There were two very big things that was launched in the Samsung Unpacked 2020 that just happened a few hours ago. Both of them very interesting devices to grace the market as well. The Samsung Galaxy S20 flagship has just refreshed the Samsung Galaxy S line-up. The Samsung Z Flip is certainly a new direction for Samsung and the smartphone industry.
There is another smaller star that was launched in the Unpacked event just now too. It is also literally smaller in size. The Samsung Galaxy Buds+ (Plus) they call it. The name is not new though, there is just an additional ‘+’ (plus) there. So this is kind of a revolution of an existing product more than anything else.
Source: Samsung
Previous rumours mentions that the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ will come with Active Noise Cancelling. In the reveal though, this is not the case. There are some new things packed within the earphones though.
Within the same package is a bigger battery that should allow it to last a few more hours per charge. That gives it a total of 11 hours of use. With a single extra charge from the case, you get up to 22 hours of listening time, about 4 hours more than the old Samsung Galaxy Buds. We suspect that the Buds+ might work with the old case as well. They look similar.
There are more drivers within the earphones as well. There is two dedicated drivers now; one for treble or mid to high frequencies, one for bass or low frequencies. This should address some of the low frequency weakness we find on the old Samsung Galaxy Buds.
There are 2 more mics to find on the Galaxy Buds+ too. One of them is placed inside your ear to ensure better sounding calls from your end at least. We suspect that the mic inside is more to capture the sound vibrations from your jaw to reproduce clearer sounding voices for calls.
Samsung has also worked with Spotify to make the Galaxy Buds more app friendly. A long press on the right side of the Samsung Galaxy Buds while on Spotify will give you recommended playlist based on Spotify’s profile of you. Quite brilliant for discovering new songs without looking at the app itself.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds should be available in two colours as usual. The one we saw was the white colour variant. There is a black variant with that too. If you saw our previous article on the Samsung Z Flip already, you should also know that there is a Thom Browne edition to the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ too. We suspect that the Thom Browne edition only comes bundled with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip Thom Browne edition. The Galaxy Buds+ will retail for US$ 149 (MYR 616*) when it is available. You can find more information on their website.
* Approximate conversion based on US$ 1 = MYR 4,13 on 12/02/2020
UPDATE: Samsung Galaxy Buds+ will be available in Malaysia for MYR 599. You can expect the earphones in stores on the 4th of March 2020 onward, same as the Samsung Galaxy S20 series. You can also get it as a bundle when you purchase the Samsung Galaxy S20+ and Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra through the pre-order program. Of course, pre-order units are quite limited too.
In the modern smartphone age today, there are a few launches that is always anticipated within the year. One of them is from Samsung early on in the year. This will be the Samsung Galaxy S line, for this year it will be the number 20, matching the year 2020.
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Just like last year, and as the title suggests, there are three of them to complete the line-up. Unlike last year, the naming scheme is a little different. You start with a plain old Samsung Galaxy S20, then there is the Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus, and then the biggest Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. All of them packs 5G support. Of course, if you do not want to dive into 5G just yet or want to fork out that much more money, there is the regular LTE version of the devices.
Samsung Galaxy S20
Samsung’s Galaxy S20 is Samsung’s smallest 2020 Galaxy S device thus far. Barring the Samsung Galaxy S20 Lite, which might be quite inevitable, the smallest Galaxy S20 device will pack either a Samsung staple Exynos System on a Chip (SoC) for the global market or the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC for the United States market. Malaysia will no doubt get the Exynos version.
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
The Android 10 device will come with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for the LTE version. If you opt for the 5G version you get up to 12GB with the same internal storage option. Of course, you can expand that with a MicroSD card. Remember when Samsung did not allow the Galaxy Note5 to be MicroSD expandable? Disaster that one.
There is a square camera array arrangement going on at the back with three lenses. There is the main 12-Megapixel shooter, which is quite expected. It does not have the dual aperture that was known since the Samsung Galaxy S9 though. Paired to the main shooter is a 64-Megapixel telephoto shooter that enables the Samsung Galaxy S20 to have an optical zoom factor of 3x. Of course they will not forget the all-important 12-Megapixel ultra-wide angle sensor for that beautiful wide angle shots. Up front is a 10-Megapixel selfie shooter which should produce some stellar results.
Source: Samsung
As expected the Samsung Galaxy S20 has the beautiful Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity-O panel. It measures at 6.2-inch and pushes out the usual and expected 1440p Quad HD+ (1,440 x 3,200 pixels at 30Hz). Of course, Samsung being Samsung the display is an HDR10+. Oh, before we forget, it is a 120Hz (defaults to 1080p) display too so you should be getting an ultra smooth experience with the device. Thanks to 240Hz screen response rate, you should get a snappier experience too.
The OneUI 2.0 flagship will ship with a large 4,000 mAh battery under the familiar design language (very much like Note10 series) with some interesting colourways. The large battery can also be used to revers charge any wireless charging devices you may have in your accessory cabinet. There is no 3.5mm jack to be found anywhere, which is still quite sad.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus (S20+)
The bigger, bulkier Samsung Galaxy S20+ is technically a blown up version of the regular S20. Instead of the S20’s measly 6.2-inch though, you get a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity-O display with the same resolution and refresh rate. Bigger is better, right?
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Of course bigger devices also means bigger battery and more cameras. Instead of the three cameras, it has four within the same camera array set up. There is an additional DepthVision Camera that helps with depth detection and therefore better Bokeh results.
Storage and RAM wise, if you opt for the LTE version, you are not getting anything more than what you would be getting on the regular Galaxy S20. Yes, 8GB RAM plus 128GB storage with MicroSD expandability. If you opt for the 5G version you get 12GB of RAM with up to 512GB in storage. Nice? Nice.
Source: Samsung
Of course, it comes with a bigger battery too at 4,500mAh. Obviously you get to chose from the same colour options too. Except, you do not get Cloud Pink. Hey, at least you can choose Cosmic Black.
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
This is even bigger than the Plus. Its Dynamic AMOLED 2X display measures in at 6.9-inch and pushes Quad HD+ resolution (1440p) at up to 120Hz, just like its little brothers. Big, bigger, biggest.
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
The Ultra is a different beast entirely though. You get the option of choosing between an LTE or even a 5G version too. Storage options starts from 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage up to a mind-boggling 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Yes? Yes.
You get a huge 5,000mAh battery too. You would want that battery, 5G can really drain the battery. The cameras too might really drain your battery life.
First of all, up front, in the O-punch hole, you get a 40-Megapixel front-facing camera. That camera is one of the most powerful selfie camera fitted in a Samsung Galaxy device. It is easily the most powerful fitted to a Samsung Galaxy S device.
Source: Samsung
Then there is the rear cameras. Its an array of four cameras too. It is not the usual 12-Megapixel plus 64-Megapixel plus 12-Megapixel arrangement that you get on the lesser models though. This top-of-the-line flagship gets an impressive 108-Megapixel main camera. You might not be surprised that the 108-Megapixel you find on the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Pro is also the same Samsung developed sensor.
The 108-Megapixel camera is paired to a 48-Megapixel telephoto camera that gives the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra the ability to zoom up to 30x optically and 100x digitally. Stalker smartphone alert? Defnitely.
Source: Samsung
There is also a 12-Megapixel ultra-wide angle lens too on the other side. There is also the DepthVision sensor you find on the S20+. If you stayed up and watch the livestream, you might notice a low-light sensor fitted in too. They did not talk about the sensor, but that should help with good looking low-light photos.
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra takes camera to a whole new level not just with the physical cameras too. The new camera array comes with a slew of new software that might really change the game too.
Raising The Camera Game
8K resolution will be standard on all the Galaxy S20 variants. But it does not stop at just long form videos. 8K Video Snap is a new thing, made for more social media use, you can use it to capture moments very quickly by just launching the camera. Keep in mind that if you shoot on 8K using the Samsung Galaxy S20 and the Galaxy S20+ you are using the Telephoto lens. Bummer.
Source: Samsung
While the regular, traditional smartphone cameras take photos using one sensor at a time. The Samsung Galaxy S20 devices takes a single picture file with all the cameras they have. They call this Single Take.
If you work with the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, you get to zoom 30 times, or zoom it out to to ultra-wide photo, or just the regular wide angle photo all within a single shot. No more fiddling around and missing moments. Just make sure you get the right things in the frame and you are set.
The camera software also packs some new flashy Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) that improves on image stabilizing. It also helps with some rolling shutters when you move plenty. Oh yes, this can be your new production camera. They did use the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra to shoot the whole Unpacked 2020, you know.
More Stuff With The Galaxy S20 Series
All The Samsung Galaxy S20 devices in the series will be IP68 certified, as expected with all the modern Samsung Galaxy S devices. All of them will come with Fast Charging too via USB Type-C. If you are hoping the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra comes with 3.5mm jack, it does not too, sadly. All of the Samsung Galaxy S20 devices comes certified with Google’s Live Caption feature as part of Google’s Accessibility program.
Source: Samsung
Of course, it only makes sense if you get Fast Wireless Charging 2.0 at 10W. That wireless receiver can become transmitters for all the devices too. While all the devices come with dual SIM support, they work with eSIM too, which is always great since one of the SIM slots needs to be sacrificed if you opt for a MicroSD expansion.
There are a few colours available for the Samsung Galaxy S20 line-up. They differ slightly as you go through the range though. The Samsung Galaxy S20 comes in Cosmic Grey, or Cloud Blue, or Cloud Pink. The Samsung Galaxy S20+ comes in Cosmic Grey, or Cloud Blue, or Cosmic Black. The S20 Ultra comes in Cosmic Grey or Cosmic Black options only.
Prices start from US$ 999 (MYR 4,129*) for the Samsung Galaxy S20, US$ 1,199 (MYR 4,956*) for the Samsung Galaxy S20+, and US$ 1,399 (MYR 5,782*) for the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. Keep in mind these are the 5G variants though. Unpacked did not mention anything about the LTE versions but we are definitely getting them in Malaysia. More information on their website.
*Approximate conversion based on US$ 1 = MYR 4.13 on 12/02/2020
UPDATE: The Samsung Galaxy S20 series will start from MYR 3,599 (S20), MYR3,999 (S20+), and MYR 4,999 (S20 Ultra). For Malaysia, the Samsung Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20+ will only be available in LTE variants while the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra will come in both LTE and 5G variants. Pre-orders starts from the 12th of February 2020 at 5.00 p.m. onward to the 26th February 11.59 p.m., terms and conditions apply. The devices should be out in stores on the 4th of March 2020 onward.
The smartphone is changing; it’s a fact that we can’t deny anymore. Samsung officially unfolded their revolution with the Galaxy Fold last year. This year, they’re going to make you flip for the new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip. The Z Flip refines some of the features we saw with the Galaxy Fold and gives it a new form factor. Samsung touts the new flip phone as a perfectly compact, statement smartphone.
Premium Design with Cutting Edge Materials
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip comes with a new design which isn’t just eye catching, it takes the fold of the Galaxy fold and flips it. (Yes, pun very much intended!). The Z Flip unfolds to the reveal a 6.7-inch foldable display within its sleek square body. The display on the Z Flip has a Full HD+ resolution of 2636×1080 pixels with a pixel density of 425ppi. Samsung claims that, unlike its competition and the Galaxy Fold, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip comes with an ultra thin, flexible Glass Super AMOLED display. This is possibly the first product available to consumers with flexible glass. It’s also Samsung’s first 21.9:9 aspect ratio screen.
The hinge of the Galaxy Flip Z has been improved. Taking feedback and lessons from the launch of the Galaxy Fold, the Flip Z comes with a new Hideaway Hinge. This hinge literally hides away when you open the Flip Z. The hinge silently tucks itself between the two halves of the Flip. The new hinge also comes with nylon fibres in between that help keep dust and particulates out of it.
Unique User Experience, Natively Supported by Android
The User Interface (UI) of the Galaxy Z Flip has also been enhanced; it now comes with a unique feature which allows the phone to be used at different folding angles. The new Flex mode on the Flip allows the phone to be used in a similar way to that of a laptop. The smartphone will be able to be used at three different angles thanks to the three stop hinge. The 6.7-inch display is split into two smaller 4-inch displays. The bottom portion of the display becomes a dedicated interaction area while the top continues to behave as a display.
The new interaction mode is supported natively by Android 10. During the Unpacked event, it was announced that Google Duo and YouTube Premium will support Flex Mode out of the box. Google also announced that the APIs for development on other multi-mode devices are already available. So, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see more apps hit the Google Play Store soon.
The Galaxy Z Flip also come with a 1.1-inch display on the front. This display is activated when the phone is closed. The Cover Display displays notifications, the time and also acts as a screen for selfies when the phone is closed. The new Flip Z is able to use the dual camera setup on the phone to take a selfie on the cover display.
Compromised Specifications
The Flip Z comes with a dual camera setup with two 12-megapixel sensors. The main sensor is a wide angle with a 78 ° field of view and an aperture f/1.8. It supports Super Speed Dual Auto Focus, tracking autofocus, HDR10+ video recording, up to and optical image stabilisation (OIS). The secondary sensor is an ultra wide sensor with a 123 ° field of view with a f/2.2 aperture. The front camera is a 10-megapixel sensor with an 80 ° field of view with an f/2.4 aperture.
The Samsung Galaxy Flip Z comes with a Snapdragon 855+ processor which supports 4G LTE. This is paired with 256GB of internal memory and 8GB of RAM. It will have support for eSIM and a nano SIM. The smartphone will be powered by a 3,300mAh dual battery which is only capable of QuickCharge 2.0 (15W fast charging). On the connectivity side of things, the Flip supports NFC, WiFi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, Galileo,GLONASS and BeiDou. It connects via a USB Type C cable for wired charging. It also supported wireless charging.
Pricing and Availability
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip will initially be available in Mirror Purple and Mirror Black in select markets starting February 14,2020. The only two announced so far are the U.S. and South Korea. A Mirror Gold colour will be available at a later date.
The Galaxy Z Flip will be retailing for USD$1,380 (MYR 5,704.54).
Samsung is also collaborating with Thom Browne, a renoun American fashion designer for a special limited edition version of the Z Flip. Details of this special edition will be unveiled at New York Fashion week.
February is here, Chinese New Year has gone, and Chap Go Mei just passed, and we look forward to the next big thing in our calendars; the 14th of February, Valentine’s Day. We first thought to go into a little bit of the history of Valentine’s Day. We then thought that that will be boring.
We also though of going through the history of cosmetics and then Elizabeth Arden as a brand. Then we also thought otherwise. We will have no clue what they are talking about. All we think you need to know is that cosmetics have existed for more than 1,000 years in the land of Egypt. Elizabeth Arden has also existed for about 110 years now.
Source: Elizabeth Arden
If you know cosmetics, you would know that Elizabeth Arden is one of the more premium cosmetic brands in the market. If you do not know cosmetics; there is the information for you. They make a bunch of great stuff too, which we do not personally use; because none of us in the office uses cosmetics unfortunately.
Still, this makes an Elizabeth Arden product the perfect gift for Valentine’s Day. To be fair, this product is mostly made for women. You get the idea then.
The thing is, Chinese New year 2020 just passed and there are plenty of work to catch up on now. Time for shopping is very limited. So the only option for you to get a Valentine’s Day gift is via the online stores. Thank goodness for Elizabeth Arden on Shopee then.
Source: Elizabeth Arden
You may not find the most complete Elizabeth Arden experience in the online stores. You will still find a complete catalogue of Elizabeth Arden’s complete product line-up and you can easily purchase them too. Thing is, if you have no idea what you are getting yourself into, you might want to get some advise from your friends who would have more experience with these stuff.
From the online store in Shopee you can get Elizabeth Arden’s award-winning Eight Hour product range. The products supposedly improve skin conditions after eight hours of application, some fast acting stuff here. There is their new 8 Daily Defense Moisturize product as well for a healthier skin.
Of course, there are other products in the Shopee store. If Elizabeth Arden is not your cup of tea, Shopee has many more items in store for you for Valentine’s Day. No significant other to give to? Who says Valentine’s Day needs to be just about your significant other? For more information and promotion, you can head to Shopee’s online marketplace. The Shopee app is also available for free on Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
UPDATE: For Valentine’s day Elizabeth will give 55% discounts on selected items at selected times too as part of Shopee’s Shocking Sale deals on the 12th of February 2020. That is tomorrow, yes. At 9 a.m. you can get a perfume, body lotion, and shower gel set at 55% off its MYR 378 price tag. At 4 p.m. you can get Elizabeth Arden’s White Tea two-piece set at MYR 116.55. At 8 p.m. you can get their perfume and body lotion set which is now priced at MYR 308.
18 months ago, Touch n’ Go Sdn. Bhd. started something quite radical for the transportation industry in Malaysia. It is not what you would call unthinkable or unheard of. It has been done before, albeit outside of Malaysia. The new application within Malaysian road have been also widely know to be used in plenty of applications with unmatched reliability and accuracy; baggage sorting and handling in the airports for example.
If you were thinking of RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification); yes we are talking about RFID. The title should have given it away anyway. Touch n’ Go Sdn. Bhd., in collaboration with Touch n’ Go Digital, launched the RFID pilot program. According to Touch n’ Go, the program gave out about million RFID tags to residents of Klang Valley. The program also extends its acceptance across Klang Valley’s 22 highways through its 18 months Pilot program. Late last year, extending into this year, the RFID acceptance extends to selected toll gates across the North-South Expressway.
In short, the program was a successful one. That is the test covered; so what is next? A full rollout of course.
That also means that RFID tags are now available for purchase via installation centres across the nation. You no longer have to make extensive applications through the website and wait for approval from Touch n’ Go to install the RFID tags to your cars, for a price. Not expensive though at MYR 35. Compare that to a new Smart TAG device at MYR 150 each. To use the devices you also have to get a new Touch n’ Go card for MYR 10.
The RFID tag works with an eWallet – the Touch n’ Go eWallet. You do not need a Touch n’ Go card anymore with the RFID tags. Well, you might still want to keep one as a back up; just in case. All you have to do is to ensure you have enough credits in the Touch n’ Go eWallet, pass through an RFID lane, and you’re through. Keep a good distance with the car in front of you though, and a reasonable speed (30 km/h) and below.
Of course RFID will not just stop at the 22 toll gates in Klang Valley. They are rolling out to even more toll gates across the nation through 2020 and beyond. Touch n’ Go is also looking to use RFID beyond the public roads. They are looking at installing it and using it for parking, paying for petrol, and more.
RFID is more than just what you see on the surface though. Touch n’ Go Sdn. Bhd. can now do real-time traffic analysis and tracking. These data can be shared across multiple platforms or even the authorities for traffic planning and tracking. It is all a part of a smarter and more digital Malaysia.
Touch n’ Go’s RFID tags will be available for purchase at MYR 35/tag from 15th February onward. You do have to ensure that you have the Touch n’ Go eWallet app on your smartphones first though; the RFID tags are tied to your eWallet. From the 15th February 2020 to 15 April 2020 40 lucky winners will walk away with MYR 2,500 worth of Toll Pass credited in their eWallet.
The Touch n’ Go eWallet app is available for free on Android and iOS via Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store respectively. For more information on the Touch n’ Go RFID program you can head over to their website.
Any
drivers knows the pain of driving. Traffic jam? No, not really. There
is one very big inconvenience whenever you take out your car.
Put
it this way; your car needs energy to run. For electric cars, you need a
battery pack to store energy for the car. While you can do that at
home, you need to get your car plugged in still. It will take forever to charge too.
While electric cars may not be too clever of an investment in Malaysia at this time, the traditional internal combustion
engines with traditional fossil fuels are the way to go. The
inconvenience is that you have to keep your tank topped up when it runs
out, a 5 minute ordeal at times.
Most of the time though its just 5 minutes that you spend in the fueling station. You tend to spend more than 15 minutes in the fueling station. At times you have to wait for a pump to free up when there is too many people at the station. Once that’s done, you have to queue up to pay for your fuel at the kiosk. To skip that, you can use your debit/credit card at the pump. If you use a debit card though, the vendor first takes MYR200 from your account before you even start doing anything.
What if there is a better solution. Since every other person in Malaysia has been going on and on about eWallet, why not use these apps to pay for fuel, from inside the car; ‘Setel’ it there and then.
Welcome to the world of Setel, an eWallet app that is specialised in handling all your fuelling needs. With Setel, it really is just 5 minutes in the fuelling station, not 15 minutes.
The moment you get to the fueling station, all you need to do is to pull up to an available pump, whip out the smartphone, open Setel app, choose the pump you are at, enter the amount that you would like to fuel, and voila, your pump is ready. Of course you need to make sure you still have credits in the app wallet. For that, you can use your credit/debit card with no fuss. If you need to find a petrol station near you, the app will help you find it too.
While the app has existed for about a year now, the app was only readily useable in the Klang Valley region and was in Beta mode. Now though, the app is fully launched as a full running app. The app will not just stop at the pumps though. They are working closely with PETRONA Malaysia to release more features within their petrol pumping stations like purchasing items in PETRONAS Mesra shops or partnering vendors, with collection at the station.
Speaking of Mesra, you can connect you Mesra card to the app and collect points automatically as you use the app. While in Beta you could not redeem the points in your Mesra card through the app now though, you can. The Setel app is the one stop shop for all fueling needs in PETRONAS.
The Setel app is now available for free on Google’s Play Store for Android and Apple App Store of iOS devices. You can use Setel app in over 700 PETRONAS fuelling stations across the nation. For now, there is no other vendors that accepts payment via the Setel
app. There is also currently an MYR 200 cap within the app. No matter
though, you can now tell your friends that you are actually ‘setel-ing’ some business as your late excuse. More information on the Setel app on their website.
The Samsung Galaxy of devices is about to get a whole lot bigger and more affordable with four new devices. The new devices will be available in the market starting from February with pre-orders starting on February 3, 2020.
Meet the new Samsung Galaxy A51 & A71
The South Korean tech giant silently launched their new Galaxy A series towards the end of last year. The new entries into the company’s mid-range offerings are the Galaxy A51 and A71. These devices succeed the popular A50 and A70; and also continue Samsung’s partnership with popular K-Pop band, BlackPink.
Keeping with the Galaxy A series’ ethos, the new entries into the line up continue to offer compelling specifications at an affordable price point. Both the Galaxy A51 and A71 are coming below MYR2,000. The A51 will be retailing for MYR1,299 while the higher specc’d A71 will be retailing at MYR1,799.
Samsung Galaxy A51
For the price, the two devices come with 128GB of internal memory with support for up to an additional 512GB via microSD card. The smartphones also support dual SIM connectivity through a triple card slot. The A51 is powered by a quad core Exynos 9611 with 6GB of RAM. On the other hand the A71 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 with 8GB of RAM. Both come with a Super AMOLED display with Full HD+ resolution of 1080×2400 pixels. That said, the A71 clocks a slightly larger 6.7-inch display to the A51’s 6.5-inch display. Both have under display fingerprint sensors.
On the camera front, both the A51 and A71 come with a quad camera setup. The A71 has a larger 64-megapixel main sensor while the A51 has a 48-megapixel sensor. Both are capable of phase detection autofocus (PDAF) and have a wide 26mm focal length. These are complemented by a 12-megapixel ultrawide sensor, 5-megapixel macro sensor and a 5-megapixel depth sensor. The front cameras are a single 32-megapixel sensor with a 26mm focal length.
Samsung Galaxy A71
The A51 has a 4,000mAh battery while the A71 has a 4,500mAh battery. Both have fast charging; however, the A51 only supports 15W fast charging while the A71 supports 25W. Both charge with USB-C.
Cheaper Flagships with the S10 Lite and the Note10 Lite
Earlier this month, at CES in Las Vegas, Samsung unveiled two more additions to their flagship Galaxy S series and Galaxy Note series. Both the smartphones come in below the MYR2,700 mark.
Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite
The smartphones share a lot in common including a large 6.7-inch display and dual SIM connectivity. Both also have 128GB of internal storage and 8GB RAM. Both have support for microSD card expansion of up to 512GB.
Both the devices have triple camera setups and a front facing 32-megapixel camera. The Note10 Lite has three 12-megapixel sensors while the the S10 Lite has a 48-megapixel main sensor, a 12-megapixel macro sensor and a 5-megapixel macro sensor. The S10 Lite is powered by a Snapdragon 855 while the Note 10 Lite comes with an Exynos 9810. Both come with under display fingerprint sensors and 4,500mAh battery with support for USB-C fast charging.
Samsung Galaxy Note10 Lite
Pricing and Availability
The Samsung Galaxy A51 will be retailing at MYR1,299 while the A71 retails for MYR1,799. Both will be available in Prism Crush Black, Prism Crush White (Silver for the A71) and Prism Crush Blue .
The Samsung Galaxy Note10 Lite will be retailing for MYR2,299 while the Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite will be retailing for MYR2,699. The S10 Lite will be available in Prism Black, Prism White and Prism Blue; while the Note10 Lite will be available in Aura Glow, Aura Black and Aura Red.
Pre-orders for the smartphones will start on the 3rd February, 2020. There are special freebies as per the table below.
Product
RRP
Colour Availability
Pre-Order Rewards
Galaxy S10 Lite
RM2,699
Prism Black Prism White Prism Blue
Complimentary Galaxy Fit worth RM369
Galaxy Note10 Lite
RM2,299
Aura Glow Aura Black Aura Red
Complimentary Galaxy Fit worth RM369
Galaxy A51
RM1,299
Prism Crush Black Prism Crush White Prism Crush Blue
Complimentary Protection Plus worth RM119 inclusive of: 1 Year Extended Protection 1 Time Screen Protection
Galaxy A71
RM1,799
Prism Crush Black Prism Crush Silver Prism Crush Blue
Complimentary Protection Plus worth RM185 inclusive of: 1 Year Extended Protection 1 Time Screen Protection
We unboxed the OPPO Enco Free True Wireless Earbuds. The OPPO Enco Free is another True Wireless earbuds that carries that Apple Airpods-esque design. There is a few small difference between the Enco Free and the Airpods though.
The OPPO Enco Free, while carrying the same design, has a silicon tip to ensure a better fit on the ears. In the box comes three extra silicon tips with different size to ensure that the OPPO Enco Free will properly fit any ear. The stems from the Enco Free are also touch panels for you to control your music and volume with.
The OPPO Enco Free is now available via OPPO’s authorised retailers and official stores across the nation. The new Enco Free True Wireless earbuds is available in two colours, Black or White. There is a pink colour variant on the way, but there is yet to be available information on that yet. The OPPO Enco Free could be yours today for MYR 499.
HUAWEI’s nova series has always been a strong contender in the mid-range space with compelling specifications. The main draw of the series has always been its flagship class camera with a price point that makes it one of the most accessible offerings that’s worth your money on the market.
That said, the company recently announced the availability of their nova 6 series in China. It looks like the 6 isn’t making its way to Malaysia. Instead, HUAWEI is teasing a new entry: the nova 7i which will be available in Malaysia from 14 February 2020!
The new HUAWEI nova 7i looks to be coming with a HiSilicon Kirin 810 which was featured in the HONOR 9X and 9X Pro. That said, the new chipset promises power savings thanks to the 7nm fabrication process which allows the chip to have more performance while keeping the battery life. The processor is paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. If 128GB isn’t enough, you’ll be able to add up to 256GB of extra memory with a nano memory card (NM card).
The display on the nova 7i is a 6.4-inch LTPS IPS LCD capable of reproducing 16 million colours. It’s a Full HD+ display with a resolution of 1080×2310 pixels. Unlike its flagship brethren, the new mid-ranger comes with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. HUAWEI included a large, 4,200mAh battery for all-day battery life. It also supports 40W supercharge charging which can provide 70% of battery with 30 minutes of charging.
More Cameras, More Better Pictures?
The camera setup on the smartphone is a quad camera array with a 48-megapixel main sensor. It is also capable of ultrawide and macro shots. HUAWEI hasn’t clarified if the ultrawide and macro features are due to individual sensors on the camera array. That said, the main sensor is a wide sensor with an f/1.8 aperture for better low light performance.
HUAWEI is touting the front camera’s enhanced selfie features. This is powered by a dual selfie camera setup. HUAWEI hasn’t divulged the exact sensors used in the setup. That said, the company has touted that the new setup will enable users to get “golden selfies”. In addition, it looks like the nova 7i comes with enhanced software that will allow users to get better performance on video calls and even when posting to social media such as TikTok and Instagram.
We don’t have any information on the price. However, given the previous price point of the nova 5T, we expect the nova 7i to be about MYR1,599. It is likely the smartphone may be priced higher due to the HUAWEI Y9s released last year.
If you walk into your favourite cafés or even restaurants, you might be bombarded with small table
standees with a QR code on the payment counter. That is to indicate that the
restaurant has gone cashless and is accepting cashless payment options. Having multiple
options to pay for your purchases is always great, but problematic since every single
cashless payment vendor produces their own unique QR code for each of the
participating shops.
You end up with multiple apps on a single
device. To keep track of the payments, you must access different apps. That, or
you get a specialised device that has access to several apps at the same time.
Still, it is not perfect. You still need multiple apps to get it to work, if
you choose to omit certain apps, you cannot even allow users to use those apps.
In the end, it is all rubbish and using cash is still the best option to work
with.
Do not get us wrong, we are very big advocates
of the cashless payment system. We use them all the time and we love the fact
that we do not need to carry too much cash around, saves us the trouble of getting
robbed off hundreds in Ringgit. Still, because there are so many payment
options out there and not everyone uses all of them, it becomes troublesome for
us too; we hate that.
We’ve always said then that for eWallets
and cashless payments to work in Malaysia, there needs to be a unifying body that
could make all the apps work seamlessly together. Because changing all the card
receiver machines across the nation is impossible and it is impossible to implement
NFC type payments in all devices, the easiest is to have a single unified QR
code that could work with everyone regardless of app. This announcement then,
is godsent.
PayNet and Cyberview plans to lead the way to digital Malaysia with cashless payment. Then again. Cyberview has been paving the way forward for plenty of things to do with digitalising Malaysia. PayNet is an affiliate of the National Bank of Malaysia, and has been digitalising and providing essential services for Malaysian banks in terms of their payment networks and infrastructure. Thanks to Paynet, we have things like DuitNow and even free instant transfer between banks. That should be the way forward too with eWallets.
With the collaboration PayNet will start implementing unique QR codes for shops that would replace the ten million QR codes generated for the shop by other eWallet vendors. With less clutter, they look less intimidating as well. For users, you can use any eWallet of your choice to pay for your meals and shopping. All you need to do is scan the DuitNow QR code and voila, you can pay using GrabPay, or Boost, or Touch n’ Go eWallet, or FavePay; technically anyway.
The only downside right now is that they are only implementing it in Cyberjaya, for now anyway. PayNet is looking to expand their DuitNow QR to other parts of Malaysia. We think that the service will really take off in Kuala Lumpur and other parts of Klang Valley. You might have to check also if your eWallet app is also a participating vendor within the DuitNow QR ecosystem. For more information regarding DuitNow QR, you can visit their website.
