Category: Mobile Phone

After the launch of the OnePlus 7T, the company has followed up with a companion model. The OnePlus 7T Pro is different than the vanilla 7T. For one, it doesn’t have a notch – instead it comes with a pop-up selfie camera.

Inside, the OnePlus 7T Pro shares many similarities with the OnePlus 7T. Snapdragon 855 Plus, the triple camera setup and even USB Type-C fast charging. What is special with the phone is that it has a curved screen rather than a flat-top. Something like the Samsung phones – which is logical as the screen is an AMOLED display.

Imaging is handled by the 48MP Sony IMX586 and 8MP wide-angle sensor, alongside an 8MP 3x telephoto sensor. The selfie is the same 16MP Sony IMX471 sensor and f/2.0 lens found in the 7T. The curved 6.67-inch Quad HD+ AMOLED screen has a pixel density of 516 ppi, 90Hz refresh rate and in-display fingerprint scanner as per the non-Pro variant. Plus, HDR10+ support. The battery is also bigger at 4085mAh (which is an odd capacity).

The OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren edition is basically the same phone, but features special McLaren colours and 12GB RAM instead of 8GB of RAM. Still limited at 128GB of storage with no microSD slots though.

Customers looking to buy the phone can get one – in India – for INR 53,999 (~RM 3,190) while the McLaren Edition is listed at INR 58,999 (~RM 3,485). No news if the phone will be heading to Malaysia as yet so far.

After the launch of the Redmi Note 8 and Redmi Note 8 Pro, it has officially launched the lower end device called the Redmi 8 (surprising? I think not). The new device is definitely designed for first-time smartphone owners coming from a feature phone or those looking for second phones for work.

Underneath the body is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 processor, paired to 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The screen is a 6.22-inch HD+ display, so it fits the lower-end mature of the device.

Imaging is handled by dual cameras at the back and a selfie camera at the front. The back has a 12MP main sensor alongside a 2MP depth sensor. Selfies are taken with the 8MP sensor on the front.

What makes the Redmi 8 stand out is more to the power part of the phone. For one, it comes with a huge 5000mAh battery, and it supports fast charging via an 18watt charger – a first for this segment.

Xiaomi is pricing the 4GB/64GB model for RM 599, while the 3GB/32GB model will be priced at RM499. The higher spec is available from 12 October onwards, while the lower spec will come on sale a week later.

Thanks to tweets shared by Andy Rubin and Essential, the head of Essential Phone, we have first looks of the next phone to come out the ex Googler’s company – and it is a unique design indeed.

The phone from Essential looks unlike any other phone in the market in the past decade. It has a tall screen – even taller than Sony’s 21:9 screens. Another standout is that the phone is very narrow. It is like the Essential team took the external screen on the Galaxy Fold, and made it taller to make a phone.

Other stuff shown by the Essential team is the colourway of the new phone. Four options were displayed, with all four showing pearl colour-like changing for the paint job – like a gem. At the back, a single camera bump is seen, rather than the multi-camera trend sweeping the phone manufacturers.

Other than the design and colours, no other information was shared on the new phone. Not even the expected availability date. We may see the phone appear in selected markets sometime next year. It may take that long as well to polish the custom Android skin to work properly in a new form factor. 2020 will be an interesting year for phone design.

A new document on device requirements by Google popped up online recently. The document outlines a requirement for device manufacturers to support the USB Power Delivery (or PD) standard for power and charging, and not to break compatibility for third-party PD chargers.

With a theoretical limit of 100W, USB PD is more than enough to be a choice fast charger for devices. However, competing and proprietary version such as OnePlus, Huawei and OPPO means that devices from those manufacturers can only fast-charge with their own accessories.

This time around, Google has mandated that manufacturers are required to follow standards. Google warned that “New DEVICES launching from 2019 onwards, with a USB Type-C port MUST ensure full interoperability with chargers that are compliant with the USB specifications and have the USB Type-C plug.” This is according to the version 7.0 of GMS Requirements, published September 3rd, 2019, GMS being the Google Mobile Service.

Of course, devices that was approved before the deadline are free from the requirements – most devices launched in 2019 were approved in 2018. However, we can be certain that devices from next year onwards will have USB PD compatibility, and we can finally have a standard fast-charge across smartphones, and laptops.

Garmin has officially launched their latest smartwatch for the Malaysian market. Called the Garmin Venu, it combines both fitness and health tracking into a single wrist-tracker which is compatible with most mobile OS in the market.

What makes this model stand out is the new Always-On OLED screen that delivers information at a glance. Compared to the previous model, the new screen saves battery and yet shows all the information needed without having the screen go blank.

The health tracking with the Venu is extensive; you get the usual heartrate sensor, sleep tracking and steps taken. What’s new are the other tracking modes – these include new respiration tracking, abnormal heart rate alerts, menstrual cycle tracking, stress tracking with relax reminders, new hydration tracking, breath work activities, and more. You can also check the status of your body power level with the new Body Battery energy monitoring.

It connects to your smartphone, and grabs all the important notification you need and display it on your wrist. Android users can even directly reply to the messages on their wrist. You can even download songs or playlists from Spotify, Amazon Music, and Deezer, and listen to them on-the-go, untethered from your smartphone thanks to the built-in storage.

The Garmin Venu is priced at RM 1,799 available in Granite Blue with Silver Hardware*, Black with Slate Hardware, Light Sand with Rose Gold Hardware, and Black and Gold Hardware*.

*coming soon in November 2019

We are still waiting for the OnePlus 7T to ship, and the first leaks of the OnePlus 8 is already popping up online. The rumours circulating is that the upcoming model will have features that will make fans happy and sad – wireless charging and punch hole camera.

The early renders of the phone show a very understated yet recognizable OnePlus design language. What makes this design a bit different is the curved display – akin to the Galaxy Note 10. On the front, the notch is banished, but replaced with a punch hole camera in the corner. This is a good compromise between having a notch for the selfie camera and a pop-up camera that can complicate repairs and maintenance.

Another feature that will be embraced by OnePlus fans is the inclusion of wireless charging, which has been missing in the line-up. With the 6.5inch display, this means the body of the phone will be bigger, and this more space to include fun stuff like Wireless Charging. No news if the wireless charging is the normal or fast variety, but knowing OnePlus, a speedy wireless charging tech is in the works.

Other info for the phone is lacking, such as the processor, camera and more. In any case, we have until 2020 to wait and see what OnePlus will have for us in the pipeline.