Samsung just launched the Galaxy A55 smartphone, and here is our hands-on video and our first impressions!
Samsung Galaxy A55 Hands-On + First Impressions!
The Galaxy A55 is Samsung’s latest mid-range smartphone, and here is our hands-on video and our first impressions!
Same Design, Slightly Larger Display
Samsung retained the same design as last year’s Galaxy A54. It is slightly larger, thanks to its slightly larger 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display, which now supports a maximum brightness of 1000 nits.
Otherwise, the display has the same Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels, with a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz for smoother graphics.
Better Protection
The first thing you will notice when you pick it up is the heft. It’s quite a thick and solid-feeling phone, with a thick metal frame wrapping all around the sides.
The display is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus+, which is tougher and more damage-resistant. The back is likely protected by Gorilla Glass 5 like in the Galaxy A54, although Samsung never explicitly revealed what glass it’s using.
Samsung also retained the IP67 dust- and water-resistance, from last year’s Galaxy A54.
The Samsung Galaxy A55 is built around the new 4nm Samsung Exynos 1480 mobile platform, which is fabricated on Samsung’s own 4 nm EUV process technology.
It comes with a Samsung Xclipse 530 GPU, an improved 6K MAC NPU, as well as eight CPU cores arranged in two performance clusters:
four Arm Cortex-A78 high-performance cores, and
four Arm Cortex-A55 low-power cores.
The Samsung Exynos 1480 has an integrated 5G modem that supports Sub-6GHz and mmWave standards, as well as LTE Cat.18 uploads and downloads for current 4G networks.
It also supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, as well as the four main GPS networks – GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo.
32 MP Front Camera
Hidden in its display is a punch hole camera, with a 32 MP sensor and an f/2.2 aperture. As far as I can tell, it’s the same camera as Galaxy A54, with an 80˚ field of view.
This front camera takes 12 MP photos by default, for better low-light performance. But you can switch it to 32 MP if you need the higher resolution. I recommend you stick with 12 MP though.
This front camera can record 4K (UHD) videos with video stabilisation, albeit at just 30 fps. If you want smoother videos though, you can record 1080p (FHD) videos with video stabilisation at 60 fps.
Triple Camera System
At the back, the Samsung Galaxy A55 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
By default, the main camera takes 12 MP photos – combining four pixels into one larger pixel for better low-light performance. You can switch it to the full 50 MP, but unless you need the higher resolution, you are better off sticking with the default 12 MP mode.
Like the front camera, the rear cameras record 4K (UHD) videos with video stabilisation at just 30 fps. I recommend you stick with 1080p (FHD) video recording with video stabilisation enabled, at 60 fps.
Large 5,000 mAh Battery
The Samsung Galaxy A55 is powered by a large 5,000 mAh battery, which supports up to 25 watt fast charging.
It does not come with an in-box USB charger, but it comes with a USB cable that supports up to 45 watt fast charging.
Hybrid SIM + microSD Tray
The Samsung Galaxy A55 comes with a hybrid tray that supports two nano SIM cards, or one nano SIM card and a microSD card (of up to 1 TB in capacity).
It also supports an eSIM, so it is possible to use two phone numbers using a nano SIM and an eSIM, as well as a microSD card.
Samsung Knox Vault
You may not know this, but the Samsung Galaxy A55 comes with Samsung Knox Vault, which helps to protect your sensitive information like your PIN, password, and security patterns.
You can also store sensitive data and files in the encrypted Samsung Knox Vault storage, which is completely isolated and separate from the main operating system.
Samsung Guarantee
Finally, 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 A55!
Samsung Galaxy A55 : Specifications
Here are the Samsung Galaxy A55’s key specifications:
Specifications
Samsung Galaxy A55
Display
6.6-inch Super AMOLED
– 1080 x 2340 pixels (390 ppi)
– 60 Hz / 120 Hz refresh rate
The Samsung Galaxy A55 comes with 8 GB of RAM, and either 128 GB or 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 + 128 GB : £439 / A$699 / S$618
8 GB + 256 GB : RM1,999 / £489 / S$698
Surprisingly, Samsung decided not to bring the Galaxy A55 to the United States, and suggested that customers consider the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23 FE instead. However, it is possible to purchase Latin American unlocked devices in the US (see below).
There are four colour options, which are not available in all countries – Awesome Iceblue, Awesome Lilac, Awesome Lemon, and Awesome Navy.
Here are online purchase options (we may get commission from your purchase) :
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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.
Unboxing Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra : What’s Inside Its Box?
Samsung just combined their Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series into the Galaxy S22 Ultra – their latest flagship smartphone.
Not only does it adopt the blockier industrial design language of the Galaxy Note series, it also comes with the S Pen built-in!
Despite being the biggest model in the Galaxy S22 family, the S22 Ultra comes in a slim cardboard box. Here’s an interesting fact – the colour of the S on the box shows you the colour of the Galaxy S22 Ultra inside!
In this video, we take a quick look at the box, before showing you exactly what you will find inside!
Here is everything you will find inside the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’s box :
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra smartphone
Set of Galaxy S22 series documents
USB data and power cable (Type C to Type C)
SIM card tray extraction pin
Sadly, the Galaxy S22 Ultra does not come with a 45 watt charger in-the-box. You can reuse your old 15 watt charger, but you would be losing out on a key S22 Ultra feature.
Now, let us go through its key features, and show you why the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is worthy of our Editor’s Choice Award!
6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra comes with a massive 6.8-inch display, with a Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel.
Its wide colour gamut of 100% DCI-P3, a peak brightness of 1750 nits, and a contrast ratio of 3 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.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 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
Last year’s Galaxy S21 Ultra also has an Adaptive mode, which dynamically refreshes between 10 Hz and 120 Hz
The new Galaxy S22 Ultra improves on that, with an Adaptive mode that dynamically refreshes between 1 Hz and 120 Hz.
By default, the Galaxy S22 Ultra uses the Adaptive mode, for smoother graphics, but you can choose to switch to the Standard mode for longer battery.
4nm Flagship Mobile Platform
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 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 four memory and storage options, but not all of them are available globally :
8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage
12 GB RAM + 256 GB storage
12 GB RAM + 512 GB storage
12 GB RAM + 1 TB storage
Cameras Galore!
As the premiere Samsung smartphone, the Galaxy S22 Ultra comes with a smorgasbord of cameras!
In the front, it has a 40 MP camera, with a wide f/2.2 aperture, and the ability to combine pixels for better low-light performance.
In the back, it has a quad-camera system that consists of :
a 108 MP Dual Pixel camera, f/1.8 aperture
a 12 MP ultra-wide angle camera, f/2.2 aperture
a 10 MP telephoto camera with 3X optical zoom, f/2.4 aperture, and
a 10 MP periscope camera with 10X optical zoom, f/4.9
Ultra-Low Latency S Pen
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is the only model in the Galaxy S22 family to come with the S Pen.
Just like the Galaxy Note series, it has a dedicated S Pen slot, so you will never have to worry about dropping the S Pen.
This is an improved S Pen, with ultra-low latency of just 2.8 ms – down from 9 ms in the previous generation. This gives it an instantaneous feel, just like writing an actual pen on paper.
Built To Last
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 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 Ultra comes with a large 5,000 mAh battery, which offers a very long battery life.
On top of that, it can support wired charging at up to 45 watts, with wireless charging supported at up to 15 watts.
It also supports Wireless PowerShare, allowing you to recharge other smartphones and wearables like the Galaxy Buds2.
The only downside – Samsung is not providing the 45 watt charger in-the-box.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra : Battery Life Comparison!
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra comes with a larger 5,000 mAh battery, which is the same size as last year’s 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 S22 Ultra has a battery life of 10.5 hours with Adaptive refresh rate enabled, and a whopping 14.25 hours with the Standard refresh rate!
But let’s 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 S22 Ultra really shines with the refresh rate set to 60 Hz.
The S22 Ultra used 20% less power per minute, which delivered 25% longer battery life than the S21 Ultra.
Work 3.0
S22 Ultra
(60 Hz)
Z Flip 3
(60 Hz)
S21 Ultra
(60 Hz)
Battery Capacity
5,000 mAh
3,300 mAh
5,000 mAh
Battery Life
14 hrs
15 mins
8 hrs 11 mins
11 hrs 22 mins
Utilisation
per min.
4.68 mAh
5.38 mAh
5.87 mAh
Adaptive Refresh Rate (120 Hz)
While the Galaxy S22 Ultra certainly used less power than the S21 Ultra, that advantage was greatly diminished with the Adaptive refresh rate enabled.
The S22 Ultra used just 2% less power per minute, which delivered 2% (12 minutes) longer battery life than the S21 Ultra.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 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
Z Flip 3
Battery Capacity
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
3,300 mAh
Charger Output
25 watts
15 watts
15 watts
Battery Life
64 minutes
64.5 minutes
88.5 minutes
Recharging Speed
(per minute)
62.5 mAh
62.0 mAh
29.8 mAh
Interestingly, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra recharged as quickly with a standard 15 watt charger, as the S21 Ultra with its more powerful 25 watt charger!
In fact, the Galaxy S22 Ultra recharged itself twice as fast as the Galaxy Z Flip 3, even though they both used the same 15 watt charger!
This is really good news. It means that Galaxy S22 Ultra owners need not worry too much about its recharging speed with the older 15 watt chargers.
In fact, you don’t really need to splurge on a new 45 watt fast charger. The Galaxy S22 Ultra fully recharges from 20% to 100% in just over an hour with the standard 15 watt Samsung charger!
We first tested the Galaxy S22 Ultra 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
S21 Ultra
Note20
Ultra
Galaxy
A52
Mobile Platform
SD 888
SD 8
Gen 1
Exynos
2100
Exynos
990
SD
750G
Performance Score
13317
12860
12535
10523
7874
Web Browsing
11637
10442
10185
8865
7021
Video Editing
7762
7444
6336
6232
5693
Writing
15316
15471
15247
11112
7454
Photo Editing
25357
30177
37847
30789
15812
Data Manipulation
11938
9691
8310
6825
6424
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Get 1 was surprisingly slightly slower than the Snapdragon 888 used by the Galaxy Z Flip 3, but the difference is just 5%, which means you won’t actually notice the difference.
For certainly, 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 S22 Ultra : Gaming Performance
For gaming, we tested the Galaxy S22 Ultra using 3DMark, with these results :
3DMark
Galaxy
S22 Ultra
Galaxy
Z Flip 3
Note20
Ultra
Galaxy
Note10+
Device
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 888
Exynos
990
Exynos
9825
Sling Shot Unlimited
11094
9248
8026
3327
Wild Life Unlimited
9106
3952
4504
3288
Wild Life
Extreme
Unlimited
2220
1174
1387
528
Look at that! The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 was a head above the competition when it comes to gaming!
It was 20% to 130% faster than the Snapdragon 888, and 38% to 102% faster than the Exynos 990!
For certain, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 will crush any game you throw at it.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra : Overall Performance
We then tested the Galaxy S22 Ultra using AnTuTu, yielding these results :
AnTuTu
Galaxy
S22 Ultra
Galaxy
Z Flip 3
Galaxy
S21 Ultra
Note20
Ultra
Galaxy
A52
Device
SD 8 Gen 1
SD
888
Exynos
2100
Exynos
990
SD 750G
AnTuTu Score
889167
696767
624411
522735
341908
CPU
203090
206228
166290
146783
105098
GPU
402617
242573
258995
215205
88068
Memory
146002
133586
120805
89376
60642
UX
137458
114380
78321
71371
88100
The AnTuTu benchmark confirme that the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is a veritable beast of a performer, beating even the very fast Galaxy Z Flip 3 by 28%, and the last-generation Galaxy S21 Ultra by 42!
Its GPU performance was, in particular, spectacular, delivering 66% better performance than the Galaxy Z Flip 3, and 55% better performance than the Galaxy S21 Ultra!
But note that its temperature jumped by over 10°C! At peak performance, the Galaxy S22 Ultra can get quite toasty!
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra : Performance Summary
The Galaxy S22 Ultra was meant to be the ultimate Samsung smartphone for 2022, and it does not disappoint.
Built around the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 – 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, you can count on the Galaxy S22 Ultra to easily handle anything and everything you throw at it.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Video Recording Performance
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’s super-high resolution 108 MP main camera can take up to 8K videos, if you want to. But in reality – most people are not going to bother with 8K video recording, at least for now.
Very few televisions and devices support 8K video playback, and even the S22 Ultra will downsample the 8K video when playing back on its 3K display.
1080p and 4K videos are what the Galaxy S22 Ultra does best, thanks to its support for 60 fps recording and combination of optical image stabilisation and advanced electronic image stabilisation.
1080p Video Sample : Concubine Lane @ Ipoh
This video sample was taken at the famous Concubine Lane in Ipoh, which is crowded and really great to test the camera out.
In this video sample, you can see just how smooth and stable the video is at 60 fps, even with so much shaking and jostling.
4K Video Sample : Concubine Lane @ Ipoh
When we switched to 4K, the video was remarkably stable, even while we walk through the crowd, and pan around Concubine Lane.
You should also note the lack of wind noise, which is fantastic. You won’t need to use a third-party microphone with a dead cat with this phone!
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Video Zoom Capability
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra also supports multiple zoom levels – up to 20X zoom at 1080p, and up to 10X zoom at 4K.
Its ultra-wide camera lets you record with a wider 0.6X zoom, while its 3X zoom and 10X zoom cameras allow for extended optical zoom capabilities.
1080p Zoom Demonstration
At 1080p, you can record videos from 0.6X zoom up to 20X zoom – which offers much wider range than competing smartphones.
The best image quality was seen at up to 10X zoom, while image stabilisation was best at up to 4X zoom, and still pretty good at 10X zoom.
While 20X zoom has pretty decent image quality, it is not as sharp as at 10X or lower zoom. Colours also appear more washed out at 20X.
4K Zoom Demonstration
You can record 4K videos from 0.6X zoom up to 10X zoom. – which is narrower than recording 1080p video.
For best image quality, limit your zoom up to 3X while recording 4K video. While image stabilisation was pretty good at 10X zoom, the image isn’t sharp and colours appear washed out.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Video Recording Performance Summary
If you ignore the 8K hype, you will realise that the Galaxy S22 Ultra offers truly excellent 4K and 1080p video recording capabilities.
You should buy the Galaxy S22 Ultra for its advanced optical and electronic image stabilisation for super-stable recording on-the-move.
You should also buy the Galaxy S22 Ultra for its wide zoom range of 0.6X to 10X when recording 1080p videos, or 0.6X to 3X when recording 4K videos.
These are the critical video recording features that will give you greater flexibility and super stable videos, without the need to use a gimbal.
While not showcased in our videos, the Galaxy S22 Ultra also supports Audio Zoom, focusing the audio recording as you zoom into a scene. That can be really helpful in isolating audio from the subject from background noise.
These features are not new – they have been part of the Samsung Galaxy S and Note series for a few years now. Samsung just keeps improving them, which is why we keep using Galaxy S smartphones as our primary video recording device.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra boasts a super-high resolution 108 MP main camera, built around the same ISOCELL HM3 sensor used in the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
However, this camera features improved AI optimisations. Thanks to the improved performance of its GPU and NPU, it now runs approximately 60 new AI models through its Neural Processing Unit (NPU) to optimise the final output.
Here are six shots I took around Ipoh Old Town, using the 108 MP main camera, and the 12 MP ultra-wide angle camera.
They are 4000 x 3000 pixels in size, with a JPEG file size of between 4 MB and 15 MB – it all depends on the amount of detail in the picture. To save space, I definitely recommend that you enable HEIF – the High Efficiency Image Format.
By default, the 108 MP camera takes 12 MP photos, combining nine pixels into one super-large 2.4 µm pixel. Coupled with the new AI models, the final photo is not only much brighter, but has significantly lower noise.
When you take shots at night, the Galaxy S22 Ultra combines images taken using both the 108 MP main camera, and the 12 MP ultra-wide camera. The 12 MP camera provides the rough details, while the fine details are provided by the 108 MP camera.
Here are four shots to show you the incredible amount of detail you can capture at just 12 MP. If you need greater detail, you can always increase the resolution to the full 108 MP, but frankly – these pictures should show you that you don’t really need to.
Its digital zoom has also been improved by the new AI models and the faster processor. For images taken above 30X digital zoom, the camera actually takes 10-20 shots at once, and processes them to improve the details in the final photo.
Finally, the Galaxy S22 Ultra features a new AI portrait model that uses two cameras to accurately differentiate the depth between the person and the background.
This is critical because the 108 MP camera has a very wide f/1.8 aperture, which makes for very narrow depth-of-field (DOF). If you do not accurately focus on the subject, you could end up with a blurry photo even though it looks sharp on the phone.
In these four shots, you can see just how narrow of depth of field you have to work with. This makes for better photos – you just need to make sure the subject is really in focus.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Photography Summary
If you want the best cameras on a smartphone money can buy, you should definitely consider the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
Ignore the 108 MP marketing hoohah. What you are really getting is an awesome 12 MP camera with super-large pixels for really great noise-free images, and better low-light photos.
You may be wary about Samsung reusing the ISOCELL HM3 sensor from last year, but it has better photographic capabilities, thanks mostly to software and AI improvements.
For one thing, I noticed that it is now much better at accurately focusing on the subject, resulting in far fewer wrongly-focused shots.
It also does a better job of correcting for disparate lighting conditions, although some of you may find the photos oversaturated.
But there is no doubt that the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has some of the best smartphone cameras I’ve tried this year.
It is really quite hard for flagship smartphones to really differentiate themselves from last year’s flagships, but Samsung somehow pulled it off with the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
Most of the improvements may not be readily apparent to the user though.
Thanks to Samsung’s decision to use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 mobile SoC, it has significantly better GPU and NPU performance.
Even its Dynamic AMOLED 2X display has been quietly improved. It is now 250 nits brighter and has a minimum refresh rate of just 1 Hz, allowing for better battery life.
If you don’t mind using the standard 60 Hz refresh rate, you will be pleasantly surprised by a 25% longer battery life than last year’s S21 Ultra!
Even its S Pen was upgraded. It may look like last year’s S Pen, but it has a much lower latency of just 2.8 ms – down from 9 ms in the previous generation.
Samsung reused the Galaxy S21 Ultra‘s excellent quad-camera system, but you may not know that it features improved AI optimisations. Powered by the much faster Snapdragon processor’s NPU, it now runs approximately 60 new AI models to optimise the final output.
This may not sound like much, but you will realise just how much has improved if you compare the videos and photos taken with the S22 Ultra against the S21 Ultra. Its AI optimisations have taken out most of the hard work of making sure that each picture comes out looking great, while its video stabilisation is truly best-in-class.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is not cheap, but if you want the best possible Android smartphone that is powerful and takes excellent photos and videos, this is as good as it gets!
On top of that, it boasts the best-in-class Gorilla Glass Victus+ protection on both front and rear aspects, and is IP68 dust- and water-resistant.
For these reasons, we gladly award the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra our Editor’s Choice Award! Great work, Samsung!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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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.
I just had the opportunity to get some hands-on time with the new Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone, and here are my first impressions!
Samsung Galaxy S22 : Hands-On Experience!
The Samsung Galaxy S22 arguably offers the best bang for your buck in the new Galaxy S22 family!
Here is our hands-on experience of this compact flagship smartphone!
6.1-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display
The Samsung Galaxy S22 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.
The display is truly magnificent. In addition, it is super bright, so there’s no problem using it outdoors in bright sunlight!
4nm Flagship Mobile Platform
The Samsung Galaxy S22 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.
So far, it has no problem handling everything I threw at it, but I will have proper benchmark numbers up for you shortly.
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
Unfortunately, it does NOT support any storage expansion through a microSD card.
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+.
Thanks to its heft and Armor Aluminium frame, it feels really solid in my hand.
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.
Despite having a relatively small battery, the Galaxy S22 appears to have a long battery life. I will have its battery test results up shortly.
It also supports Wireless PowerShare, allowing you to recharge other smartphones and wearables like the Galaxy Buds2.
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.
Samsung just launched their Galaxy S22 Ultra smartphone, and here is everything you need to know!
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra : What You Need To Know!
Samsung just combined their Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series into the Galaxy S22 Ultra – their latest flagship smartphone.
Not only does it adopt the blockier industrial design language of the Galaxy Note series, it also comes with the S Pen built-in!
6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra comes with a massive 6.8-inch display, with a Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel.
Its wide colour gamut of 100% DCI-P3, a peak brightness of 1750 nits, and a contrast ratio of 3 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 Ultra 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 four memory and storage options, but not all of them are available globally :
8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage
12 GB RAM + 256 GB storage
12 GB RAM + 512 GB storage
12 GB RAM + 1 TB storage
Cameras Galore!
As the premiere Samsung smartphone, the Galaxy S22 Ultra comes with a smorgasbord of cameras!
In the front, it has a 40 MP camera, with a wide f/2.2 aperture, and the ability to combine pixels for better low-light performance.
In the back, it has a quad-camera system that consists of :
a 108 MP Dual Pixel camera, f/1.8 aperture
a 12 MP ultra-wide angle camera, f/2.2 aperture
a 10 MP telephoto camera with 3X optical zoom, f/2.4 aperture, and
a 10 MP periscope camera with 10X optical zoom, f/4.9
Ultra-Low Latency S Pen
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is the only model in the Galaxy S22 family to come with the S Pen.
Just like the Galaxy Note series, it has a dedicated S Pen slot, so you will never have to worry about dropping the S Pen.
This is an improved S Pen, with ultra-low latency of just 2.8 ms – down from 9 ms in the previous generation. This gives it an instantaneous feel, just like writing an actual pen on paper.
Built To Last
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 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 Ultra comes with a large 5,000 mAh battery, which offers a very long battery life.
On top of that, it can support wired charging at up to 45 watts, with wireless charging supported at up to 15 watts.
It also supports Wireless PowerShare, allowing you to recharge other smartphones and wearables like the Galaxy Buds2.
The only downside – Samsung is not providing the 45 watt charger in-the-box.
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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.
Parents are looking for great but affordable laptops for their kids, and the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 may just hit the sweet spot!
Take a look at my review of this MIL-STD-rated convertible laptop, and find out why it’s great for students!
Acer Chromebook Spin 713 : Fast + Tough
The 2021 Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (CP713-3W) is the world’s first Intel Evo platform-verified Chromebook, guaranteeing snappy performance out-of-the-box.
As an Intel Evo-verified laptop, it comes with an 11th Gen Intel Core processor with Intel Iris Xe Graphics, built-in Wi-Fi 6 and Thunderbolt 4 connectivity, and is designed to wake up in less than a second!
Even though it is a convertible laptop, it is MIL-STD-810H rated for drops of up to 122 cm, and MIL-STD-810F rated against ingress of sand and dust!
So you now have a basic idea of why we think it’s great for students!
Acer Chromebook Spin 713 : Price + Availability
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is available in Malaysia with a retail price of RM3,799.
Here are some online purchase options in Malaysia :
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is a convertible laptop, with a 13.5-inch display with a resolution of 2256 x 1504 pixels.
The display can flip completely around, letting you use it in the laptop mode, tent mode or the tablet mode – very useful for presentations and collaboration in school.
As this is a Chromebook, it runs on Google Chrome OS, but otherwise, appears and works like any other laptop.
It is quite thin at just under 17 mm at its thickest point, and weighs only 1.37 kg. It will have no problem fitting into schoolbags.
13.5-inch Touchscreen Display
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 comes with a 13.5-inch IPS display with a resolution of 2256 x 1504 pixels – much higher than most Chromebook laptops.
This is a touchscreen display, which is the main input method in tent and tablet modes. Even so, you will find it very useful in the laptop mode as well.
You will be glad to know that the display is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass, so it is resistant to scratches.
720p Webcam
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 comes with a 720p webcam at the top of its display, with two microphones to pick up your voice.
It would be be nice if Acer included a 1080p webcam, but hey, even the Dell XPS 13 (9300) came with a 720p webcam!
Available Ports
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 comes with a range of useful ports. On the left side, you will find :
two of the latest USB Type C / Thunderbolt 4 ports!
a full-size HDMI port
a 3.5 mm audio port
On the right side, you will find a physical Volume control button, with a microSD card reader, a USB 3.0 Type A port and the Power button.
Speakers
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 has two downward-firing speakers on the underside (in laptop mode).
They are pretty loud and bright, and seem optimised for voice – which may appear to be what they are targeting.
But they will sound hollow and lack dynamism and bass, so music and movies are less enjoyable.
Keyboard + Touchpad
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 comes with a full-size keyboard, with a large touchpad.
The keys are backlit, which is fantastic in low-light conditions, and have decent key travel.
Our Acer Chromebook Spin 713 laptop was powered by the Intel Core i5-1135G7, which is a 4-core, 8-thread processor that runs at up to 4.2 GHz.
It comes with integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics, and is paired with 8 GB of RAM and 256 of PCIe NVMe SSD storage.
Battery Life
The Chromebook Spin 713 comes with a 3-cell 56 Whr lithium-ion battery, that Acer says all last up to 10 hours.
To test its battery life, we set its display to 50% and ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test, until its battery capacity dropped to 20%, repeating several times.
Unfortunately, we could not get 10 hours – the best we could do was just under 7.5 hours. But please note that this is a stress test that involves non-stop running work applications.
In real life, you will likely see longer usage times. And it is certainly more than long enough for a full day at school!
Battery Recharging Speed
The Chromebook Spin 713 comes with a 45 watt fast charger, that Acer says will give you 4 hours of battery life in just under 30 minutes.
Look at that! It only took 1 hour 31.5 minutes to fully recharge the Chromebook Spin 713 from 20% to 100%!
That gives it a battery life : recharging ratio of almost 5:1. A general rule of thumb – for one hour of battery life, you will need to charge it for 12 minutes.
Work Performance : PCMark Work 3.0
As this laptop runs on Chrome OS, we can only compare it to mobile SoCs.
Its PCMark Work 3.0 score puts it firmly in between the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ and the Samsung Exynos 990.
As the Chromebook Spin 713 runs on Chrome OS, you can Android apps on it. Yes, that includes games that your kids are already playing on your Android phone. 😉
Its graphics performance is really good, coming in more than TWICE AS FAST as Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ and the Samsung Exynos 990.
In other words, you won’t have to worry about running any mobile games on this laptop. It will have no problem handling them.
Acer Chromebook Spin 713 : Verdict + Award
People often think of Chromebook laptops as cheap throwaway devices that you only resort to when you have “no other choice”.
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 puts paid to that perception, offering a sleek convertible design with high-end features like :
Intel Evo and MIL-STD-810 certifications
2K touch display with Gorilla Glass protection
Powerful Intel Core i5 processor with Intel Xe Graphics
Two USB Type C / Thunderbolt 4 ports
What you get is a truly versatile laptop with snappy work and gaming performance, with an excellent high-resolution display.
If you are a parent looking for a good and sturdy laptop that your child will have a hard time breaking, you really can’t go wrong with the Acer Chromebook Spin 713.
That’s why we have no qualms giving it our Reviewer’s Choice Award! Great job, Acer!
Acer Chromebook Spin 713 : Where To Buy?
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is available in Malaysia with a retail price of RM3,799.
Here are some online purchase options in Malaysia :
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.
Acer just released new and updated Swift, Aspire and TravelMate laptops, just in time for Christmas 2020!
Take a look at the new slew of Acer Swift, Aspire and TravelMate laptops that you can buy now!
Acer Swift 3 : New December 2020 Model!
The Acer Swift 3 is a 14-inch laptop designed for the young, and comes in three colour options – Blue, Pink and Silver.
It has a 14-inch slim bezel IPS LED display with a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, in a chassis that is just under 16 mm thick, and weighs just 1.2 kg.
Built around the new 11th Gen Intel Core processor, and Intel Iris Xe Graphics, it comes with up to 16 GB of onboard LPDDR4X memory, and 512 GB PCIe NVMe SSD storage.
The new December 2020 Acer Swift 3 model has a rated battery life of 11 hours, and supports fast charging to give you 4 hours of video playback with a 30-minute charge.
In addition, the December 2020 model of Acer Swift 3 comes pre-installed with Microsoft Office Home & Student 2019.
Acer Swift 3X : New December 2020 Model!
The Acer Swift 3X is a 14-inch laptop designed for both games and creative apps, with its new Iris Xe Max discrete graphics.
It has a 14-inch slim bezel IPS LED display with a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, in a chassis that is just under 18 mm thick, and weighs just 1.37 kg.
Built around the new 11th Gen Intel Core processor, and Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics, it comes with up to 16 GB of onboard LPDDR4X memory, and 512 GB PCIe NVMe SSD storage.
The new December 2020 Acer Swift 3 model has a rated battery life of 17 hours, and supports fast charging to give you 4 hours of video playback with a 30-minute charge.
In addition, the Acer Swift 3X comes pre-installed with Microsoft Office Home & Student 2019.
Acer Swift 5 : New December 2020 Model!
The Acer Swift 5 is a 14-inch ultra-light Intel Evo-certified laptop, that is just under 15 mm thick, and weighs only 1.05 kg!
It has a 14-inch IPS LED touch display with a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, and 100% sRGB colour gamut. This touch display is protected by Antimicrobial Gorilla Glass.
Built around the new 11th Gen Intel Core processor, and Intel Iris Xe Graphics, it comes with up to 16 GB of onboard LPDDR4X memory, and 512 GB PCIe NVMe SSD storage.
The new December 2020 Acer Swift 5 model has a rated battery life of 15 hours, and supports fast charging to give you 4 hours of video playback with a 30-minute charge.
In addition, the December 2020 model of Acer Swift 5 comes pre-installed with Microsoft Office Home & Student 2019.
Acer Aspire 5 : New December 2020 Model!
The December 2020 Acer Aspire 5 comes in 14-inch or 15.6-inch display options, with an all-metal chassis.
The 14-inch Aspire 5 is 15.6 mm thick, and weighs 1.45 kg; while the 15.6-inch Aspire 5 is 17.9 mm thick and weighs just 1.65 kg.
Built around the new 11th Gen Intel Core processor, and Intel Iris Xe Graphics, they both with up to 16 GB of onboard LPDDR4X memory (upgradable to 20 GB), and 512 GB PCIe NVMe SSD storage.
Acer also offers an NVIDIA GeForce MX350 discrete graphics option for both models.
Both 14-inch and 15-inch models have a rated battery life of 13 hours, and supports fast charging to give you 4 hours of video playback with a 30-minute charge.
In addition, they both come pre-installed with Microsoft Office Home & Student 2019.
Acer TravelMate P2 : New December 2020 Model!
The Acer TravelMate P2 is a rugged laptop designed for business executives, with handy business features and advanced connectivity options.
Built to comply with MIL-STD-810G standards, the Travelmate P2 has a spill-resistant keyboard, and shock-absorbent corners to survive bumps and drops.
It also comes with Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 protection, a fingerprint reader and Windows Hello for secure authentication, to safeguard sensitive data while working away from the office.
Built around the new 11th Gen Intel Core processor, and Intel Iris Xe Graphics, it comes with up to 32 GB of onboard LPDDR4X memory, and 512 GB PCIe NVMe SSD storage or a 1 TB hard disk drive.
The new December 2020 Acer TravelMate P2 model has a rated battery life of 13 hours, and supports fast charging to give you 4 hours of video playback with a 30-minute charge.
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Acer just unveiled a new ultra-light, ultra-thin laptop – the 2019 Acer Swift 7!
Here is everything you need to know about the new Swift 7, including its price and key features!
The 2019 Acer Swift 7 Ultra-Light Laptop Revealed!
Let’s start with the launch briefing by Jeffrey Lai, Senior Product Manager of Acer Malaysia.
The 2019 Acer Swift 7 Ultra-Light Laptop
Designed with a minimalist concept, the 2019 Acer Swift 7 boasts clean, sleek lines with an ultra-thin and ultra-light finless design.
It is now 60% smaller than the average 14-inch laptop, and weighs just 890 g! Even so, it packs enough battery power to last up to 12 hours of non-stop use.
Thanks to its super-thin bezels, it has a 14-inch Full HD display with an impressive 92% screen-to-body ratio. This touch display boasts a wide colour gamut of 100% sRGB / 72% NTSC, and is protected by Gorilla Glass 6.
The new Swift 7 is powered by an 8th Gen Intel Core processor with 8 GB RAM and an NVMe PCIe SSD. And it comes with two USB Type C Gen 2 ports, and Gigabit WiFi with 2×2 MIMO technology.
It has a push-to-open camera that is hidden just above the keyboard, with a power button that doubles as a fingerprint sensor. To ensure durability, its touchpad is protected by Gorilla Glass 3.
If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!
If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!
The ASUS ZenFone 2 family of smartphones and phablets was notable for its use of Intel Atom processors, as well as their ambidextrous design. While the Intel Atom processors were powerful, they guzzled power and had trouble gaining traction in the smartphone market.
Hence, it comes as no surprise when ASUS revealed in Computex 2016 that the new ZenFone 3 series would be powered by Qualcomm processors instead. That decision probably contributed to Intel’s decision to quit the smartphone market for good.
Here is how the ASUS ZenFone 3 (Amazon) compares against the other two ZenFone 3 models :
Specifications
ZenFone 3 Deluxe (ZS570KL)
ZenFone 3 Ultra (ZU680KL)
ZenFone 3 (ZE552KL)
Display
5.7" Super AMOLED
(1920 x 1080 pixels, 386 ppi)
79% screen-to-body ratio
3,000,000 : 1
contrast ratio
ASUS TruVivid technology
Bluelight Filter
6.8" IPS display
full-screen lamination
(1920 x 1080 pixels, 324 ppi)
79% screen-to-body ratio
178˚wide-viewing angle
ASUS TruVivid technology
Bluelight Filter
5.5" Super IPS+ display
(1920 x 1080 pixels, 401 ppi)
500 nits brightness
77.3% screen-to-body ratio
2.1mm slim bezel
Protection
Corning Gorilla Glass 4
Corning Gorilla Glass 4
2.5D contoured Corning Gorilla Glass
Operating System
Android 6.0 Marshmallow
ASUS ZenUI 3.0
Android 6.0 Marshmallow
ASUS ZenUI 3.0
Android 6.0 Marshmallow
ASUS ZenUI 3.0
SoC Platform
Qualcomm Snapdragon 820
(MSM8996)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 652
(MSM8976)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 625
(MSM8953)
Processor
Quad-core Kyro (2.15 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A72 (1.8 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.4 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (2.0 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.4 GHz)
Graphics Processor
Qualcomm Adreno 530 (624 MHz)
Qualcomm Adreno 510
Qualcomm Adreno 506
Memory
Up to 6 GB
Up to 4 GB LPDDR3
Up to 4 GB LPDDR3
Storage
Up to 128 GB (UFS 2.0) internal flash storage
microSD slot (Supports up to 2 TB)
Up to 128 GB internal flash storage
microSD slot (Supports up to 2 TB)
Up to 64 GB internal flash storage
microSD slot (Supports up to 2 TB)
Front Camera
8 MP, f/2.0 aperture
85˚ wide-viewing angle, Auto Focus
8 MP, f/2.0 aperture
85˚ wide-viewing angle, Auto Focus
8 MP, f/2.0 aperture, Fixed Focus
Rear Camera
23 MP Sony IMX318 sensor
0.03 second TriTech auto-focus
6P Largan f/2.0 aperture lens
4 Stop OIS (Optical Image Stabilization)
3-Axis EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization)
Dual-LED real tone flash
Sapphire lens protection
23 MP Sony IMX318 sensor
0.03 second TriTech auto-focus
6P Largan f/2.0 aperture lens
32 second long exposure
4 Stop OIS (Optical Image Stabilization)
3-Axis EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization)
Dual-LED real tone flash
16 MP Sony IMX298 sensor
0.03 second TriTech auto-focus
6P Largan f/2.0 aperture lens
32 second long exposure
4 Stop OIS (Optical Image Stabilization)
3-Axis EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization)
Dual-LED real tone flash
Sapphire lens protection
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The ASUS ZenFone 3 (ZE552KL) Smartphone
With a 5.5″ display, the ASUS ZenFone 3 (ZE552KL) is the smallest model in the family. However, because all three ZenFone 3 models have the same Full HD resolution of 1080 x 1920, the its display boasts the highest pixel density of 401 ppi. The much larger ZenFone 3 Ultra (ZE680KL), for example, has a pixel density of only 324 ppi.
The ZenFone 3 (Amazon) has a very premium feel, thanks to its use of 2.5D contoured Corning Gorilla Glass that seamlessly fits the metal frame carved out of aerospace-grade aluminium alloy. It has a nice heft at 155 g / 5.5 oz – not too light, and not too heavy.
Unlike the ZenFone 3 Ultra, the ZenFone 3 (Amazon) uses a more conventional design – the Volume buttons are placed on the right side, with the Power button. The SIM card tray is placed on the left side. So this is no longer the ambidextrous design that ASUS ZenFones are known for.
The ZenFone 3 also features an improved 5-magnet speaker with Hi-Res Audio support. Not only does it deliver higher fidelity audio, it is now 20% louder with 42% less distortion.
Hybrid SIM & Fingerprint Sensor
The ASUS ZenFone 3 (Amazon) has Dual SIM, Dual Standby capability, with both SIMs supporting 4G. The SIM card tray is located along the left edge, and supports two nano SIM cards. The second SIM card tray is a hybrid SIM tray, which allows you to install a microSD card instead. In other words, it supports either a second nano SIM card, or a microSD card, but not both at the same time.
Unlike the ZenFone 3 Ultra, the ZenFone 3 (Amazon) uses a fingerprint sensor that is located at the back, just under the main camera. This is an all-aspect fingerprint sensor that unlocks the smartphone in just 0.2 seconds. It can also be programmed to activate specific apps (like the camera) with different fingers.
PixelMaster 3.0 Cameras
The ASUS ZenFone 3 (Amazon) sports a decent 8 MP front camera with f/2.0 lens for selfies. While not as good as the 16 MP front camera of the OPPO F1s “Selfie Expert” smartphone, it has a higher resolution than the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, and is capable of recording 1080p videos. The only downside? It doesn’t support screen flash.
The killer feature of the ZenFone 3 (Amazon) is the much improved PixelMaster 3.0 camera at the back. It features a 16 MP Sony IMX298 sensor with new features like fast hybrid autofocus and 3-axis electronic image stabilization.
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ASUS paired it with f/2.0 Largan lens with 4-axis, 4-stop optical image stabilization, and a second-generation laser auto-focus sensor.
What all that means is you can capture very high resolution photos and videos in poorly-lit conditions. Any blurring that occurs due to hand shakes and wobbles will be greatly reduced or eliminated.
Focusing is also much faster, thanks to the new laser sensor that accurately detects the range of objects in low light at up to 1.5 m away.
In addition to 1080p videos, the PixelMaster 3.0 camera can also shoot 4K videos. To top it off, it encodes the 4K videos using HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) to keep the file size small while maintaining a high level of image quality.
Finally, the ASUS ZenFone 3 (Amazon) does not have any noticeable limit on how long you can record videos, or how large their file sizes are. We have recorded videos of over 120 minutes in length, and over 11 GB in size. Most smartphones have a 4 GB limit, even if they do not have a time limit.
Setting Up The ZenFone 3
The ASUS ZenFone 3 (Amazon) runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, which should be familiar to many Android users. It is very easy to setup. If you are setting it up as a new device, it should take you only 5 minutes to finish the setup process.
If there’s one thing we dislike, it’s the additional apps that the ASUS ZenFone 3 (Amazon) automatically downloads, even if you skip the “free apps” offer at the end of the setup process. Our sample downloaded Need For Speed : No Limit, SimCity, Lazada, Beauty Plus, iReader and Google Slides.
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Ergonomics
When you power it up for the first time, you will be struck by how beautiful its display is. This may not be a QHD display like those on the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Amazon) or the HTC 10 (Amazon), but you won’t be able to tell the difference. The Super IPS+ display also offers a boost in brightness (up to 500 nits), which is especially useful outdoors in bright sunlight.
The smaller form factor means it is an easier fit for most hands. The ZenFone 3 (Amazon) is also much lighter than its big brother, the ZenFone 3 Ultra – so holding it in one hand is not a problem at all. That said, the Gorilla Glass back makes it just as slippery to grip as the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (Amazon).
Available Memory & Storage
The ASUS ZenFone 3 (Amazon) comes with either 3 GB or 4 GB of LPDDR3 memory. Our review sample came with 4 GB of memory. Only 3.5 GB was usable, of which 1.1 GB was used by the Android operating system and background apps. This left 2.4 GB of free memory for us to use. That’s more than enough memory to run multiple memory-guzzling apps simultaneously.
The ASUS ZenFone 3 (Amazon) also comes with a generous amount of internal storage – 64 GB. Out of the box, just under 52 GB was available for use. That should be plenty enough for most users, but is expandable via a microSD card (up to 2 TB). It also comes with 100 GB of free Google Drive storage for 2 years.
Camera Performance – Photos
The resolution of the new PixelMaster 3.0 camera is very good. The full 16 MP resolution is attained with the 4:3 aspect ratio. Each picture has a resolution of 4656 x 3492 and a file size of 3.5-5 MB.
Here are six high-resolution samples for you to check out. Click on them to load the full-sized photos, which you can also download to examine.
The Sony Exmor-RS IMX298 is a really good sensor. The colours are vivid but not unnaturally so. However, the highlights are blown out. This was not so much of a problem with the IMX318 sensor used in the ZenFone 3 Ultra.
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Camera Performance – Video Recording
The ASUS ZenFone 3 (Amazon) is capable of recording 1080p and 4K videos, with both 4-axis optical and 3-axis electronic image stabilisation enabled. To test its video recording capabilities, we recorded a street market and a koi pond in daylight, and a night dance as well. They were all recorded in both 1080p and 4K resolutions. Check them out!
The videos show how helpful the advanced optical and electronic image stabilisation is in the ASUS ZenFone 3 (Amazon). While it may not be quite as smooth as an actual gimbal like the DJI Osmo Mobile, it is a great improvement on what we saw with the previous-generation ASUS smartphones, like the ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser.
The amount of detail captured, especially in the 4K videos, is amazing. However, you can also see how the highlights are blown out. This is especially noticeable in the bright background of the Piano and Night Dance videos.
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Work Performance – PCMark
We tested the ZenFone 3’s performance using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.
ASUS ZenFone 3
ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra
HTC 10
honor 8
Work Performance Score
(Average)
6405
6313
6105
6350
Web Browsing
8045
6257
5782
8073
Video Playback
3469
4287
3321
4396
Writing
7316
7166
7463
6231
Photo Editing
8246
8262
9694
7352
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor powering the ZenFone 3 (Amazon) did very well in this test, besting the ZenFone 3 Ultra (Snapdragon 652), the HTC 10 (Snapdragon 820) and the honor 8 (Kirin 950).
Battery Life – PCMark
We then tested the ZenFone 3’s battery performance using PCMark. It basically ran the PCMark work tests until its battery capacity dropped to 20%.
The ASUS ZenFone 3 (Amazon) only comes with a 3,000 mAh battery, but it lasted almost 12 hours in this test! This is 22 minutes longer than the battery life of its big brother, the ZenFone 3 Ultra, which boasts a 53% larger 4,600 mAh battery. This is excellent battery life.
Battery Recharging Performance
The ASUS ZenFone 3 comes with a 10 W fast charger. Take a look at how fast it recharges the 3,000 mAh battery.
It took us 99 minutes (1 hour 39 minutes) to recharge the ZenFone 3 (Amazon) from 19% to 100%. That’s a battery life : recharging ratio of 7:1 – very impressive!
As the charger does not support any fancy fast charging technologies like Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0, the charging profile is a relatively flat curve. It showed slightly faster charging up to the 70% charge level, before tapering off a little.
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Overall Performance
AnTuTu is a nice benchmark for testing various performance aspects of Android devices.
ASUS ZenFone 3
ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra
HTC 10
honor 8
TOTAL SCORE
62761
76096
113813
90737
3D SCORE
13022
18816
50700
17706
– 3D (Marooned)
7906
10861
34778
9829
– 3D (Garden)
5116
7952
15922
7877
UX SCORE
23789
26794
30890
34550
– UX Data Secure
5847
5077
6319
7338
– UX Data Process
3109
4198
3379
5513
– UX Strategy Games
4254
7503
5433
9745
– UX Image Process
7443
6879
9521
5017
– UX I/O Performance
3136
3137
6238
6937
CPU SCORE
20342
23689
21915
32255
– CPU Mathematics
4226
6950
8494
10483
– CPU Common Use
6593
6311
5931
8543
– CPU Multi-Core
9523
10428
7490
13229
RAM
5608
6797
10308
6226
The ASUS ZenFone 3 (Amazon) is not going to win any gaming awards. It was fast in 2D graphics and CPU processing, but performed poorly in the 3D tests. It was far slower than top-of-the-line smartphones like the HTC 10, and even some mid-range smartphones like the Kirin 950-powered honor 8.
Gaming Performance – 3DMark
We tested the ZenFone 3’s gaming performance using 3DMark, using the Ice Storm Unlimited test.
ASUS ZenFone 3
ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra
HTC 10
honor 8
Gaming Score
13956
17719
23171
18659
Graphics
13484
21124
27512
19993
Physics
15903
11328
14925
15127
Graphics Test 1
80.5 fps
115.2 fps
136.6 fps
122.5 fps
Graphics Test 2
46.1 fps
76.3 fps
106.4 fps
67.4 fps
Physics Test
50.5 fps
36.0 fps
47.4 fps
48.0 fps
The Qualcomm Adreno 506 GPU in the ZenFone 3 (Amazon) is no 3D powerhouse and it shows. It was half as fast as the HTC 10 (Adreno 530), 36% slower than the ZenFone 3 Ultra (Adreno 510), and 33% slower than the honor 8 (ARM Mali-T880).
Our Verdict
The ZenFone 3 smartphone family represents a concerted effort by ASUS to break into the premium smartphone market. The ASUS ZenFone 3 (ZE552KL) model itself represents the tip of the spear. After all, it is the most affordable variant in the family.
Now, we must point out that this is not the best smartphone for 3D gaming. The ASUS ZenFone 3 (Amazon) is very fast at 2D games, and work applications, but it falters in 3D gaming performance. But if you do not intend to play 3D games on it, this is a very good smartphone for everything else.
It has a really good front and back cameras. Yes, the highlights are overblown (can ASUS fix this in a firmware update please?), but the optical and electronic image stabilisation has been greatly improved. The resulting pictures and videos are quite amazing. They are sharp, and the colours vivid.
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The ZenFone 3 (Amazon) also supports 4K video recording, in addition to 1080p recording. And some of you might like to know that it can record videos of indefinite length and file size. No more 30 minute limit. No more 4 GB limit. Just awesome for recording events like your child’s football game or a friend’s wedding!
You will also love the long battery life and the short recharge time – something you will appreciate if you are always on-the-go and have little access to a power point. The same goes for its large memory and storage capacity. With 4 GB of memory, and 64 GB of flash storage, you will find it hard to run out of both.
And last but not, the ASUS ZenFone 3 (Amazon) is a work of art. It exudes luxury with the 2.5D curved glass on both sides melding into the solid metal frame. That is a luxury that comes with a price premium – one that many will feel well worth it.
We are so impressed with the ASUS ZenFone 3 (Amazon) that we feel it deserves no less than our Reviewer’s Choice Award. Congratulations, ASUS!
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Sony Mobile just revealed two new additions to their X smartphone series – the Xperia XZ and Xperia X Compact. They also revealed an exclusive pre-order campaign with 11street, from today until October 4. Check out the full details below!
The Sony Xperia XZ & Xperia X Compact Revealed
Andrew Cheong, Country Director (Malaysia) at Sony Mobile kicked off the launch event with a keynote speech on the two new Sony X series smartphone.
Then Lawrence Lim, Business Manager of Sony Mobile Malaysia, covered the key features of the Sony Xperia XZ and Xperia X Compact smartphones.
Sony Xperia XZ & Xperia X Compact Specifications
Specifications
Sony Xperia XZ
Sony Xperia X Compact
Display
5.2" TriLuminos display
- 1080 x 1920 pixels
4.6" TriLuminos display
- 720 x 1280 pixels
Protection
Corning Gorilla Glass with 2.5D curved edge
Capless water- and dust-resistance (IP65/IP68)
Corning Gorilla Glass with 2.5D curved edge
Operating System
Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
System Platform
Qualcomm Snapdragon 820
Qualcomm Snapdragon 650
Processor
4 x Qualcomm Kyro (2.2 GHz)
2 x ARM Cortex-A72 (1.8 GHz)
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.8 GHz)
Graphics Processor
Qualcomm Adreno 530
Qualcomm Adreno 510
Memory
3 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM
3 GB LPDDR3 SDRAM
Storage
64 GB internal flash storage
microSD slot (shared with second SIM slot) - up to 256 GB
GPS + GLONASS
WiFi Miracast, Google Cast
Bluetooth 4.2
NFC, DLNA
GPS + GLONASS
WiFi Miracast, Google Cast
Bluetooth 4.1
NFC, DLNA
SIM Capability
Dual SIM, Dual Standby
Hybrid SIM (nano SIM x 2, or nano SIM + microSD)
Single nano SIM
Audio Capability
High Resolution Audio capability
Front Surround Sound
Stereo Audio Recording
High Resolution Audio capability
Front Surround Sound
Stereo Audio Recording
Fingerprint Sensor
Yes, on Power button
No
Battery
2,900 mAh lithium-ion battery
Qnovo Adaptive Charging with Quick Charge 3.0 support
2,700 mAh lithium-ion battery
Qnovo Adaptive Charging with Quick Charge support
Dimensions
72 mm wide x 146 mm tall x 8.1 mm thick
65 mm wide x 129 mm tall x 9.5 mm thick
Weight
161 g
135 g
Available Colours
Forest Blue, Mineral Black, Platinum
Mist Blue, Universe Black, White
Launch Price
RM 2,699 / ~US$ 675
RM 1,999 / ~US$ 499
Availability & Offers
The Sony Xperia XZ and Xperia X Compact smartphones will be available for sale in Malaysia beginning 7 October at Sony Mobile Stores, Sony Centres, and authorised dealers. The Xperia XZ will be available in the Dual SIM variant (Hybrid SIM slot) and the Xperia X Compact will be available in the Single SIM variant.
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All Xperia XZ users will gain access to exclusive content in the Xperia Lounge (including 12 movie downloads), Qoo10 15% discount coupon and 20% off storewide on Zalora. In addition, users can also obtain a code via Xperia Lounge to stand a chance to win a brand new wardrobe from Zalora.
In addition, those who pre-order on 11street during the exclusive pre-order period will receive complimentary gifts worth RM 600 (~US$ 150) such as the Sony Bluetooth Headset, screen protector for Curve Display, back casing and an OTG 3.0 64GB Type C Connector.
Furthermore, 11street customers who participate in a lucky draw will stand a chance to bring home a Cristiano Ronaldo Signed and Framed Real Madrid 2015-2016 jersey worth RM 3,000.
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Improved Camera Technology
Sony’s first flagship of the X series, Xperia XZ, and premium Xperia X Compact bring new and improved camera technology to give the best pictures from Xperia yet. Maximising Sony’s acclaimed image sensor, two additional assisting sensors have been added to make Sony’s triple image sensing technology. This allows you to capture beautiful images in motion with true to life colours in virtually any condition.
The technology includes Sony’s original Exmor RS for mobile image sensor which provides a powerful blend of high quality image and autofocus (AF) speed combined with Predictive Hybrid AF to intelligently predict and track subjects in motion for blur-free results.
Added to this is the Laser AF sensor with distance sensing technology which captures beautiful blur-free photos in challenging low light conditions. And what’s more, you will enjoy superb true to life colours thanks to the RGBC-IR[i] sensor with colour sensing technology which accurately adjusts the white balance based on the light source in the environment.
The 23MP main camera not only gives you clear shots, but also super-fast start-up going from standby to capture in 0.6seconds[ii] at the touch of a dedicated shutter release button. Advanced features have been added for those who want more flexibility with manual settings to further enhance the shooting experience and creative possibilities, such as shutter speed and focus controls.
With videos being ever more popular for capturing and sharing unique moments on social media, both models bring significant advancements in the evolution of image stabilisation, cultivated in Sony’s Handycam camcorders, with Sony’s SteadyShot with Intelligent Active Mode to enable superb video recording. Now with 5-axis stabilization, you can shoot smoother videos[iii] even when walking or capturing extreme close-ups[iv].
Xperia XZ provides a 13MP front camera for the selfie perfectionist, with its super high sensitivity as high as ISO6400 and 24mm wide angle lens it will make the best of your pose even in low-light and group selfies. Xperia XZ also offers the highest quality recording in 4k so you get sharp, crisp footage that is full of detail.
[i] RGBC-IR stands for Red, green, blue, clear and infrared
[ii] Based in internal protocol defined by Sony Mobile Communications
[iii] 5-axis stabilisation feature is only available in Full HD video resolution
[iv] 5-axis stabilisation is activated only when the camera recognises macro video. Other situations will be recorded as 3-axis(pitch/yaw/roll) only
Premium design
With its stunning loop surface design, the 5.2” glass display and metal back of the Xperia XZ become one, to provide a perfect fit and beautiful feel in the hand. The loop surface is inspired by a monolithic form, whilst ALKALEIDO metal with high brightness and high purity provides shine and a feeling of depth which both enhance its premium design.
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Xperia XZ is available in a brand new blue colour inspired by the beauty of nature – Forest Blue – along with stylish classics, Mineral Black and Platinum.
Adding a popular Sony form factor to the X series, the Xperia X Compact packs mighty technology into its small frame. Its 4.6” screen and loop surface design make it extra comfortable to hold and is ideal for an operation with just one hand. Xperia X Compact’s premium design can be clearly seen via its high-gloss finish and solid feel. It also follows our new signature blue colour expression with a Mist Blue colour hue together with timeless Universe Black and Stylish White.
Sony’s expertise in functional design is carried through to the Xperia XZ with a water resistant[i] design to take the worry out of a little splash of water. In addition, the fingerprint sensor power button[ii] on Xperia XZ and Xperia X Compact is intuitively placed on the side of the phone, so you’re able to pick up and securely unlock in a single movement and adds to the comfortable fit in the hand.
Intelligent Features
We’ve incorporated intelligent features into our smartphones so that they can assist you to make your daily life more convenient, more efficient, and more enjoyable. Both models feature new Battery Care[i] complemented by Qnovo adaptive charging which work in harmony to keep your battery healthy and make the lifespan last up to twice as long[ii].
Qnovo adaptive charging monitors and adjusts the charging current to avoid damage for battery longevity whilst Battery Care controls the charging based on learned habits and avoids excess charging by pausing charge at 90% and only completes the charging just before it’s needed.
Xperia Tips also recognises user habits to provide personalised tips and recommendations, helping you optimise your own personal user experience while Smart Cleaner automatically maximises performance by cleaning the cache from certain apps based on learning their usage so optimal performance is achieved at all times.
[ii] Qnovo adaptive charging is featured on all X series models. 2x battery lifespan refers to Xperia X and Xperia X Performance with Qnovo enabled when compared to Xperia Z2. During laboratory battery capacity retention cycle testing conducted by Sony Mobile Communications and Qnovo Incorporated, the battery cell used in Xperia Z2 achieved a lifespan up to 2 times longer with Qnovo. The result may vary depending on conditions and environment.
Accessories
Xperia XZ and Xperia X Compact each have a range of matching optional Style Covers in corresponding colours including Style Cover Touch (SCTF10/20) which lets you access your favourite smartphone widgets through a smart window without needing to open the case.
For easy video viewing, Style Cover Stand (SCSF10/20) has an auto on/off function with adjustable viewing angle. Each model will be supplied with the new USB Type-C charger for easy charging.
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On April 27th, 2016, LEAGOO revealed the LEAGOO Shark 1 [Amazon] smartphone. It boasts a large 6″ full HD display and a metal chassis, and an astounding 6,300 mAh battery. It comes to no surprise that LEAGOO claims that the Shark 1 will last 2 days of heavy use, or 3.5 days of normal use.
The LEAGOO Shark 1 [Amazon] is no lame duck either. It’s powered by a quad-core MediaTek processor and comes with 3 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage. Check out its specifications :
Specifications
LEAGOO Shark 1 Smartphone
Display
6" LG LTPS full HD display
1080 x 1920 resolution (368 ppi)
Corning Gorilla Glass protection with 2.5D curved edge
Platform
MediaTek MT6753
Processor
8 x ARM Cortex-A53 processors (1.3 GHz)
Graphics Processor
ARM Mali-T720
Memory
3 GB LPDDR3 SDRAM
Storage
16 GB internal flash storage
microSD card slot (supports up to 128 GB)
Operating System
LEAGOO OS 1.2 on Android 5.1
Front Camera
5 MP sensor
Rear Camera
13 Sony BSI-2 sensor with f/2.0 wide-angle lens and dual-tone LED flash
SIM Capability
Two microSIM slots
Dual SIM, dual standby capability
Connectivity
4G LTE
Bluetooth 4.0
microUSB 2.0 port
GPS Support
Yes
Fingerprint Sensor
Yes, 0.39 s recognition speed, 508 ppi resolution
Available Colours
Elegant Black / Modern Gold / Satin Silver
You can get more details about the LEAGOO Shark 1 in our launch coverage, where LEAGOO explains its key features. You can also check out Zul Ariffin’s testimonial about using his own LEAGOO Shark 1 smartphone.
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Shark 1 Hands-On Preview
After the LEAGOO Shark 1 launch event with Malaysian celebrity Zul Ariffin, we had the opportunity to record our own LEAGOO Shark 1 hands-on preview. Check it out below. We hope you enjoy it!
Here is the video transcript :
Here are LEAGOO Shark 1’s key features…
From the frontal aspect, it looks like the honor 5X we reviewed recently.
The fingerprint sensor in the rear aspect looks similar to the Huawei Mate 8.
Now, let’s take a closer look…
On the left side, you will find the dual SIM + microSD card slot.
The Gorilla Glass cover has a 2.5D curved edge all around.
The micro USB port is located at the bottom, together with a mic port.
There are no dedicated capacitive touch buttons in the front.
On the right side, you will find the Power button and a rocker switch for Volume.
Its specifications claim an LED flash for the front camera but it’s probably a typo. The LED flash is really for the rear 13 MP camera.
LEAGOO emphasised that the Shark 1’s rear camera uses a Sony BSI-2 sensor.
The fingerprint sensor has an activation speed of 0.39 seconds. And it allows you to unlock the LEAGOO Shark 1 with a quick touch.
The speaker vents are located at the bottom of the back.
The earphone port is located at the top, together with a second mic port.
The LEAGOO Shark 1 is powered by the 1.3 GHz MediaTek MTK6753 processor, which has eight Cortex-A53 cores and the Mali-T720 GPU.
The LEAGOO Shark 1 comes with Android 5.1 installed, and 3 GB of RAM with 2.1 GB free to use. And 16 GB of internal storage, of which 11.59 GB is free to use. Its microSD card slot allows you to add up to 128 GB of additional storage.
Its killer feature is really its 6,300 mAh Li-Po battery.
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