About two months ago, Lenovo dropped their brand-new Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2. The new gaming smartphone replaces their old Lenovo Legion Phone Duel. It also came with a whole slew of updates that makes it one of the most compelling gaming smartphones in the current market.
There was no solid release date for the smartphone in Malaysia though, until today that is. The Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 is finally released in Malaysia. It is available now and it will set you back MYR 3,299 for the lesser 12GB + 256GB variant and MYR 3,899 for the 16GB + 512GB variant. It also comes to Malaysia with a Maxis and Hotlink special deal at that. A little more on that later.
Source: Lenovo
The Legion Phone Duel 2 is built to be the ultimate gaming phone in the market with its horizontal first orientation approach. Even its pop-up selfie camera pop’s up from the side if you are holding the device like you normally would. When you game, it is a more natural position too. At the same time, a pop-up camera allows for a fuller display real estate for a more immersive experience.
It also packs the most powerful processor the Android market has seen so far, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G System on a Chip (SoC). With up to 16GB of RAM, the spec sheet looks more like a powerful gaming laptop than a gaming smartphone. To keep the device running as optimally as possible, the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 packs a very innovative cooling solution to keep things running as comfortably as possible.
To keep the powerful internals running for the entire day, there are two batteries inside the device that adds up to 5,500 mAh capacity. Two batteries also means that the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 charges faster and safer at 90W. The approach allows the device to be properly optimised for a comfortable horizontal use of the device too. To ensure that you really conquer your games, there is the touch-sensitive trigger buttons.
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
The internals are encased in mix of glass and aluminium, fronted by a 6.92-iunch AMOLED Full HD+ display that refreshes at 144Hz and 720Hz Sampling rate for a near instant touch response time. The pop-up camera is also a very powerful 44-Megapixel sensor with ultra-wide angle lens that ensures that you look good in that mobile gaming stream.
The Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 is now available in Malaysia from any Lenovo Exclusive Stores nationwide and online official stores on Lazada and Shopee. You can get the Legion Phone Duel 2 in two colour options – black or white. There are also two variants of the smartphone, a 12GB + 256GB variant and a 16GB + 512GB variant, to choose from. The device will set you back MYR 3,299 onward and if you are a Maxis and Hotlink user, you are entitled to claim a complementary Lenovo 500 Bluetooth headphones worth MYR 189 between 28th June to 31st July, 2021.
Working on-the-go comes with a lot of compromises. When you are on the move, you want a companion that is fuss-free, easy to work with, reliable, and most importantly light and compact. The trade-off to that is always power.
You see this in modern laptops made for the working professionals. When you get super lightweight, super compact laptops, they usually do not come with a discrete GPU. That also means that if you need your PC to do more than just word processing, or browsing the web, or even create presentations, you are going to have to compromise a little bit.
It is 2021 though. In that sense, we should not have to compromise that much when it comes to portability and power, especially if your work relies on that kind of power. Of course, you want something industrial, durable and reliable too in your work notebook PC. The one name you can associate with all the things mentioned above in a professional notebook is Lenovo’s ThinkPad.
Source: Lenovo
Specifically, we are looking at the most powerful ThinkPad in their line-up; we are looking at Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Extreme. In its Gen 4 clad, it is the most powerful Lenovo ThinkPad ever; or at least it can be.
Within the very familiar all-metal body of the ThinkPad lives an Intel Core i9-H series 11th Generation processor (up to). The most powerful mobile processor that Intel has to offer is accompanied by a very powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (up to) for good measure. With up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM at 3200MHz, the new ThinkPad X1 Extreme is an extremely powerful machine that can chew up 3D rendering work, eat video workflow for lunch, and drink photo editing work for tea-time without breaking a sweat, especially with Lenovo’s reworked and patented cooling technology.
You can pair the powerful internals to a 4K+ (up to) 16-inch display to ensure that you get every detail exactly right. You see more too with a unique 16:10 display ratio. With 10-bit colours, HDR 400 and up to 600nit in brightness, you will get every colour for your projects right too. If you are working with a lot of Audio, the Dolby Atmos certified speakers should do that job for you.
Source: Lenovo
While a lot laptops stop at 720p video webcam, the Lenovo ThinkPad goes beyond that to make this your ultimate work laptop anywhere you may be working from. It packs a Full HD 1080p webcam as standard with a physical shutter. For added security with Windows Hello, you can spec it with a Full HD 1080p Infrared Hybrid webcam. Of course, the ThinkPad also comes with the a fingerprint reader as standard.
The familiar all-metal chassis is even more durable than ever too. It is MIL-STD 810H certified, which also means that it can withstand more than just the regular bumps and nicks. You can be sure that it will survive a drop from your desks too, just in case you are that clumsy that day. The build standard is not really to allow you to be clumsy and rough with the laptop though, it is just to ensure that you do not lose your important work data in case the inevitable happens.
Everything above might make the laptop sound like a chunky block of aluminium slab that you would dread to carry in your backpack. That is not the case though. It only weighs 1.82kg; and at 17.7mm, it is not exactly thick either. It might come with a chunky power brick though to ensure that the powerful processors get enough power.
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
Source: Lenovo
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 is expected to be available in select markets from August 2021 onward. Prices for the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 starts at EUR€ 2,099 (MYR10,431*). There is no word on availability and official pricing of the device in Malaysia just yet. They did say that the availability and pricing for Malaysia will be announced soon though, so watch this space.
*Approximately based on exchange rate of EUR€ 1 = MYR 4.97
Many companies are moving slowly towards becoming more carbon-neutral and environmentally responsible. We’ve seen companies make commitments in the past year to make their operations more environmentally friendly, however, companies like Dell Technology have been hard at work behind the scenes. The company has been working to realise their “Progress Made Real” blueprint as early as 2012.
One of the pillars of their blueprint is a coordinated effort to advance sustainability in their operations. Under this lofty pillar, Dell has committed to reducing their energy intensity and also sourcing 75% of electricity from renewable resources. To this end, the company has implemented the world’s largest on-site solar panel in the Dell Technologies Asia Pacific Customer Center in Bukit Mertajam in Penang, Malaysia.
The solar panel consists of 1,590 individual efficient solar panels which will produce 1,000MWh of renewable electricity annually at their centre. This will account for more than 25% of the energy consumed at the 24-hour facility. Dell Technologies is aiming to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases at the facility by an impressive 650 metric tonnes (650,000 kg) annually.
The solar panel is the latest in Dell Technologies ongoing efforts to become a more ecologically responsible company. Previously, they have made changes to their product lineup to incorporate more recycled materials in the products and packaging. It is the company’s step forward in attaining its goal of having nett zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
We also spoke about sustainability in our recent episode of the Tech & Tonic Podcast in which we praised Dell Technologies for creating a meaningful impact in their operations. Their incorporation of recycled plastics in their flagship products such as the Dell Inspiron and even their Precision and XPS line ups.
Being productive on the go has become more important than ever in a rampant work-from-home culture. When you consider it, the work-form-home culture could be loosely translated to work-from-anywhere culture too at this time. It is about being productive and getting your work done at any time, and anywhere you can find an internet connection. That is why notebook PCs have become increasingly popular in the current climate.
The problem with the current breed of notebook PCs is that they are a little fragile. Not to say that they do not come with stellar build quality. They do come with premium materials with build quality that you can hardly complain about. When we say fragile, we are saying that most of them will not be able to stand drops, they get scratched easily, they cannot handle water or spills, they do not work when they are out of your office or home.
That is why you need something tougher; you need something more robust; you need an Acer Enduro Urban N3. First of all, you cannot expect a notebook that can withstand the wrath of nature to be anywhere as light as the svelte, petite, and super-thin ultrabooks in the market. It weighs 1.85kg, and for good reason. Then again, 1.85kg is not exactly what you would call heavy either.
You get up to Intel’s latest 11th generation Core i7-1165G7 CPU to tackle whatever work you may need to complete quickly anywhere, anytime. With Intel’s Iris Xe Graphics, the Enduro Urban N3 should also be able to tackle simple video editing via Adobe Premiere Pro, or even Da Vinci Resolve. Both the processors are backed by up to 8GB in RAM and 512GB of SSD storage to keep everything running smoothly and quickly at the same time.
Source: Acer
You also get a 14-inch Full HD IPS display for great looking images with highly accurate colours. While Acer does not mention its DCI-P3 or sRGB coverage rating, IPS displays are known for bright and vibrant colours on the display for great looking images and videos. At least Acer made sure that it displays at up to 450nits which should be bright enough to work with under the bright sunlight.
The notebook PC might sound like a plain laptop with nothing special going for it. If you look at it on paper, it does look quite regular. The internals are encased in a sort of a tank of a chassis. The chassis is a U.S. MIL-810H military standards. That also means that Enduro Urban N3 can withstand the regular drops and bumps from your desk. With IP53, it can also withstand more than a spill of a glass of coffee.
With that kind of build standards, the Acer Enduro Urban N3 sounds like it can withstand even nature itself. The rugged design of the notebook puts it at home even when you work with it at your favourite waterfall trail. Acer also claims that the battery in the Enduro Urban N3 can keep it alive for 13 hours on a single charge. That also means that you never have to worry about getting things done outdoors, as long as you can keep it charged before you get out of home or the office.
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
The Acer Enduro Urban N3 is available at all Acer’s official stores, authorised dealers, and official online stores including Shopee and Lazada nationwide. The device will be available in Denim Blue colour option only though. The device will set you back MYR 2,799 (Intel Core i3) onward all the way to MYR 3,699 (Intel Core i7). For more information on Acer’s Enduro Urban N3, you can head to Acer’s website.
Samsung’s Odyssey Gaming Monitor lineup has been the talk of the town since it debuted last year. Last year, the company introduced two models which stole the limelight with their curves. This year, it looks like Samsung’s Odyssey Gaming Monitors are flattening the curve, bringing more options for gamers.
Source: Samsung
The expanded line up still brings the hallmark features of the Samsung Odyssey lineup with high refresh rates, NVIDIA G-Sync and AMD FreeSync compatibility and most importantly, Samsung display technology which infuse more vivid, vibrant colours to the gaming experience. The four new models span three lineups: the premium G7, the balanced G5 and the affordable G3.
The largest of the new additions to the line up is the Odyssey G7 (G70A) which comes with a large, 28-inch display. The display comes with VESA DisplayHDR 400 which certifies it for colour accuracy and vibrance. It comes with a Ultra High Definition (UHD) resolution of 3,840 x 1,260 pixels and has a 1ms gray-to-gray (GTG) response. For those looking for high refresh rates, the Odyssey G7 comes with 144Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 400cd/m3 . It also comes with AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and NVIDIA G-Sync compatibility. The G7 is also the model with the widest array of ports coming with a Display Port 1.4, 2 HDMI 2.1 ports, and 3 USB 3.0 ports.
Source: Samsung
The Odyssey G5 (G50A) comes with a slightly smaller 27-inch display with a Quad HD (QHD) resolution of 2,560×1,440 pixels. It has HDR10 certification for colour accuracy and vibrance. It has a peak brightness of 350cd/m3 and also comes with 1ms GTG response time. However, it has a higher 165Hz refresh rate with AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and NVIDIA G-Sync compatibility. Both the G5 and G7 support low input lag mode which allows for better latency while gaming. They also have support for Samsung’s Super Arena Gaming UX and CoreSync Lighting. The G5 only comes with 2 inputs: 1 Display Port 1.2 and 1 HDMI 2.0 port.
The G3 (G30A) comes in 27-inch and 24-inch sizes. Like the other monitors announced, it has a 16:9 aspect ratio but only has a peak brightness of 250cd/m3 – the lowest among the bunch. It comes with a Full HD resolution of 1.920×1,080 pixels with a 1ms motion picture response time (MPRT). Like the G7 it has a 144Hz refresh rate. However, it only supports AMD’s FreeSync Premium and doesn’t support the various features mentioned above in the G5 and G7. On the ports front, it has two ports: 1 Display Port 1.2 and 1 HDMI 1.4.
Source: Samsung
Pricing & Availability
The Samsung Odyssey monitors will start being available globally starting on 21 June 2021. No Pricing has been announced internationally.
E3 2021 happened last week and that was the biggest thing that happened in the week. We love gaming, of course we are going to talk about it. While we were excited about the event, it went a little underwhelming and a little under the radar for some reason.
E3 is back in the 2021 after the 2020 hiatus thanks to the COVID-19 global pandemic. In 2021 though the largest gaming conference in the world has gone completely digital and the announcements from various brands were made over live streams on YouTube. Sadly though, while it was more accessible, it was also a little on the underwhelming side.
Sure, there were a few notable game launches and announcements made in the conference itself. Halo: Infinite was Xbox’s big highlight, Razer launched a new gaming laptop that is also their first AMD powered rig alongside a 27-inch gaming display, Nintendo teased Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild 2 a little bit more, and the upcoming Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II was quite notable. But other than those, everything else seems a little underwhelming.
Razer took this chance and stole some E3 limelight with their E3 launch too. They are not launching any games though. They launched their latest gaming laptop, the Razer Blade 14 with AMD’s Ryzen 5000 series CPU for the first time ever. They also launched a nice looking 27-inch gaming display with QHD resolution and 165Hz in refresh rate in the same show.
We would like to see more from E3 0221 though. We wanted to see Nintendo showing us some gameplay from Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild, for example. We wanted to see more exciting AAA games teased from E3, something that makes us go “wow, that looks goo” like Battlefield 2042, for example. We did not get a lot of those moments.
To put it plainly, we expected more from E3. We wanted more in E3 2021, because 2020 and 2021 are the years where hunger for new games becomes bigger and a little more insatiable. So, what else do we expect from E3? Listen in, find out.
Spotify is already the world’s most popular music streaming app. The platform probably also houses the largest collection of podcasts known in the modern world. In some sense, in the world of audio streaming at least, Spotify arguably has the best interface and discovery Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Looking for music and discovering music that would suit your preferences is a breeze on Spotify. Spotify itself will surface music that suits your tastes based on your playlists, and even based on songs that you frequently listen to. Podcasts is a different story though.
It is not exactly difficult to find podcasts in Spotify. We would not call the podcast discovery function excellent either. We think that they might as well be non-existent sometimes. That is about to change though.
Spotify is acquiring Podz, a podcast discovery service. It uses AI to generate highlights for a particular podcast and let users listen to 60-second samples of a chow or podcast before listening to the full show or subscribing to a channel or show. In some ways, it allows you to evaluate the podcast even before you spend your precious time on it.
With the acquisition, Spotify will be looking to integrate Podz’s clever AI algorithm and working into Spotify itself. The integration will make it not just easier and less time consuming for users to evaluate shows before committing to the show. It will also allow Spotify to improve the discovery algorithm of their podcast platform with the highlights.
At the same time, as a user, it will really make Spotify’s library of 2.6 million podcasts much easier to navigate and a lot more interesting. Spotify has been continuously building their podcast platform over the years, even getting some podcast exclusives up and running in the past two years. With Podz integrated, they could surface and push their own exclusive podcasts on users’ landing page in their app or web player. If the service is successful also, it could attract more creators into the platform just because their contents will be a lot more visible than before.
Spotify is planning to integrate Podz into Spotify before the end of 2021. Of course, that also includes the roll out to users all around the world. Last week, Spotify has also launched their Clubhouse competitor, Greenroom. Greenroom is now available for free on both iOS and Android. With the integration of Podz and Greenroom, Spotify looks to be the world’s largest audio streaming solution.
The demands on the notebook PC have also changed a little bit in 2020 and 2021. The role of notebook PCs for work has become more critical than ever. The change in work practices in 2020/2021 also means that like us working from home, notebook PCs needs to be ever ready. Notebook PCs needs to be as flexible as we are, it needs to get us up to speed and working at moments’ notice anywhere in the house, except maybe your bathrooms.
To answer the call of flexible working conditions and demanding productivity, Acer introduced the 2021 version of the Acer Spin 5 and Spin 3. This could tick a lot of your boxes in working from home situations. In fact, it could tick your ‘work from anywhere’ box too.
The Acer Spin series are equipped with 360-degree hinges that turns your laptop into a tablet in seconds. That added flexibility gives you options to work with the tablet in multiple settings and in different modes. You can work comfortably on your couch, your dining table, and even your kitchen counter, if you really need to.
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
At 1.2kg, the Acer Spin 5 is not exactly heavy to lug around too. With the thickness of just 14.8mm, you have more space in your bag too. The Acer Spin 3 weighs just 200g heavier and just 1.1mm thicker than the Acer Spin 5, so it is not like you are too compromised with the more budget friendly choice either.
Both the Acer Spin 5 and Spin 3 are Intel Evo platform certified platforms. That also means that they benefit from the power of Intel’s 11th Generation Core i7 (up to) processors with Intel’s Iris Xe Graphics platform. To ensure that the Spin series notebooks can keep up with demands on top of the instant boot, Acer fitted the device with up to 16G of RAM and up to 512GB of speedy SSD storage.
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
The Acer Spin 5 gets the benefit of NVMe PCIe Gen 4 slot that boasts double the speed of traditional SSD slots. It also gest a QHD IPS 13.5-inch panel with slim-bezels at 3:2 display ratio for an even more expansive view of Windows 10. The Spin 3 is no slouch either though with a 13.3-inch 2,560 by 1,600 pixels from its multi-touch IPS display. Both notebooks get Acer’s Active Stylus for even more breadth of productivity. Acer also says that the notebooks have battery packs that allows the device to run up to 15 hours.
The Acer Spin 5 and Spin 3 are now available at all Acer official online stores, including Shopee and Lazada. You can also find them at Acer’s authorised dealers nationwide. The Acer Spin 5 will set you back MYR 4,599, while the Acer Spin 3 goes for MYR 3,999. More information on the Acer Spin 5 and Acer Spin 3 can be found on Acer’s website.
The Honor namesake has been tied to HUAWEI for the longest time. That should not be a surprise though, Honor started out life as HUAWEI’s sister brand. For the longest time as well, they have lived under the shadows of the giant that is HUAWEI. When HUAWEI’s trade band with U.S. companies fell Honor, as a part of HUAWEI, was heavily impacted as well.
There is some light at the end of the tunnel though. Honor is no longer part of HUAWEI group as of 2021. In 2021 also, Honor confirms that their devices will run on Android with Google Play in tow.
A few weeks after they mentioned that they launched their first ever smartphone for 2021. They launched their new Honor 50 series smartphones. Instead of just one smartphone then, they released three – the Honor 50 SE, Honor 50, and Honor 50 Pro.
HONOR 50 SE
Source: GSM Arena
The HONOR 50 SE was not technically highlighted too much in the launch. It is still a part of the HONOR 50 family, however. It is the most budget friendly of the bunch, but also a little different.
Instead of the usual Qualcomm Snapdragon System on A Chip (SoC) that you expect from the new HONOR line-up, you get a MediaTek Dimensity 900 SoC. Admit it, for a moment you were expecting the name HiSilicon to come up. Despite being made to fit smaller budgets, the Dimensity 900 chip is still no slouch with 5G connectivity. The octa-core SoC can clock at up to 2.4Ghz when you need the power for MagicUI 4.2 on Android 11 and its apps.
Because the Dimensity 900 can support UFS 2.1 memory, you get exactly that in 128GB flavour for storage on the Honor 50 SE. There is also 8GB in RAM to pair with the device. All of these are given life by the 4,000 mAh battery that should last you all day. If you run out of juice, 66W fast charging should have you covered.
The brand, like HUAWEI, has always been watched for its camera technology though. Out the back is a 108-Megapixel main camera alongside two more supporting cameras. One is an 8-Megapixel ultrawide sensor and the other is a 2-Megapixel macro sensor. Out the front you will find a single 16-Megapixel shooter perched in the middle of the forehead of the 6.78-inch 120Hz Full HD+ LCD display.
HONOR 50
HONOR 50
The main stars of the show are naturally the vanilla variant and the overkill Pro variant of the HONOR 50. The two devices should also be the most popular devices in its range in terms of sales. At the same time, if you have seen the HONOR 50 SE, it is quite difficult to tell the devices apart if you do not pay attention. That is to say that they sport nearly similar designs, apart from camera placements and size.
The HONOR 50 is fronted by 6.57-inch Full HD+ display with 120Hz in refresh rate to give you a consistently smooth UI experience. For that snappy feel too, the panel supports 300Hz sampling rate for an almost immediate response from every single touch. Of course, these speeds do contribute to great gaming experience on the device too.
The HONOR 50 shares the same rear camera array and platform as the more premium and powerful HONOR 50 Pro. It does not share the selfie camera though. The HONOR 50 only has a single lens 32-Megapixel camera parked in a hole at the top of the display.
Like its more premium brother, the Honor 50’s MagicUI 4.2 on Android 11 is powered by a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G SoC with 5G capabilities. It is supposedly less powerful than the outgoing Snapdragon 780G platform, but not by much. You get up to 8GB of RAM to go alongside up to 256GB of storage. Everything runs of the 4,300mAh battery that can fast-charge at 66W.
HONOR 50 Pro
Source: GSM Arena
The HONOR 50 Pro, as its name suggest, is the most premium device of the HONOR 50 range. It may not pack more power than the HONOR 50 with the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G 5G SoC in tow. It does have more RAM with up to 12GB in RAM size alongside up to 256GB in storage.
It does not have the best rear camera set up too, the same as HONOR 50, as we mentioned. There is the 108-Megapixel main shooter. The 108-Megapixel shooter is supported by three other cameras that are parked in the other halo of cameras and flash collection. You get one 8-Megapixel ultrawide shooter, a 2-Megapixel Macro shooter, and another 2-Megapixel depth sensor out the back. Out the front though is a dual-lens combination of a 32-Megapixel sensor and a 12-Megapixel wide-angle lens. As expected from HONOR as well, the HONOR 50 Pro and HONOR 50 camera app comes with a bunch of multi-camera modes and all kinds of enhancements including Super Night Mode that is also available to the front camera.
It has the largest and best display among the three in the series too. The HONOR 50 Pro also has a 120Hz refresh rate display at Full HD+ resolution. The display expands to 6.72-inch though, instead of the 6.57-inch of the regular device. The display also boasts DCI-P3 100% colour gamut for the best and most accurate colour reproduction you can find on a smartphone display. Alongside 300Hz sampling rate, MagicUI 4.2 on Android 11 looks better than ever.
The only thing that is less in the HONOR 50 Pro compared to the vanilla HONOR 50 though is its battery. At 4,000mAh, you are not going to complain that it is too small, because it is still a significant size. Instead of 66W though, it charges even faster at 100W allowing the device to charge from flat to 100% in less than an hour, theoretically.
Price and Availability
The HONOR 50 series are coming to Malaysia, as confirmed by HONOR. Currently though, there are no confirmation on when that is going to happen just yet. We can also confirm that the HONOR 50 and HONOR 50 Pro will be part of the HONO 50 family that is available in Malaysia – no word on HONOR 50 SE’s availability.
The devices are already available for pre-order in China. The HONOR 50 series will be available in 4 colour options; you get to choose from Frost Crystal (special finish), Amber Red, Emerald Green, and Midnight Black colour options. The HONOR 50 and HONOR 50 Pro are selling for CN¥ 2,699 (MYR 1,736*) and CN¥ 3,699 (MYR 2,380*) respectively, while the HONOR 50 SE will be available for CN¥ 2,399 (MYR 1,543*). More information on the HONOR 50 series can be found on their website.
*Approximately based on exchange rate of CN¥ 10 = MYR 6.43 on xe.com as of 17/06/2021
Razer’s Opus that was launched last year drew some resemblance with a certain wireless over-ear headphones from a different brand. Nothing wrong with that, there are not many ways to design a sleek and stealth looking headphone set without falling back into similar design structures. At the same time, we would like to see more colours from Razer’s stables. It is Razer after all.
They did come up with an answer a year later in 2021 with a new range of Opus lifestyle-centric headphones. Except, they are not the high-end type of headphones the Opus is. They are called the Opus X.
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
The Razer Opus X has very similar design cues with the higher end THX certified Opus. They share the same general shapes and curves in all the right places to make it look less gamer, more general use. The only difference you might find on the outlook is probably the colour choices you get with the Razer Opus X, which incidentally gave away the “gamer” look.
The Opus X comes in three colour choices. You get to choose between the white ‘Mercury’, pink ‘Quartz’, and Green (Razer.com exclusive). The more expensive Opus only gets the Black colour option. While the Green and Quartz might stand out in the crowd, we think the Mercury colour option could be more subtle.
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Inside the headphones are still two beefy 40mm dynamic drivers to deliver super low frequencies from 20Hz to super high frequencies at 20kHz. Obviously, there is no microphone stems here because Razer understands that you have a life outside of your house and a microphone stem outside your home looks odd. It does have the same noise cancelling microphones built into the sleek chassis for both voice chat and phone calls.
It is wireless like the Opus, obviously. You connect your PC or smartphone to it via Bluetooth 5.0 for stable connection and high-quality audio transmissions. You also get 30 hours of battery life with it, which matches the best the market has to offer in terms of wireless headphones. When the battery runs out though, there is always a trusty 3.5mm jack with included cables when you buy the product.
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
Source: Razer
While this Razer Opus X does not feature THX’s touch like its more premium brother, it does offer Active Noise Cancelling (ANC). In that sense, this is one of the more affordable products that feature ANC in the market currently. With 60ms low latency connection, this should also be one of the more affordable Bluetooth enabled gaming headphones with ANC capabilities. We prefer over-ear solutions for gaming too, we think this would be perfect if you are trying to lose the cables on your desk.
Price and Availability
We kept saying that it is a more affordable product, but we have not actually mentioned its price. The Opus X is already available in Malaysia and you can buy it from Razer.com online store, or Razer’s dealers and official stores across the nation. It is also about half the price of the THX Certified Opus at MYR 549 (US$ 99.99*). If we are honest, you can hardly find decent ANC enabled headphones at that price currently.
