Category: Guides

6 smartphones that Asus wants to beat with the Zenfone 3

Abe Olandres

During the technical session of the launch of the Zenfone 3 yesterday, Asus Product Managers were highlighting the hardware features of the Zenfone 3 and comparing it against offerings of other brands.

Asus reps specifically mentioned Samsung, Huawei, OPPO and Vivo as their main competitors so we looked into the smartphones of these brands and compared them based on Asus’ own basic metrics (processor, RAM and storage). Asus is confident that in terms of material and design, they’ve got a very good candidate and when the display size and resolutions are the same, core hardware configurations will come into play.

Here’s what we got:

Asus Zenfone 3 5.2" Samsung A5 (2016)
Snapdragon 625Exynos 7580 Octa
4GB RAM2GB RAM
64GB storage16GB storage
Php16,995Php19,990
******************
Asus Zenfone 3 5.2" Huawei P9
Snapdragon 625HiSilicon Kirin 955
4GB RAM3GB RAM
64GB storage32GB storage
Php16,995Php23,990
******************
Asus Zenfone 3 5.5"Samsung A7 (2016)
Snapdragon 625Exynos 7580 Octa
4GB RAM3GB RAM
64GB storage16GB RAM
Php18,995Php22,990
******************
Asus Zenfone 3 5.5"Huawie P9 Plus
Snapdragon 625HiSilicon Kirin 955
4GB RAM4GB RAM
64GB storage64GB storage
Php18,995Php29,990
******************
Asus Zenfone 3 5.5"OPPO F1 Plus
Snapdragon 625MediaTek Helio P10
4GB RAM4GB
64GB storage64GB
Php18,995Php21,990
******************
Asus Zenfone 3 5.5"Vivo V3 Max
Snapdragon 625Snapdragon 652
4GB RAM4GB RAM
64GB storage32GB storage
Php18,995Php16,990

Of the 6 comparisons above, perhaps only the Vivo V3 Max has a good fighting chance against the Zenfone 3.

Asus has set its eyes on Samsung very closely and they’ve specifically targeted the Galaxy A series with the Zenfone 3. That’s perhaps the reason why the design and materials of the Zenfone 3 is pretty similar to the Galaxy S6.

How could a consumer who’s been loyal to Samsung not resist switching to Asus when you give them a beautiful device which has a design that looks like the Galaxy S6 but with much higher specs? Whether or not there are other players are competing in the same category, much of the effort is making sure that Asus’ offerings is better than Samsung’s equivalent device. This is the rationale that we got after talking to senior executives of the Taiwanese company.

In return, this is what we told them — “ultimately, it is the customers who will decide with their pockets and that still remains to be seen“.

The post 6 smartphones that Asus wants to beat with the Zenfone 3 appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines Tech News & Reviews.

Going Off the Grid: Breaking the Rule of Thirds

Geoff Ledesma

I won’t start with the cliché that “rules are meant to be broken”, but I’m pretty sure that more than a few photography enthusiasts would agree with me when I say that the well-known Rule of Thirds doesn’t really work all the time.

For the benefit of the uninitiated, the Rule of Thirds is a popular composition guideline for photography and design, where you’re asked to visualize your image as divided into nine equal parts, pretty much like the one shown below:

Thirds

The Rule says that the prominent elements of your picture must be placed along the lines, or intersections in the grid. Below is an image that more or less follows the said rule:

Thirds2

Image credits: https://www.flickr.com/photos/emiljaranilla

Works pretty well in the photo above, right? The prominent element is placed on the lower left intersection while the horizon is aligned with the upper-horizontal line of the imaginary grid. However, more experienced photographers may actually consider the Rule of Thirds as more of a guideline than an actual rule. There are some instances when shots would look better (and actually make more sense) when this composition guideline isn’t followed.

Portraits

Thirds3

Image credits: https://unsplash.com/@chne_

As seen in the example above, portrait shots show more emphasis and simplicity to the subject when it’s positioned at the dead center of the image. Much more when there are a lot of things going on in the background and you want to set the subject as the center of focus of the viewer.

Prominent Horizontal Lines

Thirds4

Image credits: https://www.flickr.com/photos/emiljaranilla

Horizontal lines in pictures (like horizons, for example), are easiest to position to follow the Rule of Thirds. Doing so adds more depth and dimension to an image.

However, positioning the horizontal line at the dead center of the image also creates an effect of balance, and gives equal emphasis on both upper and lower halves of the picture. Check out the image below, where positioning the horizon at the center of the image equally shows the beauty of the sky above and the body of water under.

Thirds5

Image credits: https://www.flickr.com/photos/emiljaranilla

Symmetry

Sometimes you get shots that are beautifully symmetrical on both right and left sides, that it just feels wrong if you’re going to ruin the balance. Take for example the image below:

Thirds6

Image credits: https://www.flickr.com/photos/emiljaranilla

 Seeing that the lines in the image are balanced well on both left and right sides, it wouldn’t feel right to place the subject off-center. When you can see that your subject is in almost perfect symmetry, it may create more impact when the object of interest is placed at the center of the frame.

Night Sky and Star Trail Shots

Let’s say you have this really awesome shot of the Milky Way – you’d definitely want to feature more the sky and less of the landscape in the frame, right?

Thirds7

Image credits: https://www.flickr.com/photos/emiljaranilla

In star trail and night sky shots like the one above, it only makes sense for you to move the horizon even lower to feature more of the sky. It also creates the impression of vastness of the night sky.

Under the right circumstances (and with enough skill), breaking the Rule of Thirds may actually make your shot more interesting and less predictable. But this doesn’t mean that you go ditch the Rule altogether and breaki it every chance that you get. Experimenting with composition is nice, but it’s a double-edged sword that can either make or break your shot.

The post Going Off the Grid: Breaking the Rule of Thirds appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines Tech News & Reviews.

Is Pokemon Go compatible with my phone or tablet?

Heland Ortega

Following the success of Pokemon Go here in the Philippines, many fans are kept asking if their devices are compatible with the augmented reality game. Some users also reported that they are having trouble in installing and running the game with common errors such as “parsing error” and “black screen splash”.

pokemon go final

Is Pokemon Go compatible with my phone or tablet?

Before anything else, we must know first if the official requirements were met by our devices. Here’s what you need to play Pokémon Go:

  • Android 4.4 to Android 6.0.1
    You need a device that runs Android Kitkat at least to Android Marshmallow. Android 7.0 Nougat will not be supported until the official Android release. Some Nexus devices users under the Android Nougat Developer Program have reported that they were able to run the game at least for now.
  • iPhone 5+ / iOS 8+
    5th-generation iPhones and above are only supported. Take note also that your device should be running in iOS 8 and above for you to play the game.
  • Preferred resolution of 1280×720 pixels (Not optimized for tablet)
    Your display must be at least in HD resolution for you to run the game in a more optimal settings. Tablets with a higher resolution will surely be compatible with the game.
  • Strong internet connection (Wi-Fi, 3G, or 4G)
    Pokemon Go is an online game. Thus, your device needs to be connected into the internet for you to play it. Keep an eye on your data usage because it will surely consume a large of amount of data.
  • GPS and Location Services
    Some of you may be curious while your character doesn’t move or walk, well, the main reason why is that your GPS or location services are disabled. Be sure to set it to ON because this particular setting will determine your location and nearby places where you can catch Pokemon and find PokeStops and Gyms.

Download Links:

If you are still facing some issues regarding your phone and the game compatibility, let us know in the comment section below.

The post Is Pokemon Go compatible with my phone or tablet? appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines Tech News & Reviews.

Php30,000 AMD Gaming Build Guide – 2016

Pete Deyto

30K AMD BUILD 1

AMD has always been known as a cheaper alternative when buying PC components compared to Intel and Nvidia. Their latest RX-480 graphics card costs only $200 (ironically Php14,000 here) and is a beast at 1080p gaming that’s also VR Ready. An extremely well known company, we are eager to see what graphics card would AMD throw against the 1080 since the RX-480 is only a match for the GTX 1060 and doesn’t even go near a GTX 1070 in terms of performance.

You can never go wrong with the RX-480 considering its price tag. It is a definite must have for those who are on a budget and wants to have a smooth 1080p gaming experience that is also VR Ready. Many people have been asking for a build guide within Php30k that utilizes AMD’s latest GPU. This is where this build comes in. In the near future we will be updating our guides once the RX-470 and RX-460 are released.

Below is our Php30,000 AMD PC Gaming Build Guide 2016. We have provided two different builds and I’ll be explaining the performance of each build and a recap on what build is for you. As I’ve mentioned we will be utilizing the RX-480 in one of our builds here.

Build 1:

Part Name Price
CPU: AMD Vishera FX-8350 4.0GHz 8,650
GPU: Sapphire NITRO R9-380 Dual-X OC 2GB GDDR5 9,890
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P 4,150
RAM: Gskill RipjawsX 8GB (4×2) 2133 CL9 2,620
HDD: Seagate 1TB 7200RPM ST1000DM003 2,450
SSD: N/A N/A
PSU: Corsair VS550 2,190
CASE: Tecware Infinity 1,240

PRICE: PHP31,190

The FX-8350 is still an extremely affordable and efficient processor. Despite being 2 years old, the processor still packs a punch because of its 8-core structure accompanied with a very fast clock speed of 4.0Ghz. This means you wont have to worry about mere bottlenecks especially if you’ll be playing small or casual competitive games such as Dota 2 and CS:GO.

For the graphics card we used the Sapphire NITRO R9-380 Dual X OC Edition. The R9-380 itself is already a grand card capable of playing AAA games in high settings at 1080p with decent framerates. Its not as powerful as Nvidia’s newer Pascal graphics card line or the RX-480, but considering our budget and since its Php4,000 cheaper, it’s still a good option.

If you have a slightly bigger budget, go for the 4GB version of the r9-380. The extra 2GB of RAM will do great when playing games with large texture files. Below are videos of the R9-380’s performance.

GTA V

Dark Souls 3

Tom Clancy’s The Division

Battlefield 4

Rise of the Tomb Raider

 

Build 2:

Part Name Price
CPU: AMD Vishera FX-8320E 3.50GHz 8-Core 6,390
GPU: Sapphire RX 480 8GB GDDR5 13,800
MOBO: ASRock N68C-GS4 FX 2,350
RAM: Corsair 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz 1,850
HDD: Seagate 1TB 7200RPM ST1000DM003 2,450
SSD: N/A N/A
PSU: Corsair VS550 2,190
CASE: Tecware Infinity 1,240

PRICE: PHP30,270

The energy efficient baby brother of the FX-8350, the FX-8320E is an efficient 8-core processor running at 3.50Ghz. It is a tad slower than the FX-8350, but it is also cheaper and more power efficient. We partnered it with Sapphire’s RX 480 graphics card. Unlike the other build, we have a slower RAM due to a much cheaper motherboard to make way for the RX-480, but is sufficient enough for gaming. You won’t notice much of difference in RAM speed either way.

The FX-8320E will most likely bottleneck the card if the game is CPU extensive. Other than that, you can expect this build to run selected AAA games at High/Ultra Settings in 1080p and mixed settings at 1440p with good framerates. Below are videos of the RX-480’s performance.

The Witcher 3

Batman: Arkham Knight

Tom Clancy’s Rainbox Six Seige

Need for Speed 2015

Just Cause 3

Bottomline:

With Php30,000 you could buy yourself a decent rig that’s capable of playing any game today with decent framerates. While of course you should expect performance to degrade as years pass by due to technological advancements, with this guide we assure you that you will give you a decent gaming experience as of now.

Between the two builds I would prefer the first one due to its better motherboard, faster ram, and the R9-380 is actually sufficient enough for gaming. If you have a higher budget, even if its just Php5,000 more, choose the first build then buy yourself an RX-480. The advantage of the secondbuild compared to the first one is gaming performance out of the box thanks to the RX-480.

If you’re not sure which build to choose, here we state the differences and the advantages of each build.

  • Build 1 – FX-8350 and an R9-380
    • Best build between the two for long term upgrade. The build has better parts in almost every aspect compared to the second one.
    • Faster CPU but weaker GPU. The FX-8350 is stronger than the 8320e, but since the R9-380 is weaker than the RX-480, gaming performance will have a massive difference.
    • Choose this build if you plan on upgrading in the future. Just buy a new graphics card, or if you have a bit more money to spend, just buy an RX-480 instantly and you’ll get a significantly better performance than the second one.
  • Build 2 – FX-8320E and an RX-480

    • Only suitable for those who have little to no plans on upgrading, the FX-8320E whilst good, will bottleneck higher end cards much more than the FX-8350.
    • Gaming performance is significantly better than build 1, though with the cost of parts. This build has a cheaper motherboard, slower ram, and slower processor to make room for the RX-480.
    • Choose this build if you have little to no plans on upgrading. This is intended for those who wants to game out of the box at high settings in 1080p and even capable of 1440p thanks to the RX-480.

All in all with Php30,000 you could buy yourself a good rig that is VR Ready (R9-380 not VR ready though is capable in playing some VR Games based on experience). If you’re planning for a long term upgrade, go with the first build. But if you intend to max out everything at 1080p and have little plans on buying parts in the future, go with the second one. All in all, he hope this guide gives you an insight as to what your Php30,000 can do.

Are you looking for a cheaper rig? or a new laptop? Check out our:

We will be posting an Intel build sometime in the future.

The post Php30,000 AMD Gaming Build Guide – 2016 appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines News & Tech Reviews.

Php30,000 AMD Gaming Build Guide – 2016

Pete Deyto

30K AMD BUILD 1

AMD has always been known as a cheaper alternative when buying PC components compared to Intel and Nvidia. Their latest RX-480 graphics card costs only $200 (ironically Php14,000 here) and is a beast at 1080p gaming that’s also VR Ready. An extremely well known company, we are eager to see what graphics card would AMD throw against the 1080 since the RX-480 is only a match for the GTX 1060 and doesn’t even go near a GTX 1070 in terms of performance.

You can never go wrong with the RX-480 considering its price tag. It is a definite must have for those who are on a budget and wants to have a smooth 1080p gaming experience that is also VR Ready. Many people have been asking for a build guide within Php30k that utilizes AMD’s latest GPU. This is where this build comes in. In the near future we will be updating our guides once the RX-470 and RX-460 are released.

Below is our Php30,000 AMD PC Gaming Build Guide 2016. We have provided two different builds and I’ll be explaining the performance of each build and a recap on what build is for you. As I’ve mentioned we will be utilizing the RX-480 in one of our builds here.

Build 1:

Part Name Price
CPU: AMD Vishera FX-8350 4.0GHz 8,650
GPU: Sapphire NITRO R9-380 Dual-X OC 2GB GDDR5 9,890
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P 4,150
RAM: Gskill RipjawsX 8GB (4×2) 2133 CL9 2,620
HDD: Seagate 1TB 7200RPM ST1000DM003 2,450
SSD: N/A N/A
PSU: Corsair VS550 2,190
CASE: Tecware Infinity 1,240

PRICE: PHP31,190

The FX-8350 is still an extremely affordable and efficient processor. Despite being 2 years old, the processor still packs a punch because of its 8-core structure accompanied with a very fast clock speed of 4.0Ghz. This means you wont have to worry about mere bottlenecks especially if you’ll be playing small or casual competitive games such as Dota 2 and CS:GO.

For the graphics card we used the Sapphire NITRO R9-380 Dual X OC Edition. The R9-380 itself is already a grand card capable of playing AAA games in high settings at 1080p with decent framerates. Its not as powerful as Nvidia’s newer Pascal graphics card line or the RX-480, but considering our budget and since its Php4,000 cheaper, it’s still a good option.

If you have a slightly bigger budget, go for the 4GB version of the r9-380. The extra 2GB of RAM will do great when playing games with large texture files. Below are videos of the R9-380’s performance.

GTA V

Dark Souls 3

Tom Clancy’s The Division

Battlefield 4

Rise of the Tomb Raider

 

Build 2:

Part Name Price
CPU: AMD Vishera FX-8320E 3.50GHz 8-Core 6,390
GPU: Sapphire RX 480 8GB GDDR5 13,800
MOBO: ASRock N68C-GS4 FX 2,350
RAM: Corsair 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz 1,850
HDD: Seagate 1TB 7200RPM ST1000DM003 2,450
SSD: N/A N/A
PSU: Corsair VS550 2,190
CASE: Tecware Infinity 1,240

PRICE: PHP30,270

The energy efficient baby brother of the FX-8350, the FX-8320E is an efficient 8-core processor running at 3.50Ghz. It is a tad slower than the FX-8350, but it is also cheaper and more power efficient. We partnered it with Sapphire’s RX 480 graphics card. Unlike the other build, we have a slower RAM due to a much cheaper motherboard to make way for the RX-480, but is sufficient enough for gaming. You won’t notice much of difference in RAM speed either way.

The FX-8320E will most likely bottleneck the card if the game is CPU extensive. Other than that, you can expect this build to run selected AAA games at High/Ultra Settings in 1080p and mixed settings at 1440p with good framerates. Below are videos of the RX-480’s performance.

The Witcher 3

Batman: Arkham Knight

Tom Clancy’s Rainbox Six Seige

Need for Speed 2015

Just Cause 3

Bottomline:

With Php30,000 you could buy yourself a decent rig that’s capable of playing any game today with decent framerates. While of course you should expect performance to degrade as years pass by due to technological advancements, with this guide we assure you that you will give you a decent gaming experience as of now.

Between the two builds I would prefer the first one due to its better motherboard, faster ram, and the R9-380 is actually sufficient enough for gaming. If you have a higher budget, even if its just Php5,000 more, choose the first build then buy yourself an RX-480. The advantage of the secondbuild compared to the first one is gaming performance out of the box thanks to the RX-480.

If you’re not sure which build to choose, here we state the differences and the advantages of each build.

  • Build 1 – FX-8350 and an R9-380
    • Best build between the two for long term upgrade. The build has better parts in almost every aspect compared to the second one.
    • Faster CPU but weaker GPU. The FX-8350 is stronger than the 8320e, but since the R9-380 is weaker than the RX-480, gaming performance will have a massive difference.
    • Choose this build if you plan on upgrading in the future. Just buy a new graphics card, or if you have a bit more money to spend, just buy an RX-480 instantly and you’ll get a significantly better performance than the second one.
  • Build 2 – FX-8320E and an RX-480

    • Only suitable for those who have little to no plans on upgrading, the FX-8320E whilst good, will bottleneck higher end cards much more than the FX-8350.
    • Gaming performance is significantly better than build 1, though with the cost of parts. This build has a cheaper motherboard, slower ram, and slower processor to make room for the RX-480.
    • Choose this build if you have little to no plans on upgrading. This is intended for those who wants to game out of the box at high settings in 1080p and even capable of 1440p thanks to the RX-480.

All in all with Php30,000 you could buy yourself a good rig that is VR Ready (R9-380 not VR ready though is capable in playing some VR Games based on experience). If you’re planning for a long term upgrade, go with the first build. But if you intend to max out everything at 1080p and have little plans on buying parts in the future, go with the second one. All in all, he hope this guide gives you an insight as to what your Php30,000 can do.

Are you looking for a cheaper rig? or a new laptop? Check out our:

We will be posting an Intel build sometime in the future.

The post Php30,000 AMD Gaming Build Guide – 2016 appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines News & Tech Reviews.