The best Huawei smartphones will be coming in the Philippines very soon and these are the Huawei P20 and the P20 Pro. Both smartphones pack a lens co-engineered with Leica with the Huawei P20 Pro sporting an amazing triple camera lens setup. Not only that, the smartphone also features a twilight color, a beautiful and eye-catching gradient color of the Huawei P20 Pro.
In case you’re interested in getting the Huawei P20 or P20 Pro, you can purchase it from 31 Selected Huawei Experience stores and Huawei Experience Kiosk across the country.
In order to pre-order a smartphone, you must pay an amount of Php1,000.00 for reservation which will be deducted from the total amount upon full payment of unit on the redemption date. Those who will pre-order from April 21-27 2018 will be eligible to get a free Canon CP1300 Printer. If you want to pre-order now, head over to this link for the full details: https://consumer.huawei.com/ph/press/news/2018/news-180408/
Cherry Mobile has a lot of smartphones to offer and one of their unique ones is the Cherry Mobile Taiji. It is one of a kind as the Cherry Mobile Taiji sports a dual screen. One is a colored display while the other one is an e-ink display which is placed at the back. So what do I think about the smartphone? Check it out on our review of the smartphone below.
Design and Hardware
The smartphone isn’t really that big despite having two displays on a single smartphone. It also has a premium feel thanks to its metallic body along with glass design on the front and the back, however, the back of the Cherry Mobile Taiji has a matte surface but it still didn’t prevent the smartphone from slipping to my hand most of the time.
Here’s the tricky part of the smartphone. It has an illuminating capacitive button below which also serves as the home button and it also has a menu button on the left and a back button on the right. Unfortunately, these buttons are invisible and it might get confusing at first.
The smartphone also got an IR blaster that you can use as a remote control for your other appliances but I doubt that you’ll be using that on your smartphone. Below is where you can find the Micro USB port along with the 3.5mm audio jack.
At the back is where you can find the e-ink display and of course, there are the capacitive buttons too that lets you navigate the smartphone or the ebooks that you’re reading. The smartphone supports Dual SIM however you should take note that the Cherry Mobile Taiji supports Dual Sim or Single Sim + MicroSD card.
Display
There are two displays on the smartphone. On the front, we got a Full HD display. It’s a little bit small by today’s standards but I’m just quite fine with it. The colors are just fine and I’m good with its viewing angles.
While at the back is where you can find the main feature of this smartphone – the 4.7-inch E-Ink display. The cool thing about the E-Ink display is that the smartphone doesn’t consume too much power and the display doesn’t actually turn off.
The E-ink display is a nice addition especially for those people who are into reading e-books, however, outside of that, there isn’t much use of it. But hey, at least you could mirror the display of the smartphone and use the E-Ink display for the live view of the rear camera so you can take better selfies.
Software and Performance
Cherry Mobile Taiji doesn’t pack any special skins or UI. It’s just the simple Android interface which is nice as this one is responsive and really fast. But of course, we do have some applications that are pre-installed on the smartphone including iReader which is an e-book reader of the smartphone.
You can also change the displayed content of the E-ink display in the EPD Menu application. You can change the homepage whether you want to display the shortcuts for some apps, calendar, time, news, or the eBooks that you have.
The smartphone also packs an old MediaTek Octa-Core Processor with 3GB of RAM. Gaming on this smartphone isn’t really recommended but you can play some light and casual games on this one.
Camera
The smartphone packs a 13-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel front camera. Here’s the interesting part of having an e-ink display on the smartphone. You can actually use the e-ink display to mirror the main display which lets you have a mirror when taking selfies using the rear camera of the smartphone. Check out the shots that I took using the smartphone:
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Oh and actually, the smartphone’s camera performed better than I expected. It’s not the best one that you can see in its price range but it does the job done.
Verdict
The smartphone isn’t for everybody. Some people don’t need the E-ink display but it’s really nice to see that Cherry Mobile is offering smartphones like this one that has a unique feature. If you are a bookworm and you don’t want to spend most of the time looking at the display of your tablets or smartphones then this one is an interesting smartphone for you.
ASUS has recently launched the ASUS Zenfone 5 Series in the Philippines and they’re really back in terms of pricing as the smartphone now has a great price for its hardware. ASUS Zenfone 5 is Php19,995 and it packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor, 4GB RAM, a 12-megapixel + 8-megapixel dual rear lens camera, a notched display, and a really premium build.
The smartphone also focuses on different AI features that can help you in different functions of your smartphone but the AI Boost on the smartphone will be very helpful in improving the performance of the smartphone in exchange of shorter battery life and also in the scene detection of the camera of the smartphone.
Interested now? Check out what we think about the ASUS Zenfone 5 at our unboxing and hands-on of the smartphone below.
Smart prepaid and postpaid users will be surely happy with this news. PLDT Wireless unit Smart Communications Inc. has the fastest LTE network in the country according to March 2018 report of OpenSignal. The company has cited that Smart has the best 4G LTE Download Speed, Best 4G Latency performance and best 3G Latency performance.
The report covers the months of November 2017 up to January 2018 and Smart has outpaced the competition with a download speed of 12.5MBps compared to its rival which only has 7.69MBps.
The OpenSignal report has also measured areas like in NCR in where Smart got 13.04MBps vs. competition’s 8.57 MBps, North Central Luzon also got 11.59 MBps for Smart vs 6.34 MBps, South Luzon got 11.66 MBps for Smart vs. 7.03 MBps for Globe and Mindanao with 14.42 MBps vs. 7.38MBps of the competition.
So if you live in those areas, I highly suggest that you switch to Smart now to get better LTE speeds.
ASUS has just launched the ASUS Zenfone 5 Series in the country and it is the most exciting smartphones from the company since the ASUS Zenfone 2. Why? Because the smartphones are priced competitively and the design and hardware of the smartphone is really beautiful and also powerful.
The ASUS Zenfone 5Q is the most affordable smartphone in the series. In other countries, the smartphone is called as the ASUS Zenfone 5 Lite or the ASUS Zenfone 5 Selfie. The ASUS Zenfone 5Q has a quad-camera setup with wide angle lens on both the front and back of the smartphone. The wide angle lens is perfect for taking photos of landscapes and also for taking group photos or wefies.
The ASUS Zenfone 5 and the Zenfone 5Z is basically the same when it comes to looks however, the Zenfone 5Z has a more powerful hardware inside. The ASUS Zenfone 5 now packs a 6.2-inch Full HD+ display with a notch and thanks to its Snapdragon 636 processor inside, the smartphone now has AI functionalities and deep learning.
ASUS Zenfone 5Q Specifications
6.0-inch Full HD+ IPS Display with 18:9 display aspect ratio
Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 processor
4GB RAM
64GB Internal Storage expandable via MicroSD
16MP + 5MP 120-degree wide angle rear camera
20MP + 8MP 120-degree wide angle rear camera
Dual SIM
LTE
Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, WiFi
Fingerprint Scanner
Face Unlock
USB Type-C
3300mAh Battery
ASUS Zenfone 5 Specifications
6.2-inch Full HD+ Super IPS+ Display with 19:9 display aspect ratio
Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor with AI Boost
4GB RAM
64GB Internal Storage expandable via MicroSD
12MP + 8MP 120-degree wide angle rear camera
8MP front camera
Dual SIM
LTE
Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, WiFi
Fingerprint Scanner
Face Unlock
USB Type-C
3300mAh Battery with Fast Charging
ASUS Zenfone 5Z Specifications
6.2-inch Full HD+ Super IPS+ Display with 19:9 display aspect ratio
Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor with AI Boost
6GB RAM
128GB Internal Storage expandable via MicroSD
12MP + 8MP 120-degree wide angle rear camera
8MP front camera
Dual SIM
LTE
Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, WiFi
Fingerprint Scanner
Face Unlock
USB Type-C
3300mAh Battery with Fast Charging
The ASUS Zenfone 5Q and Zenfone 5 are priced at Php16,995 and Php19,995 respectively and it is now available while the ASUS Zenfone 5Z will be available soon for Php29,995.
The ASUS Zenfone Max Plus M1 has launched a few weeks ago and it’s the first smartphone in the Zenfone M1 series and today, ASUS has also launched ASUS Zenfone Max M1. I know, it’s a little bit confusing but this one has a smaller display and it runs on a different processor.
The ASUS Zenfone Max M1 will still come with a dual-lens rear camera and the smartphone will come with a large 4000mAh battery which is already expected since this smartphone belongs in the Zenfone Ma Line.
One of their most popular and affordable smartphones is the Vivo Y53. It’s an affordable smartphone that packs a decent Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 Quad-Core Processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB Internal Storage, 8-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front camera.
And in their latest update of the FunTouch OS, the Vivo Y53 now comes with Face ID access that lets you unlock your smartphone by just letting the smartphone scan your face. This adds another layer to secure the Vivo Y53.
The Vivo Y53 is available for P5,990 and it is available in two colors — Crown Gold and Space Gray.
Here’s a good news for Vivo Philippines. According to the company, as of April 5, the Vivo V9 has received over 18,000 pre-orders which started on March 26.
Due to this success from Vivo Philippines, the company has brought in additional units to accommodate the growing interest of Filipino consumers.
The Vivo V9 is known for having a 6.3-inch FHD+ notched display, a dual rear lens camera and 24-megapixel selfie camera that can perform really well, and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 processor inside.
The Vivo V9 retails at Php17,990 and it is now available nationwide.
LG is set to unveil their next flagship smartphone this May 2 at New York City and on May 3 at I’PARK Mall in Seoul. While it is slated to be released here in Manila at the end of may
This is the first smartphone in the G series of LG to sport the ThinQ name which is used to brand all LG consumer electronics, appliances and services that utilize artificial intelligence.
The next flagship smartphone of LG is expected to pack a notched display, a powerful Snapdragon 845 processor, and also a high-end camera and hardware.
A new entry-level smartphone has been announced by Vivo in India and it’s the Vivo Y71 that now has an 18:9 display aspect ratio. Not only that, the smartphone features a Snapdragon 450 processor, 4GB RAM, and 16GB Internal storage with MicroSD Card Slot.
The smartphone also packs a 13-megapixel rear camera and also a 5-megapixel front camera that can also do face unlock. Unfortunately, there’s no fingerprint sensor on the smartphone.
