Nexus 9 by HTC is coming very soon!

The upcoming Nexus 9 tablet is just around the corner as multiple sources confirm the device’s existence. Taiwan’s National Communications Commission and Twitter leaker @upleaks give us a preview.

As seen from the image above, the Nexus 9 sports a matte back finish just like its 2013 Nexus cousins. The over-all design resembles a blown-up Nexus 5 or a Nexus 7 (2013). Also, there’s single LED flash beneath the camera module.

While we should take the purported leak with a grain of salt, the screenshot from Taiwan’s NCC might be the real deal. Though, there are no specifications included. At least we can say that the awaited successor to Google’s popular and fantastic Nexus tablets will be made by HTC.

Via: PhoneArena
Source: @upleaks, NCC

The post Nexus 9 by HTC is coming very soon! appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Is this the Sony Z3 Tablet Compact and new smartwatch?

Prior to its launch at IFA 2014, an image of the alleged Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact and a new smartwatch from Japanese manufacturer Sony leaks online.

From the looks of the photo, the upcoming tablet from Sony will be waterproof and it still sports the omni-balance design of the Xperia range. Based on other leaks, the new Compact tablet is likely to have an 8-inch display, a Snapdragon 801 SoC paired with 3GB of RAM. It will come in WiFi-only and LTE-capable models.

While information on the new smartwatch is still half-baked, we can just say that Sony will be battling the new LG G Watch, Moto 360, and Samsung Gear Live.

{source 1, 2}

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Homecare Fly One Tegra Note 7 Review

NVIDIA’s Tegra 4 is a very promising processor with a powerful GPU that can virtually play any graphic intensive games within the Play Store plus the exclusive enhancement with select games through TegraZone. Aside from the NVIDIA Shield, this 7-inch tablet also has Tegra 4 under the hood. Read on to know more about the Homecare Fly One Tegra Note 7.

Design and Construction

This Tegra Note 7 tablet has the generic look of any modern tablet in the market today with an addition of front-facing stereo speakers. One might say it sort of looks like an HTC One.

The left side of the device is pretty busy with the micro-USB port, mini HDMI port, 3.5mm headset jack and the power/lock button. On top are the microSD card slot and volume rocker. There is a slot for the stylus on the upper-right portion of the device.

Once you get a hold of the device, a disappointing factor comes in. It’s made of polycarbonate with questionable build quality. This Tegra Note 7 has creaks and stiff buttons. The power button has a cheap feel when pressed and the volume rocker is no exception.

Display

It sports a 7″ IPS LCD with a resolution of 1280 x 800 (215 PPI). It may not sound much compared to its competitors like the Nexus 7 and iPad Mini Retina, the display is adequate for gaming and multimedia playback. Hence, we can say that the display quality is at average.

The HD resolution means less pixel to power which results to a smoother frame rates in gaming which is a great advantage but cumbersome when viewing images and videos. Good thing its wide viewing angles cope up with its shortcomings. We also noticed that the display has a warm tone which is much noticeable when viewing web pages due to white backgrounds.

OS, Apps and UI

This Tegra Note 7 comes with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out of the box and the Android 4.4 KitKat update will come after. We suggest to update immediately because we had 4 updates since unboxing.

image

There is no skin on top of Android for this one, no bloatware as well. Just pure Android goodness which results to fluid performance and quick screen responses.

The only app that is included out of the box is a different camera app, Tegra Draw, and Write. The two latter apps is designed for the included stylus.

Multimedia and Camera

While a 5-megapixel camera may sound good for a tablet but that’s only on paper. It is actually a mediocre camera good for taking shots only in good lighting. The front camera is also for casual video calling, not for your beauty selfies.

There’s also a 720p video capture with the same picture quality with the stills. While a tablet is not really meant for picture taking, Tegra Note 7′s camera performs below average.

It’s front-facing speakers on the other hand is pretty loud but tinny. It also has a “unique bass reflex port” which is seems to do nothing to enhance the overall sound quality.

Performance

Since this is a Tegra 4 tablet, we expect great gaming performance. Yes, the processor is suitable for intensive games but the 1GB of memory hinders its full potential. Games like Asphalt 8 and the like shows a hint of skip frames and stuttering after playing for a while. It’s not a detrimental issue but we hoped for a larger memory.

image

Benchmark results are very good though. It scores on top of other tablets and matches the current smartphone flagships.

Conclusion

After having the Tegra Note 7 for a couple of weeks, we could say it’s not the best 7-inch tablet in the local market today. The issues of build quality, screen resolution, and speakers are to be considered when purchasing this Tegra 4 powered tablet. The good-old Nexus 7 (2013) is still the best option but it does not have a stylus and the exclusive Tegra-enchanced games.

In the end, the purpose of your purchase for a tablet will tell you which product you should buy. If you need Tegra 4 and a stylus for digital sketching, then you may purchase this tablet with sleeve included at Reeco for Php 12,499 here.

Homecare Fly One Tegra Note 7 specifications:
7-inch LG IPS LCD display @ 720×1280 pixels
NVidia Tegra 4 1.8GHz quad-core processor
72 built-in NVidia GeForce graphics core
1GB RAM
16GB internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi Direct
Bluetooth 4.0 LE
GPS/GLONASS
Li-Ion 4,100mAh battery
Android 4.4.2 Jellybean

What we liked about it:
- Great performance
- Affordable
- Built-in stylus
- Stereo speakers

What we didn’t like:
- 1GB of RAM can be a bottleneck
- Smudgy stills
- Questionable build quality

The post Homecare Fly One Tegra Note 7 Review appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Homecare Fly One Tegra Note 7 Review

NVIDIA’s Tegra 4 is a very promising processor with a powerful GPU that can virtually play any graphic intensive games within the Play Store plus the exclusive enhancement with select games through TegraZone. Aside from the NVIDIA Shield, this 7-inch tablet also has Tegra 4 under the hood. Read on to know more about the Homecare Fly One Tegra Note 7.

Design and Construction

This Tegra Note 7 tablet has the generic look of any modern tablet in the market today with an addition of front-facing stereo speakers. One might say it sort of looks like an HTC One.

The left side of the device is pretty busy with the micro-USB port, mini HDMI port, 3.5mm headset jack and the power/lock button. On top are the microSD card slot and volume rocker. There is a slot for the stylus on the upper-right portion of the device.

Once you get a hold of the device, a disappointing factor comes in. It’s made of polycarbonate with questionable build quality. This Tegra Note 7 has creaks and stiff buttons. The power button has a cheap feel when pressed and the volume rocker is no exception.

Display

It sports a 7″ IPS LCD with a resolution of 1280 x 800 (??? dpi). It may not sound much compared to its competitors like the Nexus 7 and iPad Mini Retina, the display is adequate for gaming and multimedia playback. Hence, we can say that the display quality is at average.

The HD resolution means less pixel to power which results to a smoother frame rates in gaming which is a great advantage but cumbersome when viewing images and videos. Good thing its wide viewing angles cope up with its shortcomings. We also noticed that the display has a warm tone which is much noticeable when viewing web pages due to white backgrounds.

OS, Apps and UI

This Tegra Note 7 comes with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out of the box and the Android 4.4 KitKat update will come after. We suggest to update immediately because we had 4 updates since unboxing.

image

There is no skin on top of Android for this one, no bloatware as well. Just pure Android goodness which results to fluid performance and quick screen responses.

The only app that is included out of the box is a different camera app, Tegra Draw, and Write. The two latter apps is designed for the included stylus.

Multimedia and Camera

While a 5-megapixel camera may sound good for a tablet but that’s only on paper. It is actually a mediocre camera good for taking shots only in good lighting. The front camera is also for casual video calling, not for your beauty selfies.

There’s also a 720p video capture with the same picture quality with the stills. While a tablet is not really meant for picture taking, Tegra Note 7′s camera performs below average.

It’s front-facing speakers on the other hand is pretty loud but tinny. It also has a “unique bass reflex port” which is seems to do nothing to enhance the overall sound quality.

Performance and Battery

image

Conclusion

After having the Tegra Note 7 for a couple of weeks, we could say it’s not the best 7-inch tablet in the local market today. The issues of build quality, screen resolution, and speakers are to be considered when purchasing this Tegra 4 powered tablet. The good-old Nexus 7 (2013) is still the best option but it does not have a stylus and the exclusive Tegra-enchanced games.

In the end, the purpose of your purchase for a tablet will tell you which product you should buy. If you need Tegra 4 and a stylus for digital sketching, then you may purchase this tablet with sleeve included at Reeco for Php 12,499 here.

Homecare Fly One Tegra Note 7 specifications:
7-inch LG IPS LCD display @ 720×1280 pixels
NVidia Tegra 4 1.8GHz quad-core processor
72 built-in NVidia GeForce graphics core
1GB RAM
16GB internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi Direct
Bluetooth 4.0 LE
GPS/GLONASS
Li-Ion 4,100mAh battery
Android 4.2.2 Jellybean

What we liked about it:
- Great performance
- Affordable
- Built-in stylus

What we didn’t like:
- 1GB of RAM can be a bottleneck

The post Homecare Fly One Tegra Note 7 Review appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Me Prime 8 Quick Review

A new player in the local market with a very familiar looking tablet. Nope, this is not an iPad Mini, but it is the Me Prime 8 tablet.

I’ve been seeing a lot of iPad Mini clones and this tablet joins the bandwagon in terms of build material and size. It might turn off some consumers but you really can’t deny the good feeling of a cold metal on your hand. It feels solid and tough.

At 7.85″, screen size is also identical to the popular Apple product. Well, the similarities end there. Let’s see now what makes this Me Prime 8 tablet a product of its own. Starting with the hardware.

As already mentioned, the tablet is enclosed in an aluminum body. Paired with a glass front, it is certainly a stunner. What holds it back is the plastic volume rocker and the tiny power/lock button that are all situated on top. Making them hard to reach, especially the volume rocker. Both sides are clean by the way.

The bottom part is probably the busiest of all. By just even looking at them, it screams a lot of work. Here we can find the 3.5mm headphone jack, the DC-in charging port (surprisingly present), the micro-USB port for data transfer and charging, mini-HDMI port, microSD TF-Card slot, and the microphone hole.

Prime 8′s IPS LCD display boasts 1024×768 pixels which results to around 160ppi. It’s size and density will be fine for casual web browsing and social networking, nothing fancy. Good thing they use an IPS panel so viewing angles are good and you won’t have any trouble sharing what is on display. Something tablets should have!

As for the camera, the 2MP rear fixed-focus optic won’t get your far. Also the VGA (0.3MP) front-facing camera is only good for video-calling. Good thing they’re there just in case. The Prime 8 is better off as a multimedia device since in can handle up to 1080p playback without a hiccup and there is HDMI-out when you want to connect it to your big screen.

Performance wise, this tablet will get the job done. It runs on Android 4.2.2 with no overlying skin. A quad-core processor paired with a gigabyte of RAM ensures smooth UI navigation. Though intense graphic games like Dead Trigger 2 can cause it to drop a few frames. Nevertheless, it is still playable and maybe wishing it to handle such processing power is an overkill.

Benchmark results:
Nenamark 2 – 54.8fps
Antutu 4 – 11909
Vellamo HTML 5 – 1146
Vellamo Metal – 356

In the end, Me Prime 8 is a good companion. It also comes in a wide range of colors. Our review unit features a Black touch panel with Brown back casing. While there are Baby Blue, Baby Pink, and Yellow back panel for the White touch panel. For Php6,995, it can be a fine option to fit your budget but keep your eyes open for better deals.

Me Prime 8 Tablet specifications:
7.85″ 1024×768 IPS LCD
1.0 GHz quad-core Allwinner A31S, ARM Cortex-A7 CPU
PowerVR SGX 544MP2 GPU
1GB RAM
16GB internal storage, expandable up to 32GB via microSD
2MP rear-facing camera
0.3MP front-facing camera
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
3800mAh battery

What we liked about it:
- Premium build
- IPS display panel
- Comes with an OTG cable out of the box
- Relatively spacious internal memory

What we did not like:
- Display can be brighter
- Too much port labels
- Feeble speaker
- Lacks bluetooth

The post Me Prime 8 Quick Review appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.