Two new smartphones in the Galaxy A series have been unveiled last MWC 2019 and these are the Samsung Galaxy A50 and the Galaxy A30 that offers an Infinity-U display and some unique features.
The Samsung Galaxy A30 features a 6.4” Super AMOLED Infinity-U display and it offers a dual lens rear camera with one of them an ultra wide-angle lens and then there’s the fingerprint scanner and the face unlock.
Samsung Galaxy A30 Specs
6.4-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED, 1080×2340
Samsung Exynos 9610 processor
3GB/4GB RAM
32GB/64GB internal storage expandable via MicroSD up to 512GB
16MP f1.7+ 5MP f2.2 Ultra wide angle rear camera
16MP f2.0 front camera
LTE, Dual Sim
WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
Fingerprint scanner
Fast Charging
4000mAh battery
While the Samsung Galaxy A50 is the better brother as it features a more powerful Exynos 7904 chipset, triple lens rear camera and also an in-display fingerprint scanner. And of course, there’s the Live focus thanks to its depth lens and then the AI camera that can capture the best shots with Scene Optimizer
Samsung Galaxy A50 Specs
6.4-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED, 1080×2340
Samsung Exynos 9610 processor
3GB/4GB RAM
32GB/64GB internal storage expandable via MicroSD up to 512GB
There’s no word regarding the availability and the price of both smartphones in the Philippines but in India, The Samsung Galaxy A30 is priced at INR 16,990 (Php12,407~) while the Galaxy A50 is priced INR 19,990 (Php14,599~)
OPPO has also joined the game in the Shopee 3.3 Mega Shopping sale as the company are selling their selected smartphones at a really affordable price. The three smartphones that are available for sale on Shopee are the OPPO F5, OPPO F7 64GB, and the F7 128GB.
The three smartphones have already been succeeded by the OPPO F9 which is now avialable today but these three smartphones are still good until today.
The OPPO F5 is initially available at Php15,990 but you can now get it for Php8,990 while the OPPO F7 64GB is initially available for Php17,990 but it is now available for Php11,990 while OPPO F7 128GB is initially available at Php21,990 but you can get it for Php13,990.
This promo is until today, March 3, 2019. If you want to check it out, head over to Shopee.ph/oppophilippines
If you’re planning on buying a brand new Vivo smartphone then you better check out Shopee today as the company is offering sales of up to 50% discounts on selected models for Shopee’s mega shopping day
Some of the smartphones included in the promo are Vivo Y69 for only Php5,599, Vivo Y71 (2GB) for Php5,499, Vivo Y85 for Php8,999, Vivo V5 Plus for Php9,999, and the Vivo V9 for only Php10,999.
All of the smartphones from Vivo features a perfect shot with superb photography settings and cutting-edge camera features. Each smartphones has their own strengths and unique features that you’ll surely love.
Vivo has unveiled a new smartphone and it’s the Vivo IQOO. It’s a gaming smartphone with a monstrous specifications and the best smartphone? The smartphone will have a competitive pricing.
The VIVO IQOO will run on Snapdragon 855 and it will have up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. There’s a 44W fast charging too which is pretty fast and then there’s the 6.41-inch OLED panel with waterdrop notch and underdisplay fingerprint scanner.
The smartphone also features AI turbo, Center Turbo, Net Turbo, and Cooling Turbo which can help improve the performance of the smartphone especially at games.
Vivo iQOO Specs
6.41-inch Full HD+ AMOLED Display
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Chipset
6GB/8GB/12GB RAM
128GB/256GB Internal storage
12MP+13MP Wide-angle+2MP Rear camera
12MP front camera
LTE, Dual Sim
WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, NFC
Under display fingerprint scanner, Vapor Chamber cooling
Cherry Mobile has also joined the Shopee 3.3 Mega Sale at Shopee and this time, they’re selling the Cherry Mobile Desire R8. We’ve reviewed the smartphone some time ago and we really appreciate the smartphone’s camera and also its solid build quality. Until now, it’s still one of my favorite smartphones from Cherry Mobile.
The Cherry Mobile Desire R8 features a dual lens camera and also a fingerprint scanner on the front with a USB-C. The smartphone is initially priced at Php9,999 but you can get it for only Php4,599.
ASUS Philippines has recently announced their Zenfone “Summer Sale Madness” in where selected ASUS Zenfones are now available at a LOWER PRICES. The included Zenfones in the sale are the ASUS Zenfone 5, Zenfone 5Q, Zenfone 4 Selfie Lite, Zenfone Max Plus M1, and the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1.
The ASUS Zenfone 4 Zenfone Selfie Lite is an entry-level Android smartphone and it packs a SD425 inside, 13MP Selfie camer with Softlight LED flash, Selfiemaster technology, and 3GB RAM. The smartphone is now priced at Php5,995.
The ASUS Zenfone Max Plus M1 is one of their first smartphones to sport a 19:9 display aspect ratio and it packs an 18:9 FHD+ display, 16MP + 120-degree dual rear lens camera and a large 4130mAh battery. The ASUS Zenfone Max Plus M1 is now priced at Php6,995.
The ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 4GB is also available at a lower priced. The smartphone features a Snapdragon 636 processor, 16MP+5MP dual rear camera, 18:9 FHD+ display and a 5000mAh battery. The smartphone is now priced at Php8,995.
The quad-camera packing ASUS Zenfone 5Q comes with a 24MP+wide angle lens selfie camera, 16MP+wide-angle lens rear camera, 18:9 FHD+ display, and 3300mAh battery. The smartphone is now priced at Php9,995.
While the ASUS Zenfone 5 packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor, 12MP+120-degree wide angle lens with AI scene detection, 19:9 FHD+ display, & 3300mAh battery is now priced at Php14,995.
If you want to check out check out these smartphones, be sure t check them all out at ASUS Zenfone stores, kiosks and official retailers.
We Filipinos are slowly embracing the digitally-powered lifestyle and with the all-new PLDT Fam Cam, we can now have a sleeker and improved security coverage for our homes.
The PLDT Home Fam Cam is the company’s home monitoring system and it is now available in two new models which are equipped with new features in visual coverage, motion and sound detection, and HD quality images.
The all-new basic Fam Cam lets you move to a 120-degree wide angle lens for better visual coverage and then there’s the night vision that you can really use at night and a bluetooth set-up, motion and sound detection, HD quality image, and a mobile app support. Not only that, it is smart-home ready too as it supports Alexa and Google Home technologies.
And then there’s the Advanced Fam Cam which all the same features but with a built-in microphone and speaker for two-way communication, SD card slot, and an ultra 4x zoom capability. It also has a better 180-degree wide angle range for better visual.
If you’re interested with the PLDT’s Basic Fam Cam, you can just add Php99/month to your monthly billing while the Advanced Fam Cam, will cost you Php399/month on top of your monthly billing.
OPPO Philippines has updated their mid-range smartphone, the OPPO A7 and it now comes in a smaller 3GB RAM variant but still retained the 64GB internal storage. Of course, the rest of the hardware of the smartphone is still the same including the Snapdragon 450 chipset inside, 13MP+2MP Dual rear lens camera, 16MP Front camera, and the huge 4230mAh battery inside.
OPPO A7 3GB Specs
6.2-inch In-Cell HD+ Display
1.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 Processor
3GB RAM
64GB Internal Storage
13MP+2MP Rear camera with LED Flash
16MP Front Camera
WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
Dual SIM, LTE
Fingerprint scanner
ColorOS 5.2 with (Android 8.1 Oreo)
4230mAh battery
The smartphone will still be available in Glaring Gold and Glaze Blue which are really eye-catching. The OPPO A7 3GB is now available in the Philippines for Php10,990.
Tablets are not yet dead. Despite the availability of large smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy Note9 that offers a large 6.4-inch display and offers S-Pen, we still see tablets everywhere. Actually here in the Philippines, we still have some mid-range tablets like the one that we’re reviewing today, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5. Check out our review of the tablet below
Design and construction
The Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 doesn’t have the same solid and premium feel of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 but the plastic build of the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 does feel sturdy to me and it doesn’t have a hollow feeling into it. But surprisingly, despite the plastic build of the tablet, it isn’t as light as I expected which adds to a more sturdy feel of the tablet.
When it comes to ports, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 got everything that we need on a tablet, it features a USB-C port that supports fast charging and then there are the quad speakers with Dolby Atmos surround sound and yes, it was crisp and clear which is perfect for movies and videos but I couldn’t say that this is the best one that I’ve seen on a tablet. The tablet also comes with a headphone jack in case you want to use earphones or external speakers.
The smartphone doesn’t come with Bixby button but the power button and the volume rocker is placed on one of its side and on landscape mode, we got a larger bezel on the sides which makes the tablet easier to hold when watching videos on YouTube or Netflix. But the placement of the selfie camera and, buttons, and the rear camera is made for portrait usage. Nonetheless, these placements don’t really affect how I use the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5
Another welcome addition to the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 is the cellular data functionality. There’s the single sim card tray and also the MicroSD card slot on one tray and yes, you can send messages and even make calls on this tablet. However, I strongly suggest that you only use this tablet for browsing the web as using this as your main phone might be awkward since this is a giant tablet.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 features a 5-megapixel front facing camera and then there’s the 8-megapixel rear camera with AF. When it comes to camera quality, I’ll still suggest getting a smartphone for that but the smartphone’s camera will be just fine if you’re gonna use it for video calls.
When it comes to battery life, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 is quite decent as it can reach up to 11 hours of 33 minutes on PC Mark which is long and perfect for media purposes.
Screenshot 20181202 173217 PCMark
Display
The Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 features a large 10.5-inch display with WUXGA resolution (1920×1200) which is a 16:10 display aspect ratio. It might not be the best aspect ratio for watching movies but this one is definitely good if you’re planning to do multitasking on the tablet as the 16:10 display aspect ratio gives you enough space when using split-screen mode on landscape mode which is really cool.
When it comes to display quality, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 wasn’t the best one in its class despite having a WUXGA resolution because of its use of TFT instead of Super AMOLED display which is way more colorful than the former. Nonetheless, it’s still big enough for playing games and also watching movies on Netflix.
Software
The Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 is running on Android Oreo with a UI that is more optimized for tablets. Well, it does look like a giant phone (Actually, you can use the Galaxy Tab A 10.5 as a phone). It does come with some features and apps that are exclusive to Samsung but nothing really special about it.
Though what I like about the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 is that I can do multi-window on landscape really well due to the 16:10 display aspect ratio. I do have a decent spacing in different applications and event games. In my opinion, 16:10 is the perfect aspect ratio when doing multi-window on landscape mode.
Performance
The Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 features a Snapdragon 450 chipset which is available in the market for a while now and then there’s the 3GB RAM. Well, the performance of the tablet will be just fine if you’re just into watching videos on YouTube and streaming Netflix. Of course, you could still do Ragnarok M: Eternal love on this one but don’t expect too much on heavier games on this one as the Snapdragon 450 chipset is won’t be as powerful as most tablets.
PUBG Mobile – Smooth graphics, high framerate
If you want to know more about the performance of the tablet, here are the benchmark scores that we got on the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5
The Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 isn’t the most powerful tablet in the market but this tablet will be just fine if you’re into watching Netflix and doing some casual stuff. I like the battery life on this tablet and the quad-speakers of the tablet is good especially when you’re watching movies or videos but it isn’t the best one. The multi-window on its 16:10 display was also good as I can have better viewing on that one.
However, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 is still using a Snapdragon 450 which doesn’t really shine in performance but it will be enough for basic app usage and some casual games including Ragnarok M. While we do like the aspect ratio, we find the display quality a little bit lacking to me.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 is now available for Php24,999
Finally, one of the Redmi smartphones that a lot of people are waiting for is here and it’s the Redmi Note 7 Pro. The smartphone looks similar to the Redmi Note 7 but this one got an upgraded specs but we still have some of the features that we love on the smartphone including the 48MP camera and then there’s the Dot Notch display.
4/64GB & 6/128GB expandable via MicroSD up to 256GB
48MP + 5MP AI Dual Rear Camera
13MP Selfie Camera with AI Face Unlock
WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou
LTE, Dual Sim
Fingerprint Sensor
IR Blaster
USB-C
3.5mm headphone jack
4000mAh battery
Quick Charge 4.0
The Redmi Note 7 Pro does have a more powerful processor with its Snapdragon 675 chipset and then of course, we still have the gradient glass back with aura design which makes the smartphone really beautiful.
The Redmi Note 7 Pro will be available in Nebula Red, Neptune Blue, and Space Black at the following prices:
