Posts Tagged ‘reviews’
Saturday, November 11th, 2017
This transparent LifeProof NËXT phone case boasts six layers of protection in a sleek package to keep your iPhone 8 or iPhone 7 safe from drops, dirt and snow.
Worth S$99, you may just get one free by participating in the tech4xmas 2017 giveaway over on Instagram here.
Update (13 November, 2017):
A big Thank You to all of you who participated in this first tech4xmas2017 giveaway. The LifeProof NEXT phone case goes to @maplrn. Congratulations!
For the other participants, not to worry – there are more phone cases coming up for grabs. In fact, I have started the next tech4xmas2017 giveaway over at @tech4teaReviews. So hop over and try your luck.
You might just win yourself a LifeProof NEXT phone case for iPhone 8 Plus or iPhone 7 Plus – for yourself or for a friend as a X’mas present! So see you over at @tech4teaReviews!
To try your luck, do the following:
1. Follow @tech4tea Instagram account.
2. Comment on this Instagram post (ON INSTAGRAM) by typing one of the three things that this NËXT phone case protects your iPhone from.
___
I will pick one commenter (at random) on Monday (13 November) to be the recipient for the giveaway. I will contact you via Instagram Direct Message to arrange collection instructions.
The two-piece outer shell of the LifeProof NËXT phone case wraps securely around the iphone 8 or iPhone 7 and offers maximum durability and drop defence.
tech4xmas 2017 Giveaway
I have one LifeProof NËXT phone case (black) to giveaway on Instagram here.
The giveaway ends on Monday (13 November) and I will pick one participant to receive the phone case free.
Instructions on how to participate (takes less than a minute) are on the Instagram post itself (and above).
So go score yourself or your loved one a LifeProof NËXT phone case for a X’mas present.
Good Luck!
A raised bevel bolsters drop and touchscreen protection while the display is left uncovered for direct access to the glass.
A clear outer layer prevents scuffs, scrapes and scratches and an inner lining seals the case and phone from dirt.
An audio-transparent mesh covers the speakers to block dust and debris while audio flows freely.
NËXT protects from drops up to 2 meters, carries an IP-5X rating for blocking dirt and dust and keeps snow out.
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Tags:accessories, Chistmas, Christmas 2017, gadgets, giveways, LifeProof, OtterBox, phone cases, reviews, tech4xmas, tech4xmas 2017, tech4xmas 2017 giveaway, tech4xmas giveaway, Xmas
Posted in Accessories, cases/housings, Contest, Gadgets, gadgets, Giveaway, iOS, iPhone, LifeProof, OtterBox, Prices, Promotions, Shopping, smartphones, Specifications | No Comments »
Thursday, November 2nd, 2017
The new Google Pixel 2 XL phablet in the tech4xmas 2017 gift list not just because it’s the latest, but mostly because it’s up there among the best, and whoever you’re giving this to as a X’mas present is going to be absolutely delighted. Available in Singapore from 15 November, 2017.
My take:
“The Google Pixel 2 XL has one of the best cameras I’ve tried among the flagship models of other smartphone makers and it does it with a single lens!”
Made by Google, the Pixel 2 XL ships with Google organic apps installed and most significantly, the phone will be the first in the market to receive Android updates from Google.
Having tried out the phablet, it truly has a superb camera.
The rear camera has a 12.2-megapixels sensor with f/1.8 lens while the front camera has 8 megapixels and a f/2.4 lens. Measuring 6.2 x 3 inches, the phablet comes in just black or black & white.
In fact, it has the highest DxOMark of 98 for its camera performance – higher than all other smartphone cameras today – and it does it with a single lens!
Photos turned out crisp and clear even in low light.
The aluminum unibody of the Google Pixel 2 XL makes it water/dust resistant IP67 standards. That means the Pixel 2 XL – like the Apple iPhone X, iPhone 8 & 8 plus – can withstand immersion in water up to one meter for 30 minutes.
It offers the popular Portrait Mode, boasting background blur if you keep the background relatively far behind the subject you’re shooting.
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Tags:gifts, Google, new arrivals, phablets, Pixel, reviews, smartphones, tech4xmas, tech4xmas2017, tech4xmas2017 reviews
Posted in Android, Events, events, Gadgets, gadgets, Google, Launch, newArrivals, Prices, Review, smartphones, Specifications | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 1st, 2017
It’s November and Christmas is less than two months away, this series of reviews serves up gift ideas for those planning to buy presents for your friends and loved ones – or yourself. Keep a lookout for tech4xmas giveaways to build up the yuletide cheer.
The tech4xmas reviews are meant to provide ideas and start you off, so do check out some of them online and in the shops if they are what you think would bring a smile to your loved ones this Christmas.
With Christmas 2017 less than two months away, it’s a good time to begin planning gifts for those that are close to us.
So this series (see list below) features quick and easy-to-read reviews of some of the best tech gadgets/products that I’ve personally tried.
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Tags:accessories, Chistmas, Christmas 2017, gadgets, reviews, tech4xmas, tech4xmas 2017, Xmas
Posted in Accessories, Gadgets, gadgets, Holiday, Opinion, Prices, Review, reviews, Shopping, Specifications | No Comments »
Friday, July 28th, 2017
Dell launched its series of four business laptops end last year and the Vostro 14 5000 notebook has been my computer of choice for the last few months. Here’s why. (Prices start from S$1,164.)
The Dell Vostro 14 5000 is an affordable notebook that packs good performance to keep you productive, with excellent connectivity, long battery life and light weight that won’t break your back.
First off, I use the notebook in the course of work – churning out word documents, browsing the web for research, reading PDF and web articles, viewing videos and presentation slides, as well as browsing and simple editing of work and personal photos, with the occasional video production.
So I’m looking for a no-frills machine that just works – it doesn’t have to look good or offer any gimmicks – just something portable with the essential connectivity to let me set up anywhere quickly.
The Vostro 14 5000 is just that.
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Tags:Business IT, computers, DELL, laptops, notebooks, reviews, Vostro, Windows, Windows 10
Posted in Business IT, Dell, Gadgets, gadgets, Notebooks, notebooks, Opinion, Prices, Review, reviews, Specifications, Windows 10 | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 4th, 2017
The G6 is LG’S flagship smartphone sporting a sleek 18:9 aspect ratio, beefed up rear dual cameras and a stunning display all ready for HDR movies. Price in Singapore: S$988.
My take: The LG G6 packs a large display in a compact body, and is a strong flagship offering that goes back to basics to strengthen usability. Its 18:9 aspect ratio introduces new flexibility in terms of screen layout and user friendliness. The G6 also makes it easy to share the good photos it takes on social media through tight integration in the user interface.
The LG G6 sports a 5.7-inch QHD+ display with an 18:9 wide-screen aspect ratio.
The 2,880 x 1,440 pixels on-screen has a high resolution of 564ppi that’s similar to the 570ppi on its rival, the Samsung S8.
The LG G6 was first unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2017 towards the end of February and will be
officially launched in Singapore tomorrow. I have been trying out the G6 (pre-launch handset) to get a feel of the new smartphone.
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Tags:Android, Android 7, cameras, flagship, G6, launch, LG, Nougat, reviews, Singapore, smartphones
Posted in Events, events, Gadgets, gadgets, Launch, LG, newArrivals, Phones, Prices, reviews, smartphones, Specifications | No Comments »
Friday, December 30th, 2016
The Mate 9 is Huawei’s flagship phablet boasting the fabulous camera from P9 that was co-developed with Leica and now improved, a fast Kirin 960 processor and Android 7.0 Nougat with EMUI 5.0 user interface. Price in Singapore: S$898.
My take: The Huawei Mate 9 is another winner from Huawei. The Android 7 flagship phablet works swiftly as a smartphone and has a fabulous camera that churns out wonderfully toned black and white snapshots. Fantastic for monochrome shooters that want Leica-like photos without any post-editing.
The 5.9-inch smartphone has dual SIM slots capable of supporting 4G and 3G networks.
The Huawei Mate 9 ships with 4GB RAM and 64GB memory, and you can use the secondary SIM card slot to add up to 256GB from a microSD card.
Have been trying out the Huawei Mate 9 since its launch & availability in Singapore last month. Was curious to see whether the camera performance of the Mate 9 had improved over the P9, which had impressed me when I tried it (see the P9 photos here).
With the demise of Samsung’s Galaxy Note7, the Huawei Mate 9 is a strong candidate to take up the mettle left by the Korean flagship phablet.
The phone sports a Type-C USB socket – an adaptor to convert into a regular mini-USB is included in the box – and has a 4000mAh battery that can be SuperCharged for a day’s usage within 20 minutes.
I brought along the Mate 9 when I went on vacation in Taiwan to put it through the grind of daily usage, and to take some photos with its fabulous camera (see the Mate 9 photos here).
The highlights
- Android 7 Nougat.
- EMUI 5.0 user interface.
- Latest Kirin 960 CPU for faster performance.
- SuperCharge technology (full day’s charge in 20min).
- 2nd gen Leica dual-lens camera with 12MP RGB sensor, and now with 20MP monochrome sensor and Hybrid Zoom, enabling 2x digital zoom.
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Tags:Android, Android 7, cameras, EMUI, flagship, Huawei, Leica, Mate 9, Nougat, phablets, reviews, smartphones, SuperCharge
Posted in Android, audioVisual, Cameras, cameras, Gadgets, gadgets, Huawei, Leica, Photography, Prices, Review, reviews, smartphones, Specifications, travel | No Comments »
Friday, November 18th, 2016
There’s been much excitement surrounding the launch of the entry-level Xiaomi Mi Max phablet some six months ago. Oliver Ong Chor Yew bought one online to review it below.
Editor’s note
Xiaomi’s reputation for selling well-spec’ed phones at super low prices manifests itself in the Mi Max, offering huge value to the consumer.
I tried out the phablet too and found it was indeed slightly unwieldy to use one-handed.
But its huge and bright screen is great for reading ebooks, watching videos and surfing the Web.
And the battery life is the longest I’ve encountered – only the ASUS Zenfone Max is comparable.
You won’t get the same quality and feature set of the Samsung’s unfortunate flagship Galaxy Note7 – but at only a fraction of the price, Xiaomi’s Mi Max presents itself as an extremely value-for-money alternative to grab part of the market share vacated by the Note7.
Hence, I’ve included the Xiaomi Mi Max in the tech4xmas gift list.
Read Oliver Ong Chor Yew’s review below.
The Xiaomi Mi Max fresh out of the box (left), and the home screen (right).
My Mi Max is a 6.44inch large-screen phablet with android 6.0 and MIUI 8.0 interface.
Overall verdict
With the $259 price tag and the huge screen size, the Mi Max is a good budget phone for every use.
The camera image quality is quite good.
Fingerprint sensor is extremely responsive and the device build quality makes this phone worth buying.
It is powered by a 4850mAh non-removable Li-Ion battery which is a standard for mid-range to high end phone nowadays.
The Mi Max has a Qualcomm snapdragon 650 chipset with Hexa-core processor (4 x 1.4GHz Cortex-A53 & 2 x 1.8GHz Cortex-A72) and 3GB RAM.
This model I am reviewing is the 32GB variant which costed me S$259 on Qoo10 at the time of this review was written.
There is a 64GB variant with Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 Octa-Core processor.
First impressions
The device is quite huge and it is quite difficult to use with one hand.
The build quality is quite sturdy and it feels like I am holding a premium device.
Sample shot of the cloudy blue sky, taken using the Xiaomi Mi Max.
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Tags:Android, Asus, Christmas, gift guide, Mi Max, Note7, phablets, reviews, Samsung, smartphones, tablets, tech4xmas, tech4xmas 2016, Xiaomi, Xmas
Posted in Gadgets, gadgets, Phones, reviews, smartphones, tablets, Xiaomi | 1 Comment »
Sunday, October 30th, 2016
So Christmas is now less than two months away, this series of reviews serves up gift ideas for those planning to buy presents for their friends and loved ones.
Planning your Christmas shopping? Stay tuned for quick and easy-to-read reviews of some of the best-in-class gadgets available today.
With Christmas 2016 less than two months away, it’s a good time to begin planning gifts for those that are close to us.
So this series features quick and easy-to-read reviews of some of the best tech gadgets/products that I’ve personally tried.
Not all are the latest and newest, but they are what I think are some of the best-in-class in their category of products.
The reviews are meant to provide ideas and start you off, so do check out some of them online and in the shops if they are what you think would bring a smile to your loved ones this Christmas.
Have been using this beautiful workhorse during Strata + Hadoop World in Singapore. Surpassed all expectations. Love how it’s compact yet has two full-sized Type-A USB 3 slots & a Type C slot.
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Tags:accessories, Chistmas, Christmas 2016, gadgets, reviews, tech4xmas, tech4xmas 2016, Xmas
Posted in Accessories, Gadgets, gadgets, Review, Tips | 1 Comment »
Friday, June 24th, 2016
The Transformer Book T100HA is an ideal laptop-cum-tablet hybrid companion for the mobile warrior looking for good performance, portability, connectivity and long battery life – all at an affordable price of S$499.
The ASUS Transformer Book T100HA 2-in-1 hybrid features the latest quad-core Intel® Atom™ x5 ‘Cherry Trail’ processors, Windows 10 (64-bit) operating system with Cortana, the voice-powered personal assistant, and support for Windows 10 Continuum adaptive interface technology.
I used the Transformer Book T100HA from ASUS for two weeks as I went about between meetings and events on the road, to see how usable the hybrid 2-in-1 laptop-cum-tablet would be for someone constantly on the move.
Lighter & thinner than predecessors, the tablet measures 265 x 175 x 8.45mm physically and weighs 580g, while the keyboard dock measures 265 x 175 x 10mm and weighs 470g.
I found the device ideally suited as a workhorse for the typical mobile warrior – it’s compact and therefore highly portable, and its battery easily lasts an entire workday before you put it to charge when you retire for the night back at home or at the hotel.
For leisure, you can simply pull the screen off the keyboard dock and use it as a tablet.
Typically, a compact machine like this – and even those super-thin but larger Ultrabooks – suffer from a dearth of connectivity ports.
But the tablet/screen portion of the T100HA comes with 1 x Micro USB port, 1 x Type-C USB 3.1 Gen 1 port, 1 x Micro HDMI, 1 x Micro SD card slot and 1 x headphone/mic combo jack.
The ASUS Transformer Book T100HA sports a durable aluminium-clad lid available in four colours: Rouge Pink, Aqua Blue, Silk White and Tin Grey.
The keyboard dock has an additional full-sized USB 2.0 port.
This means you can connect a mouse, an external hard disk drive and a mobile device all at the same time if you need/want to.
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Tags:Asus, Atom, Cherry Trail, computers, Continuum, Cortana, hybrid, Intel, laptop, netbooks, notebooks, reviews, Singapore, T100HA, tablets, Transformer, Transformer Book, Windows, Windows 10
Posted in Asus, Gadgets, gadgets, Hybrid, Notebooks, notebooks, Prices, Review, Specifications, Tablets, tablets, Windows | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 19th, 2015
The 5.7-inch Lumia 640 XL (S$429) comes with Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Denim, a 13-megapixel rear camera and 3000mAh removable battery. Wee Wu Neo from The Neo Dimension checks out the affordable phablet from Microsoft Devices.
The Lumia 640 XL will be available in matte cyan, orange, black, and white.
The Lumia 640 series features the first Microsoft-branded LTE smartphones since the acquisition of Nokia Mobile.
By the look of its price and hardware specification, the Lumia 640 series exhibits almost identical performance to the Android Motorola MotoG.
The Lumia 640 XL with its 3000mAh removable battery. Photo credit: Wee Wu Neo.
This review covers the Lumia 640 XL, the Windows Phone phablet in the Lumia 640 series.
Design and Build
The Lumia 640 XL measures 157.9 x 81.5 x 9.0mm and weighs 171g.
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Tags:Lumia, Lumia 640, Lumia 640 XL, Microsoft, Microsoft Devices, Nokia, reviews, smartphones
Posted in App, Apps, Gadgets, gadgets, Lumia, Microsoft, Microsoft Devices, Nokia, Phones, Prices, Review, smartphones, Specifications, Windows Phone 8 | 2 Comments »
