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Asus ZenBook 14 UX425JA (2020) In-Depth Review – Something is Missing

September 14, 2020 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

The daddy of the modern Microsoft Windows based UltraBook that is supposed to compete with the likes of a MacBook Air was the ZenBook, if you can remember it. Asus introduced their first ZenBook line-up in 2012 to be ultra-efficient, ultra-long battery life, ultra-portable notebooks like a Windows PC never was. It brought out a whole slew of things that we thought we will never see from a Windows platform. It kick-started a few races toward the longest possible battery life, the smallest possible package, and even the lightest packages with different display sizes.

It was their most premium consumer product as well at that moment. A Windows notebook PC that would be as expensive as a MacBook was quite unheard of at that time. The ZenBook, in that sense, was a pioneer.

Fast forward to 2020 though and we have a new family of premium UltraBooks from ASUS, and it is the ASUS ZenBook 14 and 13. The numbers are an indication of sizes, technically. So the 14 refers to the 14-inch display while then 13 refers to the 13-inch, quite obvious really.

Like many of the manufacturers, ASUS likes to claim that their stuff, especially the ZenBook, is the thinnest or lightest at something. It is all sort of marketing gibberish to be honest. With the new classic ZenBook though, they claim that they have the thinnest 13-inch and 14-inch notebooks with full I/O ports.

While this is not the thinnest 13-inch or even 14-inch notebooks you can find in the market, there may be some truth to ASUS’ marketing blurb. In short, you cannot find an ultrabook today that has a full USB Type-A and full HDMI port. So, this claim of the thinnest with full I/O ports must be true right? It is true, but is this claim enough to win over your MYR 4,699? Is it enough to keep you away from other lighter, smaller, and more compelling ultrabooks in the market like the Acer Swift 5, for example? We find out.

Design

Like any other review, we start with the design. Yes, it is important, you are going to be looking at your notebook PC almost on a daily basis now that we are working from home on a near permanent basis. Okay, we are lying if we say our team is working from home full time. Most of us are already back in the office. But we have also always championed remote working and we rely on our notebooks plenty.

In that sense, we look at our notebooks on a daily basis no matter where we are. Because of that, we would want our notebooks to look pleasing too for us. Somehow it makes us feel good about what we do on a daily basis.

Back to the ZenBook 14 that we have here (not the 13). It is an MYR 3,999 full aluminium package that is way smaller than almost any 14-inch notebooks that I know of. It is not lighter than most ultrabooks though. It is quite hefty for its size, to be fair. Then again, full aluminium and metal construction does that to your notebook.

The ZenBook 14 still retains that swirling brushed aluminium look that made it so popular when it first launched in 2012. Instead of the swirl starting from the middle though, it is now pushed third away toward the right side, if you are viewing the notebook with the letters facing you. We admit that we said that the brushed aluminium was a timeless look. In this one, we do feel that it is getting a little aged. Even the colour feels quite old school, the Pine Grey colour option is quite a classic colour. We might prefer the Lilac Mist colour variant though, that looked good in photos and renders. Yes, we are men and we are proud of that colour choice.

We are not saying that you would not like the colours. Just because we do not like the colour, does not mean you would not like it too. It is just a matter of personal preference. We would appreciate a slightly different design and look from the ZenBook by now though. A little effort goes a long way, we are looking at you too, Porsche.

The ErgoLift hinge design that was championed again and again by ASUS these two years makes it into the design language of the ASUS ZenBook 14 here. We have mentioned that we are not ultimately fond of the ErgoLift design, but we also recognise the language and its benefits. At the right angles, it does help with typing comfort and fatigue. At some angles, it becomes kind of useless. It does benefit greatly on the cooling side though, we will talk about the ErgoLift more later on.

Hardware

The ASUS ZenBook 14 (UX425JA) you see here is not the lightest ZenBook you can get. That has to go to the 13-inch (UX325JA) variant of the ASUS ZenBook. There is also a variant of the ASUS ZenBook 14 (UX434FLC) where they fit a ScreenPad on the touch sensitive mousepad. Unfortunately, this is not that either.

The mousepad on this ASUS ZenBook 14 has a little trick up its sleeves too, just not in the way you think. It doubles as your numpad as well, which is a nice touch, since you are not getting a full-sized keyboard with numpad on it.

The variant we have for review packs a powerful 10^th Generation Core i7-1065G7 processor clocked at 1.3GHz. While that may not sound like much, it is powerful enough for plenty of work that we are accustomed to. It does bump the price up to MYR 4,699 though if you opt for the Core i7 variant. At MYR 3,999, you get an Intel Core i5-1035G1 processor.

8GB of RAM for this thing is quite ample and you do not really need to add too much more to it. That is also because you cannot really add another RAM stick in there. It is an ultrabook, after all. At the same time, you should not expect to be using the ASUS ZenBook 14 as your main gaming rig or video editing rig; 8GB is enough. It does pack an SSD though, for that extra speed when you need it.

Specifications

Asus ZenBook 14 UX425JA (2020)	As Tested
*Processor (clock)*	10th Generation Intel Core i7-1065G7 (six-core@1.30GHz)
*GPU*	Intel Iris Plus
*Display(s)*	14-inch IPS (1920 x 1080) Anti-Glare NanoEdge 400nits
*Memory*	512GB NVME M.2 SSD 8GB DDR4 RAM
Networking and Connections (I/O)	1 x USB Type-A 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C 1 x Standard HDMI 1.4 1 x MicroSD card reader Intel Wi-Fi 6 Gig+ (802.11ax) Bluetooth 5.0
*Battery*	67Wh 4-cell Li-Polymer 65W USB Type-C Charger
*Operating System*	Windows 10 Home (64-bit)
*Miscellaneous*	Harman Kardon Audio 3D IR HD camera with Window Hello

Features

Is it as thin as you think it is? Especially when they claim it to be the slimmest with a Full HDMI and USB port? This would beg another question that you have to ask yourselves. Have you seen the size of a full HDMI port? They are not that thick, but they are not exactly paper thin either.

In that case, it is not as thin as you think it should be. At 14-inch, it is not exactly the lightest notebook around either. But you have to appreciate the premium touch of the completely metal constructed body.

Full I/O Ports and an MicroSD slot

One thing that we hate about the more modern ultrabooks we use for work, especially in our line of work, is the fact that none of them comes with full USB ports anymore. In that sense, having a full-sized USB Type-A port is a breath of fresh air, something we can really appreciate. At the same time, there is only one full-sized USB port, which is occupied by a USB dongle for my wireless mouse most of the time.

Of course, because of that one USB port, you can put in normal sized thumb drives to work with. That also means you, or whoever you work with do not have to spend extra money just to buy a USB Type-C thumb drive or USB Type-C to USB Type-C cables. You do not need to spend on a USB Type-C dongle as well for that matter. Of course, if you already do have a USB Type-C dongle, you can use them still via the two Thunderbolt USB Type-C ports on the other side with the full HDMI port.

Full HDMI is a big welcome with any notebook, not because we thoroughly use them, just because it is nice to be able to go home and plug your TV to your notebook to watch Netflix or just work on a bigger display. In our line of work as well, we do travel to other parts of the world and work out of hotel rooms from time to time. In that case, having a full HDMI port that we can use to plug the provided TV in the room is nice as well.

There is also a MicroSD card reader that proved to be useful from time to time. We heavily rely on MicroSD cards in our work thanks to the compact camera we use. In that case, when we need to quickly transfer data, we simply pull out the MicroSD card from the Sony RX0ii that we heavily rely on for most of our production use case and just transfer out the data from the card to an external HDD we plug into the full-sized UBS port.

We would appreciate if they could fit another full-sized USB Type-A port though. Also, if they could include a 3.5mm audio in/out jack in the next iteration of the ASUS ZenBook 14, that would be great. We found this to be a little bit of an annoying pickle because of the lack of that audio AUX port.

We still do not agree with the decision of phone makers around the world when they decided that the 3.5mm AUX jacks are obsolete. Imagine our dismay then, when we found that we could not use our 3.5mm AUX earphones or headphones with this notebook. In that case, we have to dig up our bags for a USB Type-C earphone, or connect a Bluetooth enabled wireless earphone or headphone. With Bluetooth headphones, you might want to prepare to wrestle with Windows a little bit.

ErgoLift Comfort and Discomfort

The ErgoLift hinge that is championed by ASUS is technically nothing new. They introduced it a few years ago and the design is still stuck until this day. It is not exactly something that should win ASUS any style points though. In that case, while the design does create for some very interesting and seamless look on the outlook part, it serves a more practical purpose than you think.

Of course, every other person that has gone through the marketing blurb from ASUS knows that the ErgoLift hinge is designed for typing comfort. It raises the keyboards a little bit to make it a little more natural for you to type on. The angled keyboard is supposed to relieve some of the pressure on your wrists and ensure that you do not get fatigued while working on the notebook or even Carpal Tunnel syndrome. Trust me, it is not fun.

Thing is, the Ergolift hinge also means that the keyboard tends to sit at different heights in different angles. It is not that big of a deal in most cases, since the changes to the angle is quite minimal. But this also means that your viewing angle changes the way you work with the keyboard, which could very well be in a weird angle after you change your own seating position and then the display angle.

There are two rubberized legs on the ErgoLift hinge’s edge. That is to prevent the ASUS ZenBook 14 bodywork to be touching the surface it sits on and scratch itself to bits. It is also to prevent the notebook from slipping away from you while you type on it or work on it. It is to plant itself on that surface.

However, working with the ZenBook 14 on your thighs could be a small annoyance. That is because the naked parts of the hinge would be resting on your thighs. It might not be an issue if the notebook rests on your pants, but it might be a little annoying if the hinge rests on your bare thighs.

While they have managed to design an edge that is blunt enough that it does not dig into your skin, it is still a little uncomfortable as typing and resting your palms on the notebook means that you are still putting pressure on a smaller contact patch. In that sense, we do not recommend putting it on your lap when you are working, find a proper table. You would be more productive that way too. Of course, if you have no choice but to put your notebook on the lap, you are not going to bleed from the experience.

Blowing Hot Air, At the display

The ErgoLift had posed another problem for ultrabooks though. It has posed a cooling problem for ultrabooks. With the sides plugged up by plugs, the only way heat could travel out of the notebook is through the back. The ErgoLift hinge means that most of the heat is dissipated via fans blowing the display.

The cooling fans draw cool air from the bottom of the device. ErgoLift also means that there is a bigger gap at the bottom allowing for bigger airflow. The exhaust air is blown to the back of the device that is now part of the display, so hot air will travel on the display panel.

Thankfully, there is not that much heat that needs to be transferred out on normal use cases. You do not want to constantly blow hot air into the display else you might risk some damages from the display panel itself that might lead to discoloration or worse still, glue coming apart from the plastic panels, effectively disintegrating your notebook.

Backlit Keyboard for the Dark Times

There is no RGB here, thankfully. It is not a gaming device, after all, so why would you want RGB? But that also means that you can only get white colour backlighting on the ASUS ZenBook 14.

We do have to admit though that the keyboard on the ASUS ZenBook 14 is one of the best you can find on an ultrabook. It has enough travel and feedback for that extra smooth workbench feel. Typing on it is comfortable and typing fatigue is minimized with decently sized keys as well.

We do suspect that the extra thickness they had on the baseplate allows for better keyboard fitting and therefore slightly more key travels. That also means it does not feel like you are typing on a hardboard with ‘touch sensitive’ keys. Instead, you feel like you are typing on a keyboard, a proper keyboard.

We do find that we seldom put the illuminated numpad integrated in the touch sensitive mousepad to good use. It is a neat feature though to integrate a full keyboard into a form factor such as the ASUS ZenBook 14.

In a sense, working on the ASUS ZenBook 14 as a document, or email machine is a pleasure. The keyboard is silent even in the most silent working environment. It is not too mushy or too harsh on your fingers and every stroke of key feels properly solid.

Facial Recognition

Thanks to infrared sensors and webcam, the ASUS ZenBook 14 packs Windows Hello’s facial recognition. That is at the sacrifice of the good ol’ fingerprint sensor though. While it may seem counterintuitive to remove a secondary layer of security, the facial recognition of the ASUS ZenBook 14’s Windows Hello is what you need though. It is fast and accurate to the touch.

We did face some issues with facial recognition in our use, but that is more user error than the fault of the PC. You have to remember to take off your facemask before you start using the notebook. If you are wearing glasses, you should be fine. It is Windows Hello technology, which also means that it is a proven technology.

The lack of a fingerprint sensor is hardly missed though, since you still can use a pin number to secure your ASUS ZenBook 14. That is not to say that we dislike fingerprint sensors, or we do not want one. We do think that we should still have a fingerprint sensor just in case the webcam sensors failed to identify our faces when we need things done quickly.

At the same time, having a facial recognition webcam with Windows Hello also means that you have to keep the webcam free of tapes or webcam covers. Of course, you can leave a webcam cover in it. You Just need to remember to remove it or open it up every time you turn on your notebook.

Harman Kardon Audio

This ASUS ZenBook 14 comes with Harman Kardon tuned audio and speakers. That does not mean that it has all the bells and whistles that comes with certified sound bars. It is close though, without a sub-woofer that is.

Harman Kardon audio capabilities means that music sounds good. When we say good, we mean that its sound stage is nearly full and most frequencies are clear and crisp. Clear and crisp is what we will use to describe the top-end frequencies on the ASUS ZenBook 14. Since there is no sub-woofer elements packed into the compact body that is the ZenBook, low-end frequencies tend to be weaker.

That is not to say that it is a bad audio and music machine though. You still can appreciate good music through the speakers, just not something with a lot of low-end power. That also means EDMs might not cut it. Vocals do sound excellent on the speakers though, better than the ASUS ZenBook from before than does not come with Harman Kardon’s touch.

Performance

Of course, 10^th Gen Core i7 that it packs comes with plenty of expectations from us. It is 2020 and we can expect modern notebook PCs to be powerful enough to work and game lightly at the same time; especially an Intel Core i7. Of course, we cannot have a thin and light that does everything under the sun without any compromises. In that sense, this is an ultrabook with nearly zero compromise.

The Extra and Subtle Workhorse

In any angle, the ASUS ZenBook 14 exudes ‘premium’. At any touch, that is also the word that comes to mind. ‘Boring’, is another, as we have said in the design section.

These are not the only words available for the ASUS ZenBook 14 though. When you talk about taking a workhorse out for a trip out of town, the ultrabook of choice with the best value and performance is the ASUS ZenBook ultrabook. So, there is ‘Reliability’ in their repertoire as well.

The ASUS ZenBook 14’s body may not be the slimmest notebook you can find in the market. It may not be the lightest too in the market. If you are looking for those, you should be looking elsewhere.

A workhorse should have as little compromise as possible for its purposes. An ultrabook today will not pack a full-sized USB port for normal thumb drives and external HDDs. It will not pack a full-sized standard HDMI port for easy presentation modes as well. The ASUS ZenBook 14 is a workhorse that does not compromise on those. Hence, its extra heft.

It is mostly made for document processing, web browsing, and even scrubbing through emails too, which also means that there are some compromises in terms of other performance. In that sense though, the ASUS ZenBook 14 is more than adequate to handle everything and more. We mostly used it to play Music while we are working, reading through emails, typing through long articles and web browsing.

When we say we are listening to music, we did not connect a Bluetooth earphone or connect an earphone at all with the notebook, most of the time anyway. Which also means we are using the built-in speakers most of the time. When we say web browsing too, there are times where there are about 40 tabs open in each of the three Mozilla Firefox web explorer windows we have open on the ASUS ZenBook 14. Oh yes, we even had Microsoft Edge open from time to time to access a completely different thing. With Chrome, the notebook might not fare so well.

In those operations, the ASUS ZenBook 14 performs as silky smooth as you expect it to. Windows load up quite instantly thanks to Intel’s Optane memory included in the notebook. Apps also open at a near instant speed thanks to the 512GB SSD.

Video Editing is Possible

Everything sort of falls apart a little bit in video editing though. Iris Plus does help a little in reducing load and rendering times compared to the older generation Intel Core processors. We were only editing a 15-second timelapse that was supposed to be produced in 4K though. To be fair, we are processing 45-Megapixel photos that was stitched together to be post-processed as an 8K video file first. We were scrubbing through 136 photos in total for the time lapse.

Once stitched though, it took up to 50 minutes for the stitching to be post-processed into a 4K video. Scrubbing through the individual frames also took some time for the ASUS ZenBook 14. We had to wait a second or two to check through each of the 136 frames of the video.

Still, if you work with Full HD videos, you should have not trouble scrubbing through the video with ease on Adobe’s Premiere Pro. You might want to look into other more powerful products for smooth and quick 4K video productions. Still, a 3-minute Full HD render from a Full HD source should be done in about 10-15 minutes.

Gaming

Really? Do you really have to ask about gaming on a notebook designed to accompany you for work purposes? Redundant question that you might already know the answer to.

Gaming performance on the ASUS ZenBook 14 is pretty much as expected. It is not a gaming machine, so it is never going to do well in that regards. It is acceptable with certain games though, if you do not mind letting it run a little hotter than usual that is.

You can still play Football Manager, or Motorsport Manager, or even Cities Skyline on it smoothly with the fans going a little crazier than usual. You could, technically, play DOTA 2 with it too if you are into MOBAs. You might not be as competitive as if you are playing on a proper gaming rig though. That could either be your excuse for underperforming in a ranked match or kicked for being too incompetent, you have been warned. It is smooth enough with DOTA 2 though, so you might still be fine with a little bit of skill. We are never good in DOTA 2 anyway.

Even if you are thinking of playing the latest indie games like No Straight Roads, you would still be fine. The game will still load up smoothly and surely. You might just want to keep in mind to not push the graphics all the way up.

We are not saying that you should be playing games on the device. We are saying that you can if you want to. You might not be able to touch full-fledged AAA titles, but plenty of indie games like This War of Mine or Motorsport Manager never needed ultra-powerful rigs to run properly anyway.

Battery

A heftier body also has some benefit to a notebook’s battery life. You could technically fit a bigger battery pack into the body of the ASUS ZenBook 14 at the cost of more weight on it. In the body of the ZenBook 14 is a 67Wh 4-cell battery that is quoted to be good for 22 hours on a single charge.

To be fair, we have never hit anything that is close to the 22 hours claim in our usage. You do have to keep in mind that battery life is very dependent on use cases though. Battery life is affected by the ambient temperature, operating temperature, amounts of processes within the PC, use cases with the PC, and much more.

In our use case, where we have at least 20 tabs open on a web browser at any time, we got about 18 hours of continuous use before the PC tells us that we need to start charging the notebook. That is also with some music listening included with a mix of work and standby time. At some point too, the ASUS ZenBook 14 did not need a charge for a whole week. Of course, we were not continuously using the notebook.

ASUS Battery management

Technically you can fully charge the 67Wh battery of the ASUS ZenBook 14 within 2 hours with the included 65W charger. They claimed a 49-minute charge time to 60% with an empty tank, with the PC turned off.

We believe them though. We have only charged the ASUS ZenBook 14 while working on it once and while we are editing and rendering the odd video. Most of the time, charging is done while it is turned off, and we never left it charged for more than two hours at a time before we get going again with a fully charged battery.

We left the power management to let the charger to fully charge the batteries though, because we are on the go most of the time. But if you are going to let it sit on your office desk all the time, you can choose to restrict the battery charge to only 60% to prolong the battery shelf life. If not, there is a balanced battery preservation mode too in MyASUS app.

USB Type-C Charger

Having a universal charger is a very sensible thing to do. It also means that ASUS saves a porting hole just for a proprietary charger. Which still begs the question of their exclusion of the 3.5mm jack or another USB Type-A port. They clearly have space for the two mentioned ports.

Modern USB Type-C cables can also support up to 75W in output. That also means that you can even fast charge an ultrabook with a proper USB Type-C cable. But that also means that you can buy a high-output power banks wit proper 65W output too to charge your PC when you have no access to a charging port.

Since modern smartphones and other gadgets are making USB Type-C as a standard port these days too, having a high-output power adapter is also a bonus. You do not need to bring three different adapters and cables anymore to charge your devices when you travel. You only need one of ASUS’ USB Type-C adapter, and you are good to go.

Display – IPS and Iris Plus

The IPS Full HD display is a pleasure to look at though. It may not be the most colour accurate display in the world, it does not need to be. But it is a great looking display with highly saturated and bright colours. It should be good enough for the occasional movies that you might want to enjoy on the ASUS ZenBook 14.

That said also, 60Hz is not encouraging for games either, especially when you consider more competitive games like Valorant, or DOTA 2. It still works with games like This War of Mine and such, but you might even want your No Straight Roads to run at higher frame rates when possible. Iris Plus is plenty more powerful than the UHD graphics GPU that came before, but it is not a discrete GPU like an NIVIDIA GeForce MX250.

Again, the notebook is not designed with gaming in mind though. It is designed with portability, productivity, and practicality in mind. The display is designed for that too, technically with some clever blue light filtering software (Windows standard these days too). At the same time, the modern display panel is highly efficient with a 1-watt power draw rating. It is not exactly bright enough placed under direct sunlight in Malaysia, technically with 400nits. If you sit in a naturally lit café though, 400nits is enough for you to work with.

In this case, for its purpose, the display of the ASUS ZenBook 14 is not the most brilliant or highest resolution you can find. It is quite brilliant on its own though and does hold itself against any other notebooks of its standard. It is a brilliant looking display for a working-class notebook.

The ASUS ZenBook 14 – So Much, yet So Little

The package that you see here will set you back MYR 4,699. That is not exactly a budget notebook price. It is not exactly a premium as a Dell XPS 13 though. For that price you still get a full-aluminium body, a clever touchpad, an innovative hinge, Windows Hello’s brilliant webcam facial recognition, super-long battery life, some clever software, and fully sized I/O ports.

You do not get a lot of things for that kind of money either though. You do not get a proper, physical numpad (although, at this form factor, it is kind of impossible). You do not get a 144Hz display, or anything close to a colour accurate display as well. You are paying for slightly more heft with the ASUS ZenBook 14 and you get no fingerprint sensor with that, or even a 3.5mm AUX jack. You cannot even expect it to come with a discrete GPU too for that money, or even a full-sized SD card slot.

We are annoyed at the fact that they chose to hang us dry when it comes to audio solutions. To be fair, we were really annoyed at the fact that there is no 3.5mm jack on this piece of kit. We found the Grey colour option to be a little boring too, while the Lilac Mist colour to be tantalizing, but not very professional. WE are not saying that it is badly designed, it still looks sharp and very distinctively ASUS.

It was not as light as we thought it should be with the 14-inch trim. On a bright side though, it is lighter than most 14-inch notebooks you can find in the market today. It is also quite a little bit smaller than most 14-inch notebooks today too. Maybe, just not that much thinner in terms of thickness.

That extra girth though gives way to a full HDMI port and USB 3.2 Type-A port, which is always a welcome in ultra-portable machines that we know as our workhorse today. The extra girth also allows for a bigger fan in a sense to cool the PC adequately, and even house a slightly larger battery than you can expect an ultrabook to ever have. That extra sized battery gives you a longer battery life expectancy compare to its competition, and in that terms, more confidence in making it through a day with no battery anxiety. It gives you peace of mind, is what I am saying.

If you want the ASUS ZenBook 14 to be your daily driver for the next five years or so, you will want to invest in the more expensive Intel Core i7 variant. If not, even the Core i5 variant at MYR 3,999 will do you some good for the coming few years. You could even opt for a smaller display and more compact packaging with the 13-inch variant, if you really want. We always appreciate a larger display though, so the 14-inch is the one we will go for.

The ASUS ZenBook 14’s closest competitor technically comes at about the same price. You are getting the exact same display size with very similar packages. The only thing that differs from each product, other than thickness and weight, is their security features and one RAM size difference. The competition packs twice the RAM that the ASUS ZenBook 14 can offer for the same price. The competition lacks Windows Hello’s webcam facial recognition though and does not come with a USB Type-C charger (proprietary charger).

So, which would we buy? It is a difficult choice, to be fair. Considering the convenience of the ASUS ZenBook 14, we are leaning toward the fully sized ports. In truth though, we would be a little more comfortable using the other product because of ZenBook’s lack of weight, and an extra 3.5mm AUX jack. Ports? The competition has all the other ports too. Although we really like the idea of only carry a single charger for all our devices in the bag. Now we are in a pickle.

Android, Consumer Electronics, Editorial, Mobile, Podcast

Tech & Tonic Episode 23 Feat. Jeff Sandhu – The Quietest Moment in Our Studio

September 9, 2020 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

Samsung just launched their Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G device last week globally. It is coming to Malaysia soon too with the global availability. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 is probably the most anticipated and exciting devices to come out in these two years. Naturally, we are quite excited to see and review the device itself.

Before we can review the device though, we brought Jeff Sandhu in to our studio for a podcast. In this podcast we discuss all things foldable. When we say that, we mean smartphones and gadgets that are foldable, including the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2.

Jeff Sandhu was formerly from BFM. His 10 years experience in BFM includes producing his own talkshows featured on the radio channel itself. He joined BFM when the channel was only 2 years old. He recently left BFM to join a Sunway iLabs and Sunway Education Group initiative called 42 Kuala Lumpur. He is currently heading the media team in the initiative. He is an avid tech enthusiast like us though.

In this podcast we explore, with Jeff, some of the upcoming foldable devices. We discussed what we liked about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2, and what we do not like about the Samsung Galaxy Fold.

Editorial, Lifestyle, Mobile, News

One Step Closer to Malaysia’s Electric Dreams with the new All-Electric MINI

September 4, 2020 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

In 2008, a certain public figure announces something that would change the world. It changed a landscape of more than one industry. It changed the automotive industry certainly, a billion-dollar industry. But more than that, people seldom realise that they have also changed the tech industry.

That person is Elon Musk and his tenure in Tesla (you would have guessed by now). He and the modern pioneering company took a massive lead in the electric future with a certain Tesla Roadster. When the Model S arrives not very long after that, the automotive industry changed massively. Again, it was not just the automotive industry that changed, the tech industry changed too.

With the advancement of Tesla and its largely connected ecosystem that makes autonomous driving possible, the entire automotive industry starts realising that they are not integrating themselves with enough tech to keep up. Even until today, experts still consider Tesla’s technology and understanding of electric cars, and assimilating tech in cars years ahead of its closest competition.

But that is just what Tesla has been doing with the automotive industry, revolutionising it to the point that buying a car now is like buying a smartphone. Most automotive brands are already selling battery powered vehicles. Every other car manufacturer has some sort of all-electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid vehicle in the works. Every other manufacturer is looking into smart assistance inside and outside the car. All of them are trying to integrate the car controls into a smartphone, something Tesla has been doing out of the box since the Model S.

An All-Electric Future in Malaysia

In Malaysia though you have to take a step back because Tesla is not available her. Big shame really, since Malaysia seems like a prime market with enough expertise and readiness to jump right into an all-electric transportation future. Some of the public transportation you see on the road are technically all-electric already. Sadly, they have their own charging system built into their own hubs kept away from the world.

It may not seem that bleak though with BMW Group moving in the country with an all-electric future in their minds. Prove that they are one of the only people that really strives toward that all-electric future? They have introduced two all-electric vehicles in Malaysia.

The All-Electric MINI

If you have not known yet, MINI is a subsidiary owned by BMW Group. Now that you know, MINI has just introduced a brand-new all-electric car that was launched globally and now in Malaysia. They have launched the All-Electric MINI for the Malaysian market. Technically this is not the very first All-Electric vehicle from MINI, it is their second. In our opinion, it is their best looking to date.

It is the size and proportion of a Mini Cooper, perfect. It has got the funky wheel design from the older All-Electric Countryman, nice. It packs about 184 horses under its meek bonnet, great. It weighs about 1.7 tonnes. Wait a minute, it is heavier than a regular Mini Cooper.

That added weight means a 0-100hm/h time of 7.3-seconds, modest in the automotive world that the MINI lives in. In NEDC tests, the car can go up to 270km as well before needing a full charge from its revolutionary 12-module batteries and efficient electric motors powering the front wheels.

Of course, MINI is not going to compromise on handling and will tune the All-Electric MINI to be like the go-kart that is the regular MINI Cooper. With that you also get four driving modes in the car. If you want to keep your MINI going as long as possible on a single charge though you want to put it on Green+ mode. In that mode, it is possible to drive the car with just a single paddle.

The All-Electric Mini is available in Malaysia is now available in Malaysia in three colour options – White Silver with Energetic Yellow pairing, British Racing Green, and Chilli Red. You can book one online via their website with a booking fee of MYR 1,000 if you really like. Its full price (OTR w/o insurance), after Sales Tax Exemption is MYR 218,380.78, which is quite a lot of money for a small car.

The Car in Your Pocket

When BMW introduced the 330e and 530e into the market as well, they were one of the first and only cars in the market that we could integrate with our smartphones. You could control its air-conditioning unit to the right temperature just before you went into the car. You can unlock your car at a touch of your smartphones, you could monitor the car’s battery health and charge status from your smartphone. Of course, you could even get an appointment at the service centre set from your smartphones, if you are more comfortable with that.

The in-car infotainment system across any vehicles today received a major overhaul. While it was not something very new, they made connecting your smartphone to the car much simpler and better. Well, back then, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay did not come as standard in any car, but it is now. Better late than never, they say.

More than that though, the in-car infotainment system of the current modern world looks cleaner than before, more streamlined. That helps it to be a bit more intuitive than before, and requires less buttons and input than before, which is great. Cars like the All-Electric MINI packs Apple CarPlay out of the box. The only thing missing now from these cars is the wireless Android Auto or Apple CarPlay ability in that sense.

In certain reports and rumours, we even hear that BMW and even Mercedes-Benz is looking to do away with keys and keyfobs completely. You only need your smartphones to unlock and access your car. In our opinions, that is really cool, but really dangerous as well. Nevertheless, it is a future that we are looking forward to.

Smartphone Technology in Cars, or is it the Other Way Round?

There is a common ground between an all-electric car and a smartphone other than sharing an infotainment system. Technically they are still two different things anyway. Both these things are reliant on batteries and needs to be constantly charged.

Smartphones usually require us to constantly charge them on a daily basis. Our daily drivers, for example receives a nightly charge most of the time, or is constantly charging in the office, just so that we do not get battery life anxiety. Most electric cars today that is available promises more than 200km from a single charge. If you are driving in town plenty, that is probably two or three days-worth of charge, could be more.

Most of the time, you are going to charge it at home too, if there is an available 3-pin wall outlet. If there is a charging facility, you can leave it charging for about two to four hours for a full charge. For the All-Electric MINI, if you do find a DC charging station, you can charge the car within an hour. If you charging out of a normal outlet at home, you can get it charged in 12 hours, an overnight charge. You are not going to leave the battery flat though in most cases.

Most all-electric vehicles also come with a smart planner to help you plan your drive around these days. The car helps you plan your drive around town and find the best charging spots and how long of a stop you need to get you around your day. It might seem tedious at first, but with more available charging ports, it could just be more convenient for you to drive an electric car. Imagine wireless charging for your car too. It is just like bringing your smartphone and plugging it into the nearest plug source or your power bank or notebooks for an extra charge for the day.

But there are still differences between the two technologies. For one, you can bring your smartphone around and charge it via a power bank, but you cannot charge your car with a power bank. Of course, the other being the price of investment for a smartphone is greatly smaller compared to a vehicle, especially the current generation electric vehicles.

Android, Editorial, Mobile, News, Reviews

24 Hours with The Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra

August 25, 2020 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

Buying a new gadget is always special. Somehow it feels like an achievement. I remember the first time I bought my smartphone a Samsung Galaxy S. That was in the turn of the millennium and it felt like a big achievement. It was a great feeling, a special feeling.

Then you unbox the device, a delicate mix of glass, and plastic, and metal these days. It felt like a trophy at that time. Then you have to set it up, which is a pain in the butt.

Setting up your device for the first time is always quite a painful process. It takes out plenty of your time. You have to transfer as much data as possible from one smartphone to the other. In the old days, some of the most important data on your device is your contacts. You can do that with a simple Google sign in now. But the rest of the device, not so easy.

Since I switch to a smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S, I have never turned back to switch to another manufacturer. Since I have switched to the Note series from the Samsung Galaxy Note2, I have never turned back. Now, the Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra is here, and we have to get our hands on it.

First Set-Up

We did, and then we have to set it up like any other phone. In that regards, I switched out from a Samsung Galaxy Note9 to this Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra. Thank the heavens, we have the Smart Switch app that simplified data transfer from one phone the other, to a certain degree.

The first set-up of the device is quite painless. Since I am coming from another Samsung device, it is a simple turn on the Smart Switch app on the older device and get them to pair. When I switched out my Samsung Galaxy Note5 to a Samsung Galaxy Note9, I had to do the transfer via a wire. Now, the Samsung Galaxy Note20 does it wirelessly with the Samsung Galaxy Note9; neat.

Smart Switch App

The whole process is quite painless if you do it correctly and should be done within an hour depending on your smartphone. We did something wrong and had to reset twice to get the data transferred correctly. It took us about 40 minutes (when we got it right) for all the necessary data to reach the Galaxy Note20 Ultra.

It was worth it though, once done the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 looks exactly like the Note9 in terms interface. You get the same background you’ve set on your older device and even the same lock screen. Of course, you have to set up your fingerprint sensor and facial recognition again.

Things like your Google Account has already been signed into and you can access almost everything else that is singed in with Google account without having to sign in again. Of course, you have to sign into your Samsung account and Microsoft account again. Facebook is mostly already set up too if you transferred your data with Smart Switch app. Other things like Twitter and Instagram requires you to sign in again though.

If you want to, you can even transfer all the older photos that you took with your older device to the Samsung Galaxy Note20. That is what we did, and everything we had from the old Samsung Galaxy Note9 is now in the Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra. We only wish that the app also helps us mimic all the app settings and accounts we had. We were quite annoyed to find that certain apps are not signed in and most of our games progress has been reset.

Naked and Vulnerable

The Samsung Galaxy Note20 review unit that we got does not come with a device case to protect it from the world. When we checked with Samsung’s rep, there is a chance that the retail unit might not come with an included case too. In that case, we do suggest that you procure one the moment you get your Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra unit though. You would want to slap a case on its back because of the huge camera bump.

The device is not particularly thick, which makes the camera bump a little bit of an odd stand out. It is half the thickness of the S Pen and definitely thicker than your 50cent coin. You might need to stack two coins and it will just clear the height of the bump.

It is not a small bump either. It has to fit a large 108-Megapixel sensor along with two supporting sensors at that. Just in case you do not remember, the camera sensors are now larger as well. The term ‘stick out like a sore thumb’ plays very well here.

Still, the bronze that was presented on the Samsung Galaxy Note20 is a unique touch to smartphones. While every other manufacturer is doing all they can to get their device’s backs to look like they came out of the North Pole, Samsung goes back to basic with their flagship productivity machine.

The bronze is not even in a glossy shade for style points. They didn’t really bother with creating fancy effects either. It is just a matte finish that even feels nice in your hands. The only thing about it is that it is quite slippery in your hands. That is why we advise you to buy a case too.

We do really like the matte texture to the back of the device though. While it is nothing new, it is quite refreshing at this time and it does look good to a certain degree. Still you might just cover it up with a case anyway.

Battery Concerns

Out-of-the-box, the Samsung Galaxy Note20 comes with about 50% in battery charge when you turn it on. That should be enough for you to do your set ups or the data transfer. Once set up is done, the battery is still good enough to play around with and to do all extra set ups. While that is good news, it might disguise its actual battery life though.

The Samsung Galaxy Note20 houses the biggest battery of all the Note series that came before. The thing is, we do feel like it has about the same battery life as the Samsung Galaxy Note9 though. It is not great, but it is not bad either. If you constantly keep your device on, the battery does dwindle a little bit. We suspect that the battery life is driven down by the 120Hz refresh rate.

Once you start to charge it though, the Samsung Galaxy Note20 will prompt you if you want to fast charge it if fast charging is available. That is quite clever as well. If you tend to leave your device charging overnight, you might want to consider turning that function off. That is also a very clever way to preserve your battery shelf life.

120Hz Goodness

Once you start working with the smartphone, you first notice how smooth everything is. The Samsung Galaxy Note20 turns on 120Hz refresh rate by default but limits your resolution at Full HD. If you want the full quad HD treatment, sorry. Still, 1080p is still plenty good looking on the AMOLED display, so we left it that way.

The smoothness of the interface is uncanny though, everything flows really nicely with each swipe. Even the Samsung Keyboard is made to take on 120Hz, the suggested words just flow along as you type, which was a nice touch.

Of course, the other benefit to the fast display is gaming. Unfortunately, this aspect will have to wait until we properly review the device though. Why? We have not even launched any of the games we have on the device.

S Pen – Mightier than the Pen

Okay, that was an exaggeration. It is technically a digital pen, and we maintain that the stylus experience still cannot beat an actual Pen experience. But this, in our first tests, does feel quite close to an actual pen.

No, not the actual pen on paper experience. Instead, you still know that you are writing on glass, a smooth surface. We can liken it more to using market pen on whiteboards. That said, this S Pen is unlike any other stylus experience we are used to. This is coming from a Samsung Galaxy Note9 user.

It is faster than before, they say at 9ms. That means that response is near instant with the S Pen. Before we can start though, S Pen has some setting up and tutorial to do when we first take it out of its housing at the bottom left this time (used to be bottom right).

The first set up is to teach us how to use the three gesture controls that is available for the S Pen. If you do everything correctly, you will get that done within 30 seconds and you are good to go. You have to set up your apps with gesture controls first though, if you want to use them. We have not.

Then we fired up the S Notes app that is native to Samsung devices. We started writing and comparing to older Samsung Galaxy Note devices like the Note10 and the Note9. We fell a little in love after that. The experience is much changed and different now. While it is only a small difference between in the speed, the difference can be clearly seen. Especially when you are scribbling quickly, the scribbles on the Samsung Galaxy Note20 appears to really follow the pen without any visible breaks. We suspect that the 120Hz play a small role in this.

First Impressions After 24 Hours

This, in our humble opinions, could be Samsung’s most important and significant Samsung Galaxy Note ever. They are realising it into a highly volatile and uncertain market. No, not because Samsung is doing badly or that the smartphone market is doing badly. Those are provided also because of the bigger global concern that is the COVID-19 pandemic at this time.

For most, it is business as usual like Samsung. The Samsung Galaxy Note20 is sort of a new normal too. It is bigger, faster, and cleverer than before. It is a statement to the world that the digital pen is ready to take on paper and pen for speed and practicality. It is a new way to work on things.

It does not have the same camera prowess that is the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra’s 100x zoom. But it is a productivity beast when it comes to things that matter. You can use it as your alternative work device if you really want to. It refined the Samsung design philosophy a little bit with better ergonomics on the sides. The top and bottom are flat now, which does give it a slightly edgier and fresher look.

It is huge, even compared to the previous Samsung Galaxy Note devices. But it is never uncomfortable to hold (save for that big camera bump, we have nothing to complain about). It is even more powerful too, with bigger stamina tank. But it is not obnoxious in looks. It looks understated and we like that.

All in all, the experience is one that we have quite enjoyed. We have not gone into detail on the missing 3.5mm jack just yet. We have not even explored the Super-Fast Charging capabilities on the Note20 Ultra just yet. We also have not started talking about the big cameras yet.

Computers, Editor's Choice, Editorial, Gaming, Reviews

The Acer Predator Helios 300 (2020) In-Depth Review – At MYR 5,199; Value Has a New Name

August 17, 2020 Darwin Sucipto 1 Comment

The Movement Control Order, as we know it in Malaysia, or the sanctioned quarantine at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic (it is not over, by the way) really opened our eyes to plenty of things. It revealed the human ability to adapt to any situation and still survive. It also proved that our technology is ready to handle the situation and give us the kind of flexibility we need in that time of need.

But it also opened a whole other can of worms. Once we started working from home, we realised just how easily we can be productive without being in a professional environment. We also realised that the line between work and leisure is blurred to the point that we cannot see it. In that sense, we tend to be workaholics at home. Time for a change of lifestyle then, a new schedule.

You realised something too. You do not have much entertainment at home. You did not buy a TV because you tend to not be home until quite late in the evening. By that time, you just want to relax, wind down, watch a video or two on your smartphone or notebook, and then sleep. A TV is unnecessary at the time.

Other forms of entertainment get neglected too. Your gaming PC at the corner has collected so much dust that it looks like an ancient relic. You stopped playing that much games because you tend to stay out until its dark and you are sleepy. You want to play games, but you just do not have the energy for it in the past. In the current work-from-home situation though, you realise you have plenty more time to play games. But your Gaming PC is now old and slow. Time to buy a new Gaming PC.

You decide that its best to get a Gaming Notebook because it is the most convenient form of gaming PC to date. You can bring it around when you need to move, you can use it for work, you can watch movies on it, you can play music on it, you can have a LAN party at your friend’s place. It is the most versatile entertainment powerhouse in the world of entertainment powerhouses.

Which one do you go for though? What kind of budget do you stick to? There are so many choices out there at this point? What if you do not have more than MYR 6,000 to spend on one? What is the latest one in the market?

One of the latest gaming notebooks to arrive in Malaysia is the Acer Predator Helios 300. We heard somewhere too that the device was actually planned for an earlier release to no avail. That was due to the COVID-19 pandemics and its disruption toward the logistics industry globally. We do not blame them. It is also priced below MYR 6,000 at MYR 5,199, way below. In short, it sounds like one of the best deals to get if you are in the market for a gaming notebook. Is it though? Let us find out.

Design

The Acer Predator Helios 300 for the 2020 has been updated a little bit from before. The Acer Predator Helios 300 2020 gets pretty much the same GPU set up as before, same RAM size as before, and the same cooling internals. That is where the similarities end though.

The Predator Helios 300 is now packing more power with an Intel Core i7-10750H. With that, it also gets a slightly updated look. Gone is the ‘PREDATOR’ word logo on the cover. You get a much cleaner look on the back of the display now, which is the top clam of the notebook. The mascot logo is still there though, giving you some hints of the power contained within the all-aluminium body.

The power lines that frames the logo is still there too. The powerlines are as iconic as ever, in Predator’s signature blue. Sadly, only the logo in the center of the clam lights up with LED. We feel that the power lines deserve their own LED array to let others know that it means business.

The angled edge still stays, a staple now to Acer’s gaming line-up, including their Nitro series. The angles on the display clam is still a little sharp, but that is not a huge issue, considering that you rarely have contact with that part of the notebook.

The sharp edges that lines the palm rest surface though has been chamfered. They are still a little sharp on the ends, but at the same time the chamfered edges does make it a bit more comfortable for your palms and wrists. That chamfered edge is now chromed all the way too though, to add to some flair to how the device looks on your desk.

Open it up, and you will find, greeting you, is an expansive 15.6-inch IPS panel. With bezels remaining as thin as ever, but not too thin that it becomes awkward for Acer to find creative ways to mount their 720p HD webcam. Of course, we are still hoping that manufacturers include their own window or cap for the webcam just for our safety. At this point of time though, webcam spaces are a premium, so we may not see a webcam window anytime soon.

Look down and you find a full-size keyboard with proper physical number pad section. Instead of a single colour backlit keyboard, it is now a 4-zone RGB keyboard you can control with Predator Sense built into the notebook. There is a dedicated Predator Sense key too on the keyboard for you to access it quickly. I would have preferred a separate dedicated button though this arrangement by Acer makes everything look cleaner and more compact.

If you look closely too, you will see a ‘Turbo’ button on the top left corner of the typing surface. The new slits at the forehead of the keyboard are not speakers, by the way. They are extra cooling vents for the powerful 4^th generation 3D Aeroblades. The ‘Turbo’ button is nestled right beside the vents.

This ‘Turbo’ button now lights up when you press it. Instead of just relying on your ears to see if the cooling fans go crazy or not, you can leave your headphones on and check the button instead. Although, the LED is not an expected Predator blue. Instead it is a plain white LED backlight. I would have liked it if it was Predator blue LED backlit. Then again, it could be less visible.

Around the sides, you find all the right interface ports, including a full HDMI out port and a Mini DP port. The charging port though has been moved to the back of the notebook. That also means that there is a big plate now in the middle of the back of the notebook, sacrificing some cooling vent space (hence the extra vents on top of the keyboard). We prefer this set up though, at least the charging cable will not cover anymore ports or vents. The large plate that houses the charging mechanism is quite large and sparse though. We would have liked to see an HDMI port moved there, the Mini DP port should belong there as well, and maybe an extra USB port on the plate.

Other than these things, the changes in design is now more internal. Instead of having an extra HDD slot on top of the 512GB SSD on the device, you now get an extra SSD and HDD slot on top of the 512GB SSD. Because of the new I/O layout too, they have to move the 3D AeroBlade fan a little bit, further apart to the sides. But they have also redesigned the heat pipes and tweaked their routing to make them a bit more efficient and effective, resulting in an improved cooling performance, despite the reduced intake vent surface area.

Hardware

Within the redesigned body, you are getting the same Intel Core i7-10750H as the Acer Nitro 5 we reviewed earlier. You can opt for a cheaper Core i5 edition, but we would suggest that you consider the Acer Nitro 5 then. Still, this one is in a league of its own. It is a Predator, and this one is just MYR 300 more than the top-of-the-line Acer Nitro 5.

For that MYR 300 extra, you are getting a better GPU too. It is just a step up from the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti, but the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is still a much more superior GPU with DLSS 2.0 capabilities and proper ray tracing. In those alone, we do think that the Acer Predator Helios 300 will be a better buy.

If you are in the market for a thin and light though, you might want to look away. It is quite a hefty package, this Helios 300. It weighs 2.5kg and is just about as thick as the Acer Nitro 5 that weighs in at 1.8kg. Remember though that this Helios 300 is mostly constructed with Aluminium.

Specifications

Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-53-77CF	As Tested
*Processor (clock)*	10th Generation Intel Core i7-10750H (six-core@2.6GHz)
*GPU*	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
*Display(s)*	15.6-inch IPS LED-backlit (1920 x 1080) ComfyView 144Hz
*Memory*	512GB NVME M.2 SSD 8GB DDR4 RAM
Networking and Connections (I/O)	3 x USB Type-A 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C 1 x Standard HDMI 1.4 1 x Audio combo jack 1 x Network RJ-45 Intel Wi-Fi 6 Gig+ (802.11ax) Bluetooth 5.0
*Battery*	4-cell Li-Polymer
*Operating System*	Windows 10 Home (64-bit)
*Miscellaneous*	DTS:X Ultra Audio

Features

As we have mentioned before, most of the changes are in the internals of the Acer Predator Helios 300. The size has not changed, nor the weight. Plenty of the changes seem quite minor at first, but they do add up to an improved product over its previous one though.

For starters, we like how much cleaner the new Helios 300 for 2020 looks compared to the rest of the previous generation Acer predator notebooks. We can expect this kind of design as well moving forward with other Acer Predator products. The chamfered edges are a big plus in our books because it does help with typing comfort a little, despite the still sharp angle at the ends. But there are more to this notebook than just small improvements.

New Body, New Positions

Like the Acer Nitro 5 that we reviewed earlier last month, the Acer Predator Helios 300’s charging port is now at the back. This, in our opinion, is a big ergonomic improvement. Because of the angled design of the charging cable from Acer (slightly wider power brick for the 2020 version), the cable tends to cover either your I/O ports at the side or the exhaust vents.

You either restrict airflow, or block your ports, which gets very annoying in plenty of cases. Acer will not completely overhaul the cables a well, because a straight plug will disrupt your mouse experience, especially when you game. To right handers, it is a simple solution of moving the charging port to the left side of the device. That is discriminating left-handers though. So, the back is the most sensible choice.

The only complain we have, as mentioned is that the back plate that houses the charging internals is a little on the sparse side. We felt that the Mini DP port and HDMI port should be moved to the back alongside a full-sized USB port or USB Type-C port. Yes, go with what Lenovo has done with their Legion line-up, we like that.

4-Zone RGB Keyboard That is Even Better

Typing essays on the previous Acer Predator Helios 300 was not really a chore to begin with. We find that the keyboard on most gaming notebooks have improved tremendously, especially on Acer Predator notebooks. We feel like they have started understanding that gaming notebooks are still productivity machines when you need them to be. Typing experience is still an important part of a notebook PC.

In that sense, the 2019 version of the Helios 300 is a comfortable typewriter. The key travels cannot be compared to any mechanical keyboards, but they are still easy to work with. They give you enough feedback with some very soft tactile feel. We somehow feel also that the keyboard would be the best that they could have made it.

The 2020 variant though has a better keyboard than before somehow. The keys somehow feel a bit more tactile than we are used to with Acer’s island type individual keys. There is no difference between key travels between the 2019 variant and 2020 variant. The softness and mushiness are much reduced, and the typing experience somehow is made much more comfortable. No, you still cannot compare it to a mechanical keyboard, but it is a good keyboard to work with when you are out and about. Not everyone carries their mechanical keyboards in their bags.

You still get highlighted ‘WASD’, arrow, and Predator Sense keys on the Acer Predator Helios 300. Instead of choosing a single backlight colour though, you can go for multiple colours across four zones on the keyboard this time. You simply fire up Predator Sense to change the settings.

The chamfered edge that lines the bottom of the keyboard plate, is a life saver. At least the edges do not cut into your palms or wrists anymore. We think that rounded off edges or chamfered edges on notebooks should be a thing. It is a small difference that really changes your comfort levels with the device.

Predator Sense + 4^th Gen 3D AeroBlade = Stone Cold

The subtitle might be a little of an exaggeration. But to be fair, the combination of the two really works. Because you do not have the restriction of space like you get in a Triton notebook, the Helios 300 can work with bigger intake and exhaust fans and vents. That allows even more air to pass through your hot internals and keep them properly cool.

If you’ve read our review of the Acer Nitro 5, you would have noticed that we mentioned that Nitro sense is not quite as powerful as Predator Sense. That is because Nitro Sense does not do overclocks, while Predator Sense does.

Strangely you cannot really tweak the overclocking settings on your own, not that this information is anything new. Acer do not really want you to cook your internals just for the sake of proving a point. This is as much about protecting you as it is protecting the PC and themselves.

Predator Sense clocks up your CPU and GPU to speeds that the manufacturers deem safe and plausible enough for their fans to keep them at their optimum temperature. Of course, this is done when you kick ‘Turbo’ mode on. The fans go at its fastest too, to ensure maximum airflow for the Helios 300. Nope, you cannot turn the fan down.

In default mode though, the fan is relatively quiet and peaceful. It is still powerful enough technically to run Horizon Zero Dawn at ‘ultimate’ settings and not go overboard with the noise. It does get hot though after a while and you still might want to kick ‘turbo’ mode on, just to manage its temperature.

In any sense though, we never got the feeling that the Acer Predator Helios 300 is ever going to overheat, especially when you turn on ‘Turbo’ mode when ou need a little bit of horsepower. We turn on ‘Turbo’ mode even when we are editing our videos. We also think that the full aluminium top of the Helios 300 does help a little bit in heat dissipation.

Performance

You can safely expect this generation of Acer Predator Helios 300 to really perform. Will it be that much more powerful? I doubt, but it will still be powerful. It is still one powerful device with a 10^th Generation Intel Core i7-10750H processor that replaces the older 9^th Generation six-core processor. But you still get the same NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 on the graphics end, which is still something of a powerhouse.

Gaming

Of course, we have to talk gaming, this is a gaming notebook after all. We tried games like Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, Horizon Zero Dawn, Assassin’s Creed: Origins, and Two Point Hospital on it. They are not the latest or most demanding games in the market, but Ghost Recon: Breakpoint can be quite taxing on even the most modern of hardware.

The latest, in terms of PC release date, among all the games is Horizon Zero Dawn. It is not the most demanding of games, but we were still excited to play it on the powerful Acer Predator Helios 300. For Horizon Zero Dawn though, you do not necessarily need an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, it could be just slightly overpowered even when you go on ultimate settings. Technically you will do fine even with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti to get the game on ultimate settings.

Of course, for titles like Assassin’s Creed: Origins and Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, hardware will be a little taxed. Still, if we leave the game to decide the best settings for the Helios 300, you are sure to be getting smooth gameplay without too big of an issue. Ghost Recon: Breakpoint can be a little buggy on certain hardware though, so we might have to take that with a pinch of salt. Still, the game clocked at least 40fps in most cases only dropping frames in very few occasions.

Assassin’s Creed Origins is quite an old title to be fair. It is still a beautiful game to work with and requires quite a little bit in rendering power thanks to the vast open world that is ancient Egypt. Still, everything went down smoothly at high settings with fps reaching 120 at some points.

The last title we tested the Helios 300 is Two Point Hospital. That is a game that does not require that much at all to be fair, so you can expect it to run as smoothly as possible with near zero hiccups other than the game’s bugs. You can safely leave the settings at the highest for the game and you will still have no trouble running it even without ‘Turbo’ mode on. Of course, thanks to IPS display and 144Hz, Two Point Hospital looks excellent on the Helios 300.

Bye Bye Wave NX, Hello DTS: X Ultra

The previous generation of Acer’s Predator Helios 300 comes packing Acer’s own Wave NX audio technology. They are not bad, per se. They are just not as polished as we would like them to be.

With Wave NX in the previous generation Acer Predator notebooks, you get Virtual 3D audio if you are using your headphones. Regardless of the headphone make and type, Acer’s Wave NX solution, by default, will adjust the audio according to your head’s placement and movement. This is done via the webcam as well. To create an audio room for you.

While it sounds great in concept, and works nicely to a certain degree, it is inconsistent at times. That feature is removed in favour of conventional speakers. Except, the speakers are not that conventional thanks to DTS: X Ultra tuning.

While audio from notebooks generally lack low-frequency punches, the Acer Predator Helios 300 does have a little bit in thumping. It is not as powerful and defined as what you get if you have proper sub-woofers, but it is enough to enjoy your music with. You do want to have the DTS: X audio software turned on though to make full use of the DTS: X Ultra tuned speakers.

The software allows you to choose between a few audio profiles that is designed for specific uses. If you want to, you can tune the audio on your own too and save is a custom profile. Still, the pre set profiles does a stellar job on their own though. Unless you know what you are doing, best to leave the settings alone.

The speakers are quite loud at full chat, which could be a big distraction to other people in the same room as you are. Thank goodness they still have a 3.5mm jack for you to plug your headphones in for a more personalised listening experience. DTS: X will adjust the audio to that too.

Overall, there is technically not much to shout about in the sound department. Audio is crisp, and you can push it to maximum volume without getting your music to tear at the top. While it could use more low-end grunt, it is still respectable considering that the notebook does not pack a sub-woofer.

Battery

While they did quote that the new 10^th Generation Intel Core processors are more efficient in power consumption, we did not actually notice that much in terms of power efficiency bump. There are no specific mentions on the battery life you can get out of the 4-cell battery within Acer Predator Helios 300 from Acer themselves. We did however get about 4 hours of battery life on average with the Acer Predator Helios 300.

Our average use on battery does not include gaming. We mostly have our browser on, sometimes you get 20 tabs out of Firefox, some email checking via Thunderbird or the browser itself. Spotify is on most of the time while we are on the go, of course with earphones plugged in. We did watch some YouTube videos on battery as well, that could take a little bit of toll on the battery life. Oh, we also tend to turn our display brightness settings all the way up.

Still, we managed nearly six hours of battery use at one time before it goes flat. In that case, we turned on battery saving mode immediately after we unplugged it from the charger. In that use case, we did not have Spotify on, the browser was closed as well, and we were only using Microsoft Word in full time in the lowest possible display brightness that we can work with.

Display – 144Hz IPS Dream Like Before

The display, as mentioned, is still similarly sized. It is also still a 144Hz display like before, not a 240Hz unfortunately. Acer did claim that the 15.6-inch display is an IPS panel. That also means that you are getting vibrant and accurate colours for your viewing pleasure.

Of course, you have to remember that this is a gaming notebook. It will not be the most accurate display that you will find on a notebook. IPS display still offers a great viewing experience though. It is still good enough for you to work with colours in videos and photos though. Of course, if you want something with better colour accuracy, you might need to get a secondary display to attach to your PC.

Still, the colours are still quite vivid for a gaming notebook. That also means that you might be able to really enjoy movies and other forms of media on this gaming rig. Thanks to the DTS: X audio too, you do not need to plug in your headphones to enjoy movies on your own.

While 144Hz may not be the fastest display that you might be able to get on a notebook PC it is fast enough for most to enjoy. In this case you get to load up games at up to 144fps. If you are thinking of titles like GTA V or DOTA 2, you will get about 120 to 144fps easily with the kind of hardware The Helios 300 has.

Of course, if you are into competitive gaming, you might want something even higher than 144Hz. Thing is, you may not really need that kind of speed on your display. Your eyes might not even be able to tell the difference between a display refreshing at 120hz and 240hz. In that sense, 144Hz is more than enough for most of us. If you go for the modern AAA titles, you might not even hit 120Hz.

As we said earlier too, the bezels have not really changed from the 2019 Helios 300 to the 2020 variant. They did not go the route of completely redesigning a gaming notebook from the 2019 to 2020 models. They technically did not have to since the only big difference between the two generations is the processor. Still, we do think that they should stick to a slightly wider top and bottom bezel area just so that you can fit properly sized keyboards and properly placed webcams.

The webcam is still a 720p HD webcam though. Nothing too wrong with that, technically. Plenty of notebooks still work with 720p webcams. But we are in 2020 now, 720p is so last decade. We think that notebooks should move to a Full HD webcam format now.

The Acer Predator Helios 300 – Seriously, Why Not?

For MYR 5,199, we seriously think that this package is quite hard to beat. Its closest competitor, we think, is the ASUS ROG Strix G15. While that particular device comes with a 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM, you are paying a hefty MYR 6,699 for largely the same internals. That is more than MYR 1,000 compared to what you are paying for the Acer Predator Helios 300. If you do opt to get another 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD to match, you are still paying less for the Acer Predator Helios 300.

You may be getting less too, in terms of outrageous looks on your PC. The whole point of the Predator Helios 300 though is to blend in a little bit. It is to make sure that no one takes a second look at you when you sport the notebook in your favourite cafés. Plus, you can have your lightshow with the 4-zone RGB keyboard that you can set different profiles on anyway.

By default, the PC is relatively quiet anyway, that also means you can use it in the library and the person next to you will not complain about excessive wind noise. It can be within your production room not too far away from your recording mic too and you barely notice its there. It is only when you decide to ‘accidentally’ hit ‘Turbo’ that all hell breaks loose.

It is not a flashy hardware and it is not meant to be. In that sense, we love it. We love how it looks, how unassuming it is. We love that some may not be able to tell it apart from other Predator products. We love how Predator has stuck to one design choice and work with that identity. We love that we can change the RGB to a single colour the whole way (I am not that big of a fan on RGB). We love the price, as it is you are not paying an absurd amount of money for a top performer. We love its value, its versatility, and its practicality. We even love how it sounds (audio, not the cooling fans), though most of the time I use headphones with it.

Yes, there are some things we do not like too much about it, but we are nitpicking. We would like it to be a little lighter, for example. We also would like to start seeing notebooks coming with 1080p webcams. Maybe a 240Hz display would be really nice too, but that will push its price point up by a little bit.

Would we recommend this package? We would, very strongly. At MYR 5,199, nothing can come close to this performer. You really do not want to pass this up. You can even get your hands on it without going out of home within their online store. At this time, you really do not want to be leaving your homes too much. In that case; get this gaming notebook, and lock yourselves in for days with nothing but you and your games.

Business, Editorial

AWS Outposts – Empowering Innovation & Low Latency Connectivity

August 12, 2020 Nur Jeevan 1 Comment

The world is quickly changing and technology is moving forward at a pace which hasn’t been seen before. The main impetus behind the progress which we experience is the internet. The internet has changed the way we communicate and experience things. In fact, it’s made the world even smaller. However, the way we connect to it needs to continue evolving to keep up with the pace of innovations. We’re talking about low latency connectivity and processing.

woman holding laptop beside glass wall — Photo by Christina Morillo on Pexels.com

Over the years, we’ve managed to push the current connectivity to the edge when it comes to connectivity. With the advent of 5G and more importantly, the Internet of Things (IoT), there is an increasing demand for greater compute power and quicker outcomes. This is where Amazon Web Services (AWS) has stepped up with their new AWS Outposts technology. While Amazon isn’t the first name you’d necessarily think of when it comes to internet technologies, the are one of the foremost companies in the world when it comes to providing cloud infrastructure.

Opening Up New Possibilities with Low Latency Hybrid Computing

AWS Outposts allows users and developers to have low latency or local data processing on premises. This enables companies to have near real time responses when using or interfacing with AWS’s many services. It also bridges the lag in communications when the service needs to rely on the cloud. This also opens up larger possibilities to automate and regulate processes in new places such as the factory floor or in production outfits that require low latency. AWS Wavelength further strengthens the low latency with single digit latencies and enables 5G connectivity.

The near instantaneous latency between data lakes and data points on premise allow companies to adapt and react to situations better. Take for instance in the case of healthcare and medicine, having AWS Outposts on site would allow real time diagnostic data to be communicated to physicians for them to be better informed when they make critical treatment decisions. It can also open avenues for real time robotics in surgery. Perhaps more relevant to us as consumers, AWS Outposts also allows more seamless setups when we look into things like streaming (Netflix and Amazon Prime Video) or event real-time cloud gaming. Even AR and VR will expand with the advent of such a powerful architecture. Effectively, the availability of these hybrid cloud solutions will effectively open new doors in every industry.

Seamless Integration with the Cloud

AWS Outposts doesn’t necessarily work alone. In fact, the service will allow companies to quicken their eventual move to the cloud. AWS believes that even with the hybrid computing approach now, “in the fullness of time, the vast majority of companies will run almost all of their IT workloads in the cloud“. With that in mind, they’ve designed AWS Outposts to work seamlessly with their existing cloud services. Companies are able to adapt and experiment with workloads on the cloud and over Outposts for the best outcomes. What’s more, the AWS Outpost rack can be customised to meet the unique needs of the customer – this includes the recently announced AMD EPYC powered instances.

Even when it comes to the user interface, AWS Outposts share the same interface with AWS cloud services. Users won’t need to relearn a new interface to take advantage of AWS Outposts. In fact, they can use the exact same interface for both on-premises and cloud. This also applies to services that are running atop AWS such as VMWare’s on premise solutions. The only difference would be that they will still be able to access their on-premises AWS Outposts server even when internet connectivity goes down. This also serves as a redundancy that will keep local workloads running. Once internet is available again, the servers will seamlessly synchronise with the cloud where necessary. Prolonged outage, though, may cause some data loss.

That said, Outposts doesn’t require the fastest internet to be able to function. In fact, AWS states that the minimum required is a 10Mbps connection. However, they advise to have 1Gbps for better performance.

Innovating Securely & With Peace of Mind

Bringing AWS Outposts to your premises can be daunting when you think of it; you’ll be having a server rack in house. So what happens if something goes awry? Well, first off, you can bring down your blood pressure a little bit as AWS Outposts is a fully managed service which means that AWS will come and service the hardware on a regular basis just like they would any of their own data centers. It also means that if anything goes awry – you can simply call AWS and they’ll get it sorted for you.

Servicing and maintenance aside, with the Outposts possibly handling a large amount of sensitive data, it wouldn’t be surprising to worry about data security. AWS reassures us that the AWS Outposts is safe. In fact, their approach to security starts with the rack which comes equipped with built-in tamper detection and a lockable door. The door is outfitted with a special key that, when tampered with, automatically encrypts the data within the server; making life a miserable mess for anyone who tries to take it.

On top of that, AWS Outposts builds on AWS Nitro – a security system for AWS which continually monitors, protects and verifies the hardware and firmware of the setup. It also secures and locks down instances running on the Outpost to ensure that human error is reduced. However, AWS does stress that the security of AWS Outposts as a whole is a shared effort where it can only secure the hardware and instances being run; but when it comes to the applications and software being developed on the platform, it needs to be secured by the developers.

That said, AWS Outposts is an impetus that could lead to further developments that will spur more advancement. It brings the power of the AWS cloud on-premise for corporations needing low latency connectivity to their compute and also bridges the transition for companies which are still struggling to adopt the cloud fully.

This article was written based on an interview with Paul Chen, Head of Solutions Architect for ASEAN at Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Accessories, Editorial, Reviews, Writer's Choice

Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus In-Depth Review – Hitting All the Right Notes

July 29, 2020 Nur Jeevan 1 Comment

True Wireless Headphones and earphones are all the rage right now especially since a growing number of smartphones are dropping the 3.5mm jack. Samsung’s first attempt, the IconX, was a pretty respectable attempt at offering a wireless earphone, they improved with the Galaxy Buds. What about the Galaxy Buds Plus? There’s a lot to go into but, in a nutshell, it’s got a lot going for it – with some room for improvement.

The Galaxy Buds Plus is Samsung’s third attempt at creating a compelling offering when it comes to true wireless earphones. While I would love to say that a lot has changed – that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, when it comes to the exterior design, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between the IconX, the Galaxy Buds and the Galaxy Buds+.

It has a lot going for it when it comes down to performance and some of its design, but before we get into the nitty gritty, let’s talk about the first thing you’d do when you get the Galaxy Buds+ – pair it. Compatibility with the Buds Plus isn’t much of an issue – the Buds+ is compatible with nearly all devices on the market; all you have to do with smartphones is download the app and pair the earphones with the smartphone. That said, I was also using the Buds+ with my laptop and pairing was pretty simple. All you have to do is open your casing and put one of the ear pieces in and add it like you would any other Bluetooth device. Of course, make sure no other known device is nearby or has its Bluetooth on. With Samsung devices, the Buds plus triggered a pairing notification when you open it nearby.

Design

Even though the look and feel of the Buds plus is reminiscent of its forerunners, Samsung has made a few small refinements which make a significant difference in how the Buds+ feels in the ears and the security it provides. The Buds+ feels lighter and puts less pressure in on the ear. I was able to wear them for extended sessions – in fact I was able to get to about 5 to 6 hours without getting fatigued. They fit pretty snugg and I had no fear of the Galaxy Buds+ falling out of my ears. The wings helped provide extra reassurance. Of course, Samsung’s decision to provide extra wings and tips of different sizes in the box helped – I opted for the largest size available for my ears.

The one thing I love abou the Buds+ this year is the slimmer silhouette of the casing. It fits in my pockets and is pretty compact – so, it doesn’t bulge obscenely when I put it in my jean pocket. However, the trade-off is a smaller battery capacity when it comes to the extra charge. But that didn’t affect my experience to much as you’ll see later in the review. The sleek, glossy finish also makes the true wireless earphones look a whole lot more premium.

Performance

Sound Quality

While the size of the ear pieces seems to have gotten a little smaller, the sound quality definitely has not. The Galaxy Buds plus has pretty decent quality out of the box. The overall sound was warm with clear mids and highs and punchy lows. In fact, I would say the Buds+ has a lot more boom than the Buds. It’s not a bad thing – it helps round out the sound pretty well. That said, unless your listening to things like EDM, Pop or some rock; you may not be looking to get too much bass in your sound.

Thankfully, Samsung’s wearables app comes with an equalizer which you can use to fine tune the sound to your liking. I found myself toning down the bass during my time with the Buds+. That said, Samsung’s adapt sound technology also made the experience better. However, if these options are too basic, the Google Play Store and Samsung’s own Galaxy Store have a wide array of apps you can use to tune the audio to your liking.That said, the overall sound quality of the Buds+ is definitely an improvement. In fact, it could be one of the best within its price range. The AKG tuning really makes a difference. The wholesome sound quality gives you a relatively large sound stage and audio clarity.

The mics on the Buds plus are also pretty impressive. The were able to pick up sound and eliminate ambient noise very effectively. In fact, some dedicated hands-free devices paled in comparison. Even ambient sound on the Buds+ is improved as well. The sound that you get through the earphone is less robotic and tinny. Samsung has made it a lot more natural sounding. That said, you still get bionic hearing with the Buds+. With ambient mode active you’ll be able to hear conversations from pretty far away. My only gripe with the Ambient Sound is that there was no intelligent mode for it – you’re triggering it via the Samsung Wearable app or through touch gestures.

The touch gestures on the Buds plus have gotten very limited, in my honest opinion. When I was reviewing the IconX and the Galaxy Buds, the versatility of the touchpad enhanced the experience of using the Buds. However, with the Galaxy Buds+ you’re relegated to using tap gestures with no options for swipe. The Buds+ only recognises single, double and triple taps which made using them a little less intuitive.

Battery Life

The battery on the Galaxy Buds+ is definitely something to sing about. A whopping 11 hours on a single charge! I only managed to drain the Buds+ completely once during my time with them. Even then, I was literally trying to figure out the actual battery life when I was using them. That said, the Buds+ lasted me about 10 hours on a single charge. This is discounting the recharge capacity of the case. I could have easily gotten more than 20 hours with the extra battery capacity in the casing.

With my regular use, I was only charging the Buds+ and its casing once in 4 to 7 days. Typically, I used one side more than the other as it became my go to “hands-free” headset while driving. I was using it about 2 to 3 hours daily for music while working and also travel in the car. That said, the Buds+’s case is constantly charging the earpieces and we couldn’t verify whether battery life is affected by this over time. In general, constant charging can cause the battery to degrade over time.

That said, the Galaxy Buds+ comes with some pretty potent charging technology which makes charging the buds up simple and convenient. If you’re on an Android device which supports it, you can use the reverse wireless charging from your phone if you really need it or, if you’re like me, you’ll find yourself parking your Galaxy Buds+ on a wireless charger just to keep it topped up. If you need a quicker charging solution, you can use the USB-C charger which came with your smartphone to get the charge you need. Using wireless charging, the Galaxy Buds+ was fully charged within about 2 hours while wired charging was about 45 minutes.

A Budding Plus

The Galaxy Buds Plus is a definitely a step up overall from the competition and even compared to its previous iterations. Samsung has spent some time improving on some of the gripes users have highlighted in the past and improved on the must have features. The AKG audio tuning brings a premium touch to the rather affordable true wireless earbuds giving it warm, well rounded sound enhanced by Samsung’s Adaptive Sound and made even more personal with a robust equalizer that comes in the Samsung Wearables app. While the Buds+ does have all this, it is lacking when it comes to intuitive interaction via the touch pad; something we’re pretty sure that Samsung can fix with a small update. That said, it’s a near complete package with commendable sound.

Android, Business, Computers, Consumer Electronics, Editorial, iOS, Lifestyle, Mobile, News

Virtual Showrooms – the New Normal

July 23, 2020 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

Just a few days ago we see BMW launching their BMW X5 xDrive45 M Sport. In that launch they also launched an AR app that allows you to view the car in person via your smartphone. There is something lacking though, you do not get to get into the car.

There is another site that gives you a tour around the car though. They are also giving you a tour inside the car. You can also view other cars, not just a BMW. Welcome to the normal.

The site in reference is WapCar. The function is newly launched though so there are limited resources for now. Still, this is a sign of a new coming of age in the automotive industry.

Sure, you could go to any car manufacturer’s site to customise your car options and see the results of the customisation on a virtual image platform on the website. Technically what you are seeing here is not technically new technology. But you are probably looking at a revolution of an industry in Malaysia.

Customising your vehicle before you buy them is nothing new. You would want to buy a car that you want in specs and equipment list that you want, very normal. Usually, you would go to a showroom to look at the cars, get a feel, get a quotation, decide on what you need in the car, and buy them. Either that, or go to a car show, or exhibition held by showrooms or brands (there is one upcoming one by NAZA, by the way). That is the general norm in Malaysia. Customising cars on websites in Malaysia then, is not very common.

Since the COVID-19 crisis hits globally though, things have changed. We go out less, we are a bit more paranoid with people, we try to not crowd a place, and we also try to avoid contact with other people not in our bubble or even public objects that could be a bridge between you and other people. So, how do we buy things now?

The ‘new normal’ as they call it, sees a big boom in the digital space. Again, they are not technically new technology. Things like Shopee, Lazada, GrabFood, MyGroser, Tesco Online, Lalamove, GrabExpress, FoodPanda, GoGet, and such have existed forever (well; not forever, just for very long time). Thanks to the fact that you do not have to go out to get your food, your shopping, and your groceries done though, these platforms have thrived and we have grown to rely on them more than ever. Online shopping has become a norm.

Obviously, some people start thinking; “why does this new normal have to be limited to regular online shopping, delivery, and food services”? They do not. Lazada kicked off the market first with putting Volkswagen and Hyundai on their platform to sell cars, actual cars like the Volkswagen Polo and Hyundai i30. They also innovated a little more with purchasing properties when they partnered with Mah Sing Group. So, why not more of these? Especially with cars.

There is a problem though. Malaysians are not used to looking at cars virtually online. They like to walk around the cars, touch them, feel them, sit in them. We cannot do that now, can we? So online showrooms are the way to go. That way you get to do a ‘walkaround’ and ‘sit in’. The only thing you cannot do is test drive it or hear its engine note. We are pretty sure that the showrooms will not find it to be a problem to arrange for a test drive for you if you do give in a call though. We are certain too that they will follow procedure to properly sanitise the car and wear a mask beside you. You can request that too; no harm in asking.

So back to virtual showrooms then. WapCar currently has only a few cars in their VR showroom. If you go to their website, you can browse through their catalogue of endless listings that even includes the likes of Bentley, Ferrari, and even McLaren (nope, no VR just yet, we would be excited for that though). As long as you see ‘VR’ pasted on the thumbnail, you can virtually ‘walkaround’ the car at least. There are even fewer cars with VR interior for now. They are slowly rolling out the feature to as many cars they can get their hands on though.

WapCar as a platform does show us what is possible in the new normal. It also shows a sort of alternative for Malaysia’s automotive industry future. Maybe we do not need a physical showroom that takes up huge spaces with not that many things put into it. Maybe all we need is a PC display to show us what we might get in the car. Better yet, maybe all we need is a VR Goggle to see what the car might look like on our driveway, or parking lot.

What about the showrooms? Why not just have these businesses set up online entirely? That may not seem to be such a bad idea, no? Maybe that also might make your car purchases a little bit more special since you really have to be patient. Who knows, it could be like unboxing your smartphone for the first time, or unwrapping your Christmas gift.

Computers, Editorial, Reviews

The Acer Nitro 5 (2020) In-Depth Review – Bangin’ for Bucks

July 20, 2020 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

Gaming notebooks seems to be the sort of notebook PCs that everyone is going for these days. There is a good reason for that. Gaming notebooks do not look that much more outrageous these days. They look quite good and svelte in most cases today. They look stealthy, and regular with just a little bit of cues of the power that lies inside.

You combine that polished, stealthy look with the amount of power that these things come with these days, and you are looking at a very compelling package. Oh yes, cool too – temperature wise. There is a small problem, however.

Gaming specific products are not cheap. This is because the powerful hardware that is packed into these portable mean machines are not cheap on their own. So, if you are in the market for a new notebook with gaming capabilities with the latest hardware, best be prepared to spend a little bit more money.

Still, you still can go for entry-level gaming PCs today and you are going to be okay mostly even with AAA titles. Entry-level gaming notebook PCs have come a long way. You are not getting sub-par devices with cheap prices and plenty of compromises. Which also means that entry-level gaming PCs are the gaming notebooks to go these days.

One of the ones you want to look at is the Acer Nitro 5 we have here. The Acer Nitro 5 we have here is the top-specced Acer Nitro 5 you can get your hands on. It packs the latest Intel Core i7 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti. It also comes with 8GB of RAM – like finally. It costs MYR 4,899 – more expensive than the entry level Predator Triton 300. Is it worth the asking price then? Let us find out.

Design

The Acer Nitro 5 has never been a bad looking notebook of a thing. While they are not the most svelte looking stuff, they are not bad lookers. The previous Nitro 5 has a faux carbon fibre treatment on the top of the case, which could be a thing for some people. We also understand that it may not be for everyone.

We do quite like the overall design of the Acer Nitro 5 in general though. They retain mostly the same shape since the first generation of the Nitro 5 a few years ago. You get the angular mouth that is reminiscent of Predator’s famous curves these days. You also get plenty of space for cooling purposes while maintaining a Plain Jane look.

The new one still retains the general shape and thickness of the older one. You lose the carbon fibre design from the old one though. Instead, you get some power lines that folds inward on the top of the clam. It mimics the lines that you get from the Helios line-up of the Predator family. They are, after all, cousins. Instead of the carbon fibre look, this retains the cleaner aluminium look mixed with some brushed steel look. Overall a cleaner look on the top.

But there are some extra flares that you get at the exhaust ports to indicate that this is still a serious piece of kit. It is more serious than ever too with the power it contains. There are some warnings of hot surfaces too, which might be quite necessary for any gaming rigs these days. There is no notable reduction in thickness of the hardware though, which may be a good thing. You still get full sets of I/O ports like HMDI and multiple USB Type-A ports with this standard of thickness. Of course, it is sturdier too.

The DC in port though, or the charging port is now moved to the back of the notebook. We especially love this because it frees up plenty of space on the sides. Most importantly it does not interfere your mouse movement which ever side you prefer it to be. It is ambidextrous now, is what we are saying.

That does create a little bit of a problem with the exhaust port though. There are now two smaller ports at the flanks of the backplate covering the charge mechanism. Acer seems to think that they have solved cooling issues with improved heat transfer pipe placements and bigger heatsink plates on top of the GPU and CPU. We shall find out later.

Open it up and what greets you is a 144Hz Full HD display at 15.6-inch. That seems to be a staple size for gaming notebooks these days. Of course, you want that 144Hz too, to take advantage of the Intel Core i7’s power to push fps to higher than 100. We will talk about the display a little more later.

The keyboard is now a 4-zone RGB instead of a single colour backlit keyboard. Again, I am not actually that big into RGB, so I usually set the backlight to a single colour. I chose white. But for you who are fans, you can customise the colours via Nitro Sense software included in the PC. It is even easily accessible via the Nitro Sense dedicated button on the keyboard. No ‘Turbo’ button on this thing like the Predators. Still, largely similar in layout with the previous notebook PCs.

Hardware

The Acer Nitro 5 you see here is the top-of-the-line model (AN515-55-79CU) that sports a 10^th Generation Intel Core i7-10750H high performing CPU. That CPU is backed by an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti GPU and 8GB of RAM. Of course, you can upgrade that to however much you think you need. But let me say that 8GB is quite enough to run most games these days. Of course, a quick upgrade will never hurt. With 512GB of SSD storage, you are looking at MYR 4,899 for this model.

Of course, if you do not think that you need that power, you can opt for an Intel Core i5-10300H variant (AN515-55-52Z1) with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650Ti GPU. You still get the same amount of RAM and SSD storage too. That will set you back MYR 1,100 less than what you are paying for the one we review.

As usual, you only get one extra RAM slot so if you are planning to plug in two 16GB RAM sticks, you would have to pull out the original 8GB RAM. Make sure your RAM is compatible too. Then there is the upgradability on the side of storage. Traditionally you get a single SSD slot and an HDD slot. These days you get SSDs stuck in the notebook. Which means with the traditional set up you only get an HDD expansion slot.

In this though, you get two SSD slots. This is a new standard for notebook PCs too. Which also means that you get an extra SSD slot to upgrade your rig with an SSD and extra HDD for both extra storage and speed.

Specifications

Acer Nitro 5 AN515-55-79CU	As Tested
*Processor (clock)*	10th Generation Intel Core i7-10750H (2.6GHz)
*GPU*	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti
*Display(s)*	15.6-inch IPS LED-backlit (1920 x 1080) ComfyView
*Memory*	512GB NVME M.2 SSD 8GB DDR4 RAM
Networking and Connections (I/O)	1 x USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A 2x USB 2.0 1 x Standard HDMI 1.4 1 x Audio combo jack 1 x Network RJ-45 Intel Wi-Fi 6 Gig+ (802.11ax) Bluetooth 5.0
*Battery*	3,560mAh 4-cell Li-Polymer
*Operating System*	Windows 10 Home
*Miscellaneous*	Audio certified by DTS:X 1.8kg

Features

To be fair, there is not that much that has changed since we saw the slightly older generation of the Acer Nitro 5. The most notable changes are that on paper. It is more powerful with newer generation processors and GPU. But somehow it does carry a slightly higher retail price tag for that. We suspect that the COVID-19 situation might play a small role in its pricing.

That is not to say that this is a gaming notebook PC that does not stand out with its own features. There are somethings that we appreciate in the new Nitro 5. While they are quite minor things that we may have already touched on earlier, they do matter.

Nitro Sense – Not Quite Predator Sense

There was one software that made Predator devices stand out in the last generation. That software is their Predator Sense that allows you to control every part of your rig. You can set the fan to its loudest and fastest settings. This is required mostly when the GPU and CPU is being pushed to their limits in gaming. To get games to play out smoothly and beautifully, these things tend to be pushed to their limits and more.

In the previous generation of the entry-level gaming PC, we did not see much of Nitro Sense. Nitro Sense in the new Nitro 5 takes a larger stage. The dedicated button is easy to reach and recognise. It is placed in the same part of the keyboard as the Predator PCs since 2019. This also means they are using the same sort of keyboard in the Nitro 5, which is also good news.

There is no ‘Turbo’ button that you can expect to find on Predator PCs though. Still, it is not to say that Nitro Sense is useless. It is quite the contrary.

By default, you Acer Nitro 5 is programmed to run as quietly as possible. This would be important in places like meeting rooms maybe. But when you are gaming, you want to unlock the fans a little and from the Nitro Sense app, you can turn on CoolBoost. That function allows the fan to adjust itself according to the GPU and CPU operations and heat dissipation requirements. Of course, when you run the processors harder, the faster the fan spins to dissipate more heat.

Because there is not ‘Turbo’ button, you can only control the ‘boosts’ within Nitro Sense as well. While certain games like Grand Theft Auto V, Two Point Hospital, and Re: Legends may not require plenty of GPU or CPU power, you might need more in games like Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, or Red Dead Redemption 2 to get them to play as smoothly as possible.

Most games though will do well enough with NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1660Ti. Still, it is nice to know you can tap into more power when you want to, especially when you need to render videos and such. Nitro Sense is a big welcome here.

Smooth Operator 4-Zone RGB

I may not be a big fan of RGB. That does not mean that others cannot enjoy RGB. I know plenty of people who loves RGB and cannot get enough of it. For me though, single colour all the way.

For those who enjoy a good RGB, the Acer Nitro 5 now comes with a four-zone RGB backlit keyboard array. I have to say though, it is nice to have the option to show off and turn on your RGB backlight and set the to ‘dynamic’ settings and watch the rainbow colours go. When you do that too, it does not seem like a four-zone RGB.

You cannot map each key to any colours of your choice individually. Not that it mattered that much anyway. But that also means you cannot colour code your WASD keys to their own colours. Still, the WASD keys are made so that the RGB can highlight them a little, which is still something.

Even this is controlled via Acer’s trusty Nitro Sense. This goes back to how useful the Nitro Sense is for Acer’s Nitro 5.

Back-to-Back Power

We had a small issue with the older models of Acer Predator notebook PCs. Their charging port is awkwardly placed in the middle of the right side of the device. This creates a few persistent problems.

If you are placing your power brick out of the way in the back of the notebook PC you are placing the cable in the way of an exhaust port at the side which causes heat to build up a little. Move the cable to push toward the front for better ventilation and you realise the cable covers a USB port and a headphone jack, a USB Type-C port maybe. This is for those L-shaped power cables. If you have it plugged with a regular straight power plug, you are going to be restricting the movement of your Mouse in gaming sessions, not ideal when you are in an online game situation.

So, for the 2020 version of Acer’s Nitro 5, they have moved the power charging port to the back of the device. This is a delight because now the power cables do not have to be in the way. Out-of-the-box though is the L-shaped head which kind of makes sense since Acer do not have to change their whole production supply. While it does create an avenue for bent cables and even blocked exhaust ports, it does tuck the back in a little so that you can push your notebook PC a little further away from you on the desk.

We do find that somehow the back plate that houses the power supply peripherals a little sparse though. Other than they charge port, there is no other useful features at the back of the PC. We would appreciate the HDMI port to be moved to the back. We might also appreciate one Thunderbolt enabled USB Type-C at the back. The LAN port should also be pushed to the back with the HDMI and power ports, in our opinion. Of course, that might happen while sacrificing the convenient I/O on the sides of the device.

Cool Kits

No, not extra accessories. The new Acer Nitro 5 for 2020 comes with a set of newer, more advanced cooling system. Thing is, this is not a large improvement over the previous cooling system. That is also not to say that the cooling system is not great. The cooling system on the Nitro 5 has always been good.

The new Acer Nitro 5 for 2020’s cooling system layout sort of mimics the Predator Helios 300’s cooling layout. With their 3D Aeroblade technology trickled down from the Predator notebooks, the Acer Nitro 5 should not face any issue with cooling really. In our use case, we never had in issue with cooling even when we are playing games like GTA V for an extended period.

While the rear radiators have shrunk in favour of the more ergonomic rear side power input, there are virtually no difference in cooling with the Acer Nitro 5. That is also thanks, mostly, to bigger copper plates, better routing, and wider heat pipes too. Of course, there is the more efficient CPU too.

Performance

With Intel’s 10^th Generation Core i7 and NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1660Ti, this gaming Notebook PC should be able to handle nearly any modern games you can throw at it. You technically can play The Shadow of Tomb Raider in lower settings that you would want to and still get decent FPS performance out of it.

Gaming

If you are thinking of playing DOTA 2 on it, you should not be too hesitant. The 144Hz does help with FPS in MOBA type games. Even competitive first person shooters would benefit from the smooth graphics. Of course, do not expect your new Call of Duty: Warzone or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare games to be as smooth at higher graphics settings.

Still, Ghost Recon: Breakpoint and Assassin’s Creed: Origins play smoothly as long as you leave them on their default settings. In that regards alone, this is a worthy choice to get into most games of today. If you are planning to only play things like Two-Point Hospital, or Motorsport Manager, or even Football Manager, you should have nothing to worry about anyway.

Doing the Work Stuff

We are not talking about doing things like word or powerpoint processing. You do not even need this kind of pulling power if you are just looking to work on those. With this thing, you want to do heavier work – video rendering stuff, photo editing, or even low-level animation work.

Sadly, the Acer Nitro 5 does not have a boost button or even a convenient one-touch max-out function. In this case, the fans and processors will spool up when necessary. At a maximum, it will not even touch the Acer Predator models.

Still, it has a decent video processing capability. You have to expect some lags and stutters while scrubbing through 4K videos. Though it is much improved, you might want to spend on more expensive rigs for 4K video processing. This is not to say you cannot, it still works, but you might want something faster.

For Full HD 1080p vidoes though, the process is buttery smooth. Of course, this is also a contribution of the speedy SSD speeds too. You can easily drag your cursor around to any point of the video and start playing it at the program monitor. We use Adobe Premiere Pro, by the way.

To render a 5-minute Full HD 1080p videos, it does not take that long actually. It takes probably about 15 minutes at the maximum. This is also considering that we were scaling down from 4K resolution, which is extra workload for the PC. We unfortunately do not produce enough 4K resolution contents to test out the Acer Nitro 5.

Sound By DTS

Acer Harmony was great, it was not the best though. Sometimes, it is best to leave some things done by experts. That is why The Acer Nitro 5 now comes with some support by DTS with DTS: X. This is probably one the notebook’s biggest improvements.

DTS: X was seen on a few devices before. In effect, DTS makes things sound better. Then again, that is their business.

The Acer Nitro 5’s speakers are not the loudest in the world. They still pack quite a punch though, and they are louder than before. Despite the louder speakers, you are not getting much of difference in terms of sounds profile. Until you open the DTS app that is.

With the DTS app, sound profile changes a little bit. The trebles are more distinctive, the bass more pronounced. That changes a whole lot of experience when it comes to music. When you hear the vocals, then you can start appreciating the new DTS: X speakers. Vocals are still as crisp as before, if not crisper. It does not overpower the other range of frequencies though, rather the DTS app cleverly balances everything out. Everything completements each other, is the best way we can describe it.

The DTS app has several preset settings within the app though. You can go on the default dynamic profile for the app to cleverly detect your medium and adjust itself properly. Either that or you go into specific preset profiles like music or gaming to get the best tuning for each activity.

We appreciate good audio and the Nitro 5 was able to deliver on the speakers. The same can be said when you plug in your headphones too. With DTS:X, you are getting a completely different experience when it comes to headphones too. The only sad part? It does not come with 3D audio or spatial audio like the Acer Predator notebooks. I guess there are still some things that the Acer Nitro 5 cannot do.

Battery

The battery life of any gaming PC is quite appalling. Because of the amount of power you get in a gaming PC, you usually cannot expect more than two hours away from the charger before it needs another charge. The situation has improved though, and the Acer Nitro 5 for 2020 is a testament to that.

The Acer Nitro 5 for 2020 boasts about 8 hours in battery life. In our tests, we never really gotten close to that number. We can safely say that your gaming notebook can go past 4 hours now on battery.

At least for the Acer Nitro 5, we could get battery life at a maximum of 6 hours with balanced settings. We had Spotify on with earphones plugged in, we use Firefox as our internet browser, and we had about 20 tabs open at the same time. Most of the time though we got about 4 hours of battery life. We did try to game on it without plugging it into a power socket and still got an hour of battery life on it though. That was quite impressive for us. Of course, on battery, your gaming is a little compromised because the hardware within the Nitro 5 tends to turn itself down in favour of preserving its battery life.

Display

You are really not getting a bad deal with the new Acer Nitro 5. The one we have here sports a 3ms 144Hz refresh rate display. I cannot tell whether the display panel is a TN panel or IPS, but the colours look good still.

Still, this is a gaming display, which means colours are not its main priority. While the colours still look better than most notebook PCs you can find these days, you are not getting the most colour accurate display in town. Still, that is not what the Acer Nitro 5 is about though.

This is about speed, and competitiveness. The Acer Nitro 5’s 144Hz display helps with MOBA games and FPS games in a competitive environment. Motion blur is less of a thing with 144Hz at least. This also means you get a better competitive advantage when it comes to games like Counter Strike. You see better. In competitive games too, every millisecond count towards getting the first hit or getting hit first. That 3ms response time is crucial for your kills.

We are not competitive gamers though, so that matters less to us. We still appreciate a fast display though. Games generally look better with 144Hz. We could see that in effect with games like GTA V. While 3ms response time does not do much too, we do appreciate having a fast responding display, a near instant display, more like.

That said, it is not a brand-new display unit. It is technically the same display panel that you get in previous generation Acer Predator notebooks like the Triton 300. Which also means you get about the same performance from the display as the older Predator notebook. It may not be a bad thing though.

We still really like that notebook PCs come with minimal bezels. The bezel size has not increased on the Acer Nitro 5 compared to the old one, which is a good thing. It has not shrunk either though. That is not necessarily a bad thing. We still like webcams to be where they are supposed to be, above the display.

The Acer Nitro 5 – Best Value Got Better

Entry-level gaming notebooks are never that great in the earlier days of mainstream gaming notebooks. The thing is, entry level gaming notebooks have come a long way in 2020. With more powerful processors on offer, they can really replace all the gaming needs you have. Of course, if you want the best of the best performance in class, you are still better off with a desktop PC.

There is an appeal to gaming notebook PCs though. They are plenty more portable, and more convenient. You do not need to be sitting where your PC is to start gaming with notebook PCs. You just need to sit anywhere you like, and turn it on, and start playing at any time; your gaming comes with you.

Entry level gaming notebook PCs are exactly just that, but at a much more accessible price point. Thing is, the Acer Nitro 5 gaming notebook that we have is not exactly budget friendly at MYR 4,899. There is a cheaper variant with an Intel Core i5 and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, which is quite a bit less.

At MYR 4,899 though you are not getting something compromised, you are getting something that will work. The Acer Nitro 5 at this spec easily handles plenty of AAA titles, albeit not at the highest settings. You get 144Hz display too, so games with less graphical requirements will perform and look beautiful on the display.

Prices for notebook PCs are not very encouraging at this point due to the whole global pandemic situations though. While the Acer Nitro 5 is a great notebook PC to have, it may not be the best time to get a new gaming notebook PC. Sill, we do think that the MYR 4,899 asking price for the Acer Nitro 5 with Intel’s 10^th Generation Core i7 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is worth it. Considering an equivalent Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i will cost nearly MYR 1,000 more than the Acer Nitro 5, yes the Acer Nitro 5 is the entry-level gaming notebook PC for you.

Business, Editorial, Podcast

Tech & Tonic Special with Red Hat Feat. Eric Quah – Brave New World

July 17, 2020 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

The COVID-19 global situation is a big one. It changed so many things for us. It changed the way we live, and definitely the way we work and stay productive. At the back of it all, tech companies all over the world are becoming the backbones of plenty of organisations. The ‘work from home’ trend is booming in a way never before seen.

For a company like Red Hat, transforming from an office based workspace to home based workspace is not necessarily complex. It may not be as straightforward as they make it seem though. There are still plenty of considerations for them and their clients when it comes to the quarantine procedures and working procedures.

What happens to their clients? What happens to the ongoing projects with the Open Innovation Labs? What happens to Red Hat globally? What do we do, as companies in this age?

In this Tech & Tonic special, we sit down with Eric Quah of Red Hat to find out a little bit more on their efforts to normalise during the COVID-19 crisis. Of course, we want to know how we can work a little normally at this time as well. If we learnt a thing or two in this session, we believe you might as well.

Design

Hardware

Specifications

Features

Full I/O Ports and an MicroSD slot

ErgoLift Comfort and Discomfort

Blowing Hot Air, At the display

Backlit Keyboard for the Dark Times

Facial Recognition

Harman Kardon Audio

Performance

The Extra and Subtle Workhorse

Video Editing is Possible

Gaming

Battery

ASUS Battery management

USB Type-C Charger

Display – IPS and Iris Plus

The ASUS ZenBook 14 – So Much, yet So Little

An All-Electric Future in Malaysia

The All-Electric MINI

The Car in Your Pocket

Smartphone Technology in Cars, or is it the Other Way Round?

First Set-Up

Smart Switch App

Naked and Vulnerable

Battery Concerns

120Hz Goodness

S Pen – Mightier than the Pen

First Impressions After 24 Hours

Design

Hardware

Specifications

Features

New Body, New Positions

4-Zone RGB Keyboard That is Even Better

Predator Sense + 4th Gen 3D AeroBlade = Stone Cold

Performance

Gaming

Bye Bye Wave NX, Hello DTS: X Ultra

Battery

Display – 144Hz IPS Dream Like Before

The Acer Predator Helios 300 – Seriously, Why Not?

Opening Up New Possibilities with Low Latency Hybrid Computing

Seamless Integration with the Cloud

Innovating Securely & With Peace of Mind

Design

Performance

Sound Quality

Battery Life

A Budding Plus

Design

Hardware

Specifications

Features

Nitro Sense – Not Quite Predator Sense

Smooth Operator 4-Zone RGB

Back-to-Back Power

Cool Kits

Performance

Gaming

Doing the Work Stuff

Sound By DTS

Battery

Display

The Acer Nitro 5 – Best Value Got Better

Tech Your Way

Predator Sense + 4^th Gen 3D AeroBlade = Stone Cold