Nokia’s XpressMusic line up was one of the most iconic brands back in the day. It was hard to find a youth without one of the many XpressMusic phones in their hands. It was a must have with some of the most unique features for music lovers.
This year, HMD Global is bringing back the ethos of XpressMusic in the new Nokia 5310. Yes, the company is making it a yearly affair to bring back one of Nokia’s iconic feature phones. The new Nokia 5310 comes with the familiar XpressMusic design with the red bands flanking the sides of the display. It comes in black and white.
The Nokia 5310 isn’t like the other revivals that HMD Global has done though. It only comes with 2.5G connectivity and is powered by a MediaTek MY6260A and has 8MB of RAM and 16MB of internal storage. Yep! It’s a feature phone through and through. It’s got a 2.4-inch TFT screen and is powered by a 1200mAh battery.
That said, the Nokia 5310 keeps the XpressMusic tradition of having dual loud speakers. It also has quick access music buttons on the red strip on the side of the screen.
Pricing & Availability
The Nokia 5310 will be available in selected markets starting March 2020. It will retail for €39.
OPPO has been known for its budget friendly, value-for-money devices. Over the years also, they have been known as photography masters with their devices. Okay, they have not been topping the photography benchmarks until now with the OPPO Find X2 Pro. Still, we have always liked and OPPO budget smartphone. We like their entry-level and mid-range offers because they are actually quality products. They are well made, and they work well for what you are paying. They feel optimised.
Smartphones have gotten more expensive these days. This is
also consistent with OPPO’s offerings over the years. Occasionally though, there
is a device that just goes back to basics. For OPPO, that device is the OPPO
A91 that is just launched today.
No, there is no big launch gambit. If you are not updated
just yet, Malaysia is now under lock down order from the government. Non-essential
services and businesses are supposed to be closed and we are all force to work
from home. Thank goodness for the Internet.
Source: OPPO
The OPPO A91 is a basic entry-level device at MYR 999. Despite
the price though, it looks like a premium OPPO device. It is finished on both
sides with glass, so it will also feel premium. If other smartphones from OPPO
is any indication, the OPPO A91 should be a quality hardware too.
There is nothing to shout about when it comes to its processing
power, a MediaTek Helio P70 Octa-core System on a Chip (SoC). It is what you
commonly find on budget smartphones. It is still an adequately powerful SoC
though. You get 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage too, which is quite plenty for
the price you pay.
Those things power up the Android 9.1 based ColorOS 6.1
projected to a 6.4-inch display. No, not a 720P HD display. You get a Full HD+
AMOLED display protected underneath a Gorilla Glass 5. You even get an
in-display fingerprint sensor. All of this is powered by a 4,025 mAh battery
that also comes with VOOC 3.0 charging to fully charge your device from an
empty battery to full in an hour.
Source: OPPO
The biggest upsell of the OPPO A91 though is its camera. You
do not only get two lenses, not even three. You get four lenses point out the
back of the device. It features a 48-Megapixel main shooter that is partnered
with an 8-Megapixel ultra-wide angle lens, 2-Megapixel monochrome sensor, and a
2-Megapixel depth sensor. No telephoto lens to be found here. The ultra-wide
lens can focus and capture images from a minimum distance of 3cm.
The camera software packs the usual AI beauty mode or AI scenes
for an optimised photo. You also get the Night Portrait mode in this device for
all your low-light shoots. Video is steadier than ever with the built-in Electronic
Image Stabilisation (EIS).
The OPPO A91 entry-level smartphone is available now for MYR
999 on OPPO’s official stores on Shopee
and Lazada.
From now to 26th of March, the OPPO A91 is now on sale for only MYR
899. Of course, terms and conditions apply.
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.
The entry segment is a tricky one with companies having to balance performance and a tight budget. Sony did that last year with their Xperia L3. This year, they are introducing a new device, the Sony Xperia L4 into the foray.
The new Sony Xperia L4 seems to have a lot in common with its predecessor. The only difference is the new triple camera array on the back of the smartphone. That right, you read that right. The new triple camera array is the ONLYsignificant difference in the new phone. Other than that, the phone looks, feels and has the same internals as the L3.
The Xperia L4 comes with the same Mediatek Helios P22 processor we saw in the L3. It has an increased 64GB of internal storage but still comes with 3GB of RAM. It’s also keeping the plastic build of the L3 with updates to support the Xperia L4’s new triple camera. It comes with a larger 6.2-inch HD+ IPS LCD display with a resolution of 720×1680 pixels. It also adopts the new 21:9 standard that Sony is pushing for their smartphones.
The smartphone runs on Android 9 (Pie) and has support for all the run of the mill connectivity options such as Bluetooth 5.0, WiFi a/b/g/b/n and GPS. It’s powered by a 3,580mAh battery which supports fast charging through its USB-C port.
Now on to the biggest difference. The Sony Xperia L4 is the first phone in Sony’s entry segment to have a triple camera array. The main sensor of the L4 is a 1/3.0-inch, 13-megapixel sensor with a 26mm focal length and F2.0 aperture. This is supported by a 1/5.0-inch 5-megapixel sensor with a 17mm focal length and F2.2 aperture; and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. On the front, there’s an 8-megapixel sensor with a 27mm focal length and F2.0 aperture.
There is no word on the pricing just yet. However, it will be available in select markets starting Spring 2020.
