Tag Archives: Comparison

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Charging Speed @ 15W, 25W, 45W!

Take a look at the battery charging speed of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, and find out how fast you can recharge with the official 15W, 25W and 45W chargers!

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Supports Up To 45W Charging!

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra supports up to 45 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box. You can either use the standard 15 watt fast charger from your previous Samsung smartphone, or purchase a 25 watt or 45 watt super fast charger.

Best To Use Samsung Fast Charger

You can use non-Samsung fast chargers, but while they may charge your Galaxy S24 Ultra, they will likely not charge at full speed.

For example, I tested the Galaxy S24 Ultra using 65W and 96W PD fast chargers, but they failed to charge faster than 25 watts. It would only charge beyond 25 watts with an official Samsung 45W fast charger… 🙁

How To Tell If You’re Charging At Full Speed

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra doesn’t make clear how fast you are charging, so how do you know if you are charging fast enough?

When you plug in the charger, the charging protocol will flash for a few seconds on the display of your Galaxy S24 Ultra:

  • Fast charging : you’re charging at up to 15 watts
  • Super fast charging : you’re charging at up to 25 watts
  • Super fast charging 2.0 : you’re charging at up to 45 watts

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Review!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Series : All Colour Options Compared!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Models + Specifications Compared!

How To Activate Fast Charging

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has fast charging enabled by default. But if you are using a Samsung fast charger, and it somehow isn’t charging at full speed, here is how you can verify if fast charging is enabled.

  • Go to Settings > Battery > Charging settings
  • Make sure Fast charging is enabled.
    If not, tap on Fast charging to enable it.

Please note that this setting cannot be changed while the Galaxy S24 Ultra is charging. You will need to pull out the cable before making any changes.

You Must Use Correct Cable

Samsung fast charging protocols also require you to comply with minimum cable requirements:

  • 25W super fast charging : 3A cable minimum
  • 45W super fast charging 2.0 : 5A cable minimum

The Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with the Samsung EP-DN980, which is USB-C to USB-C cable that supports up to 5A of current. So this cable will readily support 45W charging.

In the next section, we will look at how fast the Galaxy S24 Ultra charges with the official 15W, 25W and 45W chargers!

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra : All 4 Colours Compared!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (SD8 Gen 3) Performance Review!

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Charging Speed @ 15W, 25W, 45W!

We tested the Galaxy S24 Ultra using the official 15W, 25W and 45W Samsung fast chargers, and the results are really surprising!

Galaxy S24 Ultra Charging Time Charging Speed
15 Watts 106.5 minutes 37.6 mAh per min.
25 Watts 68 minutes 58.8 mAh per min.
45 Watts 66 minutes 60.6 mAh per min.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra charges really fast with a 15 watt charger, and even faster with a 25 watt charger. It basically needs just over 1.75 hours to fully recharge with a 15 watt charger, and just over one hour with a 25 watt charger.

Unfortunately, upgrading to the 45 watt charger doesn’t improve its charging speed much. It only shaved 2 minutes off the charging time with a 25 watt charger!

In fact, that’s actually its best time. On two other occasions, it charged slower than the 25 watt charger! Really quite unexpected.

Just in case you are wondering – it does charge at 45 watts, but only at the beginning for a short time. After that it charged at between 12 watts to 24 watts for most of the charge.

With such results, I can only recommend purchasing the optional 25 watt USB-C super fast charger. It will cut your charging time by a considerable 38.5 minutes for a full recharge:

Don’t bother getting the 45 watt charger, unless you want to recharge your laptop, or power bank at a faster speed.

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra : Price + Colour Options

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is available in four main colours:

  • Titanium Black
  • Titanium Gray
  • Titanium Violet, and
  • Titanium Yellow

Here are the official launch prices for the three available storage capacities:

  • 256 GB : US$1,299.99 | £1,249 | A$2,199 | S$1,928 | RM6,299
  • 512 GB : US$1,419.99 | £1,349 | A$2,399 | S$2,128 | RM6,799
  • 1 TB : US$1,659 | £1,549 | A$2,799 | S$2,428 | RM7,799

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Unboxing : What’s Inside?

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (SD8 Gen 3) Performance Review!

Let’s take a look at the performance of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra smartphone, which is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile SoC!

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra : Flagship Class Performance!

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is powered exclusively by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy, which has a slightly overclocked prime core. It has eight processor cores in a quad-cluster architecture:

  • 1 x Arm Cortex-X4 core (3.39 GHz, instead of 3.3 GHz)
  • 3 x Arm Cortex-A720 cores
  • 2 x Arm Cortex-A720 cores
  • 2 x Arm Cortex-A520 cores

This mobile SoC also comes with the Qualcomm Adreno 750 GPU which supports ray-tracing, an improved Hexagon NPU, and the Snapdragon X75 5G modem that supports Sub-6Ghz and mmWave connectivity.

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy S24 Models + Specifications Compared!

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra : Work Performance

We first tested the Galaxy S24 Ultra using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

Work 3.0 S23
Ultra
S24
Ultra
Z Flip
5
Z Flip
4
S23 FE
Mobile Platform SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8 Gen 3 SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8+
Gen 1
Exynos
2200
Performance Score 16408 14931 14655 14429 13971
Web Browsing 15680 11663 11404 12097 11664
Video Editing 7879 6474 7943 7387 7369
Writing 22257 20333 19525 17593 18138
Photo Editing 35533 34350 324420 31762 27060
Data Manipulation 12171 14070 11788 12523 12616

Interestingly, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 was much slower than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 used in last year’s Galaxy S23 Ultra, and just barely faster than the SD 8 Gen 2 used in the Galaxy Z Flip5.

I should point out that these are peak performance results. The truth is – you won’t be able to actually tell the difference between all these flagship-class mobile processors in normal usage. They are all really fast.

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra : Storage Performance

PCMark also has an Android Storage 2.0 benchmark that measures the smartphone’s storage I/O performance.

Storage 2.0 Z Flip
5
S23
Ultra
S24
Ultra
S23 FE Z Flip
4
Mobile Platform SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 9
Gen 3
Exynos
2200
SD 8+
Gen 1
Storage Score 48435 41647 33005 31839 27271
Sequential Read (MB/s) 2676.53 2592.42 2907.37 1584.66 1350.51
Random Read (MB/s) 49.95 38.25 60.98 31.25 33.94
Sequential Write (MB/s) 2631.38 603.29 3084.95 510.16 256.81
Random Write (MB/s) 76.66 81.44 106.34 81.13 50.29

Samsung appeared to be using faster flash storage in the Galaxy S24 Ultra. However, its overall storage score was lower than the S23 Ultra and Z Flip5, due to much slower database read and write speeds.

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra : Gaming Performance

For gaming, we tested the Galaxy S24 Ultra using 3DMark, with these results :

3DMark S24
Ultra
S23
Ultra
Z Flip
5
Z Flip
4
S23 FE
Mobile Platform SD 8
Gen 3
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8+
Gen 1
Exynos
2200
Solar Bay Unlimited 8576 NA 5481 NA 4570
Wild Life Extreme
Unlimited
5020 3814 3705 2636 2233
Wild Life Unlimited 20534 14554 14823 11144 8671
Sling Shot Extreme
Unlimited
19653 13904 13558 6912 9484
Sling Shot Unlimited 22656 16344 16661 10690 11348

Where the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra really shines is in its gaming performance. Its Adreno 750 GPU not only supports ray tracing, it does a fantastic job of delivering top-notch 3D graphics performance.

Not only does it have a faster GPU, the Samsung S24 Ultra also has a 90% larger vapour chamber that allows it to better sustain peak performance during intense gaming sessions.

Although ray tracing games are far and few in between for now, the new Solar Bay benchmark shows that the Galaxy S24 Ultra delivers 56% better 3D with ray tracing performance than the Galaxy Z Flip5, and 88% better performance. than the Galaxy S23 FE!

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra : Overall Performance

We then tested the Galaxy S24 Ultra using AnTuTu, yielding these results :

AnTuTu S24
Ultra
S23
Ultra
Z Flip
5
S23 FE Z Flip
4
Device SD 8
Gen 3
SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 2
Exynos
2200
SD 8+
Gen 1
AnTuTu Score 1826776 1212174 1187296 1166868 856357
CPU 456400 261886 393404 329078 205939
GPU 682555 538823 282780 425455 362669
Memory 380519 236163 291048 193981 135707
UX 307302 175302 220064 218354 152042

Will you look at that? The AnTuTu benchmark shows that the Galaxy S24 Ultra is a solid 50% faster than the Galaxy S23 Ultra, and Galaxy Z Flip 5 – both powered by last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Very nice!

But note that its temperature jumped by almost 12°C! At peak performance, the Galaxy S24 Ultra can get really toasty!

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Performance Summary

There is no doubt that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra offers top-notch performance, thanks to its use of a slightly overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy, and a 90% larger vapour chamber.

It shows in the benchmarks – the Galaxy S24 Ultra topped all of the benchmarks, except for work performance. It is particularly strong in 3D graphics and ray tracing performance. With gaming performance like this, dedicated gaming smartphones seem rather pointless.

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra : Price + Colour Options

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is available in four main colours:

  • Titanium Black
  • Titanium Gray
  • Titanium Violet, and
  • Titanium Yellow

Here are the official launch prices for the three available storage capacities:

  • 256 GB : US$1,299.99 | £1,249 | A$2,199 | S$1,928 | RM6,299
  • 512 GB : US$1,419.99 | £1,349 | A$2,399 | S$2,128 | RM6,799
  • 1 TB : US$1,659 | £1,549 | A$2,799 | S$2,428 | RM7,799

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Unboxing : What’s Inside?

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S24 Series : All Colour Options Compared!

Here is our comparison of all colour options for the Samsung Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24 Plus (S24+), and Galaxy S24 Ultra smartphones!

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Series : Many Colour Options

Samsung just launched the new Galaxy S24 series, and there are three different models for this family of flagship smartphones:

  • Galaxy S24 Ultra, with a large 6.8-inch display, and five cameras,
  • Galaxy S24 Plus (S24+), which is almost as large at 6.7-inch, but with only four cameras, and
  • Galaxy S24, which has a 6.2-inch display, and four cameras too.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra comes in these seven colour options:

  • Titanium Black
  • Titanium Gray
  • Titanium Violet, and
  • Titanium Yellow

The Samsung Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ models come in these seven colour options:

  • Onyx Black
  • Marble Gray
  • Cobalt Violet
  • Amber Yellow
  • Jade Green (online only)
  • Sandstone Orange (online only)
  • Sapphire Blue (online only)

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Models + Specifications Compared!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra : All 4 Colours Compared!

In addition to those four main colours, you can also buy the Galaxy S24 Ultra in these three special colours, which are available exclusively through the Samsung.com website:

  • Titanium Green
  • Titanium Orange, and
  • Titanium Blue

In addition to those four main colours, you can also buy the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ in these three special colours, which are available exclusively through the Samsung.com website:

  • Jade Green
  • Sandstone Orange, and
  • Sapphire Blue

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Series : Price + Storage Options

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with 12 GB of RAM, and storage options of 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB. Here are the official launch prices for the three available storage capacities:

  • 256 GB : US$1,299.99 | £1,249 | A$2,199 | S$1,928 | RM6,299
  • 512 GB : US$1,419.99 | £1,349 | A$2,399 | S$2,128 | RM6,799
  • 1 TB : US$1,659 | £1,549 | A$2,799 | S$2,428 | RM7,799

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus (S24+) comes with 12 GB of RAM, and storage options of 256 GB, and 512 GB. Here are the official launch prices for the two available storage capacities:

  • 256 GB : US$ 999.99 | £999 | A$1,699 | S$1,528 | RM4,899
  • 512 GB : US$ 1,199.99 | £1,099 | A$1,899 | S$1,728 | RM5,399

The Samsung Galaxy S24 comes with 8 GB of RAM, and storage options of 256 GB, and 512 GB. Here are the official launch prices for the two available storage capacities:

  • 256 GB : US$799.99 | £799 | A$1,399 | S$1,288 | RM4,099
  • 512 GB : US$859.99 | £859 | A$1,599 | S$1,458 | RM4,599

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra : All 4 Colours Compared!

Samsung just launched the new Galaxy S24 Ultra smartphone, and here is our comparison of all four main colours!

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra : 4 Main Colours Compared!

Samsung just launched the new Galaxy S24 Ultra smartphone, and it will be available in four main colours with a matte finish :

  • Titanium Black
  • Titanium Gray
  • Titanium Violet, and
  • Titanium Yellow

The names of those colours are a nod towards the titanium frame that protects the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, but is not available base and Plus models.

Ahead of the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s official launch, we were given special access to all four main colours that will be offered through retail stores, including Samsung Experience Stores.

Take a look at all four colours, and let us know which you prefer!

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Series : All Colour Options Compared!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Models + Specifications Compared!

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra : 3 Special Colours!

In addition to the four main colours, Samsung will also make these three special colours available exclusively through online orders on the Samsung.com website:

  • Titanium Green
  • Titanium Orange, and
  • Titanium Blue

However, I have no idea if these three special colours are readily available for the pre-order, or will be held back until after the pre-order period.

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra : Same Price For All Colours!

Regardless of the colour you prefer, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra will only vary in price according to storage capacity.

Here are the official launch prices for the three available storage capacities:

  • 256 GB : US$1,299.99 | £1,249 | A$2,199 | S$1,928 | RM6,299
  • 512 GB : US$1,419.99 | £1,349 | A$2,399 | S$2,128 | RM6,799
  • 1 TB : US$1,659 | £1,549 | A$2,799 | S$2,428 | RM7,799

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S24 Series : Price + Colour Options!

Here is the official price list and available colour options for the Samsung Galaxy S24 series of flagship smartphones!

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Series : 3 Different Models!

Samsung just launched the new Galaxy S24 series, and there are three different models for this family of flagship smartphones:

  • Galaxy S24 Ultra, with a large 6.8-inch display, and five cameras,
  • Galaxy S24 Plus (S24+), which is almost as large at 6.7-inch, but with only four cameras, and
  • Galaxy S24, which has a 6.2-inch display, and four cameras too.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra comes in these seven colour options:

  • Titanium Black
  • Titanium Gray
  • Titanium Violet, and
  • Titanium Yellow
  • Titanium Green (online only)
  • Titanium Orange (online only)
  • Titanium Blue (online only)

The Samsung Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ models come in these seven colour options:

  • Onyx Black
  • Marble Gray
  • Cobalt Violet
  • Amber Yellow
  • Jade Green (online only)
  • Sandstone Orange (online only)
  • Sapphire Blue (online only)

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Models + Specifications Compared!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra : All 4 Colours Compared!

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Series : Price + Storage Options

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with 12 GB of RAM, and storage options of 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB. Here are the official launch prices for the three available storage capacities:

  • 256 GB : US$1,299.99 | £1,249 | A$2,199 | S$1,928 | RM6,299
  • 512 GB : US$1,419.99 | £1,349 | A$2,399 | S$2,128 | RM6,799
  • 1 TB : US$1,659 | £1,549 | A$2,799 | S$2,428 | RM7,799

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus (S24+) comes with 12 GB of RAM, and storage options of 256 GB, and 512 GB. Here are the official launch prices for the two available storage capacities:

  • 256 GB : US$ 999.99 | £999 | A$1,699 | S$1,528 | RM4,899
  • 512 GB : US$ 1,199.99 | £1,099 | A$1,899 | S$1,728 | RM5,399

The Samsung Galaxy S24 comes with 8 GB of RAM, and storage options of 256 GB, and 512 GB. Here are the official launch prices for the two available storage capacities:

  • 256 GB : US$799.99 | £799 | A$1,399 | S$1,288 | RM4,099
  • 512 GB : US$859.99 | £859 | A$1,599 | S$1,458 | RM4,599

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S24 Models + Specifications Compared!

Samsung just launched the new Galaxy S24 series of flagship smartphones, and here is our comparison of all three models, and their key specifications!

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Series : 3 Different Models!

Samsung just launched the new Galaxy S24 series, and there are three models with different specifications:

  • Galaxy S24 Ultra, with a large 6.8-inch display, and five cameras,
  • Galaxy S24 Plus (S24+), which is almost as large at 6.7-inch, but with only four cameras, and
  • Galaxy S24, which has a 6.2-inch display, and four cameras too.

Here is a quick summary of their key features, and how they stack up against each other.

Flagship-Class Performance

The Galaxy S24 Ultra is exclusively powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy in all regions of the world. It comes with a slightly overclocked prime core, but with other cores slightly underclocked.

However, that cannot be said for the two smaller Galaxy S24 models. Depending on region, the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus (S24+) are either powered by the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, or Samsung’s own Exynos 2400 mobile SoC.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is an 8-core mobile SoC, while the Exynos 2400 has 10 CPU cores. Here’s a quick comparison:

Specifications Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
for Galaxy
Exynos 2400
CPU Clusters 4 4
CPU Cores 1 x Cortex-X4 (3.39 GHz)
3 x Cortex-A720 (up to 3.1 GHz)
2 x Cortex-A720 (up to 2.9 GHz)
2 x Cortex-A520 (up to 2.2 GHz)
1 x Cortex-X4 (3.2 GHz)
2 x Cortex-A720 (up to 2.9 GHz)
3 x Cortex-A720 (up to 2.6 GHz)
4 x Cortex-A520 (up to 1.95 GHz)
GPU Qualcomm Adreno 750 Samsung Xclipse 940

Improved Cooling

To ensure that the processor remains cool, the Galaxy S24 smartphones sport larger vapour chambers:

  • Galaxy S24 Ultra : 90% larger than Galaxy S23 Ultra
  • Galaxy S24+ : 60% larger than Galaxy S23+
  • Galaxy S24 : 50% larger than Galaxy S23

As a result, the Galaxy S24 series smartphones sold have better sustained performance during intense gaming sessions or AI photo or video editing,

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Series : All Colour Options Compared!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra : All 4 Colours Compared!

Slight Changes To Cameras

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra sports the same 200 MP Adaptive Pixel camera from last year, but introduces a new 50 MP telephoto camera, with 5X optical zoom. This camera allows for better night photography through the use of 60% larger pixels (when combined), and the wider f/3.4 aperture.

The Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ models though retained the same rear cameras from last year. All three models also retain the same 12 MP front camera as well.

However, Samsung said that its deep-learning AI algorithms now allow for much better quality digital zoom. The faster processor also allows for better quality video zooming through Video Super Resolution.

Titanium Frame

The Galaxy S24 Ultra is the first Samsung smartphone to feature a titanium frame, which is not only tougher, but also allows for a thinner chassis. It is also protected in the front by Corning Gorilla Armour glass, which is not only tougher against scratches, it also reduces reflection by up to 75%.

The Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+, on the other hand, retains the Armour Aluminium frame, and Gorilla Glass Victus 2.

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Series : Specifications Comparison

Here is our comparison of the key specifications of the three Samsung Galaxy S24 models:

Specifications Galaxy S24 Ultra Galaxy S24+ Galaxy S24
Display Size 6.8 inch 6.7 inch 6.2 inch
Display Type Dynamic AMOLED 2X
Display
Resolution
1440 x 3120 1080 x 2340
Refresh Rate Adaptive Refresh (1 to 120 Hz)
Protection Corning Gorilla Armour
Titanium Frame
Gorilla Glass Victus 2
Aluminium Frame
Dust + Water
Resistance
IP68
Platform Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, or
Samsung Exynos 2400
Memory 12 GB 8 GB
Storage Options 256 GB
512 GB
1 TB
256 GB
512 GB
128 GB
256 GB
512 GB
External
Storage
NA
Front Camera 12 MP camera, f/2.2
Main Cameras 200 MP camera, f/1.7
50 MP 5x zoom camera, f/3.4
10 MP 3x zoom camera, f/2.4
12 MP ultra-wide camera, f/2.2
Laser auto-focus sensor
50 MP camera, f/1.8
10 MP 3x zoom camera, f/2.4
12 MP ultra-wide camera, f/2.2
Connectivity Wi-Fi : Wi-Fi 7
Ultra-Wideband (UWB)
Bluetooth : BT 5.3
USB : USB Type C
Wi-Fi : Wi-Fi 6E
Ultra-Wideband (UWB)
Bluetooth : BT 5.3
USB : USB Type C
S Pen Yes None
Fingerprint Sensor Yes, Under Display
Other Sensors Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyroscope,
Geomagnetic, Light, Proximity
GPS GPS, Beidou, Galileo, Glonass
NFC Yes
Battery 5,000 mAh 4,900 mAh 4,000 mAh
Charging 45 watt wired
15 watt wireless
Wireless PowerShare
25 watt wired
15 watt wireless
Wireless PowerShare
Dimensions 79.0 mm wide
162.3 mm tall
8.6 mm thick
75.9 mm wide
158.5 mm tall
7.7 mm thick
70.6 mm wide
147.0 mm tall
7.6 mm thick
Weight (mmW) 233 grams 197 grams 168 grams
Weight (Sub6) 232 grams 196 grams 167 grams
Colour Options Titanium Black
Titanium Gray
Titanium Violet
Titanium Yellow
Titanium Green
Titanium Orange
Titanium Blue
Onyx Black
Marble Gray
Cobalt Violet
Amber Yellow
Jade Green
Sandstone Orange
Sapphire Blue

 

 

Samsung Galaxy S24 Series : Price + Colour Options

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra comes in seven colour options:

  • Titanium Black
  • Titanium Gray
  • Titanium Violet, and
  • Titanium Yellow
  • Titanium Green (online only)
  • Titanium Orange (online only)
  • Titanium Blue (online only)

Here are the official launch prices for the three available storage capacities:

  • 256 GB : US$1,299.99 | £1,249 | A$2,199 | S$1,928 | RM6,299
  • 512 GB : US$1,419.99 | £1,349 | A$2,399 | S$2,128 | RM6,799
  • 1 TB : US$1,659 | £1,549 | A$2,799 | S$2,428 | RM7,799

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus (S24+) comes in these seven colour options:

  • Onyx Black
  • Marble Gray
  • Cobalt Violet
  • Amber Yellow
  • Jade Green (online only)
  • Sandstone Orange (online only)
  • Sapphire Blue (online only)

Here are the official launch prices for the two available storage capacities:

  • 256 GB : US$ 999.99 | £999 | A$1,699 | S$1,528 | RM4,899
  • 512 GB : US$ 1,199.99 | £1,099 | A$1,899 | S$1,728 | RM5,399

The Samsung Galaxy S24 comes in these seven colour options:

  • Onyx Black
  • Marble Gray
  • Cobalt Violet
  • Amber Yellow
  • Jade Green (online only)
  • Sandstone Orange (online only)
  • Sapphire Blue (online only)

Here are the official launch prices for the two available storage capacities:

  • 256 GB : US$799.99 | £799 | A$1,399 | S$1,288 | RM4,099
  • 512 GB : US$859.99 | £859 | A$1,599 | S$1,458 | RM4,599

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE Performance Review!

Take a look at the performance of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE, and find out how well the Exynos 1380 performs against the competition!

 

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE : Powered By Exynos 1380

Like the Samsung Galaxy A54, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE runs on the Samsung Exynos 1380 mobile platform that was officially launched on 23 February 2023.

Fabricated on the latest 4nm process technology, the Exynos 1380 comes with an Arm Mali-G68 MP5 GPU, as well as eight processor cores in a dual-cluster architecture :

  • four Arm Cortex-A78 high-performance cores, and
  • four Arm Cortex-A55 low-power cores.

On paper, this is a powerful mid-range mobile platform, but let’s take a look at how it actually performs!

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE Review : Entry-Level IP68 Tablet!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE Battery + Charging Review!

 

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE : Work Performance

We first tested the devices using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

Work 3.0 Galaxy Tab
S8 Ultra
Galaxy
Tab S7+
Galaxy Tab
S9 FE
Galaxy Tab
S7 FE
Mobile Platform SD
8 Gen 1
SD
865+
Exynos
1380
SD
778G
Performance Score 12351 12348 11650 9747
Web Browsing 9696 11864 9028 7355
Video Editing 6194 7664 6193 6028
Writing 14411 12659 15302 10512
Photo Editing 31774 26230 27122 22188
Data Manipulation 10449 9511 9248 8505

The Samsung Exynos 1380 did well in this test, delivering performance close – within 6% – to that of older flagship-class processors like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and the Snapdragon 865+. Interestingly, the Exynos 1380 did better in the Galaxy A54, delivering a score of over 13.5K.

In any case, the Exynos 1380 is fast enough, even if we did not run this test  – Galaxy Tab S9 FE did not feel slow at any app we tried.

 

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE : Gaming Performance

For gaming, we tested the devices using 3DMark, with these results :

3DMark Galaxy
Tab
S8 Ultra
Galaxy
Tab S7+
Galaxy
Tab S7 FE
Galaxy Tab
S9 FE
Mobile Platform SD 8 Gen 1 SD 865+ SD 778G Exynos 1380
Wild Life
Extreme
Unlimited
2221 826
Wild Life Unlimited 9838 2997
Sling Shot Unlimited 10728 8793 6688 6223

Where the Samsung Exynos 1380 really falls is in gaming performance. Even in the easy Sling Shot Unlimited benchmark, it was 7% slower than the mid-range Snapdragon 778G, which is 2.5 years old.

That doesn’t mean the Galaxy Tab S9 FE is useless at games. It runs 2D games and simple 3D games like Roblox perfectly fine. It’s the more strenuous 3D games that it will struggle in.

 

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE : Overall Performance

We then tested the Galaxy Tab S9 FE using AnTuTu, yielding these results :

AnTuTu Galaxy Tab
S8 Ultra
GGalaxy Tab
S9 FE
Galaxy
Tab S7+
Galaxy
Tab S7 FE
Mobile Platform SD 8 Gen 1 Exynos 1380 SD 865+ SD 778G
AnTuTu Score 950630 591126 577726 508008
CPU 213689 193122 161243 157465
GPU 417669 136759 230859 155115
Memory 161903 118456 98269 79972
UX 157369 142789 87355 115456

The AnTuTu benchmark showed that this Fan Edition tablet performs at around the same level as the Snapdragon 865+, which is a flagship-class mobile SoC, albeit from 2020.

As you can see, its CPU is particularly fast, while its GPU is slow. In other words, this entry-level tablet will do great in work applications and simple games, but don’t rely on it for high-end 3D games!

 

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE Performance Summary

Built around the Samsung Exynos 1380, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE has a very fast CPU, but a relatively weak GPU.

What that means is that it offers snappy performance for most part – web browsing, work applications, casual gaming, etc. It only has trouble delivering high frame rates for graphics-intensive 3D games, and AI or 3D apps may take longer to process in comparison to flagship tablets.

This should not be a surprise – the Exynos 1380 is a mid-range mobile platform, after all. And it is a fast one for the most important workloads. This makes the Galaxy Tab S9 FE great for people who need an affordable and fast Android tablet for work and study.

 

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE : Price + Availability

This Fan Edition tablet comes with colour options of Mint, Lavender, Gray and Silver. It comes with two RAM and storage options:

  • 6 GB + 128 GB
  • 8 GB + 256 GB

These are the available models and launch prices:

  • 6 GB + 128 GB : US$449.99 / £549 / A$749 / RM2,099
  • 8 GB + 256 GB : US$519.99 / £619 / A$899 / RM2,399

Here are some online per-order and purchase options:

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE Battery + Charging Review!

Take a look at the battery recharging speed of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE, and find out how its two refresh rate options affect battery life!

 

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE : Two Refresh Rate Options!

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) for its display:

  • Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 90 Hz
  • Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate

By default, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE uses the Adaptive mode for smoother graphics, but you can choose to switch to the Standard mode for a longer battery life.

On investigation, I found that the Galaxy Tab S9 FE’s display has three fixed refresh rates, switching between 30 Hz, 60 Hz and 90 Hz, when set to the Adaptive mode.

In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy Tab S9 FE’s battery life.

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Unboxing + First Impressions!

 

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE Battery Life Comparison!

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE comes with a large 8,000 mAh battery, which supports 45 watt super fast charging. It even supports 15 watt reverse fast charging. However, it does not come with any bundled charger, and the bundled USB cable can only support 25 watt fast charging.

To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, fix the brightness level, and make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes. We also set its display brightness to 50%, which is slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day.

We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with the Standard and Adaptive refresh rates :

Not bad! The Galaxy Tab S9 FE lasted almost 10 hours on the Standard refresh rate, and just over 9 hours on the Adaptive refresh rate.

With such results, it makes sense to just leave the Tab S9 FE on its default setting of Adaptive refresh. After all, it only saps its battery life by 8% (46 minutes).

Let’s compare its battery life against the Galaxy Tab S7 Plus and Galaxy S8 Ultra tablets.

Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)

This Fan Edition tablet delivered the best battery life with the Standard refresh rate of 60 Hz.

Thanks to its power-efficient Exynos 1380 processor and smaller display, it sips power compared to the other two larger and more powerful tablets.

Work 3.0 Tab S9 FE
(60 Hz)
Tab S7 Plus
(60 Hz)
Tab S8 Ultra
(60 Hz)
Display Size 10.9-inch 12.4-inch 14.6-inch
Battery Capacity 8,000 mAh 10,090 mAh 11,200 mAh
Battery Life 9 hrs
49 mins
7 hrs 55 mins 8 hrs 3 mins
Utilisation
per min.
10.87 mAh 16.99 mAh 18.55 mAh

Adaptive Refresh Rate (90 Hz / 120 Hz)

Switching on the Adaptive refresh rate allowed the display to switch between 30 Hz, 60 Hz and 90 Hz, and only cut down its battery life by 46 minutes (8%).

But as my evaluation shows – the Galaxy Tab S9 FE uses considerably less power than the two larger and more powerful tablets. In fact, it uses just over half as much as the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra!

Work 3.0 Tab S9 FE
(90 Hz)
Tab S7 Plus
(120 Hz)
Tab S8 Ultra
(120 Hz)
Display Size 10.9-inch 12.4-inch 14.6-inch
Battery Capacity 8,000 mAh 10,090 mAh 11,200 mAh
Battery Life 9 hrs
3 mins
6 hrs
11 mins
6 hrs
38 mins
Utilisation
per min.
11.79 mAh 21.76 mAh 22.51 mAh

 

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE Battery Recharging Speed!

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE supports up to 45 watts of wired fast charging. However, it does not come with any bundled charger, and the bundled USB cable can only support 25 watt fast charging.

So we tested it using the standard 15 watt and 25 watt Samsung fast chargers that shipped with their previous smartphones, which is what we believe most users will end up doing.

Recharging Speed Tab S8 Ultra Tab S7 Plus Tab S9 FE
(25W)
Tab S9 FE
(15W)
Display Size 14.6-inch 12.4-inch 10.9-inch 10.9-inch
Battery Capacity 11,200 mAh 10,090 mAh 8,000 mAh 8,000 mAh
Charger Output 15 watts 15 watts 25 watts 15 watts
Battery Life 86.5 mins 86 mins 90.5 mins 145.5 mins
Recharging Speed
(per minute)
103.6 mAh 93.9 mAh 70.7 mAh 44.0 mAh

Well, isn’t that interesting? Even with a more powerful 25W super fast charger, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE recharges slower than the Tab S7 Plus or the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra using the standard 15W charger!!

The 15W charger took almost 2.5 hours to fully recharge its 8,000 mAh battery from 20% to 100%. Upgrading to the 25W charger cut that down to just 1.5 hours, shaving off almost a full hour. The good news is that the Galaxy Tab S9 FE sips power, so you won’t need to recharge it quite so often.

If possible, you should purchase the optional 25 watt USB-C super fast charger. It will cut your charging time by almost an hour, and give you an hour of battery life for every 9.5 minutes you recharge:

 

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE : Price + Availability

This Fan Edition tablet comes with colour options of Mint, Lavender, Gray and Silver. It comes with two RAM and storage options:

  • 6 GB + 128 GB
  • 8 GB + 256 GB

These are the available models and launch prices:

  • 6 GB + 128 GB : US$449.99 / £549 / A$749 / RM2,099
  • 8 GB + 256 GB : US$519.99 / £619 / A$899 / RM2,399

Here are some online per-order and purchase options:

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Maxis Rushes Out Broadband Deals – Too Little, Too Late!

Maxis just rushed out its own broadband deals, and is offering a free speed upgrade for existing customers! Find out why it’s really too little, too late.

 

New Maxis Home Broadband Deals In October 2023!

In early October 2023, Unifi announced that all broadband customers will receive a free upgrade of their Internet speeds – up to 3X their current speeds!

Weeks later – on 27 October 2023, Maxis belatedly announces new 1 Gbps and 2 Gbps broadband packages, as well as its own broadband deals to fight back. Unfortunately, they are pretty much too little, too late.

On top of introducing the new 1 Gbps and 2 Gbps (overkill) packages, Maxis announced RM10 discounts for their cheaper broadband packages.

Broadband
Speed
Old
Price
New
Price
Promo
Price *
2 Gbps (New) NA RM 319 NA
1 Gbps (New) NA RM 249 Free Max Wifi
500 Mbps RM 159 RM 159 RM 149
300 Mbps RM 149 RM 139 RM 129
100 Mbps RM 129 RM 99 RM 89

* Only for new subscribers, and applicable to the first 24 months.

However, the pitiful RM10 discount is limited to new subscribers, and even then, only for the first 24 months! After that, the price goes back to the “New Price” list above.

This is quite unlike Digi or Unifi, whose prices are not limited to the first 24 months:

Broadband
Speed
Maxis Unifi * Digi
2 Gbps RM 319 RM 289 NA
1 Gbps RM 249 RM 159 RM 269
500 Mbps RM 149 x 24
Then RM 159
RM 139 RM 149
300 Mbps RM 129 x 24
Then RM
139
RM 129 Free 6 months
Then
RM 129
100 Mbps RM 89 x 24
Then RM
99
RM 89 RM 89

* After free speed upgrade

If you are an existing customer, Maxis has announced a free speed upgrade for customers on 100 Mbps or faster packages. However, details on this free upgrade – how much faster, and when they kick in – are only coming in November 2023.

Read more : Switching From Maxis To Digi Saves Me RM1.9K / Year!

 

New Maxis Business Broadband Deals In October 2023!

Maxis also announced a new 1 Gbps business broadband package, but curiously did not offer a 2 Gbps package for business users. You would think that a business would need a 2 Gbps package more than home users, right?

In any case, Maxis is offering slightly better discounts on its business broadband packages. However, you must be a new subscriber, and you must register by 30 November 2023!

If you are an existing customer – too bad, so sad. Unlike Home Fibre customers, Maxis did not announce any free speed upgrade for their Business Broadband customers. It appears that the only way to get an upgrade and save money is probably to migrate to a different provider

Broadband
Speed
Old
Price
New
Price
Promo
Price *
1 Gbps (New) RM 189
(early bird)
RM 299 NA
500 Mbps RM 269 RM 219 RM 199
300 Mbps RM 149 RM 179 RM 139
100 Mbps RM 139 RM 119 RM 99

* Only for new subscribers who register by 30 November 2023

That said – a quick check on their April prices show that Maxis was actually offering cheaper prices back then!

The 1 Gbps package was only RM189 – RM110 less than their “new price”, while the 300 Mbps package was only RM149 – RM30 less than their new price, and just RM10 more than their October-November 2023 promo price.

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Fact Check | BusinessTech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

How To Get Special Deals On Maxis Mobile + Broadband!

If you want the very best mobile + broadband deals from Maxis, there is only one way – you must first quit Maxis! Here is how it worked for me…

 

Don’t Bother Asking For Special Deals On Maxis Mobile / Broadband!

I have been a loyal Maxis customer for many years, and every time my contract comes up for renewal, I will ask for special deals to stay on. The most I will get is a free smartphone to renew my contract for another 2 years.

But finally, I had enough. I was stuck with 0-1 bar of mobile connectivity from March until September 2023, and Maxis wouldn’t even compensate me for the poor reception. So I gritted my teeth and waited out my contract.

Once my contract expired, I quickly decided that I would save over RM1,900 per year migrating to Digi. But out of (misplaced?) loyalty to Maxis, I called their customer care hotline, and even went to a Maxis Center to check if there are any deals for me to stay on.

As usual, Maxis had nothing to offer me as a loyal customer. But there was a surprise for me this year – I will not be receiving a free smartphone to continue my contract, unless I choose to upgrade to the new Maxis 5G plans… with an increase, of course!

So learn from my experience – don’t bother asking Maxis for any special deals to stay on as a loyal customer. To be fair, other telcos likely don’t offer deals to loyal customers to stay on as well. But I have only been a Maxis customer, and can only speak from my own experience.

Read more : Switching From Maxis To Digi Saves Me RM1.9K / Year!

 

How To Get Special Deals On Maxis Mobile + Broadband!

I discovered that the only way that Maxis will ever offer me any special deals to stay on, is if I actually quit their service. And even then, Maxis only did it at the very cusp of my migration process.

When Maxis was ready to hand over my five mobile numbers to Digi, a member of their retention department called me and offered these great deals to stay on.

Existing Maxis 4G Package : RM423 Per Month

First, I should point out that my existing Maxis package bundled a RM98 principal line with four supplementary lines, and 100 Mbps fibre broadband. By bundling with broadband, my principal line has unlimited data, albeit only on the 4G network. There is no 5G connectivity.

However, Maxis only allows a single Share 48 supplementary line with 30 GB of data for the RM98 principal line. So I have to pay a ridiculous RM38 for the remaining three supplementary lines, with just 1 GB of data.

The total pre-tax cost was RM399 per month, or RM4,788 per year.

Maxis 4G Plans 4G Data Cost
Postpaid 98 Unlimited RM 98
Postpaid Share 48 30 GB RM 48
Talk and Surf 1 1 GB RM 38
Talk and Surf 1 1 GB RM 38
Talk and Surf 1 1 GB RM 38
100 Mbps Fibre Unlimited RM 139
Total Before Tax RM 399

300 Mbps Broadband Offer : RM100 Per Month

First, Maxis agreed to match Digi’s offer of just RM100 per month for 300 Mbps. That’s RM39 (28%) cheaper than my current 100 Mbps plan, and RM49 (33%) off their current 300 Mbps plan.

Over two years, I will save RM1,176! But I was only getting this special offer because I was really quitting Maxis.

Bundled
Broadband
Maxis
Normal
Maxis
Special
Digi
100 Mbps RM 129 RM 90 RM 90
300 Mbps RM 149 RM 100 RM 100

Special Maxis 5G Offer #1 : RM245 Per Month

For the five mobile lines, Maxis offered me a RM245 plan, which would give every user 120 GB of 5G data per month.

There is a 2-year contract, but Maxis will throw in five free smartphones – a Vivo Y36 (8 GB + 256 GB) or equivalent per account.

Not only does that give all of us a heck of a lot of mobile data, and a new smartphone per person, it is also RM15 cheaper than my current package!

Maxis 5G Plans 5G Data Cost
Special Postpaid 49 120 GB RM 49
Special Postpaid 49 120 GB RM 49
Special Postpaid 49 120 GB RM 49
Special Postpaid 49 120 GB RM 49
Special Postpaid 49 120 GB RM 49
Total Before Tax RM 245

Special Maxis 5G Offer #2 : RM281 Per Month

Maxis also offered me a more expensive RM281 monthly plan, consisting of a principal line with 300 GB of data, and four supplementary lines with 50 GB of data.

It would come with a more expensive HONOR 90 smartphone with 12 GB RAM and 512 GB storage, with a 2-year contract.

I should point out that the supplementary lines are not only RM10 cheaper, they come with 50X more data, and 5G connectivity!!! Makes you want to tear your hair out, doesn’t it?

Maxis 5G Plans 5G Data Cost
Special Postpaid 169 300 GB RM 169
Special Postpaid 28 50 GB RM 28
Special Postpaid 28 50 GB RM 28
Special Postpaid 28 50 GB RM 28
Special Postpaid 28 50 GB RM 28
Total Before Tax RM 281

Special Maxis 4G Offer : Only RM200 Per Month!

If I prefer to stick with 4G connectivity only, Maxis offered me a 4G-only plan for just RM200 a month, without contract or free smartphone.

Basically, my supplementary lines would now get a ton of data, and I would save RM60 per month on my existing Maxis package!

Maxis 4G Plans 4G Data Cost
Special Postpaid 48 70 GB RM 48
Special Postpaid 48 70 GB RM 48
Special Postpaid 48 70 GB RM 48
Special Postpaid 28 50 GB RM 28
Special Postpaid 28 50 GB RM 28
Total Before Tax RM 200

 

Why I Declined The Special Deals On Maxis Mobile + Broadband!

While the special deals offered by the Maxis retention department were enticing – free phones! more data! more speed! – Digi still offered a substantially better deal.

My parents, for example, do not need 50 GB of data. They just needed something more reasonable than 1 GB, and I wanted to pay a more reasonable price for their lines.

On top of that, staying with Maxis would not solve my biggest problem – poor connectivity. I have been suffering from poor reception for six months (and counting), and sticking with Maxis for another 2 years was unthinkable.

Maxis may have once been known for having “better coverage” than other telcos. But if they cannot restore proper connectivity after 6 months (and counting), it’s time to move on. I also did not like the fact that they refused to compensate me for the poor connectivity all those months.

But this article is not about dissing Maxis. I wrote this article to share with you the best way to get such special deals from Maxis.

I called them, I even spent time at the Maxis Centre to talk to the staff. There was simply NO special deal or offer for an existing customer. You must literally quit Maxis – sign an agreement to port out to another telco, and be on the verge of switching, before Maxis will ever offer you these special deals.

Even if you want to stick with Maxis, you should still quit and port out to another telco at the end of your contract. This way, you will get access to these special deals. You will only lose out if you stay loyal.

As for me, I bid adieu to Maxis, and started my journey with Digi hours later. It was easy. You should give it a try!

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Fact Check | MobileTech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Switching From Maxis To Digi Saves Me RM1.9K / Year!

I just saved over RM1,900 per year by simply switching from Maxis to Digi! Here is what happened!

 

Switching From Maxis To Digi Saved Me RM1.9K / Year!

My contract with Maxis just expired, and I decided to see if it was worth renewing with them, or switching to Digi. I had earlier asked my neighbours using Digi, and most of them seemed happy with their service.

So I compared the latest mobile and broadband packages from both Maxis and Digi, and I was shocked by how much cheaper Digi was, compared to Maxis. Take a look at what I found!

Existing Maxis 4G Package : RM423 Per Month

My existing Maxis package bundled a RM98 principal line with four supplementary lines, and 100 Mbps fibre broadband. By bundling with broadband, my principal line has unlimited data, albeit only on the 4G network. There is no 5G connectivity.

However, Maxis only allows a single Share 48 supplementary line with 30 GB of data for the RM98 principal line. So I have to pay a ridiculous RM38 for the remaining three supplementary lines, with just 1 GB of data.

The total cost was RM423 per month, or RM5,075.28 per year. Maxis offered to let me continue with this 4G-only package, but I would no longer get any free smartphone for a 2 year contract.

Maxis 4G Plans 4G Data Cost
Postpaid 98 Unlimited RM 98
Postpaid Share 48 30 GB RM 48
Talk and Surf 1 1 GB RM 38
Talk and Surf 1 1 GB RM 38
Talk and Surf 1 1 GB RM 38
4G Backup Unlimited RM 0
100 Mbps Fibre Unlimited RM 139
Total Before Tax RM 399
6% Service Tax RM 23.94
TOTAL PAYABLE RM 422.94

New Maxis 5G Package : RM445 Per Month

If I wanted a free smartphone with a 2 year contract, I would need to upgrade to the new Maxis 5G plans. The existing RM98 4G plan has been replaced by a new RM109 5G plan – a RM 11 per month premium for 5G connectivity.

From what I understand, tying it with Maxis fibre broadband would still get me unlimited mobile data, but only on 4G. The 5G data is limited to 150 GB, which is more than plenty especially since 5G connectivity is limited.

What I cannot understand is why Maxis continues to limit this RM109 principal line to just one RM48 Share line. If I want all four supplementary lines to have more than 1 GB of data, I would need to upgrade my principal line to their RM199 plan! Ridiculous!

The only good news is they dropped the price of their 100 Mbps broadband from RM139 to RM129. But it makes more sense to upgrade to 300 Mbps for just RM149 per month. Even so, the new Maxis package works out to an unpalatable RM572.40 per month, or RM6,868.80 per year!

Maxis 5G Plans 5G Data Cost
Postpaid 199 4G : Unlimited
5G : 300 GB
RM 199
Postpaid Share 48 30 GB RM 48
Postpaid Share 48 30 GB RM 48
Postpaid Share 48 30 GB RM 48
Postpaid Share 48 30 GB RM 48
4G Backup Unlimited RM 0
300 Mbps Fibre Unlimited RM 149
Total Before Tax RM 540
6% Service Tax RM 32.40
TOTAL PAYABLE RM 572.40

Sorry, mum and dad, you guys are just going to have to put up with just 1 GB of data if we stick with Maxis.

With their sacrifice, I can get by with just paying Maxis RM445.20 per month, or RM5,342.40 per year. That’s a small 5% increase of RM267.12 per year.

This new package would also get me one of these smartphones with a 24-month contract:

  • Samsung A14
  • vivo A78
  • HONOR 90 Lite
Maxis 5G Plans 5G Data Cost
Postpaid 109 4G : Unlimited
5G : 150 GB
RM 109
Postpaid Share 48 30 GB RM 48
Talk and Surf 1 1 GB RM 38
Talk and Surf 1 1 GB RM 38
Talk and Surf 1 1 GB RM 38
4G Backup Unlimited RM 0
300 Mbps Fibre Unlimited RM 149
Total Before Tax RM 420
6% Service Tax RM 25.20
TOTAL PAYABLE RM 445.20

Digi 5G + 4G Package : Only RM286 Per Month!

But when I checked out the Digi plans, they completely wipe out Maxis.

The Digi RM90 principal line offers free 5G connectivity, with 60 GB of data per month. Unlike Maxis, tying up with Digi Fibre Broadband does not give me unlimited mobile data, but that’s okay – 60 GB is plenty.

More importantly, Digi lets me add up to six supplementary family lines, and their cheapest RM20 family line comes with 10 GB of data per month! That goes up to 15 GB with a 1-year contract, and 25 GB with a 2-year contract!

On top of that – Digi offers 300 Mbps fibre broadband for only RM 100 per month! Granted – there is no 4G backup, but that’s RM49 cheaper than Maxis! Would you pay RM49 per month for “4G backup”? Heck, no!

The Digi package is a mix of 4G and 5G, but that’s okay, because my parents no longer have to worry about how much data they have left.

Digi Plans Data Cost
Postpaid 90 5G : 60 GB RM 90
Postpaid Family 20 4G : 25 GB RM 20
Postpaid Family 20 4G : 25 GB RM 20
Postpaid Family 20 4G : 25 GB RM 20
Postpaid Family 20 4G : 25 GB RM 20
4G Backup NA NA
300 Mbps Fibre Unlimited RM 100
Total Before Tax RM 270
6% Service Tax RM 16.20
TOTAL PAYABLE RM 286.20

And here is the cherry on the top – for a 24-month contract, Digi gives you one of these two bonuses:

  • a free smartphone worth up to RM1,099 (HONOR 9o Lite / Samsung A14), or
  • extra 60 GB of mobile data, or
  • unlimited social media data, or
  • 5 GB of international roaming data in 70 countries

Needless to say, this Digi package is a much better deal, as it only costs RM286 per month, or RM3,434.40 per year!

 

How Much I Save Over 2 Years Switching From Maxis To Digi

In the end, I switched to the Digi Postpaid 90 principal line, and gave all of my supplementary lines a decent 25 GB of mobile data.

Over a standard two-year contract, I will end up saving RM 3,281.76, and get a free smartphone worth RM 1,099. That’s a total saving of RM 4,380.76! Just think of what you can do with all that money!

If I renewed with Maxis, I would have upgraded to their new 5G plan to get that free smartphone and unlimited data. However, my parents would have to continue suffering with 1 GB of data, and I would have to pay an additional RM 3,816 over 2 years compared to Digi!

If I wanted my parents to have a decent amount of mobile data, I would have to really pay Maxis through my nose, and fork out an extra RM 6,868.80 – exactly twice of what the Digi package costs. It just doesn’t make sense to do that.

No matter how I calculate, it just doesn’t make sense (sen?) to stick with Maxis. I will save anywhere from RM1,900 to RM3,400 per year switching to Digi. It really pays to shop around!

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Fact Check | MobileTech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Battery Life + Charging Speed!

Take a look at the battery recharging speed of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, and find out how its two refresh rate options affect battery life!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Refresh Rate Affects Battery Life!

The new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) for the main, foldable display:

  • Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 120 Hz
  • Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate

By default, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 uses the Adaptive mode for smoother graphics, but you can choose to switch to the Standard mode for a longer battery life.

Interestingly, we found out that the display’s refresh rate actually changes in both modes. The only difference is the Adaptive mode switches between 24 Hz and 120 Hz, while the Standard mode switches between 24 Hz and 60 Hz.

In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s battery life.

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Unboxing + First Impressions!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Battery Life Comparison!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes with a larger 3,700 mAh battery, which is the same size as last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 4.

To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, fix the brightness level, and make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.

We also set its display brightness to 50%, which is slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day.

We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with the Standard and Adaptive refresh rates :

With the same battery capacity, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 had the same battery life of just over 9 hours using its default Adaptive refresh mode, like the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

But when we switched to the Standard refresh mode, it surprisingly delivered over 11 hours of battery life – 49 minutes longer than the Galaxy Z Flip 4!

Let’s compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the Z Flip 4, S23 Ultra, and S22 Ultra smartphones.

Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 naturally has the best battery life with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz (Standard) – lasting just over 11 hours.

But what’s really important to note here is that it is about 5% more power-efficient than the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and about 7.5% more power-efficient than the Z Flip 4.

Work 3.0 S23 Ultra S22 Ultra
Z Flip 5 Z Flip 4
Battery Capacity 5,000 mAh 5,000 mAh 3,700 mAh 3,700 mAh
Battery Life 15 hrs 18 mins 14 hrs 15 mins 11 hrs 4 mins 10 hrs 14 mins
Utilisation
per min.
4.36 mAh 4.68 mAh 4.46 mAh 4.82 mAh

Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)

Even with the same battery size, and fundamentally the same foldable display, we expected the Galaxy Z Flip 5 to deliver a slight improvement in battery life due to its more efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. Unfortunately, this was not the case, and it pretty much delivered the same battery life of just over 9 hours.

What this means is that if you don’t need smoother graphics, it is worth turning off the Adaptive refresh rate to reduce power consumption by a very significant 21% / 2 hours!

Work 3.0 S23 Ultra S22 Ultra Z Flip 4 Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity 5,000 mAh 5,000 mAh 3,700 mAh 3,700 mAh
Battery Life 13 hrs
0 mins
10 hrs
38 mins
9 hrs
12 mins
9 hrs 9 mins
Utilisation
per min.
5.13 mAh 6.27 mAh 5.36 mAh 5.39 mAh

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Battery Recharging Speed!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 supports up to 25 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.

So we tested it using the standard 15 watt Samsung fast charger that shipped with their previous smartphones, which is what we believe most users will end up doing.

Work 3.0 S22 Ultra S23 Ultra Z Flip 4 Z Flip 5
Battery Capacity 3,300 mAh 5,000 mAh 3,700 mAh 3,700 mAh
Charger Output 15 watts 15 watts 15 watts 15 watts
Battery Life 64.5 minutes 88.8 minutes 98.75 minutes 129.5 minutes
Recharging Speed
(per minute)
62.0 mAh 45.0 mAh 30.0 mAh 22.9 mAh

As we reported earlier, Samsung appears to intentionally reduce the charging speed for their foldable Z Flip 3 and Z Flip 4 smartphones, probably to avoid producing excessive heat. That’s why they both recharge twice as slowly as the S22 Ultra, even using the same 15 watt charger!

But this is a bit of a shocker – the Galaxy Z Flip 5 recharged even slower – it took more than 2 hours to fully recharge it from 20%! That’s a whopping 31% slower than the Z Flip 4, with the same battery!

That gives us a battery life to recharging time ratio of about 4.24:1, which is rather dismal. You get about an hour’s worth of battery life for every 14 minutes you recharge.

Perhaps Samsung is now trying to encourage users to purchase its optional 25 watt USB-C super fast charger…

I will need to retest the Galaxy Z Flip 5 with a 25 watt fast charger to see how much of a difference it would make. Stay tune for my update!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 Price + Availability

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 comes in four main colour options:

  • Graphite – legacy colour
  • Lavender – similar to Bora Purple, their signature colour for the Z Flip 4
  • Mint – new colour
  • Cream – new colour

In addition, Samsung will offer these four colours exclusively on their online store:

  • Gray
  • Blue
  • Green
  • Yellow

These are the available models and launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 :

  • 8 GB + 256 GB : US$999.99 / £1,049 / A$1,649 / RM4,499
  • 8 GB + 512 GB : US$1,199.99 / £1,149 / A$1,849 / RM4,999

Here are some online per-order and purchase options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 :

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Colour Comparison!

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Colour Comparison!

Samsung just launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 smartphone in three main colour options, and two online exclusive colours!

Take a look at all three main colour options, and tell us which YOU prefer!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 : A Quick Primer!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 smartphone builds upon the excellent Galaxy Z Fold 4 from last year, offering a more powerful processor, and a much brighter display.

It also features an improved hinge that lets the Galaxy Z Fold 5 fold flat, shaving off its maximum folded thickness by 15%, down to just 13.4 mm! It is also 10g lighter at 253 grams.

Its key selling feature remains the same – a very large 7.6-inch Infinity Flex Display which folds into half when not used, as well as its 6.2-inch Cover Screen which itself is as big as most smartphone displays!

Recommended : Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Preview In All 3 Colours!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 : Colour Comparison

Samsung is offering the Galaxy Z Fold 5 in three main colour options:

  • Phantom Black
  • Cream
  • Icy Blue

Samsung is also offering two other colour options exclusively on its own online store:

  • Gray
  • Blue

I was amongst the few to get an early hands-on look at the three Galaxy Z Fold 5 colour options, and here is my comparison video of all three main colour options! Do let us know which YOU prefer!

Recommended : The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Colour Comparison!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 : Colour Options + Price

Samsung is making all three colours options, as well as the two exclusive online colours, available for purchase at launch, at these price points :

  • 12 GB + 256 GB : US$1,799.99 / £1,749 / A$2,599 / S$2,398RM6,799
  • 12 GB + 512 GB : US$1919.99 / £1,849 / A$2,799 / S$2,578 / RM7,299
  • 12 GB + 1 TB : US$2,009.99 / £2,049 / A$3,149 / S$2,938 / RM8,299

Just in case you are wondering, the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is the same as the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Fold 4. There was no price increase year-on-year.

Here are some online per-order and purchase options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 :

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Colour Comparison!

Samsung just launched the Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphone in four main colour options, and four online exclusive colours!

Take a look at all four main colour options, and tell us which YOU prefer!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : A Quick Primer!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 smartphone builds upon the excellent Galaxy Z Flip 4 from last year, offering a more powerful processor and a much larger front display.

It also features an improved No-Gap Flex Hinge with Ultra Thin Glass that finally folds completely flat, making the Galaxy Z Flip 5 even more compact.

But everything else is pretty much the same – from its large 6.7-inch Infinity Flex display, to its dual 12 MP main cameras.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Preview In All 4 Colours!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Colour Comparison

Samsung is offering the Galaxy Z Flip 5 in four main colour options. Two are legacy colours from the Galaxy Z Flip 4, and two are new colours for the Z Flip 5:

  • Graphite – legacy colour
  • Lavender – similar to Bora Purple, their signature colour for the Z Flip 4
  • Mint – new colour
  • Cream – new colour

I was amongst the few to get an early hands-on look at all four Galaxy Z Flip 5 colour options, and here is my colour comparison video. Do let me know which colour YOU prefer!

Recommended : The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 Colour Comparison!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : No Bespoke, 4 Online Colours

Samsung will not offer the Galaxy Z Flip 5 in the Bespoke Edition, which will be replaced by the new NFC-enabled Flipsuit Case.

In addition, Samsung will offer these four colours exclusively on their online store:

  • Gray
  • Blue
  • Green
  • Yellow

Unfortunately, Samsung did not make those exclusive online colours available to us…

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 : Colour Options + Price List

Samsung is making all four main colours options, as well as the four exclusive online colours, available for purchase at launch, at these price points :

  • 8 GB + 256 GB : US$999.99 / £1,049 / A$1,649 / RM4,499
  • 8 GB + 512 GB : US$1,199.99 / £1,149 / A$1,849 / RM4,999

Just in case you are wondering, the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 only went up by RM100 (~US$22 / £17 / A$33 / S$29) over the launch prices for the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

Here are some online per-order and purchase options for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 :

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy A54 (Exynos 1380) Performance Review!

Take a look at the performance of the Samsung Galaxy A54, and find out how well the Exynos 1380 performs against the competition!

 

Samsung Galaxy A54 : Powered By Exynos 1380

The Samsung Galaxy A54 runs on the Samsung Exynos 1380 mobile platform that was officially launched on 23 February 2023.

Fabricated on the latest 4nm process technology, the Exynos 1380 comes with an Arm Mali-G68 MP5 GPU, as well as eight processor cores in a dual-cluster architecture :

  • four Arm Cortex-A78 high-performance cores, and
  • four Arm Cortex-A55 low-power cores.

On paper, this is a powerful mid-range mobile platform, but let’s take a look at how it actually performs!

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Hands-On Preview!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Colour Options Compared!

 

Samsung Galaxy A54 : Work Performance

We first tested the Galaxy A54 Ultra using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

Work 3.0 S23
Ultra
Galaxy
A54
S22
Ultra
S21
Ultra
Galaxy
A52
Mobile Platform SD 8
Gen 2
Exynos
1380
SD 8
Gen 1
Exynos
2100
SD
750G
Performance Score 16408 13523 12860 12535 7874
Web Browsing 15680 10659 10442 10185 7021
Video Editing 7879 7363 7444 6336 5693
Writing 22257 17485 15471 15247 7454
Photo Editing 35533 28805 30177 37847 15812
Data Manipulation 12171 11443 9691 8310 6424

Will you look at that?! The Samsung Exynos 1380 that powers the Galaxy A54 actually beat Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 which powered the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

It was also just 17.5% slower than the latest flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile SoC that powers the new Galaxy S23 Ultra flagship smartphone!

Very impressive for a mid-range mobile SoC, especially handily beating the Galaxy S22 Ultra and Galaxy S21 Ultra, and coming in 72% faster than the Galaxy A52.

 

Samsung Galaxy A54 : Gaming Performance

For gaming, we tested the Galaxy A54 using 3DMark, with these results :

3DMark S23
Ultra
S22
Ultra
Z Flip
3
Note20
Ultra
Galaxy
A54
Device SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
SD
888
Exynos
990
Exynos
1380
Sling Shot Unlimited 16344 11094 9248 8026 6195
Wild Life Unlimited 14554 9106 3952 4504 2860
Wild Life
Extreme
Unlimited
3814 2220 1174 1387 799

This is where the Samsung Galaxy A54’s Exynos 1380 falls short – it is just not very good at gaming!

It was 23% to 42% slower than the Exynos 990, and 28% to 32% slower than the Snapdragon 888!

That does not mean it’s bad for gaming. It can certainly handle most games. It just won’t be able to deliver high frame rates in graphically-demanding 3D games like Genshin Impact, Black Desert Mobile, etc.

 

Samsung Galaxy A54 : Overall Performance

We then tested the Galaxy A54 using AnTuTu, yielding these results :

AnTuTu S23
Ultra
S22
Ultra
S21
Ultra
Galaxy
A54
Galaxy
A52
Device SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
Exynos
2100
Exynos
1380
SD
750G
AnTuTu Score 1212174 889167 624411 522411 341908
CPU 261886 203090 166290 153230 105098
GPU 538823 402617 258995 149596 88068
Memory 236163 146002 120805 86578 60642
UX 175302 137458 78321 133007 88100

According to the AnTuTu benchmark, the Samsung Galaxy A54 is about 53% faster than the Galaxy A52, and only 16% slower than the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

What’s important to note is that the Exynos 1380’s CPU is fast, coming within 8% of the Exynos 2100. However, it has a relatively weak GPU, and slower memory than the flagship-class mobile platforms in this comparison.

 

Samsung Galaxy A54 : Performance Summary

Built around the Samsung Exynos 1380, the Galaxy A54 smartphone has a very fast CPU, but a relatively weak GPU.

What that means is that it offers snappy performance for most part – web browsing, work applications, casual gaming, etc.

It only has trouble delivering high frame rates for graphics-intensive 3D games, and AI or 3D apps may take longer to process in comparison to flagship devices.

But that’s what you need to keep in mind – the Exynos 1380 is a mid-range mobile platform, not a flagship-class. And it is a fast one.

 

Samsung Galaxy A54 : Price + Availability

The Samsung Galaxy A54 smartphone is available in three main colours with a glossy finish :

  • Awesome Graphite
  • Awesome Violet
  • Awesome Lime

The Samsung Galaxy A54 comes with 8 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage, with the option to add a microSD card in the hybrid SIM tray. It is covered by a 2-year warranty, with the following launch prices:

  • 8 GB + 256 GB : RM1,899 / US$449.99 / £499 / A$697 / S$648

Here are online purchase options (we may get commission from your purchase) :

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy A54 : Three Key Colours Compared!

Samsung just launched the Galaxy A54 smartphone, and here is our comparison of the three key colours!

 

Samsung Galaxy A54 : Quick Overview

The Galaxy A54 is Samsung’s latest mid-range smartphone, built around the Samsung Exynos 1380 mobile platform, which features:

  • four Arm Cortex-A78 high-performance cores,
  • four Arm Cortex-A55 low-power cores, and
  • an Arm Mali-G68 MP5 GPU

It has a large 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display, with a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. This display is capable of supporting a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz for smoother graphics.

Hidden in its display is a punch hole camera, with a 32 MP sensor and an f/2.2 aperture. At the back, it sports a triple camera system, that consists of:

  • a 50 MP main camera, with f/1.8 aperture,
  • a 12 MP ultra-wide angle camera, with f/2.2 aperture, and
  • a 5 MP macro camera, with f/2.4 aperture

All that is powered by a large 5,000 mAh battery, which supports up to 25 watt fast charging.

On top of that, Samsung guarantees up to 4 generations of OS upgrades, and 5 years of security updates, as well as 2 years of warranty for the Galaxy A54!

 

Samsung Galaxy A54 : Three Key Colours Compared!

The new Samsung Galaxy A54 smartphone is available in three main colours with a glossy finish :

  • Awesome Graphite
  • Awesome Violet
  • Awesome Lime

Samsung also offers an Awesome White colour option in certain countries.

In the following video, I will show you the three main colour options, and give you a closer look at the Galaxy A54 in the Awesome Graphite, Awesome Violet and Awesome Lime colours. Do let us know which you prefer!

 

Samsung Galaxy A54 : Price + Availability

The Samsung Galaxy A54 comes with 8 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage, with the option to add a microSD card in the hybrid SIM tray. It is covered by a 2-year warranty, with the following launch prices:

  • 8 GB + 256 GB : RM1,899 / US$449.99 / £499 / A$697 / S$648

Here are online purchase options (we may get commission from your purchase) :

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Battery Life + Charging!

Take a look at the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra’s battery recharging speed, and how its two refresh rate options affect its battery life!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Refresh Rate Affects Battery Life!

The new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) :

  • Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 120 Hz
  • Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate

The Galaxy S21 Ultra also has an Adaptive mode, which dynamically refreshes between 10 Hz and 120 Hz.

The new Galaxy S23 Ultra and last year’s S22 Ultra improved on that, with an Adaptive mode that dynamically refreshes between 1 Hz and 120 Hz.

By default, the Galaxy S23 Ultra uses the Adaptive mode for smoother graphics, but you can choose to switch to the Standard mode for a longer battery life.

In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s battery life.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Hands-On Preview!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Performance Examined!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Battery Life Comparison!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with a 5,000 mAh battery, which is the same size as Galaxy S22 Ultra and the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, and set its display brightness to 50%.

Why 50%? That is actually slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day, and is what we usually use in all our mobile battery life tests.

It is important to fix the brightness level, to make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.

We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with 60 Hz and 120 Hz refresh rates :

Will you look at that!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has a battery life of 13 hours with Adaptive refresh rate enabled, and a whopping 15.3 hours with the Standard refresh rate – 24% and 7.5% better respectively than the S22 Ultra!

But let’s also compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the S21 Ultra and Z Flip 3 smartphones.

Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra really shines with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz. It used 7% less power per minute, which delivered 7% longer battery life than the S22 Ultra.

Work 3.0 S23 Ultra
(60 Hz)
S22 Ultra
(60 Hz)
Z Flip 3
(60 Hz)
S21 Ultra
(60 Hz)
Battery Capacity 5,000 mAh 5,000 mAh 3,300 mAh 5,000 mAh
Battery Life 15 hrs 18 mins 14 hrs 15 mins 8 hrs 11 mins 11 hrs 22 mins
Utilisation
per min.
4.36 mAh 4.68 mAh 5.38 mAh 5.87 mAh

Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)

While the Galaxy S23 Ultra certainly used less power than the S22 Ultra, that advantage was greatly diminished with the Adaptive refresh rate enabled.

This is where we see the greatest improvement in the power efficiency of the S23 Ultra. Its display used 18% less power per minute, and delivered 22% (almost 1.5 hours) longer battery life than the S22 Ultra.

Work 3.0 S23 Ultra
(120 Hz)
S22 Ultra
(120 Hz)
S21 Ultra
(120 Hz)
Z Flip 3
(120 Hz)
Battery Capacity 5,000 mAh 5,000 mAh 5,000 mAh 3,300 mAh
Battery Life 13 hrs 0 mins 10 hrs
38 mins
10 hrs
26 mins
6 hrs
44 mins
Utilisation
per min.
5.13 mAh 6.27 mAh 6.39 mAh 6.53 mAh

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Battery Recharging Speed!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra supports up to 45 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.

So we relied on the standard 15 watt Samsung fast charger than shipped with their previous smartphones – something we believe most users will end up doing. But we used the 25 watt charger for the S21 Ultra, because it came with that charger.

Work 3.0 S21 Ultra S22 Ultra S23 Ultra Z Flip 3
Battery Capacity 5,000 mAh 3,300 mAh 5,000 mAh 3,300 mAh
Charger Output 25 watts 15 watts 15 watts 15 watts
Battery Life 64 minutes 64.5 minutes 88.8 minutes 88.5 minutes
Recharging Speed
(per minute)
62.5 mAh 62.0 mAh 45.0 mAh 29.8 mAh

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra fully recharges from 20% to 100% in just under 1.5 hours with the standard 15 watt Samsung charger. Oddly enough, this is significantly (38%) slower than the S22 Ultra.

It’s hard to know whether this was an intentional design decision to reduce the thermal output while charging, or to drive the adoption of the 45 watt chargers (sold separately).

Fortunately, the Galaxy S23 Ultra has a significantly better battery life, which should offset the slower recharging speed. Frankly, I don’t see a real need to splurge on a new 45 watt fast charger.

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Prices + Pre-Order Offer!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in four main colours – Phantom Black, Green, Lavender, and Cream.

Sadly, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will be significantly more expensive than last year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra!

Here are the official launch prices for the three available storage capacities:

  • 256 GB : RM5,699 (about US$1,336 / £1,083 / A$1,888 / S$1,755)
  • 512 GB : RM6,199 (about US$1,453 / £1,179 / A$2,052 / S$1,910)
  • 1 TB : RM7,199 (about US$1,688 / £1,369 / A$2,388 / S$2,218)

While the increased price may be disappointing, Samsung is offering some great pre-order offers:

  • you get a free upgrade to the next storage option!
  • if you buy from the Samsung Online Store, you get an RM400 e-Voucher
  • you get 30% off Samsung accessories, Samsung Care+, Galaxy tablets, Watch, and Buds earphones!
  • you get to save up to RM600 more when you trade in!

Here are online purchase options for your convenience:

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Performance Examined!

Take a look at the performance of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and find out how well it performs against the competition!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Flagship Class Performance!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra runs on a boosted variant of the most powerful mobile SoC available for Android devices – the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

Fabricated on the latest 4nm TSMC process technology, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 boasts a powerful Adreno 740 GPU, as well as eight processor cores in a quad-cluster architecture :

  • a Cortex-X3 prime core running at up to 3.36 GHz (instead of 3.2 GHz),
  • two Cortex-A715 cores running at up to 2.8 GHz,
  • two Cortex-A710 cores running at up to 2.8 GHz, and
  • three Cortex-A510 cores running at up to 2.0 GHz.

On paper, this is about as powerful as it gets in 2023, but let’s take a look at how it actually performs!

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Hands-On Preview!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Colour Options Compared!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Work Performance

We first tested the Galaxy S23 Ultra using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

Work 3.0 S23 Ultra S22 Ultra S21 Ultra Note20
Ultra
Galaxy
A52
Mobile Platform SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
Exynos
2100
Exynos
990
SD
750G
Performance Score 16408 12860 12535 10523 7874
Web Browsing 15680 10442 10185 8865 7021
Video Editing 7879 7444 6336 6232 5693
Writing 22257 15471 15247 11112 7454
Photo Editing 35533 30177 37847 30789 15812
Data Manipulation 12171 9691 8310 6825 6424

Will you look at that! The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is 27.5% faster than Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 from last year.

That’s a surprisingly significant boost in performance that people upgrading from the Galaxy S22 Ultra or the S21 Ultra will notice.

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Gaming Performance

For gaming, we tested the Galaxy S23 Ultra using 3DMark, with these results :

3DMark S23 Ultra S22 Ultra Z Flip 3 Note20
Ultra
Galaxy
Note10+
Device SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 888 Exynos
990
Exynos
9825
Sling Shot Unlimited 16344 11094 9248 8026 3327
Wild Life Unlimited 14554 9106 3952 4504 3288
Wild Life
Extreme
Unlimited
3814 2220 1174 1387 528

Look at that! The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 was a head above the competition when it comes to gaming!

It was 47% to 72% faster than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, and 77% to 468% faster than the Snapdragon 888!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is undoubtedly the gaming smartphone to beat!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Overall Performance

We then tested the Galaxy S23 Ultra using AnTuTu, yielding these results :

AnTuTu S23
Ultra
S22
Ultra
S21
Ultra
Note20
Ultra
Galaxy
A52
Device SD 8
Gen 2
SD 8
Gen 1
Exynos
2100
Exynos
990
SD 750G
AnTuTu Score 1212174 889167 624411 522735 341908
CPU 261886 203090 166290 146783 105098
GPU 538823 402617 258995 215205 88068
Memory 236163 146002 120805 89376 60642
UX 175302 137458 78321 71371 88100

The AnTuTu benchmark confirmed that the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is truly a performance beast in every way!

The new Galaxy S23 Ultra is 36% faster than the S22 Ultra, and a whopping 94% faster than the S21 Ultra!

Its CPU was 29% faster, and its GPU was 33% faster than the S22 Ultra. When compared against the S21 Ultra, the Galaxy S23 Ultra has a 57% faster CPU and 2X faster GPU.

Thanks to its improved cooling system, its temperature jumped by about 7°C. That is noticeable, but significantly lower than the 10°C we saw with the S22 Ultra.

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Performance Summary

Samsung has done it again – raised the performance bar yet again with the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Built around the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy – a boosted variant of the fastest mobile SoC that exists for Android devices – it offers a tremendous boost in GPU performance, which should make gamers and mobile content creators happy.

The benchmark results amply demonstrates that you can count on the Galaxy S23 Ultra to easily handle anything and everything you throw at it.

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Prices + Pre-Order Offer!

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in four main colours – Phantom Black, Green, Lavender, and Cream.

Sadly, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will be significantly more expensive than last year’s Galaxy S22 Ultra!

Here are the official launch prices for the three available storage capacities:

  • 256 GB : RM5,699 (about US$1,336 / £1,083 / A$1,888 / S$1,755)
  • 512 GB : RM6,199 (about US$1,453 / £1,179 / A$2,052 / S$1,910)
  • 1 TB : RM7,199 (about US$1,688 / £1,369 / A$2,388 / S$2,218)

While the increased price may be disappointing, Samsung is offering some great pre-order offers:

  • you get a free upgrade to the next storage option!
  • if you buy from the Samsung Online Store, you get an RM400 e-Voucher
  • you get 30% off Samsung accessories, Samsung Care+, Galaxy tablets, Watch, and Buds earphones!
  • you get to save up to RM600 more when you trade in!

Here are online purchase options for your convenience:

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S23 Series Malaysia Price, Pre-Order!

Samsung just launched three Galaxy S23 flagship smartphones, and here are the price list and pre-order offers for Malaysia!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 : Models + Colours In Malaysia

Samsung will offer these models in Malaysia:

  • Galaxy S23 : 128 GB / 256 GB
  • Galaxy S23+ : 256 GB / 512 GB
  • Galaxy S23 Ultra : 256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB

The Samsung Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphones will be available in four main colours with a matte finish :

  • Phantom Black
  • Green
  • Lavender
  • Cream

Before the new Samsung Galaxy S23 series smartphones were launched, we were given special access to all four main colours it will be offered through retail stores, including Samsung Experience Stores.

So I was able to record three videos comparing the new Samsung Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+ and Galaxy S23 Ultra in all four colour options.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Colour Options Compared!
Read more :
Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus Colour Options Compared!

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Colour Options Compared!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 : Price + Pre-Order Offers In Malaysia

Here are the official launch prices for the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra:

  • 256 GB : RM5,699 (about US$1,336 / £1,083 / A$1,888 / S$1,755)
  • 512 GB : RM6,199 (about US$1,453 / £1,179 / A$2,052 / S$1,910)
  • 1 TB : RM7,199 (about US$1,688 / £1,369 / A$2,388 / S$2,218)

Here are the official launch prices for the Samsung Galaxy S23+:

  • 8 GB + 256 GB : RM4,699 (about US$1,102 / £894 / A$1,561 / S$1,448)
  • 8 GB + 512 GB : RM5,199 (about US$1,219 / £989 / A$1,725 / S$1,602)

Here are the official launch prices for the Samsung Galaxy S23:

  • 8 GB + 128 GB : RM3,899 (about US$914 / £742 / A$1,294 / S$1,200)
  • 8 GB + 256 GB : RM4,199 (about US$984 / £799 / A$1,393 / S$1,294)

While the increased prices may be disappointing, Samsung is offering some great pre-order offers:

  • you get a free upgrade to the next storage option!
  • if you buy from the Samsung Online Store, you get an RM400 e-Voucher
  • you get 30% off Samsung accessories, Samsung Care+, Galaxy tablets, Watch, and Buds earphones!
  • you get to save up to RM600 more when you trade in!

To take advantage of these offers, you can pre-order here! Note : the mini-site isn’t up yet…

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus : All 4 Colours Compared!

Samsung just launched the new Galaxy S23 Plus smartphone, and here is our comparison of all four main colours!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus : 4 Main Colours Compared!

Samsung just launched the new Galaxy S23 Plus smartphone, and it will be available in four main colours with a matte finish :

  • Phantom Black
  • Green
  • Lavender
  • Cream

Ahead of the Galaxy S23 Plus’ official launch, we were given special access to all four main colours it will be offered through retail stores, including Samsung Experience Stores.

So I was able to record this video comparing the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus smartphone in all four colour options. Take a look at all four colours, and let us know which you prefer!

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Colour Options Compared!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Colour Options Compared!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus : 4 Special Colours!

In addition to the four main colours, Samsung will also make these four special colours available exclusively through online orders on the Samsung.com website:

  • Lime
  • Sky Blue
  • Graphite
  • Red

However, I have no idea if these four special colours are readily available for the pre-order, or will be held back until after the pre-order period.

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus : Same Price For All Colours!

Regardless of the colour you prefer, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus will only vary in price according to storage capacity.

Here are the official launch prices for the two available storage capacities.

  • 8 GB + 256 GB : RM4,699 (about US$1,102 / £894 / A$1,561 / S$1,448)
  • 8 GB + 512 GB : RM5,199 (about US$1,219 / £989 / A$1,725 / S$1,602)

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : All 4 Colours Compared!

Samsung just launched the new Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone, and here is our comparison of all four main colours!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : 4 Main Colours Compared!

Samsung just launched the new Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone, and it will be available in four main colours with a matte finish :

  • Phantom Black
  • Green
  • Lavender
  • Cream

Ahead of the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s official launch, we were given special access to all four main colours it will be offered through retail stores, including Samsung Experience Stores.

So I was able to record this video comparing the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone in all four colours. Take a look at all four colours, and let us know which you prefer!

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus Colour Options Compared!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Colour Options Compared!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : 4 Special Colours!

In addition to the four main colours, Samsung will also make these four special colours available exclusively through online orders on the Samsung.com website:

  • Lime
  • Sky Blue
  • Graphite
  • Red

However, I have no idea if these four special colours are readily available for the pre-order, or will be held back until after the pre-order period.

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra : Same Price For All Colours!

Regardless of the colour you prefer, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will only vary in price according to storage capacity.

Here are the official launch prices for the three available storage capacities:

  • 256 GB : RM5,699 (about US$1,336 / £1,083 / A$1,888 / S$1,755)
  • 512 GB : RM6,199 (about US$1,453 / £1,179 / A$2,052 / S$1,910)
  • 1 TB : RM7,199 (about US$1,688 / £1,369 / A$2,388 / S$2,218)

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S23 : All 4 Colours Compared!

Samsung just launched the new Galaxy S23 smartphone, and here is our comparison of all four main colours!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 : 4 Main Colours Compared!

Samsung just launched the new Galaxy S23 smartphone, and it will be available in four main colours with a matte finish :

  • Phantom Black
  • Green
  • Lavender
  • Cream

Ahead of the Galaxy S23’s official launch, we were given special access to all four main colours it will be offered through retail stores, including Samsung Experience Stores.

So I was able to record this video comparing the new Samsung Galaxy S23 smartphone in all four colour options. Take a look at all four colours, and let us know which you prefer!

Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Colour Options Compared!
Read more : Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus Colour Options Compared!

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 : 4 Special Colours!

In addition to the four main colours, Samsung will also make these four special colours available exclusively through online orders on the Samsung.com website:

  • Lime
  • Sky Blue
  • Graphite
  • Red

However, I have no idea if these four special colours are readily available for the pre-order, or will be held back until after the pre-order period.

 

Samsung Galaxy S23 : Same Price For All Colours!

Regardless of the colour you prefer, the Samsung Galaxy S23 will only vary in price according to storage capacity.

Here are the official launch prices for the two available storage capacities.

  • 8 GB + 128 GB : RM3,899 (about US$914 / £742 / A$1,294 / S$1,200)
  • 8 GB + 256 GB : RM4,199 (about US$984 / £799 / A$1,393 / S$1,294)

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 Performance Examined!

Take a look at the performance of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4, and find out why it is a foldable computing + gaming powerhouse!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 : Flagship Class Performance!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 runs on the most powerful mobile SoC available for Android devices – the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1.

Fabricated on the latest 4nm Samsung process technology, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 boasts a powerful Adreno 730 GPU as well as eight processor cores in a triple-tier architecture :

  • a Cortex-X2 prime core running at up to 3.2 GHz,
  • three sustained-performance Cortex-A710 cores running at up to 2.5 GHz, and
  • four energy-efficient Cortex-A510 cores running at 1.8 GHz.

The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is a higher-binned version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC that powers the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Its Cortex-X2 prime core runs at 3.2 GHz, instead of 3 GHz, while its Adreno 730 GPU runs at 800 MHz, instead of 720 MHz.

On paper, this is about as powerful as it gets in 2022, but let’s take a look at how it actually performs!

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 Battery Life + Charging Speed!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 : Work Performance

We first tested the Galaxy Z Flip4 using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

Work 3.0 Z Flip 4 Z Flip 3 S22 Ultra S21 Ultra Note20
Ultra
Mobile Platform SD 8+ Gen 1 SD 888 SD 8
Gen 1
Exynos
2100
Exynos
990
Performance Score 14429 13317 12860 12535 10523
Web Browsing 12097 11637 10442 10185 8865
Video Editing 7387 7762 7444 6336 6232
Writing 17593 15316 15471 15247 11112
Photo Editing 31762 25357 30177 37847 30789
Data Manipulation 12523 11938 9691 8310 6825

Unsurprisingly, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is about 8% faster than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 used in the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and the Snapdragon 888 used by the Galaxy Z Flip 3.

It’s a nice boost, but you won’t actually notice the difference. For certain, it will easily handle anything you throw at it, whether it’s just posting your latest Instagram pictures or editing a 4K video.

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 : Gaming Performance

For gaming, we tested the Galaxy Z Flip4 using 3DMark, with these results :

3DMark Z Flip 4 S22
Ultra
Z Flip 3 Note20
Ultra
Note
10+
Device SD 8+
Gen 1
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 888 Exynos
990
Exynos
9825
Sling Shot Unlimited 10690 11094 9248 8026 3327
Wild Life Unlimited 11144 9106 3952 4504 3288
Wild Life
Extreme
Unlimited
2636 2220 1174 1387 528

When it comes to less strenuous games (Sling Shot), the higher-clocked Adreno 730 GPU had no effect, but when we switched to Wild Life, we saw a 19% to 22% boost in performance.

For certain, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 will crush any game you throw at it, but the Galaxy Z Flip4’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 gives you more performance headroom.

It also shows that you don’t really need expensive “gaming smartphones”. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 will easily handle any game you want to play.

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 : Overall Performance

We then tested the Galaxy Z Flip4 using AnTuTu, yielding these results :

AnTuTu S22 Ultra Z Flip 4 Z Flip 3 S21 Ultra Note20
Ultra
Device SD 8 Gen 1 SD 8+ Gen 1 SD
888
Exynos
2100
Exynos
990
AnTuTu Score 889167 856357 696767 624411 522735
CPU 203090 205939 206228 166290 146783
GPU 402617 362669 242573 258995 215205
Memory 146002 135707 133586 120805 89376
UX 137458 152042 114380 78321 71371

The AnTuTu benchmark tells a slightly different story. The higher-clocked Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 pretty much performs as fast as the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 – with a slight 3.7% performance difference.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 is about 23% faster than the Galaxy Z Flip 3, and a whopping 37% faster than  the Galaxy S21 Ultra!

But note that its temperature jumped by over 10°C! At peak performance, the Galaxy Z Flip4 can get quite toasty!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 : Performance Summary

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 is a svelte smartphone when unfolded, and yet super compact when folded. You would not expect performance to be a key selling point.

In fact, I expect Samsung to tune down the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 for better battery life. But somehow, Samsung kept its performance high, while improving its battery life in the Z Flip4!

In other words – you can have your cake and eat it too. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 is not just a fashion statement in your hands, it’s a computing and gaming powerhouse in a compact form factor.

It is no surprise why the Galaxy Z Flip4 is arguably the hottest smartphone Samsung introduced in 2022!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 : Price + Availability

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 comes in four colour options, as well as a special Bespoke Edition :

  • Graphite – legacy colour
  • Pink Gold – new colour
  • Blue – new colour
  • Bora Purple – their signature colour this year

These are the available models and launch prices for the Z Flip 4 :

  • 8 GB + 128 GB : RM4,099 (about US$920 / £760 / A$1,319 / S$1,267)
  • 8 GB + 256 GB : RM4,399 (about US$987 / £816 / A$1,415 / S$1,359)
  • 8 GB + 256 GB Bespoke Edition : RM4,599 (about US$1,032 / £853 / A$1,479 / S$1,421)
  • 8 GB + 512 GB : RM4,899 (about US$ 1,099 / £909 / A$1,576 / S$1,514)

The Bespoke Edition is only available on the Samsung website, and requires 3-4 weeks to deliver, as each unit is custom-made.

Here are online purchase options :

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 : Colour Comparison!

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 : Battery Life + Charging Speed!

Take a look at the battery recharging speed of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4, and find out how its two refresh rate options affect its battery life!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 : Refresh Rate Affects Battery Life!

The new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 offers two refresh rate options (Settings > Display > Motion smoothness) :

  • Adaptive : Get smoother animation and scrolling by automatically adjusting your screen refresh rate up to 120 Hz
  • Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate

The Adaptive mode dynamically refreshes its main, foldable display between 1 Hz and 120 Hz.

By default, the Galaxy Z Flip4 uses the Adaptive mode, for smoother graphics, but you can choose to switch to the Standard mode for longer battery.

In the next section, we will look at how the two refresh rate options affect the Galaxy Z Flip4’s battery life.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4: Unboxing + First Impressions!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 : Battery Life Comparison!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 comes with a larger 3,700 mAh battery, which is 400 mAh (12%) larger than last year’s Galaxy Z Flip3.

To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, and set its display brightness to 50%.

Why 50%? That is actually slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day, and is what we usually use in all our mobile battery life tests.

It is important to fix the brightness level, to make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.

We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with the Standard and Adaptive refresh rates :

Will you look at that! The battery life for both options are now much closer than with the Z Flip3!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 has a battery life of just over 9 hours with Adaptive refresh rate enabled, and 10.25 hours with the Standard refresh rate!

Let’s compare its battery life at 60 Hz and 120 Hz, against the S22 Ultra, S21 Ultra and Z Flip 3 smartphones.

Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 naturally has the best battery life with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz.

But what’s really important to note here is that it is as power-efficient as the Galaxy S22 Ultra, about 10% more efficient than the Z Flip3, and 18% more efficient than the S21 Ultra!

Work 3.0 S22 Ultra Z Flip4 Z Flip 3 S21 Ultra
Battery Capacity 5,000 mAh 3,700 mAh 3,300 mAh 5,000 mAh
Battery Life 14 hrs 15 mins 10 hrs
14 mins
8 hrs 11 mins 11 hrs 22 mins
Utilisation
per min.
4.68 mAh 4.82 mAh 5.38 mAh 5.87 mAh

Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)

While the Galaxy Z Flip4 looks like the Z Flip 3, its energy efficiency was greatly improved to the point that the Adaptive refresh rate is really usable for most people!

Turning on adaptive refresh increase the Z Flip4’s power consumption by just 11%, giving you a very usable battery life of 9 hours 12 minutes!

That makes the Galaxy Z Flip4 about 14.5% more efficient than the S22 Ultra, 16% more efficient than the S21 Ultra, and 18% more efficient than the Z Flip3.

Work 3.0 Z Flip4 S22 Ultra S21 Ultra
Z Flip 3
Battery Capacity 3,700 mAh 5,000 mAh 5,000 mAh 3,300 mAh
Battery Life 9 hrs
12 mins
10 hrs
38 mins
10 hrs
26 mins
6 hrs
44 mins
Utilisation
per min.
5.36 mAh 6.27 mAh 6.39 mAh 6.53 mAh

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 : Battery Recharging Speed!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 supports up to 20 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.

So we tested it using the standard 15 watt Samsung fast charger that shipped with their previous smartphones, which is what we believe most users will end up doing.

But we used the 25 watt charger for the S21 Ultra, because it came with that charger.

Work 3.0 S21 Ultra S22 Ultra Z Flip 3 Z Flip 4
Battery Capacity 5,000 mAh 5,000 mAh 3,300 mAh 3,700 mAh
Charger Output 25 watts 15 watts 15 watts 15 watts
Battery Life 64 minutes 64.5 minutes 88.5 minutes 98.75 minutes
Recharging Speed
(per minute)
62.5 mAh 62.0 mAh 29.8 mAh 30.0 mAh

Samsung appears to intentionally reduce the charging speed for their foldable Z Flip3 and Z Flip4 smartphones, probably to avoid producing excessive heat.

Hence they both recharge twice as slowly as the S22 Ultra, even using the same 15 watt charger!

Because of its larger battery, the Galaxy Z Flip4 fully recharges from 20% to 100% in just over 1.5 hours with the standard 15 watt Samsung charger.

That gives us a battery life to recharging time ratio of about 6.22:1, which is pretty decent. You get about an hour’s worth of battery life for every 10 minutes of recharge.

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 : Price + Availability

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 comes in four colour options, as well as a special Bespoke Edition :

  • Graphite – legacy colour
  • Pink Gold – new colour
  • Blue – new colour
  • Bora Purple – their signature colour this year

These are the available models and launch prices for the Z Flip 4 :

  • 8 GB + 128 GB : RM4,099 (about US$920 / £760 / A$1,319 / S$1,267)
  • 8 GB + 256 GB : RM4,399 (about US$987 / £816 / A$1,415 / S$1,359)
  • 8 GB + 256 GB Bespoke Edition : RM4,599 (about US$1,032 / £853 / A$1,479 / S$1,421)
  • 8 GB + 512 GB : RM4,899 (about US$ 1,099 / £909 / A$1,576 / S$1,514)

The Bespoke Edition is only available on the Samsung website, and requires 3-4 weeks to deliver, as each unit is custom-made.

Here are online purchase options :

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 : Colour Comparison!

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Galaxy Z Flip4 vs Z Flip3 : How Different Are They?

If you are using the Galaxy Z Flip3, you may be wondering – how different is the new Galaxy Z Flip4 smartphone?

In this article, I will share with you the key differences… and similarities between the two foldable smartphones!

 

Galaxy Z Flip4 vs Z Flip3 : How Different Are They?

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 builds upon the excellent Galaxy Z Flip3 from last year, offering an improved version of the compact foldable smartphone.

If you are comparing both devices side-by-side, it’s really hard to tell them apart… because Samsung essentially retained the same design.

When folded, the Galaxy Z Flip4 is slightly (1.5 mm) shorter, and imperceptibly (0.3 mm) narrower than the Galaxy Z Flip3.

When unfolded, the Galaxy Z Flip4 is even more alike the Flip3 – just 0.8 mm shorter and 0.3 mm narrower. If you don’t compare them closely, you might not be able to tell them apart!

They both have very similar weights too – the Galaxy Z Flip4 coming in 4 grams heavier at 187 grams, instead of 183 grams for the Galaxy Z Flip3. Again, you can’t really tell them apart.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 : My Hands-On Experience!

Most of the upgrades in the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 are internal… and out-of-the-box.

4nm Processor

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 naturally has a newer and more powerful processor than the Galaxy Z Flip3.

Manufactured on the more efficient 4nm process technology, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is the fastest processor money can buy in 2022.

But the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 used in the Galaxy Z Flip3 is no slouch, and you would be hard-pressed to tell their performance apart, outside of benchmark scores.

Main Camera Changes

Samsung retained the same 10 MP front camera, and the same dual camera setup at the back from the Galaxy Z Flip3 :

  • a 12 MP Dual Pixel camera, with f/1.8 aperture, and
  • a 12 MP ultra-wide camera, with f/2.2 aperture

Larger Capacity

Samsung is also offering a larger 512 GB internal storage capacity option for the Galaxy Z Flip4. This will be useful for those who need additional storage for photos, videos or documents.

Bespoke Edition

Samsung will also offer a special Bespoke Edition for those who want to customise their Galaxy Z Flip4 smartphone.

The Bespoke Edition is only available with 256 GB of internal storage on the Samsung website, and requires 3-4 weeks to deliver, as each unit is custom-made.

Samsung Care+

The biggest upgrade, I would argue, is the new Samsung Care+ warranty, which you can purchase or obtain for free as part of the pre-order offer.

With Samsung Care+, you get 2 years of device warranty including THREE (3) protective film replacements for the Main Display.

The device warranty itself covers repairs for accidental damage (including liquid damage), as well as device replacement if it cannot be repaired. Talk about peace of mind!

 

Galaxy Z Flip4 vs Z Flip3 : Specification Comparison

Here is a table I created to make it easier for you to compare the two models:

Specifications Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3
Main Display 6.7-inch Infinity Flex Display
Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel
1080 x 2640 pixels, 425ppi
120 Hz adaptive refresh rate
Cover Display 1.9-inch Super AMOLED display
260 x 512 pixels
Protection IPX8 Water Resistance
No Dust Resistance
Platform Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
CPU 1 x Cortex-X2 (3.2 GHz)
3 x Cortex-A710 (2.5 GHz)
4 x Cortex-A510 (1.8 GHz)
1 x Kryo 680 Prime (2.84 GHz)
3 x Kryo 680 Gold (2.42 GHz)
4 x Kryo 680 Silver (1.8 GHz)
GPU Qualcomm Adreno 730 Qualcomm Adreno 660
Memory 8 GB
Storage 128 GB / 256 GB / 512 GB 128 GB / 256 GB
Front Camera 10 MP camera (f/2.4)
Main Cameras 12 MP Dual Pixel camera, f/1.8
12 MP ultra-wide camera, f/2.2
Audio Stereo speakers tuned by AKG
Surround sound with Dolby Atmos
UHQ 32-bit and DSD64/128 support
Connectivity Network : 5G / 4G / 3G
Wi-Fi : 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e
Bluetooth : BT 5.2
USB : USB-C 3.2
Fingerprint Sensor Yes, Side-Mounted
Other Sensors Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyroscope,
Geomagnetic, Hall, Proximity, Light
GPS GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BDS
NFC Yes
Battery 3,700 mAh Li-Po battery 3,300 mAh Li-Po battery
Charging Wired : 20 watt
Wireless : 10 watt
Reverse wireless : 4.5 watt
Wired : 15 watt
Wireless : 10 watt
Reverse wireless : 4.5 watt
Folded
Dimensions
71.9 mm wide
84.9 mm tall
15.9 mm to 17.1 mm thick
72.2 mm wide
86.4 mm tall
15.9 mm to 17.1 mm thick
Unfolded
Dimensions
71.9 mm wide
165.2 mm tall
6.9 mm thick
72.2 mm wide
166.0 mm tall
6.9 mm thick
Weight 187 grams 183 grams

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 : Price + Availability

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 comes in four colour options, as well as a special Bespoke Edition :

  • Graphite – legacy colour
  • Pink Gold – new colour
  • Blue – new colour
  • Bora Purple – their signature colour this year

These are the available models and launch prices for the Z Flip4 :

  • 8 GB + 128 GB : RM4,099 (about US$920 / £760 / A$1,319 / S$1,267)
  • 8 GB + 256 GB : RM4,399 (about US$987 / £816 / A$1,415 / S$1,359)
  • 8 GB + 256 GB Bespoke Edition : RM4,599 (about US$1,032 / £853 / A$1,479 / S$1,421)
  • 8 GB + 512 GB : RM4,899 (about US$ 1,099 / £909 / A$1,576 / S$1,514)

The Bespoke Edition is only available on the Samsung website, and requires 3-4 weeks to deliver, as each unit is custom-made.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 : Colour Comparison!

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Galaxy Z Fold4 vs Z Fold3 : How Different Are They?

If you are using the Galaxy Z Fold3, you may be wondering – how different is the new Galaxy Z Fold4 smartphone?

In this article, I will share with you the key differences… and similarities between the two foldable smartphones!

 

Galaxy Z Fold4 vs Z Fold3 : How Different Are They?

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 builds upon the excellent Galaxy Z Fold 3 from last year, offering an improved version of the multitasking powerhouse.

If you are comparing both devices side-by-side, it’s really hard to tell them apart… because Samsung essentially retained the same design.

When folded, the Galaxy Z Fold4 is slightly (3.1 mm) shorter, and imperceptibly thinner (0.1 to 0.2 mm) than the Galaxy Z Fold3.

When unfolded, the Galaxy Z Fold4 is slightly wider and shorter, by 2 mm and 3.1 mm respectively; and 0.1 mm thinner.

Both have comparable heft, with the Galaxy Z Fold4 coming in just 8 grams lighter at 263 grams, instead of 271 grams for the Galaxy Z Fold3.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 : My Hands-On Experience!

Most of the upgrades in the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 are internal… and out-of-the-box.

4nm Processor

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 naturally has a newer and more powerful processor than the Galaxy Z Fold3.

Manufactured on the more efficient 4nm process technology, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is the fastest processor money can buy in 2022.

But the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 used in the Galaxy Z Fold3 is no slouch, and you would be hard-pressed to tell their performance apart, outside of benchmark scores.

Main Camera Changes

Samsung retained the same triple camera setup from the Galaxy Z Fold3 with the same design and lenses, but changed two of their sensors.

Samsung upgraded the 12 MP main camera with a 50 MP sensor, while reducing the 12 MP telephoto camera to just a 10 MP sensor.

Larger Capacity

Samsung is also offering a larger 1TB internal storage capacity option for the Galaxy Z Fold4, albeit only on their website.

This will be useful for those who need additional storage for photos, videos or documents.

Samsung Care+

The biggest upgrade, I would argue, is the new Samsung Care+ warranty, which you can purchase or obtain for free as part of the pre-order offer.

With Samsung Care+, you get 2 years of device warranty including THREE (3) protective film replacements for the Main Display.

The device warranty itself covers repairs for accidental damage (including liquid damage), as well as device replacement if it cannot be repaired. Talk about peace of mind!

 

Galaxy Z Fold4 vs Z Fold3 : Specification Comparison

Here is a table I created to make it easier for you to compare the two models:

Specifications Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3
Main Display 7.6-inch Infinity Flex Display
Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel
Main Display
Specfications
1812 x 2176 pixels
1~120 Hz refresh rate
1768 x 2208 pixels,
1~120 Hz refresh rate
Cover Display 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display
Cover Display
Specifications
904 x 2316 pixels,
48~120 Hz refresh rate
Gorilla Glass Victus protection
816 x 2260 pixels,
48~120 Hz refresh rate
Gorilla Glass Victus protection
Protection IPX8 Water Resistance, No Dust Resistance
Platform Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
CPU 1 x Cortex-X2 (3.0 GHz)
3 x Cortex-A710 (2.5 GHz)
4 x Cortex-A510 (1.8 GHz)
1 x Kryo 680 Prime (2.84 GHz)
3 x Kryo 680 Gold (2.42 GHz)
4 x Kryo 680 Silver (1.8 GHz)
GPU Qualcomm Adreno 730 Qualcomm Adreno 660
Memory 12 GB
Storage 256 GB / 512 GB / 1TB 256 GB / 512 GB
Cover Camera 10 MP camera, f/2.2 aperture
Front Camera 4 MP under-display camera (f/1.8)
Main Cameras 50 MP Dual Pixel camera, f/1.8
10 MP 2X telephoto camera, f/2.4
12 MP ultrawide camera, f/2.2
12 MP Dual Pixel camera, f/1.8
12MP 2X telephoto camera, f/2.4
12 MP ultrawide camera, f/2.2
Audio Stereo speakers tuned by AKG
Surround sound with Dolby Atmos
UHQ 32-bit and DSD64/128 support
Connectivity Network : 5G / 4G / 3G
Wi-Fi : 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e
Bluetooth : BT 5.2
USB : USB-C 3.2
Fingerprint Sensor Yes, Side-Mounted
Other Sensors Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyroscope,
Geomagnetic, Hall, Proximity, Light
GPS GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BDS
NFC Yes
Battery 4,400 mAh Li-Po battery
Charging Wired : 25 watt
Wireless : 11 watt
Reverse wireless : 4.5 watt
Folded
Dimensions
67.1 mm wide
155.1 mm tall
14.2 mm to 15.8 mm thick
67.1 mm wide
158.2 mm tall
14.4 mm to 16.0 mm thick
Unfolded
Dimensions
130.1 mm wide
155.1 mm tall
6.3 mm thick
128.1 mm wide
158.2 mm tall
6.4 mm thick
Weight 263 grams 271 grams

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 : Price + Availability

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 comes in three main colour options, as well as a special Burgundy colour :

  • Graygreen – their signature colour this year
  • Beige
  • Phantom Black
  • Burgundy – only available on the Samsung website

These are the available models and launch prices for the Galaxy Z Fold 4 smartphone :

  • 12 GB + 256 GB : RM6,799 (about US$1,525 / £1,262 / A$2,189 / S$2,103)
  • 12 GB + 512 GB : RM7,299 (about US$ 1,638 / £1,355 / A$2,350 / S$2,257)
  • 12 GB + 1 TB : RM8,299 (about US$ 1,862 / £1,541 / A$2,672 / S$2,567)

The Burgundy colour option, as well as the 1TB storage option, are only available on the Samsung website.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 : Colour Comparison!

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 : Colour Comparison!

Samsung just launched the Galaxy Z Flip 4 smartphone in four main colour options, and a Bespoke Edition!

Take a look at all four colour options, and the special customisable Bespoke Edition!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 : A Quick Primer!

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 smartphone builds upon the excellent Galaxy Z Flip 3 from last year, offering a more powerful processor and a larger battery.

It also features a slimmer hinge with straightened edges, with contrasting hazed back glass and a glossy metal frame.

Its headlining feature is naturally its large 6.7-inch Infinity Flex display that literally folds into half, turning the Galaxy Flip 4 into an incredibly compact device.

Read more : Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 : What You Need To Know!

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 : Colour Comparison

Samsung is offering the Galaxy Z Flip 4 in four main colour options. Four colours for the 4th gen, get it? 🙂

Two are legacy colours from the Galaxy Z Flip 3, and two are new colours for the Z Flip 4 :

  • Graphite – legacy colour
  • Pink Gold – new colour
  • Blue – new colour
  • Bora Purple – their signature colour this year

I was amongst the few to get an early hands-on look at all four Galaxy Z Flip 4 colour options, and here is my comparison video.

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 Bespoke Edition : Customisable Colour

Samsung is also offering the Galaxy Z Flip 4 in the Bespoke Edition, which offers you the opportunity to customise the glass colours and frame options.

With 75 combinations to choose from, you can personalise the look of your Galaxy Z Flip 4 colour to suit your unique personality and lifestyle… for a price, of course.

  • Frame Options : Black / Silver / Gold
  • Front Colour Options : Yellow, White, Navy, Khaki or Red
  • Back Colour Options : Yellow, White, Navy, Khaki or Red

 

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 : Colour Options + Price

Samsung is making all four colours options, including the Bespoke Edition, available for purchase at launch, at these price points :

  • 8 GB + 128 GB : RM4,099 (about US$920 / £760 / A$1,319 / S$1,267)
  • 8 GB + 256 GB : RM4,399 (about US$987 / £816 / A$1,415 / S$1,359)
  • 8 GB + 256 GB Bespoke Edition : RM4,599 (about US$1,032 / £853 / A$1,479 / S$1,421)
  • 8 GB + 512 GB : RM4,899 (about US$ 1,099 / £909 / A$1,576 / S$1,514)

The Bespoke Edition is only available on the Samsung website, and requires 3-4 weeks to deliver, as each unit is custom-made.

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > Mobile | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy S22 Bora Purple Is Coming Soon!

The Samsung Galaxy S22 will soon be available in the Bora Purple colour option! Here is what you need to know!

 

Samsung Galaxy S22 Bora Purple : What You Need To Know!

Samsung is introducing a new colour option called Bora Purple for the Samsung Galaxy S22 – its baby flagship of the Galaxy S family!

Bora is Korean for purple, and Samsung chose to introduce this pastel colour to “evoke joy, spark creativity and embrace individuality”

6.1-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Bora Purple comes with a large 6.1-inch display, with a Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel.

Its wide colour gamut of 100% DCI-P3, a peak brightness of 1300 nits, and a contrast ratio of 2 million:1 will guarantee the best possible image quality, whether indoors or outdoors.

Gamers will love its high dynamic refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, with a touch sampling rate of up to 240 Hz.

4nm Flagship Mobile Platform

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Bora Purple is built around the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 mobile SoC, which is fabricated on the latest 4nm Samsung process technology.

Together with a powerful Adreno 730 GPU, it has eight processor cores in a triple-tier architecture :

  • a Cortex-X2 prime core running at up to 3 GHz,
  • three sustained-performance Cortex-A710 cores running at up to 2.5 GHz, and
  • four energy-efficient Cortex-A510 cores running at 1.8 GHz.

Memory + Storage Options

Samsung will be offering just two memory and storage options :

  • 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage
  • 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage

Cameras Galore!

As a Samsung flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S22 comes with a smorgasbord of cameras!

In the front, it has a 10 MP camera, with a wide f/2.2 aperture.

In the back, it has a triple-camera system that consists of :

  • a 50 MP Dual Pixel camera, f/1.8 aperture,
  • a 12 MP ultra-wide angle camera, f/2.2 aperture, and
  • a 10 MP telephoto camera with 3X optical zoom, f/2.4 aperture

Built To Last

The Samsung Galaxy S22 has a tough Armor Aluminium frame, and is protected in the back and front by the latest Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+.

On top of that, it is IP68-rated against dust and water ingress. That means it can withstand immersion in up to 1.5 metres of fresh water for up to 30 minutes.

Battery + Charging

The Samsung Galaxy S22 comes with a 3,700 mAh battery, which supports wired charging at up to 25 watts, and wireless charging at up to 15 watts.

It also supports Wireless PowerShare, allowing you to recharge other smartphones and wearables like the Galaxy Buds2.

 

Samsung Galaxy S22 Bora Purple : Specifications

Specifications Samsung Galaxy S22 Bora Purple
Display 6.1-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display
– 120 Hz dynamic refresh rate
– 240 Hz touch sampling (Game Mode)
– 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut
– 1300 nits peak brightness
– 2 million:1 contrast ratio
Protection Armor Aluminium + Gorilla Glass Victus+
Water Resistance IP68
OS One UI 4.1 (Android 12)
Platform Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
CPU 1 x Arm Cortex-X2 core (3.0 GHz)
3 x Arm Cortex-A710 cores (2.5 GHz)
4 x Arm Cortex-A510 cores (1.8 GHz)
GPU Qualcomm Adreno 730
Memory +
Storage
8 GB RAM + 128 / 256 GB storage
External Storage NA
Front Camera 10 MP camera, f/2.2
Main Cameras 50 MP Dual Pixel camera, f/1.8
12 MP ultra-wide camera, f/2.2
10 MP 3x zoom camera, f/2.4
Connectivity Wi-Fi : Up to Wi-Fi 6E
Bluetooth : BT 5.2
USB : USB Type C
S Pen No
Fingerprint Sensor Yes, Under Display
Other Sensors Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyroscope,
Geomagnetic,
Hall, Light, Proximity
GPS GPS, Beidou, Galileo, Glonass, QZSS
NFC Yes
Battery 3,700 mAh Li-Po battery
Charging 25 watt wired charging
15 watt wireless charging
Wireless PowerShare
Dimensions 70.6 mm wide
146.0 mm tall
7.6 mm thick
Weight 168 grams

 

Samsung Galaxy S22 Bora Purple : Price + Availability

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Bora Purple will be available globally starting August 10, 2022.

We do not have a hands-on video of the Bora Purple, but here is our hands-on video of the earlier four colour options – Phantom Black, Phantom Silver, Green and Pink Gold.

Note : Samsung only allowed us to use digital cameras, so the video is not stabilised as it would be with smartphones that I generally use.

Samsung did not reveal the price for the Galaxy S22 Bora Purple, but it should be priced the same as earlier colour options :

  • 8 GB + 128 GB : RM 3,499 (about US$836 / £617 / A$1,164 / S$1,122)
  • 8 GB + 256 GB : RM 3,699 (about US$884 / £652 / A$1,230 / S$1,186)

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > MobileTech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Samsung Galaxy A73 Performance Review!

Take a look at the performance of the Samsung Galaxy A73, and find out how well it performs against the competition!

 

Samsung Galaxy A73 : How Fast Is It?

The Samsung Galaxy A73 Ultra runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G – a premium mid-range mobile SoC announced on May 19, 2021.

Fabricated on the 6 nm process technology, the Snapdragon 778G boasts a powerful Adreno 642L GPU, as well as eight processor cores in a triple-tier architecture :

  • a Kryo 670 Prime core running at up to 2.4 GHz,
  • three sustained-performance Kryo 670 Gold cores running at up to 2.2 GHz, and
  • four energy-efficient Kryo 670 Silver cores running at 1.8 GHz

While the Snapdragon 778G isn’t a new mobile SoC, you will be surprised by how fast it is in the Galaxy A73…

 

Samsung Galaxy A73 : Work Performance

We first tested the Galaxy A73 using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

Work 3.0 Galaxy Z
Flip 3
Galaxy
S22 Ultra
Galaxy
A73
Note20
Ultra
Galaxy
A52
Mobile Platform SD 888 SD 8
Gen 1
SD 778G Exynos
990
SD
750G
Performance Score 13317 12860 12522 10523 7874
Web Browsing 11637 10442 11736 8865 7021
Video Editing 7762 7444 7082 6232 5693
Writing 15316 15471 14796 11112 7454
Photo Editing 25357 30177 26340 30789 15812
Data Manipulation 11938 9691 9502 6825 6424

Amazingly, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G is as fast as the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in work applications!

When it comes to basic stuff like web browsing, video and photo editing, the Galaxy A73 is as fast as the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and 19% faster than the Galaxy Note20 Ultra!

 

Samsung Galaxy A73 : Gaming Performance

For gaming, we tested the Galaxy A73 using 3DMark, with these results :

3DMark Galaxy
S22 Ultra
Galaxy Z
Flip 3
Note20
Ultra
Galaxy
A73
Galaxy
Note10+
Device SD 8
Gen 1
SD 888 Exynos
990
SD 778G Exynos
9825
Sling Shot Unlimited 11094 9248 8026 6620 3327
Wild Life Unlimited 9106 3952 4504 2487 3288
Wild Life
Extreme
Unlimited
2220 1174 1387 689 528

For older / simpler 3D games, the Sling Shot benchmark showed that the Snapdragon 778G was only 17.5% slower than the Exynos 990, but 40% slower than the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.

But when it came to more strenuous games, flagship smartphones like Galaxy S22 Ultra and the Galaxy Z Flip 3 were 2X to 3X faster than the Galaxy A73.

 

Samsung Galaxy A73 : Overall Performance

We then tested the Galaxy A73 using AnTuTu, yielding these results :

AnTuTu Galaxy
S22 Ultra
Galaxy
Z Flip 3
Galaxy A73 Note20
Ultra
Galaxy
A52
Device SD 8 Gen 1 SD 888 SD 778G Exynos
990
SD 750G
AnTuTu Score 889167 696767 523209 522735 341908
CPU 203090 206228 159238 146783 105098
GPU 402617 242573 159364 215205 88068
Memory 146002 133586 88705 89376 60642
UX 137458 114380 115902 71371 88100

The AnTuTu benchmark confirmed that the Samsung Galaxy A73 is really quite a powerful smartphone, matching the performance of the Galaxy Note20 Ultra.

Even though Galaxy A73 costs less than half that of the Galaxy S22 Ultra and the Galaxy Z Flip 3, it was only 41% and 25% slower.

The Snapdragon 778G also ran cool, increasing its temperature by just 1.2°C. The Galaxy S22 Ultra, in comparison, saw its temperature jumped by over 10°C in the same test!

 

Samsung Galaxy A73 : Performance Summary

The Galaxy A73 is the premium mid-range Samsung smartphone for 2022, and it does not disappoint.

Built around the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G, it offers excellent work performance, equivalent to the best flagship smartphones for basic tasks as well as photo and video editing.

Its gaming performance is not flagship-class, as the benchmarks show, but it was no slouch. It will readily handle most games just fine, even AAA games.

 

Samsung Galaxy A73 Colour + Availability!

Here in Malaysia, the Galaxy A73 smartphone is available in three colour options :

  • Awesome White
  • Awesome Mint
  • Awesome Gray

There is only one variant, at this price point :

  • 8 GB + 256 GB : RM 2,099 (about US$499 / £379 / A$679 / S$679)

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > MobileTech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!

Apple Silicon M1 Series vs. M2 Comparison!

Apple just launched the M2 – their second-generation M-series system-on-a-chip (SoC) for Mac computers!

Let’s compare the new M2 against the last-generation M1 series SoCs!

 

Apple Silicon M1 vs. M2 Comparison

On 6 June 2022, Apple unveiled their second-generation M-series system-on-a-chip (SoC) for Mac computers – the Apple Silicon M2!

Built on an improved 5 nm process technology, the Apple M2 has 20 billion transistors – 25% more transistors than the M1.

All those transistors allow the Apple M2 to deliver better performance than the last-generation M1 :

  • Faster Performance cores with a larger cache
  • 18% faster CPU performance
  • 35% more powerful GPU at max. power
  • 40% faster Neural Engine
  • 50% more memory bandwidth
  • up to 24 GB of unified memory
  • a new image signal processor (ISP) for better image noise reduction

The new M2 no doubt offers a significant boost in performance and capabilities over the M1.

On top of that, it partially addressed the limited Unified Memory capacity offered by the M1, by offering a 24 MB option.

The new M2 will debut in the 2022 MacBook Air, and the updated 13-inch MacBook Pro 2022 laptops.

To give you a better idea of how they compare, here is our direct comparison b between the Apple M1 and the Apple M2 :

Specifications M1 M2 Difference
Fab Tech 5nm (N5) 5 nm (N5P)
Transistor
Count
16 billion 20 billion +25%
Die Size 120 mm² NA
CPU Cores
(Performance)
4 x Firestorm
@ 3.2 GHz
4 x Avalanche cores
@ NA GHz
CPU Cores
(Efficiency)
4 x Icestorm cores
@ 2.06 GHz
4 Blizzard cores
@ NA GHz
L2 Cache P-core : 12 MB
E-core : 4 MB
P-core : 16 MB
E-core : 4 MB
P-core : +33%
SLC 16 MB 32 MB +100%
GPU Cores 7 / 8 cores
1278 MHz
8 / 10 cores
NA MHz
+1 / +2 cores
Neural Engine 16 cores
(11 TOPS)
16 cores
(15.8 TOPS)
+44%
Memory Options 8 GB / 16 GB 8 GB / 16 GB / 24 GB
Memory Type LPDDR4X LPDDR5
Memory Speed 2133 MHz 3200 MHz +50%
Memory Bus 128-bit 128-bit
Memory
Bandwidth
68.2 GB/s 102.4 GB/s 50%

 

Apple Silicon M1 Series vs. M2 Comparison

While the M2 may offer significant improvements over the M1, Apple has been careful in not letting it cannibalise sales of the higher-performing M1 Pro, M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips.

Even without testing the new M2, its specifications show that it slots in between the M1 and the M1 Pro.

  • M2 has 8 cores like M1, with 2-4 fewer Performance cores than the M1 Pro.
  • Its Performance cores have L2 cache size of 16 MB, right between M1 (8 MB) and M1 Pro (24 MB).
  • Its 8-10 GPU core count is right between M1 (7-8 cores) and M1 Pro (14-16 cores).
  • Its maximum Unified Memory option is 24 GB, right between M1 (16 GB) and M1 Pro (32 GB).
  • It retains the M1’s narrower 128-bit memory bus, but uses the M1 Pro’s faster LPDDR5 memory.

To show you what I mean, here is a table I created comparing the key specifications of the M1 series against the new M2 :

Specifications M1 M1 Pro M1 Max M1 Ultra M2
Fab Tech 5nm (N5) 5 nm (N5P)
Transistor Count 16 billion 33.7 billion 57 billion 114 billion 20 billion
Die Size 120 mm² 245 mm² 432 mm² 864 mm² NA
CPU Cores
(Performance)
4 cores
(Firestorm)
3.2 GHz
6 / 8 cores
(Firestorm)
3.23 GHz
8 cores
(Firestorm)
3.23 GHz
16 cores
(Firestorm)
3.23 GHz
4 cores
(Avalanche)
NA GHz
CPU Cores
(Efficiency)
4 cores
(Icestorm)
2.06 GHz
2 cores
(Icestorm)
2.06 GHz
2 cores
(Icestorm)
2.06 GHz
4 cores
(Icestorm)
2.06 GHz
4 cores
(Blizzard)
NA GHz
L2 Cache P-core : 12 MB
E-core : 4 MB
P-core : 24 MB
E-core : 4 MB
P-core : 48 MB
E-core : 8 MB
P-core : 16 MB
E-core : 4 MB
SLC 16 MB 32 MB 64 MB 128 MB 32 MB
GPU Cores 7 / 8 cores
1278 MHz
14 / 16 cores
1296 MHz
24 / 32 cores
1296 MHz
48 / 64 cores
1296 MHz
8 / 10 cores
NA MHz
Neural Engine 16 cores 32 cores 16 cores
Memory Options 8 / 16 GB 16 / 32 GB 32 / 64 GB 64 / 128 GB 8 / 16 / 24 GB
Memory Type LPDDR4X LPDDR5
Memory Speed 2133 MHz 3200 MHz
Memory Bus 128-bit 256-bit 512-bit 1024-bit 128-bit
Memory
Bandwidth
68.2 GB/s 204.8 GB/s 409.6 GB/s 819.2 GB/s 102.4 GB/s

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp

Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

Recommended Reading

Go Back To > ComputerTech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!