Andaseat Kaiser 3 Supply Restocked, Says Local Distributor

Fusion Tech Supply Sdn Bhd, as the local distributor of Andaseat gaming chair products has announced the supply for Andaseat Kaiser 3 has been replenished, and available in all resellers and official Shopee stores.
The Kaiser 3 comes in two versions in terms of surface finish: the DuraXtra leatherette PVC leather or Eversoft linen fabric; and from there customers are offered with nine color options to choose from. It features 4-way adaptive lumbar support, magnetic memory foam pillow with cooling pad which does away with plastic straps.

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The new seat are also designed to accommodate cross-legged sitting positions, and the thicker 65kg/m foam provides better support; meanwhile, the Titan Steel chassis provides up to 165° tilt range, and Class-4 grade gas piston is responsible for height adjustments, with reinforced heavy-duty aluminum wheelbase providing stability.

Fusion Tech says the restock now makes the Kaiser 3 available nationwide in all resellers, and customers may purchase it through official Shopee store which also provides nationwide shipping. As for the pricing, the L size (<120kg, 150-190cm) will cost RM1,649 for Peninsular Malaysia, and RM1,739 for Sabah/Sarawak; whereas the XL variant (<180kg, 181-210cm) is priced RM1,799 and RM1,889 for WM and EM respectively.
Pokdepinion: No worries about availability now if you’re looking for one.
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[Computex 2018] Acer brings Computex to Public – Acer WMR steals the show!

Usually, to attend Computex, you need to have special credentials to access the showcase area as brands bring their best hardware for showcase, competing in a super massive arena. Acer, however, decided to do things differently this time. Instead of opening up the usual booth in the halls, they decided to go massive and open to public instead. Covering a whole street along the Xinyi District in Taiwan, Acer earned all the bragging rights by opening up several showcase booths instead of having just one.
This is the main booth. There are several others around it.
Showcasing products by their categories, they were separated in their respective booths. Orion series had it’s own showcase booth. Nitro had it’s own. Helios was showcased in it’s own dedicated booth. WMR in another one. Yep, there was no way Acer was going to fit all that into just one exhibition hall, so they decided to take matters into their hands. And it was totally worth it!
This was the Nitro Booth. only for Nitro Series. Yup!
WMR Steals the limelight
While there were really interesting hardware showcased, including the white Helios 300, the main attraction that stole all the limelight had to be the Acer Windows Mixed Reality (WMR) showcase. This was so much fun, I could play with it all day! Acer’s WMR brings Virtual Reality beyond just the headset. In fact, this time around, Acer had 4 simulation chairs mounted to give a cockpit feel, delivering a 2 vs 2 flight battle game.

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Combining ergonomically designed chair with fighter jet like controls and Acer’s WMR headset, 4 players can play Lightning Wings that allows a 2 vs 2 combat. The chair itself it made of steel and fiber materials along with mild cushioning, built pretty tough. It has some serious hydraulics under it to deliver the job. Let’s have a look at how the final setup looks like.

See, playing the VR is one thing but playing it as an ecosystem, is another. altogether. With powerful hydraulics mounted underneath the seat, you get the actual experience of flying a fighter jet that converts into a robot and vice versa. You partner up with another friend to take down other two players to be victorious.

I can’t express how exciting this experience was. In fact, pretty much everyone that was with me were dreaming of how only if we could have his at the back of our homes, we probably wouldn’t get off it at all.
Pokdepinion: Acer has grown so quickly in the past years, they earned these bragging rights. Bravo!
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ASUS Hosts “Power Couple” Worldwide Giveaway With GPU & PSU Prizes

ASUS is hosting a global giveaway of five RTX 40 series GPUs as well as seven power supplies under its lineup starting from May 12th until May 26th – in the minigame, users will pick a GPU and pair it with a suitable power supply to be eligible to win prizes.

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Once entering the basic information (name, nationality and email), the contest splits into two parts: first, users will pick a GPU (including STRIX 4090, TUF 4090, STRIX 4080 White Edition, 4080 Noctua Edition and STRIX 4070 Ti). A small quiz will be presented – users can head to the respective product page to answer the questions. When answer correctly, they will be officially eligible for the prize draw.

The second part involves pairing the PSU to the GPU, Tinder-style. Users are expected to pair the appropriate hardware to each other, and successful pairings will also be eligible to win both the GPU and the PSU together (limited to one winner). There’s also a bonus section that users can add other components from the brand to complete a system and tell ASUS why they think it’s a ‘perfect match’.
The GPU and PSU prize pool includes products as follows:
ROG STRIX GeForce RTX 4090
ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4090
ROG STRIX GeForce RTX 4080 White Edition
ASUS GeForce RTX 4080 Noctua Edition
ROG STRIX GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
ROG THOR 1000W Platinum II
ROG THOR 850W Platinum II
ROG STRIX 1000W Gold Aura Edition
ROG STRIX 850W Gold White Edition
ROG STRIX 850W Gold
ROG STRIX 750W Gold
TUF Gaming 1000W Gold
Contest will end at 26th May 2023, and winners will be announced in June through ASUS and ROG’s social media channels. Good luck!
Pokdepinion: Good luck everyone!
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PUBG Mobile Season 12 brings new features and game mode to the game

With the mobile games segment heating up, PUBG Mobile is definitely not going to sit around doing nothing. The latest PUBG Mobile Season 12 update brings a slew of new features to the table, as the latest update rolls out in conjunction with the game’s second anniversary.
More Attractive Royale Pass

For Season 12, the UI has been reworked to make it easier to buy or upgrade your Royale Pass, and there’s also support for vouchers now. In addition to that, Tencent will also be rewarding gamers who have not bought any Royale Passes in the past three seasons as well as players who registered from Season 10 but have yet to get a Royale Pass, as they will receive bonus benefits too when they get Royale Pass Season 12. Also, the Royale Pass Season 12 is now discounted to 1800 UC, making it more accessible to everyone.

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New Amusement Park Mode
For Season 12, there will new additions to the popular Erangel map. The Amusement Park Mode adds three amusement parks to the map and will offer activities like hunt game, Space Wars, shooting range and also trampolines. There will also be arcade machines that can be activated with tokens as well as Reverse Bungee which can launch players into the air and they can then glide down with their parachutes. The Amusement Park Mode will be available throughout Season 12.
New AirDrop Weapon
If you are looking for a new weapon to master, PUBG Mobile will be getting the new DBS, a double-barelled shotgun only available via AirDrops. It holds 14 rounds of 12 Gauge ammo and can reload faster than any other shotgun in the game at two shots per rack.
And much more…

The PUBG Mobile Season 12 update also brings a ton of additional features including Universal Marks, Death Replay, Hardcore Mode, Brother in Arms mode and Artic Mode. The latter seems pretty interesting as it will be even more survival-based with artic storms appearing in Vikendi and players having to make fires and hunt and cook chickens.
They are balancing the weapons with increased rifle burst mode rate of fire, and also increasing the Mk47’s damage. Meanwhile Tencent also promises improved performance in games as well as lowered Bluetooth headphone latency for some Android models.
The update has already rolled out on 12th March, so update your game via the Play Store/App Store and enter the game. There will be more updates in game, so make sure you are using a WiFi connection!

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HUAWEI’s Malaysia Day Campaign Offers Triple Rewards On HUAWEI PCs And Tablets

The Malaysia Day Campaign runs from September 9 to September 30 at HUAWEI Experience Stores, HUAWEI Store Online, Lazada HUAWEI Flagship Store, and Shopee HUAWEI Official Store, allowing you to choose from a variety of brand-new HUAWEI PCs and tablets. You can win a HUAWEI WATCH GT or a scooter worth up to RM1,000 in addition to enjoying discounts of up to RM400 and gifts of up to RM499.
HUAWEI’s Malaysia Day Campaign

During the Malaysia Day Campaign period, purchase selected HUAWEI items and you might win incredible prizes worth up to RM1,000 on the HUAWEI Member Center! More information on how to win these fantastic items can be found here.

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You can check out the HUAWEI products down below that will be available during HUAWEI’s Malaysia Day Campaign:

Product
Price (RM)
Discounted Price (RM)
Free Gifts

HUAWEI FreeBuds
4i
379
299
Retractable USB
Carry Case-White

HUAWEI Mate 40
Pro
4,299
3,899
HUAWEI 128GB
nano memory card
worth RM298

HUAWEI Y7a
799
699
Y SERIES Gift
Package

HUAWEI Watch GT
2 Pro
1,199
1,099
Notebook – Orange

HUAWEI Watch GT
2 Black Strap
799
699
Canvas Bag-Grey

HUAWEI Watch GT
2 Leather Strap
899
799
Canvas Bag-Grey

HUAWEI Watch Fit
 499
399
–

HUAWEI MateBook
D15 (i3)
2,599
–
Laptop Bag worth
RM199

HUAWEI MateBook
D15 (i5) 10th Gen
2,999
 –
Laptop Bag worth
RM199

HUAWEI MatePad
Pro 12.6” (Matte
Grey)
3,999
–
Entertainment Gift
Package 3 worth
RM189

HUAWEI MatePad
Pro 12.6” (Olive
Green)
4,199
–
Entertainment Gift
Package 3 worth
RM189

HUAWEI MatePad
11
2,199
–
Laptop Bag
worth RM 109

HUAWEI MatePad
10.4 LTE
1,499
–
Canvas Shopping
Bag

HUAWEI Vision S
65’
3,999
–
Umbrella

HUAWEI Vision S
55’
2,999
–
Umbrella

HUAWEI nova 8i
1299
–
Simple Home Gift
Package (Orange)

HUAWEI MateView
2,988
–
Work Efficiency Gift

HUAWEI MateView
GT
2,488
–
Work Efficiency Gift
Package

That’s not all. When you buy with certain credit cards and at certain offline HUAWEI Experience Stores, you can get a 0% interest instalment payment plan for up to 24 months! Please go here and here for more information.
Find a HUAWEI Experience Store near you now! At the same time, be sure to register to receive 4x rewards at the HUAWEI Experience Store. Set your calendars for HUAWEI Store Online, Lazada HUAWEI Flagship Store, and Shopee HUAWEI Official Store to get your hands on these incredible devices! The following terms and conditions apply.
Pokdepinion: So many sales and promotions but so little money…
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Canon Introduce EOS 6D Mark II And EOS 200D – For Those Wanting To Take To The Next Level

Canon Marketing Sdn Bhd has introduce to the market their new Canon EOS 6D Mark II and EOS 200D which is designed for advanced-amateur and entry-level professionals. This continues with Canon’s vision to bring the best tools for photographers no matter what level they are in.
As a leading imaging company, we understand the different needs and wants of Malaysian photographers – from first-timers, to the most experienced. We are proud to continue to bring the imaging tools needed to both elevate and expand the art of photography in Malaysia Andrew Koh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Canon Marketing (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd

Canon EOS 6D Mark II

Canon EOS 6D Mark II
The Canon EOS 6D Mark II is the lightest camera in the EOS full-frame DSLR line, packed in a nimble and compact body. Speed is essential when taking fast-moving objects, in this case the camera has a continuous shooting speed of up to 6.5 fps. The camera has a built in 26.2 Megapixel with full-frame CMOS sensor. Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth and GPS is also built in.

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Also, the EOS 6D Mark II 3.0-inch Vari-Angle LCD touch-screen. In terms of protection, it is dust and water resistant.
Pricing for the Canon EOS 6D Mark II starts from RM 8,899 which is for the body only, body with EF 24-70 L IS USM lens costs RM 11,999, and lastly the body with EF 24-105 L IS II USM lens RM 12,999

Canon EOS 200D
Canon EOS 200D
The Canon EOS 200D is small yet powerful camera which is the world’s fastest AF speed* at 0.03 seconds which allows for quick focusing on subjects in the frame. It also can catch selfies with the Selfie Mode, with gives background defocus, brightness and smooth skin effect which are automatically adjusted to catch the perfect shot.
It has a 24.2 Megapixel CMOS (APS-C) sensor with dual pixel CMOS AF. Similar to the EOS 6D Mark II, it also has a 3.0-inch Vari-Angle LCD touch screen and has WiFi, NFC and Bluetooth technology built in. Users can take continuous shooting of up to 5fps via the Optical Viewfinder. It supports Full HD 60p and external microphone input.

The EOS 200D retails at RM 2,999 for the body and EF-S 18-55 IS STM lens.

Given the importance of full-frame sensors to professional photographers, the EOS 6D Mark II is the most accessible camera to make the jump to full-frame photography. Cameras may be seen as another imaging tool but nowadays it is also a fashion accessory, which is how the trendy EOS 200D comes into play Jeffrey Kung, Head of Consumer Imaging & Information Division, Canon Marketing (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.

The Canon EOS 6D Mark II will only be available in black where else the EOS 200D will have three colors to choose from which are Classic Black, Trendy White, and Sophisticated Silver. They will be available in early part of August 2017.
For more information on the products, you can check out Canon’s official website.
 Pokdepinion: For people trying to try and pick up photography, the EOS 200D looks like a decent choice with its features.

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Logitech G633 Artemis Spectrum, RGB 7.1 surround gaming headset review

Great audio when gaming is as important as getting high frame rates. Logitech is well known with their “Game with Passion. Win with Science” slogan is proof that they are really serious in the gaming peripheral business. Over the last two weeks I tested the Logitech G633 Artemis Spectrum, an awesome 7.1 surround gaming headset, complete with RGB illumination, by Logitech G. Here is what I think of it.

Unboxing

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Logitech G products always have their own “scientific name” convention which is quite confusing to me, i.e. the G810 Orion Spectrum. Instead of Orion I always get confused and call it “Onion”. At the front of the box we have the product image of the headset and its name. That’s pretty much all you get.

Flip the box over and we find some details about the headset. The Logitech G633 is a RGB 7.1 surround gaming headset with exclusive Pro-G drivers and customizable RGB lighting, capable of up to 16.8 million colors.

Lift the box first we are presented with the Logitech G633 Artemis Spectrum which is placed in a nice plastic tray.

Along with the headset, you get a USB to microUSB cable, a 3.5mm audio cable and a bit of literature which I thought was Artemis’ will at first, but is actually just a warranty documentation.

Appearance

Although the Logitech G633 is mainly made up of plastic, but the finishing made it look like a premium headset. From this angle we can see the audio input selector switch, G1 to G3 macro buttons, microphone mute button and the volume roller.

From the side we can see the blacked out chrome finishing on the hinges, in contrast to the matte plastic finishing over most of the headset. The Logitech G633 comes with 40mm drivers with a frequency response range of 20Hz-20KHz and 39 Ohms (passive) impedance. The earcups are large over-ear ones, with a nice fabric to prevent the inevitable flaking after some time exposed to our sweat.

The Logitech G633 Artemis Spectrum supports two input methods, with a choice of either the standard 3.5mm audio jack or USB. It’s highly recommended to use the USB connection if you are on PC as you can tweak the audio presets, RGB lighting and macro keys via the Logitech Gaming Software. The 3.5mm jack are the optional connector if you are going to use it with your console or smartphone.

You can actually connect both inputs at the same time, allowing to swap between inputs immediately. Expecting a phone call? Just connect the Logitech G633 Artemis Spectrum to your phone, and use the input selector toggle to change inputs whenever you have a call coming in.

When connected via the 3.5mm jack, the buttons and RGB illumination will not work. But Logitech has packed the included 3.5mm audio cable with a microphone and volume wheel too, which is great. There is even a switch for the microphone, in case you want to turn it off.

The side plates are removable and you can replace them with custom made ones if you have a 3D printer or something. It might seem pointless but it is perfect for marketing purposes, where eSport teams can use custom plates with their sponsors’ logos.

The head band size is quite nicely sized, with the Logitech G logo on it. Under it there is also cloth cushioning for extra comfort. Overall from the looks and feel, the Logitech G633 is something quite remarkable. It manages to feel rigid although it is made entirely of plastic. It seems ready to take a beating, and the fabric padding just sweetens the deal. Pleather cushioning will definitely break down after a while, and it’s just a matter or time.

Specification

User Experience
Every person on the earth, especially gamers, have their individual sensitivities to certain frequencies. I’m not an audiophile, but I can appreciate a wide sound stage and crystal clear sound. I own several headsets, and I know what is good sound. With the specifications and price, I have high hope for the Logitech G633 Artemis Spectrum, not only in terms of the audio quality but also its comfort.
Let’s start with how it felt on my head first. I do agree with some other reviewers that the Logitech G633 Artemis Spectrum have quite a strong clamping force. However I found that after adjusting the length of the head band, it feels really comfortable. The deep fabric earcups are soft and are effective in blocking out most of the real world.

Checking on the buttons, each of them have a satisfying clicky tactile response. The volume roller’s sensitivity is also okay. It’s not too tight or loose, but there is still the possibility of accidentally pumping up the volume to deafening levels. There is a nice audio feedback when you adjust the volume too.
I installed Logitech Gaming Software version 8.87 and connected the headset through USB cable. If the USB cable is too thick and long for you, there are plenty of alternatives for a high quality USB to microUSB cable, like the iCable i10 Power Series cable which features lifetime warranty.
The Logitech Gaming Software is essential to take full advantage of the Logitech G633 Artemis Spectrum. It’s not only about the headset customization but there is much you can do with it. Before we go to the audio quality, let’s take a quick tour of the software.
Logitech Gaming Software
Logitech did a very good job designing the software. A centralized software, compatible with all Logitech G products. It has a nice clean layout, and is very responsive. Setting up the macro and customizing the RGB lighting is a breeze.
Logitech G633 Artemis SpectrumLogitech G633 Artemis SpectrumLogitech G633 Artemis SpectrumLogitech G633 Artemis Spectrum
Let’s speak about the audio quality now, shall we. Logitech G633 Artemis Spectrum has hands down the best audio quality I have ever heard. Everything is because of the Logitech Gaming Software. You can even select equalizer presets to suit your usage. I tried all of the preset and I found that the DTS Headphone: X with Logitech Signature Studio and Super Stereo Wide is the one suited my tastes best.
I tested the Logitech G633 Artemis Spectrum in DOTA2, CS: GO and Battlefield 4. Perfect. Crystal clear dialog, immersive sound effects, and punchy gun shot and explosions are all so very satisfying to hear. The surround 7.1 audio plays the main role to offer great audio when gaming.
I watched some anime and series on iFlix, the experience was absolutely enjoyable and I really loved it. Last but not least, I listened to audio podcasts and music which had a wide range of sounds. Vocals are super clear when I’m listening to audio podcasts. For music, I tried listening to synthwave music and my brain was just totally in the beat. Electronic music is where I tested the bass, with the Logitech Signature Studio preset I can feel the bass is tight and very punchy without losing details in the other frequencies.

Below are some of the music I listened to when using the Logitech G633 Artemis Spectrum.
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ARVE Error: need id and provider
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ARVE Error: need id and provider
Did I miss something? Oh, the microphone recording quality. Actually the reason of why I don’t usually do microphone tests is based on my experience that most headset that are priced above RM300 already has a decent quality microphone. On the Logitech G633 Artemis Spectrum, I recorded my voice with Audacity and I heard myself clearly without any noise at all. I also tested it in Overwatch, and everyone in my team heard me clearly.

Conclusion
The Logitech G633 Spectrum Artemis is among the best gaming headsets you can have out there. It not only offers great audio quality but comfort is also top notch with it. In fact, I didn’t want to take it off after finding the sweet spot when adjusting the head band. Logitech G633 Artemis Spectrum actually is the base model, with a wireless version available, the Logitech G933 Artemis Spectrum. Since both headsets are almost the same in terms of specifications, I favor the Logitech G633 Artemis Spectrum more. Not having to worry about charging the batteries is a huge plus for me.

Logitech G633 Artemis Spectrum is quite worth getting, judging from the audio quality, comfort and features it offers. I reward it Pokdeward Gold. You can get the Logitech G633 Artemis Spectrum from online retailers for RM649 with two years manufacturer warranty.

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HUAWEI To Reportedly Use Liquid Lens For 2021 Flagship Smartphones

It has been reported that HUAWEI will be introducing “liquid lens” for their flagship smartphones next year in 2021, which is aimed to improve photography results.
HUAWEI liquid lens in 2021

So what exactly does it do? It is said to enhance image stabilization as well as focus times. It is said to offer a major improvement as reports claim that the focus time will be reduced to a couple of milliseconds, where it is said to be able to match the focus time of our very own eyes.

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The liquid lens will be featuring in their telephoto camera, where it is said that the lens will vary the shape of the liquid through varying voltage. It is also suggested that the technology will be more durable to shock as well compared to conventional focusing motors.
Not to forget, the lens will be coupled with with a Sony IMX782 sensor, if reports are to be true. Unfortunately, that’s about all the details that available at the moment for the liquid lens. Worry not as we’ll sure to update you should there be new updates on it. Till then, stay tuned to Pokde.net.
Source
Pokdepinion: It definitely sounds like an interesting feature. Let’s see if it indeed will come out soon and see whether it improves on stabilization and focusing. We surely hope so!
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ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero Review — getting what you pay for?

The newest Intel Z690 motherboards from ASUS tout a very distinctive design language, and my personal favorite is the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero. I guess it also helps that it is the most affordable ROG Maximus Z690 motherboard, so that’s always a plus. Having used multiple ROG Maximus Hero motherboards in the past, let’s see if the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero continues the legacy of its predecessors, offering a nice balance of features, aesthetics and value.
Unboxing

The packaging of the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero continues the design language that ASUS decided to adopt with the Maximus XIII series. It is quite interesting that they decided to not name this the ROG Maximus XIV though. Perhaps Intel wanted them to feature the Intel Z690 branding more prominently than before? In any case, the cybertext and diagonal lines contrast each other very well, making this the perfect box to keep on a shelf in your mancave after you have completed your build.

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The back of the box is once again reminiscent of earlier ROG motherboards. The highlighted features along with a clear image of the motherboard itself are all presented here, letting you know what you are getting into.

And as with all previous ASUS ROG motherboards, there a sumptuous spread of included cables, accessories and even a graphics card support stand. A pretty nice addition, considering that graphics cards seem to be only growing larger as time passes. And yes, you get a keychain and stickers as the obligatory ROG swag that comes with just about every product from the Republic of Gamers.

What’s new is the ROG Hyper M.2 Card, which is included with the full ROG Maximus Z690 motherboard lineup. While previously the ROG Maximus Hero series didn’t come with this, the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero comes with one to give you support for PCIe 5.0 SSDs, while also ramping up the total number of M.2 slots to five. Also, instead of the useless driver DVDs, you now get a thumb drive containing all the utilities and drivers you need. Finally!

While I do love the expansion options that the ROG Hyper M.2 card brings to the table, I don’t know why ASUS decided to print this text on it. It sort of “cheapens” the entire aesthetic… However you will most probably not see it once it is installed in your PC, so it’s just me being extra nitpicky here. The thumb drive appears to be clad in an aluminum shell, and also supports USB 3.0, so this is definitely something that will end up being useful, even after you are done with the initial setup. Unlike the driver DVDs which are useless from the get go.
Appearance

ASUS has clearly went back to drawing board for the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero, and made huge changes to the design. While ROG Maximus XIII Hero was by no means bad looking, the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero seems to borrow from the aesthetics established by the ROG Phone 5 series. Heavy use of diagonal lines and dots help to create a very modern look that just makes every other motherboard vendor’s offering look drab and boring in comparison.

Instead of a large heatsink that also doubles as the I/O cover, ASUS went with something they call the Polymo lighting display, which we will get into in a bit. But fret not, as the overall size of the heatsink appears to be still similar, so it should do its job cooling the VRM pretty well, while also looking absolutely stunning.

The lower portion of the board is also heavily covered, and the PCH cover is probably the most interesting one I have seen yet. The ROG logo is created by silver metal bumps, contrasting against the glossy plastic. This is definitely  One interesting change coming from the ROG Maximus XIII Hero is that the area beside the ROG logo is actually a part of the PCH heatsink itself, and there are no M.2 slots underneath. Does it mean that ASUS actually found it necessary to use a lot more surface area and mass to cool the Intel Z690 chipset? Or will it just mean that we will see cooler temperatures on the chipset this time around? Well, we will see.

Moving on to the rear of the board, we see a nice smattering of USB-A ports. This is essentially unchanged coming from the ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Hero, with six USB 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps) ports and two USB 2.0 ports. The ROG Maximus Z690 Hero gets an additional USB-C port that delivers 10Gbps speeds too, in addition to the two Thunderbolt 4 ports. Those who actually make use of the dual LAN ports on the ROG Maximus XIII Hero will have to look elsewhere though, as the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero only comes with a single 2.5GbE port. Last but not least, you get a HDMI port, giving you the ability to use the iGPU when you need to.

There isn’t much to see here, but you might notice the presence of the PCIe redrivers near the PCIe 5.0 slots. ASUS has also adopted SMD DDR5 DIMM slots and PCIe 5.0 slots, which should improve the signal integrity. The other advantage is a slightly cleaner looking rear side, although unlike the ROG Strix motherboards which often have more complex silkscreened designs on the rear side of the board, I doubt anyone will actually actively try to showoff this side of the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero.

Now, let’s talk RGB. Unlike most of the previous motherboards, the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero lacks any form of RGB over the PCH. All of that RGB is now focused on the I/O shroud, which is probably for the better. The PCH is rarely visible when a GPU is installed, and since the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero is targeting the enthusiast market, you will rarely build a system with the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero without a GPU anyway. So yes, I like this design. When the lighting is disabled is off, it has this sleek mirrored finish that blends into the overall dark aesthetic featured across the rest of the board.

I would definitely keep it running though, as it looks downright amazing. The Polymo lighting panel essentially gives you two different visuals in one panel. Seeing it in static images doesn’t really do the Polymo lighting justice. It looks a lot better in real life as it transitions between each animation. This gives you a more dynamic look, although one tiny flaw is that it seems that you can’t choose one over the either. At least not yet in Armoury Crate. Hopefully this option will be added soon.
The smoothness could also be improved, as it doesn’t flow nearly as smoothly as most ARGB lighting. I believe that the complexity of the Polymo lighting might be a reason why we can’t get it as smooth, but I am willing to sacrifice a few CPU clock cycles to enjoy smoother transitions.
Specifications
ROG Maximus Z690 Hero

CPU support
LGA1700
12th Gen Intel Core, Pentium Gold, Celeron Processors

Power
1 x 24-pin ATX
2 x 8-pin EATX 12V, ProCool II
Renesas RAA229131 PWM controller (20-phase)
20 x Intersil ISL99390 (90A) powerstage for VCore
1 x Intersil ISL99390 (90A) powerstage for SoC

Chipset
Intel Z690

Memory
4 x DDR5 DIMM, max. 128GB un-buffered memory
Up to DDR5-6400+ (OC)

Multi-GPU Support
2 x PCIe 5.0 x16 slots (no official support for NVIDIA SLI/ AMD CrossFire)

Expansion slots
PCIe 5.0 x16 (x16 electrically – from CPU)
PCIe 5.0 x16 (x8 – from CPU)
PCIe 4.0 x16 (x4, x4/x4 – from chipset)

Storage
6 x SATA 6 Gb/s, supports RAID 0,1,10
Onboard
1 x M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4 – from 12th Gen CPU
1 x M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4 / SATA – from chipset
1 x M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 – from chipset
ROG Hyper M.2 Card
1 x M.2 PCIe 5.0 x4 – when connected to CPU PCIe lanes
2 x M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4 – when connected to chipset PCIe lanes

Network
Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210
1 x Intel I225V 2.5GbE LAN

USB
Rear I/O:
2 x Thunderbolt 4 Type-C
1 x USB 3.2 Gen2, USB-C
6 x USB 3.2 Gen2, USB-A
2 x USB 2.0
On-board headers:
1 x USB 3.2 2×2 Type-C (20Gbps)
2 x USB 3.0 (5Gbps) (2 ports each)
2 x USB 2.0 (2 ports each)

Audio
ROG SupremeFX
Realtek ALC4082 CODEC
ESS SABRE9018Q2C DAC amp
5 x gold-plated audio jacks (rear)
1 x Optical S/PDIF out
1 x front panel audio connector

Display output
1 x HDMI (4K60)
2 x Thunderbolt 4

Other onboard connectors
1 x CPU fan header
1 x CPU_OPT fan header
1 x AIO Pump fan header
4 x Chassis fan headers
1 x Water Pump+ fan header
1 x Waterflow sensor
1 x Water In header
1 x Water Out header
1 x RGB headers
3 x ARGB Gen 2 headers
1 x TPM module connector
1 x Temperature sensor header

Overclocking features
Q-LED debug LEDs
Q-CODE POST code LED readout
BIOS Flashback button
On-board power button
FlexKey button
ReTry button
Clear CMOS button

Included accessories
User’s manual
Support USB drive
ASUS WiFi moving antenna
ROG Hyper M.2 Card
2 x M.2 screw package for ROG Hyper M.2 Card
1 x ARGB extension cable
1 x RGB extension cable
4 x SATA 6Gbps cables
1 x M.2 Q-Latch set
2 x M.2 Q-Latch for M.2 backplate
1 x M.2 rubber
Q-connector
ROG Graphics card holder
ROG stickers
ROG thank you card
ROG key chain

Form factor
ATX (30.5 x 24.4 cm)

Test System

CPU
Intel Core i9-12900K

Cooler
ROG Ryujin II 360

Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero (BIOS ver.0702)

GPU
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition

Memory
2 x 16GB Kingston FURY Beast DDR5-5200 CL40

Storage
Kingston NV1 1TB
Kingston UV500 1TB
Seagate FireCuda SSHD 1TB
Kingston KC2500 1TB

Power Supply
Cooler Master V850 Platinum

Case
Vector Bench Case

OS
Windows 11 Pro 21H2 (22000.282)

A Closer Look

As much of the board hidden away under the heatsinks and sexy I/O shroud, we will have to take it apart to get a closer look at what the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero offers. One thing worth mentioning is that just about everything on the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero is metal, except for the cover over the Polymo lighting panel. Even the branding on the PCH heatsink is actually made of a thin sheet of metal with a glossy coating over it.
VRMs

Instead of the curvy lines that we saw with the ROG Maximus XIII Hero, we have some flat, no-nonsense design here. Probably it is meant this way, so that it doesn’t draw your attention away from the Polymo lighting panel. In any case, the heatsink actually extends under the Polymo panel, which means that there’s literally more to the heatsink than meets the eye.

Under the heatsink we find a total of 21 Intersil ISL99390 powerstages. These are pretty familiar, with them being used in quite a number of competitor boards before making their way into ASUS’ lineup. This is set up in a 20+1 powerstage configuration. Instead of having 20 direct phases to the CPU, you get what’s essentially an extremely beefy 10-phase VRM for the Vcore, with two of these 90A ISL99390 powerstages per phase. In total, you would be looking at 1800A of power, which is just plenty of power, even if you plan on breaking some records with your CPU under some exotic extreme cooling solutions.

While earlier ASUS ROG boards relied on the Teamed Power Architecture used PWM controllers that could handle fewer phases, the fact that ASUS still decided to continue using this configuration here is definitely a bit more peculiar when the RAA229131 PWM controller. This controller is capable of handling 20 direct phases, so this is probably a waste of this powerful controller. This is a rather new controller, but it is apparently used in many of the other Intel Z690 motherboards as well, so ASUS might have had to use this controller over their other existing controllers.
Audio

Not much has changed in the way of audio for the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero. It shares the same Realtek ALC4082 codec mated to an ESS SABRE9018Q2C DAC amp to improve the sound output. ASUS also used Nichicon caps which are quite highly regarded in the audiophile world. All of the audio circuitry is separated from the rest of the board, preventing interference from turning up as noise in the output.
Storage

The storage situation on the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero is definitely a bit more interesting than previous generations of Intel motherboards, thanks largely in part to the ROG Hyper M.2 Card that comes included. This card allows you to use a PCIe 5.0 x4 SSD if you are willing to run your graphics card at PCIe x8, which is definitely something to look forward to if you find PCIe 4.0 SSDs to somehow bottleneck your PC experience.

One thing worth keeping in mind is that the ROG Hyper M.2 Card can only let you use one PCIe 5.0 x4 SSD, as the second slot will end up disabled if you plug it into a PCIe slot that’s connected to the CPU. If you connect it to the lowest PCIe slot that’s powered by the chipset, you can use two PCIe 4.0 SSDs, giving you support for a grand total of four M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4 SSDs and one M.2 PCIe 3.0 SSD. The fastest configuration possible will be one PCIe 5.0 x4 SSDs, two PCIe 4.0 x4 SSDs and one PCIe 3.0 SSD. I kinda doubt anyone will need that many fast SSDs, but if you want, you can.

For more traditional storage options, you have the six SATA ports. Flanking the six SATA ports are two 90°-angled ports that seem to have been carried over from the ROG Maximus XIII Hero. Earlier ROG Maximus Hero boards usually came with a single USB 3.0 header, so I am glad to see that this gets carried over to the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero.
Connectivity

Along the same vein, we have a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 header, which gives you 20Gbps speeds on your front panel. I am not sure why this isn’t angled, as it would have been really good for cable management, since the cable for the USB-C headers are actually quite thick and difficult to bend. Beside it is a 6-pin PCIe power connector. Instead of just providing extra power for the PCIe slots, this enables 60W USB-PD and Quick Charge 4+ support for the USB-C port on your case. It is optional to plug it in, and if you decide to not use it, you can still get 27W out of this USB-C header. I am not exactly sure if all cases with a USB-C port on their front panels are designed for 60W power delivery, but if yours is, this will let you charge everything from smartphones to even laptops. Pretty cool.

Now moving on to the rear I/O, we get the Intel JHL8540 Thunderbolt 4 controller. There are also multiple USB 3.2 Gen2 redrivers here, along with a ASM1543 mux to handle the USB-C port. There’s also a USB-PD controller here, which should be handling additional power delivery to the USB-C ports on the rear panel.
Interestingly enough, the packaging of the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero indicated that this board can come with either the Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210 or AX211 adapter. We got the Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210 with our sample. In any case, the only difference is that if you got the Wi-Fi 6E AX211 adapter, you can’t transplant it to a non-Intel motherboard due to it being a CNVio2 module, unlike with the Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210, which is a universal M.2 PCIe WiFi adapter.

In case you are wondering where the Intel I225-V 2.5GbE NIC is located, it is actually on the back of the board. I guess the front side was just too jam-packed to fit this in there?
Performance

The highest temperatures we saw from the VRMs were just 57°C, while handling the Intel Core i9-12900K pulling an average of nearly 226W over 30 minutes, with a peak of up to 261W. I do believe that this is a pretty good result, and there’s definitely plenty of room to drive even more power to the CPU, provided you can cool it. With our test system already using the ROG Ryujin II 360, the next step up is probably exotic cooling, or maybe if Intel decides to revisit TEC cooling again for the 12th Gen Intel Core generation.
My sample here also seems to have a strip of thermal pads missing where it should be contacting the inductors on the row above the socket. I am not sure if this was intentionally left out or I was just unlucky, but I will be adding some there when I can get my hands on some thermal pads.

Meanwhile the PCH is also running pretty cool. Unlike the ROG Maximus XIII Hero, the PCH runs under 66°C at all times. I guess ASUS learned their lesson after the ROG Maximus XIII Hero, which saw its Intel Z590 chipset hit 80°C while doing practically nothing. The sizeable heatsink probably really helps. I kinda wish that ASUS made deeper grooves into the heatsink for more surface area, but it might also be counterintuitive to add more surface area, as it might expose the heatsink to more waste heat from the graphics card.

Speaking of which, ASUS may have already thought of that. The PCH heatsink is actually made up of a thin metal sheet stuck on the actual heatsink itself. This might have provided additional isolation from the heat coming from a graphics card exhausting hot air above it. Pretty interesting design decision, when it might have been more cost effective to just mill the entire thing out of a single metal block.
User Experience
Build

The ROG Maximus Z690 Hero is a standard ATX motherboard, so as long as your case fits ATX motherboards, you won’t have any issues. But ASUS definitely made some huge improvements to the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero to make it much easier for enthusiasts to upgrade and swap out hardware, essentially making it the perfect platform for enthusiasts and also reviewers, like yours truly.

Let’s start off this section with one of the biggest quality-of-life improvements ever: PCIe slot Q-Release. If you have ever tried to remove a graphics card from your build, chances are you were forced to squeeze a ruler or other thin objects to unlatch your graphics card. This is especially a problem with graphics cards that have thicker backplates. But that won’t be an issue with the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero, as you get this fancy little button to actuate the PCIe clip for the main PCIe slot. This means that you won’t have to damage the PCIe latch to swap out your graphics again!

Swapping out SSDs is also easier now with the M.2 Q-Latch. Instead of the tiny screws that will miraculously disappear when you drop them, you can secure your M.2 drives with the Q-Latch that turns around and latches onto the end of your SSD. When you want to remove your drive, you just twist it the other way. Once again, a really ingenious improvement by ASUS.

Another rather interesting decision by ASUS is also to support LGA1200 mounting holes across their Intel Z690 lineup. This essentially means that you can use your coolers dating back as far as the LGA1156 days, since Intel has used the same mounting holes from the LGA1156 socket, all the way up to the LGA1200 socket. There’s the caveat that some of the older coolers might not work perfectly, but at least you have the option to try and see if it works before going out to buy a new cooler, like you would have to with the Intel Z690 motherboard from other vendors.
BIOS

These here are your basic overclocking settings, all laid out in the Extreme Tweaker menu. XMP, multiplier, frequency adjustments and voltages are all available here. One nice touch is the fact that if you are approaching dangerous voltages, the voltage will change color from white, to yellow, pink and finally red. As this is the first Intel 7 processor I have played with, I kept it pretty safe. Not like I could push much higher voltages anyway with the cooling I have.

There are also more in-depth toggles, including more memory overclocking settings, the full suite of controls for the DIGI+ VRM to tweak the power delivery to your processor and RAM. There’s also AI overclocking, with a pretty nice amount of adjustability to help you squeeze more performance out of your processor without too much effort.

Along with the other settings that you can use to enable or disable the vast array of onboard devices, there’s a toggle to enable PCIe Gen 5 Redriver Driving to optimize performance for PCIe 5.0 SSDs. I am not exactly sure what’s the difference between enabling and disabling it though, as I don’t have a PCIe 5.0 drive to test anyway. Another interesting thing I noted was tahat the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero can communicate with the fan controller hub thingy that’s included with the ROG Ryujin II 360 to provide a fan speed readout. However it doesn’t give you the option to control the fans and pump speeds. I wish that it was able to do that, just so I can skip installing Armoury Crate on my bench systems.

I quite like these two last bits, as they are just tiny QoL improvements. Instead of having to dive deep into the settings to enable Resizable BAR, ASUS added a toggle along the top of the UI. There’s also MemTest86 baked in here, so you don’t need to create your own bootable USB drive to test your memory stability. Quite a nice touch for an enthusiast-oriented board. And the FlexKey adjustments let you decide what you want to do with it, instead of just limiting you to its default function as a reset button. Pretty nice.
Overclocking

While previously ASUS placed a ReTry button on the bottom edge of the motherboard, this time it is right up there along the other onboard buttons available on this motherboard. Essentially this tiny change makes this upper right corner is the de facto “overclocking corner”, with the power, FlexKey, ReTry buttons and also the Q-CODE POST code readout and Q-LED debug LEDs all located here. Pretty neat. As mentioned earlier, the FlexKey can be reconfigured as needed, with the best option being to assign it as a Safe Boot key to come back from failed overclocks.
As it stands, we managed to take our Intel Core i9-12900K to 5.2GHz without breaking a sweat, and the memory’s DDR5-5200 XMP profile was enabled without a hitch. The experience of overclocking on the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero is just like the boards before it, thanks to the very familiar BIOS interface and multiple ways of recovering from a bad overclock.

For those of you who remember, you might have noticed that several previous ASUS ROG motherboards came with a dedicated Safe Boot button, but I guess this is a reasonable way to cut back on some of the clutter on boards like the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero which aren’t exactly intended for extreme overclocking, unlike the ROG Maximus Apex series. The ROG Maximus Z690 Apex does come with a dedicated Safe Boot button, along with plenty of other options and settings for pro overclockers to break world records.
Software

Armoury Crate has matured quite significantly since the last time I reviewed a motherboard, and now offers additional options for monitoring and even AI overclocking. Speaking of additional options, the Polymo lighting comes with three exclusive modes, Matrix, Pouring Rain and Spark. Alternatively, there’s the standard Aura Sync modes. And last but not least, Armoury Crate lets you update your drivers and even check for the latest BIOS to ensure that your system is up to date.

Other ROG software that’s include is GameFirst VI that can work with ASUS routers to prioritize packets to your ROG system, as well as the ROG-themed CPU-Z. The latter is probably just a flex, as there are much better monitoring software out there, but hey, it’s ROG-themed. You also get a copy of AIDA64 Extreme, which will provide you with more in-depth monitoring as well as benchmarks.
Conclusion

While the ROG Maximus XIII Hero was already pricey enough to make my eyes water, the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero is enough to make my eyes bleed. At RM3105, the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero breaks the RM3000 barrier, making it much harder for me to recommend for most gamers. Don’t get me wrong, I really love the new design language, the PolyMo lighting is fantastic and the convenience of the Q-Release and Q-Latch are definitely way ahead of the competition.

Thunderbolt 4 ports and 60W USB-PD from the front panel header are also stuff you will be hard-pressed to find on the more affordable boards from the competition, with the latter being exclusive to the ROG Maximus Z690 boards, as far as I am aware. Many enthusiasts also swear by the ASUS UEFI BIOS interface, and I do agree with them. It is more streamlined that what I have seen from the other major motherboard makers. Then you get on to the fact that the competition’s boards also look way, way blander. In a way, you do get what you pay for. But man, RM3000 for a motherboard…

Our thanks to ASUS for sending us the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero for review.
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Related


ROG Phone 2 Review – The Monster Evolved!

Exactly 1 year ago, we reviewed the ROG Phone that immediately took the throne as the BEST gaming smartphone of the year. With all the goodness that was cramped into it, it made us wonder what could ASUS really improve to make the ROG Phone 2 any significant? Sure, we predicted some of it like the announcement of the Snapdragon 855+ but for ROG Phone 2 to really make a statement this year, it would need more than just a more powerful SoC. Where necessary, I will be comparing the ROG Phone 2 with it’s predecessor as I have been using it as my daily gaming phone.
ROG Phone (Left) and ROG Phone 2 (Right)
For clarification purposes, there are three official nomenclatures of the ROG Phone 2 in Malaysia (excluding the Tencent Edition):
ROG Phone 2 Super Pack (ROG Phone 2 512GB+ luggage and accessories)ROG Phone 2 Elite (512GB)ROG Phone 2 Ultimate (1TB)
Only the storage capacity differs in the Malaysian sets. The rest of the specifications are the same.

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Unboxing the ROG Phone 2

We got the ROG Phone 2 Super Pack with all the accessories in it. To showcase everything, we have created a simple “deluggaging” (instead of unboxing) video for you guys.

As you can see, the luggage looks pretty much the same as the last generation one, but the content has changed a bit. The ASUS WiGig Pro Dock and the ASUS Mobile Desktop Dock from the last generation are still here. The ROG TwinView Dock has been upgraded to ROG TwinView Dock II. The Gamevice controller has been replaced with the much versatile ROG Kunai Gamepad. The ASUS Pro Dock is no longer part of the family while there is a messenger bag included too that carries all the essential accessories neatly which in itself makes the Super Pack edition totally worthwhile.
For the ROG Phone 2 set itself, you get the smartphone, Hypercharge charger, a Type-C to Type-C cable, two rubber inserts for the side dock, two rubber tilters, Aero Case and Quickstart guide. Earphones are not bundled with the ROG Phone 2.
Appearance

Let’s take a tour around the ROG Phone 2. While it looks very similar to the ROG Phone 1, the differences are pretty noticeable. The size itself is much longer, standing at 171mm tall, donning a 6.59″ display, a whopping 12mm longer compared to the ROG Phone 1 having only a 6.0″ display. There are pros and cons here, if you ask me, but more on this later.

The speaker grills that were once brushed in Copper, are now black with only a slit of copper color finishing left. These are visible on the top and bottom of the device, meaning the stereo speakers are here to stay. What you are seeing on the front facade is a Corning Gorilla 6 Glass which is similar to what you would get on the ROG Phone 1, but make no mistakes, what is under this glass might just blow your minds if you are coming from the predecessor device.

This 6.59″ display has a 19.5:9 ratio with a 2340 x 1080 resolution 10-bit HDR AMOLED with 600 nits brightness. Wait, I’m just getting started. It has a 120Hz refresh rate and 1ms response rate with a whopping 240Hz touch sampling rate that puts the ROG Phone 2 as having the most gaming oriented display to date. Speed is not all that the display has. It has a ΔE < 1 color accuracy with 111.8% DCI-P3, 107.4% NTSC and 151.7% sRGB color saturation paired with a 500,000:1 contrast ratio (which I assume is the HDR contrast ratio). What all this means is that the ROG Phone 2 has an incredibly fast and beautiful display which is a very rare marriage for an AMOLED in this segment.

At the top of the device, to the right of the speaker is the front facing 24MP f/2.0 camera that has been placed to keep the phone optimized for gaming whether in portrait or landscape modes. It has been positioned to not get in the way of your fingers while you are gaming. Even the ambient light sensor and the proximity sensors are located near this to retain their functionality and not get in the way. This shows how much thought process has gone into the making of the ROG Phone. The ROG Phone 1 had the same position for the front facing camera, but the sensors were placed to the left of the speaker which did actually gave me my part of frustrations.

Perhaps the biggest change on the front panel of the ROG Phone 2 is the fact that the fingerprint sensor is now moved to the front, under the display. I have always been a fan of front fingerprint sensors and on the ROG Phone 2, you will really appreciate this especially when you are using the accessories like the Twinview Dock II or the Mobile Desktop Dock, or the Kunai Gamepad controllers for the matter. I did highlight this in my ROG Phone 1 accessories review and having the sensor in the front is definitely a big plus point!

The top section of the ROG Phone 2 is pretty simple. There are two antenna lines running across and the first microphone to the right.

The bottom section houses the main USB 3.0 Type-C connector located to the left while housing a 3.5mm audio jack on the right side of the phase. Two antenna strips are also running across this phase much like the top section and you will see two more microphones located on both ends of this phase.

The right section of the ROG Phone 2 has two Mayan design engraving that houses the AirTrigger 2 underneath them. Sandwiched between these two triggers are the power button and the volume rocker. Right next to the power button is where you will see the fourth microphone. Okay fine! I know you’ve been wondering why are there so many microphones on the ROG Phone 2. That’s because they work together as noise cancelling microphones to avoid interruptions in in-game chats. The one you see here is optimized for landscape mode.

The left pane of the ROG Phone 2 sees the side-mounted charging and connectivity port, much like the one existed on the ROG Phone 1. It’s a 48-pin custom connector comprising of a USB 3.0 Type-C connector and a custom port for its accessories. It also comes with rubber seal with extra two units in case you lose them. These rubber seals are swappable with the ROG Phone 1. I kinda feel like having a “sliding door” for this would be better as I lost two of my rubber seals so far on the ROG Phone 2 and I see it happening again this time. To the right of this port, now sits the dual-SIM tray. This place used to call the third AirTrigger button home which is now theoretically missing from the ROG Phone 2 as the button designs are missing, but practically, it’s still there as you can still use the squeeze gestures to activate the X-Mode much like its predecessor.

The back of the ROG Phone 2 is where things get very interesting, as usual. The whole device looks exquisite as it looks fragile to hold. The glass finishing definitely screams premium and the reflective strips give it the attitude that it needs. Right at the center of this phase, you will be presented with the ROG emblem that glows up in RGB effects, exactly like the last generation. I’m glad they kept it this way.

The top side is where the camera sits. While the design looks similar to the ROG Phone 1, it’s actually not. There are two LEDs next to the camera, the main one houses the dual flash while the second one has RGB LED underneath it to power up the ROG Lighting Armor Case. The camera configuration is adopted from the ASUS ZenFone 6.
The main camera uses Sony’s flagship IMX586 48MP image sensor with 0.8 µm pixel size. It has Quad Bayer technology that basically “stitches” 4 images from the 12MP 1.6 µm effective pixel size. The aperture is decent at f/1.79, uses 6p lenses and has an effective 79° FOV. The second camera is a 13MP 125° FOV ultrawide camera. You can see some sample of the images taken at the end of this article, but let’s be real, we are here for gaming, not photography. It has the best camera setup in comparison to any other gaming phones and that, to me is pretty good already. Oh, but I would love to have OIS here please.

Finally, a functional vent. Probably the best improvement on the outer design of the ROG Phone. Underneath it is a 3D vapor chamber mated to a dedicated heatsink and underfill. Combining this with the AeroActive Cooler II, I have set some personal expectations in terms of its cooling.

Speaking of AeroActive Cooler II, it has a 24dBA low noise level which is 4x quiter than the one that came with the ROG Phone 1. The contact point seems promising and it works with the bundled Aero Case too! It is also slightly wider than the last generation. While they both use the same connectors, you cannot use the old AeroActive Cooler with the ROG Phone 2 and vice versa.
Okay, we’re done with the appearance.
Specifications
Processor2.96GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus Mobile Platform with 7nm, 64-bit Octa-core ProcessorGPUQualcomm Adreno 640UIAndroid Pie with ROG UIDisplay6.59-inch 19.5:9 (2340 by 1080) 120Hz/1ms AMOLED 10-bit HDR display, 600 nits ΔE < 1, 111.8% DCI-P3, 107.4% NTSC, 151.7% sRGB color gamut display, 500,000:1 contrast ratio AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla 6 Glass Bluelight filter for eye careSupports Always OnCapacitive touch panel with 10 points multi-touch (supports glove touch)MemoryLPDDR4X 12GB RAMStorageUFS3.0 512GB / 1TBSensor In-display fingerprint, Face recognition, Accelerator, E-Compass, Gyroscope, Proximity sensor, Hall sensor, Ambient light sensor, Ultrasonic sensors for AirTrigger II and grip press, Dual vibrators.Main Rear CameraSony flagship IMX586 48MP image sensor – 1/2.0” large sensor size, 0.8 µm pixel size Quad Bayer technology – 12MP, 1.6 µm large effective pixel size,f/1.79 aperture 6p lens 79° field of view 2×1 On-chip-lens phase detection autofocus LED flash Second Rear Camera13MP, 125° ultrawide cameraFront Camera24MP f/2.0 aperture  77.9° field of viewVideo Recording4K UHD (3840 by 2160) video at 30 / 60 fps for main rear camera, at 30 fps for second rear camera 1080p FHD video recording at 30 / 60 fps 720p HD video recording at 30 fps 3-axis electronic image stabilization for rear cameras Time Lapse (4K UHD video) Slow Motion video (1080p at 240 / 120 fps; 720p at 480 fps) Take still photo while recording videoSpeakerDual front-facing speakers with DTS:X Ultra Stereo speaker with dual NXP TFA9874 smart amplifier for louder, deeper and less distorted sound effectAudio OutputHi-Res audio 192kHz/24-bit standard that is 4 times better than CD quality DTS:X Ultra 7.1 virtual surround sound for headphone support AudioWizard with listening profileMicrophoneQuad microphones with ASUS Noise Reduction TechnologyFM ReceiverFM radioWireless TechnologyIntegrated 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2×2 MIMO) WLAN 802.11ad 60GHz (for WiGig)Bluetooth V 5.0 (BR/EDR+LE), supports Qualcomm aptX Adaptive Wi-Fi direct NFCNavigationGPS (L1+L5)/Glonass/Beidou/Galileo(E1+E5a)/QZSS (L1+L5)SIM CardsDual 4GSIM dual standby Slot 1: 2G/3G/4G Nano SIM Card Slot 2: 2G/3G/4G Nano SIM CardData rateLTE Cat18 UL up to 211Mbps / Cat20 DL up to 2Gbps DC-HSPA+: UL 5.76Mbps / DL 42Mbps LTE 6CA UL up to 211Mbps / DL up to 2Gbps 4×4 MIMO and CA w/ 4×4 MIMO supportB versionFDD-LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 26, 28, 29, 32, 66) TD-LTE (Bands 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 46) WCDMA (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 19) EDGE/GPRS/GSM (850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz)InterfaceSide: 48 pin Customized connector Fast Charging (QC4.0/PD3.0)/Direct Charge Bottom: Type-C connector 3.5mm Audio jackNFCSupportBattery6,000mAhPower Adapter Output: +5-10V 3A, supports up to 30W QC4.0 / PD3.0 / Direct Charge adapterDimensions170.99 x 77.6 x 9.48 mmWeight240g
Performance
I intensively tested the ROG Phone 2 and the problem with its performance is that the difference in using it with the X-Mode and without X-Mode is extremely vast. In most test, almost double the score differences. But due to the clock speed and design, with X-Mode running at peak performance, significant amount of heat is generated around the back area of the device, which is why the AeroActive II cooler is included. So to keep things fair, I ran two sets of benchmarks, one without the X-Mode and one with the X-Mode. Both tests were ran at 60Hz display refresh rate to keep things lined up for comparison. For X-Mode tests, the AeroActive II cooler is not attached so if the heat kills the performance, it becomes its own drawback. I suppose that’s fair grounds.

As usual, our first test is done on the Antutu v7 that pretty much tests everything in combination; CPU, RAM, GPU and UX. The ROG Phone 2 runs decently, giving way to pretty much every Snapdragon 855 device that we have in our arsenal, but don’t be fooled by it’s tameness. Once you turn on the X-Mode, the ROG Phone 2 immediately catapults to the top of the charts without hesitation, leaving enough gap even to the highest performing smartphone to date. Get used to this.

This was a little disappointment, alas not so much. Running X-Mode yielded impressive results, but the plus in the SD855+ didn’t do much justice here as the non-plus SD855 under the Xiaomi Mi 9 was unbeatable. I have to highlight again that I wasn’t using the AeroActive II cooler even with the X-Mode turned on, and the ROG Phone 2 did generate plenty of heat as the CPU was stressed. It’s not losing here, don’t worry. Of course, the Exynos still reigns supreme in terms of single core performance but this has been a known fact already.

Next, we bring our 3D Mark testing for ES tests. Once again, the SD855+ feels timid under it’s base settings, and once the X-Mode is turned on, it breaks the charts through the roofs. I have to say, I am very happy with this implementation. I can have the utmost optimizations when needed and keep the device cool and efficient when I want to, and turn it into an absolute monster the next second when I require it to be one.

So it’s a gaming phone, optimized and all, but you wouldn’t think it makes a suitable productivity companion, you say? Well, this baby right here is an all rounder! You have absolute SD855 goodness coupled to UFS3.0 storage with plenty of RAMs and when you just feel like you want to show off your bragging rights, the X-Mode is right there for you. The ROG is undoubtedly the king of smartphones in 2019 when it comes to performance!
But of course, there is always a give and take in everything, right? I mean, with that much power packed under the hood, one would say, good luck with the battery life.

Except, you’re wrong! The ROG Phone 2 is completed with a whopping 6,000mAH battery that gives you more juice than you can actually imagine. That’s 15 hours and 15 minutes of Screen-On time, and you will still be left with 20% of battery at the end of it. If you ask me personally, as I was reviewing this device, I was having a very hard time depleting the battery every day. You may choose not to take my word for this, but the figures don’t lie.
User Experience
Let’s get real with the ROG Phone 2. The first impressions that I can lay out here? As an existing ROG Phone user, which in itself is a marvel piece of hardware, the ROG Phone 2 has shocked and surprised me more than I expected it would. There are a couple quirks that need to be ironed out, but hey, the device barely officially launched, and knowing ROG Phone 1’s track record, I am pretty sure these minor quirks will be fixed.

The ROG Phone 2 is longer than the ROG Phone 1 which makes the display longer (or wider if you view it in landspace mode). This makes some of the games render a bit weirdly, and I’m referring to even games like Contra:Returns and Mobile Legends. The UI gets “shifted” leaving space near the edges of the display making it a little awkward. So I’m not really sure if having a longer display is entirely a good idea given that the previous generation had no problems like this. There are plenty of titles that render perfectly though. I see this as something that the developers need to fix instead as the game should fluidly settle itself on any aspect ratio. But if we’re gonna talk about the display, the awkward ratio is the least of the things you would be looking at.
The on-screen controls are awkwardly shifted because of the aspect ratio
Display
It’s very hard to capture the display prowess using another camera, really!
The ROG Phone has probably one of the most beautiful and powerful display ASUS has ever produced in their smartphones. The AMOLED 10-bit HDR has extremely beautiful colors that the game’s vector graphics feel just out of the world. When I switch back to my older ROG Phone, it just feels inferior now. The 120Hz? It feels fantastic! I tested this out on Durango: Wildlands and the difference between 60Hz, 90Hz and 120Hz is really significant! To see smartphone gaming achieving desktop class frame rates is a world of its own. Frames are not the only thing that’s fast on the ROG Phone 2 display. The touch sensitivity itself has been bumped to about 50ms which give you an edge in fast paced games. It just feels more responsive and reacts to your touches in a very elegant way!
AirTrigger II

Oh, speaking of touches, the ROG Phone 2 comes with AirTrigger 2. If it hold a “2” in its name, it should be different, right? And different it is. If you are used to using AirTriggers on the ROG Phone, the first time you try the AirTrigger 2, you might be blown away. It feels insanely responsive! Apparently, the old AirTriggers had fast actuation time, but still not fast enough. Even the haptic feedback on the AirTrigger 2 feels very natural, almost instantaneous. ASUS even took it one step further and implemented sliding touch. To be honest, I can’t see myself utilizing the sliding touch personally so I won’t comment much on that. But the feature is there. And you can adjust it’s sensitivity on how much it should react to your sliding gestures. There’s also an option for “Finger Resting” that lets you rest your fingers on the buttons, and can be activated/deactivated by successively pressing down the triggers continuously. I really love this feature as it was missing in the ROG Phone 1.
AeroActive Cooler II

The ROG Phone 2 comes with a much larger yet silent AeroActive 2 cooler and I have the best news for you ROG Phone owners out there who are thinking of upgrading. The AeroActive 2 cooler now works with the Aero Case! No more dismantling the case just to use the AeroActive 2 cooler! I know! I’m overjoyed with this too! It shaves off up to 5°C much like the previous generation, but it’s a lot silent even on its max speed.
DTS:X Ultra Audio

In the audio section, the speakers have undergone some upgrades and given dts:X Ultra (as opposed to dts:X on the previous generation). The audio is crazy loud! If you thought your ROG Phone was already loud, the ROG Phone 2 is even louder! You won’t even need to use the Outdoor mode and yes, it is still existent which bumps it even higher! I aint complaining, I have a knack for loud audio on smartphones and this one has dts:X Ultra to make it crisp. The large magnets prevent the audio from crackling even at its highest pitch. There are four microphones on the ROG Phone 2 that also enhances your in-game communication. It has smart noise cancelling to filter out environment noise to get into the game and they are active depending on the orientation of the device you’re holding it in. Smart!
I love the fact that the volume UI is now on the side instead of being at the top. Much like what you can see in many devices like the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3. The Audio Wizard allows you to tune the equalizer to your liking and you can make the ROG Phone 2 adapt to the type of earphones that you are using with it. There are plenty of earphones and headphones from famous brands listed here but at the time of writing, the ROG Cetra was not on the list yet.
Side Mounted Port

Oh, speaking of the ROG Cetra. The ROG Phone 2, like its predecessor has two USB Type-C ports. One at the bottom and one on the side. If you plug in chargers on both port, the side port will be the dominant (with limited functionalities) while the bottom one will be disabled. However, if you plug in a charger on one port and a Type-C peripheral like the ROG Cetra earphones on the other, both of them will work concurrently regardless of which port you plug them to.
Connectivity
The ROG Phone 2 also has improved on the antenna design for Wi-Fi connectivity. It has four antennas to achieve this. You might see the specification listing 802.11ad as the network protocol, but don’t be fooled by it. The 802.11ad is purely reserved for WiGig Dock transmission. The Wi-Fi itself still uses 802.11ac which is a bummer as I was expecting ASUS to at least implement 802.11ax protocol so I could pair it with their ROG Rapture AX11000 router. Apart from that, while having 4 antennas, it still uses 2×2 MIMO. Not that it’s a bad thing, but maybe some innovation here would have made it more interesting like having 3×3 instead? Considering the fact that ASUS makes one of the best commercial routers around.
Game Genie
The UI has been improved a lot too. The Game Genie now loads from the left side instead which to be honest, was never a major problem for me it being on the right side anyway.

The Game Centre is now rebranded to ROG Armoury Crate and more centralized. Probably the best thing available now is the list of games that support their respective features as shown in the screenshot. It tells you which game will be compatible with 120Hz, TwinView, AirTriggers, Vibrations and Kunai.
AuraRGB

The RGB has the same set of effects (Static, Breathing, Strobing and Color Cycle) like on the ROG Phone 1. However, now there are more options to tweak them:
ModeROG Phone 2ROG Phone 1 Music – the RGB will flash in rhythm with media sound YESNOX-Mode – effects when you turn on X-ModeYESYESScreen On – effects when your display is onYESYESScreen Off – effects when your display if offYESYESBoot Up – plays flashing red light on boot upYESNOExternal Accessory / Power – plays flashing green light when you plug in the adapter or accessory to the Type-C portsYESNOIncoming Call – plays flashing teal light when there is an incoming callYESYESIn call – effects when you are in a call (all four modes customizable)YESNOGames – flashing red and yellow light when a game from the toolbar’s list is launchedYESNONotiification – plays flashing yellow light whern there is a notification within 30 minutes and the screen is off (apps can be selected or applly to all)YESYESCharging Mode – Flashes in red (6% – 20%), orange (21% – 80%) or green (81% – 100%) according to battery level. (Only red mode and battery above 5% in ROG Phone 1)YESYES
Accessories & Extras
The finger print sensor feels much better under the display now. Good thing it’s following the trends but more importantly, it makes a lot more sense for the ROG Phone 2 especially when you are using it with accessories like TwinView dock where the fingerprint sensor becomes inaccessible at the back of the device. Talking about the accessories, I have separate reviews for the Kunai and the TwinView Dock II. These two are a must have for any ROG Phone 2 owners as it brings the best out of the device. Hence, I’m not talking much about them here. The rest of the accessories like the WiGig Desktop Dock and Mobile Desktop Dock still remain the same. The Gamevice no longer supports the ROG Phone 2 because of the length of the device and is now replaced with the Kunai. The Kunai does work with the ROG Phone 1 though but the TwinView Dock II does not support ROG Phone 1 (at least at the time of writing). The Desktop Dock Pro is now omitted from the ultimate pack. So there are some mishmash of accessories that work and no longer compatible, so all is good.

ROG also has some hidden content, this one is from Asphalt 9 where you get two ROG decals and Porsche 911 Blueprints to unlock the car. The value itself is about $60 USD in game. There are other bonuses too for the Shadowgun Legends (ROG Avatar, ROG Armor, ROG XP Boost, ROG Guns and Events) and Rockman X DiVE (ROG Exclusive Gun and ROG Exclusive Wallpaper).
Camera
As for the camera, this is the same setup that you can find on the ASUS ZenFone 6. The main camera uses Sony IMX586 sensor with Quad-bayer technology to stitch up four 12MP images to make up a 48MP image. The other camera is 13MP with ultrawide angle. I have taken some sample shots for you. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s a gaming phone and my focus will not be hard on photography, but I can easily tell, the ROG Phone 2 takes the best pictures compared to any other gaming phones available in the market anyway. The following images have been down-sampled to conserve your bandwidth. You can view the full resolution images here.

There are three ROG Phone 2 packages available in Malaysia:
ROG Phone 2 Elite (512GB Storage/12GB RAM) – RM3,499ROG Phone 2 Ultimate (1TB Storage/12GB RAM) – RM4,499ROG Phone 2 Super Pack (Elite + All Accessories + Luggage) RM6,999
It’s amazing that ASUS managed to price the ROG Phone 2 Elite the same as the last year 128GB variant. I don’t feel like spending an extra RM1,000 just for another 512GB storage is worth it. Instead, the Super Pack would be more of a reasonable deal.
Conclusion
For years I have tried to convey one message to ASUS and I hope it gets heard this time. You really don’t need to churn out a gazillion ZenFones models trying to reach out to every demographic possible out there. The ZenFone series always had a hit or miss mark on it and the misses always weighed out more loss than the wins it garnered. Instead, focus on one smartphone a year, make it perfect, make it worth it, make it something people crave for the next one every time. Above all, make it something that makes us, the tech reviewers left wondering, “How in the holy earth did they even thought about this?” At least that’s what the ROG Phone series have delivered so far.
The ROG Phone 2 is probably the perfect gaming smartphone anyone can buy right now. But it still has its own journey to endure and it’s beyond its own self. Working with developers and convincing them to add features based on one line-up is a real challenge. Even after two years, only two games have been integrated with the TwinView dock. Oh wait, it’s still one, the other is work in progress. But those that have listened, I assure you, this is an uncharted territory and being early would have its perks. At least I started playing Shadowgun again for now.

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Woman Dies After Tragic Smartphone Incident

Over in Russia, there was a tragic incident where it involve the death of a 26-year old woman. The cause for the mishap? Well it all started with her very own smartphone.
The victim who’s an accountant, Evgenia Shulyatyeva, met with her unfortunate end due to electrocution in her own bathroom. It seems that she was charging her smartphone while being in the bathtub.
According to reports, it is said that she had slipped her phone (while it was charging) while she was in it and it led to her instant death. Her mother tried to contact her but was left worried when she didn’t receive any replies. She then rushed to her daughter’s house to find out what was wrong and found her dead in the tub.

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Evegenia was described as being ‘bright’ by one of her friends. Her death is currently being investigated by the Russian Investigative Committee, reports claimed.
Pokdepinion: It was always a recipe for disaster, charging your phone inside your bathroom. I know this is quite simple to understand but please make sure that there’s no liquid nearby when you charge your devices guys.
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OPPO F1s — how do you selfie?

Selfies are a form of self-expression as much as it is a way of showing off your OOTD. If you do not know what is an OOTD, you definitely do not belong here. Move along now. Go. So yeah, we had the OPPO F1s with us, which had a great 16MP front camera. We had the pleasure of attending the NVIDIA Pascal Celebration Event and without hesitation we whipped out the OPPO F1s to selfie (Wefie? Groupfie?) with our media friends, and also to test out one of its highlighted selfie-centric features — the screen flash.

As expected, the 16 MP front camera is great for groupfies, with plenty of pixels to record details of every face in the shot. This is a pretty well-lit condition, so let’s get in to the building for a more challenging environment.

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Even indoors, the OPPO F1s still controlled noise very well. Yes, we were all high at the NVIDIA event. And no, we didn’t do any drugs.

Here’s a much more normal shot, with a wide variety of skin tones to show that the OPPO F1s isn’t overexposing shots to make your skin fairer unnaturally. It can do it, but for the purpose of the tests we do not want that.

I have this sad face on because I didn’t win the GTX 1060 giveaway. Kok Kee from Nasi Lemak Tech won instead, but oh well. The auto white balance with the flash on turns the image a little colder, and I prefer the shot without the screen flash anyway.

Even outdoors in the dark, I still looked okay. My face was not a speckled mess of noise, which is pretty great already. Turning on the flash resulted in the once again cold colors, but due to me making a very weird face when the flash was used, I will not be uploading it.

Even when we got back to our office with the dim lights on, the OPPO F1s still manages to extract good detail without the flash. Zooming in reveals a lot of noise, but it is more than Instagram/Facebook worthy. Apparently the flash blinded my colleague, as it made him squint a little. Probably not a good idea for Asians to turn on the flash? The cold white balance is also apparent here, which is not a really good thing to see.
So do you think the screen flash of the OPPO F1s helps? Or do you think that the OPPO F1s has good enough performance in the dark even without it? Let us know!
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Logitech K480 & M337 review

Typing articles with a tablet is not really for me. Coming from a full-sized mechanical keyboard, it was difficult to get used to typing on the screen and I almost gave up. I then decided to plug in my Ducky Zero mechanical keyboard with an OTG USB cable, it fixed my problem but came with another set of issues. I’m unable to dock the tablet properly and the keyboard’s chunky size made it practically impossible to use on the go.
I browsed Lazada in frustration and I found the Logitech K480, a Bluetooth wireless keyboard which might just be the solution to my problems. So I ordered the keyboard along with a Logitech M337 mouse which is also a Bluetooth wireless peripheral. This is my review of the Logitech K480 and Logitech M337 Bluetooth wireless combo.

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 Unboxing
The Logitech K480 comes in a box with the product image in front and product information on the back. The Logitech M337 sit nicely in a blister pack, allowing you to get a feel of it before you get it, if you are looking at it in a brick and mortar store, that is. Inside of the box, we have the K480 itself with two pieces of documentation. Logitech also provided a pre-installed battery which Logitech claims to offer over 18 months of battery life. The same goes for the M337, it comes with a pre-installed battery and a piece of documentation hiding inside the package.

Here’s a look at the contents of the K480’s packaging.
Okay lets talk about the M337 first.

It’s a small mouse compared to my daily driver, the Corsair M65. While the rather compact dimensions of this mouse means that it’s not that suitable for big guys like yours truly, but members of the fairer sex may welcome the small-ish size of the M337. The M337 has a symmetrical shape, which would suit both right and left-handed users. The mouse consists of mainly plastic with a rubberized texture on the sides.

Flip it over, you see the battery door, small Teflon glides, optical sensor, a switch and a button. The battery door hides a single AA battery. Actually much of the weight of the M337 comes from the battery as it is really light thanks to its plastic construction. Sensor-wise, it has a common optical sensor. The small Bluetooth button is used to initiate Bluetooth pairing. Press it until the LED starts blinking and connect your device.
My first impression when taking out the K480 from the box is its weight and thickness. Weighing 820 grams and measuring 2 cm thick, this is definitely not for someone who travels a lot but it should be perfect for office use.

The keys feature rounded corners and rectangular shapes which are quite unusual for me. The keyboard layout is 100% compatible with most modern operating system, especially Windows and Mac OS, as you can see all the keys are marked with legends that reflect their function in either of the two popular OSes. If you aren’t planning to use it with either of those OSes, rest assured that the K480 is also fully compatible with Android, Chrome OS and iOS. On the top right we have the switch dial; this keyboard is ready to be paired with up to three devices at the same time. More on that later.

There isn’t much to see on the underside of the K480 aside from the power switch, battery enclosure and engraved Logitech logo. The K480 comes with preinstalled 2 AAA batteries that is claimed to be able to last up to 18 months. All five rubber feet gripped my desk’s surface very well and it won’t budge even an inch when I was typing on it.

The aforementioned dial is for selecting the paired device you want to use with the K480. Pairing the K480 with devices is simple, twist the dial button on the top right to an unused number, press either the pc or i button (depending on the device you are pairing with) until the LED blinks, and connect it with your device. It took me roughly 1 minute to pair with all my devices.

The integrated cradle have adequate depth the length is a different story. There’s still a room left for improvement. The all-plastic build is not that solid and I really think that it can break apart if handled roughly. It made a loud creaking sound when I tried to flex it, not a sound that convinces you of great durability.
Specification

Logitech M337
Logitech K480

System Requirement
Bluetooth wireless computers or mobile devices which support external keyboards (HID profile).
PC: Windows® 7, Windows 8, Windows 10
Mac: Mac OS X® or later
Chrome OS™
iPad® or iPhone®: iOS 5 or later
Android™ tablet or smartphone: Android 3.2 or later.

Dimension
Mouse (height x width x depth): 61.1 mm (2.4 in) x 100.5 mm (3.96 in) x 33.0 mm (1.3 in)
Mouse Weight: 82 g (2.89 oz)
Height: 7.68 in (195 mm)
Width: 11.77 in (299 mm)
Depth: 0.79 in (20 mm)
Weight: 820 g (1.81 pounds)

Waranty Information
1-Year Limited Hardware Warranty

Package Contents
Mouse
1 AA battery (pre-installed)
User documentation
Keyboard
2 AAA batteries (pre-installed)
User documentation

Technical Specifications
Connection Type: Bluetooth Classic (3.0)
Wireless range: 10 m (30 ft)*
*Wireless range may vary due to environmental and computing conditions
Battery: 1 x AA
Battery Life: 10 months
Indicator Lights (LED): Battery LED
DPI (Min/Max): 1000±
Sensor technology: Laser-grade optical sensor
Available in white and black.
Bluetooth range: up to 10 m (30 ft)*
Battery life: 2 years**
On/Off power switch
Battery life indicator light

User Experiences
Despite its small size the M337 is not that bad. On Windows 10 the performance is decent, mouse movement is swift and smooth. On Android OS it works but some ghosting effect is visible, the cursor movement is sluggish and I only got used to it after a couple of days. Results may vary for some peoples as I am used to using my Corsair M65 at 8000 dpi in Windows. The scroll wheel on the M337 is usable but it feels mushy and has no tactile response, not exactly the best scrolling experience I have had.

Switching between devices on the Logitech K480 is fast, in my tests it took only about two seconds. The keyboard has a little tactile feedback and a plasticky noise when typing. Typing with this keyboard feels decent and I only needed several hours of usage to get used to it. The uncommon keycap design doesn’t actually affect my experience typing on it much.
Talking about the performance, I notice no lag or delay when typing on Windows 10 but I realized the opposite on Android on certain occasions. I have had no issues when typing using an USB OTG adapter and I suspect the problem may be caused by either weak Bluetooth signal or some limitations of Android OS itself. One more thing is the length of the docking system should be a little longer so it can fit at least two devices.

Choosing the M337 as the companion for the K480 is not such a wise choice on my side. The switch dial will not work anymore with any device that have two or more Bluetooth peripherals connected, thus you need to reconnect it manually. I confirmed this issue by running several tests on all devices. Pair only this keyboard with each devices will result in a fast response when you switch devices.

Conclusion
Let’s begin the conclusion with the Logitech M337. Personally I wouldn’t recommended this mouse if you’re going to use it with Android OS but on Chrome OS it might be a different story. The mouse is ideal for those with small hands. It performs well on Windows 10 for daily tasks but I am not sure if it’s capable of gaming. The Logitech M337 is priced at around MYR 90 – 110 on Lazada and Lelong.my.
Typing on the Logitech K480 is not as enjoyable as on a mechanical keyboard, but that goes without saying. The K480 is fully capable of getting the job done though. If you need to make use of the device switch dial, do not pair another Bluetooth peripheral with the device at the same time. The Logitech K480 is not an ideal keyboard for people on the go simply because of these main factors: the thickness, weight and very plastic feel. It is however quite suitable for home or office usage. The K480 is priced at around MYR 135 – 150 on Lazada and Lelong.my.
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This New Micron Component Will Further Boost 5G Smartphone Battery Life

The folks over at Micron have started sampling the industry’s first universal flash storage (UFS) multichip package (uMCP) with low-power DDR5 (LPDDR5) DRAM. This particular uMCP will provide high-density and low-power storage for slim and compact midrange smartphone designs.
This new Micron uMCP, known as the Micron uMCP5 package, combines low-power DRAM with NAND and an onboard controller, using about 40% less space than a two-chip solution. This allows it to save power, reduce memory footprint, and enable smaller yet more agile smartphone designs.

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Specifically, the new Micron uMCP5 package utilizes advanced 1y nm DRAM process technology along with the world’s smallest 512GB 96L 3D NAND die. The 297-ball grid array package supports dual-channel LPDDR5 up to 6,400 Mbps, which is a 50% performance increase of its predecessor. It also provides the highest storage and memory density in uMCP form factor today, at 256GB and 12GB respectively.
Dr. Raj Talluri, Senior Vice President and General Manager at Micron, said:

Featuring the latest LPDRAM and UFS interface, this first-in-the-industry packaging solution offers a 50% increase in memory and storage bandwidth while reducing power. Our new uMCP5 package enables midrange 5G smartphones to operate with the ultra-low latency response times and low power modes necessary to support flagship smartphone features such as multiple high-resolution cameras, multiplayer gaming and AR / VR applications.

What’s the Point of the Micron uMCP5 Package?
Some of you may be wondering what’s the point of having this. Simply put, the new Micron uMCP5 package meets the standards demanded by 5G networks for higher memory performance and lower energy consumption. With 5G networks being deployed globally at scale this year, the package is ideal for 5G smartphone makers so their products can process data at peak speeds (up to 6.4 Gbps), which is critical for preventing data-processing bottlenecks.
The Micron uMCP5 is now available for immediately sampling for their partners, so we may just hear more smartphones utilizing this in 2020. We’ll be reporting more on this as soon as information becomes available.
Source
Pokdepinion: Interesting in “theory”, but I would like to see its applied performance with my own eyes.
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You Can Now Get 1TB WD 3D NAND SSD For RM1,039!

Remember previously we did a giveaway of the 1TB Sandisk Ultra 3D SSD? Did you win it? No? Well Viewnet is now offering WD’s SSDs at lower prices for you to purchase this time around.
WD Reduces SSD Prices
The WD 1TB 3D NAND SSD (M.2) now comes at a price of RM1,039 and RM999 (2.5″ cased) which is nearly RM200 cheaper than its original price. If you think that is way too big and want to opt for a smaller SSD, they are also offering the 500GB variant, for both 2.5″ and M.2, priced at RM519 and RM539 respectively.
In addition to that, with every selected WD Blue 3D NAND SSD that you purchase, you will also be getting a free WD SSD toy car. Like to make a purchase? You can do so and check that out at Viewnet’s Facebook page.

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If you want to know more on the performance of the 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD, then fret not. We’ve done a review on it and you can read on that cause you know you want to right here.
Pokdepinion: We’ve already mentioned in our review of the 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND SSD that it is worth your money, with an even lower price, need we say more? Go get it and upgrade your PC!

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Here are TWO super easy ways to win a HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro and HUAWEI discount vouchers!

Download My HUAWEI App @ HUAWEI AppGallery
Join the Light Up and Win Contest!
Check out HUAWEI’s X’mas Promo!
This the season for gifts, and HUAWEI is definitely in to indulge you, so you can indulge yourself or your loved ones. With huge discount vouchers of up to RM200 to help you splurge on the HUAWEI Online Store as well as a HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro and a HUAWEI FreeLace up for grabs, you definitely can’t miss this. What do you need to do to win a slice of this? Well, it’s really very simple.
Subscribe and Win — get RM10 HUAWEI Online Store vouchers

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To get the fun started, all you need to do is to create a HUAWEI ID or login to your existing one, and then subscribing to the HUAWEI Online Store newsletter. That’s all you need to do! From now until 25th December, that’s all you need to do to get yourself a RM10 HUAWEI Online Store voucher.
RM10 doesn’t sound like much, right? Well, it’s a pretty nice gesture, but if you want more, keep reading.
Light Up and Win — HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro, RM200 vouchers up for grabs!

For this, you will need to play a game. Here’s what you need to do to get yourself a community medal, a new year E-card, as well as stand a chance to win free earbuds and discount vouchers:

Register or login to your HUAWEI Community section in the My HUAWEI App with your HUAWEI ID
Click on the banner “Light up my Christmas Tree” in the My HUAWEI App, or enter via the HUAWEI Community website
Click “Light Up” to light up one light for yourself
You can then send a link to your friends to let them help you light up your tree!

From now until 25th December, each participant can light up one light on their own trees, and one for their friends to help spread the love!
What are the prizes?

For the top two winners with the most lit (literally) Christmas Trees, they will each receive a HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro. The 3rd, 4th and 5th lit trees will win a HUAWEI FreeLace each. From the 6th to 10th spots, each winner will get a RM200 voucher, while the 11th to 20th spots will get a RM150 voucher for purchases on the HUAWEI Online Store. Then contestants with the 21st to 30th highest number of lights on their Christmas Trees will receive a RM100 discount voucher for you to use on the HUAWEI Online Store.
Winners will be announced on 28th December 2021, so make sure to stay tuned! Each HUAWEI ID is only eligible for one prize throughout the contest.
On top of marveling at your own Christmas Tree that will gradually be lit up by your friends, do make sure to keep a lookout for the gift boxes around your tree. Click on them to get more interesting content or offers! Scroll down to the bottom of the activity page and you can also explore more interesting content.

What are you waiting for? Go join the contests, and download the My HUAWEI app now if you haven’t already! Also, don’t forget to check out HUAWEI’s X’Mas Promo that’s happening from 22nd December 2021 to 1st January 2022!
Download My HUAWEI App to WIN Exclusive Prizes
Join the Light Up and Win Contest before 25th December!
Check out HUAWEI’s X’mas Promo Up to 50% OFF* + Freebies!
This is an exclusive article for HUAWEI Malaysia.
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