There were a lot of leaks of Samsung Galaxy Alpha lately, the metal framed device from Samsung and finally, it has become official today. Samsung Galaxy Alpha’s design is a leap from the all-plastic design of Samsung. Yep, Samsung Galaxy Alpha now sports a metal frame with elegant curves and a tactile soft back cover. It is also one of the slimmest Samsung Galaxy device ever at 6.7mm.
Colors: Charcoal Black, Dazzling White, Frosted Gold, Sleek Silver, and Scuba Blue
Samsung Galaxy Alpha sports a smaller display than the Samsung Galaxy S5 and it only has an HD resolution compared to Samsung Galaxy S5’s 5.1″ display with Full HD resolution. Unfortunately, Samsung Galaxy Alpha doesn’t have a MicroSD card slot and the battery is only at 1860mAh which is quite small for its size. No word regarding its price and availability in the Philippines. Maybe, Samsung Galaxy Alpha’s design would be the start of metal framed Samsung Galaxy Devices. What do you think? Do you like Samsung Galaxy devices with metal frames?
One of the hottest affordable smartphone today is the ASUS Zenfone 5 which is priced at P6,499. This smartphone sports a Dual-Core Intel Atom processor which acts like a Quad-Core processor and it is even better when it comes to benchmarks than Quad-Core MediaTek processors. There’s a 2GB of RAM, 8GB Internal Storage w/ MicroSD card slot and 8MP of camera. If you find the 8GB Internal Storage not enough then you might be happy with this news because the ASUS Zenfone 5 16GB variant will soon arrive in the Philippines but I was more surprised to know the price of the ASUS Zenfone 16GB variant. You only have to add P500 from its original price for the 16GB variant. Yep, the ASUS Zenfone 5 16GB will be priced at P6,999. Pretty interesting, Huh?
LINE Philippines has recently launched LINE Premium Call in the Philippines. LINE is one of the most popular messaging app available in the Philippines and now they’re offering LINE Premium Call which allows you to call your love ones from abroad at a very low rates. Actually, LINE Premium Call currently provides the lowest price in the Philippines’ popular calling destinations.
Brown and Cony
You can call your friends & relatives in US, Canada, China and UK for as low as ¢1/min. That’s pretty affordable if you ask me. LINE is also commited on improving consistently the quality of their video call, Line-to-Line call and Premium calls.
Jessy Mendiola, Matteo Guidicelli and Joyce Pring
In line with this, LINE Philippines will be giving away 300 LINE Premium call credits coupons to 23 Munchpunch affiliated restaurants in 100 branches from August 14 to September 13. It will also be given out to those people who’ll shop at Lazada from August 14 to 23.
We have a lot of praises for the Cherry Mobile Tegra Note 7 for achieving a high score at Antutu and for having a great performance on heavy games. To give you a recap, the Cherry Mobile Tegra Note 7 packs a 1.8 GHz Quad-Core Nvidia Tegra 4 processor with 72-core GeForce GPU, 1GB of RAM, 5MP camera, 16GB of storage, and a 7-inch HD IPS display. During the launch, it was announced that there will be an LTE version of Cherry Mobile Tegra Note 7 but the price wasn’t announced during that time but today, Cherry Mobile has updated their Android tablets pricelist on their website.
The Cherry Mobile Tegra Note 7 LTE is priced at P13,999. Some people might think that it is too steep but I think, P13,999 is the sweet spot considering the specifications and LTE inside it. But of course, if you don’t need LTE, there’s the Wi-Fi only version which is just at P9,999.
Leaks of Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has recently circulated in the internet. It seems that the next generation of Samsung Galaxy Note will combine faux leather and chamfered metal edges. At the back, the pattern look more noticeable and there’s the heart rate sensor too beside the camera.
According to rumours, Samsung Galaxy Note 4 will pack a 5.7″ QHD display (2560×1440) and of course, the S Pen is here to stay. By looking at the picture, it seems that they ditched water resistance for this smartphone by removing the flap below. The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is expected to be announced at IFA 2014 next month so stay tune guys ;).
Xiaomi has just arrived in the Philippines and it received a very warm welcome because of the very affordable price of their flagship phone, Xiaomi Mi 3. So what’s up with Xiaomi Mi 3? Basically, there’s a flagship specification inside this phone. There’s a Full HD display, 2GB of RAM and there’s a Quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor which can also be found on the LG G2 and Samsung Galaxy Note 3 but despite having those specifications, the Xiaomi Mi 3 is only priced at P10,600. I know, it’s very interesting.
Design and Construction
The design of the Xiaomi Mi 3 reminds me of the Nokia Lumia 925 although this one is made up of plastic but don’t get me wrong guys because the construction of this smartphone feels good and there are no openings or squeaks on this phone despite having that affordable price tag. The Xiaomi Mi 3 has curve sides which makes it more slippery and harder to hold but since the phone only has a 5” display and the bezels on the sides aren’t that big, Xiaomi Mi 3 would probably fit in your hand.
The buttons were well placed and I was happy to know that the speaker grill of the Xiaomi Mi 3 was placed below the phone. Why am I happy about it? Well, if you place the phone on a flat surface, the surface won’t block the speaker of the phone therefore, the better the audio quality. Speaking of that, the Xiaomi Mi 3 has a great audio quality. At the top is where you can find the sim card slot however, the Xiaomi Mi 3 is still using the mini sim card slot tray. So if you are now using a micro sim, you’ll probably need to buy a new one or just buy a jacket for your micro sim card. For those people who are looking for OTG, yes, Xiaomi Mi 3 support USB OTG.
Display
There’s a 5-inch Full HD display in this Xiaomi and I can say that it was pretty great. Since the display is more elevated and the MIUI icons has a nice flat design with shadows, the icons look elevated from the background and the UI on the phone looks like it’s popping from the display. The color reproduction feels just right on the display too. It isn’t oversaturated and the outdoor visibility was pretty good too. One thing that I didn’t like about it is the large bezels at the top and the bottom of the phone
If you’re using a glove on your work or you’re a biker and you always wear your glove, you don’t have to worry about it anymore because the Xiaomi Mi 3 supports Glove touch. Overall, the display of Xiaomi Mi 3 feels just right and I really like it.
Software and Performance
The Xiaomi Mi 3 uses an Android 4.4 skinned with MIUI. It’s my first time to use MIUI and I was quite impressed with it. It’s very fast and fluid and I have nothing but praises for it. I love the neat icons and its very fluid transitions. Some people might be disappointed because the homescreen of the smartphone is also the app drawer. Yep, there’s no app drawer on the Xiaomi Mi 3 but you could put widgets on the homescreen of the Xiaomi Mi 3’s MIUI. There are also a lot of available themes that is available online.
One feature that some people might like is you can control the performance of the Xiaomi Mi 3. You can adjust the power setting of the Xiaomi Mi 3 to conserve the battery of the smartphone. Speaking of performance, when you set the power setting at high performance, you’ll be able to get a score of 32740 at Antutu. That’s expected on a smartphone powered by a Snapdragon 800 processor but compared to other smartphones at this price range? The Xiaomi Mi 3 is the king.
Almost all of the games that I’ve tried on the Xiaomi Mi 3 worked pretty well. I’ve played Modern Combat 4, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, NBA 2k14 and Edge of Tomorrow on this device and it runs well without lags. Playing heavy games on this device is really a joy thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor inside it.
Battery Life
Despite having a P10,600 price tag, the battery life of the Xiaomi Mi 3 wasn’t compromised. There’s a non-removable 3050mAh battery inside and I was lucky to have the Xiaomi Mi 3 when Typhoon Glenda ravaged Metro Manila because the phone lasted two 2 days without charge at average use. It’s very rare that a flagship smartphone could have a battery life like that at my average use. Mostly, the smartphone would only last a day.
Camera
There’s a 13 Megapixel Rear Camera with Dual-LED Flash on the Xiaomi Mi 3. The camera of the smartphone was great too. The camera of the phone can shoot fast and even at lowlight conditions, the Xiaomi Mi 3 can take really good photos. The colors produced are also great.
One funny thing about the front camera of the Xiaomi Mi 3 is that it predicts the age and the gender of the person who is taking a selfie LOL. Verdict My verdict? This is the best smartphone for its price. Xiaomi Mi 3 is almost half the price of the flagships of Sony and Samsung but Xiaomi Mi 3 could match up their flagship smartphones. The minor issues like the mini sim card tray of the Xiaomi Mi 3 isn’t really a deal breaker. The Xiaomi Mi 3 changed the local mobile industry and again, this is the best smartphone for its price. You can now get a Xiaomi Mi 3 at Lazada for only P10,600.
If you want a Xiaomi Mi 3 and you want it on a postpaid plan, then you should look into Smart because they’ll be offering Xiaomi’s affordable flagship smartphone, the Mi 3. If you have no idea why Xiaomi Mi 3 is so hot right now, well, this smartphone has a flagship specifications but it is only price at P10,600 at Lazada. That’s freaking affordable for a smartphone with 5-inch Full HD display, Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB RAM, & Android 4.4 Kitkat. And now, Xiaomi Mi 3 is now available for free at Smart Data Plan 999 and it comes with All day surfing, 99 all network texts and 9 minutes all network calls.
This is probably the best smartphone if you’ll be getting a Smart Data Plan 999. If you’re interested, you can order a Xiaomi Mi 3 here: http://smart.com.ph/mi3.
Two new Cherry Mobile smartphones has been unveiled today and one of them is very interesting because it packs an octa-core processor at a very affordable price. The Cherry Mobile Pulse is currently the most affordable Octa-Core smartphone at P6,500 while the Cherry Mobile Pulse Mini is a dual-core smartphone at P2,699. Both devices also supports double tap to wake so you don’t have to press the power button if you want to turn on the display.
Cherry Mobile Pulse Mini
1Ghz MTK 6572 Dual Core
Android™ 4.2 Jellybean
Dual SIM / Dual Standby
5MP Camera/ VGA Front Camera
4.0” Capacitive WVGA IPS Touchscreen
ROM: 4GB RAM: 512MB
3.5mm Stereo Audio Jack
HSPA+
WiFi/GPS/AGPS/Bluetooth
Expandable Micro SD up to 32GB
Double Tap to wake feature
2000mAh Removable Battery
P2,699
Cherry Mobile Pulse
5” HD IPS Dragontrail Scratch Resistant
Android™ 4.4 (Kitkat)
MTK 6592 Octa Core 1.7ghz Processor
Dual SIM / Dual Standby
13MP Camera, 5MP Front Camera
RAM: 1GB / ROM: 8GB
3.5mm Stereo Audio Jack
HSPA+/WiFi/GPS
Bluetooth
MicroSD up to 64GB
Double Tap to wake feature
2000mAh Removable Battery
P6,499
The Cherry Mobile Pulse has a Dragontrail display despite having that price tag but I notice that the bezels on this phone are too big. Don’t worry too much about its RAM because 1.7 GHz Octa-Core processor runs smoothly with a 1GB of RAM.
The Cherry Mobile Pulse Mini and Cherry Mobile Pulse is now available for P2,699 and P6,499 respectively.
If you’re subscribed to my YouTube channel, there’s a chance that you’ve seen JAM Online TV. It’s a short YouTube show with yours truly and I talk about the latest and hottest tech topics in the Philippines. I know, it’s just me. Only me. Anyway, this week, I talk about the recently launched Cherry Mobile Tegra Note 7 and Flare 3. Cherry Mobile Note 7 was launched 2 Saturdays ago while Cherry Mobile Flare 3 was launched last Wednesday. I already talked about these devices on my previous blog posts but you can check out JAM Online TV to more about my insights on these devices. But of course, there’s the Alcatel One Touch Idol X+ which is the newest Octa-core smartphone from Alcatel. You know what, I won’t discuss more about the topics in JAM Online TV. Just watch the JAM Online TV August 2 episode below:
Without a doubt, the LG G3 is one of the best flagship smartphones in the market today. I’ve tried it and I was amaze with its performance and design. To give you a small recap, the G3 is LG’s latest flagship and it packs a 5.5” QHD display, 2.5GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB RAM & it is running on Android 4.4.2 Kitkat. If you’re planning on getting an LG G3 and you want it on a postpaid plan then maybe, you would want to head on over to Globe because they’re now offering LG G3 at Plan 1799 with a P4,800 cashout. Those who will subscribe will get a GoSURF999 for 5GB of consumable mobile internet, 1100 texts to all networks, 55 minutes all net calls, free 1 month gadget care, and free spotify premium subscription for six months.
If you want to know more about the LG G3, you could check out their website at www.lg.com/ph and if you want to subscribe for a postpaid plan at Globe, head over to http://www.globe.com.ph/
