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Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Review

Jam Ancheta
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Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Review

Ah yes, Samsung. A decade ago, your share in the mobile market was too far from being the #1 and we barely see a Samsung phone at the public back then but look at Samsung today, almost everyone is using a Samsung smartphone or a tablet. Yes folks, they’ve overtaken Nokia, the former king of the mobile phones. Anyway, enough with the history and let’s get down to business. Let’s review the company’s best-selling phablet – the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Check it out after the break.


I was so lucky to be one of the three winners of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 during its launch. Yeah, I was one of the first users of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 here in the Philippines. So what’s new? I mean, what can we expect from the Samsung Galaxy Note 3? Thankfully, the back cover was replaced with a much more premium material – a faux leather. One of the major complaints of consumers on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and Samsung Galaxy S3 was the plastic back cover because it makes those flagship phones feel cheap.

The faux-leather back is a first on a smartphone. It doesn’t feel cheap. And no, the leather at the back isn’t soft compared to the real leather. So why do I like the leather back of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3? First, the leather back makes me feel like I’m holding a moleskin notebook. The leather feel and texture with fake stitches makes it really unique. Most of the people that tried the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 was shocked with the faux-leather back. Most of them thought that it was a real leather. Since the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 packs a gigantic 5.7” display, it was difficult to hold it on one hand. But thankfully, the faux-leather back added more grip and the thinner bezel lets me type on the on-screen keyboard using only one hand.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 might have a larger screen than its predecessor but the grip was better on the Note 3. Why? Maybe it’s because of the faux-leather back and its form factor. The Galaxy Note 3 is thinner and taller which makes it more comfortable to hold than its older brother. Like what I’ve said earlier, I can type using only one hand but still, typing on one hand is still a pain in the arse compared to typing on a 5” smartphone. The faux-leather back was really a nice feature and I think, we’ll expect that on the next generation of Samsung Galaxy Phones which will be on 2014.

The chrome sides isn’t steel. Plastic may not always be fantastic but c’mon guys, the sides are pretty sturdy. On those chrome sides are where the power and volume buttons were placed. Unfortunately, the shutter button is still missing after 3 generations. Another thing that I didn’t like on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 was the thin power button. Not really a deal breaker but I really hate to see that. I feel that it will be stuck inside if I pressed it too hard.

The phone was called Note for one reason; it has a stylus. The S Pen was long and fat enough to hold it firmly and without hassle. I was able to draw a mountain with a rice field (that looks like a drawing from a Grade 1 student) and yes, it was very comfortable to hold it and use it on the 5.7” display. Speaking of the 5.7” display, let’s talk about the display of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

I really hate to say this but the 5.7” Super AMOLED display of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 probably has a bigger or the same resolution of your TV in your living room (My 32” is still at 720p). The difference between 720p and 1080p on a smartphone display isn’t really dramatic in the eyes on a 5” and below display (Or my eyes aren’t that good anymore) you’ll only notice that if you really have a keen eye or when you’re really observing the pixels of the display but on a 5.7” display, I notice a little bit of difference especially when I downloaded the OLED world app. As always. the Super AMOLED display was little bit of oversaturated. It’s not really that bad, it adds more vividness and color to the display of the phone. Don’t worry about it, you could still adjust it on the settings.

Ah yes, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 got you covered when it comes to connectivity. It has everything you want from LTE to NFC. Another thing that you’ll like about it is that the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 already uses a MicroUSB 3.0 which is compatible to USB 3.0. So yeah, much faster transfer rates when you connect it to your device with USB 3.0. Don’t worry, your good ol’ MicroUSB 2.0 cables would still work on the Galaxy Note 3 but the included MicroUSB 3.0 cable on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 wouldn’t work on MicroUSB 2.0 slots since this one has an additional port. The MicroUSB 3.0 looks hideous by the way.

A lot of people prefer Samsung over other flagship smartphones because of the expandable storage. Inside the smartphone is a 32 GB storage which is quite good enough since Touchwiz eats A LOT OF STORAGE but don’t worry guys, there’s a MicroSD Card slot for your media files such as pictures, music and video……and porn. And oh, and be ready to be shocked with the 3 GB RAM inside the Galaxy Note 3. No, that’s a typo folks! Samsung Galaxy Note 3 packs a 3 GB RAM! Yes! Three! Tres! Tatlo! For those people who have no idea about the sim, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 uses a Micro-Sim and not the Nano-sim which was implemented by Apple.

A large phone needs a large battery. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3’s 3200 mAh battery performs pretty well and sometimes, the phone could last a day at average-heavy use. That includes a little bit of gaming, Wi-Fi, 3G, browsing and drawing on the S Note. Not really the best in the market but this one has improve from its predecessors. There’s only 1 speaker grill on the phone and it was placed below along with the MicroUSB 3.0 port and S Pen. The Audio quality was pretty good. I was surprised that the audio quality would be pretty well. Just like the Samsung Galaxy S4, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 packs an infrared which can be use to control TVs, DVD players and other media devices. We’ll cover that later in my review

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 runs on Android Jelly Bean 4.3. It is expected to be updated to Android 4.4 Kitkat very soon. Just like those previous Samsung Galaxy smartphones, the operating system inside it is fully covered by Touchwiz UI. Almost everything that you see in the OS was optimized for the Touchwiz. If you’ve used a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and Samsung Galaxy S3 before, the lock screen has an ink and ripple effect respectively but on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, it was a watercolour effect. It was an eyecandy but I would still prefer Samsung Galaxy S4’s sunlight ray or Samsung Galaxy Note 2’s ink effect. Heehee, I really love to play with the lockscreen.

There are a ton of pre-installed apps on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 but I will only discuss the apps that are really useful.

S Note – This is probably the best app for a smartphone with an S pen. People who love to draw would surely love this phone. There are a lot of writing materials that you can use like marker, brush and even a pencil. I was not gifted with a skill to draw using a pen so I’ll just show you the drawing of my friend, Kat Porciuncula:

S Health – For those who are into running would surely love this app. It records how many steps that you’ve made or how long have you been running or cycling. It also records the calories that you’ve burn from your workout and it records the back-up of your recent work out. But I still prefer Runtastic over this since it offers a lot and much better features.

WatchON – This is probably the best app that I’ve used on this smartphone. Don’t worry if you lose your TV remote on your couch, the WatchOn got you covered. Thanks to the IR sensor on the phone, you can now control your TV and Media Player using the WatchON app. If you are also subscribed to a major cable provider in the Philippines, you could see the current and upcoming shows on different channels.

My Magazine – It lets you view your selected news, personal files and social networking accounts on a Flipboard style app. I love this app but I hope that they can add websites and RSS feeds manually, not just by picking categories. Nonetheless, I still love this app.

I barely used the other Samsung apps that are pre-installed on the phone like the Samsung Hub and S voice but I hope that they remove the unessential apps because it just lessens the storage space on the phone.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has a lot of unique features including Air command, air and eye gestures but I barely used those gestures, it was very annoying. Air command lets you maximize the use of S Pen and its large screen on certain apps. My favourite is the Pen Window. Pen Window allows you to open an app on a window size that you want on a certain size. Unfortunately, only a pinch of apps are supported on this phone. There are 4 other things that you could also do in Air Command. There’s Screen Write, Scrapbooker and Action Memo. Scrapbooker allows you to make a screen shot of an area in your screen and collect it in a scrapbook like app. Great for people who love to take notes from the internet. Action Memo lets you draw and write on a sticky note-like app that’ll appear on screen. Not only that, it also allows you to write a name and a mobile number and then automatically save it to the phonebook using link to action. I doubt that it will be practical to Note users but it’s a feature that can really “Wow” other people.

Inside the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is a 2.2 GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 800 processor paired with a 3 GB of RAM. Snapdragon 800 processor is currently one of the best processor in the market right now and the 3 GB RAM is probably the largest on a smartphone right now. Actually, I don’t think I need to tell you how it performs because the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 can do anything that you want on a smartphone without lags (except baking cookies! The Galaxy Note 3 can’t bake cookies! LOL). I NEVER experienced lags and slowdowns on this smartphone. You can play anything on this smartphone, you can even play a PSP game on it with PPSSPP at a decent framerate. On Antutu, I got a score of 33555 in it. Holy Cheeseballs!

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 may not have a 41 Megapixel Camera inside but the 13 Megapixel camera is already great. Unfortunately, I haven’t reviewed other flagship smartphones from other brands so I can’t really compare it with those phones. The camera app of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 was very similar to the previous Samsung Galaxy phones. Vain people would definitely love this phone because just like the Samsung Galaxy S4, the Note 3 allows you to use the rear and front camera simultaneously.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 can shoot decent photos even at lowlight conditions. In most of the photos that I took, the colors were just right and the images were sharp. Again, it’s not the best camera on a smartphone but it performs really great. Here are some shots that I took using the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

Not only the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 can take very decent images, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 can also record videos up to 2160p (That’s 3820×2160 for you guys). I know, holy &#*@ right? My TV isn’t on 1080p yet but the Galaxy Note 3 can already record at 4k. Not only that, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 can also take a video in slow motion and in smooth motion. Yes folks, it can record up to 60fps of video at 1080p. No need for explanations. Here’s a 4k video sample that I took using the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

Without a doubt, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is one of the most powerful smartphone that is currently available right now. Its features are one of the best and unique in the market right now. I love how they optimized the S pen for the Note 3 but I wish they can improve it more. The design of Touchwiz UI is getting old too and there were some apps that aren’t really useful on the Note 3. Nonetheless, this is one of the best Android smartphone that you can get in the market right now. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is now available with a SRP of P36,990.

Thank you Samsung Philippines!

Nokia Asha 502 now available in the Philippines!

Jam Ancheta
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Nokia Asha 502 now available in the Philippines!

Nokia Asha 502

Yes, it’s another addition to the Asha platform family of smartphones. Compared to the Nokia Lumia family, the Nokia Asha 502 features a unique layered design that looks quite cool but still, it retains its vivid and colorful profile. The Nokia Asha 502 is still sporting the Fastlane home screen and the OS is still deeply integrated with your social networking accounts just like the Nokia Asha 501 which I reviewed a few weeks ago. The Nokia Asha 502 has only a few minor upgrade from the Nokia Asha 501 and the Nokia Asha 502 still rocks an affordable price. Check out the specifications after the break

Nokia Asha 502 Specifications

  • 3” QVGA Display
  • 2G
  • 5 Megapixel camera with Flash
  • Bluetooth 3.0
  • Asha OS
  • Up to 24 days standby time
  • Available in black, white, yellow, green, cyan and red

    • The only noticeable upgrade from the Nokia Asha 502 aside from the layered design is the 5 MP camera w/ flash. I was disappointed to see that the Nokia Asha 502 still sports 2G instead of 3G. I hope Nokia can consider that next time. The price of the Nokia Asha 502 in the Philippines is P4,800. Android phones might be cheaper but remember, the Nokia Asha family has one of the longest battery life on touchscreen phones right now. The Asha OS keeps on blurring the lines between a featurephone and a smartphone but still, there are still a lot of apps that are needed on the Asha OS.

    If you’re planning on buying a Nokia Lumia 502, I suggest that you buy one immediately to get a chance to win at the Nokia Buena promo. Yeah, they’re raffling off a Nokia Lumia 1520 and a Nokia Lumia 1020.

    Cherry Mobile Flare HD Revealed: Ang HD ng Bayan

    Jam Ancheta
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    Cherry Mobile Flare HD Revealed: Ang HD ng Bayan

    During the Cherry Mobile Dealer’s night, we were one of the few lucky people to get the first dibs of the Cherry Mobile Flare HD which is expected to be release on 2014. Unfortunately, The Cherry Mobile Flare HD’s SRP wasn’t announced during the event. It’ll be also part of the 2014 line-up so yeah, this phone isn’t available in the market yet. The Cherry Mobile Flare HD is dubbed as “HD ng bayan” so expect that the phone would be very very veryyyy affordable. According to them, the Cherry Mobile Flare HD would have a much cheaper price than the Cherry Mobile Apollo. Interested? Check out the specs after the break.

    Cherry Mobile Flare HD Specifications
    • 4.3″ HD-IPS 1280×720
    • 1.2 GHz Quad Core MT6589 Processor
    • PowerVR SGX544
    • 4 GB Internal Storage w/ storage up to 32 GB
    • 1 GB RAM
    • 12 MP Rear Camera w/ flash
    • 5 MP Front Camera
    • 1800mAh Battery
    • Dual SIM
    • Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
    The GPU on the specs sheet that was given to us the was MALI-400 but according to them it was just a typo and the real GPU of the Cherry Mobile Flare HD was PowerVR SGX544. The SRP is expected to be announced soon. Heehee. If you want to know more about the Cherry Mobile Flare HD, be sure to watch the #BigTimeShow this Saturday night at 10 PM at bit.ly/watchbts.

    Cloudfone Thrill 530qx Review

    Jam Ancheta
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    Cloudfone Thrill 530qx Review

    Ever since the creation of Android and iOS, battery life has been always a problem for our smartphones. When Symbian was still the best OS for mobile, the battery life of these smartphones at heavy use can reach up to 2 days. I remember having a Nokia phone with a week of battery life but today if your smartphone can last a day, we can already considered that your phone has a very long battery life. Most international brands focus on innovating their features like camera and display but most of them doesn’t really improve the battery life of their phones. There are only a few brands that really offer smartphones with a long battery life like Cloudfone. Remember the Cloudfone Thrill 430x? Yeah, I reviewed that phone a few months ago. Well, Cloudfone just released the Cloudfone Thrill 530qx, a quad-core Android smartphone with a very long battery life. So what’s in it for us? Check it out after the break.

    I’ve tried this phone before and like what I’ve said before, despite having a big battery the Cloudfone Thrill 530qx isn’t that thick and I didn’t expect that it would be comfortable to hold for its size. The back has a rubber-like texture which adds more grip to the phone and the curves were kinda comfortable to hold too. The grip and box-like construction of the Cloudfone Thrill 430x was one of my main problems but they fixed that problem on the Cloudfone Thrill 530qx and they even brought a larger display in it without sacrificing comfortability. Remember, this phone has a 5.3″ display and it is quite thick because of its battery, that’s why it is important for the phone to have a comfortable design for a good grip.

    There’s a LED notification light too on the phone which was a nice addition. The buttons on the phone were unique and it looks cool too. It reminds me of braille but hey, the design of the buttons aren’t needed to be discussed here. The display was upgraded to 5.3″ but the display was just qHD but don’t get me wrong, the display was quite good despite having a qHD resolution on a 5.3” display. Always remember that the qHD display would save more battery life than the HD displays even at the same size. But of course, it would still depend on the technology that they’ve used for the display.

    The connectivity is complete except for LTE and NFC but that’s expected already, right? One thing that I really like on the phone is the included USB OTG on the box. Yeah, no need to buy a USB OTG because it already comes in the box. You could even use it as a power bank heeheehee. Inside it is a 4 GB internal storage. Again, you have to buy a MicroSD card for your apps and games. The audio quality of the Cloudfone Thrill 530qx wasn’t the best but it was acceptable.

    Here we go. The battery life of the Cloudfone Thrill 530qx is probably one of the best in the market. The Cloudfone Thrill 530qx manage to last up to a day at heavy use. What do I mean with that? Well, the 3G was on all the time, I browsed the internet often and sometimes play some casual games. That’s actually impressive. On average use, I squeezed all of its juice after 3 days. The Cloudfone Thrill 530qx is probably the only quad-core smartphone that can reach that long on one charge. Damn, it’s like there’s a nuclear reactor inside it. Normally, I always complain of the short battery life of smartphones but when I used the Cloudfone Thrill 530qx, I was complaining because I can’t drain its battery. I know, I’m weird. Since this smartphone packs a lot of juice, the Cloudfone Thrill 530qx needs a lot of time before you can fully charge it. I suggest that you charge this phone before you sleep because sometimes, it will took you more than 4 hours to fully charge this phone from 0%.

    The first time I saw it, I thought the Cloudfone Thrill 530qx’s battery was removable but no, it isn’t removable. Actually, a lot of people got fooled with that heehee. The battery was sticked to the phone and there are some wires that are actually attached on the battery. It is best not to remove the battery because it will just void your warranty. Anyway, why would you want to replace the battery of the Cloudfone Thrill 530qx? You got a lot of juices inside already.

    Inside the Cloudfone Thrill 530qx is Android Jelly Bean. Not bad right? Got no complaints with that. Thankfully, Cloudfone didn’t pre-installed a lot of bloatwares on the phone. So yeah, that’ll give you more storage for your apps and games that you want to install on the internal storage. Cloudfone just announced a new update for the Cloudfone Thrill 530qx but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to try that during my review since I returned the unit before the update was announced. Anyway, the Cloudfone Thrill 530qx didn’t come with surprises on the software side. Let’s just hope that it’ll be updated to Android 4.4 Kitkat because all of us wants to taste that chocolate on our smartphones.

    Inside the Cloudfone Thrill 530qx is a MediaTek MT6589m processor and a 1 GB RAM. So what’s up with that “m” on its name? Well, the MT6589m has a lesser performance than the MT6589 and MT6589T but all of them are quad-cores. But don’t worry. The performance gap between the MT6589m and MT6589 aren’t dramatic. The Cloudfone Thrill 530qx got a score of 13607 at Antutu. Most games would work on this smartphone. The quad-core MediaTek processor is powerful enough to run the latest games but not at the highest settings.

    The Cloudfone Thrill 530qx doesn’t use the Android stock camera app. It comes with a pre-installed HiCamera app instead which is jam-packed with features. On the HiCamera app, you can do a lot with it and it was very easy to use. The Cloudfone Thrill 530qx has a 12 megapixel camera with dual-led flash doesn’t perform as I expected. It isn’t that bad but I expected too much from the camera. Most lowlight shots that I took wasn’t that good but when I’m in a well-lit environment, the images were pretty good. Here are some shots that I took using the Cloudfone Thrill 530qx.

    While here’s a sample video that I took using the Cloudfone Thrill 530qx.

    If there’s one thing that’ll set this smartphone apart from other local smartphones, well, it’ll be the battery life. Cloudfone is the only local brand I know that offers a smartphone with this battery life. It might not packed the best display or processor inside it but it surely has one gigantic and monstrous battery life. For those people who wants a smartphone with a long battery life, you might want to put this on the top of your list. You’ll never need a power bank with this phone. The only problem that you’ll have on this smartphone is how you can drain its battery.

     

    Nokia Lumia 1020 Review

    Jam Ancheta
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    Nokia Lumia 1020 Review

    Nokia is very known for making smartphones with great camera. Remember the Nokia N95? Yeah, the 5 megapixel camera on that smartphone was incredible back then and then we had the 12 MP camera of the Nokia N8 and the 41 MP camera of the Nokia 808 Pureview. And now, Nokia has introduced the the Nokia Lumia 1020. It is equipped with a 41 MP Pureview camera with an amazing low light capabilities. Basically, the Nokia Lumia 1020 combined the awesome low light capabilities of the Nokia Lumia 920 and the 41 Megapixel camera of the Nokia 808 Pureview. And yes folks, this is the most awesome Nokia Lumia smartphone that I’ve tried.

    I’ve always said in my review of every Nokia Phone, I love how Nokia make its smartphones. It’s unique, it’s solid (Remember the 3310? Yeah, you can’t break that thing) and it’s very colourful but the design of the Nokia Lumia is getting old, I mean the design of every Nokia Lumia phone is very similar. The design can be traced back to the Nokia N9. Don’t get me wrong guys, I like the design but I feel that Nokia should do some major changes.

    Unlike the Nokia Lumia 920, the Nokia Lumia 1020 isn’t glossy. The feel was like the Nokia Lumia 800. The feel of the Nokia Lumia 1020 was very premium and sturdy. Despite having a larger 41 megapixel camera, the 1020 isn’t as thick and heavy as the Nokia Lumia 920. The weight and the thickness was between the Nokia Lumia 920 and the Nokia Lumia 925. The only thing that I really hate in the Nokia Lumia 1020 is the big bulge at the back. I know, the 41 megapixel sensor needs a larger space however, the big circle at the back doesn’t really look that good to me.

    If your smartphone boasts an amazing camera, you should provide an accessory for it and fortunately, the package of Nokia Lumia 1020 in the Philippines comes with a camera grip. The camera grip of the Nokia Lumia 1020 has the same texture and it has some battery juice inside it. So yeah, not only it acts as a camera grip but it also acts as a power bank. The camera grip has a shutter button but unfortunately, there were no other buttons in it. I hope that they can add an adjustment ring that lets you adjust the settings similar to other point and shoot and DSLR cameras in the next generation. But hey, I think the camera grip was really worth it. Oh, and be sure to match the color of the camera grip to your Nokia Lumia 1020.

    The Nokia Lumia 1020 still have that 4.5” display which is similar to the last year’s flagship. And no, Windows Phone doesn’t allow 1080p displays when they announce the Lumia 1020 so yeah, if you want a Windows Phone with a larger resolution, go for the Lumia 1520. I didn’t notice any dramatic changes with its display compared to its predecessors so yeah, nothing really new about the display. But for those who didn’t know yet, the sunlight legibility of the Nokia Lumia 1020 was great but it was not the best display on the market right now. The display was quite good but it was not the best.

    The Nokia Lumia 1020 packs LTE inside but unfortunately, I haven’t tried that because I didn’t have an LTE sim when I was at Macau and Hong Kong and I don’t want to ruin my vacation by browsing the internet all day. I found the 32 GB of the Nokia Lumia 1020 sufficient for me despite having a 34 MP and a 5 MP copy for every shot that I’ve made. But if you record a LOT of videos, you might find the 32 GB of the Nokia Lumia 1020 too small for you. And no, there’s no OTG nor MicroSD card slot for expanding the storage.

    During my vacation, I mostly used the Nokia Lumia 1020 for taking photos and I was able to squeeze out the juice at after 14 hours of average use (mostly taking photos) but thankfully, there’s a camera grip with a built-in battery so I was able to use the Nokia Lumia 1020 for more than a day. The audio quality of the Nokia Lumia 1020 was pretty good too but I barely used the loudspeaker while listening to my playlist on the Nokia Lumia 1020. The speaker grill were placed below along with the micro-usb port.

    Sorry Android fans, Microsoft has recently planned on buying the Nokia mobile division which is expected to be finished by 2014 so say good bye to your Pureview Android dreams. The Nokia Lumia 1020 still runs on Windows Phone 8 GDR2 but it is expected to have the GDR3 update soon. And yes, up to this moment the Windows Phone 8 is still plagued with app problems. There are only a few apps that are still available on the Windows Phone marketplace but it is catching up already. But hey, Vine and Instagram are already available in the Windows phone marketplace.

    When I was in Hong Kong, I noticed most shops and boutiques has their own app. Unfortunately, most of them didn’t support Windows Phone. The only local app I saw that supports Windows Phone is the bus app from a certain bus liner in Hong Kong. Same case happens here in the Philippines, most apps that are widely used in iOS and Android aren’t available on the Windows Phone.

    The Nokia Lumia 1020 is still powered by the same Qualcomm dual-core Krait processor but this one has a much larger 2 GB RAM. I notice the increase in performance when I was rendering photos at Nokia Camera and when I was multi-tasking. I didn’t experience and slowdowns or lags when I used it. Speaking of the Nokia Camera, why don’t we get to the most exciting part of the Nokia Lumia 1020 – the camera.

    To give you a little idea about the camera of the Nokia Lumia 1020, the 41 Megapixel Camera inside the Nokia Lumia 1020 is the largest on a smartphone and this is probably the best camera on a smartphone. I know, most of you would probably tell me if the camera inside the Nokia Lumia 1020 is better than the most recent DSLRs. The answer is no, it might have a larger and bigger megapixel than most of DSLRs but it doesn’t guarantee you a better images than the DSLRs. Why? Because most DSLRs have larger sensors than the Nokia Lumia 1020.

    Zooming on the Nokia Lumia 1020 isn’t a problem, it was actually one of the best. I don’t need to go nearer to the place that I need to picture, All I need is to take a photo and crop it later at the phone. And yes, cropping and rotating the photo was seamless and easy. Don’t worry about zooming guys because when you zoomed in the camera the quality won’t be compromised (Remember? It’s a 41 MP camera not 13 MP!). You know what, the Nokia Lumia 1020 is even better than my Micro 4/3 camera. Well, my Micro 4/3 is getting old already but hey! The Nokia Lumia 1020 was better than my Micro 4/3 camera and most of the point and shoots that I’ve used.

    Another thing that you would surely love about the Nokia Lumia 1020 is the low light capability. If you’ve seen the lowlight capability of the Nokia Lumia 920 and the Nokia Lumia 925, be prepared to be amaze again! Well this time, we have a much larger resolution and a better quality. Again, the Nokia Lumia 1020 didn’t fail to amaze me with its lowlight shots. Why don’t you just take look at these shots from Macau and Hong Kong:

    Jam Lumia 1020_20131028_19_18_21_Pro__highres Jam Lumia 1020_20131028_10_52_22_Pro__highresJam Lumia 1020_20131026_14_24_34_ProJam Lumia 1020_20131026_13_25_08_Pro__highresJam Lumia 1020_20131025_23_49_52_Pro__highresJam Lumia 1020_20131025_23_37_59_Pro__highresJam Lumia 1020_20131025_23_30_07_Pro__highres

    Unfortunately, I lost the video that I took when I was in Macau. But luckily, I also took a video when I came back to the Philippines. This video will show you how good the Nokia Lumia 1020’s 41 MP Pureview camera is. Why don’t you see it for yourself.

    BTW, if you feel that you really need to brighten up your image, there’s a xenon flash which is already powerful enough. But if you’re taking a video, there’s a LED flash too. Got no complaints with that too. Most of the shots that we took at night didn’t used the Xenon flash. I was already happy with how the Nokia Lumia 1020 handled those low light shots.

    The Nokia Lumia 1020 is probably the best Windows Phone that you can buy right now in the Philippines. When it comes to processing power and design, the Nokia Lumia 1020 is very similar to its predecessors but the 41 Megapixel Pureview camera was really a big leap. I don’t know why other Android manufacturers can’t catch up with Nokia in terms of camera performance. If you are really into camera, get the Nokia Lumia 1020. You don’t have to worry about Instagram too because it is already available in the Windows Phone store but of course, there are still a lot of games and apps that aren’t still available on the Windows Phone marketplace. And yes, the Nokia Lumia 1020 can beat most of the point and shoots around and even some old Micro 4/3. Yeah, the Nokia Lumia 1020 is really amazing.

    Globe Rewards: Double the Value of your points!

    Jam Ancheta
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    Globe Rewards: Double the Value of your points!

    Picture2

    Globe rewards points can already be use to purchase at many participating partner stores — Ayala Malls Cinemas, Figaro, Wendy’s, Sunglass Hut, Enchanted Kingdom, Rose Pharmacy, Bench, KFC, Petron and Memo Xpress. The conversion of Globe Rewards points to PHP is P1 to 1 point, you won’t be confuse with that, right? Starting tomorrow until December 2, Globe subscribers can enjoy double the value of their rewards points at participating branches for a limited time. So what does that mean? For every 1 Globe Rewards point, it will convert to PHP 2.00. Exciting right?

    Confused with the promo? Well, let me explain this to you. For example, you went to KFC and you decided to buy a meal worth P100. Instead of paying 100 Globe Rewards points, You’ll just pay 50 Globe Rewards points for it. Here’s the schedule and the participating branches that’ll offer this promo.

    Globe Rewards promo participating promos

    Be sure that you’ll be at those participating branches at 2pm-5pm!.

    There are roll up banners outside to inform you that the store offers this promo. I’m actually thinking of spending my Globe Rewards points at KFC tomorrow. Heehee.

    GTA: San Andreas coming to your Smartphones next month

    Jam Ancheta
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    GTA: San Andreas coming to your Smartphones next month

    GTA SA Mobile

    Hi there fellow GTA Fans! Yes folks, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, Playstation 2’s best selling game ever will be coming to your iOS and Android smartphones next month. I wasn’t surprised by this announcement because GTA: Vice City and GTA III were already available on the iOS and Play store. Rockstar has decided to bring GTA: San Andreas to Amazon and Windows Phone devices too. Yep, Lumia won’t be left out this time. Expect a touch optimized controls, remastered graphics and support for third party controllers on the mobile version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Specific launch date and pricing weren’t announced yet so we have to wait for that one. I’m a big GTA fan and I can’t wait to play this on my Android device. I wish there was a multiplayer mode like GTA V on GTA: San Andreas.

    Source: Rockstar Games

    Cherry Mobile Apollo Review

    Jam Ancheta
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    Cherry Mobile Apollo Review

    Cherry Mobile doesn’t want to stop releasing the most affordable Android smartphones in the market. One of those affordable Android phones from Cherry Mobile with a very decent specs is the Cherry Mobile Apollo. And yes, this is my favorite Cherry Mobile Android phone. It is priced P7,000 and has a very interesting specifications inside. There’s a Quad-Core MediaTek processor, 1GB of RAM, 12 MP BSI camera and a 4.5″ HD Display. So, why is it my favorite Cherry Mobile Android phone? Check it out after the break.


    Don’t expect anything special on the Cherry Mobile Apollo. It is made up of plastic but hell no, plastic body isn’t always bad. The Cherry Mobile Apollo is the most solid Android smartphone from Cherry Mobile that I’ve tried. I like its structure and its curves. This is a phone that you might want to hold everytime instead of putting it into your pocket because it won’t really strain your hand. The thickness, structure and curves were perfect for me.

    There’s the 4.5″ HD display which isn’t the best display I’ve seen on a smartphone but it was pretty well for its price range. Do you know why I like it? It’s because there are only a few Quad-Core smartphones in the market with a HD display at that price. When I turned on the phone for the first time, I noticed that the display wasn’t responsive at first but it got fixed after a while, I still don’t understand why that happened.

    I didn’t got any problems with its connectivities. Well of course, you’ll have to buy a MicroSD card for your phone because the 4 GB internal storage won’t be enough for you especially when you download a lot of apps and games. The sound quality of the Cherry Mobile Apollo was good too, not the best but it was good. According to the box, the battery is only rated at 1800 mAh but when you check the battery, it is rated at 2000mAh. It manage to last a day on me at average use. I think the battery performance was even better than the Cherry Mobile Cosmos X.

    Speaking of performance, the Cherry Mobile Apollo is powered by the good ol’ Quad-Core MediaTek processor paired with 1 GB of RAM. Just like other smartphones with the same hardware inside, the performance was very similar. I don’t know why, but I think this is more responsive than my Cherry Mobile Cosmos X which I reviewed a few months back. (Check out the review here).
    As expected, the Cherry Mobile Apollo can play most of the games that you probably want on the phone. I’ve enjoyed playing Dead Trigger 2 with no lags and slowdowns. The performance was pretty well with other games too. Despite that, Don’t expect that you could set it at the highest settings when you’re playing some very demanding 3D game.

    If you’re curious with its Antutu benchmark, the Cherry Mobile Apollo got a fair score of 13434. It’s not bad actually, the score is kinda predictable in the local branded mobile market since most of them used a Quad-Core MediaTek processor.



    One of the features that I really like on the phone is the BSI camera. And yes, the Cherry Mobile Apollo has one of the best camera that I’ve tried on a Cherry Mobile Phone. It took some good shots even at lowlight. Actually, I’m very impressed with its camera, I hope the future Cherry Mobile phones would have a camera like the Cherry Mobile Apollo. The Dual-LED flash didn’t perform well as I expected, I expected the images to be brighter but it failed to reach my expectations. Anyway, the photos were still great, the images were sharp and the colors were just right. Here are the sample photos.

    While here’s a sample video of the Cherry Mobile Apollo. I kept my hand steady as much as possible but the video is still a bit shaky. Check out the video below:

    I really like the Cherry Mobile Apollo. Why? Because the Cherry Mobile Apollo is the jack of all trades. Actually, I can’t find any big issues that’ll be a deal breaker for the Cherry Mobile Apollo. I mean, the specs isn’t the best in the market but it’s quite good already and it can run most of the apps and games that are available in Google Play. The battery doesn’t drain that fast too and the camera performs really well (except for that LED flash, geez). If your budget falls at P7,000 and below, I strongly recommend this smartphone for you. You can get the Cherry Mobile Apollo at Lazada.



    Instagram for Windows Phone Now available!

    Jam Ancheta
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    0
    Instagram for Windows Phone Now available!

    Nokia Instagram

    The long wait is over Windows Phone users! After the arrival of Vine on WP, The official app of Instagram has finally arrive on the Windows Phone Store too. The app is still in beta and you can’t upload videos yet on the app so you have to rely on the 6Tag when you want to upload videos for now. But don’t worry, it’ll be coming soon to the Instagram app for WP. Of course, your favorite Instagram filters are still there along with the blur effects which adds more drama to the image. Ok, why don’t you check out the QR code of the Instagram app for WP after the break. ENJOY!

    DOWNLOAD INSTAGRAM USING THIS QR CODE:

    Download Instagram WP

    ASUS MeMo Pad HD 7 Review

    Jam Ancheta
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    0
    ASUS MeMo Pad HD 7 Review

    If you’re planning on getting a decent and powerful that doesn’t cost that much, you might want to look at the ASUS MeMo Pad HD 7. So what’s up with this tablet? What’s cool? Well, this tablet starts at P6,995 but it still got some guts and power to run most of the demanding apps that you can see on the Google Play. Why don’t you check out the the ASUS MeMo Pad HD 7 review after the break.

    The ASUS MeMo Pad HD 7 has a 7″ 1280 x 800 HD IPS panel which is quite good for its price. It also packs a MediaTek 1.2 GHz Quad-Core processor along with the 1 GB RAM which is already enough for your basic needs on a tablet like web browsing, office applications and some casual gaming.

    The ASUS MeMo Pad HD 7 is available in many colors. The black and the blue one have a matte back cover while the rest are glossy. I actually prefer the matte over the glossy one because I like the grip on the matte and the glossy back is very prone to scratches. Actually, I don’t have an idea how I got those scratches at the back.

    The construction of the tablet wasn’t very solid. I feel that ASUS needs to improve more the ASUS MemoPad HD 7’s construction but hey, this tablet is far better than the local brands when it comes to build quality. The one that I got is the 16 GB version and I was very happy to see that the ASUS Memopad HD 7 supports MicroSD card slot because for some people, 16 GB is not enough for their media files.

    I love the battery life of the ASUS MeMoPad HD7. Why? Because it can last up to more than a day on an average use. Unfortunately, unlike the ASUS Nexus 7, this one doesn’t support Micro-USB keyboard. There’s no USB OTG too but I think, that wouldn’t be a deal breaker for some people. The sound quality of the ASUS MemoPad HD 7 isn’t the best but it performs beyond my expectations. Sometimes, I use the tablet stand and connect the tablet to my speaker. I also watch movies sometimes with that. It’s very rare for a tablet to have a stand that comes with the box.

    It may not run on the latest version of Android but at least it’s running on Android Jelly Bean 4.2 but I hope that updates will still be coming on the tablet. The 1.2 GHz Quad-Core MediaTek processor and 1 GB of RAM feels smooth at first but I notice some lags after I run too many apps and used a live wallpaper but overall, I think the performance is still great for its price. This tablet really performs well. The ASUS Memopad HD7 can play 1080p videos but I noticed some hiccups and lags sometimes. I’m not sure why but I hope ASUS can fix that soon.

    One of the games that I’ve tried is Asphalt 8 and yes, it worked perfectly well at medium settings but I notice that there were some lags and it isn’t playable that much on high settings. Overall, the performance of the MT8125 which is the processor inside the ASUS MeMopad HD 7 is pretty much the same with the MT6589 on the smartphones. Here’s the Antutu benchmark of the ASUS MeMopad HD 7.

    Unlike the Nexus 7, the ASUS MeMo Pad HD 7 has built-in apps made by ASUS. There’s ASUS Webstorage which gives you 16 GB of cloud storage. It’s really great if you want to back up your images and videos to the cloud. The Power Saver app really helps the tablet save more power so I suggest that you take a look on that when you buy one. I barely use the rest of the ASUS apps built in the tablet.

    Another feature of the ASUS android tablets that I really like is the floating apps. It is already present on the other Android products from ASUS like the Fonepad and the Padfone. It’s really a great feature for Android tablets but I hope that they could add some more apps that support floating apps, there are only a handful of apps that are available there. Geez.

    It comes in two variants 8 and 16 GB. The latter has a 5 megapixel camera while the 8 GB version has only 2 MP camera. I think that’s reasonable because it’ll lower down the price even more. I have the 16 GB version so there’s a 5 megapixel camera at the back. For a tablet, I don’t really need a very awesome camera because I always use my smartphone for Instagram. The video? Well, it’s pretty good too and it can record 1080p videos. I notice that the shots were only great when there’s enough light but at low light condition you’ll notice too much noise. Anyway, here are the sample shots that I took using the ASUS MeMopad HD 7:

    There’s a tablet stand that comes with the box that’s why it is easier for me to talk to Skype or hangouts even without holding tablet. But I’m a little worried with the tablet stand because it is so soft and I feel that I could break it immediately. But hey, at least there’s a tablet stand that comes with the box.

    Android tablets are popping out everywhere and even the local brands has some decent tablets too but if you’re looking for a tablet below P9,000 I would definitely choose the ASUS Memo Pad HD 7. Why? The Quad-Core processor might not be able to run some games at the highest settings but the processing power of the tablet is already fast enough for its price range. The software and its features are very useful too. If you don’t have enough budget for the Nexus 7 or the iPad Mini, you can opt for this one instead. Yes folks, this tablet is quite good.

    Disclosure: Reviewed by Camille with a little help from Jam

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