Leica is back in the international smartphone arena thanks to its new partnership with Xiaomi. With its initial offering, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra only officially being rolled out in Mainland China, the Xiaomi 13 marks the brand’s return to the ecosystem. The new Xiaomi 13 series crowning feature is the Leica Vario-Summicron 1:19-2.2/14-75 ASPH camera system which comes on the 13 Pro.
The Xiaomi 13 series comes with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 with up to 12GB of RAM and 512GB internal memory. Of course, the Xiaomi 13 series comes with two entries in Malaysia (for now): the Xiaomi 13 and the Xiaomi 13 Pro. The two entries come with a few differences that distinguish the smartphones from each other. The most significant of which the Leica Vario-Summicron 1:19-2.2/14-75 ASPH camera system.
The Pro comes with a triple camera array for the main camera complete with Leica lenses. The setup consists of the 1-inch, 50.3-megapixel Sony IMX989 with an f/1.8 aperture and 23mm focal length. It equipped with dual pixel phase detection autofocus (PDAF), Laser Autofocus and optical image stabilization (OIS). This is complemented with a 50-megapixel telephoto lens with 3.2x optical zoom and PDAF. Completing the triple sensor setup is a 50-megapixel utlra-wide sensor with autofocus. On the front, the smartphone comes with a 32-megapixel selfie camera.
The vanilla 13 comes with a triple sensor setup with a main 50-megapixel main sensor with PDAF and OIS complemented with a 10-megapixel telephoto sensor and a 12-megapixel ultrawide sensor. On the front is the same 32-megapixel sensor.
Leica isn’t just lending its lenses to Xiaomi for the Xiaomi 13 series, they’re helping with the software. The 13 and 13 Pro both come with the master lens system, a software features which provides better, more granular control to the focal length and depth of field for better portrait photos. In addition to this, the software comes with two distinct photographic styles: Leica Authentic Look and Leica Vibrant Look. These paired with Xiaomi’s own Imaging Engine culminate in Xiaomi’s strongest computational photography flagship.
Of course, with all these photography features, the two smartphones come with powerful displays with up to 120Hz refresh rate.
Pricing & Availability
The Xiaomi 13 Series will be available in Malaysia starting on March 8th 2023.
The Xiaomi 13 will be available in three colours – Black, White and Flora Green. Only one variant will be available in Malaysia 12GB RAM with 256GB of internal storage. Prices start at MYR3,499.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro will be available in two colours: Ceramic Black and Ceramic White. Two variants of the 13 Pro will be avaiable 12RAM with 256GB of internal storage and a special, limited edition 12GB RAM with 512GB internal storage. The former will be priced from MYR4,699 while the limited edition will be on sale for MYR 4,999.
The Xiaomi 13 series will be available for pre-order starting on February 27, 2023 until March 7, 2023. Packages and pricing are as follows:
The Honor X9a 5G is a mid-range offering with a more than mid-range display.
Any new smartphone owner has had nightmares of their shiny new screens cracking on day one from the slightest of drops. Well, Honor has gone to great lengths to allay those fears with their new midrange entry, the Honor X9A 5G. You probably have already seen ads for the toughest 120Hz display on the market and videos of people smashing the display into various surfaces or nuts. But is that all it has to offer? We spent 30 days putting the device through its paces and the results may surprise you.
Display
Let’s start off with the main selling point of the device; its nigh-indestructible display. The idea Honor had here was clear; bring a flagship grade display to a more accessible and affordable device. And I believe they have achieved that. The Honor X9a 5G sports a 6.67-inch OLED curved display with a 120Hz screen refresh rate. The refresh rate makes the visuals snappy, be it the MagicUI 6.1 interface, a video on YouTube and especially when gaming. It has good brightness too with a rating of 800 nits. Walking under the hot afternoon sun, I was still able to see what’s on the screen, though admittedly I had to turn up the brightness to near maximum. Videos were crisp and colours were vibrant whether from YouTube or Netflix. I found it both comfortable and enjoyable watching videos at long length on this device.
Is an incredibly tough 120Hz display all it has to offer? Or is there more to reveal?
Protecting this display is Honor’s own answer to Corning’s Gorilla Glass and Huawei’s Kunlun glass. Though it remains nameless, Honor’s protecting glass does a fantastic job of securing the display. After more than a month of using the phone without any kind of protection, I have not seen a single scratch on this display, even from the keys in my pocket. There are probably hundreds of videos online of people dropping or hitting the phone with a variety of items and I could not resist doing so myself. From walnuts to groundnuts to M&M’s, nothing seems to damage this screen. I did accidentally drop the device face down on a tiled floor from waist height and no visible damage either. Without venturing into more dangerous stress tests, I did feel that the display glass is definitely sturdier than expected of a mid-range device.
Design
The signature design feature of the Honor X9a 5G is the raised circular rear camera housing, dubbed the star ring matrix design by Honor. Personally, I was not a fan of this particular design and the height is apparent enough to make it wobble very slightly on the table if used without a case. However, those are the only two complaints I have design wise and there is a lot to like.
The polarizing design of the star ring matrix rear camera housing.
The build quality of the phone is great. The tough display on the front is only punctuated by the small camera hole cutout, which does not distract you from what’s on the display. The back of the phone had a textured material that feels great to hold. The material feels premium and the Titanium Silver colour was pleasing to the eye, which is one of the main reasons why I did not use a case. It is also very lightweight, which coupled with the textured back, feels good to hold for a long time.
Volume rocker and lock button wrapped with metal trimming on the edges.
Despite being a curved display device that I used without a case, I did not experience any accidental touches along the edges. This is probably thanks to the AI Anti Mistouch feature. Lining the edges of the phone is metal trimming painted with a metallic sky blue colour that was also very appealing. On the right-hand side is the volume rocker and lock button. The buttons feels great to the touch, is tactile and does not wobble in place.
Overall, the device feels very premium with a robust build quality and apart from the star ring matrix design, has nice aesthetics.
Camera
The camera experience for the Honor X9A 5G did not receive as much emphasis as the display nor its build quality. It sports a triple sensor set up of a 64MP main shooter, 5MP ultrawide and 2MP macro camera. The main shooter does a decent job of snapping photos in daylight and good lighting conditions. Images were sharp and colours leaned towards a more subdued, natural palette. However, performance takes a dip in low light conditions, with images appearing a little grainy and colours appear a little washed out. To compensate for this, there is a Night mode that seemingly is able to address both these issues. The only catch is that there is a long 3 to 4 second timer before image capture and you need to have steady hands in this time for a clear image. That being said, the Night mode images do have good clarity, colors and no obvious noise.
Point and shoot in daylightPoint and shoot in daylight with skyPortrait shot indoorsPoint and shoot indoorsNight modeUltrawide shot in daylight
While the main shooter performs well enough for daily use, the other shooting modes did miss the mark. The 2MP macro shooter suffered from a lack of sharpness due to the low resolution and had some fuzziness to it even in daylight. The 5MP ultrawide shooter also suffered from the low resolution and had rather obvious graininess that got worse with low lighting conditions. The saving grace is the Portrait mode, which showed good performance in both daylight and lighted indoor situations. There was good level of detail captured and bokeh was well done. Performance was similarly good when using the 16MP selfie camera, with Portrait shots appearing clear and well detailed. There is also a beauty filter to help iron out facial imperfections which helped make the photos social media ready.
Macro shot outdoors daylightMacro shot indoor 1Macro shot indoor 2Portrait mode selfie cameraPortrait mode main camera
The camera experience for the Honor X9A 5G is rather average; a serviceable main shooter with no true standout features and lackluster alternative shooting modes.
Performance
Key Specifications
The Honor X9A 5G is powered by a Snapdragon 695 SoC, which is not the latest in chipsets but it does pack a punch. For its price point, it comes with a rather healthy memory capacity of 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The battery is also a plus point with 5100mAh capacity and 40W wired charging with the included charger. The hardware on board is good value for money and I found the performance takes full advantage of them.
User Interface
Out of the box, it runs MagicUI 6.1 that is based on Android 12. Long-time Honor users will be very familiar with the design and aesthetics of MagicUI but for first time users, the user interface appears rather dated.
With large blocky icons with designs reminiscent of iOS and Android from the mid 2010’s, the dated design feels out of place in such a premium display in 2023. There is a dedicated Themes app preinstalled on the device that can help alleviate this to some degree. But functionally, the user interface works fine, with no obvious flaws. There is also both the Google Play Store and Honor App market preinstalled for all your app needs.
Productivity and multitasking
Multitasking was a breeze on this device as I was able to run Google Chrome, the Gallery app in Multi Window mode and Netflix in mini player mode without a hitch. I did not experience any significant lag or stutters and no overheating after about an hour with this set up. Granted that is not a realistic scenario but it shows that there is a lot of headroom for productivity in this device. For the 30-day review period, I very frequently used messaging apps WhatsApp and Messenger while simultaneously using Chrome or YouTube and did not experience any significant lag or stuttering. Productivity is helped by the large RAM capacity of 8GB and additional 5GB virtual RAM for handling multiple running apps. The 256GB of storage is also handy to help store large amounts of photos and files on the go.
Call Quality and Connectivity
Connectivity was good on all fronts including a stable Bluetooth audio connection.
I used the device primarily over 4G LTE networks and did not experience any major disruptions to the connection, be it in Kuala Lumpur city or the smaller towns of Johor. Call quality was clear, had sufficient volume and no issues hearing the person on the other end. Similarly, the call recipients had no complaints on call quality when receiving calls from this device. While capable of 5G connectivity, testing was restricted by the limited connectivity of 5G in Malaysia. Support for WiFi is up to WiFi 5 mainly due to the older chipset but I did not experience any connection dropouts for the review period. Streaming on YouTube and Netflix was seamless and online gaming connections were good too. I tested out the Bluetooth by pairing with my Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds. In both cases, I did not experience any unexpected disconnects while the pairing was quick and trouble-free. I found that the transferring of files to the Galaxy Watch 4 was smooth and there were no audio cutouts for the Sony earbuds during long sessions of music. Even pairing with my Honda car’s Bluetooth Audio went smoothly with no issues. All-in-all connectivity was stable on all fronts.
Gaming
I found the device very pleasant to use for long periods of watching videos on YouTube and Netflix. But I also found it very pleasant to use for gaming as well. I primarily tested on Mobile Legends oh High settings and PUBG Mobile with HD graphics and High frame rate. I found both games ran smoothly and surprisingly, even after about 2 consecutive hours of gaming, I did not feel overheating. Granted, I used the device predominantly without a case which helps ventilation slightly, and I was not pushing the games to their maximum settings. For a mid-range device the performance was really good.
Gaming performance was great with the Honor X9a 5G.
When pushing the graphics to the maximum settings (Ultra for Mobile Legends and Ultra HD for PUBG Mobile), the performance was still surprisingly good, with only slight choppiness observed for PUBG Mobile with some overheating past the 1-hour mark. The fantastic display adds to the gaming immersion; everything was snappy due to the 120Hz refresh rate and colours were vibrant. One minor complaint for the gaming immersion would be the mono speakers on board instead of stereo speakers. This of course was not a dealbreaker as the use of earbuds quickly solved this problem.
The gaming performance of the Honor X9a 5G is a definite happy surprise. The GPU performance, ergonomics of the design and decent thermals helps make gaming a pleasant experience.
Battery life
Battery life is another strong point, with the device being powered by a large 5100 mAh battery. Throughout the review period, I found myself charging the device once every two days with regular use. Most of the screen on time was spent using YouTube or Netflix, Google Chrome, Facebook, WhatsApp and Messenger. It was only with heavy use of gaming and photography that I found myself needing to charge the phone on a daily basis. Charging is a breeze too with the included 40W charger juicing up from 20% to 100% in about 90 minutes.
The Verdict: A solid all-rounder headlined by a flagship display
The Honor X9a 5G is a solid, well-rounded mid-range device.
After an in-depth hands-on experience, the Honor X9a 5G was a pleasant surprise in how it performed. Its strengths lie in its flagship-quality display, premium build quality and excellent battery life. For weaknesses, there is no particular department that is truly a deal breaker. Even the camera which has a weak macro and ultrawide performance, does a more than serviceable job in the main shooter and selfie cameras. Conversely, apart from the display, there is no other truly standout feature of the device when compared to the other devices in its price range. Retailing for RM1499, the Honor X9a 5G is up against the likes of Samsung’s A53 5G, which we reviewed not too long ago, and the recently released Poco X5 series. While these other devices have their own clear strengths and weaknesses, the Honor X9a 5G is good across the board, making it an all-rounder device. If you want a mid-range device that is value for money, can do the essentials and has a robust build quality, then this is the device for you.
You can get the Honor X9a 5G, available now from the HiHonor website, retailing for RM1499. Honor is also bundling a free pair of noise-cancelling Honor CHOICE Earbuds X3 and 180 Days of Screen Crack Protection if you purchase now.
And here is the obligatory video of nut crushing with the Honor X9a 5G.
OnePlus is turning heads once again with its new flagship OnePlus 11. The OnePlus 11 seems to mark a turning point for the company – one that leads them back to their roots; creating smartphones that show the competition what listening to their user base and optimising features that are requested by them.
The OnePlus 11 comes with the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 which brings performance improvements over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. It’s also adopting a new fabrication process which increases power efficiency. The OnePlus 11 runs cooler than its predecessor with an improved heat dissipation system. The processor is supported by up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage. Like most Android devices nowadays, the smartphone doesn’t support microSD expansion.
On the display front, the OnePlus 11 is equipped with a Fluid AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The 6.7-inch QHD+ screen comes complete with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. The 11 runs on OxygenOS 13 which brings the latest features of Android 14 with OnePlus’ unique spin on it.
OnePlus’ partnership with Hasselblad continues with the OnePlus 11. The smartphone comes with triple sensor setup for the main camera. This setup consists of a 50-megapixel, f/1.8, 24mm (wide) sensor complemented by a 32-megapixel, f/2.0, 48mm (telephoto) sensor and a 48-megapixel, f/2.2 (ultrawide) sesor with a 115˚ field of view. The camera comes with Hasselblad colour calibration and special portrait profiles that have been optimised by Hasselblad. On the front is a 16-megapixel, f/2.5, 25mm (wide) sensor.
The OnePlus 11 is powered by a 5,000mAh battery. It has compatibility with WiFi 6 and WiFi 7 which will be rolled out through an OTA update. It is also equipped with Bluetooth 5.3, Near Field Communication (NFC) and has support for Qualcomm’s aptX HD audio codec.
Pricing & Availability
The OnePlus 11 will be available in Malaysia in two colours Eternal Green and Titan Black. For now, the Eternal Green will be exculsive to the 16GB + 256GB version which will retail for MYR3.599. The Titan Black version will be retailing for MYR3,299 with the 8GB + 128GB configuration.
Pre-orders kicked off on 16 February 2023 at 10am and will continue until 24 February 2023. During the pre-order period, purchases of the OnePlus 11 will be entitled to a free OnePlus Buds Pro 2, a free OnePlus 11 5G Bumper case in Sandstone, Free 1 year extended warranty, free 1 year screen protection, a Jackson Wang Postcard and a chance to participate in a lucky draw.
The smartphone will be available starting on 25th February. From 25th February 2023 until the 3rd of March, purchases of the OnePlus 11 5G will come with a freeOnePlus 11 5G Bumper case in Sandstone, Free 1 year extended warranty, free 1 year screen protection, a Jackson Wang Postcard and a chance to participate in a lucky draw. Together with this, early adopters will be able to get the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 at an MYR200 purchase with purchase (PWP) discount.
MediaTek should be a familiar name to those who know their Android smartphones. To those who are wondering what a MediaTek is, they are the other chip maker that powers Android smartphones. They are technically Qualcomm’s main competitor at this point in the bid for smartphone processing chip supremacy.
So why have you not heard about them? To be fair, MediaTek has been rather modest in the industry. While they have made efforts to make high-end flagship level chips with their Dimensity 9000 series chipsets last year, their priority has mostly been on more affordable mid-range and entry-level Android smartphones. That is also what they are known for – budget friendliness.
They have just launched a new, even more budget friendly chipset for mid-range smartphones, the Dimensity 7000 series. The first in the series is the Dimensity 7200. Yes, like all Dimensity chips, this comes with 5G connectivity.
The brand-new Dimensity 7200 is based on TSMC’s rather advanced and new age 4nm process. It is the same second-generation process you may find in the architecture of MediaTek’s high-end Dimensity 9200 chip. In that sense, it is made with superior efficiency and heat management in mind.
It is an octa-core processor still packing a lot of punch. The system on a chip (SoC) is built with two high-performance ARM Cortex-A715 cores that clock in at up to 2.8GHz. Keeping power draw to a minimum while keeping the smartphone it is powering trundling through less power-hungry function are six ARM Cortex-A510 cores supporting the high-performance cores. There is also a built-in AI Processing Unit (APU) dedicated to running AI based processes and functions. Graphics is handled by an ARM Mali G610 GPU.
The Dimensity 7200 is also built with budget gamers in mind. MediaTek packs in their HyperEngine 5.0 technology that works the built-in APU and delivers AI-based Variable Rate Shading (VRS). The technology offers a longer battery life with smart resource management between the CPU and GPU to optimize performance and power consumption.
Source: MediaTek
There is also a built-in image processor, MediaTek’s Imagiq 765 and a 14-bit HDR-ISP. The image processor on the new chip can now support cameras with up to 200-Megapixel in resolution, perfectly in-line with Samsung’s latest ISOCELL sensor. The processor also allows equipped smartphones 4K HDR video recording capabilities or capture Full HD videos from two different cameras simultaneously. For low light capturing, the processor packs a motion compensator to reduce noise. Of course, real-time beautification is part of the list of things the processor can do for modern smartphone cameras.
As metioned, 5G is standard in Dimensity chips including this one. Specifically, the Dimensity 7200 packs a 3GPP Release-16 standard Sub-6GHz 5G modem. It supports triband Wi-Fi 6E connectivity and Bluetooth 5.3 as well. To save energy as well, MediaTek includes their won 5G UltraSave 2.0 technology to reduce power consumption. The chip even supports dual SIM 5G functions.
For the best flagship-class media experience, Dimensity 7200 will suppot up to 6,400 Mbps meory frequencies and storage speeds at up to UFS 3.1 standards. It also supports displays with HDR10+, CUVA HDR, and Dolby HDR thanks to MiraVision Display. Unfortunately, it does not support displays with more than Full HD+ resolution. It does support up to 144Hz in refresh rate though, which is always nice for gamers. Within the chip is also an SDR-to-HDR upscaler for enhanced viewing, Of course, the Bluetooth module supposed Bluetooth LE and Dual-Link True Wireless Audio for wireless audio support.
MediaTek did not launch the Dimensity 7200 with a smartphone device, which also means you will not see any current smartphones sporting the SoC in action. They say that the first devices packing the new chipset will be coming within Q1 of 2023. As mentioned, the SoC is meant to find its way to mid-range smartphones. You can expect manufacturers like OPPO, realme, and even Xiaomi to be the first to launch smartphones packing MediaTek’s latest Dimensity 7200. More information on the new SoC can be found on their website.
Since the smartphone revolution, Samsung has built a name for itself as one of the foremost mobile companies. The company has become one of Google’s most important ecosystem partners with the success of their flagships. They have steadily pushed the ball and upped the ante since the first Galaxy S smartphone and with their revolutionary Galaxy Note series. But, over the past few years, their flagships have not only been uninspired, but their so-called flagships have steadily become a repeat performance.
With the Galaxy S20, S21 and S22, we were willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. However, with the S23, it seems like the company is telling us to get ready for more repeat performances with each iteration as they focus on improving their “user experience”.
The “Ultra” Golden Child
That said, their renewed focus on user experience is leaving out one of the most important aspects of the smartphone user experience – especially when you’re buying a brand-new phone – the features. The vanilla S23 and the S23+ are essentially a repackaging of last year’s S22 and S22+ with a new processor and a selfie camera upgrade. The elephant’s share of updates and upgrades to the smartphone series is seen only in the S23 Ultra – or as we like to call it – the Galaxy S23 Note. While this has been happening since the S20, the S23 series is the most egregious. As reviewers, the trend makes us ask ourselves – is it worth recommending or talking about the vanilla S23 and S23+ at all?
The Ultra has become Samsung’s golden child when it comes to revolutionary features. This year, the new 200-megapixel sensor which promises better low-light performance thanks to better pixel binning technology and improved autofocus makes its debut with the S23 Ultra. While in the past, the introduction of a brand new feature like this would indicate a trickling down of older features down the series, the S23 saw none of it. Instead, we’re left with the exact same setup from S22. Not even the S20 Ultra’s 108-megapixel sensor trickled down to the S23 or the S23+. Let’s be honest here, the S23 and S23+ are just padding to raise the prices of their true flagship – the S23 Ultra.
Abandoning a Legacy of Affordable Innovation for Lux and Premium Status
While this may seem like a small matter, we have to also take into consideration that these smartphones are not even keeping their prices from last year. They continue to increase in price year on year. While the S23 series could be excused for the squeeze the recent pandemic put on resources, the truth of the matter is: prices are not going down. With a recession around the corner, we’re poised to see companies like Samsung use it as an excuse to pad their coffers further.
What irks us even further is that consumers are continually being duped out of “the next big thing” cause of cost. Samsung had a golden opportunity to incorporate imaging sensors from their own company into the S23 and S23+ and bring the same software features to their flagship series, not just a flagship device. Let’s be honest, it wouldn’t have been hard for them to justify the bump in hardware with the bump in price.
In their lust for luxury, the company has dropped the ball when it comes to meaningful, affordable innovation – a legacy which has brought them this far. Their customers don’t even get the benefit of innovation being trickled down the price ladder. Where we were able to buy a Galaxy Note for less than MYR 3,000 – we are expected to pay MYR6,199 this year with no option for something more affordable.
Passing off Google & Microsoft’s Homework as Their Own
It’s not just about legacy when it comes to innovations. Samsung is quickly becoming a partner that companies like Google and Microsoft can’t do without. As a company, they control a large portion of not only the mobile and device markets worldwide, it has seen steady growth in the Smart TVs, monitors and appliances segments. That said, it’s become an increasingly apparent trend that Samsung is passing off the work of their partners as their own. We saw inklings of this with the last few devices in the Galaxy Note series and continue to see this even with the Galaxy S23 series and other Galaxy Ecosystem devices.
Source: Android.com
Let’s look at the core of Samsung’s Galaxy ecosystem, on the other hand, is Samsung’s take on Android they’ve named “One UI”. Samsung’s mobile devices – smartphones and tablets in particular – use this exclusively. In their announcement of the Galaxy S23 series, the company talked about personalization, security and an improved user experience. While we will readily admit when it comes to security Samsung has contributed the lion’s share with Knox; we can’t ignore that when it comes to personalization and user experience, Samsung has done little to contribute.
Samsung’s colour palette feature and even customisations to notification drawers and lock screens are core updates to Google’s Android OS. These updates came with Android 13 and will continue to see improvements with Android 14. However, Samsung has in their announcement of One UI 5.0 and One UI 5.1 passed these features as their own. We will give them the nod on their admitting that Android is the backbone of One UI.
Samsung isn’t just doing this on Android. One of the key “features” they touted at the recent Unpacked for the Galaxy Book and Galaxy Smartphones is the ability to work seamlessly between the two. This feature is available as a core feature of Microsoft’s Windows platform as “Phone Link”. In fact, it’s the reason that companies like Dell have sunset their takes on the same feature. It works with any Android device and in a limited way on Apple devices. However, Samsung touts this as an “exclusive” feature of their devices.
Perhaps even more irksome are the recent reports that state that Samsung has been loading unwanted apps into their devices This is of significance when they tout that their S23 and S23+ will have improvements to the user experience as one of their main features. If the OS alone is going to take up a significant amount of storage, that leaves little for our apps and using their camera. We all know what happens when any device runs low on memory, don’t we?
The one space that Samsung hasn’t done this is their Camera features. However, as we mentioned earlier, these features seem to be meant only for the S23 Ultra, their true flagship. So, where does this leave the S23 and S23+? Should they even be in the lineup?
”A” Pain in the “S”
The biggest sign of the death of their Flagship “S” is that their midrange “A” is more exciting. The Galaxy A series of smartphones continues to churn out flagship-class devices that are affordable and bring a dimension of value the “premium” Galaxy S has abandoned. It’s also doing this while being overly saturated with devices. Just last year, the company saw more success with their Galaxy A53 and Galaxy A73 than their flagship Galaxy S series.
There’s a simple reason behind it. The Galaxy A53 and A73 have comparable specifications to the Galaxy S22 and S22+. The biggest differences between the devices are their processor and display. However, even with those differences, the experience on the Galaxy A53 and Galaxy A73 is comparable to that of the Galaxy S. Even with a slightly lower-specced camera setup with a 64-Megapixel and 108-Megapixel sensor respectively, users can achieve comparable pictures and videos. More importantly, the hardware improvements generation on generation is complemented by an improved software experience. Even once exclusive features like DeX are slowly making their way to the Galaxy A series.
It is obvious that Samsung themselves has recognized the threat that its own midrange Galaxy A series poses to their Galaxy S flagships with the rumoured cancellation of the Galaxy A74 and even their Galaxy S22 FE. Both these smartphones were outpacing their S20 and S21 series flagships. It’s also an indication that users are looking for an affordable device with the features they care about.
A Dangerous Game to Play
Samsung is playing a dangerous game when it comes down to it. Gunning for the glitz, glam and bank of a premium flagship is pushing more and more of their users to their competitors. With the recent restructuring and abandonment of their in-house Exynos processors for their Galaxy S flagships, Samsung’s innovation streak seems to be coming to an end. Their most exciting lineup seems to be the Galaxy A series and the Galaxy Z series, the latter of which suffers from the same issues plaguing the flagship Galaxy S series.
Or could this be their big game plan? Are Samsung’s promise of having a full-featured, affordable piece of innovation seems to be their means of buying more time? If it is, we’re bound to see the Galaxy S series slowly fade into irrelevance while consumers bend to their foldable whims. But will we see something truly revolutionary with the Galaxy Z series when Samsung is still trying to perfect their display technology for it? They are undoubtedly looking to be market leaders with their foldables but what about those of us that don’t want a foldable? Perhaps it’s time we look to brands like OnePlus, Xiaomi and even OPPO for a device that will check all the boxes.
Samsung’s best bet is to look at trends and customer feedback when it comes to their smartphones and devices. Unlike their biggest competition, Apple, their ecosystem is more open and less likely to create “lock-ins” with their users. Their unwillingness to budge may continue their downward trend in market share. This will undoubtedly be exacerbated by a shrinking marketplace and the foreboding of an incoming global recession.
When you are set to buy a modern smartphone at this day and age, you are mostly advised to prepare about MYR 2,000 to MYR 3,000. Forget about high-end smartphones though, those will set you back MYR 4,000 and above nowadays. There is a common theme here; smartphones are expensive and they are just going to be more so in the future.
What if that is not true though? What if someone tells you that you can still get a decent smartphone for less than MYR 1,000 today? It is hardly believable, but you can get a smartphone for less than MYR 1,000 with realme.
They call it the realme 10, and it is a curious smartphone that trickled down from the already budget friendly realme 10 Pro 5G. It offers about the same design language as well as the realme 10 Pro with hard edges and completely flat display and sides. It feels like a slightly old-fashioned smartphone from a certain manufacturer, really.
The realme 10 is even more budget friendly than the realme 10 Pro 5G. It sets you back MYR 999. At that price, you need to expect some compromises in terms of the hardware it packs.
For starters, the device comes packing a MediaTek System on a Chip (SoC). Specifically, an entry-level Helio G99. They dubbed the SoC as a Gaming Chipset though, so you still can expect some decent performances from the processor, just not high-end or flagship level performance. Still, it should be fast enough to run Android 12 with realme UI 3.0 interface with little issues. You should benefit from up to 8GB of built-in RAM and up to 256GB of storage. From that 256GB of storage, you can technically ‘borrow’ up to 8GB as additional RAM on top of your built-in RAM. Unfortunately, there are no storage expandability options.
What greets you when you pick up the device is a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display that boasts Full HD+ resolution. At the same time, this is no generic 60Hz display. It is a fast 90Hz display that is worthy of your games. It boasts 4,000,000:1 contrast ratio with up to 98% NTSC colour gamut. All of these goodness is protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5. For something you get at MYR 999, all these is rather impressive.
Out the glass clad back is one 50-Megapixel main camera for high-resolution clear photos. That main camera is paired with a 2-Megapixel monochrome camera for added details on your photos. Above the Super AMOLED display, tucked in one corner of the surface is a 16-Megapixel camera that can take super clear selfies.
Keeping the device running all day and even more is a 5,000 mAh battery. When it runs out, you can charge it quickly before you head out of home or anywhere else with up to 33W in charging speeds via USB type-C. It also comes with a matching charging adapter to keep your battery topped up.
As mentioned the realme 10 will be available for MYR 999. It is now available for pre-order on realme’s web store and participating dealers across the nation until the 16th of February 2023. If you do pre-order your device, you are entitled to a free 1-year screen protection warranty and a complementary realme Band 2. It will be available in Clash White and Rush Black. For more information on the realme 10 entry-level smartphone, you can head over to their website.
Picking a smartphone in the modern era is tough. You want to settle on a budget. In most cases, a limited budget for your smartphone means that most flagship smartphones are out of reach. In that case, you will have to settle for mid-range smartphones.
Settling on a mid-range smartphone is not necessarily a bad thing though. It is, currently, the most competitive and crowded segments in the smartphone industry. That means you are really spoilt for choice. You are not getting subpar products either, mid-range smartphones today are full of features and can take on some flagships.
The POCO X5 Pro 5G
Source: POCO
Source: POCO
Source: POCO
Source: POCO
Take the new POCO X5 Pro 5G mid-range smartphone for example. You get an AMOLED display this time. The 6.67-inch panel offers up to 120Hz in refresh rate, Dolby Vision certification, 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut, and 10-bit colour depth. It is not a QHD+ display, but a Full HD+ display is really all you need on a smartphone. At up to 900 nits as well, you will not be wanting for more brightness even under direct sunlight. Of course, the display is protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5.
Underneath the expansive display is a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G system on a chip (SoC). The octa-core processor is coupled with up to 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage to ensure that the POCO X5 Pro 5G can handle anything you can throw at it. If you ever need more RAM, Dynamic RAM expansion 3.0 can borrow some of the storage space to serve as a slightly slower RAM.
Out the back of the POCO X5 Pro 5G is a very powerful 108-Megapixel main camera. On the side is an 8-Megapixel ultra-wide shooter and a 2-Megapixel macro camera. There is also another camera out the front, a 16-Megapixel shooter.
To keep the MIUI 14 (Based on Android 13) running all day and more is a 5,000 mAh batter within the metal body. The battery is capable of 67W quick charge too, so you do not have to keep it plugged in for too long, important when you are always in a rush. Yes, you get a charger with this device.
The POCO X5 5G
Source: POCO
Source: POCO
Source: POCO
Source: POCO
At the more budget friendly end of the scale is the regular POCO X5 5G smartphone. It is still no slouch though.
Within the body is a Snapdragon 695 mid-range octa-core SoC. You also can get your POCO X5 5G with up to 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage. If that is not enough, you can also expand it with up to 1TB MicroSD card.
The internals allows MIUI 13 to run smoothly on the 6.67-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display with up to 120Hz in refresh rate and an even brighter 1200 nits. You also get up to 4,500,000:1 contrast ratio for a respectable image reproduction that is even on par with some flagships. All of these is protected by Coring’s Gorilla Glass 3.
Out the back is a 48-Megapixel shooter that is still capable of taking breath taking photos. It is also supported by an 8-Megapixel ultra-wide sensor alongside a 2-Megapixel macro camera. The front-facing camera is downgraded a little too at 13-Megapixel over the 16-Megapixel of the Pro variant.
Within the svelte body is also a large 5,000mAh battery that should give you a few days of battery life. If you need, it still does quick charging, not as quick as the Pro variant though. Still 33W of charging speeds can also give you a full charge within two hours.
Price and Availability
The POCO X5 Pro 5G Will be available in three colours – Black, Blue, and Yellow. The POCO X5 5G will also be in available in three distinct colours – Green, Blue, and Black. The Pro variant will set you back MYR 1,299 onward while the vanilla POCO X5 will start from MYR 1,099. You can now get your hands on either one via Lazada and Shopee. More information can be found on their website.
Samsung has only just announced its new flagship series: the Galaxy S23. The new S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra bring the latest and greatest camera-centered experiences to Samsung’s portfolio. Powered by a customised version of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 with up to 12GB of RAM on the Galaxy S23 Ultra and up to 8GB on the Galaxy S23 and S23+, the smartphones are touted to bring new experiences and up the Nightography ante.
With the announcements done and dusted, Samsung is announcing pre-order packages the world over. In Malaysia, pre-orders will be kicking off starting now (2nd February 2023) until 23rd February 2023. Purchases of any of the Galaxy S23 series are entitled to a double storage upgrade for the same price worth up to MYR500. So, if you’re getting the 128GB version of the S23, you’ll be getting the 256GB instead. In addition, you will also get a 30% purchase-with-purchase discount on selected Samsung Accessories, Galaxy Tablets, Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Buds and Samsung Care+. You can also get up to MYR600 rebate on trade-ins of your pre-existing device. (pssst… you’ll be able to stack up more than 1 device)
Purchases on Samsung Malaysia’s official website will entitle you to an MYR400 e-voucher. However, if you purchase your Galaxy S23 at Samsung Experience Stores or at Samsung Authorised Partners, you will also get free accessories worth up to MYR458.
Pricing Details & Model Availability
Together with the pre-order deals, Samsung Malaysia also announced the models and detailed pricing of the S23 series in Malaysia. Notably absent is the 128GB version of the S23 and the 256GB version of the S23+.
It’s that time again, Samsung has just unveiled their new lineup of flagships – the Galaxy S23 series. The new S23 series follows its predecessor in more than just the design – there are also three devices in the lineup. You’re going to quickly realise that that’s a theme that will be recurring throughout the series.
Like previous years, the Galaxy S23 series will come with a vanilla Galaxy S23, the S23+ and the Note-successor Galaxy S23 Ultra. This year, however, it seems like Samsung has chosen to focus on the Galaxy S23 Ultra rather than its two siblings. The vanilla Galaxy S23 and the S23+ seem to have a lot more in common with the S22 than we’re used to.
Let’s start off with what’s changing across the board, the first and biggest update coming to the series is its new processor. This time, Samsung hasn’t been coy about it. Instead, globally, the S23 series will be coming with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for GALAXY. This is a customised processor built specifically for Galaxy smartphones. Prepare to see more of the “Snapdragon for GALAXY” in this year’s Galaxy lineup. In addition to this, the Galaxy S23 series will be coming with a Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with increased colour accuracy, a 120Hz refresh rate and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. This comes in a 6.1-inch size on the S23, 6.3-inch in the plus and 6.8-inch in the Ultra.
Is the Galaxy S23 Series Continuing an Iconic Design?
When it comes to the design of the S23 series, the series drops the iconic contour cut design from the Galaxy S22 and S22+ in this year’s iterations. Samsung claims that it’s doing this for the uniformity of design across all three variants of the S23 series. To achieve this uniformity, they’ve opted to adopt the minimalistic design language of the S22 Ultra – which has more or less been recycled for the S23 Ultra.
However, there are some iterative changes that are being introduced. As mentioned, the contour cut camera cutout is no more. Instead, the back is totally uniform with each camera sensor being highlighted by a silver ring. The same design is used across the series. The Galaxy S23 Ultra is slightly more different with the design being flattened out to enlarge the flat surface of the 6.8-inch display to take advantage of the S Pen.
Galaxy S23 Ultra Focused Leaving the S23 & S23+ Behind – at least in Hardware
The new series is very heavily Ultra focused. The Galaxy S23 and S23+ are more or less the same devices we’ve seen in the S22 and S22+. The only difference aside from the new processor is the improved selfie camera which comes in at 12 megapixels and the larger batteries – 3,900mAh in the S23 and 4,700mAh in the S23+. Aside from that, they come with the same 10-megapixel telephoto and 12-megapixel ultrawide sensors we’ve seen in the S22 and S22+.
The Galaxy S23 Utlra, on the other hand, comes with a brand new 200-megapixel sensor complemented by a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera, 10-megapixel telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and 10-megapixel telephoto camera with 10x optical zoom. The new camera setup – particularly the 200-megapixel adaptive pixel sensor – comes with improved pixel binning. The new sensor combines 16 pixels into a single pixel when taking photos. Samsung is calling this “Super Quad Pixel”. This gives better light sensitivity and contrast while giving the AI more information for better bokeh and nightography. With the improved pixel binning, the AI is able to discern between features like skin, eyes and hair better and more accurately. It also allows for better autofocus as it allows the AI to use a larger 4×4 grid with more points of focus.
Stabilization on the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s camera has also been improved. The optical image stabilization (OIS) angles have been doubled from 1.5° to 3.0°. This is supposed to give the smartphone even better image and video stabilization. Keep in mind, this is a stabilization that comes from the hardware itself and not the software. Software-wise, the whole S23 series comes with improved VIDS. The improved VIDS is able to analyse and subdivide movement and recognise lighting conditions that allow for better software stabilization. The S23 series also comes with better multi-frame processing and AI.
A Focus on User Experience Starting with One UI 5.1
While the series is a little bit bland when it comes to hardware, Samsung promising a renewed focus starting with One UI 5.1. The new update to One UI will bring a new sense of personalisation which can be extended with apps like Good Lock.
One UI 5.1 brings a few new features including Modes and Routines. The new modes and routines feature allows users to string together settings, apps and even smart things devices into a “routine” or “mode”. This allows you to do things by simply saying “Hey Google” or “Hey Bixby” followed by the name of the routine or mode or even trigger it with an exercise or more.
Bixby Text Call is also coming for the ride. The new feature allows users to send text messages as replies to incoming calls. In addition to this feature, the S Pen functionality is extended to work in a series of Google Apps including Google Drive, Google Sheets and more. Users will also be able to collaborate more effectively with the Co-Edit feature in Samsung Notes over Google Meets.
Pricing & Availability
The Samsung Galaxy S23 series will be in Phantom Black, Cream, Green and Lavender. Prices for the S23 and S23+ start at MYR3,899 in Malaysia while the Ultra starts at MYR5,699.
The rights to repair bill in the United States (U.S.), believe it or not, is a big deal not just in that side of the world. The bill sort of encourages manufacturers to design products that can be easily repaired and serviced by end-users without going through a service center. It also requires manufacturers make parts of their devices available for end-users to purchase. While the bill is a requirement that has to be fulfilled for products being sold in the U.S. for now, the product design will make their way around the globe eventually.
Samsung has initiated their own self-repair program with a few of their older products like the Samsung Galaxy S20 series, Galaxy S21 series, and the Galaxy Tab S7+ tablet. They have announced that they will be starting to sell the parts to their Galaxy Book Pro 15”, Galaxy Book Pro 360 15”, Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+, and Galaxy S22 Ultra. The Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 15” and Galaxy Book 360 Pro 15” are not technically available in the region, so that might not excite some of you. The Samsung Galaxy S22 family though, those are available here.
The program was kickstarted in collaboration with iFixit. There is the caveat, at least for Malaysia. The iFixit store currently only caters to the U.S. market. You can technically get them to ship the parts to Malaysia, but that means that you are paying quite exorbitantly for shipping charges on top of the parts. It still might make more sense if you go to a specialised repair shop down the road, at least for now.
Still, the addition of Samsung’s latest Galaxy S22 series and Galaxy Book line-up is good news. It shows that Samsung is serious and committed in supporting their self-repair program. As we mentioned, while the program is not made to cater the South East Asian market just yet, it will eventually make it here and we are excited for it to be available through official channels in the region. If you are interested to get genuine parts for your Samsung devices, you can check out iFixit. There are no guarantees that the warranty will be covered by Samsung Malaysia though.
