Author: chris eilers

Last October, Asus presented the Asus Padfone S in Malaysia for $275 (about RM 1,000). And tomorrow, April 8^th, the company will introduce the Asus Padfone S Plus, an upgraded version from Padfone S. Some details from Padfone S are left untouched, namely the screen, the SoC, the battery, etc, some are not.

You must have heard about the Asus Padfone line but you may not know how special it is. An Asus Padfone device can be both a phone and a tablet. The phone looks and works like a normal one but when you attach it to a dock station, it turns into a tablet. This dock station is just a bigger screen for the phone. It can’t work on its own.

The company takes the Padfone S as a model for the Padfone S Plus and then elevate some detail. What remain unchanged in the latter are a 5-inch 1080p (1080×1920) display, a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 CPU along with Adreno 330 GPU, a 13MP rear camera, and a 2300mAh battery.

The company does upgrade the RAM and internal memory on the device. Compared to 2GB RAM on the Padfone S, 3GB RAM on the Padfone S Plus increases by 50%. Moreover, we see a huge rise in the native memory as it is now 64GB of capacity, 4 times larger than in the previous version (16GB). There’s also a slot for up-to-64GB microSD card.

The Asus Padone S Plus will be available in Malaysia on April 8^th for just $302 (RM 1099). The dock station that turns the phone into a tablet is actually an optional accessory. So the price $302 is for the phone only.

So what do think about the newest Asus Padfone?

Lately, Ulefone has done so hard on teaser and announcement of its new phone, the Ulefone Be Pure. The Chinese OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) declared that it would take part in the Asia World-Expo in April and some rumors stated the company would sooner or later introduce it next phone, the Ulefone Be Pure. Well, the company had just launched the phone and markets available.

Be Pure is another mid-end smartphone by Ulefone. This handset has a 5-inch 720p (1280 x 720) IPS OGS display (like its predecessor Ulefone Be One). Powering this phone is a MediaTek’s MT6592M octa-core processor clocked at 1.4GHz, a Mali-450 GPU for graphics.

It also features 1GB RAM, 8GB of internal storage, a 13MP rear camera on the on back, LED flash and a 5MP front-facing camera on the front. The phone runs on Android 4.4.2 pre-installed and will be able to update to Android 5.0 next year. A 2,000 mAh battery is enclosed to keep the phone run. 4G LTE is not supported but a wide range of 3G bands is offered.

All of those amazing spec comes in a dimension of 144 x 71 x 8.9 mm and weight of 130g. With those thickness and weight, the phone will fit your hands, even if you get small hands.

Now, GEARBEST has a special deal for you. Come and buy this fantastic phone for just $115.98 (RM 420).

Remenber to use voucher code: BEPURE

Since April 1^st, GST has been levied causing a price hike on most electronic devices including smartphones. Many brands have their products prices increased due to 6% GST effect. However, VIVO Malaysia had an official announcement that it’s gonna lower price of some models under its brand name, including VIVO Y28, VIVO Y22 and its flagship model VIVO XPlay 3S.

Here’s the price of the aforementioned phones:

VIVO Y28 now selling RM 699（ old RRP: RM 899）

VIVO Y22 now selling RM 599（old RRP: RM 659）

VIVO Xplay3s now selling RM1,699（old RRP: RM1,899）

Prices include GST.

It is worth noticing that the VIVO Xplay3s was the first smartphone to have 2K display launched more than a year ago. We still call this 1-year-old phone a flagship because it features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 Quad Core processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB of storage, 13Mp rear camera with f1/1,8, 5MP front camera and a 3,200 mAh battery. Xplay3s comes with a HiFi audio chipset pre-installed. Compared to the latest mid-range smartphones, the Xplay3s is still on the leader board.

One more brand that prices under GST remains unchanged is OPPO. While other manufacturers do let GST affect their business statement, OPPO has a different approach toward this action by paying its customers’ GST.

To do this, the company absorb the 6% GST into its retail price to ease any price hike affecting its customers. As a result, no changes under GST influence OPPO products.

Current prices are as follow:

Oppo N3 – RM2098
Oppo R5 – RM1798
Oppo Find 7 – RM1798
Oppo Find 7A – RM1398
Oppo N1 Mini – RM1198
Oppo R1L LTE – RM1098
Oppo Mirror 3 – RM898
Oppo Neo 5 LTE – RM598
Oppo Joy – RM358

So far,other brands that have adjusted prices are Apple and Xiaomi. Together with recent price revision, Apple products witness the highest rise. Luckily for Xiaomi phones, only Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G increases in price, the others remain untouched.

What do you think about the strategy of VIVO and OPPO? Should others follow?

At just RM 50, the Mi in-ear headphones provide great sound quality to users. But if you want even greater quality, Xiaomi does give you the premium Mi Headphones. The earset was just introduced this January along with the Mi Note.

Costing RM 319, the headphones are worth more than their price. In first hands-on, it includes a 50mm diaphragm spreaker with a 2 micron thick acoustic membrane. It delivers 25% larger than your usual headphone speakers, better bass and incredible sensitivity that would satisfy most music listeners. Along with fantastic sound quality, it also goes in style as the piston is gold colored.

A detachable 1.4m kevlar fibre cable helps reduce interference and tangles. The headphone goes along with a micro phone and voloume controling buttons for calling purposes, too.

Joining 2 earpieces together is a leather-look band with red stiches from one end to another. It depends on what you prefer, the earpieace cushion can be placed with whether on-ear or over-ear size. Out of the box, there comes a full set of the earphones including including a zip around case, travel bag, airplane audio adapter and a 3.5mm to 6.3mm gold plated adapter. With the price of just RM 319, Xiaomi Mi Headphones have what it takes to compete with its more luxurious opponents.

This is a new product at the Mi Fan Festival happening this Wednesday (April 8^th). Other new coming products will be Redmi 2 Dark Grey, Mi Phone Holder, LED light for Mi Power Bank, Mi Power Bank 5,000mAh and Mi Band Strap. Visit the main Mi Fan Festival site for further information.

All new products

After the FCC testing procedure’s result revealed a few days ago, images of the phone that could the Sony Xperia Z4 are again leaked. The model numbered E6553 looks much like the model the recently ran the GFXBench. Comparing the Benchmark test result and the E6553 powered by the Snapdragon 810, we see a potential that this is for sure the upcoming Xperia Z4.

Through the picture, we can tell that Sony has once again using a 20.7MP rear camera and a glass-back design, which gives the phone a luxurious appearance for its device.

The upcoming Xperia Z4 is predicted to have a 5.1- inch display with resolution of 1920×1080 and density of 432 ppi. The phone will be powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor with four ARM Cortex-A57 and four Cortex-A53 cores, Adreno 430 graphics, 3 gigs of RAM carrying 32GB of storage. Rumors said there would be memory card slot on the phone. Along with a 20.7Mp rear camera on the back, we can expect a 5MP front camera for better video calls and selfie purposes. Hopefully, a 3,400 mAh battery will provide longer battery life compared to the 3,100 mAh battery on the Xperia Z3 with Android 5.0.2 pre-installed.

IP68 is certificated to this unknown phone which means it is waterproof at the depth of 1.5m and a period of 30 minutes.

Not a single person can be sure about the date of releasing as well as any official info about the phone, though, with every rumor leaked day by day, we come closer to the phone as it should appear exactly that way.

Almost 1000 people attended the Samsung’s press conference a couple days ago in China. However, according to a report on The Paper, half of them were hired. The conference was held to introduce to the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge to the China, the world’s biggest market.

People, under 30, dressing like like, students or Samsung fans were paid $4.80 (RM 17) for at least an hour to stay at the conference. The recruiters were also paid $3.20 (RM 12) for each person they recruited.

Those phones’ hired fans had to tell the press that they admired the company and they are curious about the new phone of the company. One interesting story is that half of the pictures of the new Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge were taken by the Apple iPhone. Some attendee were required to post pictures taken at the conference along with the name of the phone on WeChat app and like the Samsung Galaxy fan page, too.

Anyone who is after mobile news knows that 2014 was not a good year for Samsung. The company had lost its share in China, where Apple took over 27.6% market share. The iPhone 6 itself took 10.2%. Therefore, iPhone 6 is now the most popular smartphone in China, followed by Xiaomi Redmi and iPhone 6 Plus. In the attempt of getting fans back, Samsung had emphasized doing marketing for the flagships Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.

Is this the right move?

We have very good news for all Asus Zenfone 2 Fans in Malaysia. While we covered a regional Launch for South East Asia before, now we have got our official confirmation for the Asus Zenfone 2 Malaysia Launch on 21. April.

By now there is a lot of competition on the market in terms of flagships, like the Galaxy S6 or Xiaomi Mi Note Pro. The Asus Zenfone 2 is still the only available Flagship Smartphone with a 4GB RAM Premium Edition. It also looks like Malaysia will get all three Asus Zenfone 2 Versions available at Launch on 21. April.

Lets recap the Asus Zenfone 2 specs quickly. The Standard Version, the Asus Zenfone 2 ZE550ML sports a 5.5″ 720p display, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory and if officially priced at 5990 NT$ (RM699). The Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML with stronger Intel CPU, 5.5″ FHD display and 32GB storage Price is 6990 NT$, RM815. The Asus Zenfone 2 4GB RAM ZE551ML will come in two variants with 32GB ROM for 8990 NT$ (RM1049) and 64GB Storage for 9990 NT$ RM1167.

Asus Zenfone 2 Specs Comparison 

Our contact at Asus Malaysia said “we are looking within the range of RM800 – RM1100″. Concerning GST it really depends on the Brand. While Apple Phones and Samsung increased the prices across the range, other brands like OPPO or VIVO decided to keep the prices at Pre-GST Levels.

Asus Zenfone 2 Malaysia Release Invitation

The Asus Zenfone 2 Malaysia and Regional Launch will be o 21.4. We dont have the exact Asus Zenfone 2 Release Date yet, but hope for it to be shortly after. Even if Asus should increase the price by 6% we believe it is still a very good offer and its hard to find a comparable phone at this price level. We also expect Asus to launch other products like the Zenflash and Asus ZenPowerbank, but this still needs to be confirmed.

We will cover the Asus Zenfone 2 Release Event Directly, so stay tuned!

Asus Zenfone 2 versus Samsung Galaxy S6: Camera Comparison

Asus Zenfone 2 Official Launch: All Prices and Specs from the Launch Event in Taiwan

Asus Zenfone 2 vs Xiaomi Mi Note Review: Which one to choose?

The new LG G4, the successor of the popular LG G3, will launch end of this month, on April 28th. It will boast a 2K QHD display and many more improvements vs the LG G3.

The LG G4 comes with 5.5″ IPS LCD QHD display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels and 538ppi. According to LG, even with similar display to the LG G3, the LG G4, is “quantum jump in terms of key features, including color gamut, brightness, contrast ratio, touch function, power consumption and thinness.”

At the first presenentation of Lg’s new display we could see that the contrast ratio of the new display is 50% higher, then other 2K displays. The brightness of LG G4’s screen has increased by 30%. Who is Smartphone King 2014? LG G3 Vs S5 Vs HTC ONE (M8) Vs Find 7

LG G4 Specs

According to GFX Bench and many LG G4 rumors further specs include Snapdragon’s 808 CPU with Adreno 418 and 3GB RAM. In the camera department you get a 16MP Shooter and an amazing 8MP Selfie Camera. With a high quality and Megapixel Selfie Camera like this LG G4 could make a real splash.

LG G3 vs galaxy S5 Selfie Mode (pic by tom’s guide)

With Snapchat/Instagram/Vine growing very strong, LG could gain a lot popularity by highlighting how the LG G4 can make the best Selfies with a high quality camera and software that makes you look your personal best. They have already a ton of beauty features on the LG G3, like a Beauty Slider, that removes all small flaws from your skin when you take Selfies.

Anyways we are looking forward to welcome the LG G4 to the Flagship race! The LG G4 Release Date will be 28th April. The LG G4 Price in Malaysia will be probably around RM1900-2000 including GST.

LG G3 Vs Samsung S5 in Malaysia

LG G Flex with Snapdragon 810 and curved display

Who is Smartphone King 2014? LG G3 Vs S5 Vs HTC ONE (M8) Vs Find 7

Finally OnePlus has launched Oxygen Os with Android L for all OnePlus One phones. Initally OnePlus announced the Android L Launch for March, but now finally you can in fact head over to Oneplus.net and install the new Version already. We show you some first screenshots and Antutu Benchmarks with OnePlus’s new OS installed.

Oxygen OS by OnePlus was just launched today. The Oxygen OS version is of course fully functionally and not a BETA. OnePlus emphazises though, that this is an initial version of their own OS and they need User input to make it better. On their forums OnePlus offers a feedback App So you can directly give input about their new OS.

From our first looks, it looks very barebone and flat, somehow similar to Cyanogen MOD and pretty close to the pure Android Stock Feeling. From our feeling many OnePlus One users were disappointed when Cyanogen Mod and OnePlus announced that they will not continue the Collaboration together.

All about the fight between OnePlus and Cyanoged Mod Inc.

OnePlus One Oxygen OS Antutu Benchmark

Discussions between the two companies had ensued, after Cyanogen Mod Inc decided to support MicroMax India, and not OnePLus One phones with an exclusive contract. That despite having a worldwide exlusive contract with OnePlus. While now the situation seems to be better, expect that Oxygen OS and Hydrogen OS will be the future for OnePlus Devices like the upcoming OnePlus Two.

Here we have a few screenshots of Oxygen OS from our OnePLus One

OnePlus launches DR-1 world’s smallest drone for 20USD

OnePlus Two with Snapdragon 810 and fingerprint identification?

OnePlus One User fixes Touchscreen Issues – It is the Hardware!

All eyes are on HTC these days as the company gave the official information about the upcoming One M8s. We also got the wind of the One M9 Plus and One E9.

Perhaps rumors about another version of One M9 are more interesting. Some reports said that it would be announced at an HTC event on April 8th. Other stated the phone would be on sale in China first then the other Asian markets.

We dont’s know exactly the name of this mystery phone but looking at the teaser images, One M9 Plus may be the good answer.

The most surprising part is the physical home button lying in the front of the device. There may be a fingerprint scanner embedded inside.

Some new images revealed by the @upleaks show that the phone make a backup the design hypothesis of the company. HTC One M9 and the unknown One M9 Plus share similar design but the differences are noticeable. First is the physical button, which may fill in for the traditional on-screen navigation scheme. We don’t know for sure whether these virtual button keep appearing on the new phone. Another significant change that we can see is the round rear camera on the back making place for the square one on One M9.

Render images also implied that the phone would be in 2 colors: silver and gold. Both versions have the China Mobile logo, where these render may come from printed on the back.

Previous leaks said the phone would have a 5.2-inch qHD display and 3GB RAM. Like the HTC One M9, the phone would have a high-quality 20.7MP rear camera and, maybe, a 4MP Ultrapixels front camera. The device would possibly come out with 2 versions. One is shipped with MediaTek MT 6795 processor for Asian Markets and one is powered by Snapdragon 810 chipset for others. Both come with G6200 GPU for graphic. As being said, the phone will have Android 5.0 Lollipop pre-installed along with HTC’s Sense 7 UI.

Imaging that working time is over, you walk home and a box with the new Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is waiting for you at the door. How’s your feeling? Happy? Yes. Excited? Yes. How’s about when you open the box, take out the device and discover some dead pixels and scratches on the screen? Disappointed? Of course.

That is exactly the experience of somebody including rhcpcjg who posted on XDA website, complaining about this. The same situation happened the other night when he received the second phone from T-mobile. This guy returned both phone and ended up with an Apple iPhone 6.

For fear of your thinking this is just an expected event happening to someone, others had posted on XDA reporting the same situation of their Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. There so many complaining responses that few people have postponed their Galaxy S6 Edge orders. Most posts and comment are about the scratched screen and dead pixels on the brand-new Galaxy S6 Edge’s screen. They are angry because they have to spend a fortune for a phone that looks like a secondhand.

Unless you experience the same circumstance, do share with your thoughts or the way you handle with it. Did you return it and ask for another phone? Did the replaced phone come with a flawfless state? After check all the possibilities, is it Samsung’s fault or the responsibility are on another party?

Antutu has lately updated its own statistics about the recent state of performance in the smartphone industry as another quarter is now behind us. The numbers show an obvious fact that Samsung is the king of the realm, dominating the score board.

Data for the report has been collected from smartphone users in 160 countries over a period of 3 months from January to March 2015. Should it be easier to calculate the mean score for each device if the company gives them the same shipset for the same model. Owing to that, we have separate listing down here.

The Exynos 7420 on the Galaxy S6 vanishes every rival, even the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 on HTC One M9.Surprisingly, its sibling Galaxy S6 Edge shows a bit lower score than the Galaxy S6. The Galaxy S5 for European market takes the 4^th place, proving Samsung’s position of the board. This model features a Snapdragon 805 chipset.

The only MeiaTek chipset in the chart is MT6595, which powers the Meizu MX4. This is also the highest ranking of a Chinese manufacturer listed this quarter, the 5^th place. With Nexus 6 and Droid Turbo, Motorola takes the 6^th and 8^th places, both of which boast a Snapdragon 805 SoC. Though being equipped with Snapdragon 810, the LG G Flex 2 just spots in the 9^th. What a shame! One big shock here is the OnePlus One powered by a Snapdragon 801, tiptoeing into the 10^th place.

GPU score states similar affair where octa-core Mali T760 within the Exynos defeats Snapdragon 810’s Adreno 430. Last year, Exynos offered phone showed a lower score than those phone in the same range. But time flies, thing changes. Once again, the PowerVR 6200 inside the MT6595 can’t even beat the Adreno 330 in the Snapdragon 801. Who said Snapdragon 801 is out of the race?