Qualcomm releases a Smartphone for Snapdragon Insider. Designed by ASUS and powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 5G SoC, it is also one of the most powerful Android device you can get in the market. It is definitely the most powerful Vanilla Android device to date.
The package that comes with the smartphone is a pair of wireless earbuds made in collaboration with Master & Dynamics. You also get a charger and USB Type-C cable bundled in. Obviously the charger is the fastest charger with Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 technology available for the Qualcomm smartphone.
Alongside the super power that is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G SoC is also an ample 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. With those kind of specs, the device has more common with a gaming laptop than any other smartphone. This also makes it one of the most powerful Snapdragon powered smartphone in the current market.
The ASUS designed device is fronted by a 6.78-inch Full HD+ AMOLLED display. While that sounds underwhelming, the display responses at 1ms and refreshes at 144Hz. Okay, that still does not make it sound all that impressive, especially if you consider that the Sony Xperia 1 III packs a 4K display at 120Hz.
Out the back is a 64-Megapixel camera that is also flanked by an 8-Megapixel telephoto camera, and a 12-Megapixel ultra-wide camera. The camera is capable of shooting videos at 8K resolution. Out the front is a 24-Megapixel camera that is capable of Full HD videos too.
The price? It is US$ 1,499. At that price, it is easily one of the most expensive Android smartphones you can find in the current market. It rivals the price of an Apple iPhone even. Even with all the things you get with the package, it is still and expensive device. It is definitely a reference smartphone though.
While we do not thing “Smartphone for Snapdragon Insider” counts as a name, it is what it is. We also do not think we need another reference smartphone, especially one that is priced this high. Still, the exclusive device has not hit the market at this time. Until we get a hands-on with the device, we cannot comment on its full capabilities and features. Qualcomm thinks it is necessary though. Do you think it is necessary?
Wireless earbuds are all the rage these days. The clean, cable-free feature of Truly Wireless (TWS) headphones really give a new meaning to the word “freedom” and redefined portability in the audio market. Of course, if you are a purist and audiophile, your response to all this will always be “but wired sound better”. We agree, but wireless audio products have come a long way since its introduction ages ago. Since Samsung introduced the world to their IconX TWS earphones too, TWS headphones have made huge strides and improvements especially in recent years.
With increased demands for TWS earphones too, more manufacturers are going to get involved to compete for market share. After all, it is not about who sells the best smartphones now, it is about who has the best and most seamless ecosystem. That also means that smartphone manufacturers like HUAWEI are sure to get into the game of creating accessories that accompanies the smartphones.
HUAWEI introduced their FreeBuds TWS headphones in 2018. They recently introduced the 4th generation of the FreeBuds in Malaysia. The new HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 comes with a slew of improvements that might make it one of the most compelling TWS headphones in the market.
Source: HUAWEI
The HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 still features Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) 2.0 which is quite unique. That is because the HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 is an open-fit earphone. Open-fit earphones typically do not completely seal your ears obviously, and that adds a layer of complexity for the job that is noise cancelling. Still, with Adaptive Ear Matching technology, the HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 will manage. The technology will automatically detect the 3D shape of your ear and determine the optimal noise cancellation for individual users.
For the first time ever, the HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 boasts dual microphone. Dual mics of course is used for noise cancellation in phone calls. With 32KHz in frequency range in voice calls too, you get crisp and clear phone calls.
The FreeBuds 4 packs an unusually large driver too for its headphones of its type. It has 14.3mm, slightly larger than the one you get on the older HUAWEI FreeBuds 3. At 40kHz as well, it has double the frequency range compared to most earphones in its category. That also means that it should sound quite stellar especially with Hi-Fi quality audio formats. Of course, with larger drivers, you get better low-end frequencies projected too, which means great thumping bass lines.
Of course, the HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 is not just for listening and making short work of phone calls. The TWS earbuds has a mic that can record at up to 48kHz audio, which also means you can technically use it to record vlogs or use it to record audio from the surroundings for an immersive video from your HUAWEI smartphone.
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
All of these sounds like you would need a larger package of an earbud to work with. Strangely though, it is no larger than a regular Apple Airpods earbud. The pair of earbuds comes packed in a portable case that can gives the HUAWEI FreePods 4 extra full charges for up to 22 hours of music playback (without ANC). All the great stuff is shoehorned in earbuds that weighs only 4.1g on each end.
The HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 is now available for pre-order from HUAWEI Online Store, and partner stores such as Shopee, Lazada and Sen Heng until 21st July 2021. It is available in Ceramic White and Silver Frost colour options too. It will set you back MYR 599, which is a lot less than a lot of higher-end ANC enabled TWS headphones. More information on the HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 can be found on HUAWEI’s website.
The culture of disappearing photos and videos started out from Snapchat, and shortly after, trickled down to Instagram Stories. It proved to be a great way to share videos with your friends and fans. It is a way for your fans and friends to interact with you in a sort of “live” fashion. 24 hours later the videos go missing, so if any of them missed the photo or video, they missed that part of your life.
You can now have that on WhatsApp too, sort of. The “View Once” feature was supposedly released (beta) on Android devices late in June 2021 and was just released for the iOS platform very recently. But it does not have the 24 hours lifespan like Instagram Stories or Snapchat. Rather, you can choose to send videos and photos to your friends and get it automatically deleted once the photo or video is viewed.
While it is a new feature for WhatsApp, it is not necessarily a new feature in the world of messengers. Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct Messaging have been allowing users to send one-time-use videos or photos to their friends for some time now. Similar to both of these platforms too then, you can see whether or not the recipient has already opened the media file you sent over.
Last week we mentioned that WhatsApp is planning to allow users to send videos and photos in higher quality than ever before. That feature is yet to be available on WhatsApp Beta too currently. At the same time, allowing higher resolution photos or videos to be sent via WhatsApp could also mean more storage woes thanks to WhatsApp. Disappearing media within WhatsApp chats could be one solution to that. The “View Once” feature does not prevent your recipients from doing getting a screenshot of the message though.
On that subject, “View Once” could also be seen as a privacy protection feature. Once viewed, the media gets deleted from your chats, reflected on both ends. That also means that the media will not be available anywhere else, except for the source device and, if your recipient decide to capture screen, on his/her device.
There is a bunch of updates that are lined up for WhatsApp. While platforms like Telegram and Signal are gaining in popularity when it comes to web based messaging apps, WhatsApp still holds the biggest market share and mind share in the current climate. As we have discovered in our research and discussion with a security expert as well WhatsApp, despite its ties to Facebook, is one of the most secure messenger apps in the industry.
We hate sharing photos and videos over WhatsApp. We seldom do it too, when we need high-resolution images to be plonked in a presentation deck or overlayed over something. That is because WhatsApp will compress photos down to make the packet easier and quicker to send via the app. The practice saves time and storage space for users. The trade off is image quality, detail and resolution in the photos.
WABETAINFO has some good news to share on that though. If you have not known yet, WABETAINFO is one of the most reliable, if not the most reliable WhatsApp information outlet out there. They shared that WhatsApp has just submitted a new update through the Google Play Beta Program.
Labelled WhatsApp Beta version 2.21.14.16 submitted on the 8th of July 2021; the new WhatsApp beta is supposed to come with one very significant update. You guessed that right, sending better photo quality over WhatsApp. That also means that you do not have to deal with less than par photos sent over WhatsApp anymore in the future. You still can though if you want.
Source: WABETAINFO
The update is supposed to add a windowed option to select the quality of photo uploads on WhatsApp. Based on WABETAINFO, you can select from Auto, Best Quality, and Data Saver. We presume that Data Saver is technically the same thing you get on WhatsApp today. Setting it on Auto allows WhatsApp to determine the best compression balance for specific images. Of course, if you want your photos to look as good as it did when it was taken, Best Quality is the way to go.
According to WABETAINFO though, this selection feature will not stop for photos. The feature is also supposed to be for videos shared over WhatsApp. That also means that you can finally also get good videos sent over WhatsApp.
The new WhatsApp feature is not yet available for the public yet though. It is not even available for Beta testers yet at this time. Seeing that the developers have submitted the Beta version to Google Play Beta Program, Beta testers should be getting the update soon. The public will get a taste of it soon after.
Qualcomm has made a name for themselves pushing the boundaries of mobile processing with their successful Snapdragon processors. However, the company has – until now – left commercial hardware to their many partners. The company is changing things up with their latest announcement: a Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders.
Source: Qualcomm
The company seems to be taking a page out of Google’s book and is introducing a concept smartphone built from the ground up to highlight their processors. Designed by ASUS, the Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders brings the full potential of the Snapdragon 888 Mobile Platform. The smartphone comes with compatibility for the latest connectivity standards: WiFi 6E, 5G support for both mmWave and sub 6 bandwidths and Bluetooth 5.2. Together with the connectivity, Qualcomm is removing any bottlenecks in performance by equipping the smartphone with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of onboard UFS 3.1 memory. The processor and top of the line storage promises some of the best read and write speeds.
Cameras Augmented by Qualcomm’s Triple ISP Technology & AI
The Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders comes with Qualcomm’s vision for the best camera experience on its platform. It comes with a 64-megapixel Sony IMX686 sensor with quad bayer technology; an aperture of f/1.8 and a effective focal length of 26.6mm with a 78.3° field of view; and four axis optical image stabilization. The triple sensor setup comes complemented with a secondary 12-megapixel Sony IMX363 sensor. This sensor has a f/2.2 aperture and an effective focal length of 14.3mm with support for macro shots. An 8-megapixel telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom and upto 12x hybrid zoom completes the triplet of cameras. On the front is a 24-megapixel sensor.
Source: Qualcomm
Qualcomm is touting the camera setup as a professional grade camera featuring AI augmentations that allow the camera to take good low light shots and intelligently focus and identify the best shot. Additionally, AI auto zoom allows your subject to be the focus of the shot while bringing you closer to the action. You can even shoot video in 4k and 8K resolutions. This is made possible by the Qualcomm Spectra 580 ISP which has gigapixel processing speeds.
Audiophile Experience Powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound Technology
The new Qualcomm smartphone is also one of the first to feature Snapdragon Sound technology. The new optimizations allow users to wirelessly stream high quality, 24-bit audio with bitrates of up to 96KHz. Snapdragon Sound also enhances audio from end to end for a more robust sound with clear highs and boomy bass. It also enables super wideband voice for clear, true to life audio when making calls.
Source: Qualcomm
Of course, since Snapdragon Sound is focused on wireless audio, Qualcomm is including a set of wireless earphones by Master & Dynamic in the box with the Smartphone. The MW08SI comes with active noise cancelling and is powered by Qualcomm’s QCC5141 low power Bluetooth Audio SoC. It is able to do ultra low latency bluetooth streaming with true high resolution audio quality. It even has augmentations for better connectivity in environments with dense RF interference.
Desktop Gaming Experience on the Go
The Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders comes with the Adreno 660 GPU which is touted to bring 35% faster graphics rendering. Variable Rate Shading brings an additional 30% boost in performance as well. This experience is augmented by the 6.78-inch Samsung AMOLED display. It comes with a Full HD+ resolution of 2448×1080 pixels with a response rate of 1ms and 144Hz refresh rate. The display comes with HDR10+ certification and has a ΔE of less than 1. It also comes with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection and support for always on display. Qualcomm is also touting up to 20% increased responsiveness thanks to Qualcomm Game Quick Touch.
Source: Qualcomm
Dual stereo speaker augmented with Smart AMP up the ante when it comes to audio experience. Snapdragon Sound also works it magic in delivering high quality audio over these speakers. It also comes with multiple profiles optimized for content type. With the large, Quick Charge 5.0 enabled 4,000mAh battery, you should be gaming for hours on end.
Pricing & Availability
The Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders will be available starting on August. It will be available first in the U.S., China, Denmark, U.K., Japan, South Korea followed by India. No indication if the smartphone will be available outside these regions just yet.
Source: Qualcomm
ASUS will be distributing the smartphone. It will be retailing for USD$1,499 (MYR 6,268.31*). It will be available only in Midnight Blue.
*exchange rate taken from xe.com on 9 July 2021 at USD$ 1 = MYR4.18
The Nintendo Switch is in its fourth year by now. Launched in 2017, the little portable gaming console took the world by storm at its launch. It became all the rage for both Nintendo fans and gamers in general. It was a revolutionary gaming device, one that took modern video games out of the home and into the streets. The buzz was well placed and huge.
Sony and Microsoft launched their next generation gaming consoles earlier this year and those caused a whole buzz too. From the buzz, there was rumours about a new Nintendo Switch around the corner. The rumours were for Nintendo to launch a brand-new Switch that is supposed to be able to project up to 4K while its docked. It was also rumoured that the new Nintendo Switch was supposed to come with a slightly larger display and higher resolution. They dubbed the new Nintendo Switch replacement the Switch Pro
None of that came true of course. That does not mean that there is no new Switch this year, there is. Nintendo very recently just launched the Switch OLED Model instead.
It is no Switch Pro; we can guarantee you that. It boasts mostly the same internals as the current generation Switch. There are speculations that the big reason why Nintendo did not want to introduce a Switch replacement has something to do with the global part shortages.
While the Switch OLED Model still features the same internals as the original Switch V2 that was quietly introduced a little later, the package is entirely new though. For one, the most obvious change comes from the back of the device itself. The original console comes with a flimsy plastic piece they call a kickstand. The weak plastic piece that also covers the MicroSD expansion slot is now replaced with a proper Microsoft Surface-esque flexible kickstand that runs the entire length of the back allowing you to rest your Nintendo Switch on the table in any angles that suits your comfort.
The Switch OLED Model is supposed to be a little bigger than before, which also means that it needs a new bigger dock. The new dock is also compatible with older Switch devices, albeit with extra room. The new dock also features an ethernet port for you to connect to your router directly instead of iffy WiFi.
The most notable change to the newly announced Nintendo Switch OLED Model though is mentioned in its name itself. The new OLED display conquers the whole front of the device. It is larger too at 7-inch compared to 6.7-inch from before. Bigger display also means smaller bezels for even more immersion when you game with the OLED display. At that, OLED is also known to produce more vibrant, and more accurate colours, which is obviously a big welcome in a Nintendo Switch.
Of course, there are some improvements that are more than skin deep too. The built-in storage has increased to 64GB from 32GB. They’ve also improved added bigger speakers to the Switch OLED Model for even better audio experience.
Source: Nintendo
Source: Nintendo
Source: Nintendo
Source: Nintendo
Source: Nintendo
Colours are a way to really personalise your Nintendo Switch. Nintendo have been launching special edition Nintendo Switch devices alongside new Joy-Con controller colours. The colour combination you can get for the Nintendo Switch makes it one of the most customisable gaming consoles in the market. For the OLED Model, they are introducing the White colour option.
The new Nintendo Switch OLED Model will only be available in the market 8th October 2021 onward. it will be available in two colour options – the white set (obviously), and the neon red/blue combination that is staple of the Nintendo Switch. It will retail for US$ 349.99 (MYR 1,464*) when it is available in October. There are no mentions on which markets will get the Nintendo Switch first, but we can safely assume that the North American region will definitely be in the list. For more information on the latest Nintendo Switch OLED Model, you can head down to Nintendo’s website.
*Approximately based on the exchange rate of US$ 1= MYR 4.18 on xe.com as of 08/07/2021
The time has come to head to Rivia! Fans of the popular series – The Witcher – are in for a treat come July 10, 2021 as the first ever WitcherCon is happening! The conference will bring together the cinematic and game universes of The Witcher in a never before seen, multi-format event.
Source: Netflix
The day-long event kicks off first in the wee hours of 10th July in Malaysia at 1 am – that’s 7 pm CEST on 9th July 2021 in Europe and 10 am PST in the U.S. – on Twitch and YouTube. There will be a second stream happening at 9 am on 10th July in Malaysia – 3 am CEST on 10 July in Europe and 6 pm on 10th July in the U.S. – on the same platforms. According to Netflix, there will be exclusive announcements on each stream!
The event will be hosted by popular Twitch and YouTube personality, Julia Hardy. Hardy is arguably most well known for her Game to Train fitness programme where you can get fit around routines from popular game characters. She’s also hosted Runefest and Minecon previously. It will be giving fans an exclusive look at never-before-seen footage and insights from the production of the Witcher Universe.
WitcherCon will be featuring a series of panels and features with the stars and creators from both the popular game series and the hit Netflix series – The Witcher. Everything from GWENT, the Witcher’s card game to the many formats the Witcher’s story will be told in will be covered in the event. Fans of the series will get their burning questions about Season 2 of The Witcher answered by showrunners and stars of the series. CD Projekt Red will also be taking fans behind the scenes and into the future of The Witcher.
There will also be a special sitdown with Henry Cavill where he will delve into the nitty-gritty of fantasy, destiny and the wider Witcher Universe. Netflix has teased that the White Wolf may have a few surprises during his sitdown.
Source: Netflix
You’ll be able to tune in to WitcherCon on both YouTube and Twitch come 10th July! Details on panels, announcements and more can also be gotten from the official WitcherCon website.
Popular doesn’t necessarily mean it’s safe. That’s what we’re seeing from a new report which has led to Google removing nine apps from the Google Play Store. The nine apps recently surfaced in a report by security firm, Dr. Web, these apps were providing fully functional service while stealing users’ Facebook login information.
The apps in question had different malware variants in their coding. Their developers incentivised surrendering user information by offering a “free upgrade to Pro” when a user opted to log in with their Facebook account. Once the unassuming user did this, the app would intercept and hijack the login credentials. The apps, identified as trojans, used an intermediary server to spoof and collect Facebook information and cookies.
A total of five malware variants were found in these apps. All of them were classified under the same trojan by Dr. Web. Three of these variants were apparently developed natively for Android while another two were done using Google’s Flutter framework. The latter of the types pose an increased risk to users as the framework allows apps to be developed across multiple platforms. All of these malware variants shared identical configuration file formats and identical JavaScript code to steal data.
According to the report from Dr. Web. The apps in question are:
If you have downloaded any of these apps in the past or still have them on your phone. You should thoroughly check your phone for malware. Apps such as Kaskpersky and Malwarebytes are good options to help remove any malware from your device. It goes without saying that you should uninstall these apps immediately.
Google has since removed the apps from the Play Store. Ars Technica states that a Google spokesperson noted that the offending app developers have been removed and banned from the Play Store.
HUAWEI has grown from a little-known smartphone maker from China to become one of the tech giants of the world. Of course, the fact that they make great smartphones helped their rise to become one of the most recognisable electronics brands in the world. In the recent years, HUAWEI has also expanded its product range to just more than mobile devices. This is including smartphone peripherals like headsets and wireless speakers. They branched out into home appliances. They also branched out into making Windows laptops, which worked great if you own a HUAWEI device already. They even made smart TVs in the past two years.
It only makes sense then, when HUAWEI started making PCs and even smart TVs, that they start making PC displays. They started with the brand new MateView and MateView GT. As per the title, it really is like Beauty and the Beast. We are not really referring to how the monitors look though; we are referring to what they are made for.
HUAWEI MateView – The Beauty … of 4K+ resolution
Source: HUAWEI
The HUAWEI MateView is made for creators in mind and it shows in the colour accuracy rating of the display. It boasts ΔE<2 with 98% coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut. On the sRGB scale, it covers 100% of the colour gamut. That also means unparalleled colour accuracy, very important when you are colour correcting photos or even videos. At HDR 400 also, contents shine when displayed on the HUAWEI MateView. We have not even gone to its resolution.
The HUAWEI MateView displays all these colours at an extremely high resolution 4K+. You get 3,840 x 2,560 pixels from the 28.2-inch IPS panel. While that means that you get a very odd 3:2 display ratio, it also means you get more display real estate to work with, important when you only have one monitor to rely on when you work with videos. At 1.07 billion colours as well, colour gradients look natural even when you push the brightness to the maximum 500 nits the HUAWEI MateView is capable of.
It even boasts two 5W speakers on its integrated stand. While it may not be the most powerful speakers you can find in the market, the speakers should produce an acceptable audio, if you do not have an external speaker to work with. At the same time, with wireless projection, you can hook your HUAWEI devices up wirelessly and play your favourite music through the MateView’s speakers instead. For video conferencing, the HUAWEI MateView even packs four built in mics. You can even fire up Cortana on Windows 10 with the mics.
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
The HUAWEI MateView is also your friendly USB Hub. While it packs HDMI 2.0 (capable of 3,840 x 2,560 @50Hz) and a MiniDP port, you can hook your PC to the display via USB Type-C cable too. If you hook your PC up to the Display via the HDMI or the MiniDP port, you have an extra USB Type-C port to go alongside two more UBS Type-A ports on the integrated stand. The USB Type-C port also charges at 65W too, which also means your thin and light PC might not need to be plugged into a power source of its own.
HUAWEI MateView GT – The Beast … For Your Gaming Fix
Source: HUAWEI
To be fair, we could never have imagined a world where HUAWEI champions PC gaming five years ago. 2021 is a vastly different time compared to the world of 2015/2016 though. The world is in massive lockdown, and everyone is forced to work from home most of their days. One of the ways people spend their remaining time after work then is to game with friends, or publicly in competitive esports titles. Gaming peripherals has a newfound popularity in 2021, through 2020.
The HUAWEI MateView GT is a product of inevitability, at least in our humble opinions. If you can make an excellent 4K display, why not make a gaming display? That is how the HUAWEI MateView GT came about, we think.
It boasts 1440p (3,440 x 1,440) in resolution and the ultra-wide 21:9 display ratio is preferred here. Of course, all that is an influence of the most popular set-up a gaming PC has today. It refreshes at 165Hz as well, which is on par with some of the most advanced gaming displays of the modern world. At 34-inch, the ultra-wide display will also pretty much take up your whole desk space. It is a curved display though, so you do not need to strain to see from edge to edge.
At a glance, you know it is made for gaming with a light strip along the base of the monitor. The slick and slim bars that holds the entire weight of the monitor is painted black too, just so you are not distracted from gaming. But there is more than meets the eyes with this monitor though.
Firstly, to make it fully immersive, HUAWEI ensures that it does not just pack a lot of pixels. The pixels has to display accurate colour information and must look great as well. The display covers 90% of DCI-P3 colour gamut. Its 1 billion colours is also displayed in HDR10 glory at 4000:1 contrast ratio for the best visual experience you can get in a display.
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
OIn top of all of that, the light bar that stretches the width of the base of the monitor is not just for show. It is a touch sensitive volume control bar for the sound bar that is the base of the monitor. It packs two 5W speakers, which may not sound like much, but it does provide with you with immersive stereo experience to go with your gaming. That also means that you do not need to get a separate headphone or speaker set-up to get going. There are even two built-in speakers on the MateView GT itself, for you to communicate with your team mates or rivals in heated gaming sessions.
If you have multiple gaming devices, you can hook up to four devices at the same time. You get two HDMI 2.0 ports, for you PlayStation, or Xbox, or Nintendo Switch. You have one DisplayPort for your gaming PC, and another USB Type-C port for your productivity machine. The USB port can also be used to charge your devices too.
Pricing and Availability
The HUAWEI MateView and MateView GT is now available for pre-order (7th – 21st July). You can pre-order yours now via HUAWEI’s Online Store. Of course, you can also head down to HUAWEI’s official store on Shopee and Lazada to pre order both the MateView and MateView GT. The HUAWEI MateView retails at MYR 2,988 while the MateView GT retails at 2,488 with MYR 100 rebate for each pre-order. Each pre-order also entitles you to a complementary HUAWEI WiFi AX3 Dual Core router capable of WiFi 6 networking.
HUAWEI launched their MatePad Pro series last year, to be fair. It had a 10.8-inch display, and it comes with a clever magnetic keyboard case and an M-Pencil that really adds up to your productivity. 10.8-inch, while quite large in a lot of cases, could be bigger. For 2021, HUAWEI launches the HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.6-inch.
What is the difference? Internally, not much.
The HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.6 comes with a very powerful Kirin 9000E 5G (up to) System on a Chip (SoC) still. At this point, the HiSilicon Kirin 9000E 5G processor with 5nm architecture is still HUAWEI’s most powerful and advanced processor to date. That processor is paired to an ample 8GB of RAM to ensure that you can easily and smoothly multitask like a champ. There is also 1256GB is memory, which is ample for mobile devices today.
Out the back is a 13-Megapixel main shooter supported by an 8-Megapixel ultra-wide sensor and a Time-of-Flight 3D sensor for great looking photos. The MatePad Pro 10.8-inch only comes with a single 13-Megapixel camera out the back. Both devices come with an 8-Megapixel front facing camera that hides in a punch hole at one corner of the device’s display though. The rear camera is also capable of shooting videos at 4K resolution.
Source: HUAWEI
The new 2021 MatePad Pro comes with a 12.6-inch display though, compared to a 10.8-inch display of the older MatePad Pro. The 12.6-inch display shows you 2,560 x 1,600 resolution. It is an OLED display too, which also means even better colours. To be specific, the 12.6-inch OLED display boasts DCI-P3 colour gamut for good measure.
Of course, a larger screen comes with a bigger battery at 10,050 mAh compared to the 7,250 mAh on the MatePad Pro 10.8-inch. It still features 40W super charging (via USB Type-C) and fast wireless charging too in case you need more battery life out of your HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.6-inch.
Source: HUAWEI
There is another difference between the HUAWEI MatePad Pro 10.8-inch and 12.6-inch is more than skin deep though. The older HUAWEI MatePad Pro 10.8-inch runs on EMUI 11. The new MatePad Pro 12.6-inch runs on HUAWEI’s new Harmony OS 2. That said, the HUAWEI MatePad Pro 10.8-inch that ships out now onward will run on Harmony OS 2 as well.
Harmony OS 2 is built to be a productivity beast though. With the HUAWEI MateBook series notebook PCs, the HUAWEI MatePad 12.6-inch can work as a secondary display and an external storage as well. You can work on your notebook and share items between the tablet and notebook when you need to and very seamlessly at that.
On top of all of these, the HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.6-inch is available with an updated HUAWEI M-Pencil. The 2nd Generation M-Pencil is built for a better and more natural feel of a regular pencil when you use it with HUAWEI’s MatePad series devices. At the same time the HUAWEI MatePad can be paired to the bigger magnetic keyboard too, in case the 10.8-inch variant feels a little cramped.
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
Source: HUAWEI
The HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.6-inch is immediately available in Matte Grey colour option. It will set you back MYR 3,999. You can get your’s from HUAWEI’s official online store, and partnering online retailers including Shopee, Lazada, and Senheng. The HUAWEI MatePad Pro in Olive Green will be available for pre-order from the 7th July 2021 onward. The pre-order of the Olive Green variant of the HUAWEI MatePad Pro entitles you to a HUAWEI Classic Backpack, one month VIP access to HUAWEI Video, six TVOD passes, and free three months access to 50GB of HUAWEI Cloud Storage. More information on the HUAWEI MatePad Pro 12.6-inch on HUAWEI’s website.
