As technology continues to improve, it is only inevitable that consumers eventually get a wider abundance of choices to pick from. Whilst choice is good however, with recent rumours of Xiaomi’s tactic for bringing its “popular” K30 Pro to India, we start to be able to see how too many choices can make things.. just a little bit complicated.
Read MoreIt is no news to anyone that the K20 Pro was a device we loved using in 2019. With so many awesome features on offer, we were staggered to see what Xiaomi would have on offer for the sequel of this great device. Unfortunately, it is not always that the company’s interests and ours align, and with the recent release of the K30 Pro, we have been less than excited for what it has on offer.
Taking a step back in screen brightness is never a good idea, in fact, it’s this feature alone that makes our phones usable where we desire them the most: outside. With the K30 Pro however, Xiaomi has receded about 100 nits of brightness from its predecessor, a significant amount considering the K20 Pro’s outdoors visibility was on the line of what we would consider “visible” in outdoors situations - making the K30 Pro a phone that should just stay at home.
The triple camera setup was a great feature of the K20 Pro, and whilst we took some great photos with it throughout the year, we have always been disappointed by the lack of OIS in the video department. In our list of features we wanted to see in a potential K30 Pro, this was on top of our priorities, as we hoped Xiaomi would see the community’s positive reaction to the device’s photography abilities, and improve on it.
Sadly however, this was simply not the case, and as well featured as the K30 Pros set of cameras may be, it has still left out this very important feature, making video stabilisation less than desirable in a phone that in 2020 has some worthy competition.
With last year’s K20 Pro, Xiaomi sent a message that it cares about design just as much as it cares about performance. For a device claiming to be the K20 Pro’s successor, such downgrade in built seems a bit odd at best. Not only is glass prettier, but often times more resistant, and it allows for the addition of extra perks such as wireless charging.
Whilst the pop up selfie camera was a design quirk we had a range of thoughts about last year, we truly appreciated the K20 Pro’s bezel-less look, which made video-viewing experience better, and gave the phone a more futuristic look overall. Copying the design trends popularised by the Samsung S10, the K20 Pro features a camera hole that takes away from the beautiful viewing experience first brought to us by its predecessor.
As all these points may have shown, the K30 Pro takes many fundamental ideas of what made the K20 Pro a remarkable device, and deviates from it entirely. In this path, not only does the K30 Pro lose a great deal of identity, but it also creates a device that is ultimately superior to its much beloved predecessor. With this idea in mind, we do not think that the K30 Pro is a worthy purchase, and believe that many customers would be happy sticking with their K20s for the meanwhile.
Will you be picking up a K30 Pro? Let us know in the comments below!
We are now officially into 2020, and as much as it is a time of future fortunes - it is also a time of reflection. Having been lucky enough to own essentially all of the major Xiaomi smartphone releases of 2019, that being the Pocophone F1, the Xiaomi Mi 9, the Redmi K20 Pro and the Xiaomi Mi Note 10, today we will be doing a quick overview of all these great smartphones.
Being the phone we held for a great portion of 2019, the Pocophone F1 was a simple device that was all about its stellar performance. Coming in at such a low price, this device didn’t feature the best camera-set nor the best build, but it could run games and apps with a certain fluidity that even some flagships couldn’t achieve.
Furthermore, due to its extensive userbase, the Pocophone F1 had a great fleet of developers porting all sorts of software and camera variations - making it a fun device to use despite of its limitations.
Xiaomi’s flagship for this year, the Xiaomi Mi 9 was just as impressive as it was confusing. On one hand it provided stellar camera performance, a great chipset, and a decent display. On the other hand however, it provided a mediocre underneath the display fingerprint sensor, and simply not enough new features to excite many over its flagship status.
Being the phone we used for most of 2019, the Redmi K20 Pro has certainly been a pleasant surprise. Incorporating a lot of the design cues first seen in the Xiaomi Mi 9, such as the glass back, triple camera setup and underneath the display fingerprint scanner, the Redmi K20 is a stunner that delivered in performance just as its F1 sibling.
With its entire premise being to expand the legacy first brought forth by the Poco F1, the K20 Pro also received a great deal of assistance from the modding community, creating a smartphone that delivers exciting new features even to this day.
Whilst the Poco F1 may have given birth to the idea of a performance based device, the K20 Pro refined that idea by also giving it a few tweaks that people may also appreciate in day to day usage.
Ending a great year with a bang, the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 is the company’s take on an all around great device. Coming in even cheaper than the K20 Pro, the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 has a great battery, a fantastic 108 MP camera, decent performance and a great design to boot. Though it can’t necessarily beat any flagship and stand on its own (except for its very advanced camera performance), the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 offers a confident all around performance that for its price has us genuinely impressed.
What has been your favourite Xiaomi release this year? Let us know down below!
As the new year has kicked rapidly, many users may be looking to start off the year with a fresh new smartphone. With so many options around, we have found that for the average user, the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 has three features that make it not only one of the best Xiaomi phones currently available, but one of the best phones you can currently buy, those being: superb battery life, great performance, and a beautiful display.
Before talking about these three features more closely, it is important to detail that by claiming this phone as the “best” smartphone, we truly put an emphasis on the average user. By saying this, we understand that not all technology users are the same, and some may have more specific needs than others. Nevertheless we retain that for the average user who spends a majority of their time browsing and sharing the latest and greatest events, the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 is a fantastic pocket companion.
Perhaps the most important feature consumers look for when buying a smartphone is a lasting battery performance - and the Mi Note 10 delivers that in spades. Packing a large battery cell, and efficient processor and a battery-saving display, the Mi Note 10 bundles the perfect combination of features necessary to make a long lasting phone.
According to our tastings, users should expect 9-10 hours of on screen battery life with this device, making it more than capable to last up to two days of average use - making the desperate urges to the charger very infrequent.
But when the time to charge does arise, the Mi Note 10’s bundled 27W quick charge adapter takes you back to 100% in a little over one hour - getting you ready for another 2 day journey.
Whilst most technology enthusiasts may be quick to judge the device’s Snapdragon 730 chipset, the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 delivers great performance that for the average, non-intensive user, will simply breeze through all their needed apps.
When the need for a gaming phone arises however, the Mi Note 10 has proven to be more than capable to run most modern games with competent graphics and performance, leading us to believe that this device may last another 2 years of fantastic performance.
Budget Xiaomi devices have long been plagued by only decent LCD displays, but the Xiaomi Mi note 10 takes a completely different approach to its competitors. Offering a modern curved OLED display with a very minimal notch, the Mi Note 10 is a pleasure to look at, made even better by the 600 nit display that makes it plenty bright for outdoors use.
While it will in no way compete with the latest iPhone 11 Pro, it will offer an experience that for its price, and for the average user, is simply impressive.
Whether it be a honeymoon to the Bahamas or your world-tour, technology has evolved from simply an utility to a travel companion. On my recent trip to Toronto, I brought my new Google Pixel 4 with me in the hopes of answering one simple question: Can it stack up to my extreme needs?
Before throwing a thousand words at you about what the Google Pixel 4 does well and what it lacks, I think it’s important to define what “my needs” are - especially since in a world so vast, everyone’s will be well different. As an university student travelling across Canada to Toronto, my needs were as follows:
My phone needs to last a full day of use
My phone needs to have good WiFi and Data connectivity no matter where I am
My phone needs to take photos good enough to serve as polished memories.
It may sound like a simple list, but I can assure you that not all phones I’ve had in the past fit all three of these criteria, and some - didn’t fit any. Take my iPhone SE for example, not only did that phone had to be charged after thirty minutes of Google Maps usage, but it struggled to maintain WiFi even at home, let alone in the go. And its cameras, for the lack of a better word, simply reeked.
As I mentioned in my early impressions, the Google Pixel 4 had an average battery that somehow lasted an entire day of normal use. During a trip however, my usage can range from a full day of video streaming as I wait for my plane to departure, to about an hour of Google Maps as I struggled to find my way around downtown Toronto. In both cases, the Google Pixel 4 faired better than expected.
In a full day of streaming, which happened to be the day I arrived in Toronto, I got to my airbnb after hours of music and video streaming with about 5% of juice left to spare. Whilst this may not be as impressive as some other phones in the market, it got me through the boredom of a two hour bus ride to my local airport, a tedious four hour flight, and a thirty minute Uber ride.
When the day was less crowded however, the Google Pixel 4 really shined, lasting me two days of full usage with one hour of Google Maps each day and the annoying, but most needed, alarm every morning. Though it passes my tests, I still question the phone’s ability to be used as a map and an entertainment tool, so for those types of travellers, I would seriously recommend a battery pack in the event your tech companion decides its time to go home.
My experience with WiFi and data reception was also very positive. Not only was I always able to get good WiFi strength no matter where I was, but I also received stronger data signals than reported with my iPhone SE. This was surprising, as I was under the impression that I would lose LTE connection as soon as I left Calgary’s downtown core, but the Google Pixel 4 kept me connected the entire way.
As Toronto is a bigger city, my experience only improved once I arrived to my destination, with WiFi hotspots located essentially everywhere. This, paired with Google’s smart AI capabilities that warned me of an unsafe network kept me navigating danger free through the streets of Toronto. With this said, the Google Pixel is very much a phone designed for the North American markets, and I am curious to test out the device further when I return to Asia over the winter break.
Google’s AI and the Pixel’s 4 lenses result in a picture of my girlfriend that brings me joy every time I look at it
At night the Pixel 4 still captures a fair bit of detail
This average picture of a delicious plate of chicken makes me wonder what Google’s AI is up
A fantastic view from the balcony of my Airbnb
As every Google Pixel reviews, the camera is always the device’s most raved about feature, and with the Google Pixel 4 - this is no different. Throughout my week in Toronto, I shot most photos as I would normally to really get a feel for how the average consumer would experience their trip through Google’s dual cameras.
My findings were that camera quality ranged from insanely mind blowing to average, with others around me noticing the varying quality just as much. At times photos of my girlfriend or buildings were simply stunning, with multiple people asking me if I had brought a DSLR alongside me.
At other times however, photos were a bit dull, lacking the detail and finesse necessary to make a photo truly bring a memory to life. It was during these moments that I was left scratching my head the hardest: How was it that Google’s AI was so powerful in making portrait and landscape shots so magnificent, but failed so miserably at making food pictures deserving of an awe. Whilst the answer is beyond me, I can only hope that Google may eventually update its camera software, making it work similarly to Huawei’s or Xiaomi’s whenever it recognises a juicy piece of chicken posing for the camera.
Overall however, the Google Pixel 4 was a joy to use as a camera, as it not only made me extremely excited to experience the end result of every shot, but made me hopeful that future smartphones can truly make every photo awe worthy.
After returning home and reliving life from the comfort of my couch, I am glad I chose the Google Pixel 4 as my travel companion this time around. Not only was it a dependable device for the tasks in which I needed it to achieve, but it brought me a certain joy in using all its levels of technology as diverse tools throughout my stay.
Is it the best travel phone though? This is a question that unfortunately has no answer, as my needs may very well be different from someone else’s. In fact, as I mentioned previously, if you see yourself using your phone intensely during your trip, then perhaps the Pixel 4 is not the phone for you - but for my needs, it’s more than perfect.
I’m not one to usually buy flagship phones, I just find them oddly unnecessary seeing as the budget market is as capable as it is. This year for my birthday however, I decided to treat myself, and got my hands on a Google Pixel 4, the most expensive phone I’ve yet to own. After spending roughly a week or so with it, I can say that for the most part my experience was perfect - but I’d still have a hard time recommending this device to anyone.
Upon first unboxing the Pixel 4, I was in awe, in both the best and worst ways. Holding the phone case less made me just appreciate the machinery that went behind constructing such a beautiful device. From its perfectly aligned speaker grills to the soft finish in the back, I felt from the very start that I was getting what I paid for.
Unfortunately, once covered with a case, which you will most likely want to do, the phone’s squared camera has an awful resemblance to Apple’s new IPhone 11 Pro. This resemblance is so striking in fact, that upon laying my phone on a table with the camera facing upwards, most of my friends asked me how I was liking my new iPhone 11.
Google Pixel 4 in “Clearly White”
Perhaps more striking than the phone’s resemblance to Apple’s iPhone 11, is the lack of accessories bundled with the phone. Besides the phone itself and its charger, there is nothing else to be found in the box. This is disappointing, especially when you’re already paying so much money for what should be a premium device. Personally, I opted to purchase an Otterbox case, which provides military grade protection at the cost of style points, and Google’s own pair of USB C earbuds, which for 35 Canadian, offer what I can easily call “decent” audio quality
I’m going to phrase this as simply as humanly possible: The Google Pixel 4 is an absolute blast to use. From its beautiful 90hz OLED screen to the extreme fluidity that comes with Google’s stock Android powered by the beastly Snapdragon 855, this phone flies through everyday tasks.
But the Pixel is more than just an everyday performer - it’s also a great audio companion. With its stereo speaker setup, I found myself not needing my Bluetooth speaker as much as I did with prior phones, a feature that is definitely nice to have when you’re spending as much as you will be with this device.
When the fun is over (and trust me, it will be - more on that later) the Pixel 4’s quick charge feature should give a full charge in around 50 minutes, meaning that you can get a sufficient enough boost for a couple more hours of fun within a typical shower’s time.
It is no understatement by now that I feel like the Google Pixel 4 absolutely blows it out of the water as a phone - but how does it handle as a camera? The answer is: really good actually. Comparing my photos with that of my friend’s three thousand dollar camera, the Pixel 4 offers a surprising amount of detail. This detail, when paired with Google’s AI smarts, can result in photos that will leave everyone in awe.
Having never personally owned another Pixel phone, I can’t exactly comment on just how much of an improvement the Pixel 4 is, but when side by side with all other modern smartphones I have had a chance to test, I am quick to say that the Pixel 4 offers the most true to life colours, and vest dynamic range that I’ve yet to see coming from a smartphone.
The camera experience is by no means perfect however, in fact, while I’m writing this review, I still can’t come to understand any logical excuse that can explain Google’s choice to opt for a 2x telephoto camera instead of an extra wide lens now that the Pixel lineup finally has moved on from its single lens infancy.
With so many predominantly awesome features, you may be wondering why I am not recommending anyone to rush to their nearest tech store and grab themselves a new Pixel 4. The main answer: battery life. Featuring a 2800 mAh battery capacity on my smaller variant, the Google Pixel 4 lasts me the entire day - but that’s because as a busy university student, I barely interact with my phone as much as the average user.
Throughout my days of use, the Pixel 4 never managed to give me more than 5 and a half hours of screen on time. To make this matter worse, I must specify that these hours were mainly spent on apps such as Google Chrome and WhatsApp, making me wonder how it might stack up for someone who sees themselves using this device as a video streaming or gaming device.
Equally as bad are the memory options. With the roughly 1000 Canadian Dollar version sporting only 64 GB (with no way to expand its memory), I often find myself wondering if I - despite Google’s 5 years of guaranteed software updates - made a wise long-term investment.
Also as “eh” worthy were the new “features” Google introduced to the device, like the smart 90hz display and its radar gestures. Attempting to force the phone to always run at 90hz proved itself disastrous, with almost an hour of usage being discounted from the already mediocre battery life. As for the gestures, I - along with the few people I demonstrated these features to - found them not more than a “gimmick”, specially considering just how easy it is to use the phone’s touch screen to complete the same functions the radar achieves.
At the end of the day, Google’s Pixel 4 is a reliable, beautifully (and unoriginally) designed phone that carries as much potential to be your daily driver as it does to be your hobbyist camera. With that said, not all is perfect, and with what feels like weird gimmicks and less than subpar battery life, I find it hard to recommend the Pixel 4 to anyone that may consider themselves a “power user”.
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I'm glad you found my little corner of the internet. I am a professional content creator specializing in photo and video. I am currently living in Southeast Asia refining my craft and learning new techniques to elevate my production skills.
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