A Smart TV is the cornerstone of any living room nowadays. However, when it comes to options, there isn’t much when it comes to platforms and operating systems. Currently, one of the most popular platforms is Android TV which not only has a wide selection of apps from the Google Play Store but also has the most robust ecosystem with Google Home compatibility.
That said, the prices of Android TVs have been steadily increasing over the years thanks to more and more manufacturers entering the foray. There’s a newcomer that’s looking to bring more value and allow more people to enter the world of Android TV – Candy. Candy is a brand with its beginnings in Italy as one of the first companies to release a washing machine. Since then, the brand has expanded to offer a full array of household appliances in multiple markets around the world.
32-inch & 43-inch Candy Android TV series
32-inch & 43-inch Candy Android TV series
32-inch & 43-inch Candy Android TV series
Candy is now making its Android TV portfolio available in Malaysia. After silently introducing its offerings on Shopee during the recent 11.11 Great Sale, Candy is confident that its offerings will not only allow every home to have a smart TV but also enjoy the robust ecosystem Google’s Android TV has to offer.
The current lineup of Candy Android TVs comes in 32-inch, 43-inch and 50-inch options; each with a different specification set. The lineup will launch Android TV 11.0 with built-in Chromecast (Screen Mirroring). All the TVs support Bluetooth connectivity and WiFi support with a slim bezel design to ensure the TVs fit seamlessly into any space.
50-inch Candy Android TV series
50-inch Candy Android TV series
50-inch Candy Android TV series
The top-of-the-line 50-inch C50K702AU comes with 4K UHD resolution and support for Dolby Atmos surround sound. It also supports high dynamic range (HDR) with its D-LED panel. The panel also comes with a 60Hz refresh rate. Together with this, the company is also offering a 43-inch TV with 1080p resolution and a smaller 32-inch TV with 720p resolution.
To kick off their introduction, Candy will be having an exclusive Black Friday sale on Shopee happening from the 25th of November until the 28th. During the sale, all three models will be on sale for unbeatable prices.
Before LG releases their new LG monitor that you see here, the only manufacturer you could get a smart monitor that works like TV, but for PCs, is Samsung. If you have not known yet, Samsung’s SMART monitors for PCs work pretty much like their smart TVs. You get Tizen OS for smart TV, you can install all sorts of apps for the TV, and work it exactly like a TV, even without a PC connected to it.
While they are the only one producing monitors of this kind, we think that the product comes with a lot of potential for smaller working set-ups and even homes. The larger sized smart monitor at 32-inch offers 4K resolution and affordable entertainment option for those who are looking for a dual function display in a smaller space. You do not need to get a separate TV box or Chromecast for it, and that makes it a viable TV replacement at a much smaller and digestible form factor.
Samsung’s position as one of the biggest names in smart TVs is a big plus for the to produce PC monitors with their proprietary TV Operating System (OS) too. So comes the question, what about others? What about LG? LG answers with this one, the 32SQ780S.
Source: LG
The new SMART Monitor, as LG names it, is a new 32-inch monitor for the PC. Its 32-inch VA panel offers 4K UHD resolution, perfectly in line with the latest of smart TVs. Serving it natively is LG’s WebOS 22 that also powers LG’s latest large form factor TVs. The 32-inch 4K monitor also offers 90% in DCI-P3 colour gamut with HDR10 support for the best in-class entertainment experience. WebOS 22 gives you access to apps like Netflix and YouTube without even being connected to any PC or consoles. At the same time, the built-in 5-watt dual channel stereo speakers should be a good enough audio source for users.
With WebOS, the LG SMART Monitor is not just an entertainment hub too. It can be your smart home hub with ThinQ hub. You can control any compatible smart home appliances with no fuss. While it does not offer Chromecast natively, you can still project your smartphone to the display via MiraCast.
The best part of the LG SMART Monitor is the fact that the monitor comes with LG’s clever Ergo Stand that gives the LG monitor flexibility like no other for monitors in its class. With the stand, you not only save table space and real estate for a larger working surface and storage. You also get to put or orient your monitor in any way you like for your working or entertainment comfort.
Source: LG
Source: LG
Source: LG
Source: LG
Source: LG
The 32-inch 4K 32SQ780S UHG LG SMART Monitor will be available in early November 2022 in the United States first. They say that other markets should follow soon after, that includes Malaysia. There is no official pricing that has been provided yet at least for Malaysia. You can expect them to price the monitor at about the same price as Samsung’s offerings.
When they told us that robots are going to take the world on in the 21st century, we never really expected that robotics has just evolved to something like a robot vacuum. We were expecting robots that could stand on two feet, Androids to be our personal butlers and caretakers. While progress on robotics has not been what you want to call fast, it is still significant enough to garner some attention. In today’s world robotics has helped humanity progressed and in some ways become better couch potatoes. Take the Robot Vacuum for example.
Robot vacuums started out as an item of novelty. They did not work very well in the beginning, and they were rather expensive. It was new technology, after all. They were a precursor to something much better for the average consumer.
The demand for handheld vacuums and robot vacuums skyrocketed in the past few years because they are rather clever. You do not to waste your time plugging your device in every time you want to clean your house. You simply turn them on to get cleaning. In the case of the robot vacuum, you do not even need to follow it around.
Which brings us to this Roborock Q7 Max+. It will set you back MYR 2,899. At that price, you are getting the robot vacuum and a dock. It is not some dock that will also change your robot’s water, but at least it empties the robot’s trash compartment.
Thing is, you can get a robot vacuum at a much lower price point. You can also get one at a higher price range. Should you get this one? Is this even worth its asking price? We find out.
Design
It looks like any typical robot vacuum. It is circular in shape, which is rather normal for a robot vacuum. Why is it not more rectangular in shape? We do not know; we also think that the optimum shape for a robot vacuum is a circular form for optimum navigation.
Compared to some of the lower end robot vacuum as well, it is quite large too. Of course, the size allows for bigger, more powerful engine within the rather flat body. The real estate of the Roborock Q7 Max also allows it to have more sensors, to be cleverer in terms of knowing where it is in a house environment. There is also a sort of bump on top that also houses its sensors, including a LiDAR mapping hardware, to better understand the layout of the room it is in.
While it is on the large side, in terms of footprint, its flatted profile allows it to easily slip into tighter spaces, like under your beds. Then again, because it has such a large footprint, it may not go into tighter corners or narrow spots.
Features
Of course, a modern robot vacuum is not just a hunk of plastic with basic gears and a few sensors to make sure it does not fall down a flight of stairs. The Roborock Q7 Max packs more sensors now than before to understand where it is and what its surrounding environment looks like. It also packs WiFi and comes with an accompanying app that you can work with to see how the robot works and its charge state.
Starting Up in Minutes
The box that the Roborock Q7 Max is quite large. Then again, it does not just house the vacuum cleaner unit itself. It also packs its large docking tower. When we say large though, there are larger vacuum towers that contains a larger waste bin and water tank.
Still, if you open the box the right way up (which we totally did not), you will find an instructional sheet that gets you up and going with the Roborock Q7 Max+ quickly. You really just have to get everything assembled, fill the water tank of the Q7 Max, get it plugged in, and you are almost ready to go. You do want to have your app installed on your smartphone and get your Roborock Q7 Max connected to the internet to ensure you get the best out of your vacuum cleaner.
Setting everything up took us no more than 10 minutes and the vacuum is ready to go for its first clean, with mop function and everything. The tower came in two pieces, with removable cover to house the extra vacuum bag that is provided with the vacuum cleaner too. Assembly for it is tool-less too, so you do not need to bring your toolbox or call a handyman to get it assembled and working.
Vacuum Tower Dock
The tower dock is made up of mostly plastic. While it is made mostly of plastics, it does not look or feel cheap in any way. Then again, its main purpose is to house an extra larger dust bag so that the Roborock Q7 can empty its own dust container to make room for the next cleaning session.
The removable cover for the vacuum bag is also translucent. We assume that you can see through it to determine if the vacuum bag needs changing or not. Strangely we thought that it was a feature that should be part of the app.
Roborock App and WiFi
The Roborock App does not just cater for one product obviously. It caters for all of Roborock’s products that has WiFi function on it. We are advocates of electronics with apps to control them, so this is a bonus point for Roborock.
The layout of the app is rather simplistic and minimal, which we are fond of. To get the app connected to your Roborock vacuum is just as simple as well. You just need to scan a QR code that can be found on your vacuum. That, or you must make sure that your WiFi is on, and your smartphone will find the Roborock Q7 Max to connect to.
Once connected, you can use your app to control and monitor the vacuum cleaner’s progress as it goes around the house to start its cleaning session. The app even tells you how long it takes to clean one room, alongside its battery charge state. Of course, you can use the app to control the vacuum.
Clever 3D Mapping
Like many of the newer robot vacuums, the Roborock Q7 Max maps your entire house and determines the most efficient way to vacuum your space as effectively as possible. It might take the Roborock Q7 robot some time to map your space if there are a lot of objects lying around or if that space is oddly shaped. Obviously, the ideal space for a robot vacuum is a clear rectangular space with nothing else on the floor.
In our little office, with bean bags and various other furniture like our chairs, tables, and even a TV console. Of course, being an office that doubles as our studio, there are also various cables lying on the floor. We also have two studio lights always set up so that we can just start shooting at any time. Our office space is also covered in carpet, the ideal vacuum situation.
It took the little robot vacuum about 30 minutes to both accurately map (thanks to LiDAR) and fully clean the office in its first stint. Of course, because we did not want to wet our carpet, we turned off the mopping function, you can do that via the app too. The next few rounds of cleaning took just about 20 minutes since the Q7 is not necessarily doing any extra guess work and mapping. Of course, the Roborock Q7 continues to run its sensors while it is cleaning just in case there are any changes to the space.
Performance
Via the app, you can choose the Roborock Q7’s operation mode. You can either get it to mop and vacuum, or just vacuum. You even get to choose the intensity of its operations via the app. In the vacuum department, there are three levels of suction strength you can choose from. Even the mop has three levels of intensity for you to choose from.
While mopping may not be something you want to do with carpets, you can consider mopping your tiles or parquet flooring. We used it in our homes with mostly marble flooring, parquet, and tiles. The tower does not come with a water tank, so you must refill your water tank from time to time if you do want to work with the mop function.
In terms of suction, the Roborock Q7 Max does well enough even at minimum power. You only need all 4,200pa of suction when you are working with a lot of carpets. In regular flooring conditions, cranking your Roborock Q7 Max to its maximum power setting is never necessary. While you may want to adjust the amount of water that is being used to clean your floor, we do not think that you need anything more than the medium wetness setting to clean your floor. If you want to wet your carpets, the wettest setting might be necessary.
It is not the fastest robot vacuum you might find in the market. As mentioned, it took about 25 minutes or so for the Roborock Q7 Max to clean our entire office. But it does get the job done, very well at that. Thanks to the app, you can monitor the cleaning progress of the Q7 Max at any given time.
You do want to keep stray cloth off the floor. You also want to keep in mind that the robot does tend to climb up small ledges. Though, it is not very good at reversing out of said ledge. The app does a decent job at telling you that your Q7 Max has met with some issues, has stopped operating, and needs rescuing.
At the same time, the Roborock Q7 Max has a powerful enough drive motor to push small objects out of the way. Our lighting set up was completely toppled over by the robot vacuum in its pass through. Since we had it going remotely, we did not find out until we came back into the office to collect the unit.
Yes, it can operate without the dock in place too. That is rather useful when you have multiple floors of your home or office to work with. You can program it to different floors too and the vacuum quickly understands which layout its cleaning on its own. Without the dock, the robot vacuum will return to its original position where you set it down, so you simply pick it up where you left it once it is done cleaning, as told by the Roborock app.
In terms of noise, it does not make that much of it while it gets going. Yes, you hear it going, but it is not annoying or disruptive in anyway. When it docks and empties its bin though is when things get rather loud. The app will warn you, but nothing prepares you for that sound. It sounded like you have a jet going off in your house, rather unnerving.
Because the dock does not house a water tank too, you do have to clean the mop attachment and fill up the water tank on your own. We also think that the app should be able to at least keep track of how much water the vacuum still contains. It is an easy enough job filling the water tank though. You simply pop it out of the vacuum and fill with regular water. The water tank is combined to the dustbin though, so the Roborock Q7 Max will not work without the tank inside the vacuum.
Roborock Q7 Max – It Does the Job
The Roborock Q7 Max+ bundle includes the Roborock Q7 Max robot vacuum unit and a docking tower. That will set you back MYR 2,899 currently. In the world of robot vacuums, the Roborock is a little on the premium side. Compared to a similarly priced Roidmi robot vacuum though, the Roborock packs more suction power. Sure, you do not have a refill tank in the tower but refilling the water tank is not much of a hassle. It is a job that takes probably about 2 minutes. You do have to clean the mop module though, which can be annoying.
Still, the Roborock Q7 is one of the most powerful robot vacuums you can find in the market currently. The comprehensive app, while can also be likened to many of its competitors’ apps is very user friendly and easy to understand for most. There is a small learning curve if you are not used to it, but you only ever need to use one or two buttons on the app, especially if you live in a single-story building or a condominium, same goes to the office.
It is not the fastest cleaning robot out there, but because of how much power it has, it cleans your floor well. It works especially well with carpets since carpets tends to be dustier than regular tiling or marble flooring. The added mop function will not replace the old mop and floor cleaning solution combo. Still, it does its job well enough that you have a clean floor after every cleaning session.
Is it worth its asking price? If you want something that is powerful enough to clean your carpets, reliable, comes with a simple app to help you manage your vacuum, and a dock that also ensures that your robot vacuum is ready to go with an empty dustbin, this is the one for you. You can get ones that comes with a bigger tower dock that houses a water tank to clean your mop and replace the water supply in your robot vacuum too, but if you are mostly working with carpets, you may want to trade the water tank in with higher suction power anyway. In that case, MYR 2,899 is money well spent on this puppy.
There are a few ways to live healthy. You can exercise and control your diet. To ensure your home is well protected and the air you breathe at home is clean and pure, you can buy air purifiers, or air-conditioning units that comes with air cleaning functions. But there is one thing that you always forget, a rather basic thing that we all need to survive; our water.
Water is a pretty basic consumable that we take for granted sometimes. With the constant water supply cuts in Selangor, Malaysia, you might grow to appreciate the constant flow of water you might find in your home. That said, access to clean water in Malaysia is rather abundant. Still, clean water is not drinking water. For that you want a water purifier, or some sort of filter to ensure that the water that flows out of your tap is safe to consume.
The problem with most water purifiers though is the constant servicing that is required. You cannot do it yourself too in most cases. You need to get someone to come in and replace all the filters, clean out the tank, and then bill you for it, on top of however much you are already paying for the water purifier itself. Not LG’s latest PuriCare Tankless water purifier.
There is nothing wrong with having someone to come and change your filters or clean out your tank. It costs some of your time though. You need to wait at home for someone to come, wait for them to leave before you can be out and about again. Modern water purifiers are also rather complex machines that requires some know how to service, which also means you have no choice but to engage the service providers to change and clean water purifier.
LG’s latest PuriCare water purifier eliminates the need for a service person. The new rig is designed to ensure that even you can change the filters in just a few minutes. It is completely toolless too, to make it even simpler to maintain on your own.
LG’s Tankless technology is nothing new. They launched the technology a couple of years ago to eliminate the need for tank maintenance whenever the rig needs servicing. The benefit of a tankless system is also to ensure that there is no microorganism build up in the tank that will affect the quality of the dispensed water. What is clever is that the machine can dispense hot and cold water all the same.
Water from the LG PuriCare purifier goes through a 4-stage All Puri Filter System that eliminates microorganisms, 99.99% norovirus, and heavy metals like mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium, iron, copper, aluminium, manganese, and zinc that are all quite hazardous if consumed in excess amounts. The clever technology inside the compact machine also allows you to have hot water and cold water instantly without needing a tank to store both cold and hot water at the same time.
The new LG PuriCare self-service tankless water purifier system will set you back MYR 3,200 and comes with 2 years’ worth of filter subscriptions sent every six months to your doorstep. If you still want someone to come by and help you change the filters, it will set you back MYR 4,000. You can get the water purifier in your house for just MYR 60 a month though for a 7-year subscription self-service plan. You can choose between Navy Blue, Silver, and White colour options. If you want to know more about the LG PuriCare tankless water purifier, you can head over to their website.
It’s that time of year again! Acer Day is here with even more things to celebrate. This year, Acer is doubling down on its commitment to becoming a sustainable technology company. Just last year we saw Acer unveil one of the most sustainable laptops with their Acer Aspire Vero; This year, they unveiled a plethora of new products that expand the Vero line up including a mouse and new laptops.
With this year’s theme, “Make Your Green Mark”, Acer is looking to prove its commitment to sustainability with numerous initiatives. Acer Malaysia will be rewarding anyone who brings PET plastic bottles to Acer Day 2022 at Pavilion Bukit Jalil, Acer Concept Stores or the Acer Office in the Klang Valley. For every 5 bottles brought to these collection points, Acer will be giving out MYR5 in Touch ‘N Go eWallet credits.
Source: Acer
In addition to this, they will be having an ongoing trade-in promotion. You’ll be able to trade in your used gadgets for cash rebates on your Acer purchase. These gadgets can be laptops, desktops, All-in-One PCs and even tablets. They don’t even have to be functioning! You’ll be able to receive rebates of up to MYR700.
Of course, it’s not all about recycling during this Acer Day. There will be many attractive discounts and offers at the Acer Day Roadshow happening from 3rd August 2022 until 7th August 2022. On the last day of the roadshow, Acer will be having a flash sale at 1 pm. During the flash sale, you will be able to get a top-of-the-line Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptop with a Ryzen 9 processor and NVIDIA RTX 3080 graphics processor for MYR7,699. That’s a whopping MYR1,500 off the retail price! You can even get a ConceptD 3 Ezel Pro with an Intel Core i7 and NVIDIA Quadro T1000 graphics processor for a steep MYR1,700 discount at MYR6,999. Even the Predator X28 curved gaming monitor is on discount during the flash sale! You can get it at MYR2,499, a whopping MYR1,200 discount!
That’s not all, you can even get special purchase with purchase offers during the flash sale! The first 100 flash sale customers will be entitled to a chance to get a special purchase with purchase offer. Wanna know what’s up for grabs? Well, there’s an Acer Nitro 5 gaming PC worth MYR3,599 that you can get for MYR399 – if you’re lucky enough. The Acer Aspire 3 laptop and Aspire C22 AIO PC will also be available at steep discounts. They will be available for purchase (with another purchase) at MYR199 and MYR599 respectively. Keep in mind, these offers are for the first 100 customers at the physical flash sale happening at the roadshow in Pavilion Bukit Jalil on the 7th of August.
Acer isn’t forgetting those of us who can’t make it to the exciting roadshow either! They will be having Shopee SuperBrand Day on Acer Day itself – 3rd August! During the Shopee SuperBrand Day, you’ll be able to get attractive discounts and freebies on the Acer Official store on Shopee. You’ll be able to get Acer’s first sustainable laptop – the Aspire Vero – for MYR2,799. The Acer Aspire 3 and Acer Enduro Urban will also be available at discounted prices.
It’s worth noting the offers mentioned here are simply the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Acer Day promos that will be happening from 3rd August 2022. Keep an eye out on Acer’s social media and you might catch some that aren’t mentioned in the article. What are you waiting for!?! Shouldn’t you be getting ready to head to Pavilion Bukit Jalil?
Robot vacuum cleaners are the best thing that happened to humanity after the broom, mop, and regular vacuum cleaners. Why? While it is not 100%, robot vacuum cleaners save you a lot of cleaning time in your house. Sure, you might need to use a supplementary handheld vacuum cleaner to ensure that you can clean the nooks and crannies in your home. If you are not too particular, modern robot vacuum cleaners does at least 85% of the job well enough. They can even mop your floor at the same time, saving you even more time.
There is a small problem here though. The robot vacuums are rather tiny in most cases, which also limits its waste tank capacity. If you have a mop function, the water tank would have to be rather small, and it takes up even more tank capacity, making the waste tank even smaller. While it does save some cleaning time, you would have to empty and refill the tank rather regularly. There is also the problem of cleaning the vacuum cleaner itself. Not with Roborock’s latest creation though.
Source: Roborock
They call it the G10, and it will set you back MYR 3,999. It is also one of the most sophisticated, if not the most, in the vacuum cleaning market. Yes, it comes with a rather tall dock for not just emptying its waste tank, it also cleans the robot’s mop if you want it to.
We start with the robot unit first though. It is Roborock’s most powerful robot vacuum cleaner to date. It features 2,500 Pa of suction to ensure that all sorts of dirt and debris gets lifted, even in carpets. They have also upgraded the main brush to hug the floor better to ensure that whatever dirt that might get stuck on the floor gets unstuck too.
The mop function has been updated too. It is now what Roborock calls Sonic Moppping that vibrates the mop at up to 3,000 times a minute to ensure that even the most stubborn of dirt gets wiped cleanly off the floor. The Ultrasonic sensor on the unit ensures that the robot recognises carpets more accurately in mopping mode to avoid wetting the carpets. To prevent hair from tangling within the brushes, it is fitted with Roborock’s rubber brushes that is also more durable than regular brushes.
Source: Roborock
Source: Roborock
Source: Roborock
Source: Roborock
Of course, it is a smart little gadget you can control with your smartphone, as expected. It packs Roborock’s rather proven 3D mapping technology that recognises your room and maps it out. This allows rooms to be cleaned more efficiently and effectively. You can now also add furniture and floor material information to create a more accurate map of your house. That way also the robot can also cleverly determine its own cleaning functions according to floor types and furniture placements.
Then there is its dock that also cleans the Roborock G10. Roborock designed the dock ramp to automatically clean its brushes of course. The dock also houses a larger tank that allows the robot to ultimately empty its own tank and reduces the need for you to keep maintaining the robot vacuum cleaner itself. At the same time, the dock has a cleaning module made to specifically clean the mop module of the G10. There is a brush that rotates at 600 rpm to completely clean the mop off dirty water, keeping the mop clean and ready to go for its next round of cleaning session. There is also a large water tank in the dock to ensure that your robot G10 is filled with clean water for its next mop.
The Roborock G10 is now available for pre-order. It retails at MYR 3,999 and you can get it from its official store exclusively on Shopee. For more information on the Roborock G10, you can head over to their website.
Wireless earphones are all the rage these days. We do not think it is the first time we start an article with that. We doubt it will be the last time too.
It is a true statement though. Most smartphone owners today will, at some point, have owned a wireless audio solution. Most of them will have at least experienced truly wireless (TWS) headsets at least once by now. Most of them will succumb to the convenience of one and own at least one in their lifetime.
There are also reasons why plenty of high-end audio gear manufacturers avoid offering TWS type headsets though. One of which is the fact that there will be some compromises with audio quality. Latency can also be an issue with TWS type headphones.
Still, manufacturers can no longer ignore the appeal of one. beyerdynamic finally gave into that pressure as well. Welcome to the Free BYRD. Yes, it comes with a few tricks from Beyerdynamic that is meant to elevate the TWS headset experience.
The beyerdynamic Free BYRD is their first TWS type audio gear, which is why they are pulling all the stops to make this as good as they can make it. It packs a 10mm driver, which is rather large considering that even the likes of Sony have reduced their driver sizes to about 6mm with the new WH-1000XM4. A larger driver has its advantages though. Because it is bigger than the regular drivers found in similar devices, it can push more air and drive more air pressure into your ears for punchier and more detailed bass notes.
The Free BYRD also features the latest aptX adaptive codec alongside AAC support. These codecs should work together with the 10mm drivers to produce sounds as they are intended and probably even better. beyerdynamic also introduces something they call MOSAYC. It is what they call “Attention to Detail with Mimi Sound Personalisation” to really elevate your listening experience. It automatically tunes the drivers to the listeners ears to create a more optimised listening profile. In that case, no two Free BYRD should sound completely the same. To customize the listening experience even more, there is the equalizer within the proprietary MIY app on Android and iOS.
Source: beyerdynamic
Of course, there is active noise cancelling (ANC) baked into the TWS earbuds. The hybrid ANC should really ensure that users block the world out. For the best experience, you want to find the best fitting ear tips for yourself. beyerdynamics includes five sets of differently sized silicone ear tips and three additional memory foam earpieces for use in sporting activities. In those cases, you can be sure that the Free BYRD can withstand all kinds of grimes and sweat with IPX4 certification.
The Bluetooth 5.2 device with Google Fast Pair headphones offers Qualcomm’s dual 2-mic cVc technology. The new technology with four mics in total should offer highly natural phone calls with excellent pick-up. Obviously, the mics should also be excellent for Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and even Apple’s Siri.
In terms of battery life, the Free BYRD offers up to 11 hours of battery life from a single charge in total. You can wirelessly charge the Free BYRD if you have a wireless charging pad. Of course, it is also charged via USB Type-C. A quick 10-minute plug-in can also give you up to 70 minutes in music playback time, if you are in a rush.
Source: beyerdynamic
Source: beyerdynamic
Source: beyerdynamic
Source: beyerdynamic
Source: beyerdynamic
Source: beyerdynamic
Source: beyerdynamic
Source: beyerdynamic
Source: beyerdynamic
Source: beyerdynamic
Source: beyerdynamic
Source: beyerdynamic
Source: beyerdynamic
Source: beyerdynamic
Source: beyerdynamic
Source: beyerdynamic
Source: beyerdynamic
The beyerdynamic Free BYRD is available in most of Europe via their official store on Amazon.com. It is available in Black and Gray colour options. It will set you back EUR€ 229, which is about MYR 1,029* or US$ 232**. The price range puts it squarely as a competitor of the Sony WF-1000XM4. Sadly, there is no word on its availability in Malaysia. Chances are, if you really want one, you have to get it from Amazon Europe and get someone to ship it to Malaysia for you. More information on the beyerdynamics Free BYRD can be found on their website.
*Approximately based on exchange rate of EUR€ 1 = MYR 4.49 as of 08/07/2022 on xe.com
**Approximately based on exchange rate of EUR€ 1 = US$ 1.01 as of 08/07/2022 on xe.com
Samsung, back in CES 2022, announced a bunch of very interesting products. One of them is a particularly odd-looking projector with rounded body and an odd foot. It certainly does not look like the typical traditional projector.
They call it the Freestyle, and it is not really a portable projector in any case. It does not pack a battery pack within the body. It is a regular projector that requires a power adapter plugged into a wall socket. It is not technically an LED projector either. So, the only thing that is unique about this product could be its striking visual.
Except, it is not just its odd visuals that could make this a projector you want at home. While it is not a portable projector with a battery packed in, it is still a rather light device. At 830 grams, it is one of the lightest, if not the lightest projector of its kind. That also means that if you have a wall socket nearby, you can take this projector and turn any room or space within your home into and entertainment hub. Either that, or just hop it up with an external USB power source capable of pushing 50W/20V output. If you have a powerbank that powerful, you essentially have a portable projector here.
Source: Samsung
Projection wise, you are getting a Full HD image out of the Freestyle, which is actually pretty good. You can get up to 100-inch of projection with no issue too with the Freestyle. With the 180o articulation, even your ceiling can be your cinema display. At the same time, you can technically prop the Freestyle on any surface and its auto keystone function will automatically level your images. It even features its own Smart Calibration in case you are projecting on a wall that is not black or even white.
Surprisingly enough, you can still find a speaker on the compact projector. It packs a 5W 360-degree radiation speaker that should distribute audio evenly in the room. They say that the 5W speakers should also offer cinema-quality sound experience.
It is not just a plain projector that you have to connect your media source to. Even without connecting the projector via cables to your smartphone or PC, it is a smart projector that comes with the Tizen OS for TVs. That also means that you get access to the likes of Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, and even Apple TV+. If not, you can always just mirror your smartphone’s contents on the projector wirelessly when you want. It also comes with Samsung’s Bixby smart assistant, so you technically may not need a remote for the Freestyle.
Once you are done with the Freestyle, you technically do not have to turn it off. You can use it to set the mood for your room with ambient mode. It can be an additional lighting source, or it can also display a scene and even become your large format photo frame if you want it to be. Of course, that is going to take up some of its lamp’s life.
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
The Samsung Freestyle is available now from Samsung’s Malaysia Online Store, Shopee, and Lazada. You can also find one in your nearest Samsung authorized resellers and concept stores nationwide. It will set you back MYR 4,999, which is a lot of money for a projector still. If you get the Freestyle before 31st of July 2022 though, you are entitled to complementary accessories like the Freestyle Case (Dark Green) and Freestyle Skin (Forest Green) that is worth up to MYR 498 in total. More information on the Samsung Freestyle can be found on their website.
When gaming consoles start pushing the boundaries of gaming with 120hz refresh rate at 4K resolutions, TVs have to get better. The latest-generation TVs made with gaming in mind have to keep up with the demands and now we see TVs with 120hz refresh rate. The thing is 4K 120hz is not a new thing in the world of high-end gaming. It is the standard in high-end PC gaming.
4K monitors are hardly popular, but they do exist. There is a good reason for that. PC monitors are usually optimised for a rather restrictive seating position. You are usually no more than 2 metres from your display. That means display sizes cannot exceed a certain size. With most gaming monitors from 24-inch to 38-inch, you do not get anything beyond Quad HD in resolution, because the differences with 4K is hardly noticeable or worth the fuss over.
At the same time, if you do have the gear to push gaming at 4K 144hz though, you would want something that can keep up. For that you get this one, a 42.5-inch behemoth of a gaming monitor that outputs at 4K resolution and at 144hz at its maximum. It is basically the dream of every hardcore gamer out there today,
You are paying quite a premium for it, at MYR 4,699. 4K 144hz is just a starting headline number for you. Delve deeper into the monitor and it really sings, or rather, displays wonders.
You get two HDMI 2.1 ports, for you to plug in two PCs, two next-generation consoles, or a combination of both. Both HDMI 2.1 allows you to take advantage of 4K 144hz or 120hz standards. Of course, your cable needs to be able to handle that much data going through it too, so you might want to consider splurging on a good set of cable.
The monitor also acts as a KVM USB hub with USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, whis is rahter useful if you have multiple PCs set up with the 42.5-inch behemoth of a monitor. There is also a USB Type-C port that supports PD charging at 30W, which allows you to fast charge your smartphone.
On the business end, it has a display that pushes up to 1,000 nits of goodness into your eyes. The 1,000 nits’ brightness also gives it a DisplayHDR 1000 certification which also means that HDR images and videos should look rather good on the display. Additionally, colours should really pop as well with 90% DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage. At the same time, it is colour precise with Delta E<2.
Out the back, other than the ports, there is a mood RGB strip that you can synced with your music and other medias. There is also Acer ColorSense and LightSense technologies that allows the display to automatically adjust the colour temperature and brightness of the displayu according to the situation to protect your eyes. With ProxiSense, there is a proximity sensor that also detects the user’s presence in front of the display and dims the display to save power and to protect sensitive content from being displayed on the large format display.
Price and Availability
The Predator CG437KS is now available from Acer’s eStore and its online retail partners on Shopee and Lazada. You can get them from any of Acer’s authorised resellers too. As mentioned, it will set you back MYR 4,699. You can only get it in one colour option, black, as usual.
When you want to buy a display for your gaming rig, you first look at the gaming monitors. Gaming monitors are so common these days that you can spend anywhere between a few hundred Ringgit to a few thousands and get yourself a ‘gaming monitor’ of some sorts. Of course, if you want a good one, you are going to have to splurge a little bit.
There is a small problem though. The current biggest gaming monitor you can find on the market is no larger than 43-inches. If you want to go bigger, you are going to have to buy a TV, a 4K TV set that is not really made for PC gaming. Most of the time, these TVs are made for console gaming, which usually only tops out at 120hz refresh rate.
What if you want to go bigger than regular TVs, since the largest TV in the current commercial market tops out at 86 inches? You buy a projector that can go up to 110 inches with little issues. There are even projectors that can do much bigger than 110-inch, but those are industrial type projectors. There is still another problem here. Projectors are never targeted for gaming.
Source: Acer
Not this one though, the Predator GD711 4K gaming projector. Yes, it tops out at 4K in resolution. At that, you do not get more than 60hz of refresh rate. Understandably, it does not have HMDI 2.1 to work with. But with gaming, refresh rate and frames per second (fps) is sometimes more important than resolution. That is why the Predator GD711 is made to refresh at 240hz in Full HD resolution.
The best thing about having a projector is that you can get a large projection almost anywhere in your home. When you have friends over, you can get the screen to go as big as 300 inches. Imagine watching a good movie at 4K with that kind of size with your friends. You can even plug your consoles in and play multiplayer games at that with no fuss with that kind of real-estate. Acer recommends a throw range of 2.7m to get a 100-inch screen though.
Projecting all the goodness from your PC or Consoles is an LED that is rated to last up to 30,000 hours with minimal drop in luminance. It is rated at 4,000 LED lumens, which is sort of equivalent to about 1250 ANSI lumens. We would say that at that brightness, you might want to think of using the projector in a slightly dimmed room.
Unlike traditional lamp though, LED projectors do boast much better colour reproduction. The Predator GD711 offers 125% of Rec.709 colour gamut coverage. You get sharp, vivid, and highly accurate colours with highly accurate details still. Even the blacks are going to be as black as your screen can be. On top of that, while you can hook it up to your sounds system, you can also rely on the 10W speakers of the GD711 if you plan on bringing it to your friend’s house or set it up in any other rooms in your house. You can even hook it up to a Bluetooth speaker if you want.
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
The Predator GD711 4K gaming projector is now available at Acer’s very own online store and their official stores on Shopee and Lazada. You can also get your hands on one from Acer’s partner retailers nationwide. There are no colour options, like any other Predator products it comes in matte black. It also comes with a remote control, for you to also control its Aptoide OS built into the projector. The Predator GD711 retails at MYR 4,999, which is quite a lot of money for a projector. For a 4K projector though, and one that can refresh at up to 240hz, the price now looks more like a bargain. More information on the Predator GD711 can be found on their website.
