC setup. There’s no cable mess to talk about, and it definitely beats most laptops when it comes to using it to work. The screen is significantly larger than any laptop in the market, and the performance is also better here. With that said, the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E won’t replace a laptop for those who need to work on the go, but if your work is mainly done in one place, the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 is a much better choice than a similarly priced laptop.
With that, we end our review of the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E. Are AIOs something you consider useful to you, or do you prefer a conventional desktop setup for the extra modularity? For more reviews like this do stay tuned to Pokde.net!
If you want to see our video review of the ASUS Vivo AIO 24 V241E, you can check it out below.

Our thanks to ASUS Malaysia for sending us the ASUS VIVO AIO 24 V241E.
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Controversial Nintendo Switch Game is Coming to PC

Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise Coming to PC

A recent accidental leak on Steam reveals that a controversial Nintendo Switch exclusive game is actually coming to PC. It’s not from one of the more successful blockbuster titles on the hybrid console however. That game is none other than Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise.
It was first leaked due to a trailer that wasn’t intended to be made public just yet, which states that the Nintendo Switch game is coming to PC. This was either supposed to be related to an announcement for Summer Games Fest or for Nintendo Direct.

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For those of you who aren’t aware, Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise is an open world survival horror game by Toybox Inc, White Owls Inc., and Now Production launched on the Nintendo Switch in 2020. It is the prequel to Deadly Premonition, though it unfortunately didn’t fare as well as its predecessor.

In the year 2005, FBI agent York visits Le Carré, a small town in New Orleans where he encounters a mysterious serial murder case alongside his “friend” Zach. Produced by the original creator team. The story takes place in a small town in New Orleans which was created based on research and interviews.
The official Steam page for the game has been taken down and still isn’t up yet at the time of this writing. We will report more on this as soon as information becomes available so stay tuned.
Source
Pokdepinion: This is one of those games where it’s so bad, it’s strangely entertaining. You should give the first one a try before going for this one.
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Enjoy Discounts Up To 47% On HONOR Products On Lazada’s 8th Birthday Deals

Lazada’s 8th Birthday is coming soon and HONOR Malaysia has revealed that they will be offering deals with discounts of up to 47% off.
HONOR One-day Sale On Lazada
The sale will go on the 27th of March 2020, where it will feature deals for their HONOR 20, HONOR 9X, HONOR MagicWatch 2. You can check out the full list below:
ModelRRPLazada’s 8th Birthday DealFreebiesHONOR 20RM1,199RM999 (on Flash Sale)N/AHONOR 9XRM999RM949HONOR 9X Gift Box, HONOR Band 5iHONOR 8X MaxRM899RM849HONOR 8X Gift BoxHONOR 7SRM329RM299Mini phone holder, Data Cable (+32GB SD card on Flash Sale)HONOR 8SRM399RM379 Mini phone holder, Data Cable (+32GB SD card on Flash Sale) HONOR Sport PRORM299RM199N/AHONOR Band 5RM129RM111N/AHONOR MagicWatch 2 (Charcoal Black) RM699RM649N/AHONOR MagicWatch 2 (Flax Brown)RM749RM699N/AHONOR Powerbank 10,000mAh RM149 RM79N/A
To enjoy the flash sale, you can head to their official store on LazMall right here.

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Looking for something more? Well you can check out our previous coverage on the HONOR Intelligent Health deals.
Pokdepinion: Be sure to check out the previous article for even more deal!
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ROG TwinView Dock Review – Double Displays for your ROG Phone

The ROG Phone packs plenty of punch, being a gaming smartphone. In fact, it’s powerful enough to run two applications concurrently for the serious gamer. A typical scenario would be running a game while having Discord in the background for your voice communications and either Facebook or Twitch running separately to stream the game live. On a smartphone, this can be a pretty taxing setup, not meant for the average phone. Thing is, we’re not talking about a typical smartphone here. We’re talking about the ROG Phone and that’s exactly what you are able to do with the ROG TwinView Dock – seamlessly.
Unboxing the ROG TwinView Dock

The box is pretty neat and unlike the past accessories that we have reviewed, the ROG TwinView Dock is actually branded with Republic of Gamers rather than ASUS. The packaging is also significantly different from the ones that you have seen so far in the past accessories. The ROG TwinView Dock was made specially for the ROG Phone and not for any other smartphone. That’s for sure.

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That’s all in the packaging really. The ROG TwinView Dock itself and a user guide. No extra cables, no chargers, no carrying case, nothing else. I was a little disappointed when I unboxed this rather expensive accessory. Given the fact that its carrying the ROG emblem, I expected more. At the very least, a hard case designed for carrying it around would have been excellent here.
Appearance

The ROG TwinView Dock has a rather symmetrical facade that gives it a unique look. The lid has a Mayan design that functions as vents to dissipate heat underneath it using a fan that blows air inwards. The hexagonal opening on the right is where the ROG Phone’s camera will be positioned once the device is docked. The ROG emblem would lit in RGB and can be controlled using the Gamecenter app in the ROG Phone. The lock button prevents from the accidentally expanding the lid.

There are two large amber buttons that function as shoulder triggers and can be customized from the Game Genie overlay. Taking a close look in between the shoulder triggers, you can spot an SD Card slot and a USB Type-C charging port. I honestly don’t see why there was a need for the SD Card slot here considering that you can’t really install games on it. Unlike the MicroSD card slot on the Nvidia Shield first gen as the whole unit was the device itself and not just an accessory.

On the player facing side, there is a 3.5mm audio socket to connect the earphone. The Mayan design around the socket is pretty elegant touch. At the top of the closed lid, there is also a volume rocker to adjust the volume.

Before we dive inside the ROG TwinView Dock, a quick look at the bottom of the hardware unveils rubber feet that double as screw protectors. The ballast-like chambers on the side provide holding grip which is rather essential for an accessory this huge.

Turning the lid open, you are introduced to the second display that looks identical to that on the ROG Phone. At the top of this display, sits a power button that turns the whole unit on or off. On the sides of the screen are two amber colored speakers that now totals up the speakers to 4 units. You bet, the sound is going to be impressive on this thing! There is also a status LED on the screen near the left speaker that shows the charging status of the battery underneath. Oh, I forgot to tell? The ROG TwinView Dock has a 6000 mAh battery under the hood to keep the ROG Phone going on long gaming sessions.

The lid lifts upwards to allow the housing of the ROG Phone that snaps perfectly on the dock, fully utilizing the side-charging socket. Once the lid is closed, you can lock it with the button on the lid to ensure it doesn’t accidentally slides open when you are carrying it around.
Specifications

Design
Clamshell

Display
6″ (2160 x 1080) AMOLED, ASUS Tru2Life Technology, Capacitive Touch Screen, 10 points multi-touch with glove support

Speakers
Additional dual-speakers with Qualcomm smart amplifier

Haptic Vibrator
2 x Haptic Vibrators

Input Option
1 x USB 3.0 Type-C
1 x 3.5mm audio socket
1 x SDCard slot (supports SDXC UHS-I)
2 x shoulder trigger buttons
1 x Power button
1 x volume rocker

Lighting
AURA RGB ROG emblem
Power indicator

Battery
6,000 mAh

User Experience
Docking the ROG Phone is pretty easy and the fitting is perfect, making it rather easy to insert and taking out the ROG Phone. When docked, you get a little boot effect on the second display that initialized the contact between the ROG Phone and the ROG TwinView Dock.

The phone automatically enters into landscape mode allowing every operation to be done in this mode. Even the launcher and the lock screen runs in landscape mode, so that’s a very nice touch ASUS has added here. The first nuisance that you would discover?

If you are using fingerprint as your preferred security means, you’re out of luck here. You will be forced to insert the PIN or password because the fingerprint sensor is hidden behind the lid. Its not a major deal breaker, but it gets annoying entering the PIN everytime you want to turn on the device. I could suggest having a dedicated fingerprint sensor on the ROG TwinView Dock as well that works with ROG Phone, but such implementation can be rather complex.

The firmware update is handled by the phone when it’s docked. This only appears for the ROG TwinView Dock when you insert the phone in the dock itself and not part of the OTA package.

Since the clearance between the display and the phone is very tight, it is highly recommended not to use a tempered glass on it. If protection is your concern, you should opt for the thin layer type screen protector, otherwise, you will not be able to shut the unit and the stress between the displays may result in some serious damage.

The ROG TwinView Dock is heavy. Together with the phone, it weighs a whopping 626g which is not the best for mobile gaming. In fact, prolonged hours can see your wrists pretty tired if you’re not resting it in a comfortable position. Speaking of weights, the ROG TwinView Dock has a rather weird balance too when the phone is mounted.

This is the maximum you can open the lid before the unit topples over. That’s because the docked phone’s weight doesn’t do justice to the overall setup. In all honesty, this is not a comfortable viewing position and you would want to lift open the lid slightly more until you find the absolutely perfect holding position. This is not much of a bummer either because the ROG TwinView Dock was designed to be held in palms when playing anyway. That is IF you consider gaming. The ROG TwinView Dock makes an awesome accessories for many other purposes like watching movies while chatting with your friends in which the angle plays a very important role.

The ROG TwinView Dock has one main purpose and that is to provide two screens instead of one for the ROG Phone. The gist here is to have the capabilities of running two apps concurrently. Then again, when ASUS announced the ROG TwinView Dock for the first time, they showcased how the ROG Phone can take advantage of the dual displays to split one game into two screens, providing a much immersive experience. At the time of writing this article, only ONE game supported this function and that’s the Asphalt 9 which shows the actual game on one screen, and the map on the other. Even Garena’s Free Fire, which is the official game of ROG Phone doesn’t support this feature yet, so this is a major downer for the ROG TwinView Dock.
So ultimately, the ROG TwinView Dock is more of a dual display accessory more than the dreams that ASUS showed us when they first launched it. Of course, depending on how many more games get supported, it might be a game changer. Especially since dual display with foldable screens will be a new trend soon. Developers that jump ship in time might just be thankful they made the plunge, but until then, I find myself a bit hard to fall in love with the ROG TwinView Dock.

This is another downside of using the ROG TwinView Dock. When it’s docked, the Game Genie is disabled. This means, your macros, and all the shebang that made ROG Phone awesome is not available when using the ROG TwinView Dock. Your display is also downclocked to 60Hz and you can’t bump it higher until you undock the device. In my usage, even my game profiles would occasionally reset when using the ROG TwinView Dock. These are what made the ROG Phone and I had high hopes for these to work with the ROG TwinView Dock so not having them is a huge loss.

As far as the battery is concerned, there’s no denying that the ROG TwinView Dock’s 6000 mAh battery is a huge advantage. Looking at the pattern above, it also seems like the Ai charging somehow plays its part in deciding when to sip the phone’s battery and when to use the one in the dock.
Conclusion
I tried, I really tried to love the ROG TwinView Dock. But let me be honest here. With all the fun I was having with other accessories, as much as I waited impatiently for this one, it failed to impress my enthusiasm. In a nutshell, I can conclude that the ROG TwinView Dock is more of a power bank with an additional display because I don’t see what else would I be doing with it otherwise. The dual screen game experience that was promised is missing. The Game Genie stops working. The display gets down-clocked. The whole thing is not well balanced and is heavy overall. The ROG Phone is probably one of the best devices of 2018 but the ROG TwinView Dock brings it down rather than up mostly. To think that you have to pay RM999 for this?
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