OK so you’ve seen unboxings before. You’ve probably seen reboxings too. But have you seen an article that’s just solely based on a smartphone’s box? Well, you’re about to because today I’m taking a look at the ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2‘s box.
I don’t think any laptop has caught my eye the way Lenovo‘s original Yoga Book did. It was not a great laptop, nor was it a particularly excellent tablet. It sat somewhere between, but most importantly, it was a breath of fresh air. There was nothing quite like the Lenovo Yoga Book back in the day, and that’s not something you can say very often.
But now, it’s finally time for a refresh. While it was easy to forgive the original Yoga Book for a lot of its flaws — because it was a first-gen device — whatever follows does not have that same luxury. And that follow-up device is called the Lenovo Yoga Book C930, or as I like to call it: The Lenovo Yoga Book 2.
I’ve seen some pretty ridiculous things in my time. From phones that cost as much as laptops, to laptops that cost as much as cars. But, none of those prepared me for this. Honestly, if you thought Acer’s Predator 21 X was a nutty gaming product, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Today, I got to check out the Acer Predator Thronos, and it’s the single, most ridiculous gaming rig I’ve ever seen.
Naturally, I completely love it.
Petronas has recently released a new E-Wallet which allows you to pay for petrol on your smartphone. It’s called
I’m a total sucker for cool-looking smartphones — I can’t help it, I’m just naturally drawn to the device with the impractical motorised cameras, or the coolest new sliding mechanism. Or, in the case of the brand new Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro, the one with the most transparent back.
But the problem with a lot of these fancy smartphones is: There’s a high chance that you’re giving something crucial up just so you can own that cool new design or mechanism. And unfortunately for the Mi 8 Pro, it looks like you’re giving up something pretty significant — something I don’t think Xiaomi really needed to do with this line of smartphone.
There are very few brands that have become so ubiquitous with what they make that a large majority of the public have begun simply replacing the product’s noun with the company’s brand. Companies like GoPro, Jacuzzi, Maggi and Google, are good examples.
Then, you’ve got Fitbit, who — perhaps to a lesser extent — once dominated the smart fitness tracker market in a similar manner. They’re probably the most well-known fitness tracker maker in the world, and today I’ve got their latest product with me. It’s called the Charge 3 and here are my first impressions.
Since I started work at SoyaCincau, only two smartphones have really, truly blown me away. One of them was the OPPO Find X — with all of its motorised camera madness — while the other was the original Mi MIX. Yes, that jaw-dropping near bezel-less smartphone that was made almost entirely out of ceramic. It was horribly impractical, ridiculously fragile and had a really dumb selfie camera placement, but I loved that phone to bits because it pretty much spat in the face of convention.
That’s why I was so disappointed when I saw the Mi MIX 2 — because it felt like Xiaomi wanted to push sales numbers more than they wanted to push the envelop — and why I was also so worried that this philosophy would carry over to its successor, the Mi MIX 3. Today, I got to spend some time with the MIX 3 and I’m relieved to report that this isn’t the case…not entirely, anyway. In fact, it looks like Xiaomi found a neat way to balance the two philosophies.
Since the very first model, the Huawei Mate series is always about having a large screen and a huge battery on a smartphone. In Huawei’s smartphone lineup, the Mate is positioned as a business phone while the P series is focused on photography.
When Huawei announced the P20 Pro with a large 6.2” FullView display and a massive 4,000mAh battery, the line that separates the two series is becoming less clear. Here’s what I think so far of the Huawei Mate 20 Pro.
Some things, on the surface of it, do not go well together. Like Maggi and Milo, ice cream and fries, Apple and affordable. And like Maggi and Milo, my 24-hours with Apple’s “cheapest” new phone – the iPhone XR (pronounced “ten R” NOT “XR” by the way) – left me feeling, amazed, annoyed, happy, frustrated and above all else, confused.
Why?
Because there’s a lot to like about the iPhone XR and that’s saying a lot considering I don’t really like iPhones that much. In fact, I don’t really like a lot of things that Apple make (except for the iPad and the Apple Watch). I so want to like the iPhone XR, the phone that Apple hopes will get more people on board the iPhone bandwagon. But there are also several things that I feel Apple could have done better, better with very little effort, but they chose not to not because it is difficult but because…they’re Apple.
I’m going to get into detail about what I mean by this but for now, let’s get to know more about the iPhone XR.
It wasn’t that long ago when we had a conversation in the office about how smartphone makers always forced us to choose between having a large battery, or having really quick fast-charging. Even at the flagship-level, this choice was almost always being forced on us. And that wasn’t cool because if you’re going to be paying top dollar for a smartphone, it should have everything, right?
Well, it looks like Huawei thinks so too, because their latest flagship smartphone is the most convincing case in point I’ve seen, of a world where we don’t have to make that tough choice. A world where you can finally have your cake and eat it too.
I’m a little on the fence when it comes to sub-brands. Part of me wonders what’s the point of launching an entirely new brand and starting from scratch again with branding, when you can just trade on the already established parent brand. But then I realise that this whole sub-brand business can actually be beneficial because it allows companies the freedom to reinvent themselves and plant a different image into the minds of the consumer.
At least, that has to be one of the strengths from a consumer’s standpoint right? And that’s why I was so perplexed by OPPO sub-brand Realme, because I don’t really see this whole reinvention angle.
I’ve always had a soft spot for Fujifilm‘s X-series of digital cameras. Well, not so much the X-A, but definitely the X-T, X-H and X100. It’s that sexy combination of old-school good looks, excellent image quality and physical dials that give their cameras that X-factor, so to speak.
And today, I got to check out the latest entry into their line of X-T cameras. It’s called the X-T3 and I’m absolutely smitten.
