Smartphones

ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe unboxing

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It may be late to the market, but the ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe is finally starting to trickle out, with Asia being the next stop for the Taiwanese manufacturer’s most premium — and most expensive — smartphone yet.

ASUS certainly took its sweet time releasing this one, and it shows: The Deluxe is luxe from the inside out and beyond the hardware. Its box alone is likely to elicit “oohs” before it’s even opened, enough to give the impression that what’s inside is valuable. (To be perfectly clear, it is; the $700 5.7-inch Deluxe costs as much as an iPhone 7 Plus or a Pixel XL.)

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[irp posts=”7939″ name=”ASUS ZenFone 3 Max 5.5-inch review”]

Our 5.7-inch Deluxe in gold came in this sturdy navy blue box. The box features a magnetic flap that keeps it closed and holds the package together.

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The inside of the box reveals a fancy interior (accentuated by ASUS’ concentric-circle detailing, of course); it is broken up into compartments with the unit up top, and the accessories and documentation stored underneath. There’s a pull-out tab for the hidden compartment.

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The bundled charger (and Type-C cable) outputs at up to 9 volts and supports fast charging. We’ll reserve our judgment for the review, but so far we’ve been able to consistently get back to a full charge in a little over an hour.

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The white-and-silver wired earphones are housed in a plastic casing. It comes with three sets of additional earbud attachments, so you’re more likely to find one that fits snug in your ear. We like them. A lot. Apart from the phone (duh!), they’re the highlight of this unboxing. We haven’t tested them thoroughly yet so we can’t be sure of their quality. Check back in the coming days.

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The branded SIM eject tool is the same one you’ll find bundled with other ZenFone models released this year.

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First impressions

By now, you must be wondering: “So, what about the handset?” Well, there’s certainly a lot to like about the the ZenFone 3 Deluxe. It’s lightning fast — absolutely the most powerful and responsive ZenFone we’ve used thus far, bar none; the AMOLED display is lovely and incredibly crisp; and the cameras take vibrant, detailed images.

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Everything seems to be in order here. But, as you know, some phones — especially the most expensive ones — deserve a deeper dive than others. And we’ll be sure to take that plunge in the days to come. By then, we’ll be sure to arrive at a definitive conclusion as to whether or not this phone is worth the wait and high price of admission.

[irp posts=”3880″ name=”ASUS ZenFone 3 review”]

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Smartphones

Infinix NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G: Philippine pricing, availability

Supercharge your gaming

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Infinix Note 40 Pro+ 5G

The Infinix NOTE 40 series is now official in the Philippines. Headlining the brand’s latest smartphones is the Infinix NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G, which will be available starting April 24th.

The NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G is priced at PhP 13,999. It may be purchased through Infinix’s Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok Shop platforms, where customers can get up to PhP 2,000 off. Additionally, the first 100 buyers can get an S1 smartwatch or XE23 earphones. Alternatively, customers may opt for the Shopee-exclusive NOTE 40 Pro (4G variant) for PhP 10,999.

Industry-leading charging capabilities

The new NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G debuts Infinix’s much-improved All-Round Fast Charge 2.0. Included with every purchase of the handset is the Infinix MagKit, phone case MagCase, and magnetic charging pad MagPad. The star of the NOTE 40 series boasts of 100W fast charge, as well as 20W wireless MagCharge. With Hyper Mode, users can recharge the NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G to 50% in as fast as eight minutes. Moreover, there are two other charging modes: Low-Temp and Smart modes.

Infinix’s latest charging technologies are also present in the Note 40 Pro+ 5G. Extreme-Temp Tech, for instance, allows reliable charging under 20 degrees Celsius. Bypass Charging 2.0, on the other hand, filters current to supply power directly to the motherboard during intense gaming sessions or watching videos to prevent overheating. Lastly, reverse charging allows sharing power with other devices wired or wirelessly at up to 10W.

Supercharge your gaming

Ensuring a smooth gaming experience on the Infinix NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G is its Mediatek Dimensity 7020 chipset. The phone has a configuration of 12GB RAM (plus 12GB RAM expansion) and 256GB storage.

Outside of gaming, users may use the 108MP main and 32MP front cameras to capture their favorite moments. The NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G also sports a 6.78-inch curved AMOLED display. This stylish screen supports up to a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 1,300nits of brightness, and also comes with eye protection.

At the back of the phone is Infinix’s Active Halo feature. This ring light-looking display further brings the device to life with lifelike light pulsations. The light changes based on various activities, such as notifications, communication, playing games or music, charging, and more. It also serves as the phone’s camera flash.

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Xiaomi Redmi A3 Philippine pricing, availability

Budget smartphone with high refresh rate display

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Redmi A3

Xiaomi is bringing high refresh rate displays to its budget line with the announcement of the Redmi A3. The latest addition to the entry-level Redmi line boasts of an expansive 6.71-inch HD+ display with up to a 90Hz refresh rate.

The Redmi A3 is available in Midnight Black, Star Blue, and Forest Green. The smartphone is priced at PhP 3,399 (3GB+64GB) and PhP 3,999 (4GB+128GB) respectively for its two configurations.

Customers may preorder the phone until April 27 via Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok. General sale begins April 26th in all Xiaomi stores nationwide. Freebies are a Basic Piston Earphone for online purchases and a 3-month Viu Premium subscription for in-store purchases.

The Redmi A3’s immersive screen allows users to consume various content in high-definition with better smoothness, a boost for a phone of its price point. The screen has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection as well, and DC dimming to reduce blue light exposure.

The phone also sports a refined design that lets go of the iPhone-looking camera arrangement. Instead, the main camera is now in the middle as part of a watch face-looking setup similar to other Android phone offerings.

Speaking of, an 8MP main shooter highlights the back of the Redmi A3. In front is a 5MP front camera. The phone is powered by a MediaTek Helio G36 processor and runs on an Android 14-based OS. Furthermore, it has a 5,000mAh battery with 10W of USB-C charging.

Other handy Redmi A3 features for users to utilize include a 3.5mm jack, Face Unlock, and Fingerprint Unlock.

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Pixel 9 leak shares a slightly reinvented camera

The wraparound island might be gone

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Since the Pixel 6 series, Google continues to wow the market as one of the most unique camera designs available in the market today. This year, the brand’s Pixel 9 series might reinvent itself again with a slightly updated redesign.

Between the Pixel 6 and Pixel 8 series, Google introduced a wraparound camera island extending from the left edge to the right edge. While most smartphones today still use the traditional top-left island layout, Google’s lineup consistently grabs admiration from onlookers.

Image source: Rozetked

Now, according to an early leak (from Rozetked, via 9to5Google), Google might cut the camera island’s size before it reaches either side of the Pixel 9. The remaining chunk looks like a horizontal pill-shaped camera island right in the middle of the rear panel. It looks like a common camera island comically enlarged and turned on its side. Alternatively, it also looks like a webcam attached to a phone.

Based on the new leak, the new camera island will have three unknown lenses, the usual LED flash, and an unconfirmed sensor. Besides the different camera, the leak also confirms the usual tray of hardware on the side. There’s nothing too revolutionary.

As always, the Pixel 9 series is scheduled to come out in the fall of this year.

SEE ALSO: Pixel 9 series will reportedly come in four models

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