Category: Mobiles

The Smart Magic Data is how Smart alienates postpaid subscribers in favor of prepaid

March 19, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Smart is not so sure whether to actually offer their Smart Magic Data or not. For one, the addon mechanics cannot be found in any page of Smart. You can only avail from the Giga Life app. And it’s available only to prepaid subscribers. There have been instances where users reported that the Magic Data disappeared from available upgrade options in the Giga Life app.

One thing is for sure, that Smart is not sure whether to continue with this offering. With the Magic Data addons, Smart is encouraging its postpaid subscribers to switch to prepaid instead.

As a response to GOMO, Smart now has MAGIC DATA

March 13, 2021 / / 0 Comments

With the coming of DITO and introduction of Globe’s GOMO, it’s Smart’s move. And they come up with: Smart MAGIC DATA:

The Magic Data appears for now to be available only to Smart’s prepaid subscribers, and it seems to be not so competitive compared to GOMO, but this development is welcome anyway, especially if you frequent an area where you find Globe’s network connection to be spotty.

You can subscribe to Smart’s Magic Data by going to their Gigalife mobile app.

OnePlus 8 Pro Camera Takes Amazing Night Shots

December 23, 2020 / / 1 Comment

I must have been living under a rock for the last 3 or so years, enjoying so much my Samsung Galaxy Note 8, that it’s only now that I realized how night-time photography has improved recently. I know for a fact that this improvement in the camera system is not unique to my OnePlus 8 Pro, I’ve watched YouTube reviews taking the sides of the iPhone 12 series or the Samsung Galaxy S20 or Note 20 series cameras over OnePlus 8 Pro’s when it comes to night-time photography.

Nevertheless, I’m impressed with my OnePlus 8 Pro camera’s Nightscape mode. To my bare eyes, the streets and the skies are almost pitch black, but the phone’s camera, under the Nightscape mode, sees another way. Here are samples of night shots I took (note: except for the black line to hide the car’s plate number, I didn’t apply any further processing or modifications to the pictures. They are how they came out straight from the camera phone): Continue reading

I ditched Samsung for OnePlus because of Exynos

December 18, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Don’t get me wrong, I had the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, running on octa-core Samsung Exynos 8895, for the last 3 years, and loved it. The One UI still runs smooth, the camera is still superb. The battery could use a good replacement, but really, if it were just me, that phone could see at least 2 more years of good use.

Truth be told, I was a Samsung fan. But it’s now 2020, and yet Samsung only offers the Exynos chip in this part of the world where I’m at, especially for its top-of-the-line smartphone lineup. It has been fairly documented how Exynos is a lot inferior against its comparable Snapdragon chip, from processing speed to temperature to battery life.

Apparently, if you have the Exynos version of the same Samsung model phone, you’re getting the shorter end of the stick. You’ve been shortchanged by Samsung. Continue reading

Where to buy SnapDragon Samsung phones in the Philippines?

November 25, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Saw this price list on Facebook, which includes the following Samsung phones running in SnapDragon chips towards the end of the list:

Updated list as of March 1, 2021:

* ALL SNAPDRAGON HK VARIANTS *
.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (SM-9980)
16gb/512gb = P63,500
12gb/256gb = P59,000
Color: Black / Silver
.
Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G (SM-9960)
8gb/256gb = P49,500
Color: Black / Silver / Violet
.
Samsung Galaxy S21 5G (SM-9810)
8gb/256gb = P41,000
Color: Grey / Blue / Green
.
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G
8gb / 128gb = P29,000
.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2
12gb / 256gb = P85,000
12gb / 512gb = P100,000
.
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G (SM-N9860)
12gb / 256gb = P49,000
12gb / 512gb = P58,000
.
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 5G (SM-N9810)
8gb / 256gb = P42,000
.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 (SM-T870)
128gb = P33,000
256gb = P37,000
256gb LTE = P42,000 (SM-T875)

Pages: 1 2

The Hapless Samsung Galaxy Note 20

November 15, 2020 / / 0 Comments

The persistent Samsung ads about its Galaxy Note 20 on Facebook are getting annoying, they now even make Samsung look pathetic.

If Samsung didn’t make Exynos their choice of mobile processor in their Galaxy devices, including the Note 20 series, in the Philippines, it would have won me over.

But no.

No Samsung Snapdragon chip, no Samsung for me from now on.

OnePlus 8 Pro vs. iPhone 12 Pro

November 13, 2020 / / 0 Comments

This comparison is close to my heart for I’m about to renew my phone this year.

In 2017, I passed up on the iPhone 8/8 Plus/X and went for the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 instead, primarily because of the price. Never regretted it. The Android of recent years is leaps ahead of its predecessors of the early 2010’s. Gone are the days of overheating Samsung Galaxy S2.

Anyway, the guy in the video above drew the following conclusion: Continue reading