Huawei is reportedly working on a 5G phone that will supposedly launch by year-end or early next year. The upcoming 5G phone is priced at around CNY 1028 or Php 7,529, making it the cheapest 5G phone. The current record-holder is priced at CNY 2,000 or Php 14,746.
The MediaTek 1000L and Qualcomm Snapdragon 756G chipsets will make the Php 7,500 5G phone possible. Both budget chipsets come with optional 5G modem integration. This move will bring 5G connectivity to low-end and mid-range phones that previously only flagship devices enjoy.
Huawei and Samsung are the only companies that have started adopting 5G. Last year, Samsung shipped 6.7M 5G-enabled devices, while Huawei 6.9 million 5G phones.
realme Philippines has just unveiled their newest product in the country and it’s the best-value true wireless sound earbuds — the realme Buds Air. This product goes head to head with products like the Huawei Freebuds 3 and the Apple Airpods that are available in the market right now.
So what can we expect from the realme buds Air? well, it does have an R1 chipset with Bluetooth 5.0 inside so you can have a seamless connection with your device and the realme Buds air. It also comes with dual-channel transmission technology that enhances the audio and minimizes the latency for better synchronization.
The realme Buds air also comes with touch controls and built-in Google Assistant so you can have intelligent touch operations on the earbuds. There’s a wireless charging on the device too which great separates the realme Buds Air from the rest of the TWS earbuds in the price segment.
The realme Buds Air is pretty affordable for the features that you’re getting at Php3,990. They’ll also offer the realme Buds Air at the official realme Lazada Flagship store starting January 22, 2020 for only Php2,990. The discounted price will only be applied this January 22, 29 and February 6. First 100 customers will also get a wireless charging pad to the first 100 customers.
Realme Philippines will also be offering special vouchers on its official Facebook page from January 22 to February 6. The vouchers will further lower the price of the realme Buds Air by PHP500. Also, customers who will purchase both a realme smartphone and a realme Buds Air enjoy an additional discount of PHP1,000.
Bad news to the commuters of Metro Manila as the Department of Transportation has just announced that they’ll terminate the motorcycle-taxi study and they’ll consider the motorcycle-taxi services illegal and they’ll be apprehended starting next week.
This is a disappointing move since DOTr and LTFRB didn’t provide any alternatives or solutions to the people living in the metro. Aside from that, the TWG recommended on blacklisting Angkas and its parent company, DBDOYC.
All of the three motorcycle taxis will be apprehended starting next week and these are Angkas, JoyRidem and Moveit
The Xiaomi Mi 10 is the next flagship device of the Chinese company and everyone is excited about the smartphone and thankfully, there’s an official look to the smartphone in their latest banner. The Xiaomi Mi 10 does look like the Xiaomi Mi Mix Alpha minus the wrap-around display on the smartphone.
As expected, the smartphone would come with Snapdragon 865 processor and 5G as seen in the banner and of course, there’s the quad-camera setup at the back of the smartphone that is headlined by the 108MP rear camera.
The Xiaomi Mi 10 is also expected to be unveiled this February 11, the same date for the unveiling of the Samsung Galaxy S20 series smartphones.
We went to Jakarta, Indonesia a few days ago to check out the latest mid-range smartphones from Samsung — the Samsung Galaxy A51 and Galaxy A71. Both smartphones are an upgrade from the Galaxy A50s and Galaxy A70s but this time, we’re getting here a better look on the outside and hardware inside. The Samsung Galaxy A71
One of the best features that I really like on the smartphone is the infinity-O display and also the quad-camera setup at the back that performed just fine in our hands-on.
Samsung Galaxy A71 Specs
6.7-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity-O Display
Snapdragon 730 Octa-Core Processor
8GB RAM
128GB Internal storage expandable via MicroSD
64MP main camera + 12MP ultra-wide + 5MP Depth + 5MP macro lens
32MP Selfie Camera
WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
In-display fingerprint scanner
LTE, Dual SIM
25W Fast Charging
4500mAh battery
Android 10 with One UI 2.0
The Samsung Galaxy A71 is expected to arrive soon in the Philippines and we’re definitely excited for the smartphones to arrive in the country.
Before the end of 2019, Vivo Philippines has announced the arrival of the Vivo S1 Pro. It’s the pro brother of the Vivo S1 but despite that, they do have different looks and this one is a lot better. The S-series of Vivo has become their mid-range smartphone series but does the S1 Pro can live up to our expectations? Check out our review of the smartphone below:
Vivo S1 Pro Review: Design and Hardware
When it comes to design, the Vivo S1 Pro is different from the Vivo S1 as this one is more ergonomic and personally, I find this one more attractive than the latter thanks to the diamond-shaped camera module of the smartphone.
What we got is the Knight Black and it does look great thanks to its glass construction and also the curves that feel good. It doesn’t feel thick as the curves at the back helps in the ergonomics of the smartphone. There’s no gradient color in this color but it does offer a reflection and some effects depending on the lighting.
This smartphone doesn’t lack in ports as we got here a USB-C port below that supports Dual-engine fast charging which is still 18W and then there’s the speaker grill beside the smartphone and of course, there’s the 3.5mm headphone jack at the top of the smartphone.
We have here a power button and the volume rocker on the right side of the smartphone and it’s very reachable to the hands. The smartphone also features an in-display fingerprint scanner and it does its job pretty well if you ask me.
Vivo S1 Pro Review: Display
There’s a Super AMOLED display on this smartphone that measures at 6.38-inch with a Full HD+ resolution. There’s no mention of any protection on the glass of the smartphone but don’t worry because this one comes with a screen protector.
The colors of the display were really fine and I do like the vividness and the sharpness of the display. I’m a little bit bias to Super AMOLED displays because of the vividness but this one also features a pretty good 90% screen-to-body ratio on the smartphone that feels pretty immersive.
Vivo S1 Pro Review: Battery life
If you’ve noticed with Vivo smartphones, most of their smartphones feature a large battery inside and with the Vivo S1 Pro, we’re getting here a 4500mAh battery which is pretty big for its size. In our PC Mark Battery Test, we managed to get a score of 14 hours and 26 minutes which is really great. In my usage, the Vivo S1 Pro can last up to a day of usage despite playing games once in a while.
Vivo S1 Pro Review: Software
The smartphone still runs on FunTouch OS 9.2 based on Android 9 Pie. There’s no word if Android 10 will arrive on this smartphone but this one comes with some features that you’re familiar with like Digital Wellbeing in where you could see the data of your app usage.
The FunTouch OS UI is heavily skinned and it’s very different from the one on vanilla android. The home screen is also the app drawer of the smartphone but it does come with a UI that is easy on the eyes and most of the elements in the UI are user-friendly so nothing to worry about that.
As expected, the smartphone will show the notifications by swiping down from the top and also the functions including brightness and sounds by swiping up from the bottom. This is actually a staple UI design of the FunTouch OS on all Vivo smartphones.
There are also some pre-installed applications but you don’t have to worry about that since we’re getting a 128GB of internal storage on the smartphone
Vivo S1 Pro Review: Performance
The smartphone runs on a Snapdragon 665 processor that is paired with 8GB of RAM. The processor is the same one being used by the Realme 5 and OPPO A9 2020. We’ve tried the processor of the smartphone before and we got satisfying results as we can run most games and applications on the smartphone without a problem.
We also tried benchmarking the smartphone and we got some pretty fine results. Check out the results that I got in different benchmarking applications:
Screenshot 20191210 112755
Screenshot 20200110 004419
Screenshot 20200110 011616
When it comes to gaming, the Vivo S1 Pro will do just fine. Well, it might not be able to run the games at the highest settings but the Vivo S1 Pro will be able to run most of them as long as you turned down the settings. In NBA 2k20, we managed to play the game at high settings, in Black Desert Mobile, we were able to set it at highest settings but I recommend turning it down and in COD: Mobile, we set the game at high settings to get the max framerate. Check out the FPS that we got at GameBench on these smartphones:
Overall, the Vivo S1 Pro can run almost all games on the Play store right now as long as you adjust the settings of the smartphone. IT might not be as powerful as the Snapdragon 675 on the Vivo V17 Pro but the smartphone will do just fine in gaming as long as you set it in the right settings for the game.
The smartphone is considered pro because this one packs a quad-camera rear camera with a 48MP main camera. Aside from that, there’s the 8MP ultrawide lens, 2MP depth sensor and 2MP macro lens on the smartphone and on the front, we got here a 32MP selfie camera.
For selfies, the Vivo S1 Pro did well in decent lighting conditions and in lowlight, I noticed that the selfie camera can do brighter photos than I expected. When it comes to videos, the Vivo S1 Pro can only record at a maximum of 1080p at 30fps and it will do just fine as long as you just use it for social media usage.
When it comes to the rear camera of the smartphone, it will produce lively and decent photos. It’s actually better than I expected the colors that I can get on the smartphone were really fine. The dynamic range was pretty good and it can capture just fine details. You can clearly see that this isn’t the best camera when it comes to the mid-range smartphones but it does its job well for its price range. Check out the shots that I took using the smartphone:
IMG 20191207 105853
IMG 20191224 171304
IMG 20191224 165429
IMG 20191224 171031
IMG 20191207 110028
IMG 20191224 165110
IMG 20191224 163958
IMG 20191224 164348
IMG 20191224 163453
IMG 20191224 163337
Vivo S1 Pro Review: Verdict
Overall, the Vivo S1 Pro is a fine mid-range smartphone. It doesn’t have the best hardware inside but it ticks the boxes that I need on a mid-range smartphone. The performance is good, the camera is fine, there’s long battery life, and the display was really good on this one. This smartphone is actually a pretty decent one.
The Vivo S1 Pro is now available for Php15,990.
Vivo S1 Pro Specs
Qualcomm Snapdragon 655 Octa-Core Processor
6.38-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED Display
8GB RAM
128GB Internal Storage expandable via MicroSD
48MP AI Quad Camera + 8MP Super Wide-Angle Camera + 2MP Macro Camera + 2MP Bokeh Lens
Y8.com is a popular free-to-play website containing a social network of 30 million players. Y8 Games, the company behind y8.com, is a renowned game publisher and developer and is, unfortunately, announcing that it will shut down most of its games. Y8.com’s game library is made up of mostly Adobe Flash, WebGL, and HTML5.
y8 2
y8 1
There are rumors that Y8 games will be shutting down y8.com this year. It turns out, the website will not be closing, but a butt-load of its game library bids farewell to our childhood. While y8.com’s game library is diverse, most of the chunk and popular ones use Adobe Flash. The website will no longer support Adobe Flash. Other games based on WebGL and HTML will remain with some Adobe Flash-based games shifting to the formats mentioned above.
y8 3
y8 4
The social gaming platform is well known for its classic and arcade-style games. Other popular genres are dress-up, car games, and 2-player games. Most of us grew up playing these types of games back when Fiber internet, mobile gaming, and eSports were not yet a thing.
If you’re planning on getting the Huawei Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro, then you better check out Lazada, Shopee, and Abenson as they’re offering freebies to buyers for a limited time! First customers who will purchase these smartphones will be able to get some freebies including DJI Osmo Mobile, Car Super Charger, or Wireless Charger.
Lazada and Shopee – First 100 customers will receive a Php 500 voucher with 2 years warranty
Customer 1 – 10: DJI Osmo Mobile
Customer 11 – 20: Car Super Charger
Customer 21 – 100: Wireless Charger
Abenson
Customer 1 – 5: DJI Osmo Mobile
Customer 6 – 15: Wireless Charger
The Huawei Mate 30 Pro is one of our favorite smartphones last year due to the powerful camera of the smartphone an amazing video capability.
February 11 will be definitely exciting as the all-new Samsung Galaxy S devices are expected to unveiled there but leaks have been floating around the smartphone left and right and now, the specifications of all the Galaxy S20 series have leaked out in the internet.
Exclusive: Full specifications of the Samsung Galaxy S20 Series are here! Some interesting details: Exynos 990 for all three phones in European and Asian Markets. 40MP (?!) Front Camera for S20 Ultra! Checkout the image!
LINK(Please add link in credits): https://t.co/az6WmSkNK7pic.twitter.com/XsDfaINkbE
According to leaks, there will be three versions of the Samsung Galaxy S20 and these are the Samsung Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20 Plus and the Galaxy S20 Ultra. These three smartphones seem to be the successor of the Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10, and the Galaxy S10+.
The leak from Ishan Agarwal has shown that the three smartphones will run on Exynos 990 processor. Aside from that, each smartphone will have a different camera setup with the Galaxy S20 Ultra rocking a 108MP quad-camera and a 40MP selfie camera and also a large 6.9-inch WQHD+ display.
All smartphones are also expected to come with 120Hz refresh rate which will bring a smoother and better experience on the display of these smartphones.
In case you’re not informed, PLDT has been offering Free Speedboost for a while now and we do love the speed boost that we’re getting since we can get up to 2x the speed that you’re getting right now on your PLDT Unli Fibr Plan. But what can you do with that speedboost? Check out some of our list below.
Be more productive
With faster speeds, you can be more productive with your work as you can download your deck faster and of course, access any websites that you need in a snap with a faster speeds
Lag-free streaming
Whether you want to stream your games on Facebook Gaming or just watch Netflix, the boosted speeds can help you stream with a faster and better quality. With boosted speeds, you can notch up the resolution and quality that you’re streaming at a higher quality.
Better gaming
Better speeds which mean that you can also download clients and patches faster and of course, with PLDT, you can have a better gaming experience on the boosted speeds of the PLDT Home Fibr.
PLAN
CURRENT SPEEDS up to
BOOSTED SPEEDS
now up to
Unli Fibr Plan 1299
5 Mbps
10 Mbps
Unli Fibr Plan 1699
15 Mbps
20 Mbps
Unli Fibr Plan 1899
25 Mbps
30 Mbps
Unli Fibr Plan 2899
50 Mbps
100 Mbps
Google Wifi Plan 2299
30 Mbps
50 Mbps
Google Wifi Plan 3299
60 Mbps
100 Mbps
Google Wifi Plan 4299
120 Mbps
150 Mbps
Google Wifi Plan 6299
250 Mbps
300 Mbps
If you want to know more, be sure to check out www.pldt.com.ph/speedboost and to get your Free Speedboost.