It’s now official. The newest mid-range smartphone from Huawei is here and it’s the Huawei Nova 3i. Yep, it’s the successor to the widely successful Huawei Nova 2i and this time, we got a lot of improvements on the Huawei Nova 3i.
First, we got a new sexier design that borrowed some notes from the Huawei P20 Pro. We now have a notched display with a tiny chin and a beautiful hue at the back. The display is a 6.3-inch display with Full HD+ resolution which is large enough for immersive viewing.
One of the things that we love with the Huawei Nova 2i is the Quad-Camera and yes, we still have that on the Huawei Nova 3i in where we got a 24MP+2MP on the front and a 16MP+2MP at the back. Those secondary cameras functions as a depth sensor on both sides for better bokeh effects.
Another added feature on the smartphone is AI. We now have AI that lets you have better selfies as the smartphone can detect the objects and the situations to give you better shots.
The features that we love on the iPhone X is the Animoji and with the Huawei Nova 3i, we got a feature called QMoji that is AI-powered that lets you create and animate your facial expressions and movements and also have a Qmoji GIFs or videos.
The Kirin 710 chipset is my favorite part of this smartphone. Why? Because not only that this new chipset is new, this one is also powerful as it supports AI and also supports GPU Turbo technology which will be out soon. This lets you have a better gaming experience especially these days in where there are a lot of smartphone games that are demanding.
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
The Huawei Nova 3i will be available for pre-order starting tomorrow for a price of Php15,990 and for those people who will pre-order, they can get a free M2 Bluetooth Speaker.
Cherry Mobile is currently having a promo in where you can win up to Php10,000 by just following the mechanics of their promo. It’s actually easy as long as you have the Cosmic Plushy.
The contest is only open to Cosmic Plushy owners. To join, just follow the mechanics of the promo below.
Contest is open to all Cosmic Plushy owners.
Participants must LIKE and FOLLOW the Cherry Mobile Facebook Page.
Participants may join by posting a creative photo of Cosmic plushy on Facebook and/or IG
Participants should use the official hashtags #CosmicAroundTheWorld #CherryMobileCosmic
The most creative and engaging entries will win exciting cash prizes and smartphones.
Grand Prize: Php 10,000
Major Prize: Php 5,000
Minor Prize: Selfie Two
Promo is valid from July 2 – 19, 2018
Criteria for judging will include the following:
50% creativity (25% caption + 25% photo)
50% post engagements (shares and reactions)
Winners will be announced on Facebook and Instagram on July, 20, 2018.
Samsung Philippines has launched the Galaxy J8 in the Philippines and it’s the latest mid-range smartphone from the company. The J series is the main volume driver of the company here in the country so it will not be surprising that the smartphone will sell well in the future.
The Samsung Galaxy J8 has the features that we’ve seen in their other J series smartphones. The Samsung Galaxy J8 features a 6.0-inch HD+ Infinity Super AMOLED display and it is powered by a Snapdragon 450 Octa-Core processor and it also packs a 3GB of RAM and also a dual rear lens camera consisting of a 16-megapixel (f/1.7) + 5-megapixel (f/1.9) while the front camera is a 16-megapixel front camera with front flash.
Samsung Galaxy J8 Specs
Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 Processor
6.0-inch HD+ Infinity Super AMOLED display (1480×720)
3GB RAM
32GB Internal Storage expandable via MicroSD up to 256GB
16-megapixel (f/1.7) + 5-megapixel (f/1.9) Dual Rear Lens Camera
16-megapixel (f/1.9) front camera with front flash
LTE
Dual Sim (Triple Sim card slot)
WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
3500mAh Battery
Android 8.0 Oreo
The Samsung Galaxy J8 will be available for pre-order starting this July 21 and it will be available in Gold, Purple, and Black. The smartphone is priced at Php15,990 and when you pre-order the smartphone, you can get a free JBL Clip 2 Speaker, Screen protection and insurance. If you’ll be at the launch weekend this August 4-5 then you can get a Php1,000 cashback promo.
Surprisingly, Mi Philippines has also launched their flagship smartphone in the country, the Xiaomi Mi 8. The smartphone was launched last May 18 in Paris and it is the company’s best smartphone to date. The smartphone features a notched display and of course, a 12-megapixel dual AI camera that has a photo score of 105 at DxOMark. The smartphone is also powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC which makes the smartphone one of the most powerful in the market.
Actually, Xiaomi is proud that the smartphone has an Antutu score of more than 300,000. When it comes to design, the smartphone comes with an aviation-grade aluminum frame and a 2.5D glass screen. The display is made up of 6.21-inch Full HD+ Samsung AMOLED display with 18.7:9 display aspect ratio and a screen-to-body ratio of 86.68%.
Xiaomi Mi 8 Specs
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Processor
6.21-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED Display with 18.7:9 Display Aspect Ratio
6GB RAM
64GB/128GB Internal Storage
Dual 12-megapixel rear camera with AI
20-megapixel front camera
Dual Sim
LTE
Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, Wi-Fi
Fingerprint Scanner
Face Unlock
USB Type-C
3400mAh Battery with QC 4.0
Android Oreo with MIUI 10
The Xiaomi Mi 8 will be available this August 3. The 6GB/64GB is priced at Php25,990 while the 6GB/128GB will be available for Php27,990. This pricing made the smartphone the most affordable smartphone with a Snapdragon 845 SoC.
Mi Philippines has just launched their newest smartphone in the country – the Xiaomi Redmi 6 and the Redmi 6A. Both smartphones are entry level and it’s a big upgrade compared to the previous model. The Xiaomi Redmi 6A is the more affordable smartphone among the two and it packs a Helio A22 Processor while the Xiaomi Redmi 6 has a faster Helio P22 Processor and it packs a dual lens rear camera.
The smartphone doesn’t have a fingerprint scanner but the Xiaomi Redmi 6A features face unlock and it is one of their affordable smartphones to feature AI beautification while the Redmi 6 features a fingerprint scanner located at the back of the smartphone.
The Xiaomi Redmi 6 might have an almost the similar look of the Redmi 6A but this smartphone features a better hardware inside and then there’s the dual lens rear camera that performs better than the Redmi 6A and when it comes to the performance department, the Xiaomi Redmi 6 features a Helio P22 processor.
The Xiaomi Redmi 6A comes in two variants and it is priced as follows:
2GB/16GB – PHP5,290
2GB/32GB – Php5,990
While the Xiaomi Redmi 6 are priced as follows:
3GB/32GB – Php7,490
4GB/64GB – Php8,990
The Xiaomi Redmi 6 and 6A will be available this July 23, 2018, at Lazada and Shopee and it will be available at the Xiaomi Authorized stores by the end of the month.
Huawei Philippines has just announced the pre-order date for the Huawei Nova 3i. There were no details that were announced but the pre-order video of the smartphone showed the back of the Huawei Nova 3i that shows the gradient back of the smartphone similar to the Huawei P20 Pro and also the dual lens camera at the back.
You can pre-order the smartphone starting this July 19 up to July 27.
It’s now confirmed that new Huawei smartphone will be arriving soon, however, we’re actually surprised that Huawei will be releasing not one but two Nova smartphones this month and these are the Huawei Nova 3 and the Huawei Nova 3i.
Details are still scarce about the smartphone but we’ve confirmed from the ad that the Huawei Nova 3 will come with a gradient color similar to the Huawei P20 Pro and they’ll have a large 128GB internal storage which is really spacious for a mid-range smartphone.
Another ad from Huawei has confirmed that the Huawei Nova 3 will pack a dual front camera which is a 24MP+2MP while the rear camera is a 24MP+16MP setup. While the Huawei Nova 3i has an inferior quad-camera setup which consists of a 24MP+2MP for the front camera and a 16MP+2MP rear camera.
Again, the details are still scarce but we’re really excited for the arrival of these smartphones from Huawei.
ASUS has flooded the market with different smartphones especially the Zenfone Max family and recently, they launched their most exciting smartphone in the Zenfone Max family – the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1. I know, the naming scheme of ASUS is a little bit odd and confusing but I promise you, the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 is an exciting one.
Hardware and Design
The ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 doesn’t have a design and build that can really drop your jaw but the design of the smartphone is enough to say that the smartphone has a solid build that you will appreciate especially for a mid-range smartphone.
The Zenfone Max Pro does have an ergonomic build despite its thick structure but you don’t have worry too much about it as the smartphone comes with a jelly plastic case. The back is made up of metal while the sides are plastic. It’s a little bit heavy but again, the smartphone is still ergonomic for me but I highly suggest that you use the jelly case.
At the back of the smartphone is where you can find the dual lens camera and below it is the LED flash. The fingerprint scanner of the smartphone is also located on the back of the smartphone and it can easily recognize my fingerprint.
On the right is where you can find the power button along with the volume rocker of the smartphone while on the other side is where the triple card tray is being housed. The smartphone also has a micro USB port below along with the 3.5mm headphone jack. Yep, still using Micro USB instead of USB-C.
There’s face unlock on this smartphone despite running on Android Pure and no, it’s still a hit-and-miss for me even at well-lit conditions but again, there’s a fingerprint scanner at the back of the smartphone so there’s really nothing to worry about that.
The smartphone’s speaker is just average. It’s just what you can expect from the smartphone at its price range. Nothing too special about it but it will do just fine even if you’re just into playing battle royale games like PUBG.
Display
One of the best things about the smartphone is that the smartphone isn’t sporting a notch and it has a Full HD+ display on the 5.99-inch display with 18:9 display aspect ratio. The display of the smartphone is actually pretty good, especially for its price.
The colors were good and the viewing angles were fine. Actually, the display of the smartphone is really bright. It definitely has one of the best displays on its price range.
Gaming on the smartphone is one of the best things to like about it as the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 features an 18:9 display which means that you can have wider and more immersive experience compared to other smartphones, also, the 5.99-inch display is large enough for games like PUBG Mobile
Battery Life
The ASUS Zenfone Max smartphone series is very popular as the smartphones in this family sports a large battery and with the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1, you can get a large 5000mAh battery which means that not only you can have a good performance on gaming on the smartphone but also a long battery life that can probably last more than a day depending on your usage. In our test using PC Mark, we were able to get a score of 11 hours and 42 minutes which is pretty good especially if you’re a heavy gamer.
Charging the smartphone isn’t really a problem as I was able to fully charge the smartphone at around 2 hours.
Performance
Performance is one of the best things about the smartphone. Again, it features a Snapdragon 636 processor along with 3GB of RAM. But of course, the smartphone also comes with a better 4GB RAM variant and with a larger storage and camera but we’re gonna focus on the 3GB variant which is exclusive to Lazada here in the Philippines.
First of all, the Snapdragon 636 processor is a really decent processor whether you want it for gaming or for normal daily usage. The temperatures of the processor are mostly fine even at heavy usage. The smartphone does get warm after a long time of gaming but frame drops weren’t really that drastic on the smartphone.
I was able to play PUBG Mobile on the smartphone at balanced settings with high frame rates. I would suggest not to set it at the highest settings as the game needs more optimization and you will notice some frame drops at HD graphic settings. But most of the time, the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 will do just fine. In other games such as Asphalt 8, Rules of Survival, and NBA 2k18, you won’t have any problems with those games and you would enjoy high frame rates on those mentioned games.
3D Mark
When it comes to benchmarks, I was actually happy with the results that I got, in Antutu, I got a high score of 115298 which is expected on a smartphone with this specifications. This definitely proved that the Snapdragon 636 processor inside it is really powerful.
OS, UI, and Software
This is probably the best feature that I really love about the smartphone. Actually, this is a surprising move from ASUS. The company decided that the smartphone will run Android Pure which means that the smartphone is almost stock Android. It’s different from the Android One devices but you can experience a buttery smooth and vanilla android on this one. There’s no ZenUI bloatware on the smartphone and everything is really fast on the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1.
But of course, ASUS has included some apps including FM radio, sound recorder, and calculator aside from the Google apps that are pre-installed on the smartphone. Is it a bad thing that ASUS has opted for Android Pure? No. Is it really good? Yes, it’s actually great. It’s still user-friendly and it’s really damn fast.
Camera
The ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 features a dual lens camera and for the 3GB variant, you’re getting a 13-megapixel rear camera with a secondary 5-megapixel sensor for depth sensing instead of a wide-angle lens which we mostly see on ASUS smartphones. While the UI of the camera is a bit confusing, the camera quality of the smartphone is better than I expected.
It’s actually a hit-and-miss depending on the conditions but most of the time, I get a decent shot on the smartphone’s rear camera. It captures fine details even at indoors, however, I noticed that at low light, it gets a little bit blown out. But again, overall, it’s still a fine camera for a smartphone at its price. Check out the shots that I took using the smartphone
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Verdict
The ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 is a great mid-range smartphone. Every aspect of the smartphone is really good for its price. We got a decent display that produces great colors, a powerful processor inside that is even used by smartphones including the ASUS Zenfone 5, and a battery life that can last a day even at heavy gaming.
The camera of the smartphone might be a hit-and-miss for some but it is still mostly good. The face unlock of the smartphone isn’t as fast as before too and some people might not be a fan of Android Pure but it was really damn fast.
To answer the question, yes, the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 is the best mid-range smartphone for gaming. Why? It’s affordable but you get a decent power thanks to the SD636 processor and also a long battery life thanks to the 5000mAh battery.
Overall, I would love to have this smartphone if my budget is sub-Php10k. However, the smartphone is only available at Lazada. But if you want to get this smartphone with a better camera, bigger RAM, and larger storage then you can get the 4GB variant that is priced at Php13,995.
You can get the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 3GB for Php9,995
ASUS Philippines has just announced the availability and the pricing of their next volume driver, the ASUS Zenfone Live L1. Just like the previous generation, this smartphone will have an affordable price but of course, this one would have a way better specifications compared to the original ASUS Zenfone Live.
The ASUS Zenfone Live L1 features a 5.5-inch HD+ display with 18:9 display aspect ratio which is why the smartphone feels like a 5-inch smartphone and yet, we do have a large display on this one. Some of the cool features that you can find on the smartphone are the face unlock however, it’s noticeable that the smartphone is missing a fingerprint scanner.
ASUS Zenfone Live L1 Specs
5.5-inch HD+ Display with 18:9 display aspect ratio
Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 Processor
2GB RAM
16GB Internal Storage expandable via MicroSD
13-megapixel rear camera with PDAF and LED FLash
5-megapixel front-facing camera
LTE, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, WiFi
3000mAh Battery
Android Oreo with ZenUI 5.0
The smartphone will be available this July 21, 2018, and it is priced at Php5,995 which is incredibly good.
Apple has recently refreshed the MacBook Pro with touch bar. Yup, not all of the MBPs have been refreshed. The new MacBook Pros are now powered by the latest 8th Generation chips from Intel and also the Apple T2 chip that adds an extra layer of security and bringing the “Hey Siri” voice command to the new MacBook Pro. Another upgrade is the Retina Display with True Tone for better colors and viewing experience.
With the new Intel processors, you can get more cores and better performance and if you’re planning on getting the 15-inch MacBook Pro, there’s an option of getting an up to Core i9 processor. But how much do these babies cost? Well, Apple has released the prices for each variant on their website.
Unfortunately, Apple didn’t refresh the MacBook Pros without touch bar and it seems that the Cupertino-based company has now ditched the older Retina MacBook Pro that offers more ports.
The hikes in foreign exchange and taxes didn’t help in the prices of the notebooks as the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar now starts at Php114,990.
