In late September of 2019, vivo announced a new budget smartphone called the vivo U10. It was powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 665 — the same processor found on two of the most popular budget phones at that time: the Redmi Note 8 and the Realme 5.

Vivo’s entry into that very competitive price segment was a pretty good success. Just right after, competition came up with newer models at a slightly higher price segment and so did vivo with the slightly more premium U20.

With Snapdragon 675 running under the hood, the vivo U20 has a slight edge over its competition. But is there more to this phone? Here’s our full review.

Ordinary but solid design

With a 6.53-inch display, the Vivo U20 is a big phone that doesn’t feel bulky. It’s worth noting that vivo went with a full HD+ panel on the U20 instead of the HD+ panel found on the U10. The bump in resolution is much appreciated, as well as the wide viewing angles. The display is bright enough for outdoors or sunny days.

The front of the phone has an odd ridge against the curved frame, making it feel a little uncomfortable when you’re holding it, but it shouldn’t be an issue if you use the bundled case.

Its glossy back catches fingerprints quite easily. You’ll have to keep wiping it clean if you’re particular about smudges and grime, so the case definitely comes in handy.

You’ll find the vivo branding in landscape orientation, with the triple camera module and LED flash along the same line. There’s also the rear mounted fingerprint scanner. It’s smaller than what I’m used to and is placed a bit too high for comfortable use, but it works well and works fast.

On the right side of the phone are the power and volume buttons, and on the left is the hybrid SIM card tray for two nano SIM cards or one SIM card and one microSD card. At the bottom a 3.5mm headphone jack, loudspeaker grille, microphone, and sadly, a microUSB port.

The Vivo U20 is available in two colors: Racing Black and and Blaze Blue. The unit we have is Racing Black.

Capable gaming phone at such a good price

The vivo U20’s internals are actually pretty impressive. The Snapdragon 675 is a pretty powerful processor, especially at this price point. It’s able to handle multi-tasking and gaming with no lag or issues at all. It’s interesting to see vivo come out with it at the same price point as the Redmi Note 8 and Realme 5, which are powered by the much less capable Snapdragon 665.

Coupled with either 4GB or 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, gaming with the U20 is a good experience. I played PUBG Mobile on the high preset with graphics set to HD, and frame rate set to high; and hey, I had zero issues — no lag, no stutters.

Just like other phones running on Snapdragon 675, it does get a little warm when you’re playing games after about 20 or so minutes.

Ultra Game mode lets you block incoming notifications and automatically answer phone calls in hands-free mode when you’re playing games. There’s also an off-screen Autoplay feature which lets you run a game even with the display switched off.

Nifty software features you’ll either love or hate

The vivo U20 runs Funtouch OS 9.2 on top of Android 9 Pie out of the box. There a little bit of bloatware pre-installed like Gaana, Amazon, Opera, and a couple more, but you can easily uninstall most of them.

FunTouch OS is something you’ll either love or hate depending on your preference. If you’ve used it before you’ll be familiar with the slight oddities. Otherwise there are a few things you’ll need to get used to that’s not found on other Android smartphones.

For example, you’ll need to swipe up from the bottom of the screen to access the quick toggles which is the exact opposite of the action on every other Android smartphone. If that’s not to your liking, you change it to a swipe down from the upper right corner of the phone — similar to how it is on iOS.

There’s also vivo’s smart assistant Jovi which can recognize products you point the camera at. It can also remind you to drink water every day so you don’t have to install a third party app. Overall, it’s not really much more useful than Google Assistant.

A few features I like are raise-to-wake, the ability to launch apps by drawing alphabets on the lockscreen, and a Motorbike mode. There’s also dark mode and gesture navigation.

Average camera performance

The vivo U20 has a triple camera setup: a 16MP primary camera with a Sony IMX499 sensor, 8MP ultra wide angle lens and a 2MP macro lens. Up front, there’s a 16MP selfie camera.

Vivo’s camera app is hasn’t changed much recently. It has a variety of modes, including night mode, portrait mode, live photo, AR stickers, along with the usual timelapse and panorama. There’s also a pro mode for those who like to tweak their camera settings.

The vivo U20 is quick to focus and handles exposure well. Daytime images look pretty good in the gallery app. You’ll notice that they do suffer in terms of details when you zoom into them. There’s a tiny bit of grain that sweeps into each photo as well.

Portrait photos has pretty good edge detection. Photos come out with a good amount of detail and a natural level of bokeh. There’s also a separate bokeh mode where you can adjust the level of blur. The results are pretty good, too.

The ultra wide angle camera suffers from the same distortion at the edges and lack of details that we see on other phones at this price range.

Low light photos aren’t great unfortunately. There’s a real lack of details and a lot of grain. The dedicated night mode does help get brighter images, but they aren’t that much better. There’s also no image stabilization so you’ll want to stay really still if you’re using the night mode to take photos.

Great battery life

The vivo U20 is powered by a massive 5,000 mAh battery, and that translates to great battery life. You can use this phone for a day and a half on a single charge before you’ll need to reach for the charger.

On a day of heavy usage, with a bit of gaming, a couple shots on the camera, and the usual bits of social media and Whatsapp, I still had plenty of battery life percentage left when I got home at the end of the day.

Despite the gigantic battery, charging the U20 doesn’t take too long either. The bundled 18W Dual-Engine fast charger got the phone up from zero to over 30 percent in half an hour, reaching about 60 to 70 percent in one hour. A charge to 100 percent takes about an hour and 45 minutes.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

No one expected vivo to come out of nowhere and suddenly be this strong of a contender in this aggressive entry-level price segment. This is a company that lately have been pumping out more expensive smartphones, and what we have here is an entry level smartphone that is pretty premium for its price.

Its powerful processor and great battery life are great; if only the camera were better. And if we are to nitpick, we would have loved to not have seen a microUSB port on this phone.

If you’re on a budget and are looking for the most powerful phone in the INR 10,990 price range (US$ 155), the Vivo U20 is your best option right now.

A 10-kilogram package arrived at my office one day, and at first I couldn’t believe it. I was expecting something big to come in, but a 10-kilo box that looks like a PUBG supply crate was out of the picture. Little did I know, I received ASUS ROG’s next big thing — and it’s quite literally big.

Announced back in CES 2019 (as of writing, how timely), the ASUS ROG Mothership GZ700 is the company’s next innovation in gaming laptops. I distinctly remember one famous YouTuber by the name of Linus Sebastian dubbing this the “Surface for gamers.” It comes in a form factor that I didn’t think was possible for a gaming laptop, with arguably the most powerful lineup of hardware included.

But should you be spending your hard-earned money on a monster like this? Let’s take one full tour of the ROG Mothership.

Let’s talk about the package first

Unboxing the entire package was relatively easy, except for the fact that it’s insanely heavy. Inside the one big box are two more boxes and the large ROG Backpack that almost looks (and feels) like a shield. Apart from the ROG Mothership box, you also get the ASUS ROG Cerberus V1 headset for free! I think ASUS ROG really wanted to deliver the full gaming experience, and adding a gaming headset was a nice touch.

Removing the backpack and the headset, the big ROG Mothership box has the device and another box inside of it. It’s no joke when I tell you that the ROG Mothership is close to five kilograms in weight, which is half the weight of the entire package. Of course, the other box contains the rest of what you need for the device: the two big charging bricks, documentation and stickers, and the ASUS ROG Gladius II.

If ASUS really wanted to give you one full gamer package, to me this sort of did it. It’s basically the equivalent of getting a full-fledged gaming PC complete with all the peripherals in one box. Although, ten kilograms is just a lot of heavy-lifting that it mirrors carrying weights in the gym. Nonetheless, once you open up the box, you’re definitely in for the gaming experience of your life.

One stacked spec sheet

Before we go any further, here’s a rundown of what the ROG Mothership offers.

The ROG Mothership comes with a 9th-generation Intel Core i9-9980HK processor coupled with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 graphics card. To maximize the potential of a powerhouse combo, ASUS slaps in 64GB of RAM and three 512GB NVMe SSDs (in RAID 0) inside. What you get is the most powerful, quickest, and deepest gaming desktop setup, but for a laptop.

The laptop’s display comes in two options: a 4K one and a 1080p one. The unit for review was a 4K UHD 17.3-inch panel with thick bezels and a huge chin underneath. ASUS claims that the display emits rich and crisp color with a 100 percent Adobe sRGB color gamut. Also, the display supports NVIDIA’s G-Sync technology for a smoother gaming experience.

On paper, I can tell you that this machine is straight up overkill. On my first time using it, everything just seemed too quick, it’s unfair. Opening up applications, playing RAM-consuming games, hardcore video rendering — this device can handle all of those, and it hasn’t maximized all of its RAM yet.

Is it really a gaming laptop?

When I first saw images and videos of the ROG Mothership back in 2019, I couldn’t believe that ASUS was marketing it as a laptop. The build quality of the device matches that of any 2-in-1 desktop, while throwing in the hefty graphics card. The entire body is encased in CNC-machined aluminum, which is basically thick layers of metal preventing heat from spreading to other components.

Yet again, ASUS claims that it is a laptop for its portability and design. The RGB-chiclet keyboard detaches from the base of the display, and connects wirelessly upon detachment. If you like wires, the keyboard also connects via a USB Type-C cable and charges it in the process. The device itself has a kickstand at the back, almost similar to that of any Microsoft Surface.

To be quite honest, this kind of setup doesn’t feel like a laptop — and it’s not just because it’s five kilos. The metal kickstand feels a little uncomfortable, that after 30 to 40 minutes you will be looking for any flat surface. I also found it a little difficult to manage because the keyboard is in an awkward position when it’s on your lap.

Gaming that’s just extreme overkill for a “laptop”

The ROG Mothership is one massive gaming machine, and I’m not exaggerating. ASUS made the bold yet proper choice to slap in the NVIDIA RTX 2080 inside if they wanted the full gaming experience. Gaming on the device felt buttery smooth and every intense moment felt too easy to handle. But that wasn’t after I had to tweak things a bit.

For starters, gaming on a 4K panel is great and all. But the flipside is that this display only clocks a 60Hz refresh rate, which to pro-gamer standards is slow. I understand that you grab high quality images and colors while playing some video games. For the most part, you have to deal with a 60FPS cap which isn’t bad, but an RTX 2080 wasn’t built for that.

Dialing the in-game resolution down was the best workaround I could find, and it worked wonders. Shadow of the Tomb Raider sneaked in above 60FPS at its highest possible settings, while battle royale games like Fortnite and Apex Legends poured in 140 FPS. In-game details remained accurate all throughout 30 to 40 minutes of gameplay, which is what you expect from a 4K panel.

If you do plan to get this monster, I highly recommend switching to the 1080p display option. The added benefit is the fact that the 1080p option comes with a 144Hz refresh rate, rendering images significantly faster. While you sacrifice a little bit of image quality, I think it’s a worthy trade off.

An overkill gaming PC needs an equally overkill cooling system

Cooling the ROG Mothership is one hefty task, and the way ASUS did it was ideal. Apart from separating each component through CNC-machined aluminum sheets, eight heat pipes push hot air to the top and sides of the device. Through careful calibration on the ROG Armoury Crate, the fans inside will pump out as much hot air as possible to keep major components cool.

Based on my experience, it did a fairly good job with that. The device didn’t seem to experience any drastically high temperatures during prolonged activity. Although, if you plan to maximize or even overclock your CPU and GPU, you will experience that. It happens to a point of near uncomfortability, in that you wouldn’t be able to store the device for 30 more minutes.

The fans also tend to get unbearably loud during gameplay that I’m glad they included the headset with the package. Even while idle, the fans tend to kick in and force a ton of air out which shouldn’t really happen. But again, if it’s meant to cool all the heavy components inside then it’s alright.

Expected short battery life

The ROG Mothership, as powerful as it is, doesn’t last very long. As with most gaming laptops, battery life isn’t necessarily their strongest feature and this device confirms it. On most productivity uses, I got an average of three hours before completely depleting the battery. To me, that doesn’t seem too appealing by any laptop standards.

When you’re gaming full time, it actually gets much lower than that. On average, I got around two hours before having to plug one of the two charging bricks. These show that this was clearly better off as a full-fledged desktop instead. If there’s any great takeaway, it’s that one full charge is relatively fast. Using just one brick fully charged the device in three hours, while using both bricks saves about 45 minutes. 

Finally, is this your GadgetMatch?

Here’s the thing: the ROG Mothership is a beast. It’s got every piece of gaming hardware anyone could ever ask for, in a form factor you wouldn’t expect it to be in. The package itself is just complete for anyone aspiring to take gaming seriously. For the most part, everything about it checks out.

But for US$ 6499.99/PhP 399,995, I feel like you would need to shell out a kidney to get this device — and it’s not worth it. Honestly, you could get every piece of hardware, or even just go for SATA SSDs and slap them into a gaming rig for way less. Heck, you could even get the same peripherals and I feel you would still be spending less than the Mothership.

All in all, the ASUS ROG Mothership is one heavy, beefy monster of a gaming laptop. The power it possesses truly fits those who want to dream of the best. But if you’re anyone who doesn’t earn one million a year, it’s best to invest in a gaming PC instead.

The Asics Gel Nimbus 22 is the latest in Asics Gel Nimbus series of marathon running shoes. These sneakers are made for high mileage and are aimed for those looking for a great training and running pair.

To be clear, they’re not really “racing” shoes because they are not entirely built for speed. The Nimbus 22 is a neutral running shoe that applies to all levels of runners. This means anyone from starters who just run on weekends to anyone who goes on proper, long distance runs.

To quickly introduce the Gel Nimbus series, many Asics fans will tell you that this is the Gold Standard in a road-running shoe. Its comfort is almost second to none in the Asics line.

With every update, Asics has listened to consumer issues and fixed them. This gives the Gel Nimbus series quite a reputation in the running community.

The Nimbus 22 now offers better cushioning than its predecessor, the Gel Nimbus 21.

There’s the same FlyteFoam Propel midsole but there’s more of it this time around. There’s also the same gel cushioning in the heel which is soft and absorbs impact really well.

The shoe is still lightweight. It’s not light enough to be considered a true racing shoe, but it is enough to not feel heavy even after miles of running in a marathon. The men’s model weighs approximately 10.2oz or 290g, while the women’s weighs approximately 8oz or 235g.

In addition, the shoe maintains its stable ride thanks to the Asics signature Trusstic system under the arch. Of course, there’s a lot more that goes into this sneaker but I’ll talk about that later on. With the intro out of the way, let’s talk about design!

Breathable material, plenty of colorway options

The Gel Nimbus 22 is visually appealing. There’s a bunch of different colorways available and for the most part, the colors are not too bright or in your face.

I got the special limited edition Tata Mumbai Marathon colorway to check out — which makes sense because this sneaker is geared towards marathon runners as well. This colorway is a little loud but the usual colorways of the Nimbus 22 are actually quite nice, in case you’re into something more minimalistic.

The Gel Nimbus 22 comes in plenty of colorways

Starting with the upper, the Nimbus 22 has a pretty breathable, lightweight material. This was especially appreciated in the hot 32-degree Celsius weather I was running in.

That being said, if you’re going to wear this in colder weather, you’ll probably want to wear thicker socks or just wait until your feet get warmed up on your run.

The Nimbus 22 allows for air-flow to keep your feet cool while on a run. Personally, it’s already a huge win for me, so the lightweight mesh material that makes up the upper, is definitely appreciated.

But remember, it is lightweight, so it probably won’t survive any encounters with thorn bushes or rogue sticks when you’re on a hike or running in a trail, so be careful in those scenarios.

Apart from that, the updated mesh upper has a sleeker new look with minimal overlays and has a soft but secure fit. The toe box is a little wide which I actually really liked, while the heel is noticeably structured and slightly narrow. I’ll talk more about fit later on.

Flexible and responsive cushioning

The most appealing feature of the Nimbus 22 is its sole unit. The Gel cushioning wraps around the rear of your foot, and does a great job at shock absorption. This makes running in these sneakers way more comfortable.

Underneath that sole unit that runs the full length of the midsole is the FlyteFoam which brings in the flexibility and responsiveness you feel on these sneakers.

Asics says this has an additional 2mm of the FlyteFoam Propel midsole foam compared to the Nimbus 21. This allows the sole to compress a bit more when your foot first hits the ground for improved softness.

The FlyteFoam Propel is Asics’s bounciest foam to date. While it doesn’t really have the same kind of pop energy return as Adidas’ Boost, it’s still really good and is perfect for everyday runs.

With the Gel cushioning, and FlyteFoam altogether, this just makes for a really comfortable running shoe with plenty of cushioning. This means you also have a lot of underfoot protection against rocks or other small objects that you might encounter. You just have a really plush step-in underfoot feel that maintains its softness throughout your stride.

Coming to the outsole, the Nimbus 22 has a lightweight Asics High Abrasion Rubber (AHAR) which reduces the overall level of wear and tea. I have to say, I really appreciate the tread here.

The Nimbus 22 has great traction even on wet roads  and the depth of the tread isn’t too deep so it won’t pick up rocks on your run.

The updated outsole with an increased number of flex grooves allows for a smoother ride. I know threads on the outsole are not normally a topic we talk about, but hey, I was pretty impressed.

Lastly, there’s the Trusstic system found under the arch of the shoe. This thermoplastic piece provides stability, reduces weight, and helps extend the life of the shoe.

For women, this piece offers added support for forward motion. In the men’s model, this piece provides added support toward the inside of the arch. In addition, the 10mm offset helps prevent strain in the Achilles and calves.

All in all, the sole of the Asics Gel Nimbus 22 is pretty much the main reason why this is such a comfortable pair. I’m all for it.

True-to-size even or wide footers

In terms of fit, the Gel Nimbus 22 fits true-to-size, and I’m saying that as someone who has pretty wide feet. Although I always recommend you try them on in a store if you can, just to make sure.

It’s a secure but comfortable fit that isn’t too snug. It feels great while running which is something you’ll definitely notice and appreciate on your first run. I had no side-to-side movement or sliding in the shoe while running.

You can feel the comfort and responsiveness in each stride and there is enough room in the toe box area for your toes to feel secure but not too restricted.

Is this your SneakerMatch?

At the end of the day, the Asics Gel Nimbus 22 might just be my favorite running shoes right now. It’s a comfortable, very-well-cushioned run that you’ll love running in for miles. The cushioning is well-balanced and doesn’t feel heavy or dead underfoot. While the shoe is slightly heavier than racing shoes, the weight is well distributed throughout.

Asics has made small but appreciated updates with the Nimbus 22, especially with the thicker midsole which really adds to the whole responsiveness of the shoe. Even the updated upper is nice and soft which feels secure and adaptable at the same time.

I wore the Gel Nimbus 22 to the gym a couple of times, while lifting, running on a treadmill, and even running outdoors. I was really impressed with how comfortable these shoes were, and they didn’t lose any bounce in the two weeks I tried them out.

While it is priced on the higher side, it’s still kind of a steal when compared against other premium running sneakers. This makes it a truly great value for money pair.

The Asics Gel Nimbus 22 lives up to its reputation as a great premium neutral all-around running and training sneaker with even more comfort to boot. Definitely recommended. The Asics Gel Nimbus 22 is hands down my favorite running shoe at the moment.