Author: chris eilers

Nokia Snow Design – Queen of the Winter

About the Nokia Snow price, though there has not been any official info released yet, we assume with such specs and design, $200-$250 can be reasonable. If so, Nokia Snow can defeat many competitors from other big brands like Samsung, Sony, Xiaomi, etc. at the same price range.

So, we are in the final months of 2015 and very close to 2016. It is also the time Nokia makes a comeback and we are looking forward to seeing Nokia Snow together with its fantastic siblings. 

In the near future, 4K display is predicted to become more common than now. We have already had many devices that can shoot 4K videos, so the displays on the phones should be improved to be able to replicate those videos perfectly. As a result, today, we would like introduce some of the pioneers in the 4K display smartphone trend to you!

1. Sony Xperia Z5 Premium

This is a member of the Sony Xperia Z5 series in this half of 2015. Specially, Z5 Premium is equipped with a very high display resolution, making it the world’s first 4K handset. No doubt that the Japanese technology giant has created a super strong competitor.

Spec-wise, Sony Xperia Z5 Premium uses a 5.5-inch 4K IPS LCD screen with 806 PPI, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chip, 3GB RAM paired with 32GB of expandable storage, a fingerprint sensor built in the home button and Android 5.1 Lollipop OS. Also, it comes with a 3,430mAh battery and a combo of a normal 5MP front plus a wonderful 23MP rear camera (which supports recording 4K videos with 12,800 ISO, autofocus speed of 0.03s and 5X zoom without reducing much the pic’s quality).

2. Vivo Xplay 5S

Besides Sony, recently we have spotted 2 leaked images on the internet which are said to be the pictures of Vivo XPlay 5S, successor to Vivo XPlay 3S. Some expected Vivo XPlay 5S specs have also been revealed such as a Snapdragon 820 chip, a premium 4K display, a fingerprint sensor, a whooping 21MP main and an appealing 12MP secondary shooter which is absolutely perfect for those who love taking selfies. Although there was no word made for the Vivo Xplay 5S’s RAM capacity, we anticipate it would go with 6GB RAM. So, Sony Xperia Z5 Premium should be more careful when competing with this Chinese smartphone.

3. ZTE Star 3

Just a few months ago, some reports mentioned that there would be a ZTE product called ZTE Star 3. It would come with a 5.5-inch 2,160 x 3,840 pixels screen, giving the display a pixel density of 808 PPI. Also note that the bezel was listed at a mere 0.55mm, nearly edge-to-edge. However, after that, we have not heard anything related to ZTE Star 3 specs, price as well as launch date. So, we assume they are still working on it. Let’s wait and see!

4. Sharp smartphone

According to some sources, Sharp is about to join the 4K smartphone battle with a device boasting a 5.5-inch IGZO touchscreen with a massive 3,840 x 2,160 pixel resolution. Although the official information has not been made by Sharp yet, we are excited about the leaked detail of the machine’s display. It will probably have 806 PPI and include low energy consumption, sharp images, and borderless designs.

In conclusion, we hope that there would be more handsets to appear in this list next year. But before the time comes, what do you think about the above smartphones? Share with us your opinions!

Do you still remember the Priv – aka BlackBerry’s first Android smartphone with the initial codename “BlackBerry Venice“. Despite mixed response and feed backs from users ever since the Priv was launched, it seems like BlackBerry is working on a second Android smartphone: the BlackBerry Vienna.

BlackBerry Vienna: 2nd Android smartphone with QWERTY keyboard

The BlackBerry Vienna’s first image was leaked recently, showing the signature QWERTY keyboard, looking quite similar to that of BlackBerry Passport or other common BlackBerry signature smartphones.

From what we see for now in the leaking images, BlackBerry Vienna seems to belong to the lower-end category, since it doesn’t feature the premium look like that of BlackBerry Venice, (or Priv). The rear bezels around BlackBerry Vienna are quite thick and we can easily spot 3 Android button just above the QWERTY keyboard. Rear and front cameras are very visible also.

Since this is just the very first leaks, I bet you also guess BlackBerry has no word announced about the Vienna for now. The company has not either confirmed the information, or revealed any further about the BlackBerry Vienna price and release date so we can have some expectation. But like we mentioned above, the BlackBerry Vienna is very possibly cheaper than that of the high-end BlackBerry Venice.

BlackBerry Vienna: the death is not for now!

After BlackBerry Venice (Priv) price was unveiled, many users was not happy with the heavy tag compare to those specs the handset has to offer. Many even bitterly said that, the Priv will be the last device ever BlackBerry produced, and that we are about to see the death of this company. But it seems like the company is not ready to give up yet. If the BlackBerry Vienna turns out to be true an Android device (the smartphone OS everyone loves) with reasonable price for trendy specs, then I bet users everywhere will be more happy to welcome and support.

Stay tuned, we will update when we get any further information about BlackBerry Vienna.

You are looking for dual SIM smartphones but they should not cost more than $200 (about RM870). So, you have come to the right place since today we are going to introduce 10 best handsets like that to you. Importantly, you can totally find them on Malaysian market!

1. Lenovo A7000 Plus Specs

Lenovo A7000 Plus Price in Malaysia: RM666

2. Samsung Galaxy J5 Specs

Samsung Galaxy J5 Price in Malaysia: RM780

3. HTC DESIRE 816 DUAL Specs

HTC Desire 816 Dual Price in Malaysia: RM870

4. Alcatel Flash 2 Specs

Alcatel Flash 2 Price in Malaysia: RM550

5. Meizu M2 Specs

Meizu M2 Price in Malaysia: RM550

6. Meizu M2 Note Specs

Meizu M2 Note Price in Malaysia: RM680

7. Huawei Honor 4C Specs

Huawei Honor 4C Price in Malaysia: RM560

8. ASUS ZenFone Go Specs

ASUS ZenFone Go Price in Malaysia: RM500

9. ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser Specs

ASUS ZenFone Laser Price in Malaysia: RM740

10. Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Specs

Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Price in Malaysia: RM650

So, those are the top 10 dual SIM smartphones priced under $200 or RM870. What do you think? If you like any of them, go get it in this November!

During the past months, Acer has been drawing much attention when investing greatly in products aiming at gamers, and it seems they have made it somewhat thanks to their latest series of Predator. So, if you like playing games as well as any device of the Predator family, this is good news for you. Acer Predator 8 is finally going on sale. Let’s check out Acer Predator 8 price and specs!

Acer Predator 8 Specs

As we know Acer Predator 8 is a new gaming-centric tablet announced in September, 2015. It has a special design that will completely make it stand out among other tablets. We can easily notice that the main standout elements of the Predator 8 are its 4 red front-facing speakers with surround sound.

Besides, other Acer Predator 8 specs include a quad-core Intel Atom Z8700 1.6GHz proccesor with Turbo Boost up to 2.4 GHz and an 8-inch 1920 x 1200 pixels IPS display. As for the OS, it is said to run on Android Lollipop yet we hope an update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow will be available soon. In addition, there are a combo of a 2MP front-facing and a 5MP rear camera, 2GB RAM, 32GB of expandable storage, Wi-Fi support (unfortunately, 3G/LTE is not mentioned) and a 4,550mAh battery to be on-board. The tablet is also equipped with an interesting feature called Predator MediaMaster, which allow users to customize their video and audio settings for better gaming and multimedia experience.

Acer Predator 8 Price and Availability

According to some news sources, Acer Predator 8 can be pre-ordered now in the U.S directly through either Acer or Newegg, and the shipment will start from November 13, 2015. In terms of price tag, Acer Predator 8 costs $299.99 (about RM1,310). That is quite an attractive price for such a good-looking and powerful machine like Predator 8. Don’t you think?

Well, we are glad that Acer Predator 8 is officially available for consumers to buy and hopefully the next one will be Acer Predator 6!

Nokia Z Launcher is a new user interface (UI) for Android smartphones. Not long ago. it was released with a beta version which could be used pretty easily. Though, there are some notes you should remember to experience this UI more effectively.

Firstly, Nokia Z Launcher is a bit different because it does not have a customizable homescreen on which you place icons of the apps. Instead, Z Launcher chooses the ones you often open or need most of the time. In other words, it adapts to the context.

Secondly, Nokia Z Launcher has a quickly searching function that you can use just one finger to launch the necessary program or content like scribbling the names of the apps you want to activate at once, contacts, or websites. And this feature is even getting more powerful in its new update.

Moreover, scribbling supports synonyms, which means that you can launch music apps by simply writing the word “music”. We guess that Spotify, Pandora, and YouTube should also appear in the list of synonyms. We found out that “browser” will give you Chrome and “email” will give you Gmail. However, there are not many synonyms existing on the Nokia Z Launcher for now. Some people said that they wrote “twitter” and it didn’t suggest Fenix on the phone to them. Hopefully Nokia will develop this interesting function more for their smartphones in 2016.

Some tip for you is that Scribbles now also include WhatsApp contacts. You can totally launch into your friends’ chats directly. If you use it more often, the contacts will be likely to appear faster and can be top of the suggestion list.

In conclusion, Nokia Z Launcher has not been very common now, yet when Nokia returns to the mobile industry next year, it could be one of the best UIs. Let’s wait and see a stronger Nokia Z Launcher in the next months!

We all know that Google has a smartphone and tablet brand called Google Nexus, but it just includes products equipped with Google software, not the hardware. In other words, GG has had to cooperate with some manufacturers to release the Nexus devices. Yet, now, it is probably going to end when lately GG has announced that they are considering creating their own phones.

Google Smartphone specs

The news really makes us excited and it seems GG is really seriously considering the idea, or they may even be working on it. Recently, it is reported that they are preparing to produce a new chip used for Android smartphones. Though, the source has not mentioned whether GG would supply any smartphone makers with this chip. As a result, we assume that the chip will only be used by Google and what they are going to do with a smartphone chip if they do not produce a device needing it. Does it make sense?

Besides, according to the report, GG has held some internal meetings to discuss the idea. Unfortunately, no official word has been made. We imagine that perhaps it will be a phone with a 5.0 – 5.5-inch Full HD or Quad HD display, a Google chip (it must have another name), 3 GB or 4 GB RAM, huge internal storage (which can be expanded up to 128 GB or 200 GB like many flagship smartphones nowadays), a combo of a 20 MP rear and 8 MP front camera (so it will become a strong competitor among camera-centric handsets like ASUS ZenFone Selfie, Sony Xperia Z5, and so on), and a 3,000 – 4,000 mAh battery (which will allow you to use the phone more than just 24 hours).

Google Smartphone price and availability

Since the Google Nexus devices launched not long ago have not gained much success, we hope that this time they can come up with more excellent machines in terms of power and even price tag. If the upcoming Google smartphone can have an affordable price, it will beat a lot of competitors from Samsung, Sony, LG, etc.

Not only Xiaomi smartphones but also Xiaomi accessories are pretty well-known for good quality and super affordable prices. Recently, the company has released the new 20,000 mAh Mi power bank and Mi Band 1S for…

MI POWER BANK IS VERY POWERFUL!

The new 20,000 mAh Mi power bank is said to be able to get your phone fully charged in five hours. Moreover, it has a six-pack of 3,350 mAh LG/Panasonic high-capacity cells, so your handset can be fully recharged four times before you have to give it a boost.

Specs and Price

Though there are not many 20,000 mAh Mi power bank specs revealed, it seems to have the same slim and beautiful design as its predecessor 10,400 mAh Mi power bank. However, it is a bit heavier due to weighing 338 grams, which is quite easy to understand, right?! Increasing power density means increasing weight. Besides, it is expected to sport an array of LED power indicators and 2 USB ports at least. Yet, we’d better wait for the company’s confirmation.

As for the 20,000 mAh Mi power bank price, you will only have to pay $24 (RM105) to own one. Though, for those who are outside of China, you have to pay for shipping, which depends. To pre-order a Mi power bank or know more about its availability for sale, you can visit BuyGou or AliExpress.

MI BAND 1S – A SUPER AFFORDABLE FITNESS WEARABLE

Yes, this is the second product Xiaomi has introduced after after announcing the new Mi power bank. Accordingly, it is a waterproof fitness wearable.

Specs and Price

Mi Band 1S is compatible with both Android OS and iOS. Its main function is to track your heart rate, count calories and steps, and monitor your sleep. Sound like it is created for your health! Furthermore, the device can survive up to half an hour under a meter of water.

The Mi Band 1S price is $15 (RM65) and will be releasing exclusively in China this week.

Well, those are the 2 interesting and super affordable accessories from Xiaomi: 20,000 mAh Mi power bank and Mi Band 1S.  Hopefully Xiaomi will bring it to international shelves soon.

Sony Xperia M5 Dual vs Lenovo Vibe Shot

Design

Display

This is where we probably will not see many differences between M5 Dual and Vibe Shot. They both sport 5-inch screens with Full HD resolution, 441 ppi and IPS LCD panel. As a result, they are all good at displaying quality pictures with wide angles and true colors. Besides, they have quite similar brightness and can be used pretty well under the sunlight. Nonetheless, maybe Lenovo Vibe Shot display is more of warm undertones. As for the M5 Dual’s, it also has its own advantage when equipped with technologies such as Mobile Bravia Engine 2 and Super-vivid Mode to help display things better.

Camera

This may be the most interesting part of our comparison. We know Xperia M5 Dual and Vibe Shote were born to take photos. Specifically, M5 Dual is the first Sony device to receive an up to 21MP rear cam, which is as strong as the Sony Xperia Z series’ shooters. Moreover, its capturing and autofocus speeds are very fast. Specially, M5 Dual front cam is capable of 13 megapixels. Perfect for those who love taking selfies!

Yes, M5 Dual’s cam combo is very impressive, yet Lenovo Vibe Shot’s is not something that M5 Dual should look down on. The main is capable of 16 megapixels with BSI sensor, using six-element lens with sapphire coating. In addition, it supports OIS, Tri-tone LED flash, and laser autofocus sensor. Although the 8MP selfie shooter of Vibe Shot is not powerful as the 13MP one of M5 Dual, it is highly evaluated due to the panoramic selfies, and Full HD video mode to connect with your people over video chats.

To have a fuller view of how different the photos taken by these smartphones are, let’s have a look at the following samples, then you can tell us which one is more excellent in terms of taking pics:

Specs

In an experiment, when the phones were turned on at the same time, it was reported that Lenovo Vibe Shot was faster, about 4-5 seconds. Nevertheless, when checking their speeds of activating some apps, from simple to heavy ones, they noticed that Xperia M5 Dual was faster, about 3-4 seconds. Apart from that, Sony Xperia M5 Dual also won Lenovo Vibe Shot in terms of Antutu score (41,073 points vs 38,957 points). So, somewhat the Sony’s products is the winner in the spec battle.

Price and availability

At the moment, Sony Xperia M5 Dual price is higher than Lenovo Vibe Shot price, which is also easy to understand. If you prefer a smartphone with the back looking like a digital camera, simply choose Lenovo Vibe Shot and don’t worry about what it can do for you. In case of wanting something more powerful, just go with the Sony Xperia M5 Dual and you’ll be happy!

In this half of the year, there are so many Android smartphones launched and introduced to consumers. But which ones are the best Android smartphones in this November? Check out the list below! 

1. Samsung Galaxy Note 5: Best with a stylus

Being the latest smartphone in the Samsung Galaxy Note series, Note 5 sports the special feature of the line. It is the S Pen with improved functions, so you can use it to do a lot of things on your machine such as writing a note and drawing something. There is a button that you can click to take the pen out more easily. Some main Samsung Galaxy Note 5 specs can be found below:

– Display: 5.7-inch 2K Super AMOLED
– Processor: Exynos 7420
– Camera: 16MP + 5MP
– RAM: 4GB + 32/64GB
– Battery: 3,000mAh

2. Google Nexus 6P: First phone out with Android Marshmallow

Of course Nexus 6P along with Nexus 5X is the first phone coming out with Android 6.0 – the latest Android OS with many interesting updates such as “Google Now on Tap”, on the market since they are Google’s flagship products. Furthermore, Google Nexus 6P specs basically contain a 5.7-inch Quad HD (1440 x 2560) screen, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (V2.1) chip and a 3,450mAh battery.

3. Sony Xperia Z5: Camera

In a recent report of DxOMark (a trusted industry standard for camera and lens image quality measurements and ratings), Sony Xperia Z5 camera was proved to be the winner in the list of devices capturing the most beautiful photos. As we know, Z5 has a 23 mega-pixel rear snapper whose sensor measures 1/2.3 inches and sports a maximum light sensitivity/ISO of12800 and 192 Autofocus Points. Therefore, if having a Z5, you can take as many awesome pictures as possible to remind you wonder moments!

4. Meizu PRO 5: Antutu winner

Meizu PRO 5 is a flagship phablet from Meizu in this H2 of 2015. Powered by a Exynos 7420 64-bit octa-core SoC chipset, PRO 5 can be just as powerful as many Samsung’s flagships this year. Besides, there are 3/4GB RAM, a 21MP cam on the back, a 5.7-inch Full HD AMOLED display, and a 3,050mAh battery to be on-board. The whole handset runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop with Meizu Flyme 5 UI available on top of it. One thing about this smartphone that we cannot forget to mention is its Antutu score. The PRO 5 has topped the Antutu list in the Q3, 2015.

5. OnePlus X: Beautiful, powerful and affordable

This is a mid-range phone made by OnePlus. Despite not being a flagship, OnePlus X specs are so strong compared to many other devices in its kind and even the cost is pretty reasonable, $249 (RM1,070) to be specific. Spec-wise, it is equipped with a 5.0-inch Full HD Active Matrix OLED display, a 2,525mAh battery, a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB of RAM and 16GB ROM.

As for the camera, there are a 13MP rear f/2.2 snapper with 0.2-second autofocus plus an up to 8MP front-facing shooter, perfect for selfies. Similar its bigger brother OnePlus Two, the X runs on OxygenOS based on Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system.

6. BlackBerry Priv: Clever slide-out keyboard

This is the first phone running on Android operating system produced by BlackBerry. Moreover, it has strong security features to make sure that your privacy is always safe. BlackBerry Priv specs include a 5.4-inch Quad HD AMOLED screen, 3GB RAM, 32GB ROM, a Snapdragon 808 chip, a 3,410mAh battery and a combo of a 18MP rear and a 2 MP front camera. In addition, its clever slide-out keyboard will help you a lot when you want to type something. Though the keyboard is smaller than some BlackBerry handsets’, it is still pretty easy to use at speed.

7. ASUS ZenFone Selfie: Perfect selfie cam

Yes, we know have talked about ASUS ZenFone Selfie for many time, but you have to admit that the phone is so gorgeous when it comes to taking selfies. No doubt that it is still a very strong competitor among best selfie smartphones, especially if you check out the ASUS ZenFone Selfie price, from RM988.

Asus Zenfone Selfie specs

8. Acer Predator 6: A beast for playing games

It is a machine aiming at gamers who want a powerful beast for their large games as it has a huge screen of 6 inches and great Acer Predator 6 specs including a deca-core processor and 4GB RAM. Besides, Acer Predator 6 camera is said to be a whooping 21MP sensor, which rivals that of Sony’s previous flagship –Sony Xperia Z3. So, if you want to play game in a “fast and furious” way, don’t miss this beast!

9. Sony Xperia Z5 Premium: Best display

Sony would be proud of being the first manufacturer in the world to produce a flagship smartphone like Sony Xperia Z5 Premium with up to 4K display and super high 806 PPI. Sony Xperia Z5 Premium uses a 5.5-inch IPS LCD screen. However, the problem making people concern about the handset is quite similar to the prob of TV 4K. It is the fact of lacking original 4K contents, which will force the machine to upscale the images and videos to 4K and normally their qualities will not be as good as the original’s. Anyhow, a Z5 Premium is promising to bring you great experience with the display.

10. Marshall London: Sound is a priority

Yes, we can easily recognize that this phone is designed to look like amplifiers and headphones which Marshall is famous for. Specifically, London has a Digital Analogue Converter to make audio sound much impressive. Additionally, two headphone sockets can enable you and your friend to listen to music at the same time. Some Marshmallow London specs are a 4.7-inch HD screen, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 chip, 2GB RAM, 16GB ROM, an 8MP rear plus a 2MP front shooter, a removable 2,500mAh battery and Android 5.0.2 Lollipop OS. Interestingly, you can find out that there is a wheel on one side of the phone to help control the volume.

11. LG V10: Special with a dual display

It looks pretty big due to the 5.7-inch Quad HD main and 2.1-inch secondary display on the front, but impressive! With the smaller screen, you can easily receive notifications popped up on it, quickly use some apps by clicking their shortcuts, control music, and check for calendar, events as well as your personal message. So convenient and helpful for working and playing, right?!

Well, those are the BEST 11 Android smartphones you can find on the mobile market now to make your life more comfortable. Each of them has its own special feature which will meet your demands. Then, have you made up your mind? Which one would you want to have most? Share with us!

If you are a smartphone fan, you would know by now that Sony Xperia Z5 camera with 23MP resolution has been entitled best smartphone camera after a technical test. However, users seem to have a different opinion considering real images…

Blind camera shootout – the winner is…

Recently, Android Authority has conducted a blind camera poll. In this, they asked the readers to look at the photos taken by 4 different camera-centric phones : iPhone 6S, Samsung Galaxy Note 5, LG G4 and Sony Xperia Z5 and vote. Surprisingly as it may sound, most readers on the site picked… iPhone 6S camera as the best camera phone among the four.

In the article on Android Authority, they even published the detailed result. According to that, 38% readers who joined the vote picked iPhone 6S as the best camera. Following is Samsung Galaxy Note 5 with 34% of the vote. Don’t get shocked reading on, but seems like your favorite Sony Xperia Z5 camera only got 18% of the vote. Last on the list is LG G4 with only 10%.

iPhone 6S camera – best in all cases?

Please keep in mind that, this does not mean all pictures taken by iPhone 6S camera is better than those captured by others. For example, after considering different galleries taken under different lighting condition, Android Authority found out that “the iPhone 6S completely misjudges the white balance,”  in one nighttime photo of an Adidas shop with a B&W sign.

iPhone 6S camera – worth your money

iPhone 6S has been such a controversial device. Many Android users mock the device for low specs compared to the heavy price. Meanwhile, iPhone fans argue that figures and numbers don’t always say everything. And despite the high price tag, the dual iPhone 6S and 6S Plus sell extraordinarily well on first weekends and still counting! With this camera blind test result, I hope we can now find one more reason to be convinced into buying this beast (if you have the money, of course)

I find this blind camera shootout pretty interesting. For further details and various real life images, please refer to the article on Android Authority here.

This is a new smartphone appearing on Price Pony for the first time. Let’s welcome Wei Yan Sofia, which allows you to run a dual boot: Android and Windows Phone operating system.

Sometimes people find it hard to choose between 2 OSes since each of them has its own interesting and special things. However, they cannot buy 2 phones at the same time to experience different systems. As a result, a smartphone with a dual boot will be the best solution and may even become a trend in the future.

Recently, some reports in China has mentioned a handset like that called Wei Yan Sofia, which allows the phone to run on both Windows Phone or Android. Wow!

Wei Yan Sofia specs

Spec-wise, Sofia has a 5-inch Full HD (1080 x 1920 pixels) display. And if you are observant, you will notice that the name Sofia was actually taken from the “Intel Sofia”, name of a budget chip made by Intel. So, obviously Sofia will be powered by this processor and can completely compete with other low-end chips of Qualcomm and MediaTek. Other Sofia specs include 2 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal storage and a combo of a 13 MP rear and a 5 MP front-facing camera.

And of course, we cannot forget the most important selling point of this machine. It is the dual boot of Windows Phone and Android. However, one thing we should bear in mind is that the Windows Phone OS is not really compatible with Intel chipsets at the moment. Hopefully some changes in Windows 10 will make it easier.

Wei Yan Sofia price and availability

Unfortunately, we have not received any information related to the Wei Yan Sofia price and availability. Nonetheless, overall, it seems a mid-range phone with a special feature for the OS. Therefore, we guess the price will be ranging from RM700 to RM900.

To conclude, Wei Yan Sofia is created as a dual boot smartphone with a beautiful design and a good package of specifications compared to its cost. If doing well, Sofia can gain more success in this half of 2015!