News

Huawei Mate 30 Pro retakes position as DxOMark camera king

An excellent score of 121

Published

September 26, 2019

Kenrick Buduan

Huawei Mate 30 Pro’s impressive specs truly raises the bar for a 2019 flagship phone. Among its impressive specs are the quadruple rear cameras found in this flagship.

Looking at the raw specs of the camera alone, there is a 40MP wide-angle lens, 40MP ultra-wide-angle lens, 8MP telephoto lens, and a Time-of-Flight (T0F) 3D depth-sensing camera in the back. In the front, there is a 32MP camera and a ToF sensor. But there is more to that raw specs in creating a good photo. Fortunately, Huawei delivers on all fronts as proved by DxOMark’s camera review.

The cameras alone are so impressive that DxOMark gave Mate 30 Pro a high score of 121. The score is the highest given by DxOMark, dethroning the score of 117 previously set by Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 5G.

Mate 30 Pro’s Night Mode is more or less represented by this photo of Shanghai at night.

Impressive for photo stills

DxOMark gave a score of 131 for photos taken by the Mate 30 Pro. The Mate 30 Pro capture high levels of detail even in low light conditions. Apparently, its cameras capture photos with minimal noise and lots of detail in low light. The photos also show a good balance of noise and detail — something tricky to achieve for a smartphone.

In terms of exposure and color, the Mate 30 Pro performs very well. Photos are well-exposed and retained a high dynamic range (HDR) even in low light conditions. Also, they are well-saturated more than the P30 Pro, which DxOMark found to be a positive aspect in favor of the Mate 30 Pro.

Night Mode shooting is also favorable for the Mate 30 Pro. It did well in low-light conditions, whether or not the flash is on. As a matter of fact, DxOMark remarked that its night mode is the best among all flagships.

Zooming on subjects is no problem at all for the Mate 30 Pro. It may have lost the P30 Pro’s 5x optical zoom, but the 3x optical zoom in this phone still captures excellent photos. Zoom shots in close and medium range are captured with good details. Meanwhile, autofocus is not a problem as the cameras were quick to focus, in all conditions. Most smartphones struggle with low-light, but the phone’s autofocus locks on the subject immediately.

Those who love their bokeh would be happy with the Mate 30 Pro. The photos taken show excellent depth estimation and detail, but they can be undersaturated and lacking in HDR. Also, the 18MM field-of-view limits what can fit inside a photo taken by the phone.

The phone won’t disappoint selfie lovers too, as it took selfies with good exposure and HDR. Colors are accurate and details are good. It is worth noting, however, that the lens are fixed-focused, unlike other flagships released this year.

Videos are great, but not the best

For the videos taken by the Mate 30 Pro, DxOMark gave a score of 100. Samsung Note 10+ 5G scored higher with a 101. Still, the phone captures videos with good detail and minimal noise in all conditions.

The Mate 30 Pro lacks HDR video recording; nonetheless, colors are vivid and exposure is accurate in most conditions. The autofocus is fast and accurate, while stabilization is good. Its cameras compensated well for the walking motion and camera shake.

And last, the Mate 30 Pro captures videos in 4K by default.

Aside from the impressive camera specs, the Mate 30 Pro packs a 6.62 inch edge-to-edge screen which curves at 88 degrees. The new Kirin 990 processor is powering the device which enables 5G connectivity. Battery is sufficient at 4,500 mAh which can be charged with either 22W or 40W Huawei SuperCharge.

It is available in various color variants: Emerald Green, Space Silver, Cosmic Purple, Black. A vegan leather option is also available, coming in two colors: Forest Green and Orange.

News

The iPhone 18 might sell out for an unexpected reason

The ongoing shortage might play a part in the phone selling out earlier than expected.

Published

August 7, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

An iPhone selling out is not news. Because of how popular the phones are, it’s within the realm of probability that Apple runs out of stock at some point. According to a new report, this year won’t be any different… but it’s for an entirely different reason.

First reported by analyst Tim Culpan, Apple is reportedly struggling to meet its demand for semiconductors for the iPhone 18 and the foldable iPhone. The ongoing memory shortage is cutting off Apple’s ability to deliver the required supply of smartphones in a timely fashion. The report even claims that TSMC, which helps produce the iPhone, is sitting on a shipment of processors, worth US$ 1 billion, that don’t have memory chips.

Now, Apple is still confident that it can weather the launch. However, if the shortage persists, the iPhone 18 generation will likely sell out much more quickly than expected.

It’s an interesting time for Apple to experience such a shortage. It’s been heavily rumored that the company will launch its very first foldable phone next month, creating a new market for the brand. Apple definitely wants this attempt to succeed after the tepid response to its last new product, the Vision Pro.

News

These “smart” glasses just sold out in under a week

DuckDuckGo touts that these glasses have zero AI, zero cameras, and an infinite battery life.

Published

August 7, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Smart glasses are in a weird place right now. While a chunk of the population views them as cool and innovative, another significant chunk sees them as a privacy nightmare. If you’re in the latter group but want to see what life is like on the former, DuckDuckGo has a new product: a pair of anti-surveillance glasses with no camera or AI, otherwise known as just normal sunglasses.

If it’s not obvious, yes, it’s a troll product. DuckDuckGo is a search engine famously known for pushing privacy as a priority, opposing Google’s penchant for advertising and AI. Now, the search engine is taking on the smart glasses market.

Partnering with Knockaround, DuckDuckGo released the Paso Robles, a pair of sunglasses touted as having zero cameras, an always-offline mode, and a battery life of infinity.

It’s a statement piece. The rims have a logo mark, similar to the Meta’s glasses. The packaging also states that the glasses are “designed to block the sun, not send data to the cloud.”

Now, if you want a pair, they cost only US$ 35, as opposed to Meta’s US$ 299 price tag, but they are already sold out.

Which says quite a bit about today’s sentiment against AI and for privacy. Of course, to be fair, DuckDuckGo’s supply is certainly less than Meta’s stock for their smart glasses. It does, however, prove that the sentiment is there.

As of now, the world is slowly realizing that unimpeded smart glasses aren’t such a good idea, leading to people concerned about their privacy. In fact, some states have already started banning the technology in certain public spaces.

News

Google will force Android users to use Gemini next month

Google Assistant will be retired as well.

Published

August 6, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

What is Google’s voice assistant called? Technically, there are two possible answers: Google Assistant and Gemini. Despite Google’s push for Gemini, the ubiquitous Google Assistant is still a common option for most users. However, the company will soon take that choice away as the voice assistant will retire in favor of Gemini.

First reported by 9to5Google, Google has sent emails to users, declaring that Google Assistant will no longer be an option for Android users starting September 4. On that date, the company will slowly roll out an update to get rid of the assistant’s availability on device.

Google also makes it clear that Gemini will be “the assistant experience on Android” moving forward. If you’re used to Google Assistant to help you with handsfree use, you’ll have only one option soon. This also affects other peripherals including smartwatches and audio accessories.

Of course, there are a few exceptions. Devices that can’t support an AI-powered assistant like Gemini are mercifully spared of the forced transition. Likewise, devices in countries that don’t support the AI assistant are also saved.

Despite the tepid reception of AI today, Google remains adamant about pushing Gemini to more users, regardless of whether they want it or not. In fact, a forced move like this will likely inflate the numbers that more devices are using Google’s AI software than ever before, while conveniently hiding the fact that most users never really had much of a choice.