Asus Zenfone 3 5.2 inch, Zenfone 3 Max first look, camera samples

I put in 2 more Zenfone 3 smartphones under one blog post as they almost have the same appearances but not on the camera output.

Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe first impressions, benchmarks, camera samples

We knew it that this blog will have a chance to do some hands-on on the elite version of Zenfone 3. This is the Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe.

Oppo F1s first impressions, Antutu, camera samples

We took a glimpse on Oppo's next selfie expert. Here is my first impressions on Oppo F1s

I got the rose gold on this one. Even that it is only HD resolution on a 5.5 inch display, it still looks fine. The phone also feels light for the size at 160 grams.



At the left, you can see the volume rocker while on the right side, the power/unlock button and single tray containing dual nano SIM and micro SD.



Noise cancelling mic at the top, 3.5 mm audio jack, dual speakers (to be confirmed) and pin hole mic plus OTG capable micro USB port at the bottom



These are the main page and pulldown menu based on Color OS 3.0 of Android 5.1 Lollipop. According to an Oppo Philippines official, no info yet on the possible Android 6.0 Marshmallow.



Jumping in the Pro mode, it has meat and almost the same that I saw on the Oppo F1 Plus



On benchmarks, it scored at over 41,000 on Antutu and it has 3 point multitouch.



One media personnel asked about the possible 700 Mhz LTE band on the said device so I checked and based on engineering mode, it has band 1, 3, 8 and 40.



The device has acclerometer, light, proximity, orientation, sound and magnetic sensors



And the rear and front camera samples in that order. I am lucky that one of the personnel there has an F1 Plus and I compared it, it has a bit less in color accuracy esp. my green cap but no complains for the Php 7000 difference.





Oppo F1s will be on pre-order this August 12 to 18 in their stores and it will be available this August 19 for Php 12,990

O+ Venti LTE Review

I made sure that I will have the chance to review one of the country's first smartphones powered by a relatively new Speadtrum SoC with LTE connecitivity. Here's my O+ Venti LTE Review.

Samsung Galaxy J2 DTV First Impressions, Benchmarks,Camera Samples, Event Highlights

The Philippines' first DTV-enabled smartphone with AMOLED display is officially here thanks to the guys of Samsung Mobile Philippines as they brought it in the Samsung Galaxy J2 DTV.

Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL hands-on, camera samples, benchmarks

Nine days before the official announcement, I was able to check in the 5.5 inch variant of the (regular) Asus Zenfone 3

Lenovo Vibe K5 first look, camera samples, benchmarks

It did not have a formal media launch unlike it's 2 better brothers but it is worth mentioning. This is my first look on Lenovo Vibe K5

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 hands-on, camera samples, more information

Samsung Mobile Philippines invited us for the Philippine launch of Samsung Galaxy Note 7 just a few number of hours after the New York launch.

Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro first look, benchmarks, camera samples

The night will not be complete for me as I had my test run earlier of Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro.

The front and back portions of the device looks elegant despite of it's size. I never had that much difficulty on handling it but you can really tell that it is a bit heavy.



The left part has volume buttons and OTG and reverse charging capable micro USB port, speaker and pin hole mic at the bottom. Not in the picture as on the top, there is a 3.5 mm. audio jack and micro SD tray and on the right, there goes the dual nano SIM tray



Glimpse of the pulldown menu and what to expect on app storage out of 32 GB ROM



The phone scored over 68,000 in Antutu. Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, sound and magnetic sensors are here. It has 10 point multi touch and internal storage was supplied by Toshiba.



Both cameras can shoot at 4:3 aspect ratio and can shoot full HD video.



I was in a place with artificial lighting which it is quite test to check the f/1.9 aperture of both shooters. The main and secondary cameras in that order.





Based on my assessment, the probable customers of this device will be those who are really into Samsung phones but needs a real dual SIM (compared to Galaxy S7 Edge) and those who is more into big displays and for heavy multimedia consumption.

Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro will be available this August 12 for Php 25,990

Cherry Mobile M1 first look, benchmarks, camera samples

We are not in the launch of this first deca-core powered local smartphone but I had a date of it in a few minutes, here's my post on Cherry Mobile M1

First, lets go to the specs:

Mediatek Helio X20 deca-core processor with Mali T880 GPU, Android 6.0 Marshmallow, dual micro SIM, 21 MP main cam with Sony IMX 230 sensor, 8 MP secondary cam, 5.5 inch IPS Full HD display, 4 GB RAM, 32 GB ROM, no micro SD slot quick charging, USB Type C, NFC, finger print reader and 3,600 mAh battery

The front and back portions of Cherry Mobile M1 which reminds me a bit of Cosmos One Plus. At first, you might think that it has dual front speakers but the bottom part that is working. Of course, the upper part is the one for accepting calls. Display is a-ok for the IPS display. I was not able to check out the finger print reader



Yup the phone has curves. The top has the 3.5 mm. audio jack and pin hole mic and USB Type C at the bottom.



Dual micro SIM in one tray at the left, volume rocker and power/unlock button at the right.



The normal navigation and switching apps are a-ok at the phone. I saw the camera and it was quite basic (as the same as the one at Cherry Mobile Infinix Pure) but the important thing is the output which you will gonna see later.

The benchmarks are expected at over 90,000 on Antutu and good amount of sensors plus 5 point multi touch.

I took the camera samples inside McDo Forbes Town Center. It is quite good on artificial with a mix of daylight. What concerned me, both cams have f/2.8 aperture which might struggle if you will bring this on low light. Both are also in 4:3 aspect ratio. The 21 MP rear camera and 8 MP front camera samples in that order





Cherry Mobile M1 will be out in stores in the next few days for Php 11,999. Credits to Peter of gizguide.com as he allowed me to play the Cherry Mobile M1 review unit.

Alcatel Pixi 4 6 3G Review

I am done with my first ever 6 inch smartphone check and a first time too of an Alcatel handset. Here's my review of Alcatel Pixi 4 6 3G version.

Samsung Galaxy J5 and J7 2016 now in PH, first look, benchmarks, camera samples

After the A series this year, Samsung Mobile Philippines went this time for 2 new smartphones for the J series this year.

In a brief media event, they announced the Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 and Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 which are already on sale and comes with a 32 GB Sandisk micro SD.

Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 has 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (Cortex-A53 version) quad-core processor, Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, 5.2 inch HD Super AMOLED display, dual SIM, 13 MP rear cam with LED flash and f/1.9,  5 MP front cam with LED flash, 2 GB RAM, 16 GB ROM, NFC, Bluetooth, WiFi, OTG capable, GPS, micro SD slot and 3,100 mAh removable battery for Php 11,990

Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 has 1.6 GHz Exynos 7870 octa-core processor based on Cortex-A53, 5.5 inch HD Super AMOLED display, dual SIM, 13 MP rear cam with LED flash and f/1.9,  5 MP front cam with LED flash, 2 GB RAM, 16 GB ROM, NFC, Bluetooth, WiFi, OTG capable, GPS, micro SD slot and 3,300 mAh removable battery for Php 14,990

As you can see later at the first looks section, Samsung Mobile PH took some tweaks on these devices with Pinoy touch starting with some icon changes and the wallpaper. They also mentioned that they had the mobile data saving feature thru the Opera Mini and Signal Max technology which can help for their potential buyers in places with difficuly on telco signal.

The first look at the Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 (in gold) and Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 in white. The typical Samsung front view is visible on both phones. The screen is quite nice for their prices.

Both of them have a bit of brushed metal design in their back covers but it was more visible at the J5 2016.

The top portions of both devices

The placing of the power/unlock button are both at the right section.

Same at the bottom.

On the benchmarks of Galaxy J5 2016, I saw the almost identical scores of Antutu as to compare with the Samsung Galaxy On7 at around 28,000. Good that it has 5  point multi-touch but the number of available sensors are kinda disappointing. I also took a check at the phone app is pretty much the same as to the J7 2016.

It was a first in PH to experience an Exynos 7870 octa-core processor and the score in Antutu reminds me of a previous smartphone that I reviewed with 2.0 GHz Helio P10 SoC at over 50,000. A big clap to them for the 10 point multi touch but the same plot in the number of sensors.

 

For the camera samples:

Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 rear camera sample

Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 front camera sample no flash

Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 front camera sample no flash

Samsung Galaxy J7 2016 front camera sample with flash.

Definitely, the Galaxy J7 2016 is the faster device compared on the Galaxy J5 2016. I only had a chance to check the front on the J7 which I am surprised that they did not incude the auto flash option. The TouchWiz UI is a-ok and quite light on both devices but one concern for me that they only left over 5 GB of remaining storage out of 16 GB ROM. The J7 2016 might be a capable gaming device but you cannot put a lot of apps in that scenario.

Flash Plus 2 Review

From one Helio P10 powered smartphone to another. This time, I am done with my first ever review of a Flash smartphone - Flash Plus 2

Oppo F1 Plus Review

Oppo promised to us that the F1 Plus will be their selfie expert but not just for me as it was my first time to check out this pretty new SoC. Is it worth for the price. Here is my Oppo F1 Plus revuew

Samsung Galaxy On7 first impressions, benchmarks, camera samples

I am happy that the guys from Samsung Mobile Philippines had this venture with Lazada Philippines to bring an exclusive which is why it has a competitive price for it's size.

Huawei P9 Plus mini first impressions, camera samples

My Huawei P9 Family media event will not be complete without checking the biggest of the bunch. Here is the Huawei P9 Plus

I will not include the physical as it was kinda identical to the P9 with a bigger body. I am not surprised that it is still light at that screen size. 

I played a bit on the P9 Plus dual rear camera set-up so I tried my best to do a bokeh of one of the available demo units there. After you take a shot in auto mode, the camera app will ask you to change to subject of focus and the aperture from f/0.9 to f/16. This one below is at f/3.5. I also took a selfie which has f/2.4 by default

Huawei P9 Plus will be available on June 11-12 only at Huawei flagship store at SM MOA and soon in all Huawei stores on June 15 for Php 29,990. It will be also be available for Smart Postpaid soon.

MyPhone My86 DTV Review

After spending over a week for one of MyPhone's DTV phone offerings, I had the result. This is my review for the MyPhone My86 DTV.

Acer Liquid Zest 3G Unboxing and Quick Review

It was my first test to check an Android Marshmallow phone and it came from the guys behind Acer Philippines.

Huawei P9 Lite first impressions, camera samples

Cannot reach the price of the Huawei P9? Huawei Mobile Philippines knows that not anyone can shell out a P20k+ worth of smartphone so they produced a lighter version of their latest flagship yet still capable

Huawei P9 first impressions, camera samples

So I had a chance to check all of the 3 members of the Huawei P9 family. First, I checked the regular variant