Looks like we’ll be getting a taste of the ASUS Zenfone Max M2 here in the Philippines really soon as ASUS has recently teased the smartphone in their Facebook page and a smartphone dealer has also leaked the price of the smartphone which isn’t out yet in the Philippine market.
ASUS Zenfone Max M2 Specs
6.3-inch HD+ IPS Display
Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 Octa-Core Processor
3GB RAM
32GB storage expandable via MicroSD
13MP+2MP rear camera
8MP front camera
WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
LTE, Dual Sim
Face Unlock
Fingerprint Scanner
Stock Android 8 Oreo
4000mAh battery with fast charging
The ASUS Zenfone Max M2 is priced at Php8,995 according to Villman.
I’ve been saying this for a long time now but if there’s a smartphone brand that you should take a look at this year then that’s Realme. The company is still young and yet, they know want young consumers want on their smartphones and today, we will review their entry-level smartphone, the Realme C1.
Design and Hardware
When it comes to build quality and design, the Realme C1 shines in its price range. It actually looks like the OPPO A3s but with the Realme logo at the back. The smartphone is comfortable to hold despite having a flat back thanks to its curved sides which has a solid build that’s why the smartphone has a premium feel into it.
The back of the smartphone is laminated glass and it doesn’t feel cheap. Actually, I dropped the smartphone for a few times and I was confident that it won’t break thanks to the Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection of the smartphone.
Below the smartphone is where you can find the headphone jack and also the Micro USB port of the smartphone. The port is already expected to be like that as the Realme C1 is a budget smartphone. The power button of the smartphone is placed on the right while the volume rocker is placed on the opposite side. The smartphone also houses a triple sim card tray which can be found at the top of the volume rocker.
One feature that is missing in the smartphone is the fingerprint scanner but don’t worry because it still features face unlock and I was not surprised that the face unlock of the smartphone works well and it’s pretty fast similar to the OPPO smartphones. Actually, I don’t miss the fingerprint scanner of the smartphone as the face unlock is already enough for me.
Battery
The Realme C1 features a 4230mAh of battery and since we only have an HD+ display on the smartphone, the battery consumption of the Realme C1 is pretty efficient despite using it most of the time. In PCmark, we got a score of 16 hours 20 minutes which is the longest one that I’ve reviewed on a smartphone. The Realme C1 actually has phenomenal battery life.
Display
The Realme C1 is one of the few smartphones in its price range to sport a notch display. Well, it’s pretty big too at 6.2-inch thanks to the notch and then there’s the HD+ resolution which is already expected since this is just a budget smartphone. Despite the resolution, I still find the display of the Realme C1 fine for me. It’s actually fine enough to be used in direct sunlight.
Again, there’s a notch in the display of the Realme C1 but thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as you think despite not having a waterdrop style notch. Unfortunately, the smartphone’s notch can’t be turned off in the settings. But most of the apps and games that I’ve tried on the Realme C1, didn’t have any problems with the smartphone’s notched display.
Software
The Realme C1 uses ColorOS 5.1 based on Android 8.1 Oreo. That’s very similar software offering OPPO. The UI is still smooth despite being an entry-level smartphone and everything was user-friendly with this smartphone. Of course, the default look of the smartphone doesn’t have an app drawer but a lot of smartphones are already adopting that style.
There’s a smart assistant on the smartphone too which can display you some quick functions, weather, and other information that might help you when you use the Realme C1. The default browser of the Realme C1 is Opera but of course, you can still download other browsers on the Play store.
There are pre-loaded apps on the smartphone too like Phone Manager which helps you optimize the smartphone which is really essential since the smartphone only packs a 16GB of internal storage so I highly recommend that you get a microSD card for your smartphone when you’re getting this one.
Performance
In its price range, the Realme C1 has a big advantage as the smartphone features a Snapdragon 450 chipset. As of this posting, this is the most affordable smartphone to have this chipset and then there’s the 2GB of RAM which is probably enough considering that this is just an entry-level smartphone but doesn’t expect to be able to run tons of apps simultaneously with this smartphone.
I was able to run some games on the Realme C1 including the popular Battle Royale game that is pretty heavy to some chipsets — PUBG Mobile. I was able to run PUBG Mobile at 30 fps at 98% FPS stability on smooth graphic settings with high framerates.
The benchmarks didn’t fail to amaze me for its price as we got these scores at different benchmarking apps.
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For its price, the Realme C1 is actually pretty good.
Camera
The Realme C1 comes with 13MP+2MP rear camera that can do portrait mode. The camera of the smartphone is one of its main features and since we got a depth sensor on the smartphone, taking portrait shots on this one is pretty good. Check out the photos that we took using the smartphone.
Most of the shots that we took were pretty good. It’s not the best one but for its price range, I’m actually impressed. It’s sharp and the colors were good. Lowlight shots weren’t perfect but it will do. Selfies are just fine on this smartphone and thanks to AI, you can have better beautification on the smartphone’s selfie camera.
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The interface of the Realme C1’s camera app is very similar to OPPO smartphones so if you’re coming from an OPPO smartphone, there’s nothing to worry about here. You can do time-lapse, video up to 1080p, photo, portrait, sticker, and panorama.
Verdict
The Realme C1 is the best smartphone in its price range. The specifications and its hardware demolish other smartphones in its price range. For Php5,990, you’ll be having a premium and solid build quality with Gorilla Glass 3, a dual-lens camera, a long battery life, and a powerful SD450 chipset.
But if you’re gonna buy this smartphone, you should take note that the Realme C1 only features an HD+ resolution and a 16GB of storage so I really suggest that you get a MicroSD card for your smartphone.
The Realme C1 is now available for a very affordable price of Php5,990
Looks like Motorola RAZR will make a comeback this year and it will come in a $1500 price tag with a foldable screen which is expected to be a trend on smartphones this year.
The Motorola RAZR is one of the most iconic device ever as it packs a slim and cool design back in the days and Lenovo, Motorola’s parent company, will take advantage of its branding with a foldable display design.
According to WSJ, the new Motorola RAZR will be exclusive to Verizon in the US with the smartphone launching this February. For now, there are no other details about the smartphone aside from having the foldable display.
Lenovo is also expected to manufacture 200,000 units of the new RAZR despite having a hefty price tag of $1500 (Php78,323~). Well, I don’t really expect that the smartphone will be a hit in the market due to its high price tag despite the RAZR branding.
We all know that it takes a lot of time before we receive our license to our new cars. Even if our cars are more than two years old, there’s a big chance that you still don’t have your license plates for your cars but thankfully, LTO has a created a way so you can check if your license plates are already available.
To check if your license plates are already available at LTO, all you need to do is to visit this link at the LTO website and just type in your 15 digit motor vehicle file number: https://www.lto.net.ph/ltomvinquiryui
After that you can already see if the plate number is already available. Yep, it’s as easy as that. So what are you waiting for? Check it out now.
OPPO has unveiled some technologies today including a 10x camera setup along with bigger under-display fingerprint scanner that they can use in their future smartphones but the company will unveil more of this technology this MWC 2019.
OPPO is expected to detail their 10x optical zoom camera soon but what we know so far is that the camera 10x hybrid optical zoom can be achieved by combining the 5x optical zoom sensor with a wide-angle lens camera. There’s a Dual OIS image stabilization too for the main camera and the telephoto lens which will make sure that you have less blurry photos and videos.
Aside from that, the company has also announced a bigger under-display fingerprint scanner that is 15x larger than the one on the OPPO R17 Pro and this time, it will be able to read two fingers at the same time.
The better under-display technology from OPPO is expected to hit the markets by the end of the year. Hopefully, we can get to see this in the F series or the R series this year.
A Geekbench score has revealed that a new OPPO smartphone is coming soon and it is powered by Snapdragon 855 and it is codenamed “Poseidon”.
As expected, there were only a few details about the smartphone and it has a pretty powerful sore at Geekbench as we got 3810 Single-Core Processor and a 10963 Multi-core score. This smartphone might be the successor of the OPPO Find X as the Find series is their flagship line and it is expected that the R and F series smartphones from OPPO will sport mid-range specs.
We’re not sure yet when this smartphone will arrive but it is nice to see that a Snapdragon 855 smartphone from OPPO is coming soon.
Vivo will be launching a new smartphone this January 24 and it aims to change the way we see our smartphones. The smartphone is codenamed “waterdrop” and it is expected that the smartphone will sport a really unique design.
What to expect?
Well, we have a lot of theories about this upcoming smartphone from Vivo but it is expected that the smartphone will sport an edge-to-edge display with no notch or bezels. Not only that, the Vivo “waterdrop” smartphone is also expected to have no physical buttons as well.
Last year, Vivo APEX was announced at MWC 2018 which was still a concept phone back then but it was later launched in different markets. If they’re gonna unveil this “waterdrop” concept phone this January, I expect a working device this MWC 2019.
Last year, Vivo Philippines has launched their newest smartphone in the mid-range segment which is the Vivo Y95. The smartphone boasts a 20MP AI Selfie camera and also a Halo Fullview display which is also present on other Vivo smartphones. The smartphone is powered by Snapdragon 439 processor, and then there’s the 4GB RAM with it. Check out the full hands-on video of the Vivo Y95 at the video below.
Vivo Y95 Specs
6.22-inch Halo Fullview HD+ Display
Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 Chipset
4GB RAM
64GB Internal Storage
20MP Selfie Camera
13MP+2MP Rear Camera
WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
Dual SIM, LTE
Funtouch OS 4.5 on Android 8.1
4030mAh battery
The Vivo Y95 is now available for Php13,999 in Aurora Red and Starry Black.
Aspiring YouTubers or those people who really want a decent mirrorless camera should take a look at this, the latest camera from Sony, the Sony A6400. This new camera from Sony is the first in the 6000 series to sport a tilting display which is a must-have for every YouTubers or those people who love to take photos or video of themselves.
There’s a touchscreen display too and an OLED viewfinder. Sony is also proud that this camera has the world’s fastest 0.02 second AF acquisition speed.
Inside the camera is a 24.2MP APS-C Exmor CMOS image sensor paired with Bionz X image processor. As expected, the camera can do 4K video recording at 24fps or 30fps. The camera is also capable of 11fps continuous shooting with its mechanical shutter or 8fps during silent mode with AF/AE tracking. The camera has an ISO range of up to 32,000 for both stills and movies which is expandable up to 102,400.
The Sony A6400 will be available for $1000 this February for the body with 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 but you can get it for body only for $900 or with the 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 for $1300. No word yet regarding local availability.
Last July 2018, Huawei Philippines has unveiled the Nova 3i and the Nova 3, a news that we broke last year and until today, the Huawei Nova 3i is one of the best smartphones that you can get at its price range. The smartphone was initially available for Php15,990 but you can get it now for only Php14,990.
Huawei Nova 3i Specs
Huawei Kirin 710 Octa-Core Processor
6.3-inch Full HD+ IPS Display (2340×1080)
4GB RAM
128GB Internal Storage expandable via MicroSD
16MP+2MP Rear Camera with LED Flash and PDAF
24MP+2MP Front Camera
WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
LTE
Dual SIM
3340mAh Battery
Android 8.1 with EMUI 8.2
https://jamonline.ph/huawei-nova-3i-review/
The price drop will be in effect starting this January 19 so if you’re planning to buy today, I suggest that you wait a little more to save that Php1,000.
