In this week’s Tech & Tonic Podcast, we have Adam Lobo of Adam Lobo TV! Adam Lobo is the lead vocalist in the rap metal band Dragon Red. Adam Lobo’s gift does not just stop at his voice though. He makes great looking contents on his YouTube channel too when he is not jamming out with the band. His love and passion in tech led him to create his own YouTube channel where he reviews the latest gadgets you can buy in the Malaysian market. If you want to see devices in 4K detail, you should definitely check out his channel.
Last week we saw big events in the tech industry being cancelled. We say that they are being cancelled, most of them have moved things online (as in livestreaming) instead. Microsoft’s MVP conference, Facebook F8 Summit, Adobe Summit, Google Cloud Next, Google I/O 2020 are just the few events that has been cancelled due to COVID-19 (there is a new official name now) concerns. How is this going to affect the tech landscape? What about other industries?
We also saw the most valuable brand in the world getting into some trouble with the law. Apple has been caught up in their #BatteryGate court battle for a while now and the court has decided that Apple should be fined and pay out almost half a billlion U.S. Dollars in compensation to the victims of their deliberate software throttling. As far as we know, this only applies to the U.S. market. There is more to this though.
In this week’s Download weekly round-up we have the Realme C3, Realme 6 series, the BlackShark 3 series, and the OPPO A31. We are expecting to see the OPPO Find X2 as soon as Tuesday, so stay tuned to that.
The Realme C3 is Realme’s 2020 answer to the fast growing entry-level smartphones market. It is sold for MYR 499 and packs all the basic goodies to make it a smartphone. The Realme 6 series launched in India but we are expecting to make an appearance in Malaysia pretty soon. Same goes to the extravagance that is the Black Shark 3 series. The Black Shark 3 is a quite a recipe though with pop-up triggers and Qualcomm’s super powerful Snapdragon 865 SoC.
Oppo has launched their entry level MYR 699 OPPO A31 in Malaysia as well. That would be accompanied by the OPPO Find X2 flagship with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 SoC pushing the 120Hz 2K display. Even the camera set-up looks impressive, even if it is just three lenses instead of four or five.
Meanwhile, COVID19 shuts down more than just MWC. Microsoft MVP, Facebook F8, Adobe Summit, Google Next Cloud, and Google I/O has all been cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns. Computex is still happening though currently.
We had Isa Rodriguez of Isa Does Tech on our podcast last week! Do head to the link to give a listen. We are also excited to have Adam Lobo from Adam Lobo TV over in our podcast in the coming week.
OPPO’s Find X was something else from OPPO. It was something
quite extraordinary to come out from OPPO’s stables. It was OPPO’s game changer
also their first device to hit the premium market segment. It sold for MYR
3,699 when it was launched; more expensive than any OPPO devices that came before
it.
It was not like any other OPPO devices that came before as
well. Instead of a familiar Apple-esque design they employed with their best-selling
models, the OPPO Find X was a device they could proudly call their own. It was
a device they could really identify as an OPPO device. It was also OPPO’s first
European ready device.
In all fairness it was also the first smartphone in the
world that was truly bezel-less. While whatever premium devices came with ‘bezel-less’
devices, you still get the notch to house the camera. OPPO’s implementation
made sure that your bezel-less experience is truly bezel-less. How? Quite ingenious,
a motorised pop-up mechanism that slides a whole part of the device to reveal a
front facing camera.
It did not sell for MYR 3,699 merely for that feature though.
It was a world beater with a high-end System on a Chip (SoC). It had other
flagship class specs as well, large RAM and storage. It had a larger than life
battery too at the time. Even its camera array is flagship class. Was it worth
MYR 3,699? It surely looked like it.
Source: OPPO
Now, there is the brand new OPPO Find X2; the evolution of
the iconic flagship from 2018. Instead of just a single device though, the Find
X2 is a series of devices. They are all 5G ready too. The 5G capabilities are
thanks to the most powerful processor available to them in the world today. They
are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865.
The OPPO Find X2
There is not that much difference between the two devices that was launched by OPPO today. Even the price (in Euro anyway). The difference in price is only about EU€ 200 (*MYR 946); which is not that much.
Source: OPPO
There are still some differences to justify the higher price point
of the OPPO Find X2 Pro though. Starting with the storage, the OPPO Find X2 tops
out at 256GB. Mind you, that is not expandable; kind of a bummer, but 256GB is
plenty anyway.
One of the cameras, the ultra-wide lens; you only get 12-Megapixel
out of it. While that is not bad, it will not be the most powerful sensor you
can find on the OPPO Find X2. Then there is the battery which tops out at
4,200mAh for the OPPO Find X2. It still charges as fast as the Find X2 Pro
though.
This is where the differences end though.
OPPO Find X2 Pro
We start with the storage at 512GB of storage, double of the OPPO
Find X2. The OPPO Find X2 Pro also packs a very slightly bigger battery at
4,260mAh. This is no where near as big as we think it would be. Still, it
charges very quickly at 65W (SuperVOOC). It fully charges the device from an
empty battery to full within 38 minutes.
Source: OPPO
The biggest difference between the device is within the camera
array. The OPPO Find X2 Pro packs a 48-Megapixel ultra-wide sensor instead of
12-megapixel. It is supported by the same 13-Megapixel telephoto lens and 48-Megapixel
main shooter as the OPPO Find X2. The difference? 48-Megapixels obviously
captures more details in its ultra-wide shots and its macro shots from at least
3cm away from subject. This camera array is the one that puts OPPO at the top
steps of DX0Mark.
The Find X2 Series Powerhouse
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 paired to 12GB of RAM is not just
keeping the OPPO Find X2’s 5G kicking though. It is also a powerhouse to keep
the Android 10 based ColorOS 7.1 running as smoothly as possible. You can see
that smooth and snappy performance from the large 6.7-inch display that pushed
QHD+ resolution at 120Hz. If you are into gaming, you will benefit from the
240Hz sampling rate; or mor commonly known as touch response these days.
It does not stop there for its display though. The display is in a
class of its own with a 100% DCI-P3 certification. This is also the first OPPO
device to pack a 10-bit display. That also means that you get one billion
colours on the display. The O1 Ultra Vision Vision Engine on the Ultra
Vision display is also the world’s first
engine in the world of its kind on a mobile device. The engine is a hardware
based upscale mechanism that scales 30fps videos to up to 120fps videos with
minimal motion blurring and tearing. With HDR10+, the OPPO Find X2 series’
display is easily the most advanced and most accurate out there in the market.
Immersive too with Dolby ATMOS certified dual stereo speakers.
Source: OPPO
While we have spoken about the camera’s hardware capabilities, there is more to the camera than meets the eye. The 10x hybrid zoom is nothing new technically. What is new though is OPPO’s All Pixel Omni-Directional PDAF that is supposed to increase the Auto-Focus speeds with even better accuracy than regular PDAF systems. The camera also shoots at 12-bit, meaning you get even more details in your shots. Out the front is a 32-Megapixel shooter housed in a small punch-hole on the display.
You get to shoot even better in low-light conditions too
with their new Ultra-night mode 3.0 across all lenses. Your main camera though
gets Ultra Dark Mode treatment to help the camera see even better in near blackness.
While regular Optical Image Stabiliser functions would be enough for photos, videos require a little bit more than that. That is why OPPO has the Ultra Steady Mode 2.0 that combines OIS and EIS on the OPPO Find X2 series. Plus, the Live HDR mode helps you visual your videos without having to take a picture or video first. It samples HDR on top of your display once you fire up the camera. For videos also the OPPO Find X2 devices are equipped with three mics for even better and more advanced noise cancelling functions. Once you shoot, you can edit all of the footage in SoLoop app included within the device.
Source: OPPO
Source: OPPO
Source: OPPO
Source: OPPO
Source: OPPO
Source: OPPO
Source: OPPO
The OPPO Find X2 Pro will be available in Black (ceramic material) and Vegan Leather for EU€ 1199 (*MYR 5,671). The OPPO Find X2 will be available Black (ceramic) and Ocean (glass) for EU€ 999 (*MYR4,725). As expected there is a Lamborghini edition for the OPPo Find X2 series too. Both devices is expected to be available globally in May 2020. Malaysia’s launch is just in a few days away next week though. We should get more information regarding the OPPO Find X2 series’ availability and prices in the coming week. Meanwhile, stay tuned!
*Based on current exchange rate of EU€ 1 = MYR 4.73 as of 6/3/2020
*This article is contributed by Myles Hosford, Head of Security Architecture, ASEAN, AWS*
As the world
becomes more interconnected, opportunities for companies and individuals to
interact and transact across borders, time zones, and channels grow quickly. To
make sure that these transactions run smoothly, proactive management –
specifically to ensure the minimization of cost, lowering of risk, and the
elimination of inefficiencies – is needed.
Distributed
ledger technology (DLT) such as blockchain helps simplify transactions and
conduct efficient, secure interactions with multiple independent parties around
the globe. All without the need for a third-party intermediary. These
transactions can vary from sending anything from farm data, to banking and
contract transactions.
Use case: Empowering farmers to sell field data
transparently
Farmers collect
large volumes of data with each step in the planting and harvesting process.
Licensed data – data that qualifies as intellectual property of the farmer such
as which crops to plant or how many seedlings – can be anonymized, sold to
third parties and offer the agricultural industry with real-time insights on
farms across the world. However, farmers are unsure how to monetize this crop
data.
As farmers are
unsure how to monetize their crop data, Farmobile addresses these challenges through a
blockchain-based exchange, built on AWS. The solution empowers farmers to licence
data to approved buyers and includes account set up, creation, confirmation,
execution of the offer, and delivery of the digital asset. They can seamlessly
sell single-use licenses while keeping their farm’s identity completely
anonymous. However, farmers have full visibility into the identities of
potential data buyers, such as agronomists, equipment producers, and retailers,
and are free to decline offers.
Use Case: Boosting financial inclusivity
Another case
study for Blockchain technology is the financial sector in the Philippines.
Here, rural banks lack the resources of larger banking institutions, making it
nearly impossible for them to thrive or survive. This has left a large majority
of rural-based Filipinos with little or no banking access.
Photo by David McBee from Pexels
UnionBank,
a pioneer in its use of blockchain technology, joined forces with ConsenSys,
an AWS Partner , to build a blockchain solution that would resolve this issue.
The new, blockchain-based solution created a decentralized, cost-efficient, and
near real-time network, allowing for the execution of domestic payments without
relying on existing banking infrastructure and intermediaries.
The blockchain
solution introduced means that rural banks no longer have to shoulder the
burden of manually processing back-office transactions, freeing up staff to
serve more customers. As such, the technology not only increased banking access
and inclusivity but drove sustainable, future banking practices.
Use case: Limiting contract disputes in the oil and gas industry
Another example
comes from the oil and gas industry. Moving resources through the oil and gas
supply chain involves many stakeholders, including landowners, governments, oil
and gas company operators, surveyors, and financial institutions. One critical
step occurs between those mining the oil and royalty owners on whose land the
oil is mined. Checking royalty transaction payments is a lengthy, manual
process where stakeholders must agree to contract terms upfront. However, those
terms are often interpreted differently on either side, often leading to
disputes.
GuildOne,
believed companies needed more efficient, secure, and cost-effective ways to
execute a royalty contract transaction. They developed a solution through which
contract terms are capable of being replicated, and consensus agreed using
blockchain technology. By doing so, they mitigated the possibility of disputes
and eliminated a large chunk of the expense of contract administration.
To build its
royalty ledger and to meet the stringent privacy and security needs of its
stakeholders, GuildOne chose to use R3’s Corda — a blockchain platform built for
business and longevity — on AWS. Believing that the security capabilities
gained would be vital in enabling rapid adoption of the royalty ledger solution
in the oil and gas industry.
The future of blockchain technology solutions
Blockchain
solutions are transforming the ways companies and individuals do business,
locally and globally, by simplifying transactions and increasing their
efficiency. Those looking to take advantage of the technology should partner
with cloud providers capable of scaling up while delivering cybersecurity controls
and standards to protect from external attacks. With Amazon Managed Blockchain,
it eliminates the overhead required to create the network and automatically
scales to meet the demands of thousands of applications running millions of
transactions. Once a network is up and running, Managed Blockchain makes it
easy to manage and maintain the blockchain network
by managing its certificates and letting customers easily invite new members to
join the network.
App designs have come a long way. Heck, interface designs
have come a long way. Your smartphones are now more interactive and intuitive
than it could ever be. In the progression of the mobile interface, obviously there
were some not-so-good stuff along the way from time to time. Still, the
interface that we have today is so intuitive and simple that operating a
smartphone can be done by babies even.
We remembered interface designs with bright colours, plenty
of whites, with a screen busier than Tokyo’s famous intersection. Those days
are quite far gone though. Users prefer simpler designs. They prefer cleaner
looking screens, despite having a larger than life physical display. They want
as little things as possible on the display but still communicate as much
information as before.
Just about a year ago too, there has been another design
element that has gotten plenty more popular. It was just a simple colour scheme
change that changes the contrast and feel of the interface. That is what people
call the Dark Mode.
Dark mode is mainly designed with the thought of using your
device in dark conditions. The white colours of your super-bright smartphone displays
will really hurt your eyes when you look at in dark conditions. That is simple
biology really, so we are not going into that.
The idea of a dark mode stems from the use of e-books. The black
backgrounds hurt your eyes less while the whites of the words stand out enough that
you can clearly read it. This works when you are the type that reads at night,
in your bedroom, before you sleep.
Everything from your Operating System (OS) to Facebook
Messenger has a dark theme. Of course, every single person out there is begging
for a dark theme for everything else too. One app that have not gone on dark
theme yet was WhatsApp. That has changed with the latest WhatsApp app update
from your Google Play Store and Apple App Store today.
Once you update the app, either the app just follows your OS
theme settings and go on dark mode, if you are in dark mode already. If not,
you might want to switch that to dark mode. Or, you can manually switch WhatsApp
to dark mode in the app settings. All you need to do is open the app, get into
the settings, got to ‘Chats’, and then click on ‘Theme’ to select ‘Dark’, and
voila; your WhatsApp is now in ‘night reading’ mode.
What that does is change the white and light grey backdrop of WhatsApp to a near black and dark grey backdrop. That also completely changes the look and feel of WhatsApp. It looks even simpler than before. Mind you, there is no significant interface change except for the colour scheme. We also concur that the ‘Dark’ theme may not be for everyone. But at least this hurts my eyes less when I first open WhatsApp in the morning or at night. Keep in mind though that the ‘Dark’ theme only applies to the mobile app at this time.
At this point of time, COVID-19 has claimed over 3,000 lives
globally. These are known deaths caused by COVID-19 and there may be more than
that. To be honest too, this is a very difficult write-up. Not because there is
very little information to work with. It is just the fact that COVID-19 news
are not getting any better. There is a glimmer of hope though; WHO claims that
COVID-19 containment and treatment is very viable.
Source: MS Poweruser
Still, COVID-19, or more commonly known as Coronavirus at
this point has claimed more than just lives. It is affecting communities and commerce
as well. Of course it would, people run these businesses and communities,
people are getting infected and therefore sick; conducting business activities
then is difficult.
We saw Apple getting affected earlier on with their China
stores temporarily closing. Foxconn, their manufacturing plant had also stopped
operating at some point. Mobile World Congress 2020 has been cancelled; Geneva
Motorshow is also being torn down as we speak because they cancelled the event
at the very last minute. Even Formula 1 is being heavily affected; they lost China
GP this year and who knows which other GP is being cancelled due to the global
emergency that is COVID-19.
Plenty are hopeful that the disease will be contained and cured
by June or July. That is why some events has been postponed to then. Even Computex
2020 seems to be happening still. The situation now is not very encouraging
though.
This week alone we see more victims to COVID-19. On top of new confirmed deaths around the world we see Microsoft’s MVP physical event going completely digital. Facebook is also cancelling the F8 summit. Even Adobe is not spared; Adobe is having their Summit announcements completely online too. The hardest of all is Google having to cancel both their big conferences.
Source: Google
Google has cancelled their Cloud Next event earlier on this
week. They announced thought that the conference will be a completely online
affair. There was also a sort of expectation that some of the things that would
be covered on Cloud Next would appear in Google’s I/O which was still reported
to be happening. This morning proved our optimism wrong though. Google is cancelling
the Google I/O conference; their biggest developer conference of the year has
been cancelled.
If we are right, we are seeing Google’s latest Android 11 on
the big stage of Google I/O. It looks like we are going to have to see it on an
online stage instead; they show must go on, as they say. There is no final
confirmation yet on the online streaming of Google I/O yet though. We are expecting
them to go online because Google is completely equipped to livestream all their
conferences, which they have done before anyway. Of course, it helps that they
own YouTube anyway.
Google is not the first to be hit strongly by COVID-19. We
highly doubt that Google will be the last one. We are expecting the Olympics committee
to make an announcement soon regarding the Summer Olympics 2020 in Japan. For
all you know, Japan might be the one that makes the announcement of a border
containment. Still, these are just speculations; take it with a pinch of salt.
Not Google’s cancellations though, those are confirmed.
One of my favourite game franchise is coming on April 10th 2020. It is the Final Fantasy VII that came out in 1997. Before you get confused; no, the one coming on the 10th of April 2020 is not the original pixelated 8 bit thing that is the Final Fantasy VII of 1997. Rather, it is the remade version: re-imagined with new modern graphics, and new gameplay mechanics.
The Demo dropped on the 2nd of March 2020 and we downloaded it the very next day. The demo only gave us 20 minutes in gameplay. The demo only gave us the very first mission of the game. If you have not played Final Fantasy VII yet, I am not going to spoil it for you.
Before I go on about the game though, keep in mind that this is not a full review of the game, so you might not want to treat it as one. Keep in mind also that I only had a brief 20 minutes with the game, not 20 hours. While I cannot comment on the entirety of the game then, I can only come up with its first impression. That is what you are going to treat it as; first impression.
Visuals
First of all, you cannot compare graphics today to graphics over 20 years ago. You can, however, compare it with other modern games. You can compare it to the modern Final Fantasy XV.
Source: Square Enix
On initial visual inspection, it looks like both of the games use the same graphics engine. That is not to say that it is a bad thing though. Final Fantasy XV is a gorgeous game, same goes to Final Fantasy VII Remake.
While Final Fantasy XV focuses on bright colours, with complex colour schemes, and plenty of complex textures, Final Fantasy VII Remake is a stark contrast to that. Final Fantasy VII Remake focuses on hard, flat surfaces. At least on the demo itself, you see plenty of metallic environments. Cloud’s big sword is a big metal surface anyway.
Source: Square Enix
The colour tones are more flat compared to plenty of modern games understandably. While that might mean that the engine should easily cope with it, there are plenty of details still within the surfaces projected on the screen. The character models are plenty more complex than you can ever imagine Final Fantasy VII characters can be.
So far in the demo, we only saw Barret, Cloud, Aries, and a few supporting characters. Those characters really come alive with the remake. To think that 23 years ago, we only managed to see miniaturised character models unless you go into the turn based battle. Overall, that is a great experience, impressive at first impressions.
Gameplay
We spoke about turn based gameplay previously. That is the biggest difference between this new remake and the original game from 1997. Because of more complex processing power, battle is now in real-time like Final Fantasy XV. While that is the case, there are major differences in terms of look and feel though.
Source: Square Enix
The battle mechanics does not change that much from XV to VII Remake. They are both real-time and in Classic mode, Final Fantasy VII is a button masher game that looks good. It does not feel as messy and as complex as Final Fantasy XV though. That could also be because I was playing it in Classic Mode. Still, real-time melee battles can be quite jarring especially when you have no sense of control on your right joystick. It can get quite harrowing and frustrating in any other mode that Classic Mode.
Still, all the right visual cues are there. The other overlay graphics that tells you your health, MP, your action options, and others do help with the nostalgic feel of the game. They use the exact same colour palettes here. The also use the same sort of fonts in different sizes and sort of the same placements on your screen. Played out on a big screen though, I wish that those information HUD was slightly bigger.
The controls feels as simple as it can be though. That also means that you get to enjoy the gameplay more than you think. You also get to play the game more than getting frustrated over the controls, that is nice. The only difference with Final Fantasy VII from 1997, is that you can manipulate your camera angles on your own now. No more fixed camera angle from the late 90s to mid 2000s.
Is It Worth MYR 243?
I guess? To be fair, I am a cheapskate. I tend to buy games only during massive sales. The last game that I bought at full price was Death Stranding, that is after thinking about it hard for three whole days.
This is one of those games that actually shaped my childhood though. It is, I think, also the game that got me into gaming. The Final Fantasy VII from 1997 was my favourite Final Fantasy game. It was not my first, that has to go to the Final Fantasy VIII.
The Remake demo has brought back plenty of memories of that old PlayStation that I shared with my brother. It introduced a whole facet of world to me and I wanted to get lost in that world. The Remake, although just a demo, brought back some of those memories.
In that sense then, the heart that so loves the Final Fantasy VII really wants to spend that MYR 243 on this game; a physical copy with the disc and everything. My logical mind though disagrees. Logically, the gameplay is nothing new. While it looks good, there are plenty of games that might be better in terms of enjoyment out there too. Take the Star Wars: Fallen Jedi game for example. Logically then, it might be better for me to wait for the game to drop in price before spending my hard earned money on it.
Source: Square Enix
In truth then, I really cannot tell you whether or not to buy it. 20 minutes, to be very honest, is too short to judge a game. MYR 243 is not a small amount of money for a game, really. If you are feeling nostalgic and you have that much extra money to play with, I say; go ahead. If not, maybe you want to hold it off first. For me? This is the third time I’m asking myself; “am I willing to spend MYR 243 on a game?” I still do not know the answer to that.
realme has made a name for itself when it comes to budget
friendly smartphones. While they mostly play at the budget, entry-level
smartphone range, it does not mean that their products are in any way bad
products though. Their C series has proven to the market that cheap products
does not mean cheap quality and cheap experience. They have a proven track record
in the segment is what we are trying to say.
Their latest addition to their C family has just landed in
Malaysia today. What a follow up though. As expected, it is sold at less than
MYR 1,000; way lower. It will set you back MYR 499. Who says you cannot own a
smartphone below MYR 500?
Source: realme
You are not paying
for less features too. It is powered by MediaTek’s latest Helio G70 System on a
Chip (SoC). While some may perceive MediaTek’s processors to be slower or inferior
to the Qualcomm’s that is just not the case. They may not perform as well as
the Qualcomm chipsets, but that does not mean that they do not pack a punch.
The MediaTek Helio G70 SoC is effectively an Octa-core processor
with two high powered ARM Cortex-A75 cores and six low powered Cortex A-55
cores. It clocks at a maximum of 2.0GHz, which is powerful enough to plenty of
today’s flagships, technically. The only thing it might lack at this point is a
5G modem. While that seems like a bad thing, trust me, it is not as bad as you
think.
While you do not get 5G, you still get dual 4G LTE connection
on the realme C3. Yes, a you get to push in two SIM cards into this device.
Then again, dual-SIM standby is quite expected these days. Nothing to shout about
then.
Having the MediaTek Helio G70 however, is something that
they can shout about a little bit. The realme C3 is currently the only device
that packs the MediaTek SoC in Malaysia.
Source: realme
The big power from the MediaTek SoC is matched to three
cameras at the back. Yes, it is effectively a triple camera set-up. We did say
that it packs quite a lot for MYR 499.
Its main camera is a 12-Megapixel shooter paired to 12-Megapixel
telephoto lens with 4x zoom, and a 2-Megapixel macro lens for that extra close,
extra detailed photo. At the front is a 5-Megapixel shooter with the expected AI
beauty function, HDR, and what not. That front-facing camera is housed in a
small notch on top of the 6.5-inch 720p HD+ LCD display.
Small compromise on the display, a Full HD+ display on a
small budget smartphone at this price is quite impossible, you know. You still
can record at Full HD 1080p on your rear camera though, no problem with that.
Source: realme
No, you do not get in-display fingerprint sensor on this
device too. Again, expecting those kinds of things in a smartphone less than
MYR 500 is a little unrealistic. Still, it has a fingerprint sensor recess at
the back of the device. The back is not really glass but has a nice beaming texture
and pattern to it.
What it lacks in those features though, it makes up in
battery size. It packs a 5,000mAh battery within its small body. That should be
good for a whole day of battery and even more. You can even use this device as
your friend’s power banks so they owe you their lives. The Android 10 with
realme UI overlay device is charged at a maximum of 10W via a MicroUSB port; a
little old school, but hey it works. Also you may reuse all the old MicroUSB
cables you might already have.
Source: realme
Source: realme
Source: realme
Source: realme
Source: realme
Source: realme
Source: realme
The realme C3 is now available via Shopee for MYR499. If you
get the device today itself, you will get a 6-month extended warranty for free.
You can get your hands on one to feel and touch from the 7th of
March 2020 though if you really want to. If you missed the extended warranty
promotion on Shopee, you can also get the same promotion when you get your
device in realme stores on the 7th of March 2020. The realme C3 is
available in Blazing Red and Frozen Blue colour options.
Acer’s Nitro 5 series has always been a compelling option when it comes to an entry level gaming laptop. It’s also one of the most affordable gaming laptops in market right now. Acer Malaysia has just announced a refresh of its casual gaming laptop which sees the price come to about MYR 2,999.
The new Nitro 5 comes equipped with a quad core AMD Ryzen 7 processor and is complemented with an NVIDIA GTX1650 discreet graphics card. The new setup also comes with 512GB of storage. This isn’t just your regular spinning hard disk either. It’s a PCIe NVMe solid state drive (SSD) which promises quick performance and load times. It comes with 4GB of RAM but can be upgraded to 32GB should you see the need to. There is also an additional m.2 slot if you need even more performance memory. Acer is also touting that the Nitro 5 comes with an HDD upgrade Kit which allows users to upgrade the storage on the laptop.
The AMD touting Nitro 5 comes with a 15.6-inch Full HD IPS display with 120Hz refresh rate. The screen itself covers a whopping 80% of the face of the laptop thanks to it’s slim 7.18mm bezels. The new laptop also comes with Waves MaxxAudio advanced sound optimization technology with Acer’s own TrueHarmony technology for better, more immersive sound.
The Acer Nitro 5 comes with dual fans and dual exhausts which have been design with the company’s CoolBoost technology. This increases the fan speed by 10% allowing better cooling performance. In addition to this, the cooling of the GPU and CPU is also increased by 9% thanks to CoolBoost. With online gaming, your connection stability is increasingly important; the Nitro 5 comes with Killer Ethernet E2500 and Acer’s Network optimizer to help keep you up to speed. This gives you the option to manually tweak your network performance or you can simply leave it to the computer on Auto mode.
Acer’s NitroSense will allow you to keep an eye on the happenings of your Nitro 5. The software allows you to manage component temperature, loading performance, power usage among others with the hit of a dedicated Nitro Hot-Key. It also comes with HDMI 2.0 ports as well a USB Type-C and more to allow you supe up your gaming.
Pricing and Availability
The new Nitro 5 with AMD’s Ryzen 7 and NVIDIA GTX1650 is immediately available in Malaysia. Prices start at MYR2,999.
In this episode of Tech & Tonic, we have Isa Rodriguez of Isa Does Tech, her very own YouTube channel. As a tech reviewer, she is one of the more unique ones. She does not just review the tech, but also how it pairs with the lifestyle side of things. In that sense, it is a very unique and interesting approach to tech.
We spoke at length about the many smartphone launches that happened over the past week including the very anticipated and expensive HUAWEI Mate Xs. That is one eye catching device, since it is a foldable device and approaches the foldable device concept differently.
We also discussed about the Sony Xperia 1 Mk. II that really caught our eyes. We think that it is one heck of a device for creators. It is really Sony’s premium smartphone reloaded.
The war between proper cameras and smartphones continues though. Is it better to buy a super high-end smartphone, or is it better to spend some of that money to buy a camera, an interchangeable lens camera maybe. We all agreed that it really depends on what we are looking for in our smartphones or even cameras. Which is superior? Find out with Tech & Tonic Podcast.
