ASUS ZenFone 8 Flip Review — room for improvement

ASUS has not released a member of their ASUS Zenfone series here in Malaysia for two years now. This year, it seems that they finally consider the ASUS Zenfone 8 series worthy of challenging the top dogs here in Malaysia. Today, we have the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip, the successor to the ASUS ZenFone 7 from last year. It packs pretty similar specifications as well, but since we didn’t get to check out the ASUS ZenFone 7, all of this is quite fresh to us.
It is also worth noting that while the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip is pricier, the smaller Zenfone 8 is the true top-of-the-line flagship for ASUS this year, so we are in for a rather confusing time. But without further ado, let’s see what ASUS has brought to the table with the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip, and whether it can compete against the flagships available in Malaysia today.
Unboxing

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The packaging of the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip is pretty classy, with a streaky gray finish and a smart “8” emblem that reflects the “flippy” capability of the device inside. The size is pretty substantial too, so you know that there’s a charger inside.

What you get inside is pretty similar to just about every device in the market today, except for the most recent flagships from Apple and Samsung. ASUS has yet to follow the recent trend of removing the charger, and it comes with the same 30W USB-C power brick that came with the ZenFone 7 and also all the ROG Phones before the ROG Phone 5. However it is missing a USB-C to 3.5mm dongle, which is a really odd omission as the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip does not come with a headphone jack.

I am willing to forgive ASUS over this transgression though, as the included case here is an absolute beauty. Since everyone will probably use the case more than the 3.5mm dongle, I appreciate that ASUS diverted the costs of a 3.5mm dongle towards putting a better case in the box. ASUS calls this the Active Case.

The case even has a little latch to lock the camera in place. ASUS baked in a sensor to identify when the lock is engaged, preventing the camera from opening up and also displaying a message reminding you that the camera is currently locked. As violent swinging movements can actually cause the Flip Camera module to flip out by accident — at which point it will immediately retract itself — this latch ensures that you won’t have any issues with the Flip Camera popping up when it isn’t supposed to.
Appearance

ASUS started using the Flip Camera mechanism for a number of reasons. The first being that they could now offer absolutely chart-topping selfie capabilities, and the second being that you won’t need bezels to house the selfie camera anymore. As such, the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip has minimal bezels, although it is worth noting that they are still thicker than those found on something like the POCO F2 Pro. More on that later.

Over on the back, ASUS went with a glossy finish. Ours here is the Galactic Black color option, and it has a very nice deep sheen to it, which is presumably the reason behind the Galactic in its name. Unfortunately, it picks up fingerprints prodigiously. Only the ASUS Zenfone 8 has a matte variant, which is quite a bummer. And of course, right at the top you can see the flip camera which boasts of a rather sizeable hump to house the trio of cameras. Right under the cameras is a microphone to support the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip’s Mic Focus feature.

The bottom houses the single USB-C port as well as the primary loudspeaker. No headphone jack here, but you can see ASUS did include a notification LED here right beside the USB-C port. That’s really uncommon in designs today, so kudos to ASUS for still finding room for one. It’s probably unnecessary to most people, but it is nice to have.

Over on the top, we can see the hinge of the Flip Camera, and the secondary microphone. It is worth mentioning that the speaker at the top is actually in the Flip Camera module, so the sound has to pass through the gap between the Flip Camera module and the main frame, before reaching the earpiece grille. In practice, this does not lead to a noticeable difference compared to more conventional designs, but it is just cool to note. You can see that the frame is really thin right behind the Flip Camera module, so there isn’t any room here for a speaker anyway.

ASUS has moved the fingerprint scanner from the side to under the display, so here you get a standard power button highlighted in blue, and a volume rocker. Not much to see on the other side, other than the SIM tray. The frame is ever so slightly tapered towards the front, making for a better in-hand experience. The aluminum here is finished in matte black, which is a good thing as I definitely do not need more glossy surfaces to wipe down.

Overall, I would say that the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip looks decent enough, and it would stand out quite easily from the slew of flagships available in the market right now with its unique camera hump. The front is probably less exciting, but it does do away with notches and punch holes, which might be novel to some.
ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip Specifications

CPU
Snapdragon 888, 5nm FinFET
1 x Cortex-X1 @ 2.84 GHz + 3 x Cortex-A78 @ 2.42 GHz + 4 x Cortex-A55 @ 1.80 GHz

GPU
Adreno 660 @ 840MHz

Memory
8GB LPDDR5-3200

Storage
256GB UFS 3.1, expandable via microSD

Display
6.67″ FHD+ (2400 x 1080) Samsung AMOLED display, 90Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time
110% DCI-P3 gamut, Delta E < 1, HDR10+, 1000 nits peak brightness
200Hz touch sampling
Corning Gorilla Glass 6

Main Camera(s)
64MP f/1.8 main, Sony IMX686, 2×1 OCL PDAF, 26mm (35mm eqv.) 78.3° FoV
12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle, Sony IMX363, Dual PDAF, 11mm (35mm eqv.) 113° FoV, 4cm macro
8MP f/2.4 3X telephoto, OmniVision OV08A
3-axis EIS, AI Camera, Auto HDR, Auto Night Mode, Night Mode, Motion Tracking, Portrait, Pro Video, Up to 1080p60 HyperSteady video, Up to 720p480 / 4K120 slow-mo, Up to 4K60 / 8K30 video

Selfie camera
Flip Camera, Same as Rear Camera

Connectivity
5G Band n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n20, n28, n38, n77, n78
LTE Band 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 26, 28, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, WiFi 6E
Bluetooth 5.2
NFC
Dual-band GPS
USB 2.0 (Type-C)

Software
ZenUI 8 based on Android 11

Battery
5000mAh
30W fast charging, Quick Charge 4.0, USB PD 3.0 PPS
30W USB-C power adapter included

Dimensions
165.04 x 77.28 x 9.6 mm

Weight
230g

Ingress protection
No

Performance

Antutu v8 puts the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip above the ROG Phone 5 and the Xiaomi Mi 11. But of course, as we have previously established that the ROG Phone 5 isn’t particularly outstanding in its Dynamic profile. It is currently the fastest 2021 flagship we have tested. I also inserted the ASUS ZenFone 5z just to give an idea of how much the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip improves over the last ASUS ZenFone flagship that was available officially in Malaysia.

CPU performance of the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip also shines, with strong single-core and multi-core performance. It slots right between the two other Snapdragon 888 smartphones we have tested, nothing too special here.

We see the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip bagging the top spot by quite a comfortable margin versus the other devices we have tested. The dugi is actually tuned quite conservatively, which we will get into in a bit with the 3DMark Stress Test results.
Thermals

The ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip comes with performance profiles that you can play around with, just like the ROG Phone 5. But we will only be testing two today, and they are actually quite interesting. The graph shows that the High Performance mode handily outperforms the Dynamic mode, with excellent consistent performance unlike what we saw with the X Mode vs Dynamic mode on the ROG Phone 5.
It seems that ASUS tuned the thermal tolerance and power limit in the High Performance mode to be higher, with the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip hitting a good 10°C higher temperatures, hitting 47°C, versus Dynamic mode’s peak temperatures of 37°C. I believe that you would be able to enjoy a good experience in most games in Dynamic mode, so the High Performance mode might just be an extra that you will want to keep around when future games need the extra horsepower.
Battery Life

Battery life in my daily usage is quite good, with 6 hours and 36 minutes of screen time over 13 hours away from the plug. It seems that the AOD gobbles up quite a bit of battery, but this should be improved in future updates as it should be easily fixed via software.
The 30W fast charging might sound pretty slow by today’s standards but it does suffice, bringing the battery from 10% to 65% in 30 minutes. The remaining 35% takes much longer though, with the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip needing an extra hour connected to the plug before being fully charged. That’s good for the longevity of the battery, and since 65% battery should be enough for close to a day of light usage, I guess it’s acceptable.
User Experience

Unlike most of the flagship devices in the market now, the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip still touts support for storage expansion via microSD along with true dual-SIM support. It should be great if you want to just chuck in an extra microSD card for your media storage, if for some reason the 256GB in the device itself is insufficient. It is worth noting that only the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip has support for a microSD card; it’s smaller brother does not.

One thing worth noting is that the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip is a rather chunky device. It’s quite thick, and it weighs a good 230g. I guess that’s why ASUS decided to make the ASUS Zenfone 8, because the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip won’t be a good fit for daintier hands. ASUS does try to make things slightly better by tapering the edges towards the front, and it does fit better in the hand that way. Personally, I am used to this size and weight, but I would prefer it slightly lighter. I do think that it isn’t an option if you want the Flip Camera and a big battery like what the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip offers, but a man can hope.
Display and Audio

The ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip’s display isn’t particularly outstanding, but neither is it lagging behind the competition. It’s decent enough for pretty much every use case out there, with a smooth-enough 90Hz refresh rate, small enough bezels and sharp-enough FHD+ resolution. I emphasize “enough” heavily here, because the competition is now pushing for higher refresh rates, resolutions and ever narrower bezels, so the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip does feel slightly inferior if you directly compare its display against more premium device, but the panel here isn’t a bad display by any means.
It also has an odd quirk of having a noticeable darkening when switching from 90Hz to 60Hz, which is very noticeable in apps like Telegram and Facebook. When the keyboard is brought up to reply to a message or comment, all of sudden you will notice that the gray/dark blue background gets deeper. You can easily lock it at 90Hz at the expense of battery life for a less distracting experience, but you may have to keep it at 90Hz forever as I somewhat doubt that it is fixable via a software update.

As mentioned earlier, the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip has stereo audio. The top speaker is housed in the Flip Camera module, but it channels the sound to the front of the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip via some nifty little holes. The ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip sounds good, with a slight tinge of bass too. Unlike the ROG Phone 5 which has some massive speakers, ASUS had to add some artificial tones to the output to simulate deeper bass. You aren’t going to be doing critical listening via the loudspeaker anyway, so this is just an interesting detail that actually improves the listening experience.
If you want to tune the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip’s sound, you can also do so via AudioWizard which serves up a few preset profiles as well as a 10-band equalizer. ASUS worked with Dirac to tune the audio output on the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip, and I found the music mode sounds the best. But of course, if you want, you can adjust the sound yourself. Speaking of which, I found the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip to be most enjoyable to listen to when I am holding it in vertical orientation instead of in landscape, probably because of the asymmetrical speakers.

One thing to note is that there is apparently no analog audio circuitry in the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip, so if you are looking to get a 3.5mm adapter for the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip, you have to make sure that you get one with a DAC. For some reason there are headset profiles for ROG analog earphones though, so I am not exactly sure what’s going on here.
Software

ASUS is using ZenUI 8 for the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip, but it is actually quite close to the ROG Phone 5’s ROG UI, except without most of the gaming features. It is also darker, for some reason. The ROG Phone 5’s dark mode has grayish backgrounds across most of its UI, while the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip’s is black. So here you get what looks like a much cleaner UI, that is probably as close to stock as you can get without losing out on major features that you won’t get with vanilla Android.

Speaking of which, ASUS added a healthy helping of customized features to improve the user experience on the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip. You can customize the shape and color of the quick toggle icons and the system font too. There’s also stuff like Smart key, Game Genie, Mobile Manager and even customizable performance profiles.

If you are particular about overcharging your battery, the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip has a charging limit, allowing you to stop the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip from charging once it hits 80%, 90% or the standard 100%. You can even set it up to have a scheduled charging time so the device knows when you will be plugging it in and adjust the charging to suit your schedule. ASUS seems to be harnessing their experience with laptops and putting it to good use in the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip, and I really appreciate that.
Camera

ASUS seems to have directly carried over the camera from the ASUS Zenfone 7 to the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip, which means no OIS on any of the cameras. That’s quite unfortunate as the Zenfone 8 gets OIS for its main camera, and it would have made for a welcome upgrade for the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip. At the very least, OIS for the 3X telephoto camera would have been great, but nope.

The camera interface is similar to the ROG Phone 5, but it seems to offer a more responsive camera experience than the ROG Phone 5. While I left the auto HDR mode enabled, the horrific shutter lag doesn’t seem to be here anymore, which is great. There’s a little icon at the side that brings up a small menu that you save customized preset camera angles to. All you have to do is manually adjust the camera angle to where you want it, and then long press one of the three preset to save your new preset.
          Main Camera            3X Telephoto Camera          3X Telephoto Camera              Ultra-wide Camera            Main Camera            Main Camera              Ultra-wide Camera (Macro)          Ultra-wide Camera (Macro)            Main Camera              Main Camera            Main Camera              Main Camera
Due to the ongoing MCO 3.0, it’s quite hard to really evaluate the camera of the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip as I can’t really go anywhere interesting. As you would expect, the cameras do a pretty good job in good lighting, especially with its HDR capabilities balancing out the exposure very well. ASUS tends to lean towards a more realistic color profile, which looks a touch more boring, but it is closer to what I actually saw with my eyes than what most Chinese smartphones produce. But the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip begin to falter when the lighting dies down.
Even indoors, we can see the main camera and ultra-wide angle shooter let through a lot of noise. I would also say that the macro camera doesn’t provide too much of an effect, as while you can focus a lot closer, it doesn’t have the same shallow depth of field that you would get with a macro lens with a longer focal length. But hey, I always love my ultra-wide angle with autofocus, so at least it isn’t all bad. Speaking of which, it does an excellent job, probably better than many mid-range smartphones’ main cameras. I guess the Sony IMX363 is still not obsolete yet.
          3X Telephoto            3X Telephoto          3X Telephoto
The telephoto camera does a decent job in good lighting, but doesn’t perform well at all in poorer lighting. Autofocusing is abysmally slow in poor lighting, and the lack of OIS means that you will have to try to stabilize the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip yourself. However I still have to hand it to ASUS for actually using the telephoto camera instead of cropping in on the main sensor when zooming in poor lighting.
          Main Camera (Night Mode)            Ultra-wide Camera (Night Mode)            Ultra-wide Camera (Night Mode)            Main Camera (Night Mode)            Main Camera (Night Mode)              Main Camera (Night Mode)            Main Camera (Night Mode)          Ultra-wide Camera (Night Mode)              Ultra-wide Camera (Night Mode)            Selfie (Night Mode)            Selfie (Night Mode)
While the cameras don’t do well in poorer lighting conditions, that’s only until the auto Night mode gets triggered. The Night mode here works very well, detecting low light situations and immediately bringing up a tiny popup to show you that your shot will be taken with Night mode active. It works on both the ultra-wide and main camera, but not on the telephoto shooter, for obvious reasons. While it takes 4-second exposures, it is able to stabilize against normal breathing motion, which is good enough in my book. I do wish the notification popup was a bit more apparent, as sometimes I am taken by surprise and have to hold myself steady for longer than I expected.
Thanks to the rear camera being the same as the selfie camera, you get autofocus, which means sharp selfies just about every single time. It also means that you can take 8K30 selfie vlogs, if you want. Or really detailed selfies, which are apparently not desirable, according to my better half.
Of course you can always smooth out the details with the Beautify filter. And you can even take awesome selfies in low light, since the front camera is the rear camera and it can use the Night mode for selfies as well. Worst come to worst, you can blast yourself in your face with the LED flash. Personally, I think the coolest feature about the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip is the ability to shoot really, really wide panoramas without moving a muscle.

As you would expect, panoramas cannot use the impressive Night mode capabilities of the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip. As such, low light photos turn out a lot noisier. It is only really useful in bright situations, where the full sweep is well exposed. There are still some mild stitching artifacts here, but I would consider it to be a great feature regardless. And it is definitely a lot more convenient than trying to move your phone in a straight line. Let the phone do the work instead. You paid for it.
For the full-sized samples, you can head on over to this link here.
Conclusion

The ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip is priced at RM2999, which is a pretty interesting. In practice, it is a great device, especially if you plan on shooting a lot of vlogs, where the flipping camera will come in handy. The 8K30 selfie video capability is not common at all, so that’s where the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip has an upper hand. The software user experience of the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip is also quite nice, with truly useful features, instead of just cramming everything and the kitchen sink into it and calling it a day.
There are quite a few areas where it doesn’t quite match the competition though. It loses out on some fancier features like OIS, 120Hz refresh rate and ingress protection, all stuff that similarly priced devices are offering nowadays. I do understand why the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip can’t offer an IP rating, but OIS and a higher refresh rate are both features offered by its own sibling, the ASUS Zenfone 8, which makes the device we are looking at here all the more lackluster as a 2021 flagship.

But I guess that’s almost understandable, because the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip isn’t ASUS’ true 2021 flagship. That would be the aforementioned ASUS Zenfone 8. However considering that ASUS could have quite easily added OIS to the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip’s cameras — as they have already done it in yesteryear’s ASUS ZenFone 7 Pro — and maybe swapped out the display for a higher refresh rate panel, but decided against it, leaves me wondering just why weren’t these upgrades used to offer ASUS ZenFone 7 series users something to look forward to.
Instead, what we have now is what seems like a rather half-baked device. Owners of the ASUS ZenFone 7 Pro users have virtually nothing to look forward to with the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip, aside from a chipset upgrade. The only justification to get the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip over any other flagship out there is the Flip Camera, and even then, this is not ASUS’ best Flip Camera, as that would be the one in the ASUS ZenFone 7 Pro, with two of its cameras equipped with OIS. I am not saying that the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip is a bad device, as it is actually an interesting option if you need insanely good selfie capabilities, but it just could have been so, so much better.

Our thanks to ASUS Malaysia for sending us the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip for review. You can check out the ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip on Shopee via this affiliate link to support what we do here at Pokde.net.
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The HONOR 20 Pro is going to be launched this 21st May, but it seems like HONOR will be releasing a steady stream of teasers to keep us turned on. The latest reveal showcases the multitude of color options that the HONOR 20 Pro will be available in, as well as the quad camera setup.
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From the looks of it, there will be 5 color options. I am digging the quad camera setup though, with the 3D ToF sensor inline with the rest of the cameras, somewhat akin to the HUAWEI P20 Pro‘s design. The pink, grey, green, red and white options do look pretty trendy, but we believe HONOR will offer a black variant as previously leaked to cater to those who prefer less flashy colors.
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What do you think of the HONOR 20 Pro’s color options and design?
Pokdepinion: Please please please bring in the red!
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Redmi 9 design and specifications leaked with a POCO-esque rear camera

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Do take the leak with a a pinch of salt though, as you would with all leaks. @Sudhanshu Ambhore shared a leak which he claims was gotten from a Chinese source shows the rear camera design of the Redmi 9. I must say it looks extremely good for what should be a lower-mid-range device, as it takes a page out of the Redmi K30‘s (or the POCO X2?) book. The fingerprint sensor’s position gave off some POCOPHONE F1 vibes, but that might just be me.

Here’s an exclusive live image of Redmi 9 with some key specs from a Chinese source
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Purple & Green color options (atleast 2)#Redmi9 pic.twitter.com/X43WMx95VF
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The quad camera here is reportedly going to consist of a main 13MP camera, an 8MP ultra-wide angle camera, a 5MP macro camera and a 2MP depth sensor. Specifications wise it has what it takes to compete against the competition, as most of its camera hardware seems to be lifted from the Redmi Note 9S’, except for the main camera. Once again, megapixel count isn’t everything, so we will reserve our judgement for later.

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The Redmi 7 and Redmi 8 were launched with around 6 months between them, so the Redmi 9 is a little behind on its schedule. With the COVID-19 outbreak, that’s somewhat expected, although China seems to be recovering already, so perhaps we will see the Redmi 9 sooner rather than later.
Pokdepinion: If the Redmi 9 comes to Malaysia in the Redmi 8’s price range, I do believe it will annihilate the competition like the Redmi Note 9S too.
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Not long ago, Apple vowed to help in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, they’ve donated over 20 million face shields to medical workers to keep them well-protected from the virus.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook on the custom face shields:
We’ve launched a company wide effort bringing together product designers, engineering operations, packaging teams, and our suppliers to design, produce and ship face shields for health workers. Our first shipment was delivered to Kaiser hospital facilities in the Santa Clara Valley this past week, and the feedback from doctors was very positive.
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Cook states that the company is actively working with different government officials across the country to get these face shields delivered wherever they are needed and moreover, they are also hoping to start exporting these to other countries that need them.
Apple plans on producing more than 1 millions masks by the end of this week, and then 1 million every week subsequently. It is certainly an impressive figure that will certainly help the situation, especially places where supply of face masks may be lacking.
Source
Pokdepinion: It’s a solid move to help the ongoing crisis. I’m just wondering if it has an official name like iMask or iShield.
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A potent mix of strong hardware with a 1/2.6″ 12MP dual-pixel sensor, f/1.8 aperture, and optical+electronic image stabilization for videos as well as the much lauded HDR+ technology is definitely the reason behind the Google Pixel 2 performing so well in DxOMark. It even manages Portrait Mode without succumbing to a dual camera system, thanks to major advancements in machine learning algorithms and the dual-pixel phase detection to detect the depth difference in an image.

The rest of the hardware of the Pixel 2 is equally impressive, with a Snapdragon 835 and 4GB of RAM throwing the heavy punches. The Pixel 2 features a “conventional” 5″ AMOLED display with a 1080p resolution, while the Pixel 2 XL plumps for a 18:9 6″ 2880×1440 P-OLED display from LG. Considering the Pixel 2 XL is manufactured by LG, this comes as no surprise after seeing the LG V30. Both devices feature support for AR, Google Daydream and are also IP67 water resistant, a new feature to Google’s smartphone family. Google Assistant is also accessible with just a squeeze, a feature that is definitely an implementation of HTC’s EdgeSense.

The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL will start from $649 (~RM2743) and $849 (~RM3589), respectively. This time around, availability is more widespread with Singapore added to the list where the Pixel devices will be officially available. The initial batch will also come with a complimentary Google Home Mini, which makes the Pixel 2 a pretty good deal actually.
Pokdepinion: The Pixel 2 XL looks amazing in particular, while the Pixel 2 looks a little outdated with a 16:9 display now. Pricing wise, it would be really difficult for us to own one, if it is made available in Malaysia.
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Razer Raion Review – R1 and R2 still retain their position
You might think that means it’s lacking two shoulder buttons but lo and behold, you still have all four shoulder buttons; R1, R2, L1, and L2. Unlike the DualShock 4, the L2 and R2 are buttons rather than triggers. You also get a clear view of the non-detachable cable here.
Razer Raion Review
On the bottom, you have a switch to change the D-pad’s function (D-pad, left analog stick, and right analog stick), a headphone jack, and another switch to remap the shoulder buttons’ functions.
Razer Raion Review
Moving over to the back, you get a clear view of the palm grips, the product details, as well as a mode switcher for PC and PS4.
Overall, the Razer Raion is clearly trying to mimic an arcade stick in its own way. It looks like a promising alternative for those who prefer playing fighting games with controller instead. As to the build quality and usability, we’ll go over that point in a later section.
If you prefer an arcade stick but want one that’s a bit easier to carry around, check out our review of the Razer Panthera Evo by clicking right here.
Specifications
SwitchesRazer Mechanical Switch pushbuttonsExtra ButtonsDuplicate R1 and R2 face buttonsDirectional KeysRazer Mecha-tactile 8-way D-padConnectivityWired3.5mm audio jackWirelessNoneCable Length3 meters, strain relief cable, non-detachableDimensions173 x 103 x 58 mmWeight275gCompatibilityPS4, PC
User Experience

Personally, I play fighting games with an arcade stick. I used to play with a DualShock 4, and then a Razer Raiju, but I found it easier to play using an arcade stick after a while. My experience with the Razer Raion fightpad is closer to a DualShock 4 than it is with a Razer Raiju.
The build quality feels a little cheap. It’s light and feels rather follow, nowhere near as solid as the Raiju Ultimate or the original Raiju for the PS4. I wouldn’t say it’s flimsy or weak that it can break easily but if you ever get angry when playing games, there’s a good chance it will break easily with a throw. It should be able to survive a drop or two easily so no worries there.
Razer Raion Review – 6 face buttons
The button layout did take a bit of time to get used to, as I often find myself press “O” instead of “X” due to the positioning of the buttons. This isn’t a big problem but what I didn’t particularly like is the feel of the buttons. It’s not as resistant as the DualShock 4 but the travel distance is similar. This means actions that require precise execution will be rather tricky, like the Mishima’s EWGF in Tekken 7. I have to press the button earlier than usual to compensate.
Razer Raion Review
What I did like is the 8-way D-pad. It’s very responsive and also very clicky, with only little movement needed to register a direction. Given the shape of the button, it’s easier to hit the basic four directions as opposed to the other four but it’s still easy nonetheless. However, it seems like the D-pad doesn’t go into neutral as fast as I would have expected.
For instance, the input for EWGF in Tekken 7 is forward, neutral, down, down-forward and punch. The neutral is necessary because if it’s not registered, it would result in a down-forward, punch attack. This also makes it hard to execute a wavedash. It’s not impossible, but I have to be a little more patient, which results in slower executions / movements. With that being said however, I do believe with a bit more training, the timing can be improved. Also, I believe this controller is very suitable for Street Fighter players, especially characters with QCF / QCB / HCF / HCB motions.
Razer Raion Review
It’s typical for fighting game controllers to have a tournament mode, which locks certain buttons to avoid accidental presses. The Razer Raion fightpad is no exception. By pressing the volume and mic mute button at the same time, it will disable the Options, Share, and the PlayStation buttons. This is very useful if you plan on using this for competitions.
Razer Raion Review
The Razer Raion has a 3.5mm audio jack on the bottom. From what I understand, it’s meant for the PS4 so you can get audio on headphones. It supposedly doesn’t work on PC but to my surprise, I could get audio on PC through a pair of earphones connected to the fightpad. This goes for both PC and PS4 mode using the switch on the back.
This seems unintentional but if it works, especially on both platforms, I see it as a good thing. With that being said, I’m actually uncertain what the mode switch does in this case. I seem to be able to use it on PC regardless of the mode so I leave it on PS4 mode by default. It may just there in case of compatibility issues, and I happen to be lucky enough to not run into any.
If you want an arcade stick with good versatility and mod capabilities, check out our review of the Razer Panthera by clicking right here.
Razer Raion Verdict
Razer Raion Review
I really enjoyed playing with the Razer Raion fightpad. It’s not the best fighting game peripheral, but it’s definitely better than a standard gamepad, especially the DualShock 4. The build quality could be improved, and the buttons could do better with lesser travel distance.
However, the 8-way D-pad is a joy to use and it’s definitely more compact than an arcade stick. If you personally use gamepads for fighting games, I would highly recommend using this instead unless you want to go the arcade stick route. I personally believe with enough training, and possibly with the right characters, it can be just as competitive as an arcade stick.
With that, I award the Razer Raion fightpad with our Silver Pokdeward.

Big thanks to Razer Asia Pacific for sending us the Razer Raion fightpad for the purpose of this review.
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New DirectX 12 Feature Improves Performance With Simultaneous VRAM Access From CPU & GPU

GPU Upload Heaps works in conjunction with Resizable BAR to allow CPU direct access to VRAM at the same time as GPU.

Games are about to get another performance boost: a new feature from DirectX 12 called ‘GPU Upload Heaps‘ allows for CPUs to directly access the GPU VRAM even when GPU is actively accessing it. This simultaneous access negates the use of additional system RAM to copy excess data in the event of waiting for GPU access, which should mean lower RAM and CPU utilization.

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The principle for this feature is pretty simple. Conventionally, when CPU needs data from GPU VRAM, it needs to check whether GPU is actively using it in that clock cycle, and waits if the VRAM is being utilized. Data gets stored temporarily into system RAM, however that incurs a minor performance penalty since you’re moving data across systems. With this feature, CPUs can simply grab the data from VRAM without the need to wait or store the data for compute and calculations, cutting down performance overhead.
End users simply needs to enable Resizable BAR (or Smart Access Memory if you’re using AMD systems) provided that the hardware supports it. The feature is already available on the driver-side, however since this is fresh from Microsoft’s oven, don’t expect games to immediately use the feature. It may take at least months or even a year or two before such feature shows up in new titles; and it remains to be seen for developers whether such feature can introduce noticeable performance improvement overall on existing titles.
Source: Tom’s Hardware
Pokdepinion: This should help with systems on 16GB of RAM, new games these days are beginning to fill up those pretty quickly.
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Official Free Games Lineup for US & EU PS Plus June 2017; From Accidental Leak to Official Confirmation

From an accidental leak on Twitter, the official free games lineup for PS Plus June 2017 (US and EU region) has been revealed!
Every month, PlayStation gamers always have something to look forward to. A whole lineup of free games for PS Plus members that sometimes can be either a hit or miss thing.
Sure, you have to be a PS Plus member to obtain the free games but even if you’re not, it could give you a reason to subscribe to it. Here’s what is in store for PS Plus June 2017.

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Official Free Games Lineup for US & EU PS Plus June 2017
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What was initially leaked out on the PlayStation Turkey Twitter account, the free games lineup for PS Plus June 2017 has been made official via their respective videos. We have Life is Strange and Killing Floor 2 being the main highlight for the month of June.
First up, we have the complete season of Life is Strange. If you’re a fan of the Telltale Games, this one is very similar. It follows the story of Max Caulfield, who finds herself suddenly having the ability to manipulate time. Something really bad is lurking not only at her school, but also the town. It’s up to you to choose what path she goes through, and what fate awaits Arcadia Bay.
Next, we have Killing Floor 2, which was released last fall. It is a 1st-person shooter and a sequel to 2009’s Killing Floor. Here’s an overview via its Steam listing:
In KILLING FLOOR 2, players descend into continental Europe where the outbreak caused by Horzine Biotech’s failed experiment has quickly spread and gained unstoppable momentum, essentially paralyzing the European Union— Just one month after the events in the original KILLING FLOOR, the specimen clones are everywhere and civilization is in disarray; communications have failed, governments have collapsed, and military forces have been systematically eradicated. The people of Europe know survival and self-preservation too well and lucky survivors have gone into hiding.
Not all have given up hope though… A group of civilians and mercenaries have banded together to combat the outbreak and established privately funded operation bases across Europe. Upon tracking specimen clone outbreaks, players will descend into zed-laden hot zones and exterminate them.
The game notably boasts 6-player co-op and a 12 player versus survival mode.
It’s not really surprising to see Life is Strange available for PS Plus members, especially when we found out not too long ago that a sequel for the game is coming. This should get the hype going and get people excited. If you haven’t played it yet, I recommend that you do so because the story is kind of a roller-coaster ride that will keep you hooked.
For the full list of games coming to PS Plus June 2017 for EU and US regions, check it out just below here:
Full Lineup for PS Plus June 2017

Life is Strange (PS4)
Killing Floor 2 (PS4)
Neon Chrome (PS4 & PS Vita)
Spy Chameleon (PS4 & PS Vita)
Abyss Odyssey (PS3)
WRC 5 (PS3)

Pokdepinion: Well, at least the US and EU crowd will be getting a decent lineup for PS Plus June 2017. The upsetting part here is that the Asia region got Life is Strange in April 2017. Not sure why it took them so long but better late than never I suppose. If you’re a PS Plus member already, now you have more games to sink your teeth in.

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Qualcomm Reveals Snapdragon 632, 439, And 429 — Low Tier Devices Are Still Getting Attention

While last month saw Qualcomm release their “upper mid-range” chipset with the Snapdragon 710, this time around, they will be bringing in new Snapdragons for lower-end devices.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 632, 439, and 429

With the new Snapdragon 429 and 439, it should be up to 25% more faster and offers better battery efficiency than the previous 425 and 430 chips.

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The Snapdragon 429 can support either a single 16MP camera or dual 8MP cameras as well as offering a screen resolution of 720p. On the other hand, the 439 supports up to 21MP camera, or the similar dual 8MP combo and a resolution of 1080p.
Head on to the Snapdragon 632, it is supposed to be 40% faster than the earlier Snapdragon 626, coming in with a support of 1080p resolution and cameras up to 24MP or dual 13MP package, 4K video capture, and also an LTE modem for faster speeds.
Pokdepinion: Despite these chips don’t exactly offer something that’s new to the market, it is nice to see that Qualcomm are still producing new chips to support for the lower end devices. Not everyone can afford a flagship smartphone, no?
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250GB Samsung 980 PRO SSD Review

Unboxing and Appearance
Samsung 980 PRO SSD Review – Box

The Samsung 980 PRO comes in a small box with a plastic tray inside housing the SSD card itself. It’s easy to open without destroying the box so if you’re particular about that, then you’ll have no worries with this. The box itself doesn’t mention the storage capacity but there will be a sticker for that to avoid confusion. The rear has a link that leads to a portal for further details on aftersales support in multiple languages.
Samsung 980 PRO SSD Review – Box content
All you get here is a small installation guide and warranty booklet as well as the 250GB Samsung 980 PRO SSD itself. Inside the small booklet, there is a note that guides you to install the Samsung Magician software. It’s a free tool for you to manage, monitor and optimize the SSD, along with other compatible Samsung storage devices, but you can choose to use this SSD without it if you wish.
Samsung 980 PRO SSD Review – Size
As you can see from the size, you will need a M.2 slot that supports 80-mm drives, Type-2280, with support for PCIe and NVMe. This Samsung 980 PRO makes use of the 6th generation memory-cell configuration, packing 40% more cells than its predecessor. It also features a new 3-bit MLC NAND technology which contains more than 100 layers of cells and is 15% more power-efficient, going at about 4-6W for accessing data, and roughly 35mW when idle.

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Samsung 980 PRO SSD Review – Installing the SSD
Apart from that, this one comes with the new Samsung Elpis controller, processing 128 input and output queues at the same time, which is roughly four times more than the previous iterations’ Phoenix controller. With improvements in speed and efficiency unfortunately comes lower endurance ratings as this one only has 150TBW (total terabytes written). The 1TB variant is much higher, at 600TBW but that’s still half of the 1TB Samsung 970 PRO, which is set at 1200TBW. It’s still decent nonetheless, just not for this variant.
Specifications
Samsung 980 PRO M.2 2280 PCIE 4.0 x4, NVMe

Capacity
250GB

Interface
M.2 PCIe Gen 4.0 x4, NVMe 1.3c

NAND Type
Samsung 1xxL V-NAND TLC

DRAM Cache
512MB LPDDR4

Controller
Samsung Elpis

Rated speed
Sequential:
Read: Up to 6400MB/s Write: Up to 2700MB/s

Endurance
150TBW

Dimensions
80.01 mm X 23.87 mm X 22.1 mm

Weight
9 gram

Included accessories
None

Warranty
5 years

Test System

CPU
Intel Core i9-12900K

Cooler
ASUS ROG Ryujin II 360 AIO

Motherboard
ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z690 HERO

GPU
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti

Memory
2 x 16GB KLEVV DDR5 U-DIMM Standard Memory DDR5-4800 CL40

Power Supply
Cooler Master V850 Platinum

Performance
Synthetic
Samsung 980 PRO SSD Review – CrystalDiskMark
The 250GB Samsung 980 PRO SSD manages to perform just as claimed, coming close to the 6,400MB/s and 2,700MB/s read and write speed. It’s certainly one of the faster SSDs that we’ve tested so far, and I expect the results to be a little better for the higher storage capacities.
Samsung 980 PRO SSD Review – AS SSD
A similar pattern can be seen in AS SSD benchmark, as you can see excellent across the board. Most notably, the access times are lightning fast, which is great.
Samsung 980 PRO SSD Review – Anvil’s Storage Utilities
Moving on to Anvil’s Storage Utilities, the score achieved by the 250GB Samsung 980 PRO SSD is the highest we’ve achieved thus far, noticeably higher than the Kingston KC2500 NVMe SSD which originally held the pole position.
Under load, the Samsung 980 PRO does heat up quite a bit, with the controller reaching 92°C while the drive reached 80°C. There is a variant that comes with a heatsink, which I would recommend for better longevity and a more consistent performance in the long run regardless of what you do with it.
Real World
Samsung 980 PRO SSD Review – Game loading test
Loading times with the 250GB Samsung 980 PRO is excellent as it managed to load Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood in just 9.691 seconds. It’s not the fastest but even so, it’s only 0.309 seconds slower, which would be unnoticeable by human standards. If you’re looking for an SSD to speed up games that typically takes ages to load, this is definitely one to consider.
It’s worth pointing out that you can use this on the PS5 but because we do not have a compatible heatsink module for it, we can’t test that out. If we do get our hands on it, we will update the review accordingly.
Samsung 980 PRO SSD Review – Cost per GB
While the Samsung 980 PRO does an excellent job in speed, it’s definitely far from being cheap. It’s on the more expensive side for PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe drives, though it does drop a noticeable amount if you opt for the higher storage variants. Regardless, it’s not necessarily a bad thing as you get what you pay for, and that is a good experience with lightning speed.
Samsung 980 PRO Verdict
Samsung 980 PRO SSD Review
At RM392, the 250GB Samsung 980 PRO SSD is on the pricier side but if you’re willing to stomach the price, it does have a lot to offer. If money is tight, there’s nothing wrong with going for a more affordable option provided that you are willing to part with the performance that this SSD offers. Even so, if you are going for the Samsung 980 PRO SSD, I would highly recommend the 1TB variant with heatsink.
At the end of our 250GB Samsung 980 PRO SSD review, I award this SSD storage with our Silver Pokdeward.

Big thanks to Samsung Malaysia for sending us this SSD for the purpose of this review.
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Apex Legends Adding Duos Mode for A Limited Time Only

Starting next week, for a limited time, it takes ✌.Dive in to Duos 11/5. pic.twitter.com/uJkk7txcNE— Apex Legends (@PlayApex) October 30, 2019

Previously, Respawn Entertainment had Solos as a limited-time event in Apex Legends. Given how well-received it was, they’re now giving another highly-demanded mode, Duos Mode, a try as well starting 5th November 2019.
Unlike other battle royales, Apex Legends uses characters who each come with their own special powers. This makes balancing around modes like Solos and Duos a little more difficult than it is in something like PUBG or Fortnite. They’re doing what they can to keep the game balanced even when it’s moving into a mode that the game wasn’t designed around.
By keeping the modes limited time, it keeps them feeling special. Sure, it sucks for anyone who view Solos as the best way to play, but I would guess that most players are sticking to the 3-person teams the game was designed around. Having a wackier mode is fun for the short term, but it might split the player base and hurt the game overall if it was made permanent.

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The Halloween-themed Shadowfall mode was well-received. Especially how creative it was on the whole “zombies” concept, many have enjoyed the twist in gameplay that made it a surprisingly refreshing experience. Let’s see if Duos Mode in Apex Legends will be able to do the same.
Apex Legends is currently available for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Origin for free. It’s expected to appear on Steam soon.
Pokdepinion: Personally, I’m still hoping for a 4-man game of Apex, though I’m aware this can greatly shift the game balance. I’m still gonna go give Duos a try at least.
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Beat Saber acquired by Facebook

Facebook has just acquired Beat Games, the studio behind one of the most popular VR titles yet, Beat Saber. The studio will join Oculus Studios under Facebook, but will continue operating independently in their Prague.
Beat Saber has sold more than 1 million copies of the game, with it available on PC and Playstation 4. While Facebook is still allowing Beat Games to operate independently, Beat Saber players, especially those on PC, may see a setback pretty soon.

Currently Beat Saber supports third-party mods which include downloadable maps which more often than not use copyrighted music. It has always been a grey area and while Beat Games may have not been hit by lawsuits, with Facebook now being the name behind them, I forsee them stopping users from continuing this practice.

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There aren’t any clues as to what Facebook has planned for Beat Games. Maybe Oculus-exclusive titles are coming next?
Pokdepinion:
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ROG Zephyrus G14 with RTX 2060 and 120 Hz display is coming at a later date

The ROG Zephyrus G14 has been made official a week earlier, with the highest-end variant announced with a GeForce RTX 2060 for RM7699. That’s a pretty great price for such an amazing piece of hardware, but disappointingly, ASUS Malaysia revealed that it will come with a 60 Hz 1440p display instead of the 120 Hz FHD display in the variant we reviewed. Well, it seems that a 120 Hz variant will also make its way into Malaysia at a later date.

Gamers who want to enjoy high refresh rate gaming on the ROG Zephyrus G14 will probably have to wait a bit longer for the 120 Hz variant to be offered here in Malaysia, but I do think it will be worth the wait. The GeForce RTX 2060 is barely enough for gaming at 1080p, so 1440p would mean you have to play at 1080p and suffer blurry visuals due to the fact that 1080p doesn’t scale properly to 1440p.

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Both the 120 Hz FHD display and 2K60 panels are Pantone Validated and offer up to 100% sRGB coverage, which means that they will deliver a pretty similar experience when it comes to content creation too. Also when crammed into a 14″ form factor, the difference in resolution is barely noticeable.

As of now, ASUS Malaysia will still continue with their plan to launch the ROG Zephyrus G14 this 29th June with the 2K60 display. You can check out the full specifications of the ROG Zephyrus G14 below:
ROG Zephyrus G14 Specs

CPU
AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS @ 3.0 GHz (up to 4.3 GHz Boost), 8C/16T, 35W TDP, 7nm

RAM
16GB 3200 MHz DDR4 (8GB onboard + 1x 8GB SO-DIMM)

GPU
AMD Radeon Graphics (8 CU @ up to 1750 MHz)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q 6GB GDDR6

Storage
1TB Intel 660p PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD

Software
Microsoft Windows 10 Home
GeForce Game Ready Driver 442.74
Armoury Crate
GameFirst VI
GameVisual
MyASUS

Connectivity
Intel WiFi-6 AX200 (2×2 WiFi 6 up to 2.4 Gbps)
Bluetooth 5.0
2 x USB 3.0 (5 Gbps)
1 x USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) Type-C
1 x USB-C (USB 3.1 10 Gbps, DP 1.4, USB-PD charging)

Display
14″ 2K (2560 x 1440) 60 Hz IPS, Adaptive Sync, 100% sRGB, Pantone Validated
1 x HDMI 2.0b ([email protected])

Audio
2 x 2.5W speakers with Smart AMP technology
2 x 0.7W tweeters
1 x 3.5mm combo jack

Power
180W power adapter
76 WHr Li-Po battery
65W USB-PD charging

Dimensions
324 x 222 x 19.9 mm

Weight
1.7 kg

Price
RM7699

ASUS Malaysia didn’t confirm the date that they will be bringing in the ROG Zephyrus G14 with the 120 Hz display, but our best bet would be a few months down the line, along with the more affordable configurations of the ROG Zephyrus G14 with GeForce GTX 16-series graphics.

What do you think? Should the ROG Zephyrus G14 come with a 120 Hz FHD display or a 60 Hz 2K screen? Let us know in the comments!
Pokdepinion: I think I will be holding out for the ROG Zephyrus G14 with a 120 Hz display panel.
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Professional FIFA Players Have Been Playing Dirty To Rank Up

When you think about professional gamers, you’d think that they fought hard to earn their right to be on top of the league right? Well it seems that a handful of pro FIFA players have been caught in doing something that helps in their ranks.
If you are new to FIFA’s system, well basically there’s qualification matches that happens on every weekend, which will earn players, well loots and access to big events.
The thing about it is that, the system counts your win and loss into account. There’s probably a whole lot of FIFA players out there. So how do the pros make sure that they don’t face gamers that are at their level? It seems that a bunch of them are in a secret Discord group.

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They’ve created the group as to plan ways to avoid being matched with each other. It was discovered by FIFA player by the name “RunTheFutMarket”, which you can check the video below.

After discovering about the whole Discord issue, it seems that EA has decided to punish one of the players involved, by handing two qualifier suspension from FIFA 20 Global Series.
Pokdepinion: It’s good that they’ve taken action. What I’m weird out about is, why did only one guy receive the punishment? What happened to the rest of the group of players?
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Nintendo Prevents Switch Hackers With New Firmware Update

With the latest 6.2.0 firmware update, Nintendo have possibly closed off any forms of emulation and piracy on the handheld gaming console platform.
Previously, there was a recovery mode exploit that allowed hackers to boot up a customized OS in order to run illegally downloaded games, play games that was made by amateur developers, emulate retro games, and even enable external hard drive support for the console.
Thanks to the new update, it secures the boot up functionality and fixes the exploit. Switch owners are now required to download and install the new update to connect to the eShop.

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Beforehand, hackers could pirate games directly from the store by tricking the servers. Though previous games that was acquired before the update will not be affected, it just means that they won’t be able hack their way into getting new ones instead.
Pokdepinion: Though it’s good news that they’ve introduced the new update to fight off the issue, I could foresee new methods of getting past it soon. Hackers being hackers, they’d definitely find their way around it somehow.
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Celebrate The Upcoming Festive Season With HUAWEI – Includes A Trip To Tokyo Disneyland!

Do you want to win a trip to a 4 days 3 nights get-away for four to Tokyo Disneyland this coming Hari Raya? Well HUAWEI will be hosting their ‘Gaya Raya bersama HUAWEI’, which you stand a chance to win the trip, an opportunity to go to Club Med Bali, Indonesia, as well as cash vouchers and merchandises worth up to RM100,000.
Gaya Raya Bersama HUAWEI
Interested enough? In order for you to stand a chance in winning these prizes, all you need to do is purchase HUAWEI devices from 18th of May 2018 till the 17th of June 2018.
In addition to that, HUAWEI Malaysia will be giving away 250 pieces of RM200 cash vouchers and there will be exclusive merchandises with selected purchase of the devices:

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HUAWEI P20 (RM2,599) – Colorful cup and colorful steel data cable worth RM249
HUAWEI P20 Pro (RM3,299) – Colorful cup and colorful steel data cable worth RM249
HUAWEI Mate 10 (RM2,299) – Mate 10 Gift box, which includes bottle and air purifier worth RM169
HUAWEI Mate 10 Pro (RM3,099) – Mate 10 Gift box, which includes bottle and air purifier worth RM169
HUAWEI nova 2i (RM999) – Travel bag worth RM79
HUAWEI nova 2 lite (RM799) – Travel bag worth RM79
HUAWEI M3 Lite (RM999) – Stylus pen and flip cover worth RM59

For those interested to participate in the campaign, you can just follow these simple steps to take part:

One customer is entitled for one entry of lucky draw for each purchase of HUAWEI product during the campaign period.
Participants will be required to answer two questions and fill in their personal details on the lucky draw form.
All lucky draw forms will be submitted to HUAWEI’s office.
Winners will be announced on the HUAWEI Mobile Facebook page on 6th of July 2018.

Pokdepinion: Well if you’ve been aiming for a HUAWEI device, you might want to wait just a little bit for the campaign period to begin. Who knows, you might stand a chance to win that trip to Japan!

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NVIDIA Xavier announces on GTC 2016 – is Nvidia making an electric car for Apple?

NVIDIA Xavier with custom ARM64 CPU and 512 CUDA core Volta GPU for 20 DL TOPS

Today at the GPU Technology Conference 2016, Amsterdam, NVIDIA has announced a new project called Xavier, an in-vehicle computer based on 64-bit ARM architecture and also NVIDIA Volta.  Basically Xavier is a new generation of NVIDIA Tegra, it consists of a custom 8-core ARM64 CPU and a 512 CUDA core Volta GPU. Total transistor count on the chip is about 7 billion transistors, and will be based on the 16nm FinFET process.

Compared to the Drive PX 2, NVIDIA Xavier is said have better power consumption, consuming only ¼th of the power it’s predecessor needed (20W) and capable of encoding and decoding HDR video content at 8K. Xavier is aimed to have up to 20 Deep Learning Tera-Ops (DL TOPS), that makes it equivalent to the Drive PX2. This result 1.3 times the performance compared to the Drive PX 2. The SoC specification is almost perfect but the slides doesn’t show neither the RAM capacity or the type of memory interface that it will be using.

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NVIDIA has high hopes for this project to further expand their foothold in the automotive business. NVIDIA has also labelled the Xavier as “AI Supercomputer SoC” which can operate alone unlike the discrete NVIDIA Tesla cards. The information regarding Xavier is still pretty vague as the SoC chip won’t begin sampling until end of 2017. NVIDIA CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, said the pre-key notes will be held on January 2017, in Las Vegas at the CES 2017. This is also followed with more insight on the upcoming NVIDIA Volta GPU technology.

Pokdepinion: There was a rumor regarding Apple building an electric car called iCar, and also recently NVIDIA happened to posted a job advertisement looking for a software engineer who is ready to work with Apple Computers. Today with the announcement of NVIDIA Xavier, is it both Apple and NVIDIA are working together in making an electric car that will be powered by Xavier?
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[Computex 2019] ASUS VivoBook S14 and S15 Refreshed – Gets the ScreenPad and Looks Even Better

The VivoBook S14 (S431/S432) and VivoBook S15 (S531/S532) just got a breath of fresh air and it looks nothing short of the infamous ZenBook Pro from last year. You’re right! The mainstream line up now gets the innovative ASUS ScreenPad 2.0 secondary screen which will enhance your productivity like never before. To make things fun, ASUS has brought in five unconventional color-blocking finishes that gives it a rather chic look too.
The ScreenPad 2.0, powered by ASUS’ latest ScreenXpert software, now had a larger 5.65-inches touchscreen and the VivoBook S14 and S15 are the first in the series to feature it. It includes some handy ASUS utilities: Quick Key enables one-tap automation of complex keyboard sequences, Handwriting for natural text input, Number Key for data entry. Revised from the previous generation, it has a smartphone-like interface that improves it from its predecessor. ASUS has also implemented API for developers to optimize their software and user experiences for ScreenPad. Even the hardware is more efficient now providing more than twice batter life when the ScreenPad is being used.

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The VivoBook S14 and S15 have metal chassis and comes in Moss Green, Punk Pink, Cobalt Blue, Transparent Silver and Gun Metal finishes and I have to say, the colors really bring out the personality of these beautiful laptops.

The display is a NanoEdge providing the machines with a more compact chassis footprint. At 1.4kg and 1.8kg respectively, they are definitely lightweight to carry around. The frameless four-sided NanoEdge display provides up to 5.2mm thin bezels and 88% screen-to-body ratio for more immersive visuals. The ErgoLift hinge tilts the keyboard up to 3.5° providing a more comfortable typing experience.
Under the core, ASUS has also included Intel powered Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) that delivers faster internet than conventional 802.11ac cards. The built-in IR camera offers hands-free face detection login that works closely with Windows Hello. The Harman Kardon certified audio also provides immersive audio, making the VivoBook S14 and S15 totally lovable.
VivoBook S14 Specifications

Model
VivoBook S14 S431FL / S431FA
VivoBook S14 S432FL / S432FA

Processor
Intel® Core™ i7-8565U 1.8GHz quad‑core with Turbo Boost (up to 4.6GHz) and 8MB cache
Intel® Core™ i5-8265U processor 1.6GHz quad‑core with Turbo Boost (up to 3.9GHz) and 6MB cache
Intel® Core™ i7-8565U 1.8GHz quad‑core with Turbo Boost (up to 4.6GHz) and 8MB cache
Intel® Core™ i5-8265U processor 1.6GHz quad‑core with Turbo Boost (up to 3.9GHz) and 6MB cache

Operating system
Windows 10 Pro
Windows 10 Home
Windows 10 Pro
Windows 10 Home

Display
14‑inch LED‑backlit FHD (1920 x 1080) panel with 16:9 aspect ratio
Frameless four‑sided NanoEdge display with 86% screen‑to‑body ratio
178° wide‑view technology
14‑inch LED‑backlit FHD (1920 x 1080) panel with 16:9 aspect ratio
Frameless four‑sided NanoEdge display with 88% screen‑to‑body ratio
178° wide‑view technology

Graphics
For S431FL: NVIDIA® GeForce® MX250 with 2GB GDDR5 VRAM
For S431FA: Integrated Intel® UHD Graphics 620
For S432FL: NVIDIA® GeForce® MX250 with 2GB GDDR5 VRAM
For S432FA: Integrated Intel® UHD Graphics 620

Memory
Up to 16GB 2133MHz LPDDR3
Up to 16GB 2133MHz LPDDR3

Storage
256GB / 512GB/ 1TB PCIe SSD
256GB / 512GB/ 1TB PCIe SSD

Wireless
802.11ax Intel® Wi‑Fi 6 (GIG+)
802.11ac Intel® Wi‑Fi 5
Bluetooth® 5.0
802.11ax Intel® Wi‑Fi 6 (GIG+)
802.11ac Intel® Wi‑Fi 5
Bluetooth® 5.0

Connectivity
1 x USB 3.1 Type-C™ (USB‑C™) Gen 2 (Up to 10Gbps)
1 x Type-A USB 3.1 Gen 1
1 x USB 2.0
1 x HDMI
1 x Combo audio jack
1 x SD card reader
1 x USB 3.1 Type-C™ (USB‑C™) Gen 2 (Up to 10Gbps)
1 x Type-A USB 3.1 Gen 1
1 x USB 2.0
1 x HDMI
1 x Combo audio jack
1 x SD card reader

Keyboard and touchpad
Full‑size keyboard with 1.4 mm key travel and optional backlight
Integrated NumberPad (only on Transparent Silver models)
Palm rejection technology
Precision Touchpad (PTP) technology with four‑finger smart gesture recognition
Full‑size backlit keyboard with 1.4 mm key travel
ASUS ScreenPad 2.0:
5.65‑inch FHD+ (2160 x 1080) Super IPS display
178° wide view technology
Glass‑covered surface for fingerprint and smudge resistance
Precision Touchpad (PTP) technology with four‑finger smart gesture recognition

Audio
ASUS SonicMaster with surround sound and smart amplifier technology
Array microphone with Cortana voice recognition
Certified by Harman Kardon
ASUS SonicMaster with surround sound and smart amplifier technology
Array microphone with Cortana voice recognition
Certified by Harman Kardon

Software
ASUS Splendid
ASUS Tru2Life Video
ASUS AudioWizard
ASUS Splendid
ASUS Tru2Life Video
ASUS AudioWizard

Battery
Fast charge to 60% capacity in 49 min
47Wh 2-cell lithium-polymer battery
For S431FL: 65W power adapter
For S431FA: 45W power adapter
Fast charge to 60% capacity in 49 min
42Wh 3-cell lithium-polymer battery
For S432FL: 90W power adapter
For S432FA: 45W power adapter

Colors
Moss Green / Punk Pink / Cobalt Blue / Transparent Silver / Gun Metal
Moss Green / Punk Pink / Transparent Silver

Size
18.0 x 323.3 x 213.7 mm
18.0 x 322.4 x 211.7 mm

Weight
1.4 kg
1.4 kg

VivoBook S15 Specifications

Model
VivoBook S15 S531FL / S531FA
VivoBook S15 S532FL / S532FA

Processor
Intel® Core™ i7-8565U 1.8GHz quad‑core with Turbo Boost (up to 4.6GHz) and 8MB cache
Intel® Core™ i5-8265U processor 1.6GHz quad‑core with Turbo Boost (up to 3.9GHz) and 6MB cache
Intel® Core™ i7-8565U 1.8GHz quad‑core with Turbo Boost (up to 4.6GHz) and 8MB cache
Intel® Core™ i5-8265U processor 1.6GHz quad‑core with Turbo Boost (up to 3.9GHz) and 6MB cache

Operating system
Windows 10 Pro
Windows 10 Home
Windows 10 Pro
Windows 10 Home

Display
15.6‑inch LED‑backlit FHD (1920 x 1080) panel with 16:9 aspect ratio
Frameless four‑sided NanoEdge display with 88% screen‑to‑body ratio
178° wide‑view technology
15.6‑inch LED‑backlit FHD (1920 x 1080) panel with 16:9 aspect ratio
Frameless four‑sided NanoEdge display with 88% screen‑to‑body ratio
178° wide‑view technology

Graphics
For S531FL: NVIDIA® GeForce® MX250 with 2GB GDDR5 VRAM
For S531FA: Integrated Intel® UHD Graphics 620
For S532FL: NVIDIA® GeForce® MX250 with 2GB GDDR5 VRAM
For S532FA: Integrated Intel® UHD Graphics 620

Memory
Up to 16GB 2400MHz DDR4
Up to 16GB 2400MHz DDR4

Storage
Dual storage with 256GB / 512GB/ 1TB PCIe SSD and 1TB / 2TB HDD
256GB / 512GB/ 1TB PCIe SSD

Wireless
802.11ax Intel® Wi‑Fi 6 (GIG+)
802.11ac Intel® Wi‑Fi 5
Bluetooth® 4.2 or 5.0
802.11ax Intel® Wi‑Fi 6 (GIG+)
802.11ac Intel® Wi‑Fi 5
Bluetooth® 4.2 or 5.0

Connectivity
1 x USB 3.1 Type-C™ (USB‑C™) Gen 1
1 x Type-A USB 3.1 Gen 1
2 x USB 2.0
1 x HDMI
1 x Combo audio jack
1 x MicroSD card reader
1 x USB 3.1 Type-C™ (USB‑C™) Gen 1
1 x Type-A USB 3.1 Gen 1
2 x USB 2.0
1 x HDMI
1 x Combo audio jack
1 x MicroSD card reader

Keyboard and touchpad
Full‑size keyboard with 1.4 mm key travel
Touchpad with palm rejection technology and precision Touchpad (PTP) technology with four‑finger smart gesture recognition
Full‑size keyboard with 1.4 mm key travel
ASUS ScreenPad 2.0:
5.65 inch FHD+ (2160 x 1080) Super IPS display
178° wide view technology
Glass covered surface for fingerprint and smudge resistance
Precision Touchpad (PTP) technology with four finger smart gesture recognition

Audio
ASUS SonicMaster with surround sound and smart amplifier technology
Array microphone with Cortana voice recognition
Certified by Harman Kardon
ASUS SonicMaster with surround sound and smart amplifier technology
Array microphone with Cortana voice recognition
Certified by Harman Kardon

Software
ASUS Splendid
ASUS Tru2Life Video
ASUS AudioWizard
ASUS Splendid
ASUS Tru2Life Video
ASUS AudioWizard

Battery
Fast charge to 60% capacity in 49 min
42Wh 3-cell lithium-prismatic battery
For S531FL: 90W power adapter
For S531FA: 45W power adapter
Fast charge to 60% capacity in 49 min
42Wh 3-cell lithium-polymer battery
For S532FL: 90W power adapter
For S532FA: 45W power adapter

Colors
Moss Green / Punk Pink / Cobalt Blue / Transparent Silver / Gun Metal
Moss Green / Punk Pink / Cobalt Blue / Transparent Silver

Size
180 x 357.2 x 230.3 mm
180 x 357.2 x 230.3 mm

Weight
1.8 kg
1.8 kg

Gallery

Pokdepinipon: Boy, we came a long way! Just look at you, all grown up and dashing!
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Apple Releases Security Updates for iPhones, iPads, and Macs to Fix Zero-Day Flaw

Whether you’re using one or a myriad of Apple devices, you will need to get it updated as soon as possible as you might be in risk of a security flaw.
Update Your Apple Gadgets Now

Apple has recently released several small updates for various devices including the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, HomePod, and Apple TV. While these updates don’t come with any new features, it is important for users to update their devices as they include security updates that fix a zero-day flaw known to have been used to hack iPhones, iPads, and Macs. The flaw was fixed with a patch in the iOS 16.3.1, iPadOS 16.3.1, and macOS 13.2.1 updates.

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The security update in these patches addresses a type confusion issue that could allow arbitrary code execution when processing maliciously crafted web content using WebKit. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited. Additionally, the update includes a fix for a “use after free” issue that could allow an app to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges.
The update is available for the iPhone 8 and later, iPad Air (3rd gen) and later, iPad (5th gen) and later, iPad mini (5th gen) and later, MacBook Pro (2017 and later), MacBook Air (2018 and later), MacBook (2017 and later), iMac (2017 and later), Mac mini (2018 and later), and Mac Studio.

The article also mentions a separate update for macOS Big Sur that fixes a Safari issue where websites in the Favorites section of the Start page lost their custom favicons and instead displayed generic gray icons. Apple also released HomePod 16.3.2 and tvOS 16.3.2 updates for all models, following 16.3.1 updates earlier this month. WatchOS 9.3.1 was also released for Apple Watch Series 4 and later with bug fixes and important security updates.
Source
Pokdepinion: Time to get them all updated, and I sure hope none of these will cause anything to break. Otherwise that would be rather unfortunate as we avoid one problem only to face another one.
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Ubisoft to Focus More on Nintendo Switch; Games Selling Well on the Platform

With Ubisoft being very happy with their games selling well on the Nintendo Switch, they are planning to focus more on Nintendo’s newest videogame console.

Ubisoft to Focus More on Nintendo Switch
Ubisoft Chief Executive Officer, Yves Guillemot
During Ubisoft’s quarterly conference call for investors and analysts, Chief Executive Officer Yves Guillemot talked about the performance of the Nintendo Switch, on top of the publisher’s plans and expectations for Nintendo’s newest videogame console.

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Guillemot explained that the strong revenue from games for the console in the past quarter came from the surprising crossover game, Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, as well as Rayman Legends. Another notable game with a smaller contribution in comparison to the previous 2 is Just Dance 17.
Ubisoft is said to be “very happy” with sales on the Nintendo Switch, and they feel that it’s gonna sell in “big volumes” during the Christmas season…or holiday season if you want to be politically correct about it. Ubisoft expects to continue investing on the Nintendo Switch moving forward.

On top of that, Guillemot mentioned that Ubisoft expects “big sales” for Just Dance 18 at the end of the year, on top of more sales for the aforementioned games making good sales, Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle and Rayman Legends.
And that’s not all, as he added later in the call that Just Dance 17‘s best selling version is the one on Nintendo Switch. This is very surprising information as most people would think that it would’ve done better elsewhere.
It’ll be quite interesting to see what else that investment on Nintendo’s console will bring from Ubisoft. Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle was a pleasant surprise for many. Only time will tell but this is a good chance for Nintendo to shine as far as games library is concerned.

Pokdepinion: Well, seeing something as big as Ubisoft giving a big thumbs up for the Nintendo Switch is a good sign that the platform will be very healthy for a while. We expect support to continue growing as time passes by as Nintendo’s newest console is doing very well in most parts of the world.
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You Can Now Play Call Of Duty Blackout For Free Till The End Of April

A lot of gamers were shocked when Activision revealed that their Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 had a batte royale mode called Blackout. Now it seems that they are offering the game mode to be available for everyone to play for free.

Additionally, you’ll be able to experience Alcatraz, the latest map in the game mode that’s introduced during the same time. If you are a fan of smaller maps, well you are probably going to enjoy that with Alcatraz. It will also let you to play in four teams of ten compared to the typical 100 player PvE.
You are able to play the game on PC, PS4, and also Xbox One. Interested in playing? Well you can download the free access by clicking on the link right here to go to their official website. If you fancy the game and the free period is over, you can decide to purchase the game and they will then transfer all your progress over.

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Pokdepinion: I still play Black Ops 4, though I never play the Blackout mode. Battle royale is just not my thing. Well if you want to have a taste of what Call Of Duty Black Ops 4 has to offer, why not give it a go?
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Google+ for Consumers Shutting Down – Users’ Personal Data Exposed

Google+ for Consumers Shutting Down

It looks like we’re getting a glimpse of a very rare occasion on the internet today as a social media platform will be closing its doors. Google has announced that they will indeed be shutting down the consumer version of their Google+ platform.
The decision was made following the revelation of a security flaw which exposed private user data from sometime in 2015 to March 2018, in which the latter was the time that it was fixed.

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Not only that, the Google+ platform is also seeing low usage and engagement, with an estimated 90% of user sessions lasting less than 5 seconds. They still plan on keeping the service alive for enterprise customers using it to facilitate conversation among co-workers. In essence, they will work on making it a “secure corporate social network”, in which updates will be more focused on that aspect.
Aside from the Google+ consumer shut down, it was also announced that there will be new privacy adjustments for other Google services. API changes will limit developers’ access to data on Android devices and Gmail. Developers will no longer receive call log and SMS permissions on Android devices and contact interaction data won’t be available through the Android Contacts API.
For Gmail on the other hand, the User Data Policy will be updated for the consumer version, which will limit apps and their range of accessing user data. In fact, only apps that are directly enhancing email functionality like backup services and email clients will be allowed to access the data.
They’re also making it more strict for developers as they will have to undergo security assessments and agree to new rules on data handling, such as not using the data for targeted ads or market research.
All these changes are aligned together under an internal Google initiative known as Project Strobe. It will involve a review of 3rd party developer access to Google account and Android device data..
For now, the consumer version of Google+ will be shutting down in about 10 months time.
Source: Official Blog
Pokdepinion: That’s the end of one social media platform, something we haven’t seen for a long time. Probably since MySpace even, if anyone still remembers what that is.
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Lenovo Legion 5, Legion 5i, and Legion 5Pi Coming to Malaysia This June 2020

 The folks over at Lenovo Malaysia have announced three new gaming laptops that will be coming to Malaysia this June 2020. Those three laptops are the Lenovo Legion 5, Lenovo 5i, and Lenovo Legion 5Pi.
Lenovo Legion 5 and 5i
 Both the Lenovo Legion 5 and 5i are their mainstream 15-inch Windows 10 gaming laptops with a number of configuration options powered by NVIDIA GeForce graphics. Both models will sports the Lenovo Legion Coldfront 2.0 thermal management system, Lenovo Legion TrueStrike keyboard, and battery life up to 8 hours thanks to the Advanced Optimus and Hybrid Mode technologies. Both models are said to support Wi-Fi 6, Dolby Atmos, and Rapid Charge Pro. On the memory side of things, it’s expected to have 16GB DDR4 RAM and 1TB PCIe SSD storage. As for what sets them apart, the Lenovo Legion 5 will be powered by up to the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H CPU with up to GeForce RTX 2060 GPU whereas the Lenovo Legion 5i will be powered by up to the Intel Core i7-10875H and GeForce RTX 2060 GPU.
Lenovo Legion 5 Specifications

CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 4600H (up to 4 GHz Boost), 6C/12T, 7nm FinFET, 45W TDP AMD Ryzen 7 4800H (up to 4.2 GHz Boost), 8C/16T, 7nm FinFET, 45W TDP

RAM
16GB (2 x 8GB) 3200 MHz DDR4

GPU
AMD Radeon Graphics NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6

Storage
256GB / 512GB / 1TB PCIe SSD

Connectivity
Wireless Wi-Fi 6, 802.11ax 2×2 Bluetooth 5.0 Wired 1 x RJ45 LAN 4 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A (1 x Always On) 1 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-C (Supports DisplayPort 1.2)

Display
15.6″ FHD (1920 x 1080) 60 / 120 /144 Hz, LED-backlit Anti-glare IPS display 1 x HDMI 2.0

Audio
2 x 2W Harman speakers 1 x 3.5mm combo audio jack Dual array microphone Dolby Atoms

Power
170W power adapter 60 / 80 WHr 3-cell Li-polymer battery

Dimensions
363.06 x 259.61 x 22 ~ 24 mm

Weight
2.3 kg

Lenovo Legion 5i Specifications

CPU
Intel Core i5-10300H (4C / 8T @ up to 4.5 GHz, 8M, 45W TDP, 14nm) Intel Core i7-10750H (6C / 12T @ up to 5 GHz, 12M, 45W TDP, 14nm) Intel Core i7-10875H (8C / 16T @ up to 5.1 GHz, 16M, 45W TDP, 14nm)

RAM
16GB (2 x 8GB) 2933 MHz DDR4

GPU
Intel UHD Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB GDDR6 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6

Storage
256GB / 512GB / 1TB PCIe SSD

Connectivity
Wireless Wi-Fi 6, 802.11ax 2×2 Bluetooth 5.0 Wired 1 x RJ45 LAN 4 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A (1 x Always On) 1 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-C (Supports DisplayPort 1.2)

Display
15.6″ FHD (1920 x 1080) 60 / 120 /144 Hz, LED-backlit Anti-glare IPS display 1 x HDMI 2.0

Audio
2 x 2W Harman speakers 1 x 3.5mm combo audio jack Dual array microphone Dolby Atoms

Power
230W power adapter 60 / 80 WHr 3-cell Li-polymer battery

Dimensions
363.06 x 259.61 x 23.57 ~ 26.1 mm

Weight
2.46 kg

The Lenovo Legion 5 will be priced from RM3,599 whereas the Lenovo Legion 5i will be priced from RM4,199. Both models will be available starting June 2020.

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Lenovo Legion 5Pi
 The Lenovo Legion 5Pi is a little special. It’s a 15-inch gaming laptop designed for those who desire the balance of style and adrenaline. It has a minimalist design, white-backlit “Y” logo, and subtle Iron Grey chassis. It will be powereed by up to the Intel Core i7-10875H CPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GPU. As for memory, it’s expected to have 16GB DDR4 RAM and up to 1TB PCIe SSD storage. It will be utilizing a 15.6-inch Anti-glare IPS display with 144Hz refresh rate, Dolby Vision, and 100% sRGB.
Lenovo Legion 5Pi Specifications

CPU
Intel Core i5-10300H (4C / 8T @ up to 4.5 GHz, 8M, 45W TDP, 14nm) Intel Core i7-10750H (6C / 12T @ up to 5 GHz, 12M, 45W TDP, 14nm) Intel Core i7-10875H (8C / 16T @ up to 5.1 GHz, 16M, 45W TDP, 14nm)

RAM
16GB (2 x 8GB) 2933 MHz DDR4

GPU
Intel UHD Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB GDDR6 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6

Storage
256GB / 512GB / 1TB PCIe SSD

Connectivity
Wireless Wi-Fi 6, 802.11ax 2×2 Bluetooth 5.0 Wired 1 x RJ45 LAN 4 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A (1 x Always On) 1 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-C (Supports DisplayPort 1.2)

Display
15.6″ FHD (1920 x 1080) 60 /144 Hz / 240Hz, LED-backlit Anti-glare IPS display 1 x HDMI 2.0

Audio
2 x 2W Harman speakers 1 x 3.5mm combo audio jack Dual array microphone Dolby Atoms

Power
230W power adapter 60 / 80 WHr 3-cell Li-polymer battery

Dimensions
363.06 x 259.61 x 23.57 mm

Weight
2.3 kg

The Lenovo Legion 5Pi will be priced from RM6,399 and will be available starting June 2020.
Pre-Order Specials
If you pre-order the Lenovo Legion 5i or 5Pi from 1st June to 15th June 2020, you will be getting free gifts worth up to RM5,436, which includes the Legion Y44w-10 Gaming Monitor. It will only be offered while stocks last so if you plan on getting a new gaming laptop, best to be quick about it.
If you’re interested to pre-order, click right here.
Pokdepinion: Personally curious about the Ryzen version. Would definitely like to take that out for a spin.Spread the PokdeLoveClick to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

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Discord Integration for PS5 Expected to Launch By End of 2022

Discord Integration for PS5

As many of you may know by now, the partnership between Discord and PlayStation was formally announced in May 2021. However, we have still yet to see proper integration for the software in the PS5. Now, we have an idea of when that will be happening.
From what we know thus far, Discord integration will be coming to the PS5 in firmware update 7.00. Since update 6.00 is coming mid-September 2022, this would mean that it will be arriving in the coming months, likely before the end of 2022. When it arrives, you would be able to use the app straight from the console instead of relying on PC or mobile for it.

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At the moment, Discord integration for the PS5 is undergoing QA testing, and the progress is described as “very well”. Hopefully, this is a sign that development is going well and it should work perfectly fine when it finally arrives. For now, stay tuned for further updates as no specific release date for it has been announced yet.
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Pokdepinion: This will certainly make gaming, especially the cross-play compatible ones, a lot more convenient. Kind of thought this would have arrived earlier if I’m being completely honest but better late than never.
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Penang implements facial recognition and AI to hunt down wanted criminals

Perhaps we were laughing at China a bit too early. Penang now sports a fully operational facial recognition system CCTV system to identify wanted criminals moving around in the state. There’s even AI to help identify criminals better.
There are now a total of 767 cameras installed around the island, which will be collecting data to better fight crime. The goal is to have more than 3000 cameras to canvas the entire island. At the moment there doesn’t seem to be any intention to use the cameras for profiling Penang residents, but instead it will only be used to track wanted criminals on the police’s wanted list.

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While it seems that the CCTV system will be used primarily for nabbing known criminals for now, there are plans to expand it into stopping crime, even before they happen. Of course this would require a lot of algorithms to properly identify crime before they are committed. Minority Report, anyone?
State police chief Datuk Seri A. Thaiveegan promises that the police will be responsible in managing the data when asked about data leaks by New Straits Times. Would you be worried about cameras watching you from above?
Pokdepinion: BRB gonna go re-watch Minority Report…
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HUAWEI gets green light to develop UK’s 5G networks in the face of US scrutiny

HUAWEI has just been approved to build part of the UK’s 5G network, albeit just the “non-core” parts, and that they cannot have more than 35% of market share. This decision was made in view of the fact that HUAWEI has been supplying Britain’s (as well as the rest of the world’s) 4G networks without any issue.
With this latest development, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was reportedly quoted saying that Washington would “evaluate” the UK’s decision to allow HUAWEI to build their 5G network. The US believe that using HUAWEI’s hardware in the UK’s 5G infrastructure would hamper the intelligence sharing that the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have going on, or the so-called “Five Eyes”.
The UK is confident that that won’t be the case, and Britain’s spy agencies has reportedly said that any security risk from HUAWEI can be managed by not allowing the Chinese company to work on the most sensitive elements of the network infrastructure, and the aforementioned market share limit.

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The UK’s government believes that excluding HUAWEI from the development of 5G networks in the UK would lead to delays and higher costs. Another country that has decided to adopt HUAWEI’s hardware for their 5G infrastructure despite the US’ warnings is Germany.
Pokdepinion: HUAWEI’s lead in the 5G network industry seems to be pretty substantial…
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The new Samsung Galaxy J Series (2016) — made for everyone, start from RM299

Samsung has announced its new smartphone varieties aims to fit everyone’s budget with the new Samsung Galaxy J series. Consisting from the lower end model the J1 Mini Prime to the higher end J7 Prime, the new Galaxy J series is a complete range that offers a variety of screen sizes and performance to meet users’ different needs and wants. The Galaxy J Series offers the essentials features that you need in a smartphone – from connectivity and social networking, to picture taking, listening to music and watching videos, as well as mobile gaming and web browsing!

“As a market leader with a passion for innovation, we want our customers to be able to attain and enjoy desired smartphone features. With that in mind, we created a wide range of devices under the Galaxy J Series family and equipped them with great mobile features which we strongly believe will interest just about anyone who desires to own a Samsung. As part of the expansion of the existing Galaxy J Series range, we are delighted to introduce the Galaxy J2 Prime and J1 Mini for the younger generation looking to stay connected.” said Mr Lee Jui Siang, Vice President, IT & Mobile Business Unit, Samsung Malaysia Electronics.

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With the Galaxy J Series family, users get to enjoy the latest mobile innovations, simplistic design and all-round functionality, giving them maximum value of owning a Samsung. When most of the time the best features in a smartphone is not usually paired with a friendly price tag, Samsung makes it possible for users to enjoy the seamless mobile experience of both worlds.

The Samsung Galaxy J Series family is available at all Samsung Experience Stores and authorised dealerships. For more product information, please visit www.samsung.com/my/ .
J7 Prime, J5 Prime, J2 Prime, J1 Mini Prime

Phone Model
J7 Prime
J5 Prime
J2 Prime
J1 Mini Prime

Display
5.5” FHD TFT (In-cell)
5.0” HD TFT (In-cell)
5.0″ qHD TFT
4.0” WVGA TFT

Chipset
Joshua (Octa A53 1.6GHz)
Java (Quad A53 1.4GHz)
Quad A53 1.4GHz
Shark LS (Quad core 1.5GHz)

Connectivity
LTE Cat.4, Volte
LTE Cat.4, Volte
LTE Cat 4
3G

Memory
3GB RAM + 32GB Storage (MicroSD up to 256GB)
2GB RAM + 16GB Storage (MicroSD up to 256GB)
1.5GB RAM + 8GB Storage (MicroSD up to 256GB)
1GB RAM + 8GB Storage(MicroSD up to 256GB)

Camera
13MP (F1.9) + 8MP (F1.9)
13MP (F1.9) + 5MP (F2.2)
8MP (F2.2) + 5MP (F2.2)
5MP (F2.2) + VGA (F2.4)

Dimension (mm)
151.7 x 75.0 x 8.0 mm
142.8 x 69.5 x 8.1 mm
144.8 x 72.1 x 8.9 mm
121.6 x 63.1 x 10.8 mm

Battery capacity
3,300mAh
2,400mAh
2,600mAh (Removable)
1,500mAh (Removable)

OS/Upgrade
Android M
Android M
Android M
Android M

Samsung Features, Services & Applications
S Browser, KNOX Capable, UDS, Smart Manager
S Browser, KNOX Capable, UDS, Smart Manager
S Browser, Galaxy Apps, Smart Switch
S Browser, Galaxy Apps, Smart Switch

Sensors
Accelerometer, Proximity, Fingerprint
Accelerometer, Proximity, Fingerprint
Accelerometer, Proximity
Accelerometer

Radio
FM Radio
FM Radio
FM Radio
FM Radio

Others
Dual SIM (Dual Socket)
Dual SIM (Dual Socket)
Dual SIM
Dual SIM

Colours
Black, White Gold,Pink Gold
Black, White Gold
Gold, Black, Silver, Pink
Gold, Black, White

Price RM
1199
899
499
299

Galaxy J1 Ace, Galaxy J3, Galaxy J5, Galaxy J7

Phone Model
Galaxy J1 Ace
Galaxy J3
Galaxy J5
Galaxy J7

Multi-SIM
Dual-SIM
Dual-SIM
Dual-SIM
Dual-SIM

USB Version
USB 2.0
USB 2.0
USB 2.0
USB 2.0

Ear jack
3.5mm Stereo
3.5mm Stereo
3.5mm Stereo
3.5mm Stereo

Display
4.3“ WVGA Super AMOLED
5.0″ HD Super AMOLED
5.2″ HD Super AMOLED
5.5″ HD Super AMOLED

NFC
No
No
Yes
Yes

Processor
1.5GHz Quad Core
1.5GHz Quad-Core
1.2GHz Quad-Core
1.6GHz Octa-Core

Memory
8GB ROM +1GB RAM
8GB ROM +1.5GB RAM
16GB ROM +2GB RAM
16GB ROM +2GB RAM

External Memory Support
MicroSD (Up to 128GB)
MicroSD (Up to 128GB)
MicroSD (Up to 128GB)
MicroSD(Up to 128GB)

Video Recording Resolution
HD (1280 x 720) @ 30fps
HD (1280 x 720) @ 30fps
FHD (1920 x 1080) @ 30fps
FHD (1920 x 1080) @ 30fps

Camera, Flash
5MP (f/2.2) + 2MP (f/2.2), Yes
8MP (f/2.2)+ 5MP (f/2.2), Yes
13MP (f/1.9) + 5MP (f/1.9) , Yes
13MP (f/1.9) + 5MP (f/1.9) , Yes

Sensors
Accelerometer,Proximity Sensor
Accelerometer,Proximity Sensor
Accelerometer, Hall Sensor Proximity, Hall IC
Accelerometer,Hall Sensor,Proximity Sensor

Dimension (mm)
130.1 x 67.6 x 9.5
142.3 x 71.0 x 7.9
145.7 x 72.3 x 7.9
151.7 x 76.0 x 7.8

Colours
Black, White, Blue
Gold , Black , White
Gold , Black , White
Gold , Black , White

Battery Capacity
1,900mAh
2,600mAh
3,100mAh
3,300mAh

Price RM
399
599
799
999

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