In this special, we sat down with Mr. Alex Tan, the Director of Sales for the ASEAN Region for Physical Access Control Systems from HID Global. We had a conversation about some of the emerging trends in the industry on the use of biometrics and security. One of the biggest issues we discussed was the use of biometrics and its implications on personal data privacy and security with the emergence of legislations such as the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in the European Union and Malaysia’s own PDPA (Personal Data Protection Act). The issue brought us to talking about how personal technological devices can be a security risk with how they handle data collected by facial recognition and fingerprint reading technologies.
Mr. Alex Tan heads the strategic developmental and organisational growth of HID Global’s Physical Access Control business within the ASEAN Region. He has been in the security access control industry for about 19 years and has, prior to this, headed the sales and entreprise solutions at another leading access control manufacturer.
HID Global has over two decades of expertise in the security industry. The American company has its roots in radio frequency identification technologies and has over the years become a recognised brand when it comes to premise access and security as well as biometric technologies. You may recognise the company’s logos from the many devices and solutions it provides to buildings and businesses across the world. They may even be responsible for keeping you safe in your apartment building!
Take a listen to the podcast and let us know if you still have any unanswered questions when it comes to biometrics and personal data protection in the comments down below.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI and ML) technologies have come a long way since its first inception. Who would have thought that we would have a working model of actual computer-based assistants that can do things like manage our schedules? Who would have thought that we could even use these assistants to manage our homes? These things can even be used to diagnose cancer patients, something impossible without doctors even five years ago.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is at the forefront of AI and ML technology. As one of the world’s largest technology innovators, they would naturally be at an advantage to feed enough data to the technology and accelerate their development. Because they are also one of the largest technology firms any man has ever seen, they are also at an advantage in placing AI and ML in places and applications we may never have imagined.
Linguistics is one segment that has benefitted greatly from technologies today. Linguistics, if you think about it is also one of the most complex things that us humans can create and understand. The context of it and interpretation can be affected by plenty of things too. Linguistics is affected by area, culture, community, heritage, and even lineage.
For example, there are differences between French spoken in France and Canada. There are even subtle differences between French spoken in France and Monaco, or even Switzerland. The most common language of all, English has differences even in spelling and context in Britain, the Americas, and even Australia. English spoken today is also a distinct form of the language that was spoken 50 years ago.
The progression of technology in linguistics have progressed through years and years of feeding all these data into it. That has allowed us to communicate with global communities with more ease than peeling an orange. AWS has taken it a little further than that though. They have gone beyond spoken or written languages. Through something called AWS DeepLens, they have developed translation algorithms to sign languages.
While that technology might sound like it is as simple as gesture controls, it is plenty more than that. Yes, it is technically gesture control and recognition. But it is way larger and more complex than just a solution for end-point devices. The trick is to teach the native algorithm to recognise all the available sign words and even alphabets. The AWS DeepLens Community projects so far has learnt to recognise most of the alphabets in the American Sign Language.
But technology also goes beyond just recognising alphabets to understanding proper words with the algorithm in Amazon Alexa. It is not just about communicating with your friends anymore. It is about using the platform as a home assistant tool, a customer service tool, a command center, and user defined PC experience that mimics voice control and command for us. Instead of using voice though, its all in the gestures.
The tool they use is called Amazon Transcribe. It works just like any transcribe apps you can find in the market. It supports up to 31 languages currently with more being added by time. It even supports ASL as a component to create text from sign language.
Simple communication is just the beginning for the technology though. AI and ML still has a long way to go even in the medical field. Just like the human race, the technology gets better everyday though. If you really think about it, the technology is not that new in the first place. We have embarked on the journey of having machine built and defined assistants since we started developing computers to help us with simple and complex mathematical problems.
It is just that simple mathematical problem solver has become something much bigger today. Who would have thought that we would let computers fly a commercial airplane? Who would have thought that cars can drive themselves today? Who would have thought that we could hire a private translator without spending any money or any time? You just have to look into your pocket.
We all know OPPO as the brand that makes really good entry-level and mid-range Android smartphones. While their early days are filled with devices that are outrightly outrageous in design and concept, they started making headlines when they started moving into the iPhone-esque design language later.
To be fair though, we do really like the OPPO Smartphones that came out a little longer than two years ago. I had the privilege of owning an OPPO R9s Plus and loved the device. A poor man’s iPhone, if you might; it has all the things that the fruit brand has at the time, with nearly the same interface (it is still and Android device by the way). The ColorOS at the time was very much driven by what the iOS looks and feels like.
While that is very pretentious of them, we do not think that the similarities are a bad thing. It is lighter than most Android overlays, simple to operate, and smooth. This is not a review of the older OPPO devices though. This is a review of a brand new OPPO flagship. This is a review of the OPPO Find X 2.
The OPPO Find X2 is two years in waiting since its first iteration in the OPPO Find X. It is a successor to what can be described as OPPO’s most premium device of its time. That design language that OPPO took on also spawned other beautiful looking devices like the OPPO Reno range. It inspired other smartphone manufacturers to go on the charge toward a borderless, notch-less displays with pop-up drawer mechanism for the front- facing cameras.
It was also very expensive, the OPPO Find X. In Malaysia, it sold for MYR 3,699 – unheard of from an OPPO device. While spending more than MYR 3,000 on an OPPO, at that time, is quite absurd, the OPPO Find X was no doubt OPPO’s breakthrough device. It brought OPPO into the premium smartphone market game and the discerning European market.
The new OPPO Find X2 though is a little more expensive than what it replaced. It is now MYR 3,999. This is just a standard OPPO Find X2, mind you. The Find X2 Pro variant is MYR 400 more than this regular Plain Jane edition, beyond the MYR 4,000 range. Ridiculous? We think so too, for an OPPO of all things. Is it worth it though? Should you spend MYR 3,999 on an OPPO smartphone? We dive in and find out.
Design
The OPPO Find X at launch was a looker of a device. It was like nothing we have seen before with a swagger of a display that has not notches or disturbances along its smooth, straight bezel. The back is nicely curved in for better ergonomics. The glass that curved though reflected lights differently from every angle. It was available in two unique colours and they were gorgeous. The Lamborghini edition was also stunning. Of course, the special collaboration edition was also staggeringly expensive.
The OPPO Find X2 has none of that drama. The bezel lines are still undisturbed. There is a gaping hole in the display instead. That is also to say that there are no hidden mechanisms to surprise you with a front camera. Less moving parts, less worry; they say. But that also means that it is now an IP68 rated device. You can bring it to the swimming pool, and it will be okay. You can soak it under the rain, and it would not matter.
Its display is bigger, but the device feels no bigger, or heftier than the OPPO Find X. All this though, is not saying that the device is an ugly one. It is not an ugly device. In most consensus, it is a pretty looking device. It curves in all the right places to make it feel less unwieldly that it actually is. They even offered it in the right colours. Its Ocean Blue is stunning to look at. The Black, well, it is black except in more durable ceramic finish.
It does not give a sense that it is a special device though. At the back is a camera module that houses three cameras like nearly any other flagship you find in the shops today. There is nothing that makes this device stand out from the rest of the smartphone market like the original OPPO Find X. It looks plain, it looks regular. Still, good looking, but nothing special or out of the ordinary, a little bit safe.
Unlike some manufacturers that puts the volume and power button on the same side, OPPO still goes for the one button per side layout. There are no recesses on the device to indicate a fingerprint sensor. You can access that fingerprint sensor under the display though. No problem. That also means that they can have clean, smooth surfaces around the device, save for the camera bump.
Like any other manufacturer, OPPO can make the Find X2 even thinner. They did not though, and instead fit more things under the hood for better cooling and what not. Sadly, that did not include a 3.5mm jack. Although, this has been quite expected. At least there is the Stereo speakers on the device which is actually quite powerful. More on that later though.
Hardware
What greets you out of the box is a wrapped smartphone. Of course, it is. If you bought your new smartphone and open it to find an unwrapped smartphone, you should contact your vendor and get it replaced. Anyway, under the plastic wrapping is a 6.7-inch display that is one of the most wonderful displays I have ever come across.
More on that later, though. A powerful display requires great hardware to put it through its paces and take full advantage of it. So, this comes with the most powerful one in Qualcomm’s stables at this time – a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865. That ultra-powerful System on a Chip (SoC) is packing some power with 12GB of RAM in tow.
Accelerometer Proximity Fingerprint (in-display) Ambient Light Gyroscope Face Unlock Compass
Miscellaneous
Stereo Speakers Dolby Atmos sound
User Interface – The ColorOS 7.1
The new ColorOS 7.1 is based on Google’s latest Android 10. In our opinions as well, it is the best ColorOS to date. Of course, it should be, since it is the latest. That is not what we are talking about though.
ColorOS has gone through some very drastic transformations over the years. It started out and sort of grew as an alternative to other Chinese Operating System (OS) overlays. It was still an Android, correct. But it had its fair share of quirks. Most of the time, its known for its mimicry of Apple’s user interface.
Even its colours schemes matched the fruity brand from Cupertino most of the time. Its layout is super similar until you get into the settings panel where it is all Android. There were some differences between this device and an Apple device though. You still can use widgets for example.
Now, on ColorOS 7.1, you can choose to have an app drawer. Instead of endlessly scrolling to the sides, now you can endlessly scroll the interface vertically. Technically this started from ColorOS 6.
There are some additional settings you can pull up from a small notch on the left though. That notch is quite finnicky; I occasionally open it when I do not mean to, and when I mean to, it is difficult to open. With a little bit of practice though, you can figure it out.
That little side panel gives you access to your favourite apps though, kind of like Samsung’s quick launch panel. Except, from that panel you can also quickly get a screenshot or record your display. Very useful sometimes when you are trying to explain something to your parents or friends on your smartphone, especially during this whole quarantine period.
Everything else within ColorOS 7.1 resembles a near vanilla Android 10. Save for the fact that you have to dig into the settings to have your app drawer. Despite that, the similarities to a stock Android interface is a good thing.
Being as vanilla as possible also means that OPPO’s ColorOS is light on Android, very light. That also means that it is fast and smooth and reliable. We’ve only noticeable encountered two lags when using the device. Once when we were trying to switch out from PUBG Mobile to Telegram, and another time trying to exit Netflix to reply WhatsApp. Just those two times though. We tried replicating the lags and stutters but cannot seem to do it after.
Still, you do not have to exit your apps to reply WhatsApp though. You can open WhatsApp as a separate floating window when you are watching your movies on Netflix, or entertaining yourself on YouTube, or even while resting in PUBG. When a message comes in on WhatsApp on the OPPO Find X2, you can choose to reply in floating at the notification pop-up. That is something nice.
That is not a feature that is exclusive to OPPO’s ColorOS though. Still, having that on ColorOS 7.1 is a big welcome. You technically do not have to stop what you are doing just to reply a message.
120Hz, 240Hz Experience.
The big part that contributes to how smooth and snappy the device feels in your hands is the display itself. We will dive into the colours and other technical aspects of the display later. But we are talking now about that experience of a hot knife slicing through butter. The 120Hz, while some may call a gimmick, really works wonders on the operations.
Scrolling never felt messy with the display, everything looks so smooth you can catch details on the icons. Because of the 240Hz response rate too, everything feels even more instant and snappy. Everything you touch is registered as is. The display follows your fingers, never a delay like you see on other devices sometimes. If you have a pen, you are going to see every dotted line forming as your stylus tip touches the display. It really feels good.
Launching apps never felt slow with the combination of a powerful SoC, fast responding display, and large RAM. When I picked up the device and first scrolled through the app drawer, I fell in love a little bit with ColorOS suddenly. Keep in mind, while I have high praises of ColorOS in the past, it is never my favourite interface.
Smart Assistant and OPPO App Market
Everyone is preparing for an eventuality of losing Google’s ecosystem support. It cannot be helped with the situation that HUAWEI is facing. That is also why OPPO developed their own Smart Assistant that is kind of based on Google’s Assistant. They also developed their own App Market which houses apps mostly from the Google Play Store anyway.
We feel that the Smart Assistant page is a little bit of a waste though. You access it by scrolling to the left of your home screen. We would appreciate things like news and what not, like Google’s implementation of their own assistant page.
Performance
From the User Interface experience itself, we have to say that this is a performer. It packs the latest, most powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC, performance is an expectation from that name alone. It also packs 12GB of RAM, which means multitasking on this thing should be a breeze.
Benchmarks
The benchmark scores are pretty much expected from a high-end SoC like the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865. Thing is, we are cannot look into benchmark scores too much. Big numbers may not equal to big performance in some cases. We still ran the benchmarks though and here they are.
Call Quality and Connectivity
Making calls is as easy as any other smartphones you have on you right now. The phone calling interface has not changed for the past 10 years so that should be the easy part. The less easy part is sometimes the phone call itself.
We never had an issue with OPPO devices when we tested all their mid-range or entry-level devices before this. Keep in mind they are all clad in aluminium, which was said to cause a lot of problems for Apple’s iPhones in the early days when they started using the material.
In terms of call experiences then, the OPPO deserves no complains. As expected, the dual mics that are used in the device filters out noise nicely and the caller at the other end of the line never complained that I was drowned out by noise. Volume levels are good too. Probably the earpiece could be a little softer than what I am used to, even when volume is turned all the way up, but I can still pick up voices and words in the conversation just fine.
If you are planning to use this in a conference call, you can. The speakers are actually very loud in those calls. You can fill a medium sized conference room with the volume from the OPPO Find X2. Although the mics might not be able to pick up your voice if you are standing more than 1.5m away from it. Not properly anyway. Loud speakers also means that you miss your calls less.
5G Ready
If you are thinking of purchasing the OPPO Find X2, whichever you choose are 5G compatible. While we do not have 5G just yet, preparations never hurt anyone. In the case that 5G is readily available, all you need to do is get the SIM card and plans from your service provider.
Unlike the other chines brand that has been touting 5G connectivity forever though, there is no switch for 5G here. That also means that if you get a 5G SIM card and push it in, 5G will be on by default. That could also be a worry in the future in terms of data usage patterns and even battery life concerns. So far, we cannot comment much because we have nothing to test it against yet.
O Roaming
If you are a travel bug (I know, we cannot travel at this time, at least we are discouraged to), you may appreciate this feature. It is a feature OPPO introduced last year for their smartphones. It is basically a roaming plan and you can do all your purchases from your smartphone itself. You do not need to head to a kiosk and get a local number and then just dispose it after use.
It is technically a more ecologically conscious way of getting a roaming data plan. That way also you do not need to manage another SIM card. Pulling out the SIM tray can be a pain sometimes.
Thing is, as far as we can see, the plans are still more expensive than getting a local number in some areas. The rates are also all calculated in US$. That also means that your credit card might charge you more than you bargained for.
We cannot deny its potential usefulness though. Having O Roaming or using it can be convenient for you. It is an on-demand service as well anyway, so as long as you need it, you can have a subscription and cancel anytime you do not need it.
Gaming
During the period of quarantine, we play a lot of games. Not that many mobile games though, sadly. However, we still do have some games on the OPPO Find X2. We installed PUBG Mobile, quite a staple to test devices with Battle Royale games like that these days. We loved Brawl Stars too, so of course that gets installed and played. I am also a fan of the Sky Force Reloaded personally.
The thing with modern smartphones with modern, ultra-powerful processing chips is that smooth gaming comes as a pre-requisite suddenly. There is a reason why gaming smartphones has not picked up that much since we first see the BlackShark device and even the ROG Phone. They are all technically the same things with some extra features that may or may not change the way you used your smartphone. All that, while looking tacky and loud.
With the OPPO Find X2’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 then, this device is expected to shred the games and let you play at 120 fps with no issues. Of course, the OPPO flagship does not disappoint. It manages to do all that while looking elegant and subtle. Lesson, you do not need a gaming smartphone.
Talks of gaming smartphones aside though, Brawl Stars is nice and smooth to play with. While you may not be able to tell if you are not paying attention, the game looks like it is somehow running smoother. Thanks to 240Hz response rate too, everything suddenly becomes a little more instant.
That goes for PUBG Mobile and Sky Force Reloaded as well though. On PUBG Mobile, gun shots are supposed to be slightly faster since the display responds faster. At the end of the day, the difference is in milliseconds and is hardly noticeable really. Still, the games look good with great vibrant colours. Brawl Stars looks fun and amazing with its pastel colour choices.
Even Sky Force, a messy game at times run smoothly, smoother than we thought it could run, and looks good. The colours of your plane are vivid, the projectile clearer, and suddenly the plane is more responsive to your touch. Not bad at all. Thing is though, these are very subtle differences that you might be able to overlook on other displays.
All this is thanks to OPPO’s very advanced, very pretty OLED display. We will talk about what makes gaming on the 120Hz panel such a pleasure with O1 Vision Engine in the later part of the review. This also makes us think that display panels now will make the difference between a regular smartphone and a gaming one.
Fingers and Faces
The OPPO Find X2 can easily unlock via your face. Well, as expected from a modern smartphone, facial recognition is quite standard now. 3D facial recognition is also more accurate and secure than ever now. It is also very much like OPPO’s first implementation of facial recognition on their OPPO Find X with 3D sensors and infrared floodlights. As with any other technologies, it is supposedly more accurate now too.
What is impressive to us was that the device was still able to recognise my face in low-light conditions. That, and it was able to unlock at about the same time as when it recognises my face in bright conditions. That is to say that the device does its facial recognition almost the instant you turn on the device. Then again, it recognises my face whichever way I oriented the device to my face anyway. That also means that fingerprint sensor and PIN numbers that I have set on the device are quite underutilised.
The fingerprint sensor is under the display though, which also means that there are no recess or creases to fit a regular fingerprint sensor. Under display fingerprint sensors have come a long way too, there is no reason to doubt its capability and accuracy at this point. They are faster than ever too. If all else fails, you have your PIN numbers to fall back on.
Battery Life
When we first saw how much this flagship is packing, we had major concerns on its 4,200mAh battery. It is not small for a battery, but it is certainly not that big. The Samsung Galaxy S20+ Ultra has a 4,500mAh battery with 5G and 120Hz display in tow. It is expected that 5G usage might drain batteries faster than ever too.
We decided to push the OPPO Find X2 through its paces a little bit with letting the display run on full 120Hz and QHD+ resolution. We let OPPO’s battery optimisation algorithm run on its own though, since it is turned on by default. We used the device as normally as we possibly can too. We ran WhatsApp on it, Telegram, some phone calls, some Netflix, quite a little bit of YouTube, and some camera action in a single day.
The result is a battery life that could last us longer than a day of full use. We had more than 18 hours in battery life on our first day with the OPPO Find X2. We never had any battery anxiety with the device on the first days. Mind you, this was the period before the state-sanction quarantine started; means we were still out and about.
On the worst day, we had to charge the device after 10 hours of use. That was thanks to a few PUBG sessions on long commute and train rides. Even leaving Netflix on for a 30-40 minute journey home from work still gives me a few extra hours with the device away from a charging outlet. I only had to charge the device when I get to bed on a typical day. While that could be anywhere from 11.00 p.m. to 2.00 a.m., having the confidence of leaving it for a charge overnight and get it going a full day is kind of refreshing. It is like experiencing new freedom.
Mind you, we have not even begun with VOOC FlashCharge. They said that it could be charged from zip to full within 40 minutes. We believe that, because our charged within 30 minutes most of the time, and the best part is that there is not much heat in the first place. So, it is safe to handle your device anytime it is charging.
That is not to say that it is flawless though. We would very much appreciate wireless charging. We use wireless chargers in the office now and with the Find X2, it is pretty much useless. While it has a long battery life, we could extend our daily use with wireless charging. We still think that they could fit a bigger battery in the device, the Find X2 Pro makes do with a 4,260mAh by the way; not that much bigger from this regular Find X2.
Display
The office actually agrees that this is probably the most impressive display of 2020. Mind you, we also pitted this against another flagship that launched at the same time, the Samsung Galaxy S20 series. We still think that this display is on another level.
It should be, you can project at QHD+ while pushing 120Hz, it has HDR10 certification, it has a 100% DCI-P3 certification, it is a 10-bit display with 1 billion colours, it is OLED and it is large at 6.7-inch. It is the same display across the series as well if you do not know yet. It is everything that a flagship display should be.
It is not an AMOLED display, simple OLED. But it is more than just another OLED display. It refreshes at 120Hz, and it pushed 10 billion colours into your face, not the usual 16.7 million. It is, in my eyes, the best display you can have on an Android device at this time.
They call the display their O1 Ultra Vision display. With that, comes an engine within the display that accelerates your visuals to match the refresh rate of the display at 120fps. That works for YouTube, Netflix, and even Prime video. That means you get extra smooth footages with very little chop and motion blurring. We were surprised with the result, to be very honest.
When a visual engine accelerates a 30fps video to 60fps, you usually can tell. You can tell by the occasional colour bleeding, or motion blurring of a specific object. On the OPPO’s display, you can hardly tell. We suspect that we can hardly tell also because the display is not large enough for us to scrutinise on a microscopic level.
Colours are very real on the device. You get highly vivid and saturated colours. While that is a mark of OLED displays, this is something else. With 10-bit format, colour gradients blend so well that you see them as a single progression with no separation. With 1 billion colours, colour contrasts are even better than before.
Those features create a whole avenue to watching videos and enjoying Netflix and other video streaming platforms on the OPPO. Yes, we are saying we enjoy using this device as our go to device to stream videos.
You have not even begun to consider the stereo speakers that this thing packs. They are Dolby Atmos certified too, which means you get top notch movie audio out of this. Find a title that could match the certification, you get really good personal immersion. Quite sad that you cannot put your old 3.5mm jacked headphone into the device though. Well, Bluetooth audio it is.
Cameras
They say that the OPPO Find X2 Pro, before the launch of HUAWEI’s P40 series, tops the charts on DX0Mark. That also means that the OPPO Find X2 Pro, at one point, was the best a smartphone camera can get. What about the Find X2?
Technically, you can get the same sort of results. They both run on the same primary hardware and software. The regular Find X2 that you see here packs a 48-Megapixel main shooter supported by two other less powerful lenses. The ultra-wide shooter is a 16-Megapixel sensor while the telephoto lens is a 12-Megapixel shooter capable only of 2x optical zoom. You get up to 5x hybrid zoom with that too.
Does that mean that it is a worse camera than the OPPO Find X2 Pro though? In terms of numbers, it is collectively a worse camera. In practice though, the differences are less than you think. If you are comparing the main camera, nothing separates the two. Both have the same 48-Megapixel cameras and both should get the same results. The resulting photo from the 48-Megapixel camera is crisp, detailed images with very natural colours. The AI know how from OPPO does help in plenty of the scene recognition and settings on the camera. Even in low light, colours are saturated and pretty. My only complain is probably the oversaturation of certain colours like the reds. Still photos look stunning enough on the display of the OPPO at least.
There is a small flaring issue when the OPPO Find X2’s camera is exposed to a naked light source, but most smartphone cameras will have that issue anyway. Under the right conditions, you can get a creative shot. If you like to do night photography though, you might want to consider pointing your device toward a softer light source than what we see in the sample photo. Still, night photography with the 48-Megapixel camera is great thanks to OPPO’s clever night mode enhancement.
With the other two lenses, there are nothing much to shout about really. They are not great, but they are not bad either. They produce pretty standard results in their own class. You will not get a super clear 10x zoom shots from the OPPO Find X2. At 5x though, photos are still clearly usable. The final results of the long shots from the 5x hybrid zoom function is really not bad at all. You still get plenty of details with it, like shooting from a conventional lens.
The ultra-wide angle lens is not the best, but it is still good to work with. You may not get 48-Megapixel in detail from the 16-Megapixel ultra-wide lens, but it is not going to blow any minds. It is still detailed enough to use and appreciate though. Colour profile across the cameras are pretty much the same, which also means that you are still getting very natural looking ultra-wide shots and zoomed in shots.
Gallery
The OPPO Find X2 – The OPPO Flagship to Have
The OPPO Find X2 we have here will set you back MYR 3,999. It is the cheaper of the two flagship devices from OPPO too. The Find X2 Pro will set you back MYR 4,599, MYR 600 more than the OPPO Find X2.
While being the more affordable of the two, you are not getting that much less than the Find X2 Pro. The OPPO Find X2 still packs the same power unit, the same display, the same sort of design language. The only difference is the battery size (60mAh smaller on the Find X2), storage size, (256GB vs 512GB), and the camera sensors you get (48MP + 12MP +16MP vs 48MP + 13MP + 48MP). In a sense, it is not that big of a difference that you can find though. You are essentially getting identical performance numbers and experiencing the same OS and device.
MYR 3,999 though is a lot of money to ask for. The OPPO Find X that was launched last year was just slightly cheaper at MYR 3,699. Still, that was two years ago. For about the same money as the OPPO Find X2 as well, you can get your hands on a Samsung Galaxy S20 and a HUAWEI P40 Pro. Get this though, the OPPO Find X2 is probably a better deal with the 120Hz QHD+ display alone.
As a device, we feel that the OPPO Find X2 is one of the most accomplished and complete devices out there. It is an impressive device, and we can say that we really like the device. It is still difficult to get over the fact that you are spending more than MYR 3,500 on an OPPO device. You are spending a premium amount of money on a smartphone brand that has built itself on value mid-range offerings.
We can overlook that part though, just because we have experienced the device. If you are looking in the price range, we do urge you to take a look and experience this OPPO Find X2 itself. It might change your mind about what OPPO devices can do. In short, this is a device that we do not mind using as a daily driver.
This week we had the honour of having Joshua Vergara and Isa Rodriguez on the podcast! You may have seen them on the internet over the years.
Joshua Vergara runs his own tech and lifestyle YouTube channel, but you may recognize him from his days at Android Authority and for his current work at Pocketnow. He’s a veteran of the industry and has been making content on tech for many years. Aside from YouTube videos, Joshua Vergara also hosts multiple podcasts and delves into health and wellness via his social media platforms.
Isa Rodriguez is a tech Youtuber who has a unique view on tech. She takes everything we know about tech and approaches it with a fashionista’s eye. She brings a breath of fresh air in a niche that many have enjoyed over the years. She regularly pairs he tech reviews with out fit of the days and focuses on a lot of the features that everyone looks for, particularly the ladies.
This is her second time on the Tech & Tonic Podcast! She has joined us for a previous episode of the Tech & Tonic Podcast where we talked about cameras & smartphone cameras.
In the episode, we talked about one of the most exciting weeks we’ve had in the global tech scene in quite a while particularly of Motorola’s return to the flagship race with their new Motorola Edge and Edge+. Their return after a 3 year absence also brought up the question of whether they were still relevant and if consumers were still looking for flagships or affordable devices. We also spoke about some of the changes we’ve had to make with the world going into quarantine and also our must haves for working from home.
The episode was recorded as a livestream on Monday, 27 April 2020 on the techENT YouTube Channel. We are continuing our live streams throughout Malaysia’s Movement Control Order (MCO) period. We’re live at 11am every Monday.
Apple and Google found themselves at odds with Governments when it came to how data should be handled in their Contact Tracing API.
The OnePlus 8 series found its way to Malaysia. The new Snapdragon685 touting Smartphones are up for pre-order. They are priced starting from MYR2,699.
AMD unveils a new generation of Zen 2 based Ryzen 3 processors.
Facebook had a busy week enhancing Messenger with Messenger Rooms and enabling Group Calls on WhatsApp.
vivo launched their Snapdragon 712 powered V19 in Malaysia. The Quad Camera touting flagship is retailing for MYR1,699.
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The HUAWEI Mate 30 series shipped HUAWEI Mobile Services (HMS) ecosystem. It is still Android based, but it has grown since we first started seeing its full enforcement on the late 2019 flagship. It is now the third largest app marketplace in the world, the HUAWEI AppGallery. Local developers are totally behind the ecosystem too apparently. The ecosystem, as they say, will only continue to grow.
That same ecosystem is carried to the successor of what we thought was the best photography smartphone you could buy in 2019. We were recommending the device left and right, even when the HUAWEI Mate 30 was introduced. That was also because it retained the whole Google ecosystem that the Mate 30 lacked.
Would the HUAWEI P40 Pro be something that we recommend though, now that it does not pack Google’s trusty ecosystem? Or, would it be crippled by the less populated HMS? How will it stack against the other flagships? Let us find out.
Design
This year’s HUAWEI P40 and P40 Pro has some visually distinguishable differences. One of them is the display, which we are starting with. The Standard P40 comes with a smaller, flatter, plainer display. The Pro variant comes with a larger, more curvy display.
The curvier display, as they call an overflow display, is supposed to be curving in 4 directions this time instead of the two on the HUAWEI Mate 30 series. The overflow is not as much as the Mate 30 series though. And the top and bottom’s overflow is more like a glass overflow than a display overflow.
In that sense, personally at least, we are a little disappointed because we expected the display to be stretched a little bit on the top and bottom side of the device. Still, the display does not have a notch now. Rather, it is a punch hole that houses two cameras and some sensors in between the two cameras. While that is a bigger hole than before or any other punch-hole display, its placement is not that much more distracting.
Still, it is not a bad looking device. It is not as impressive looking as they made it look in the commercials though. If you ask me, I will say that the HUAWEI P40 Pro really looks like nearly any other modern smartphone that has launched today or in the past year.
If you like, you might be able to put it beside a HUAWEI P30 Pro from las year and you might be forgiven to think that they are the same devices. The HUAWEI P30 Pro is slightly bigger. That is also to say that there is nothing really wrong with the HUAWEI P40 Pro’s design language. Of course, there are some telling differences from last year. The camera’s arrangement is a little different, much bigger housing on the HUAWEI P40 Pro.
While it has a smaller screen compared to some of the more recent flagships sporting the ultra-powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, we appreciate it. It is plenty easier to handle in one hand. It is more comfortable to hold in one hand as well for that matter. Plus, it takes less of a stretch if you only have one hand to work with.
The only thing we might have to lodge a complaint against is probably the oversized and over protruding camera module. While it is the trend of many smartphones now, also because of the larger sensor sizes you get on smartphones these days; it can be pretty annoying and haphazard if you use your smartphone without a case. We recommend the use of a case in this matter, but there are going to be people who will not want to. The bump, in that case, is a bummer.
Hardware
The most important bit of the smartphone though, despite their good looks is what comes inside the smartphone itself. The HUAWEI P40 Pro comes with HUAWEI’s top of the line HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G ready SoC. That also makes the HUAWEI P40 Pro a 5G device incidentally.
Non-Removable Li-Po 4,200 mAh Fast Charging 40W Fast Wireless Charging 27W Fast Reverse Wireless Charging 27W
Connectivity
Nano SIM Wi-Fi WLAN 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax GPS/A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS A2DP Bluetooth 5.1 LE OTG Support USB 3.1 Type-C NFC Infrared
Camera (s)
REAR: Quad Leica Co-Engineered Lens: 50-Megapixel (f/1.9,2.44µm 1/1.28″ 23mm wide angle) 12-Megapixel (f/3.4, 125mm 5x optical telephoto) 40-Megapixel (f/1.8, 18mm ultra-wide angle) TOF 3D depth sensor OIS Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF) HDR LED Flash 4K Video recording (60fps) FRONT: 32-Megapixel (f/2.2, 26mm (wide), ½.8″, 0.8µm) IR TOF 3D depth sensor 4K video recording (30fps)
Sensors
Accelerometer Proximity Fingerprint (in-display) Ambient Light Gyroscope Face Unlock (Infrared) Compass Colour Temperature
User Interface
As mentioned earlier, the first thing you have to know before getting this device is that it does not come with the GMS ecosystem. It only comes with HUAWEI’s proprietary HMS. That does not mean that the HUAWEI smartphone is not an Android smartphone though. The EMUI 10 that this packs is still based on Google’s Android 10 Operating system. This is an important note.
While there will be ways for you to port GMS with Google’s framework and what not into HUAWEI’s latest flagship, we are not going to do that as of yet and review the device as it is, without Google Play Services. Why? While it is possible to port Google’s framework into the device, it might take some technical know-how and a little bit of time to research. So, we are going to just work with HMS for now.
In some sense also, we have all the apps that we have used before on the HUAWEI P40 Pro at this time. Even Telegram and WhatsApp can be installed. Provided, we were using Phone Clone to clone one of the other devices I use. There were only one or two apps that cannot be installed. At this time then, I have HUAWEI P40 Pro that is ready to rock and roll as the HUAWEI Mate 20X that this cloned from.
EMUI 10.1
If you have used HUAWEI devices before, or almost any other China based manufacturer’s smartphones before, you will be quite familiar with navigating the device. Unlike OPPO who has decided to include the choice of using app drawers in their latest Android 10 based ColorOS 6, HUAWEI has kept to that minimal design with no app drawers. You do not get a choice with the EMUI overlay either.
To get the app drawer, you need to install a completely different overlay, which is not available through AppGallery just yet. You can sideload them still though. Just be careful where you get your apps from.
To be fair, nothing much has changed with the User Interface (UI) of EMUI 10 as well. You still can get down to using folders to work with your apps and what not. There is, of course, the dark mode that you can switch on very easily in the settings to make everything look a little more stunning. We personally like dark mode also because it consumes less battery power while being less straining to your eyes.
Not everything works though. We tried launching Instagram to no avail. It opens the first screen to log in and just shuts off the whole app with no warning. I did not even have time to get the keyboard out to type. There are probably several other apps that might not work properly. We have not tried.
Netflix also did not get transferred on to the new device though. We suspect that the exclusion is due to the fact that Netflix comes as a pre-installed app now on most Android devices. That is a small setback. We did not bother trying to install it though. As we mentioned earlier, we are trying to review the device as it is.
Phone Clone
This app, while made for HUAWEI devices, is available on any other Android devices too. While if you install it on other devices, the app is only designed to extract information from that device to a HUAWEI device. That also means you can move from other Android devices into the HUAWEI ecosystem quite comfortably and not lose any of your essential apps.
The HUAWEI P40 Pro is still an Android device anyway, which also means any Android app that you have used can be loaded on the HUAWEI P40 Pro. Albeit, without proper and actual support from Google or its developers. Of course, there are some Google Apps that would be missing too, Apps like YouTube was not transferred, for example.
Still, I managed to get the Phone Clone app to run and transferred the whole of my HUAWEI Mate 20X, save for the photos, to the HUAWEI P40 Pro within 20minutes. That easily solves one of the biggest worries we had with the HMS ecosystem for now. The only concern now is; how do we update our apps.
AppGallery
Whenever you come to a smartphone that has no part in the Google or Apple ecosystem, you are inevitably compare the device and its app ecosystem to the two largest and most popular platforms on earth. We will try to make as little comparison as possible, but that does not mean that we can completely omit either app ecosystems. This is an Android device after all.
We have started our own editorial on the HUAWEI Mobile Services and AppGallery pairing of an ecosystem. We also believed that HUAWEI’s app ecosystem, the AppGallery, given time will also grow to a sizeable ecosystem. You may not get as large ecosystem as Google’s at the foreseeable future. The HUAWEI AppGallery though, is one of the fastest growing ecosystems that we have seen so far. While the matter of the U.S. vs HUAWEI dispute was a big driving force toward that growth, you cannot take away the credits that was due to HUAWEI.
The AppGallery is the third largest app platform in the current known world. Considering Samsung’s own Galaxy app store could not even lift a finger against Google’s still impressive Play Store, that is already quite a feat. In Malaysia at least, you still have access to the apps that mostly matter. While you cannot get Facebook and WhatsApp officially on the AppGallery. HUAWEI’s AppGallery will take you to a secure site to get their apk and get the app working on your smartphone.
There is something they also call QuickApps. It is a section of the AppGallery where you get access to apps, but you are not technically installing anything on your smartphone if you choose so. I say if you choose so because they will ask you about having a shortcut on your home page. You still technically do not have the app installed on the device. You access the app through AppGallery’s backend systems and use the app as it is. You just have to make sure you are connected to the internet via your 4G LTE connection or WiFi.
There are even several popular e-wallet apps in the AppGallery now for Malaysia, which is great news. If not, you still can get apk files and upload them into your HUAWEI P40 Pro and make it work. It is still an Android device after all.
HUAWEI Share
We currently do not really have a lot of HUAWEI devices to test with. The closest thing we could use to get this feature to work properly is the HUAWEI MatePad Pro, which is released in Malaysia the same time this device does.
HUAWEI Share, when it was introduced, was one of those features that we gave lot of praises to. Like Apple’s Airdrop, it is basically a drag and drop feature between your smartphone and PC or whatever devices you have with you. The only sad thing is that it only works on HUAWEI’s devices for now.
The HUAWEI Share that we see on the newer HUAWEI P40 Pro is a large improvement over the HUAWEI P30’s that we saw before though. It is still a HUAWEI-only feature. Which means if you want it to work with your PC, you need to get a HUAWEI notebook PC to get it to work. Or get a HUAWEI MatePad Pro for that reason.
It still has that one touch file hopping system that we were getting used to on the HUAWEI P30 Pro and MateBook combination. Additionally, the new HUAWEI Share allows you to completely control your smartphone from your PC or MatePad Pro tablet. You can truly just drag and drop your files from smartphone to PC or tablet, and vice versa. Very much like what you might have seen the Samsung tablets and smartphones does with their very own Samsung Flow.
That added convenience is a big bonus to us, since we do not need to connect the smartphones via cables to your PC or tablet; provided it is a HUAWEI device. Given, on a wireless connection, there may be some stutters and delays. While annoying, they are not enough to drive you away from using the device though.
90Hz Smoothness
Yes, yes, yes, there are already flagships in the market with 120Hz displays. Look how much that is though. The OPPO Find X2, for example, starts at MYR 3,999. This one, currently at least, tops out at MYR 3,899. It is not that much less expensive, I admit. But You get quite a lot with HUAWEI as well.
You still get 90Hz at a little more than Full HD on the HUAWEI P40 Pro. HUAWEI says that the 120Hz display will be a little bit of battery drainer, which is true. That is why they opted for 90Hz for the sake of battery life. That is good news for you who needs your devices to stay on for longer periods.
Look at it this way too, your eyes can hardly tell the difference between 90Hz and 120Hz technically. While you can claim that 120Hz is smoother, you cannot really tell at a normal visual inspection. The 90Hz then is still ultra-smooth and snappy.
In our opinions the 90Hz is one of the biggest changes in terms of the UI experience. While the layout and design of the UI is still the same, the 90Hz experience makes it seem plenty smoother and faster than before. No, unlike some of the devices in the market, the HUAWEI P40 Pro does not include ultra-fast touch response. That does not matter that much in normal daily use though.
Performance
Of course, with a HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G SoC, the HUAWEI P40 Pro really performs like a champion. It is ultra-smooth and opening apps do not take too long. Compared to other iterations of Android based systems too, it seems to be very stable. What I mean is that I have not encountered any lags or slow down anywhere on the device. On other Android devices that I have reviewed so far, there is always one or two lags and slow downs from time to time. They are far and few in between, but it does happen.
Benchmarks
Usually, we are not too bothered with Benchmarks because we care more about how the devices feel in your hands than what numbers can tell you. Still, benchmarks do communicate certain things like how much processes it can handle at a given time, how much its GPU can render at a single point. It is sort of a stress test.
In this case though, HMS does not provide any other common benchmark than Antutu. Antutu is also now excluded from the Google Play Store. In that case, we have to start sideloading the apps.
There is one thing to mention though, the dual core AI on this chip is larger than any other SoC in the market. In that sense, this will perform better than any other chip in terms of AI benchmarks.
Call Quality and Connectivity
Since the HUAWEI P40 Pro comes with all the bells and whistles of a modern smartphones, the expectation is that the phone calls work as perfectly as it can. In that case, it does. We only had the chance to test this in our home though. We used a Maxis SIM card and then a YES 4G SIM card. Both, on other devices work perfectly fine with full bars of signal.
The same can be said on the HUAWEI P40 Pro too. That also means that there is nothing really to shout about. 4G LTE connectivity at home is mostly stable on the device. If there are interruptions, it is mostly the provider’s problem.
Still, the HUAWEI P40 Pro comes with an antenna so advanced we cannot even exploit its full potential yet. It has a 5G antenna built in thanks to the HUAWEI Kirin 990. We do not have a 5G SIM card at home, we cannot buy it yet in Malaysia. It is nice to know that we are futureproofed with this device though.
5G Switch
Using 5G’s faster and more advanced capacity of course takes up some power. There is a reason why Samsung fitted their 5G capable device with a larger battery. There is also a reason why there is only one device in their line-up that supports 5G connectivity. The HUAWEI P40 series though, all of them comes with 5G capability.
That may be bad news to the battery, since we are still on 4G connectivity. That also means that if you leave the 5G antenna on, you are just wasting precious battery life for nothing. That is why HUAWEI allows you to turn the 5G antenna on and off within the quick settings menu. If you have a 5G SIM card and you need the speed, you can turn it on. When you do not need the 5G capacity, 4G speeds are usually fast enough, and you can turn the antenna off. While ingenious, it is a feature we can really appreciate going into the future.
Gaming
While we are gamers, it is important for us to say that we do not play that many mobile games. To us, games on mobile are mostly very casual and simple. At this point we play mostly Brawl Stars. Brawl Stars is not available on AppGallery, do keep that in mind. We were able to play because of Phone Clone.
In that, we believe that most games are playable by any Android device these days. The only difference is the graphic’s quality. In that, PUBG Mobile is probably the best way to tell how powerful your device is. Unfortunately, AppGallery does not have PUBG Mobile within its galleries.
We did, however have PUBG installed – thanks to Phone Clone. Once we logged into our PUBG account, we are gold. We can set our graphics settings to Ultra and HDR without issue.
In both games, the only way to describe the experience was smooth gaming. The graphics on both games are very smooth. Colours pop on Brawl Stars. It is a colourful game to begin with. On PUBG, the colours are great too, making spotting enemies slightly easier through the small-ish display.
The placement of the camera holes, while quite big, is never really an issue. At least for me, the camera hole is under my thumbs anyway while playing these games without a separate controller.
Still, it is disappointing to find that there are no stereo speakers on the HUAWEI P40 Pro. We kind of expect flagships to come with stereo speakers now. Not to say that the single speakers are bad though, it is still good and crisp. Stereo audio would help with PUBG at least to place your enemies slightly more accurately. You cannot use your old 3.5mm jack earphones either here. It is a USB Type-C port only. That also means you either can use your included earphones or buy a new one.
Security
The HUAWEI P40 Pro comes with the standard fingerprint sensors, PIN, or facial recognition screen locks. The fingerprint sensor is under the display of course, like most flagships now. You can have all of the security measures in place though. Of course, PIN is always required to set your facial recognition or fingerprint.
The facial recognition is fast, like lightning fast. You just bring it in front of your face, and as long as it is your face that is registered, it unlocks without a fuss or wait. There are several sensors within the front facing module that supposedly makes facial recognition more accurate and available in low-light conditions. In low-light conditions, it does work as expected. In no-light condition, do not even try; Just use your fingers.
Battery Life
HUAWEI has been the champion in a smartphone’s battery life when it comes to flagships. Take the HUAWEI P30 that we reviewed last year for example. On standby, we had the device lasting us two days before needing a charge. A full day of regular use is not an issue on a single charge.
With our devices being a core part of our lives including our work, being away from a charge point is more productivity for us. That is true for the HUAWEI P30, and that remains true for the HUAWEI P40 Pro.
At home, I rarely touch my smartphones other than using them for social media, reply some WhatsApp and Telegram chats. I seldom game on my smartphone too. Currently I have my PC and Console set-up at home. So why would I play mobile games all that much?
We managed to get Telegram, Facebook, WhatsApp, PUBG Mobile, and Brawl Stars working on the HUAWEI P40 Pro. Those are the apps we use most on the HUAWEI P40 Pro on a regular day. We are also on WiFi on a 24-hour basis now since we are all at home due to the COVID-19 situation. In that, we get more than a day’s worth of battery life and a little bit more for the next day.
Due to the conditions, you have to take our experience with the battery with a pinch of salt though. Battery life can be affected by plenty of things at home. Distance to your WiFi source is also a factor, amazingly. The closer you are to your source, the less power the antenna consumes. Temperatures at home can also affect it. Too cold or too warm and your device consumes more power than it should.
Display
To be exact, the “overflow” display on the HUAWEI P40 Pro is a 6.59-inch that pushes 1,200 x 2,640 pixels unit. It is an OLED display which are pretty much known for its great contrast and vivid colours. No, it is not a Full HD display, it is more than that.
It is not a QHD display as well, not quite. It is somewhere in between Full HD and QHD. It has HDR10 certification and is refreshing at 90Hz, as mentioned earlier.
While you get quite a weird combination in its resolution, there is no denying that anything you put on the display looks sharp. At a glance, you might not be able to tell the difference between a Full HD display of the same size, but you might appreciate the extra pixels in gaming or watching 4K resolution movies on the device. The HDR10 certification does not hurt too.
No, you are not going to be able to get the full 4K resolution when you are watching the movie, but that also means that your Netflix movies or even downloaded movies can take advantage of the higher resolution. That also means you get better colour gradients and contrasts. Oh yes, Netflix is not on AppGallery. We had to sideload Amazon Prime Video too, even YouTube.
HUAWEI has their own HUAWEI Video App though; it works a little bit like Netflix but only on HMS devices exclusively at this point. There are plenty of contents in there too, all of them not found Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. They are mostly Chinese or Cantonese language shows though. It is also a subscription-based service. Although we do not know the pricing structure just yet. It is a new service after all. If you pre-ordered your HUAWEI P40 Pro, you get the service for free for the next three months so you can binge watch all your Chinese and Hong Kong drama series at more than Full HD resolution.
Cameras
Probably the most significant overhaul in the HUAWEI P40 Pro is the camera itself. It is still the familiar, in-house developed RYYB sensor. Supposedly, RYYB sensors are more light sensitive. In a sense they can absorb more light than the usual RGGB sensors. Colours are also supposed to be more neutral with RYYB sensors.
We are not going into the technicalities of the sensors, because that is a whole other topic for another day. The HUAWEI P40 Pro comes with a 50-Megapixel main sensor that is supported by three other lenses and a colour temperature sensor. That is one less lens than the highly anticipated HUAWEI P40 Pro+.
Still, the results show how powerful the RYYB sensor is on the HUAWEI P30 Pro. It really can see in the dark much better than other competing smartphones. With the HUAWEI P40 Pro, it has an even bigger sensor than before. That also means that it should theoretically ‘see’ better.
There are more function additions here too. You have an upgraded Timelapse mode, and you also have dual view camera mode to monitor your shots in the main camera and zoom lenses. Its AI is more powerful than ever too, recognising more scenes than before. What is amazing though is that the AI is clever enough to remove reflections and even other people that you do not want in the photo. No more photobombing, and no more sticking your smartphone to the glass to get a photo of what is on the other side of the glass.
The results speak for themselves. The HUAWEI P40 Pro is on the top of the ranking board of DX0Mark. While that may just be numbers and may not mean anything; pick up the HUAWEI P40 Pro and see the difference yourselves.
The HUAWEI P40 Pro’s camera is nothing short of amazing. While you are going to end up using photos taken by the camera in Social Media most of the time, the photos can be more than that. Of course, if you push your photos into JPG format, you not only save space, but you compress the image quality too.
For that size though, details are quite amazing still. Everything is quite sharp, and crisp. Of course, the moment you zoom all the way in at 50x, you get an image that is barely useable. You still can make out some details though, weirdly and amazingly. Use them in their normal functions though, images are quite amazing with very accurate colours, they were not kidding.
Of course, you need to see it to believe it. The gallery below are photos taken via the HUAWEI P40’s various cameras. Because of the MCO, we did not have much to begin with, so do bear with our household items, and food.
Photo Gallery
The HUAWEI P40 – A Very Difficult Choice
No doubt, the HUAWEI P40 Pro is a very powerful device. The HUAWEI Kirin 990 5G SoC is, in our humble opinions, what plenty of flagship class SoC should be. It has the right idea and all the right power numbers at the right places. That also translates into the HUAWEI P40 Pro as a product.
It has a better camera than most smartphones you can find on the shelves today. Statistically, you are getting the best sort of smartphone camera money can buy. In that case, we can see ourselves using the HUAWEI P40 Pro as our main photoshoot and video driver in some cases. It really does work well in our work environment.
While it only packs 90Hz out of the box, it is still a potent smartphone in total. You still can enjoy Netflix movies – if you can get Netflix installed, and Prime Video for that matter with its brilliant display. If you can get YouTube installed, you can even enjoy that at 90Hz, and it looks good. The only bummer here is the single speaker situated where your palm would land on when you view your device horizontally.
I personally have some things to protest about as well when it comes to its MYR 3,899 price tag. For starters, it is not what you would call ‘cheap’. It is a very premium price tag for a premium smartphone. For that though, you are not getting the beautifully sculpted overflow display that you see on the HUAWEI Mate 30 series. You are getting physical buttons, which is nice; no doubt, but we expected the HUAWEI P40 Pro to move away from buttons like the HUAWEI Mate is already doing, at the price point. Topping up MYR 100 also gives you an OPPO Find X2, which is a formidable device too with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 865, 5G capability, a larger, pixel dense 120Hz display.
The biggest push-away though is the lack of Google Mobile Services. Moving away from something that we have been used to for the past 10 years of smartphones is a big ask. While you can transfer most of your Android apps on your older Android device to the HUAWEI P40 Pro, we found that some apps do not actually work. Instagram for example. We also do not have Netflix or YouTube on the device, which can be a little bit of a pain. Still, you can get them installed from third party sources.
To be fair, this is not HUAWEI’s fault. We are also still very thankful that HUAWEI still keeps their devices faithfully on Android. The AppGallery too will grow even bigger than what it is today. No doubt, plenty of the popular Android apps will be ported to AppGallery somehow. As we speak too, HUAWEI is suggesting that Google puts forth their Google Play Store and Mobile Services as a downloadable app on their AppGallery to solve the app issue. We really hope that happens somehow.
We really liked the HUAWEI P40 Pro for what its worth. While MYR 3,899 is a big ask, for a smartphone that some might regard as a glorified paperweight, we feel that there is much more to this device than just its lack of Google Mobile Services though. We can see the appeal, that is what we are saying. What we cannot see for the HUAWEI P40 Pro though is recommending our friends to buy it without giving other Android alternatives. Even you know that there are really good smartphones at the same price point out there.
We started this journey over two weeks ago. We also switched to a HUAWEI P40 Pro review unit last week as an HMS test device on a full-time basis. Starting it up and starting afresh, we thought we might want to give the HUAWEI device the best chance it has to stack up against all the other Android devices we encountered. That is why, rather than loading it with the set-up we had on the HUAWEI Nova 7i, we went with Phone Clone to get it to clone a HUAWEI Mate 20X I owned.
The result of that was the transfer of more than just the apps we had on the HUAWEI Nova 7i. We had more than we bargained with Prime Video and Telegram ported in. We had Facebook and Instagram ported too, alongside some of our favourite games like Brawl Starts and PUBG Mobile. More about Phone Clone app and the HUAWEI P40 Pro in our in-depth review later though. Note that the HUAWEI P40 Pro is a review unit and it is due for a return soon. So we only have a limited time with HUAWEI’s latest photography king and switch back to the Nova 7i.
Phone Clone is The Way to Go
The point is you can still run Android apps on the HUAWEI’s EMUI 10. It is still an Android 10 device after all. Well, just be sure that everything runs nicely. We found that Instagram will not turn over on the HUAWEI P40 Pro. It could just be a device issue, but that is quite annoying to us. The upgrade also comes with a big step up in the camera of course. But that is not our focus today.
The focus today is to test it out as a daily driver for the week. We popped in the YES 4G SIM card we had for our review devices and its ready to roll. Okay, it is ready to somewhat roll.
Of course, we had our concerns with the apps. For one, there is now no official support for the apps. Where do we update the apps? How do we update the apps? If I’m transferring WhatsApp from my older device, do I use Gmail still? We may not be able to answer all the questions you and I have.
Right out of the box, if you did not use Phone Clone to copy your WhatsApp data over to your new HUAWEI device, you are going to lose everything. If you use Phone Clone and WhatsApp did not copy its complete data over, you lose everything. There is no carry over of backup data because HUAWEI cannot back up to Gmail now. It is like switching from an Apple device to Android device. That is kind of a bummer.
We found a solution to that though, from HUAWEI’s own community site. It is not the simplest instructions to follow, because there is a lot of navigation around restoring your WhatsApp data in your HUAWEI smartphone. If you want to give it try you can head to their website. It still works (sort of) on the HUAWEI Nova 7i and HUAWEI P40 Pro as well. So that should not be too big of an issue.
We found that installing Google Drive may not work as well, because you cannot actually sign into your Google account. That, and a lot of other Google apps. At least you get your WhatsApp chat history back, right? You have to jump through some hoops, yes; but it works.
We did not manage to get Netflix ported over, or even working for that matter. At least Amazon’s Prime Video works well though. We cannot tell if it is only streaming in HD quality or not, but it works at least, and that is now part of our entertainment.
The next challenge is to update the apps. For that, we started using APKPure and Aptoide. Mind you, you cannot get these two app markets on AppGallery too, so you have to download them from their respective mirror sites.
New in AppGallery
Since we last spoke about the AppGallery though, there has been some additions to the ecosystem. There are some new apps there and here. A lot of which, we are not concerned about. One of which, could be interesting for residents of Malaysia. The MySejahtera app developed by Malaysia’s ministry of health to keep yourself in check of your own health status in the COVID-19 situation now. Of course, during the Movement Control Order restrictions now, food is important, and you have Dahmakan app in the HUAWEI device anyway. Nope, no others so far. Not even Grab.
You could, theoretically get Grab working on your HUAWEI through Phone Clone as well. Again, there is going to be update issues later. But I guess we can cross that bridge when we get there.
Still, if you are going to rely on the AppGallery solely, Dahmakan is your best friend.
Quick Apps is a function that is on the HUAWEI AppGallery and a feature like no other. It is a sort of ‘pre-installed’ kit for devices with the AppGallery. They idea is that you can just access the Quick Apps gallery, pick the apps you want to use, and launch it without installing it. Where is it installed? In the cloud perhaps. But the essential point is that you can just use the apps as long as you are connected to the internet.
That is what the McDonald’s app is on the HUAWEI AppGallery, a Quick App. Of course, you need an active internet connection anyway for the app to work in the first place, so it does make plenty of sense. It also does not take up any space on your smartphone which is quite clever as well; a way to save storage space on your smartphone, if you might.
You can even add the app on your home screen so you can access it again anytime after your first visit. Just hit the app menu and add it to your home screen, very easy. We are not sure it is the most convenient way to discover an app though, because it is lodged very far down the AppGallery. You have to scroll all the way down to find the separate Quick Apps gallery.
Still, better than nothing right? There are plenty games within that gallery, none of which we play. Because the AppGallery is not segregated from one country to another yet, you can also find some broadcast apps on the platform. It is an interesting platform, if used correctly. Why not have WhatsApp there too? That is an idea.
In this week’s Tech & Tonic Podcast, which was also a livestream in the morning, it is just the two of us again. We explored plenty of things that came out last week though. We spoke about the collaboration between Google and Apple. We think that there is going to be a significant long-term benefit to the collaboration for the health care industry.
Apple also launched their brand-new Apple iPhone SE last week. The iPhone SE is meant to be their latest, and most affordable Apple iPhone. It still packs an A13 Bionic processor though, so it comes packing with power.
We also discussed about OnePlus’ new flagship, the OnePlus 8. In that, we spoke about how similar it is to another flagship that was launched earlier this year. Still, it seems like a good flagship contender for 2020.
We finally unboxed the HUAWEI MatePad Pro too (unboxing later this week). We discussed about how we actually liked the device. Of course, without Google’s Mobile Services, we feel that it is a little lacking somehow. Still, we like it.
That brought us to another topic of mobile ecosystems though. Is HUAWEI Mobile Services a good alternative to the Google Play ecosystem? Should you even consider it. We spoke about that, and more in the latest Tech & Tonic!
Sidestepping the first issue which sees Google and Apple aiming to implement their feature directly on a device’s operating system while the NHSX version requires a downloadable dedicated application, this article will focus on the issue of privacy arising from the second issue.
In essence, Apple and Google have insisted that if there is to be any collaboration between the NHSX and them for the purposes of contact tracing the storage of all data will have to be decentralised. The NHSX, on the other hand, is pushing for centralised storage of data.
What’s the difference?
Before deciding on one system or another, it’s best to understand the basics of the distinction between these systems.
A centralised system has a single storage point and controller of the data collected. The central controller of the data may grant access to other users but remains ultimately responsible for the system as a whole. A centralized system is relatively easy to set up and can be developed quickly. Such a system is very useful where continuous modifications to the parameters of the system are expected or where the use of the data needs to be adapted for different purposes.
In contrast, a decentralised system has multiple controllers of data all of whom collect and store copies of the data on their respective systems. This system allows for quicker access to data and less risk of downtime as a fault with one controller will not necessarily affect the others.
The third form known as a distributed system in which there is no single central owner at all and instead gives collective ownership and control to each user on the network is unlikely to be used by either party.
Each system has its advantages and disadvantages and to make a decision between a centralised and a decentralised system the NHS and the tech giants will need to take into consideration a range of issues including:-
The overall effectiveness of the technology;
The adaptability of the system to the shifting demands of research;
The cost of deployment and maintenance;
Whether or not the system is a security risk for the user;
Whether there are compliance concerns.
Why is a decentralised system so important?
Google and Apple have been clear that the reason for a proposed decentralised system is to avoid the risk of mass government surveillance presently or in the future. This is a genuine concern as the data being collected will be directly related to a user’s location and medical history. Although not absent from criticism, this position is the preferred option and has been supported by academics and numerous civil rights groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Still, the European position is split with the seven governments supporting the project known as the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT) which proposes a centralised repository of data and a growing following for the Decentralised Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (DP-3T) advocating a decentralised system.
The NHS itself may not be intent on surveillance however being publicly funded draws immediate speculation to its government links. In addition, both the NHS and the UK government have had a poor record of handling large scale IT projects such as the failed £11bn National Programme for IT, scrapped in 2011 and the plans for a paperless NHS by 2018 which could not even take off.
What about the NHS position?
Unfortunately, the focus on privacy risks coupled with the NHS’s bad track record in the field of technology projects have detracted from the core issue at hand – What does the NHS need right now to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus?
Ross Anderson, an advisor to the NHS on its contact tracing application highlighted the problem with a decentralised system:-
“…on the systems front, decentralised systems are all very nice in theory but are a complete pain in practice as they’re too hard to update. We’re still using Internet infrastructure from 30 years ago (BGP, DNS, SMTP…) because it’s just too hard to change… Relying on cryptography tends to make things even more complex, fragile and hard to change. In the pandemic, the public health folks may have to tweak all sorts of parameters weekly or even daily. You can’t do that with apps on 169 different types of phone and with peer-to-peer communications.”
The Covid-19 virus took approximately 2 months to infect 100,000 UK residents and the spread has shown few signs of a slowing infection rate. Time is critical in this situation and correspondingly, flexibility in adapting to the constantly changing nature of the infection is a necessity. Decentralised systems do not allow for rapid evolution.
In addition, we should consider that unlike centralised systems, decentralised systems are often unencrypted. While trying to prevent a government from carrying out surveillance, the Google and Apple system may inadvertently open itself up to more security problems than expected. In fact, they have themselves admitted this risk stating that nothing is “unhackable”.
As a second consideration, the API that Google and Apple will release will likely have strict limitations on the type of data that may be collected. For example, the NHS would not be able to gather a list of every person a user has been in contact with based on user proximity. Instead, it will utilise a more manual version of contact tracing involving sending every phone in the system a list of other phones that have been reported as contagious, and asking the user whether they have “seen this user” Such a system relies heavily on user verification which is often incorrect or simply disregarded.
Key location data which may be used for developing population flow maps and anticipating the further spread of the virus will likely not be made available under Google and Apple’s current proposal. It is also important to note that data from contact tracing could be used beyond the scope of curbing the spread of the virus i.e. for decisions on directing the flow of emergency aid, development of temporary healthcare facilities, deployment of healthcare equipment and personnel.
What has been going on elsewhere?
Contrasting the UK’s situation, the Asian experience, having less stringent data protection regulations, have taken remarkably different approaches to Europe in general.
Hong Kong, for example, introduced the mandatory use of an electronic wristband connected to a smartphone application to enforce quarantine for arrivals from overseas. Users refusing to adopt this requirement are refused entry into the country.
South Korea won praise for both tracking and publishing data relating to affected person’s travel routes and affected areas, the data being collected through the government’s application as well as numerous independent applications. Residents also receive numerous location-based emergency messages and are not allowed to opt-out of this function.
China’s measures, which have come under considerable question, see a private entity collaboration through the Alipay Health Code. Citizens are given a ‘traffic light’ status that determines the restrictions that will be imposed on them. Although the exact basis for determining a person’s status is not known the status has widespread application including restriction of access to certain public facilities and payment systems.
Privacy concerns of these measures aside, all these countries have seen a considerable reduction in the spread of the Covid-19 virus. While it would be premature to suggest that this is solely attributable to the contact tracing measures implemented there is no doubt that the quick and extensive deployment of the technology has contributed to the battle against the virus’ spread which begs the question:
Is privacy getting in the way?
In 1890, Brandais and Wallace, pioneers of modern day privacy wrote:-
“…To determine in advance of experience the exact line at which the dignity and convenience of the individual must yield to the demands of the public welfare or of private justice would be a difficult task…”
The UK and indeed Europe are at this juncture and need to decide on the cost of the compromise as the death toll and infection rate continue to increase. History reminds us that the greatest privacy and surveillance violations occurred when the world was focused on a raging war and in fact it is times like this that we must be most vigilant about rights.
In this week’s techENT Download weekly news round-up, we have the two biggest names in tech. The two names are Apple and Google. They are also on the same page this time. Apple and Google, this time is collaborating on a very special project. They are developing a new API based tech for contact tracing. That also means that health institutes and governments could benefit by zeroing down on patient zero or sources of outbreaks in clusters.
That is not all that Apple did last week though, they launched a new iPhone last week too. It is the new Apple iPhone SE, a recycled name with new hardware. You go back to a 4.7-inch display and a fingerprint sensor. Inside though, you get a powerful A13 Bionic System on a Chip (SoC).
Speaking of powerful though, OnePlus launches their brand new 2020 flagship – the new OnePlus 8 series. The OnePlus 8 Pro packs Qualcomm’s most powerful Snapdragon 865 SoC. It also comes with a very familiar 6.7-inch 120Hz QHD+ display and a 48-Megapixel triple camera arrangement.
If you are not up for something so upmarket though, there is the realme 6i that just launched in Malaysia for MYR 699 onward. While not the most premium name or pricing, you still get plenty of power from a MediaTek Helio G80 Octa-core SoC and quad-cameras. Also, you get a large 5,000mAh battery that should last you a day and more.
