vivo and Qualcomm showcases hidden fingerprint sensors; new ultrasonic fingerprint sensor scans your fingertips from under screen or metal back

While far from mass production ready, Qualcomm and vivo collaborated to create a prototype that showcases the former’s under-display fingerprint scanner technology. The latest ultrasonic fingerprint sensor is capable of scanning through up to 1.2mm thick OLED display stacks, 0.8mm of glass and 0.65mm of aluminium, up from the previous generation’s 0.4mm limit for glass and metal. It also allows for fingerprint scanning even when your fingers are wet or greasy.

Here’s Vivo’s under-display fingerprint scanning tech in action. https://t.co/LYaAncqBSu #mwcs17 #vivo #qualcomm #ultrasonic pic.twitter.com/PX0G6xkTi9
— Richard Lai (@richardlai) June 28, 2017

Engadget’s Senior Editor Richard Lai got to try out the technology on the showfloor, and it appears as the detection was definitely a lot slower than what we are accustomed to now. Samsung has tried (and failed) to integrated under-display fingerprint sensors in the Samsung Galaxy S8, and the Galaxy Note 8 is also reportedly not going to feature an under-display fingerprint sensor. A second prototype allowed for the fingerprint sensor to be hidden under a metallic back, but I doubt that is of much interest considering how hard it would be to identify a specific spot on the back of your smartphone without any tactile cues.
Apple might just show the world how to do it in their upcoming iPhone 8, but assuming that Apple didn’t just find the holy grail of ultrasonic fingerprint sensors and make fingerprint sensors under the display work as fast as conventional ones, are you prepared to sacrifice unlock speed, or would you rather have a faster conventional fingerprint sensor on the back?

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Meanwhile for those who are already looking forward for upcoming smartphone with these technologies, Qualcomm’s Fingerprint Sensors for Glass and Metal are compatible with the recently launched Snapdragon 660 and 630 mobile platforms and will be shipping to OEMs this month, while the ones that work from under the display will be compatible with future Snapdragon Mobile Platforms and non-Snapdragon platforms, with sampling to begin in Q4 2017.
Pokdepinion: I am actually very happy with the fingerprint sensor on the back of my phones. Just place them somewhere that’s not right beside the camera cover glass, yes?
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nubia Red Magic 7 To Launch This 17 February

There’s been talks of a new Red Magic device for quite some time now and it seems that the time has come. The nubia Red Magic 7 is about to be launched this month, specifically on the 17th of February.
nubia Red Magic 7 launch

The launch will take place in China where they’ll unveil the latest gaming smartphone. Since they’ve used “series” in the banner, we can definitely expect more than 1 entry to the latest Red Magic lineup.

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You can expect the series to be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset where the Pro version is said to come with 165W fast charging. The standard variant has been reported to sport an under-display camera.
We should learn more of the device as we reach closer to the launch date. Till then, stay tuned to Pokde.net for more of the latest tech and gaming news plus reviews.
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Pokdepinion: When it comes to gaming smartphones, it’s interesting to see how they’ll push the barrier of performance. I wonder if we’ll see the phone to launch right here on our shores.
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New Finding From Microsoft Cybersecurity – Malaysia’s Malware Encounter Grows

Microsoft has recently released regional findings from their global Security Intelligence Report (SIR), which found that Malaysia is one of the countries with an alarmingly increase of malware encounters.
Malaysia’s Increased Malware Encounters
In the findings, an approximate average of 12.9% of computers running on Microsoft real-time security products in Malaysia reported a malware encounter in the first quarter of 2017. It is slightly higher than the global average of 9%.
Additionally, the report found out that there was a significant decline in Malaysia’s malware occurrences compared to the first quarter of 2016. The malware encounters fell by 16.7% compared to last year.

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Driven by the proliferation of endpoints and the ubiquitous computing power of the cloud, the opportunity for digital transformation to make broad and profound impacts on our society has never been greater. However, for digitalization to reach its fullest potential, users must first trust the technology they use. Microsoft is committed to helping our customers and partners build that trust and the first step is to help them understand the multitude of cyber threats out there so that they can implement more effective ways to manage and neutralize these risks Dr Dzahar Mansor, National Technology Officer, Microsoft Malaysia
Microsoft’s SIR gives data and insights into the global threat landscape, especially on software vulnerability, exploits, malware, and web-based attacks. In the latest version, it tracked threat data for both endpoint as well as cloud, which profiled more than 100 individual markets.
In addition to that, they also gave tips on how to reduce cyber risks exposure and gave four practices to make it safer;

Always practice caution when you are connected to a public internet domain.
Ensure that your software is always up to date.
Use the latest technologies and software to ensure better security and privacy to maximize protection against threats.
Make cyber security and data privacy policies and governance high priority in your organizations.

Furthermore, Microsoft Malaysia has also launched a Cybersecurity Health Check Campaign for Small Medium Businesses (SMBs) in Malaysia, with the aim to increase awareness of cybersecurity and equip SMBs with the right tools. For more info on that, you can click on the link right here.
Pokdepinion: It’s always worrying when you get studies that show results like this. Do all the necessary precautions, everyone.
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Cooler Master MM731 Review — a lightweight wireless mouse that’s just as light on the wallet!

The Cooler Master MM731 is probably the one mouse I have been waiting for for the longest time. I really like the classic Intellimouse-inspired shape that Cooler Master went with for the MM530/MM531, and there was no chance on Earth — or any mythical place in existence — that I was going to give up the chance to experience a similar ergonomic shape, but now lighter and wireless. So let’s see if it lives up to my expectations.
Unboxing

Our packaging arrived a little banged up, but I guess it’s a way to see well Cooler Master can protect their products, even when the packaging isn’t coddled up with bubble wrap. The main features are also highlighted here, letting us know that Cooler Master included optional grip tape with the Cooler Master MM731, something which usually is an aftermarket addition for most gaming mice.

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The backside of the packaging shows the side profile of the Cooler Master MM731, while also listing out some of the features like its tri-mode connectivity. While I somewhat doubt many people will get the Cooler Master MM731 to use it with a wire, you do have the option for that, and Cooler Master is also proud to mention that they are giving you an Ultraweave Cable.

Here’s the full kit. You have some black grip table for not just the sides, but also the primary buttons, along with an alcohol wipe to ensure secure adhesion. There’s a dongle as well to help you keep the 2.4GHz adapter closer to your mouse. Not like you need to, but it’s an option provided by Cooler Master.
Appearance

The Cooler Master MM731 features a distinctly ergonomic shape that would probably remind many people of the MM530/MM531 mice. I mean, at least I made that mistake of assuming both the mice are the same shape. However, on closer inspection, it is actually flatter and shorter but wider than Cooler Master’s last mouse to feature a similar shape. I will comment more on the comfort later, but you can also see that Cooler Master dropped a lot of frills to get to its weight, as there is only the bare minimum number of buttons for a gaming mouse here. If you prefer a more subtle look for your mouse, the Cooler Master MM731 is also available in an all-black option.

On the front edge, you can very clearly see the way that the sides wrap around the front, while the upper shell meets the rear. It’s quite aesthetically pleasing, and it also highlights the way that Cooler Master went with hard matte plastic for the sides as well, which is why they included grip tapes in the box. And the USB-C port is also not too recessed, unlike certain mice which force you to use proprietary cables. Not like I would recommend using the mouse with any other cable.

Over on the bottom we get a switch to toggle between the wired, Bluetooth and 2.4GHz modes, as well as a button to activate the Bluetooth pairing mode. The larger pill shaped button right under the serial number is the DPI switch, giving you the ability to switch between a total of seven customizable preset sensitivities. I wish it was behind the scroll wheel like most mice, but I guess some sacrifices had to be made to achieve this level of weightlessness. The mouse sensor is positioned further forward than usual, which should bode well for quick flicking motions, and the large, PTFE feet will allow for effortless gliding.

The entire mouse has but one RGB LED zone, and that’s the Cooler Master emblem here on the rear side of the mouse. It’s not particularly bright and vibrant, which is somewhat of a bummer to an RGB enthusiast like yours truly, and I was also expecting Cooler Master to light up the Cooler Master MM731’s scroll wheel. Well, I guess this mouse is meant for the gamers where every gram matters, and more LEDs just doesn’t make sense in a design like this.
Specifications

Body material
Matte ABS plastic, optional rubber grip tape

Sensor
PixArt PAW3370
400 IPS
50G acceleration
< ~2mm cut off distance (adjustable)

DPI
100 ~ 38 000 DPI, 100 DPI increments

USB report rate
125/250/500/1000 Hz (2.4GHz / wired)
125Hz (Bluetooth 5.1)

Switch type
LK Optical switches, 70 million clicks

Cable
1.8m Ultraweave cable, USB-A to USB-C, gold-plated connectors

Battery
500mAh
Up to 190 hours (Bluetooth, no LED) / Up to 72 hours (2.4GHz, no LED)

Weight
60 gram excluding cable

Dimensions
122.3 x 69.0 x 39.1 mm

User Experience

Despite the focus on being lightweight, Cooler Master still managed to cram in a spring to help you get the 2.4GHz dongle slightly easier. Quite a nice bit of attention to detail there. You can also lose the trap door for a tiny weight reduction as well, if you are that picky about it. There also Bluetooth, in case you want to use it with an Android or iOS tablet, or maybe just if you want to use it with your PC and enjoy longer battery life at the expense of slight latency.

When it comes to grip, the Cooler Master MM731 is quite clearly optimized for a palm grip or fingertip grip. It has an elongated shape to support more of your hand, and it’s quite flat as well so you can easily just scrunch up your hand a bit for a relaxed fingertip grip. I personally really like this shape, more so than the MM530/MM531, as well as my current daily driver, the Logitech G703. But as always, shape is quite subjective, but if you have a medium-sized hand like me (10cm wide, 20cm long), I dare say that you will find this shape to be quite comfortable. This is a rather time-tested shape, used by various mice manufacturers, but with optimizations from Cooler Master to make it even better.

The most impressive thing about the Cooler Master MM731 is of course its weight, or lack of it. Coming in at 59g, or as we measured, 58g, the Cooler Master MM731 feels almost weightless to move around on my mousepad. I guess that’s the result of combining the lack of weight and the PTFE feet that Cooler Master included with the Cooler Master MM731. I am quite surprised that Cooler Master decided not to provide additional PTFE feet with the Cooler Master MM731, but we do have grip tape, so I guess that’s fine. I did not use the grip tape though, as I quite like the hard matte plastic feel.
For those of you worried about the all-plastic construction, you can rest easy. There are no discernable issues with the build quality here. While it’s astonishingly light, there are no rattles nor flex to be found anywhere on the mouse. I also made sure to test whether I could accidentally actuate the side buttons by squeezing the sides, and I am happy to report that it isn’t an issue with the Cooler Master MM731.

Speaking of the side buttons, we have two on the side, backed by regular switches from Huano. The side clicks are snappy and nice, with little to no pretravel, and they are also quite easy to reach simply by moving your thumb up a bit from where you would naturally rest your thumb. I would personally prefer slightly bigger buttons though. The Cooler Master MM731′ scroll wheel is also probably one of the best I have experienced, with a nice tactile feel with each step while still being super quiet. Clicking it is more difficult, requiring quite a bit of effort, but I guess that’s good to prevent accidental clicks when you just want to scroll.

The left and right clickers with LK optical microswitches are pretty great, and right off the bat I would say that they feel way better than the Omron switches found in most mice in the market right now. However when compared to the recently popular Kailh GM8.0 which I installed into my Logitech G703, they do feel just a touch harder. I did eventually get used to the slightly stiffer clicks, and I was fragging as much as I did with any mouse, but that’s something to note if you are nitpicky about your mouse switches.
If you are concerned about the inability to easily switch out the optical switches for personalization or repairs, I feel you, but I do believe that optical mouse switches will become increasingly popular and we might get other optical switches to choose from, just like the variety we have with regular mechanical ones. The ones here are good enough, but I think they could be better still.

The tracking is as awesome as you would expect from a flagship sensor. Good tracking all the way up to 19 000 DPI, with just the tiniest bit of jitter at that insane sensitivity. 38 000 DPI is probably a gimmick, one which Cooler Master themselves do not mention in their specs, so kudos to them for not trying to market something which is nigh unusable. I personally game and work with the Cooler Master MM731 set at 1700 DPI, which is perfectly accurate without jitter, acceleration or angle snapping.

Battery life is rated at 72 hours on 2.4GHz, sans RGB, but I managed to use it for just over two weeks before the battery hit 15%, even with the lighting enabled. Of course I wasn’t using it for two weeks straight, with the usual eight hours of sleep, few hours of breaks in between, like a normal person would use their mouse. One thing that I hope Cooler Master can improve however is to be able to see the exact percentage of battery, as the current way that it is shown in the MasterPlus software is just with a battery bar. I guess they thought since Apple can get away with it on the iPhone, they can too on the Cooler Master MM731?
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Speaking of the software, MasterPlus is a neat little bit of software that supports most of Cooler Master’s ecosystem, from their RGB controllers to their more recent peripherals. For the Cooler Master MM731, you get to adjust the sleep mode delay, the low power mode notification, button assignment, sensitivity, lighting as well as the macro programming and on-board profile. There are five on-board profiles that you can create, which should be sufficient for most users anyway. Cooler Master also baked in the combo feature which lets you add a second layer to your mouse if you need to practically double the buttons/hotkeys available to you on the Cooler Master MM731.
Conclusion
For RM239, the Cooler Master MM731 is quite a no-brainer of a mouse to get. Provided you like the classic ergonomic mouse shape. The Cooler Master MM731 makes itself is pretty unique as one of the few ultralight mice in the market to adopt the classic ergonomic shape without having to settle for a holey shell, all while also being wireless. Sure, I wish there was more RGB and also that the DPI switcher button was on top, behind the scroll wheel.

But hey, I guess someone at Cooler Master decided to follow the wise words of Colin Chapman, “Simplify, then add lightness”, when developing the Cooler Master MM731, and I commend him/her for it. To be entirely honest, I don’t change DPI all that often, RGB is superfluous and I must say that I appreciate the weightlessness, the battery life and overall shape of the Cooler Master MM731. And at that price… Well, I can’t say no to that. And did I mention that you get free grip tape in the box? It’s almost as if Cooler Master thought that the Cooler Master MM731 wasn’t good enough bang for your buck!

Our thanks to Cooler Master Malaysia for sending us the Cooler Master MM731 for review.
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Acer ConceptD 500 Review – Looks Amazing But The Insides Need Refinement

Unboxing the Acer ConceptD 500

The Acer ConceptD 500 will come in a rather large box. Inside the box, you are expected to find the following items:

Acer Wireless Mouse and Keyboard (Batteries Included)User guide and warrantyNVIDIA Quadro guideDisplayPort to DVI-D adapterPower cableThe Acer ConceptD 500 Desktop itself
Appearance

The Acer ConceptD 500 is a mid tower-sized desktop with a clean, minimalist design that should fit in any modern studio. It’s clad in white and has a top panel with a wood effect. One the front, you have a triangular panel which houses a pop-up headset cradle.

Moving to the top, the wood effect isn’t actual wood but it does look neat. You will find three USB-A ports, a USB-C port, an SD card reader, audio jacks, amber light button, and power button here covered under a clear, plastic cover. Beside it, there’s a built-in wireless charging panel so you can convenient charge your smartphone / wearables with ease.

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As for the side panels, it’s clad in white with half of it having plenty of holes similar to mesh panels. This is clearly designed to improve airflow. You can tell at this point that there are no sharp corners here as they’ve opted for a more-rounded design.

There’s nothing much on the bottom here aside from four rubber feet, one on each corner. This would be an anti-slip measure for the desktop, if the weight alone isn’t enough.

As for the rear, you have the vast majority of ports (which we’ve included in the specifications table in the next section) as well as the Quadro P2000’s I/O. There are also a couple of handles here, which seems to be a bit flimsy. These handles can be removed to expose screws that hold the rear panel.
Overall, the Acer ConceptD 500 is a clean desktop that should easily work in home or office environments. You can place it on the table, or on the floor if you’d like. The mid-tower size should make it relatively easy to position the machine without taking up much space. Like the monitor, I do feel like the design screams “environmentally conscious”.
Specifications
CPUIntel Core i7-9700K (8C / 16T @ 3.6GHz, 12M SmartCache)RAM16GB (2 x 8GB) 2666 MHz DDR4GPUNVIDIA Quadro P2000 5GB GDDR5Storage256GB M.2 PCIe SSD (Kingston RBUSNS8154P3256GJ1)1TB 7200RPM HDD (Toshiba DT01ACA100)SoftwareMicrosoft Windows 10 ProConceptD PalettenView Desktop ManagerConnectivityWirelessIntel Wireless AC-9560802.11ac 2×2 Wi-FiBluetooth 5.0Front Panel2 x USB 2.0 ports1 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 port1 x USB Type-CTM port1 x SD Card ReaderRear Panel1 x D-Sub port2 x DisplayPort1 x HDMI1 x PS/2 port2 x USB 2.0 ports2 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports2 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports1 x RJ45 LANAudio2 x 3.5mm Headphone jacks2 x 3.5mm Microphone jacks1 x Line-in jackPower500W Power SupplyDimensions476 x 439 x 204 mmWeight9 kg
Performance
Left to Right: Kingston RBUSNS8154P3256GJ1 and Toshiba DT01ACA100
Starting off with CrystalDiskMark, we have the scores for both storage devices; the 256GB Kingston RBUSNS8154P3256GJ1 SSD and the 1TB Toshiba DT01ACA100 7200RPM HDD. The SSD performs better than a SATA III SSD but not as fast as typical NVMe SSDs nowadays whereas the HDD performs decently. This should be more than enough for work.

In Cinebench R15, it performs decently. The single-core is able to do good but the multi-core is definitely lagging behind the competition. It’s interesting how the Alienware Aurora R9 with the same CPU scored lower for single core but higher in multi-core.

Things start to get interesting in Unigine SuperPosition as the Quadro P2000 comes into play. The performance seems to be on par with the GTX 1650 and lags behind the RTX 2060. While the CPU could play a role in the score, the 4K Optimized benchmark preset is heavily reliant on GPU.

A similar pattern can be seen in 3DMark’s Time Spy benchmark, where it lags behind the RTX 2060. I purposely put the MX250 laptops there for comparison and for you to know that a “professional” machine isn’t necessarily that weak.

While the Quadro P2000 in the Acer ConceptD 500 is meant for rendering, scientific calculation, CAD work and more, many people wonder if you can game on it. The short answer is yes, but it’s nowhere close to the best. This isn’t a surprise as it’s not intended for gaming. All the games listed above ran in Full HD at the highest settings, and it’s better than I expected.
As for running temperature, the CPU definitely could use some improvements as it tends to run at about 90°C or higher but the GPU temperature is pretty okay as it lingers around 70°C. Upon opening the case, we discovered that the CPU is using a rather cost-effective cooler. If you want to get this, you should invest in a new CPU cooler.
User Experience

The Acer ConceptD 500 is pretty compact. It’s the kind of chassis that would fit in a microATX motherboard at best. This makes it easy to place the desktop almost anywhere you like, be it on the floor or on the desk itself. Upgrading it is supposed to be easy as it boasts tool-less entry but it turned out to be a lot more difficult than expected.

We couldn’t find a latch or some form of slide-to-open mechanism. Instead, we had to pull out the two rear handles to expose some screws, unscrew that, remove the rear panel, and then you’ll finally be able to open the side panels. In words, it still sounds easier than it actually is but we found ourselves worried that we might end up breaking it. Thankfully, we didn’t.

Upon opening it up, we were surprised by what we found. Unlike the outside which looks elegant and premium, the inside looks cheap and uninspired. Cable management is decent but the insides look like what you’d expect from a cost-effective office solution.
Changing / adding parts is pretty easy with a screwdriver but you may need new cable ties to keep things neat as you can see a few zip ties being used here. In case you’re wondering, the Quadro P2000 draws power solely from the PCIe slot. It is possible to completely overhaul the PC if you want. This would be a good idea if you purchase this and you want something better somewhere down the road.

The Acer ConceptD 500 has a good array of ports including DisplayPort, HDMI, D-SUB, PS/2, RJ45 LAN, USB 2.0, 3.1 Type-A and also Type-C. From the Quadro P2000 itself, it gives you four DisplayPort 1.4 ports. If you want to connect to the card via HDMI, you will need an adapter. The fan itself may seem small but based on our benchmarks, it’s actually good enough.
While the desktop works right out of the box, there may be a few upgrades that you might want to consider. For starters, you want to consider doubling the RAM especially for rendering, and you have two empty slots for you to make use of. You also want to consider upgrading the CPU cooler for added reliability and lesser noise as the fan here can get rather noisy.

It does well enough in gaming (Full HD) but getting a better GPU is subjective here. Getting a gaming-grade GPU beats the purpose of buying this desktop, but you can if you want to. If your workload is very complicated, you may want to get the Quadro RTX cards instead. I believe the CPU, motherboard, storage, and power supply will be fine as is.
Using a Quadro graphics card doesn’t automatically make rendering faster. It’s designed to be precise with calculations, more energy efficient, and work more reliably for long hours without any random errors. We compared the Acer ConceptD 500 with our own video editing / rendering rig, with the specifications listed below:
Pokde Video Editing / Rendering Rig
CPUAMD Ryzen 3700x (8C / 16T @ 3.6GHz)RAM32GB DDR4 3200MHzGPUNVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN XStorage1TB Phidisk Wrathkeeper SSD500GB Western Digital Blue 7200RPM HDD
We took one of our heavier video projects spanning over 20GBs in size and rendered it on both machines. The Pokde video editing right managed to render the video in 69.12 seconds whereas the Acer ConceptD 500 rendered it in 98.28 seconds. It’s worth noting that the our own rig trumps it in terms of CPU and RAM but overall, it had a near 30-second difference in time.
Even with similar RAM, it will only shave off seconds. So what’s the point? While our own rig performed better, the Acer ConceptD 500 is able to do so more efficiently and still produced good results. As far as buying a PC goes, we do feel that our own rig is more cost-effective (albeit at a much higher price) as it allows for versatility but if you know you’re only going to use it for professional work, you should get one with Quadro graphics inside.

From my own use of gaming, Netflix, YouTube, web surfing and work (Photoshop, Premiere Pro, After Effects, and word processing), it works well enough. It’s not the best for gaming but it works great for all the other stuff. Both Premiere Pro and After Effects ran smoother with project files with even preview rendering appear a bit faster.
It’s worth noting that Quadro cards do not make rendering better / faster automatically. It’s dependent on the application used.

I personally like the added bits of convenience here, most notably the headset cradle and the built-in wireless charging pad. It allows for a cleaner setup as you don’t need a standalone headset stand and you won’t need wires if you simply need to charge your smartphone / wearables.

On the software side, you have the Acer Control Center and ConceptD Palette. The Acer Control Center is a simple all-in-on software that lets you tune your system, check its running health, and recovery. It’s a standard software that’s easy to use and new users should routinely check.

The ConceptD Palette software on the other hand let’s you do things that are more fitting with the branding, most notably colour profile adjustments. You can also monitor your system, and change your settings easily. While it is easy to use, my complaint is that they should have merged both this and the Control Center software into one for less clutter.
Acer ConceptD 500 Verdict

The Acer ConceptD 500 is good workstation that can essentially fit in any home or work environments. It looks good and it has some helpful functions like a built-in wireless charging pad and headset cradle. However, it’s pricey (RM7,999), it’s not easy to open up the PC, and there are more cost-effective solutions, especially if you build a PC from scratch.
This isn’t a gaming PC, but you can game on it. If you want something more versatile, then you should go for a gaming PC but if you know you need something for work, especially CAD, rendering, and calculations, you should check this out.
With that, I award the Acer ConceptD 500 with our Bronze Pokdeward.

Big thanks to Acer Malaysia for loaning us this PC for the purposes of this review.
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OnePlus 7 Pro 90 Hz display afflicted by “ghost touch” issues

Hot on the heels of the revelation regarding the OnePlus 7 Pro’s 3x optical zoom, comes “ghost touch” issues reported by a number of users. One of Android Central‘s units suffered a spaz for as long as 2 minutes, which would have been very vexing if you were just about to reply to an urgent message and your spanking new smartphone decides to mess with you.

The issue has been reported in the OnePlus forum, with the issues happening in random apps although the CPU-Z app reportedly triggers ghost touches more consistently than others. Some users have also reported that switching the display down to 60 Hz reduced the problems as compared to it running at its maximum 90 Hz refresh rate, which points to a hardware issue.

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Being the world’s first smartphone touting a 90 Hz QHD+ display may also be the OnePlus 7 Pro’s downfall if the problem turns out to be a hardware issue, but it might very well be a software issue too, which can easily be solved via a software update.
OnePlus 7 Pro Specs

Snapdragon 855, octa-core up to 2.84 GHz, 7nm FinFET
Up to 12GB LPDDR4x RAM
Up to 256GB UFS 3.0 storage
6.67″ WQHD+ Fluid AMOLED display, 90 Hz refresh rate
48MP f/1.6 + 8MP f/2.4 3x telephoto + 16MP f/2.2 ultra wide angle
16MP f/2.0 selfie camera, popup
4000 mAh battery, 30W Warp Charge 30
6GB + 128GB: RM2999
8GB + 256GB: RM3699
12GB + 256GB: RM4199

Have you gotten a OnePlus 7 Pro, and if so, does your unit suffer from ghost touch issues? Let us know!
Pokdepinion: Well I am pretty sure people don’t expect to suffer these kind of issues in a smartphone that costs nearly RM3000…
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Use Samsung Pay and win a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge!

In anticipation of the official arrival of Samsung Pay in Malaysia on 24th February 2017, Samsung Malaysia Electronics will be organizing a special roadshow to reward early adopters of Samsung Pay and to demonstrate a truly simple and secure experience that’s available almost anywhere for compatible Samsung devices.
Over the next weekend from 24th February until 28th February 2017, drop by the Samsung Pay Day at KLCC Centre Court and experience Samsung Pay together with special promotions by participating banks.

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Be the first 100 Samsung Pay users daily with three (3) transactions done within the same day worth a minimum of RM30 each and receive a Samsung Wireless Charger worth RM279. Rewards are even bigger for the highest Samsung Pay spender of the day as Samsung will be giving away one Samsung Galaxy S7 edge worth RM3,099!
So come one, come all for a mobile wallet experience unlike any other, and get rewarded when you activate and use Samsung Pay on your device! Samsung Pay is compatible on the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, Galaxy Note5, Galaxy S6 edge+ and Galaxy A Series (2016 and 2017 versions) in Malaysia.
For more information on promotions at Samsung Pay Day, visit www.samsung.com/my/samsungpay.
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Leak Suggests BioShock 4 Being a PlayStation Exclusive Game

First announced in 2019, BioShock 4 is the next installment in the popular 2K Games franchise. With that being said however, it was said to still be early in development which means the game won’t be coming out anytime soon. The latest leak on the game, if true, suggests that it will be a PlayStation exclusive game.
BioShock 4 a PlayStation Exclusive Game?

Every year as we get close to E3, there are bound to be plenty of rumours, leaks, and other details on games currently in development. In this case, it’s BioShock 4, which is confirmed to be part of E3 2021 by Take Two, the parent company of 2K Games and Rockstar Games.

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The leak stems from YouTuber Xbox Era, which claims that BioShock 4 will be a PlayStation exclusive game. However, there is no word on whether it will be a permanent exclusive or simply a timed-exclusive game. While this may sound like total bullocks, the leaker does have a decent track record, but do take the information with a grain of salt.
Previously, we saw older BioShock games coming to PlayStation about a year later on the PlayStation platform. If the leak is true, it would be the first for the franchise to release it elsewhere first before making it available on PC. It’s highly likely that 2K Games would only agree on timed exclusivity for the game so as not to alienate their fanbase. For now, we will report more on this as soon as information becomes available so stay tuned.
Source
Pokdepinion: This would be a rather strange turn of events if it ends up being true. I suppose this is one way PlayStation is trying to stay ahead of the competition and push for sales of their console, but I didn’t think it would be this game over all the other games in development.
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FiiO K1 USB DAC review — “Less is more”

My first experience with audiophile equipment was when I reviewed the PowerColor Devil HDX sound card, and it made an amazing difference. It actually made it rather difficult to listen to music without it. I thought that will be the first and last audio equipment that I will review but I was mistaken. My interest in audio equipment was piqued again when I saw ads of the tiny FiiO K1 USB DAC. I mean, how good can such a tiny piece of hardware be? I am pleased to report that I was pleasantly surprised by its performance and this is my review of it after several weeks of usage.

Unboxing
Let’s start with the packaging before we move on to the main subject. Transparent plastic packaging was a smart move by FiiO. You can see exactly how tiny the FiiO K1 is at the first glance. The FiiO K1 is almost the same size as a larger USB pendrive.

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Contained within the packaging is the FiiO K1 USB DAC itself, a micro USB cable and some documentation.

Appearance
The FiiO K1 design is simple. It is a compact rectangular cuboid, with nothing much in terms of aesthetic flair. A blue LED will light up when the DAC was connected to power source.

On top we have a 3.5mm audio jack port meanwhile on the other end is home to a micro USB port. A removable plastic clip is provided for better portability.

I think I haven’t said it enough; it is tiny, weighing only 11 gram with the clip and measuring 50 mm x 2 mm x 8 mm, it made me have some reservations about its sound quality. I have no appropriate tool to crack the FiiO K1 open but according to the documentations, the TI PCM5102 DAC which supports up 24 bit/96 kHz audio, a TPA61332A driver and a Savitech SA9023A USB receiver to decode the audio are all crammed into the minuscule body of the Fiio K1. You might need to do Google search of those components if you desire more details.

Specification

User Experience
I tried to use the FiiO K1 with my Android smartphone as Android 5.0 Lollipop supports USB audio output, but somehow I couldn’t manage to make it function on both of my ASUS Padfone S and ASUS Zenpad 8.0. It doesn’t have a battery since it’s powered right off from the USB port, which is probably why it doesn’t work with my Android devices. FiiO didn’t claim that the FiiO K1 is fully compatible with smartphones but some people on the Internet did manage to make it work with their smartphone.

Since I couldn’t use it with my smartphone, I just hooked it up to my desktop PC and listened to lots of music with Foobar2000 and WASAPI (push) plugin. Basically the WASAPI plugin is to block any audio from any other application in the operating system.

“Smaller and better for less” is FiiO’s tagline for the K1, and I totally agree with it. I listened to countless songs and the audio improvement is apparent. Firstly, I noticed that the vocal sound better than before and is now crystal clear. Great instrument separation and detail made me appreciate almost song I listened to.
I observed that the FiiO K1 doesn’t improve the bass by much but I do not consider myself a basshead by any measure, and it was just nice for me. It also offered an impressive soundstage until at one point I could close my eyes and really feel like I was at a live concert when listening to a live recording. I’m not an expert when it comes to audio fidelity but these comments are what I noticed from my experience using the Fiio K1, and they might give you a better insight of what you’re getting with the FiiO K1 USB DAC.

Conclusion
The FiiO K1 delivers on its promise of “less is more”. Affordably priced at only RM199, it performs better than the average on-board audio chip on your PC and smartphone. I mentioned smartphone because the reason why it does not work on my Android devices is because of my own devices’ hardware limitations. But for the latest flagship smartphones that are pre-loaded with Android 5.0 or later, there is a higher chance for them to working. For Apple and Windows Phone devices I am not sure if they are compatible. I hope FiiO take this for room of improvement in future.
Taking everything into consideration, the FiiO K1 offers great performance to price ratio, but its might not be suitable for everyone. Its runs fine with a desktop but you I believe you would be better off getting a PCI-e based sound card rather than the FiiO K1 except if you’re using a mini-ITX form factor desktop. For me, the FiiO K1 is better suited for for wnotebook and smartphone users. FiiO K1 is a good introduction for those who are interested to get their feet wet in audio upgrades without spending too much. I award the FiiO K1 USB DAC the Pokde.net Silver award because of the outstanding performance to price ratio and the very portable size.

 Our thanks to E1 Personal Audio for providing us a unit of the Fiio K1 USB DAC for us to review.

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Get the Best For Honor Gameplay Experience with New GeForce Game Ready Driver

For Honor, Halo Wars 2, and Sniper Elite 4 are now Game Ready for GeForce gamers.
When there’s a new game out, there’s always a chance that a driver for a particular item on our PCs could cause some issues playing that new game. Whether it’s crappy frame rates, unstable gameplay, or some other dreadful issue, it happens and it’s a pain in the butt.
If you’re using an NVIDIA GeForce graphics card and you’re sinking your teeth in some of the latest games this month has to offer, we have some good news for you.

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New NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready Driver

NVIDIA has officially launched a new Game Ready Driver. Its main highlight is performance optimizations and gameplay stability for Halo Wars 2, Sniper Elite 4, and one of the hottest games around now, For Honor. With the release of the new Game Ready Driver, 2 new games will get NVIDIA Ansel:  For Honor and Paragon.
For those of you who aren’t aware, NVIDIA Ansel is a new way to capture in-game screenshots.. Think of Ansel as a camera that is integrated into your gaming experience that allows you to capture gameplay that was never before possible.

When Ansel is supported in game, players can move the camera to any angle they desire, apply filters, use super resolution capture and even capture in 360 for viewing in VR. If you ever want a good videogame picture for Instagram, this is the answer.
Ansel is also supported in ARK: Survival Evolved, Conan Exiles, Dishonored 2, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, Obduction, War Thunder, Watch Dogs 2, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and The Witness. Ansel support will be rolling out to upcoming titles such as Lawbreakers and Mass Effect: Andromeda. It was also recently added to Unity Engine and Unreal Engine as a plug-in.
So, if you’re playing For Honor, Halo Wars 2, or Sniper Elite 4, go and get the Game Ready Driver.

Pokdepinion: Well, if you’re a GeForce user, go get the Game Ready Driver. This may be the answer if you find For Honor running worse than expected. Of course, the games itself will usually have an update that might end up fixing the issue, or make things worse so if it becomes bad one day, give it a bit of time and NVIDIA will surely make it run better with another Game Ready Driver.

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TM Gives Explanation for Streamyx Users – More to Come Soon?

If you’re a Streamyx user and you feel like TM has purposely left you out in all these upgrades and what not, here’s what they have to say to you.
TM Gives Explanation for Streamyx Users

Recently, we started seeing upgrades in internet speed from a few internet service providers (ISP) as well as price cuts. This was also thanks to Minister Gobind Singh Deo’s adamant push for the mandatory standard access on pricing (MSAP). With TM seemingly offering upgrades for Unifi users, you can’t help but feel like the Streamyx users have been left out. Well, this is what they have to say about that.

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According to Telekom Malaysia (TM), they are currently focusing on improving broadband internet experience for their Streamyx users, now known as Unifi Broadband. The reason why the upgrades for Unifi users are easy and is done relatively quick is because they are on fiber cables whereas Streamyx users are stuck with copper cables.
The use of copper cables presented a number of challenges as it has some limitations. As such, this is why Streamyx / Unifi Broadband users can only speeds up to 8Mbps at this time. This is a different story for those using Streamyx in Unifi-covered areas as these users can be upgraded to Unifi, at least the 30Mbps plan.
According to TM, roughly 50% of Streamyx users within Unifi-covered areas have opted for the free upgrade, and they recommend the remaining to register for the upgrade (for those eligible) as soon as they can to receive the upgrade by March of next year.
At the moment, TM is offering RM129 a month of for the 100Mbps Unifi Pro plan and RM79 for the Basic plan with a 60GB quota. Clearly, Streamyx users are paying more but we may be hearing more about TM’s offering for Streamyx / Unifi broadband users soon so for now, let’s just hope for the best.
Source: Amanz
Pokdepinion: If upgrade is going to take a while, I hope they at least consider slashing the prices for the broadband internet plans at least.
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Google Announces Return of Doodle 4 Google in Malaysia – Celebrating Malaysia and its diversity

Google’s Doodle 4 Google art competition is coming back this year after a three year hiatus. Google Malaysia is inviting all Malaysian school students to showcase their fun, creativity, and originality by submitting unique doodle designs with a local flavour.
The Doodle 4 Google competition is open all students from primary and secondary schools and is divided into four age categories; those who are in the age groups of 7 to 9 years old, 10 to 12 years old, 13 to 15 years old and lastly 16 to 17 years old. This year’s theme will be “Celebrating Malaysia’s Diversity” and the winning doodle submission will be featured prominently on the Google homepage this coming Malaysia Day, September 16 and will be seen by not just the people of our country but the billions of other people on the internet across the globe.
Here’s what Sajith Sivanandan, managing director of Google Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines and New Emerging Markets had to say about this year’s Doodle 4 Google competition,

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Malaysia is known for its many faceted diversity and we want to encourage primary and secondary school students to showcase their original, fun, and creative renditions of the Google logo based on that theme.
Doodles may sometimes be just simple drawings, but they can take on a life of their own and are capable of connecting with people on an emotional level — we’ve seen many such examples over the years, most recently the P. Ramlee doodle in March this year.
Doodles have been a part of Google’s history since 1998, when Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin placed a stick figure drawing behind the second ‘o’ in the word Google as a message to users that they were “out of the office” attending a music and art festival. Nowadays doodles are thematic changes made to the Google logo and typically done to celebrate special occasions, cultural moments, and the lives of those who have helped shape history.

Normally these doodles are created internally by Google’s own doodle team (yes, The Google Doodle Team.) with the rare exception of competitions like Doodle 4 Google.
The Doodle 4 Google competition starts now and the final date for submissions is July 31 2017. Artworks can be submitted either in soft-copy form or hard-copy form either through the mail or one of the few roadshows they’ll be doing in several states across the country from June to July.
2014 winning doodle
To download entry forms, competition rules and for more information, visit their event page right here.
Pokdepinion: This is a great opportunity to show people your creative side and what you’re made of. Honestly if I were younger I’d join up and show off what my momma gave me. To let loose and go all Van Gogh on the proverbial Internet canvass.

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Kingston is first third-party vendor to get Intel Platform Validation on DDR5 memory

Kingston Technology has just announced that their DDR5 UDIMMs have received Intel Platform Validation, making the first milestone of compatibility between Kingston DDR5 memory solutions and Intel’s upcoming DDR5 platform. Aside from validation with Intel, Kingston has also sent out over 10 000 DDR5 UDIMM samples to major motherboard makers and technology partners to verify compatibility as well.
By helping everyone test their DDR5 platforms, Kingston believes that this will help lay the foundation for a smooth transition to DDR5. Kingston has two DDR5 memory solutions already, with 16GB and 32GB DDR5-4800 UDIMMs running at just 1.1V. Kingston will be backing their DDR5 solutions with lifetime warranties, as you would usually get with Kingston memory products.

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Kingston is currently the top third-party DRAM module supplier in the world, and it is their 18th year in a row at the top. Aside from the aforementioned memory modules, Kingston also has a range of DDR5 memory modules in the pipeline, including gaming-oriented FURY options as well.
Pokdepinion: I guess Kingston will be further widening their gap versus the competition!
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Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra VS Galaxy S20 Ultra: Is It A Major Improvement?

With Samsung recently launching their newest flagship smartphone series, many are wondering how they compare to its predecessor. Today, we bring the best of the new series and the best of the predecessor in head to head combat as we pit the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra against the Galaxy S20 Ultra. Is the new one actually a major improvement? Let’s find out.

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Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra VS Galaxy S20 Ultra
Specifications

Smartphone
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

Processor
Exynos 2100, 5nm
1 x Cortex-X1 @ 2.9GHz + 3 x Cortex-A78 @2.8GHz + 4 x Cortex-A55 @ 2.2GHz
Exynos 990, 7nm EUV
2 x Mongoose M5 @ 2.73GHz + 2 x Cortex-A76 @2.5GHz + 4 x Cortex-A76 @ 2GHz

RAM
12GB
12GB

Storage
256GB UFS 3.1
128GB UFS 3.0

Display
6.8″ WQHD+ (3200 x 1440) Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display
Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
HDR10+
1500 nits
11Hz to 120Hz Adaptive Refresh Rate
6.9″ WQHD+ (3200 x 1440) Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display
Corning Gorilla Glass 6
HDR10+
1400 nits
120Hz High Refresh Rate

Rear Camera
108MP f/1.8 wide angle camera, PDAF, Laser AF, OIS
10MP f/4.9 periscope telephoto camera, dual pixel PDAF, OIS, 10x optical zoom
10MP f/2.4 telephoto camera, 3x opitcal zoom, dual pixel PDAF, OIS
12MP f/2.2 120˚ ultra-wide, dual pixel PDAF, Super Steady video
LED flash, auto-HDR, panorama
[email protected], [email protected]/60fps, [email protected]/60/240fps, [email protected], HDR10+, stereo sound rec., gyro-EIS
108MP f/1.8 wide angle camera, PDAF, OIS
48MP f/3.5 periscope telephoto camera, PDAF, OIS, 4x optical zoom
12MP f/2.2 120˚ ultra-wide, Super Steady video
0.3MP f/1.0 TOF 3D camera
LED flash, auto-HDR, panorama
[email protected], [email protected]/60fps, [email protected]/60/240fps, [email protected], HDR10+, stereo sound rec., gyro-EIS

Selfie Camera
40MP f/2.2 wide-angle selfie cam, PDAF
Dual video call, Auto HDR
[email protected]/60fps, [email protected]
40MP f/2.2 wide-angle selfie cam, PDAF
Dual video call, Auto HDR
[email protected]/60fps, [email protected]

Battery
5000mAh
25W fast charging
USB-PD 3.0 fast charging
15W wireless fast charging
4.5W reverse wireless charging
5000mAh
45W fast charging
USB-PD 3.0 fast charging
15W wireless fast charging
4.5W reverse wireless charging

Dimensions
165.1 x 75.6 x 8.9 mm
227g
166.9 x 76 x 8.8 mm
222g

Ingress Protection
IP68
IP68

To start things off, we’re not here to declare a winner in this section. After all, it makes sense that a successor would have better hardware compared to its predecessor. This is just here for your reference so you know the differences and similarities of both devices. Now onwards to the comparison.
Design

When you look from the front, both flagship devices look essentially the same. As you turn it over to the back, you can instantly see some major differences here and there. For instance, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra’s quad-camera setup has that contour cut camera housing design whereas the Galaxy S20 Ultra isn’t all the way to the corner on the top-left side. It’s worth noting that both camera setups do have a notable bump still, but the newer device integrates the camera in a cleaner, better way.
Apart from that, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra opted for a matte finish for their back, whereas its predecessor went for a glossy look instead. Personally, I’m a fan on the matte finish as it’s not as susceptible to fingerprint stains and gives it a classier look. With that being said, this is subjective as some of you may prefer the glossy appearance instead. At the same time, if you’re gonna be using this with a case, this wouldn’t matter anyway.
As for colours, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra has Phantom Black and Phantom Silver at the moment, but more colour options are expected to be on the way, including Phantom Navy and Phantom Titanium. The Galaxy S20 Ultra on the other hand is only available in Cosmic Black, Cosmic White, and Cosmic Gray, so there are lesser options here.
If you’re wondering about the size and weight difference, the newer flagship smartphone is 1.8mm shorter and 0.4mm narrower, but it is 0.1mm thicker. It’s also worth noting that it is 5g heavier. Realistically speaking, most people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the two even if you put them side-by-side, so the difference is negligible.
Looking from an overall perspective for design, I would have to give it a draw as some of the point, while it may lean more in favour of the newer flagship, it’s still subjective and heavily dependent on a user’s preference.
Winner: Draw
Display

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra’s display has seen a very slight shrinkage as it is now 6.8-inches compared to the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s 6.9 inches. However, the display is far from a downgrade as you get a bunch of new features that you can enjoy.

For starters, it can do 120Hz refresh rate on the higher QHD resolution, which wasn’t possible on the Galaxy S20 Ultra as 120Hz is only available in Full HD resolution. Furthermore, you have the adaptive refresh rate option thanks to the LTPO panel technology. It can go as low as 11Hz all the way to 120Hz, which makes it more efficient than the S20 Ultra as that will constantly run on 120Hz, using up more energy in the process.
Apart from that, you get higher peak brightness with the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra with 1,500 nits, 50% better contrast ratio, and Eye Comfort Shield to reduce eye fatigue when looking at the display. For this section, we have a clear winner.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Performance

As many of you may know by now, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is powered by the new Exynos 2100 SoC whereas the Galaxy S20 Ultra is running the previous generation Exynos 990 SoC. How much better is the new chipset over the old one? We have the benchmarks to show that.

As you can see from the benchmark charts above, the Exynos 2100 easily outperforms the Exynos 990 in every area. It performed 28% better in Antutu v8, 34% better in PCMark, 10% to 20% better in 3DMark, and 172% to 201% better in Geekbench 5. This doesn’t mean that the Exynos 990 is terrible by any means as it is a powerful chipset, just that the Exynos 2100 is that much better overall.
On the memory side, the newer flagship comes with 256GB internal storage by default and 12GB RAM whereas the predecessor comes with 128GB internal storage with 12GB RAM. If that’s not enough, you can get up to 512GB for the former, and 256GB for the latter. However, do keep in mind that the former doesn’t have a microSD card slot whereas the latter does, so it’s something to keep in mind if you plan on using a device for years to come. Personally, 256GB is more than enough for me.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Battery Life

Both flagship devices have the same battery capacity, which is 5,000mAh. However, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra does come with a more efficient chipset and has features that will further improve the battery efficiency. Looking at the endurance test chart above, it’s interesting to see that the newer flagship can outlast its predecessor by 5 minutes in the same resolution. In case you’re still unclear, that’s Full HD+ for both, except one is running adaptive refresh rate while the other is on 60Hz. Even on WQHD+ resolution with adaptive refresh rate, the difference isn’t much as it’s only shorter by 13 minutes compared to the predecessor at Full HD+ with 60Hz refresh rate.
With that being said, the endurance test doesn’t do the battery life justice as in real life usage, I have to charge the Galaxy S20 Ultra on a daily basis whereas I can go with a single charge for two days on the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra with the same usage over the course of a week. My usage consists of heavy social media and messaging use, light calls, constant Wi-Fi connection, adaptive brightness, and highest refresh rate setting at Full HD+ resolution.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Camera
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Rather than doing a camera shootout here, we’re gonna be focusing more on the technical aspects of both cameras. We feel like a camera shootout deserves a dedicated post on its own given how extensive it can get, and the pandemic situation limits my mobility to truly put them to the tests.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra has seen the addition of a new laser focus sensor, which allows it to focus a lot faster. While it helps a lot for photos, it works exponentially better when shooting videos. However, that’s not the biggest upgrade in the camera setup here as it also has dual telephoto lenses which offer 3x and 10 x optical zoom. This is an improvement over the 4x optical zoom on the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s telephoto camera. That’s not the only improvement however, as the new Zoom Lock feature makes it easier to take zoomed in photos. Using AI technology, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra can intelligently identify the subject and keep it steadier, which will result in less shake.

Apart from that, the primary 108MP camera is now capable of capturing 12-bit HDR photos and is said to produce up richer colour up to 64-fold. For experts, you can also make use of the 12-bit RAW option for post-production. Furthermore, the Bright Night feature yields better results for low light and night shots. While this feature is also available in the Galaxy S20 Ultra, it works better on the newer flagship given that it can take in more light.
For those who are more into recording videos, the resolution and frame rates appear to be identical on both devices, up to 8K 24FPS. However, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra can actually capture 4K 60FPS videos not just with the primary shooter, but with any of the four cameras. You also have a new vlogger mode where you can record videos using both the front and rear cameras simultaneously. Not to forget, the new 8K Video Snap lets you take still images directly from the 8K video you recorded for added convenience.
It’s worth noting that when used with the Galaxy Buds Pro, you can access a feature called multi-mic recording, where the video will record audio captured on the microphone from both the smartphone and the Galaxy Buds Pro.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Miscellaneous

As many of you may know by now, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is the first non-Galaxy Note device to officially support the S Pen You can use it to draw, take notes, sign documents, and generally have better precision compared to using your hands. However it will lack air gestures and other Bluetooth-related features, at least not until the S Pen Pro is launched later this year.
Unlike the Galaxy Note series, the S Pen is sold separately, but it can be bundled together with a protective case which comes with a special housing for it. Moreover, it’s larger than the one from the Galaxy Note series, making it easier to hold and use. The S Pen is not compatible with the Galaxy S20 Ultra as it lacks the necessary panel for it.

Apart from that, the fingerprint reader has seen a size increase in the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, which is meant for it work better than its predecessor. From my own experience, it works noticeably faster and is less prone to failing to read my fingerprint. This I feel is a major improvement but if you don’t use this, then it doesn’t really matter.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
As we can see here, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is a major improvement over its predecessor, the Galaxy S20 Ultra, overall. However, that doesn’t mean that the latter isn’t worth getting. Given what you get out of it, it’s still worth considering as you can get it at a more affordable price now, especially for used units. However, if money isn’t an issue, the latest premium offering here will definitely serve you well.
If you want to check out our in-depth review of the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, click right here. If you want to see the review for the Galaxy S20 Ultra, click here instead.
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HUAWEI MateStation B515 announced with Ryzen 4000 APUs, priced from 4999 CNY?

HUAWEI was previously rumored to release the HUAWEI MateStation B515 with an Arm-based Kunpeng 920, but it seems like that isn’t the case. There might be a variant down the line featuring HUAWEI’s in-house chipset, but for now, the HUAWEI MateStation B515 is going to be an AMD Ryzen 4000 APU-based desktop PC.

As previously reported, the HUAWEI MateStation B515 will mainly be targeted towards government and enterprise deployment. The overall design does reflect it, as it does sport a no-frills design that wouldn’t look out of place in your typical office environment. But that doesn’t mean that you won’t be getting a decent punch out of it.

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The HUAWEI MateStation B515 can be configured with up to the AMD Ryzen 7 4700G, which should deliver more than enough horsepower for your average office productivity. You can get it with up 16GB DDR4-3200 memory and up to 512GB PCIe NVMe storage or slower 1TB spinning rust, for plenty of room for your work and multitasking.

HUAWEI will also be allowing for some upgrades, with PCIe x16 and PCIe x1 slots, two SO-DIMM slots, two M.2 2280 slots and a single SATA port. It is quite interesting that HUAWEI decided to go with SO-DIMM memory, considering that the HUAWEI MateStation B515 isn’t particularly compact at 315.5 x 293 x 93 mm. Connectivity options are quite well thought out, with a total of six USB ports, with a USB 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps) Type-C port up front. There’s WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0, as well as LAN connectivity.

The HUAWEI MateStation B515 will come as a set, inclusive of a 23.8″ FHD monitor, a keyboard and a mouse. The keyboard features a fingerprint sensor for security as well as support for HUAWEI Share, making it fit right into HUAWEI’s ecosystem. Interestingly enough, while it is meant for the enterprise segment, HUAWEI lists it to run Windows 10 Home Edition.

It is estimated to be priced between 4999 CNY to 8999 CNY (~RM3106 to RM5591), with five configurations available, including a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 option. However as it is meant for the enterprise and government sectors, it might never be available for us to buy.
Source
Pokdepinion: HUAWEI should probably make a desktop AIO for consumers, featuring the AMD Ryzen 4000 series desktop APUs.
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Windows 11: PC doesn’t meet the system requirements? Here’s why and how to get your PC ready for Windows 11

Do you have a stonking new AMD Ryzen 5000 series or 11th Gen Intel Core PC, and yet the PC Health Check utility tells you that your PC can’t run Windows 11? Well you won’t be alone. That is due to the updated requirements of Windows 11, needing several additional features, and the main one of them being TPM 2.0.
fTPM and Intel PTT
If you have read through your motherboard manual or specifications sheet, you would probably have noticed a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) header. Most motherboards have them, but a TPM dongle is usually an optional accessory. Does that mean your PC is not compatible with Windows 11 unless you go out and buy one? Well, no. Because Microsoft will still work even if you just enable a firmware-based TPM.

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AMD doesn’t go with fancy naming for their firmware TPM, and just calls it fTPM. Intel’s version is called Intel Platform Trust Technology (PTT). All of these are integrated into the CPU itself. AMD motherboards offer at least fTPM 1.2, which is apparently the absolute bare minimum supported by Windows 11. Most will support fTPM 2.0. Meanwhile Intel’s PTT has been available since the 4th Gen Intel Core processors. However Microsoft didn’t list anything before the 8th Gen Intel Core processors as compatible with Windows 11, so there’s that as well.

Of course, there are also machines with discrete TPM solutions. Most of them would be enterprise-oriented machines, like the ExpertBook B9. Even then, it is an optional choice, and it doesn’t come standard. However even a gaming laptop like our ROG Strix SCAR II which I have been using for our weekly PokdeLIVE episodes appears to be ready for Windows 11 without going into the BIOS settings, so you shouldn’t be too worried about that if you are using a laptop.
How to enable fTPM/PTT on your motherboard

On my ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi), the setting is very accessible. The menu is literally is listed in the Advanced tab as AMD fTPM configuration. By default, the motherboard is set to Discrete TPM, which will use a TPM module if you have one attached. Since we don’t have it, switching over to Firmware TPM will allow you to use the fTPM functionality. Pretty simple, right?

Meanwhile over on the ROG Maximus XIII Hero, the settings were in PCH-FW Configuration under the Advanced tab. Similarly, all you need to do is enable PTT, and you are set. Once you have done that, you will be ready for Windows 11. At least, in terms of the TPM 2.0 requirement.
Secure Boot, CSM
Another important thing to check is Secure Boot. While this is quite straightforward and I think most people will have it enabled, it doesn’t hurt to check. Meanwhile Compatibility Support Module (CSM) might be a bit trickier. Unless you are running very old hardware, there’s no reason to keep CSM enabled. However disabling it might be more complicated than just a toggle. And you will need to disable CSM to support the TPM 2.0 requirement of Windows 11.

First thing you will have to check is whether your boot drive is formatted with GUID Partition Table (GPT). Some people may have partitioned their drives with Master Boot Record (MBR) previously, and Windows 10 worked fine because it didn’t really care about TPM. If your drive is formatted with MBR, it won’t be detected as a boot device with CSM disabled. So make sure to check. You can convert your MBR drive over to GPT without losing any data, or just do a fresh reinstall of Windows 11 when it finally arrives.
Windows 11 System Requirements

1GHz or faster with 2 or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor/SoC
4GB RAM
64GB or more storage
UEFI, Secure Boot capable
TPM 2.0
DirectX 12 graphics
>9″ HD (720p) display
Internet connection to setup Windows 11 Home

I hope these steps helped you get ready for Windows 11. I am quite excited for the new version of Windows myself, with the Snap Layout being the main thing I am looking forward to. Being able to run TikTok on Windows…not so much.
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Leaked press render leaves little to the imagination — the Galaxy Note 9 might feature a unique color combination

The Next Big Thing from Samsung, is going to be the Galaxy Note 9. After a confirmed 9th August launch, there were rumors of an S Pen that will act as more than just a stylus. Now, the latest leaked official press render by none other than Evan Blass shows that the S Pen might come in a pretty unique color.

S Pen? pic.twitter.com/xizmWw9J2W
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) July 17, 2018

It comes in yellow. And while it would have been fine if the device itself was yellow, the Galaxy Note 9 in the leaked render was blue. No idea if the leaked render was to highlight the S Pen as in it’s now royally impressive, and what better color to convey that than yellow, or Samsung just wants to go really fancy with their color scheme this time.
The design of the back actually looks less impressive than the Galaxy Note 8, but at least they have managed to properly position the fingerprint sensor for the Galaxy Note 9. We were hoping for a under-display fingerprint sensor, but I guess it didn’t make the cut.

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What do you think of the Galaxy Note 9 design? Let us know in the comments!
Pokdepinion: Blue and yellow… A brave combo there…
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Enjoy low light photography? Here’s what to look out for in a smartphone

Good low light performance is still something that’s really challenging for camera makers. Smartphones have an even harder time, as their sensors are much smaller, meaning that their sensors can collect even less light. But given the sheer convenience and necessity of smartphones, you are much more likely to be carrying one instead of a full-frame camera. So here’s what to look out for in a smartphone if you like to take photos in low light conditions.
Wide Aperture Lenses
First, what is the aperture. Apertures generally mean any openings, in this case, the opening of the lens through which light passes to reach the sensor. The size of that opening is denoted by the F-number. The smaller the number, the bigger the aperture. Not that confusing, right?

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The wider the opening the better, as it means that more light will actually reach your sensor. This is probably of less importance in bright conditions, but in dim lighting conditions, a wider aperture will make its advantage quite visible. More light reaching the sensor means a brighter image. Thus far, the HONOR 20 Pro‘s f/1.4 aperture is the widest we have seen on any smartphone we have reviewed, so that’s a tick in the box for it.
Long Exposures
Most smartphones don’t actually have physical shutters, instead relying on an electronic shutter. However the same rules apply: the longer the exposure, the more light you will be getting onto the sensor. The analogy is pretty simple. You swing a bucket around versus holding it steadily under the rain for a long time, which method would get you more water in the bucket?
If your smartphone can only do 10 seconds, don’t talk to me.
So the general rule for low light photography is that you will want to have the capability to take longer exposures. Of course, long exposures would lead to camera shake, and you would need some form of stabilization. HONOR’s flagships now offer you the ability to do handheld exposures of up to 8 seconds thanks to the Kirin 980’s AI chops, which I do find really amazing. The HONOR 20 Pro takes it a step further with both optical and AI stabilization (OIS and AIS), for even better stabilization with longer exposures.
High Maximum ISO Sensitivity
Now we will be talking about the sensor’s sensitivity. The sensor’s sensitivity is often simplified by the ISO rating. The higher the ISO, the better the sensitivity of the sensor. However higher ISO settings generally lead to noisier photos, so this would be like a last resort of sorts. The HONOR 20 Pro can go up to 204 800 ISO, which is really quite ludicrously high.

The above is a shot I took at the insanely high ISO. This was taken in our office in near-total darkness, so the fact that anything is visible is already mind-blowing. You generally don’t need to use this high an ISO with something like the HONOR 20 Pro, given that you already have the widest aperture we have seen and also the capabilities to take long exposures, but if you ever need, the HONOR 20 Pro has it.
Large Sensor Size
Now when I say large sensor size, of course you won’t be getting full frame sensors in smartphones. At least, not in a reasonably sized phone. Smartphone sensors have also undergone a revolution of sorts recently. Instead of pursuing larger pixels in the same sensor size, it has moved towards throwing a ludicrous amount of pixels and combining them for better imaging performance. The 48MP Sony IMX586 used in most recent devices like the HONOR 20 Pro sports an amazing 48MP effective resolution in the 1/2″ format. As compared to the previous flagship sensor, the Sony IMX363, it is more than 28% bigger.

But doesn’t the high resolution mean smaller pixels, and that means lesser low light performance? Yes, and no. In the case of the Sony IMX586, four pixels are combined into one, resulting in great 12MP shots. Each pixel on the Sony IMX586 measures 0.8μm, but when you combine them, you will looking at pixels effectively measuring 1.6μm each. That’s about as good as it gets with today’s technology, and of course the Sony IMX586 also has HDR capabilities baked into the sensor itself, which just brings dynamic range to the next level on smartphone cameras.
          Super Night Mode            Super Night Mode          3x telephoto              Ultra-wide angle (Night Mode)          3x telephoto (Night Mode)            Auto              Ultra-wide angle (Night Mode)                     Super Night Mode
So, did we help you decide on your next smartphone? The HONOR 20 Pro is an excellent candidate, with everything you need to score the best low light shots. The HONOR 20 Pro is also the most affordable device in the top 5 rungs of DxOMark’s Mobile benchmark, priced at RM2299. Quite a no-brainer there, really.
This is an exclusive article for HONOR Malaysia.
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ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi) Preview — taking a peek at the VRMs

The ROG Crosshair VIII Hero is going to be the ASUS Republic of Gamers’ most “affordable” AM4 motherboard this generation. The ROG Strix is a separate lineup altogether. With that said, let’s take a look at the VRMs of the ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi), which is going to be more important than ever since that AMD has announced the 16-core (hexadeca core, if you are into that sort of thing) AMD Ryzen 9 3950X.
So we took off the I/O shroud and VRM heatsinks to take a peek at the VRM underneath. Now I am no expert at this, so I hope that you guys can provide some helpful input into this as well. This is what I found.
ASP1405i PWM controller

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On the backside of the motherboard, I found the Digi+ EPU ASP1405i VRM controller. This is reportedly based on the International Rectifier IR35201 controller. It is an 8-phase controller, which can be configured in 8+0, 7+1 or 6+2 configurations. ASUS does mention that the ROG Crosshair VIII Hero has a 14+2 power stage configuration, so with that in mind, we can safely presume that the ASP1405i here run in a 7+1 setup.
No doublers, 16 IR3555M power stages

I didn’t find any doublers on the motherboard here, but there are 16 of these International Rectifier IR3555M power stages, or PowIRstage. These can handle 60A each, and with 14 of these power stages dedicated to the cores, we are looking at 840A of maximum power. You won’t be able to ever achieve this number without burning your AMD Ryzen processor, that I am sure of. The other 2 power stages feed the SoC rail.

Since there are no doublers on the ROG Crosshair VIII Hero, you are looking at what ASUS calls a twin 16-phase configuration. Each channel of the ASP1405i will feed two sets of power stages. ASUS claims that this setup improves transient response versus one with doublers. Transient response times are crucial when your CPU load changes. Having faster transient response means that Vdroop will be less when the load increases, reducing the chance of instability when your CPU load ramps up. All this while offering the same thermal advantages that doubled power phases would offer.

ASUS first used this design in their ROG Maximus XI series, although they were panned by reviewers because of the limited controllers. The controller here is much much beefier than the ones in the ROG Z390 motherboards, and this setup is also shared with the ROG Crosshair VIII Formula, so you are getting quite a deal here with the ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (WiFi).
Bonus: ProCool ATX power connector

I don’t know how many of you had your ATX power connector melt in the socket, but I have. I had the ASUS X99-Deluxe motherboard back then, and the plastics melted together. It still worked, but it had a dank burning plastic smell. Having these solid-core pins and metal covers should be able to prevent that from ever happening on the ROG Crosshair VIII Hero. Not to mention that there is an additional 4-pin EPS connector for additional power.
The ROG Crosshair VIII Hero definitely won’t be cheap, as the PCH itself is much pricier than the previous generations. While we wait for official pricing, let’s just bask in the awesomeness of the VRMs. Also, we are waiting for a 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen CPU to flex this motherboard’s muscles with, so AMD Malaysia, if you are reading this, please drop us a message.
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If you’re looking forward to Bethesda’s next big game but not sure if your PC can handle it, we have the official Deathloop system requirements for PC right here. Can your gaming PC handle it?
Deathloop System Requirements for PC Revealed

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Bethesda has published the Deathloop system requirements for PC on their official blog post. We’ve included a table right below here for easy reading:

Minimum (Full HD 30FPS, Low settings)
Recommended (Full HD 60FPS, High settings)

CPU
Intel Core i5-8400, AMD Ryzen 5 1600, or equivalent
Intel Core i7-9700k, AMD Ryzen 7 2700x, or equivalent

GPU
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB, AMD Radeon RX 560 8GB, or equivalent
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, AMD Radeon RX 5700, or equivalent

RAM
12GB
16GB (Dual-channel)

OS
Windows 10 x64
Windows 10 x64

Storage
30GB
30GB

Needless to say if you want to play the game in higher resolutions, you will need a stronger machine, particularly the graphics card. For the most part, the requirements are reasonable for you to get a good experience. Pre-loading will be available 48 hours before the game’s release.
Deathloop will be officially available on the PlayStation 5 and PC on 13th September 2021.
Source
Pokdepinion: Looks like my PC can handle the game with ease. Can’t wait for some mayhem, but I’m about pretty sure I will be confused at the start.
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MSI Prestige P65 Creator review — the ultimate package?

Introduction
Fancy the specifications of the MSI GS65 Stealth Thin, but not really a fan of the black finish? Rather than go out and release another GS65 in white, MSI decided to add the MSI Prestige P65 Creator to their lineup, giving everyone a chance to get a MSI GS65 Stealth Thin in white. But of course, there are a few tweaks to make it more suited to the creative crowd MSI is targeting with the Prestige series.
Unboxing

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We received the highest end Limited Edition MSI Prestige P65 Creator, which comes in an exclusive wooden case here. This is the first time I saw a laptop arrive at our labs in a wooden box. Actually, we never had wooden boxes delivered to our office. You know what to do, dear every-other-brand-who-isn’t-MSI.

Opening up this pretty white box reveals the laptop right at the top of the stack, in thick foam padding.

Under the laptop we find the the charger and documentation.

And here’s the spread from the white wooden box. A pretty basic set here, nothing too special.

Here’s the included leather sleeve which the MSI Prestige P65 Creator slides into snugly.  A pretty nice touch from MSI. Absolutely didn’t expect this much class from MSI! A  wooden box, and now a leather sleeve? They are on a roll!
Appearance

The MSI Prestige P65 Creator has two twins, but no prizes for guessing. Which is why it looks exactly like the MSI GS65, except that it’s white and gold here on the lid, instead of black and gold. Personally, I dig the latter more, but we are sure there are those who prefer this.

Taking a look under the laptop reveals what is mostly just a massive grille. The hardware in this svelte system are actually pretty powerful, so it will need good cooling.

On the back, you will find three vents, which is somewhat of a signature of MSI’s higher end slim laptops. There are three fans in this beast behind those sexy polygons. There are more vents on the sides as well, but we will take a look at them later. Also, note how slim the MSI Prestige P65 Creator is! For the record, it’s just 17.9mm thin!

Opening up the laptop reveals slim bezels and more pearl white finished metal. The fingerprint scanner here is something which the MSI GS65 lacks, so there’s is some differentiation from the gaming model. Kudos to MSI for thinking about that. The keyboard’s layout is pretty good. It is the same one from the MSI GS65, although it lacks the fancy per-key RGB illumination the latter sports.
Specifications

CPU
Intel Core i7-8750H @ 2.2 GHz (up to 4.1 GHz Turbo Boost)

RAM
16GB (1 x 16GB SODIMM) 2667 MHz DDR4 (1 slot vacant)

GPU
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q 8GB GDDR5

Storage
512GB Kingston M.2 PCIe 3.0 x2 NVMe SSD
1x M.2 SSD Combo slot (vacant)

Software
Microsoft Windows 10 Home
MSI Dragon Center
MSI True Color
MSI Battery Calibration
Nahimic 3

Connectivity
WiFi 802.11ac
Bluetooth 5.0
Gigabit LAN
2 x USB 3.0
1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 (Type-A)
1 x Type-C (USB 3.1 Gen2 / DisplayPort / Thunderbolt 3)
SD card reader

Display
15.6″ FHD (1920 x 1080) 144 Hz 7ms, IPS-level
1 x HDMI 2.0 ([email protected])
1 x Mini-DisplayPort

Audio
2 x 2W speakers
1 x 3.5mm microphone in
1 x 3.5mm headphone out

Power
180W power adapter
82 WHr 4-cell Li-Po battery

Dimensions
357.7 x 247.7 x 17.9 mm

Weight
1.88 kg

Performance
The MSI Prestige P65 Creator’s hardware is pretty familiar. It is the same hardware found in the MSI GS65 anyway. With the exception of the storage. Which is actually quite disappointing to be honest.

MSI used an inferior Kingston RBUSNS8154P3512GJ M.2 PCIe SSD in the MSI Prestige P65 Creator, which resulted in much lower speed as compared to the MSI GS65 we tested.

CPU performance is a fair bit lower than other Intel Core i7 8750H laptops we have reviewed. It seems like MSI has a much more conservative boost implementation when all the cores are used, throttling down much earlier than expected. As a result, the ROG Strix SCAR II is 25% faster, and the MSI GS65 Stealth Thin is a good 10% faster.

The GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q here also delivers slightly less performance than what the MSI GS65 Stealth Thin offered.

DOTA 2 runs poorly on the MSI Prestige P65 Creator. Since DOTA 2 is a mainly CPU-limited game, I would put the blame on the low boost clocks achievable on the MSI Prestige P65 Creator when all cores are used.

Overwatch sees the MSI Prestige P65 Creator perform quite well too. It’s still a far from a full-fledged GeForce GTX 1070, but it’s extremely playable at this point.

The MSI Prestige P65 Creator delivers an even better showing in Rainbow Six Siege. The performance is just stellar, with the performance maintained well throughout the game. Thermals are on the high side, and throttling was detected by HWiNFO, but it didn’t affect the experience.

COD Black Ops 4 is also handled well by the MSI Prestige P65 Creator. The thermals are once again high, but we didn’t encounter any stutters which would indicate the CPU is heavily throttling.

Similarly high temperatures, but the MSI Prestige P65 Creator falls short of delivering a playable experience in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. Of course, 30 fps is an arguably playable experience for an RPG, but we set our threshold at 60 fps.
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Now you may have noticed the rather worrying thermals. We are actually running the laptop in Sport mode, which allows the GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q here to clock up a fair bit. Not standard GTX 1070 levels, but much higher than stock. The fans are set to the highest Cooler Boost preset, which makes a fair din but still a tolerable one. You can even tune the fan curve manually, if you want better cooling performance without having to endure too much noise.
The battery life on this is also insanely good. 9% in 30 minutes of YouTube at 50% brightness for both the keyboard and screen checks out as an amazing showing. All while being capable of some serious gaming at the literal flick of a switch? I love it!
User Experience

I don’t really dig the white bezels, if I am to nitpick. The display looks pretty awesome, and it is claimed to offer close to 100% sRGB coverage. We do not have the hardware to gauge it, but colors look vivid enough to satisfy our lowly appetites. The 144 Hz refresh rate might not be of much use to anyone who’s not a gamer, but it makes all motion so smooth it’s hard to settle for anything less once you have tried it. Professionals would also appreciate the fact that the webcam is still in the right place so the person on the other end won’t be looking at their double chin.

For those of you looking for awesome audio to enjoy your movies on, the MSI Prestige P65 Creator is a decent choice. Audio quality is just par for the course, with just two speakers. And the grille you are looking here does not hide speakers under them, but fans. They are intakes to enhance cooling, while the speakers are over on the bottom. So depending on the surface you put the MSI Prestige P65 Creator on, you can get anything from pretty good audio to muffled sound.

Nahimic is here too, but you will need headphones to get any use out of them. The software is really quite nifty, as it even lets you experience the tweaks you apply immediately. It’s a step up from most bundled software with laptops, and the fact that it works flawlessly is great.

This keyboard is really pretty awesome. Its tactility is top notch, and the main keys are all nicely sized. Top notch keyboard. The trackpad is pretty big too, but the fingerprint reader in the corner cuts down the usable area a tad. Still, I am more than willing to give up some space on the trackpad for the convenience of a fingerprint scanner. Unfortunately, there is some tangible levels of flex on the right palm rest area, and it creaks. I would have probably given it a pass as the degree of flex isn’t too serious, but the creaking is absolutely unacceptable. It appears to be limited to our specific unit of the MSI Prestige P65 Creator, as the MSI GS65 we reviewed did not exhibit such an issue, and we have already established the two share the same design.

While they both share the same design, the RGB backlighting is not carried over to the MSI Prestige P65 Creator. It features boring white backlighting, which isn’t particularly bright or clear either. I don’t know who decided that professional laptops should not feature RGB, but he deserves to be shot. Leniency will be considered given the pretty leather sleeve and packaging, but professionals need RGB too.

There is a good array of ports on both sides of the laptops. And as you can see, secondary vents which feature golden trusses. Definitely not something you see everyday. Despite the slim profile, MSI managed to cram in a Gigabit LAN port here on the left. The microphone in and headphone out are also separate, typical of MSI’s designs. Two USB 3.0 ports also find their home here. The Kensington Security Slot is well positioned here on the MSI Prestige P65 Creator, unlike the MSI PS42’s.

The right side is where you will find the display outputs, USB Type-C port and USB 3.1 Gen2 port. I am actually glad to find a proper USB 3.1 Gen2 port here, as well as a proper Thunderbolt 3 port. The position of the power connector is not exactly optimal, as the power supply ends with a L connector, meaning the cable will most probably get in the way of the vents here.
Conclusion
Interestingly, despite featuring a similar build and also hardware inside, the MSI Prestige P65 Creator is a good RM600 cheaper than the MSI GS65 Stealth Thin we reviewed. How is that possible? No idea. With that, the MSI Prestige P65 Creator is actually a better deal than the MSI GS65 Stealth Thin if you can live without RGB. The CPU performance might be slightly worse, but still better than any 7th Gen Intel Core laptop out there.

RM9999 is a pretty steep price, but for a laptop with the second fastest mobile processor in the market, a powerful graphics card and an excellent spread of I/O, all in a body that’s less than 18mm thick and just 1.88kg light, I think it might just be worth your moolah. The only downer here is the storage, which unfortunately still fell victim to cost-cutting in a laptop that costs nearly RM10 000. It is a great laptop, packaged in very nice packaging, but that knocks off some of the sheen. Taking all of that into account, the MSI Prestige P65 Creator is still an amazing laptop to behold and use though, so it’s getting our Silver PokdeWard!

Our thanks to MSI Malaysia for providing the MSI Prestige P65 Creator for review. To support us, do check out it out on Lazada via the following link:

P/S: The MSI Prestige P65 Creator is available with lesser specifications, and lower price tags too, but they do not come in the stunning Pearl White of our unit here. The lower end variants come in a Silver finish.
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Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan To Present Keynote During E3 2021

Razer has just announced that their co-founder and CEO, Min-Liang Tan, will be present to deliver Razer’s first-ever keynote at E3 2021. Min-Liang Tan will show off a new line of innovative hardware powered by Razer’s best-in-class technology and design, which will continue to raise the bar for PC gaming.
Min-Liang Tan headlining Razer’s first E3 2021 keynote

Min-Liang Tan, the CEO of Razer, will deliver the Razer E3 2021 Keynote, which is taking place June 14 at 3PM PDT (June 15 6AM Malaysian time), in an all-new extended reality format that combines live and virtual spaces for an immersive presenting experience. Millions of Razer fans and gamers across the world will be able to watch and interact with the livestream thanks to E3’s interactive overlay.

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Other industry leaders will join Min-Liang in his talk to demonstrate advancements that will take PC gaming to new heights of performance and immersion. The Razer E3 Keynote will be broadcast internationally via E3’s official channels (YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook), the E3 portal and app, as well as E3’s media partners’ websites, such as IGN, GameSpot, PC Gamer, GamesRadar+, and others, as well as Razer’s major social platforms.

Following the E3 Keynote, an extended RazerStore Live virtual event featuring more hands-on reveals, product debuts, and giveaways will be livestreamed on Razer’s social channels, hosted by gaming celebrities and Razer staff.
You can head over here for more information on Razer’s E3 keynote.
Pokdepinion: Good to see E3 coming back this year after last year’s forced no show. Also, I’m pretty interested to see what Razer has under their sleeve come June 15.
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