Lord Hezion

Samsung Galaxy A31 vs Galaxy A21s |Camera Review

So here we’re going to compare the Samsung Galaxy A31 camera to the Samsung Galaxy A21s camera in a bid to set them apart. I’m also going to throw in the Samsung Galaxy S10 in the test as a control, just to give you a perspective of camera performance on 2020 mid-range phones and a flagship from last year ; and also for the sake of science.

To start this off let’s quickly get you up to speed on what phone offers what and at what price. On the Samsung Galaxy A21s you get: a 6.5 inch TFT 720p display, Exynos 850 chipset, options between 64GB of storage and 4 or 6 GB of RAM or 32GB s of storage and 3 GB of RAM and a 5000mah battery powering the phone. All that totals to $210. On the Samsung Galaxy A31 you get a slightly smaller 6.4 inch super AMOLED screen, a MediaTek Helio P65 chipset, 128GB of storage and options between 4 or 6 GB of RAM or 64GB of internal storage and 4GB of RAM. A 5000mah battery powering the phone. All that sums up to $225. Both devices run on android 10 and One UI 2.1 straight out of the box.

Moving on to the camera specifications. On the A21s you get a Quad:
48 MP, f/2.0 (wide)
8 MP, f/2.2 (ultra-wide)
2 MP, f/2.4 (macro)
2 MP, f/2.2 (depth) rear camera and a;
Single 13 MP f/2.2(wide) front selfie camera.

On the Galaxy A31:

48 MP, f/2.0 (wide)
8 MP, f/2.2 (ultra-wide)
5 MP, f/2.4 (macro)
5 MP, f/2.2 (depth) rear camera and a;
Single 20 MP f/2.2(wide) front selfie camera.

On paper both phones have borderline similar specs with difference coming in the processor, gpu, screen technology, screen size and two or three camera lense. Even in the camera department they have similar camera interface and similar shooting modes. As such the best way to set them apart to be in the camera department. Again, the S10 is included in this test as a control, to give perspective and for the sake of science, you’ll see why at the end. Also note that I installed all the latest software updates on all phones, turned off any beauty modes and the camera lenses were cleaned prior to taking these shots. What you see here is the raw untouched image quality you’ll get if you chose to go out and buy the phones.

Lets talk about the selfie cameras, the images they put out.

The selfies shot on both phones are pleasing to the eye. They feel rich, detailed and clarity is nothing short of amazing. From these samples you can see how the A31 sort of struggles with color temperature with results being a hit or miss from time to time. It’s nothing major but again side by side its something you can pick out with at first glance. Giving the phone more time to focus will actually fix the issue but even then, color temperature will still slightly vary.

Switching to the ultra-wide angle, which is just a zoomed out crop perspective, it’s evident that the A21s manages to fit slightly more into one shot compared to the A31. Again the difference here comes in the color temperature where the Galaxy A31 gives cooler colour temperatures in its photos compared to those of the A21s. Both phones manage to keep the colours composed with nothing washed out of the shot. Side by side with the Galaxy S10 shots we can see that image quality across all 3 phones is quite literally at per in every aspect. Just the subtle differences that pop up when you stare at the pictures long enough. Stuff like the A31 and A21s fitting much more in ultra-wide selfies than the S10. Impressive. In terms of portrait shots on both phones, the genius software used to blur the background does a really good job in mapping out the edges of the subject in focus while keeping the clarity and the colors of the shot top notch.

A couple of things worth noting here though is:

The camera software really struggles to find your face in portrait mode when you’re wearing a mask. So for the best portrait shots, your mask has to come off and
The Galaxy A31 really softens the portrait shot. Its like it blurs the whole frame, then tries to evenly spread the blur in the background and leave a slight amount of blur on the subject to give an impression of a perfect portrait shot. This is clearly seen with how the edges of Cate’s arm o. The A21s are sharp and precise compared to that on the A31 that’s really really soft. This is consistent even on her hair where the Galaxy A21s manages to keep her strands sharp and in focus, compared to the A31 where it’s lightly blurred.

3. Samsung also allows you to play around with the blur effect, in post after the shots are taken 4. And lastly The Samsung galaxy S10 cannot shoot portrait selfies in ultra-wide angle mode even after receiving the latest camera updates.

On front facing video. Samples were both shot with the ultra-wide angle lens and first impressions are good. Impressive even. The 20 and 13 megapixel 1080p video on both phones really brings out the clarity of the object in frame. Video on the A31 seems slightly over exposed but the phone quickly recovers and balances the exposure as you keep recording. On here the phones have the same colour temperature and manage to stay consistent even when you move around. However, a difference I noticed between both phones was in how the video looks in the viewfinder as you shoot the video. The footage in the viewfinder of the A21s looks clearer, more stable, more composed, natural and balanced, compared to that on the A31 that is heavily sharpened. As if the phone is trying to convince you on how it puts out sharp quality video, only to iron out and balance everything in post. It’s nothing too forthcoming about the phone but it’s something worth noting. For video samples, watch the embedded review video below

With more and more vlogging I did on both phones I ended up liking the front facing video on the A21s which just felt natural, consistent and overall a good camera experience for me. Again, just a personal preference. Comment below. Again Sound quality on both video samples from both phones is good and I’m impressed with how they managed to cancel or minimize all the background noise.

Moving on to the rear main cameras on both phones. As you can see the wide 48MP shooter on the galaxy A 31 and Galaxy A21s bring out some pretty impressive shots. In a nutshell they’re good point and shoot cameras. Straight off the bat they’re consistent in colour accuracy, detail and sharpness with nothing blown out of the shot. They’re so similar that when you put some shots side by side it’s pretty hard to tell the difference. HDR coupled with wide angle images are punchier as seen from the blue in the sky and the green in the hedge. In this mode we see a switch in colour temperature where the A31 now puts out warmer tones compared to the cooler tones of the A21s. This stayed consistent in the shots I took but didn’t affect the overall quality or feel of the images. Throw in images shot on the galaxy S10 and things get tighter. In fact the A21s and the S10 put out similar colour temperature which is very interesting and quality wise this just gives you a perspective of how image quality across both phones is in one way or another pretty similar.

Moving on to the Ultra-Wide shots, both phones spot a 8 MP ultra-wide angle shooter and I must say here is where I experienced zero differences. And rightfully so right? Firstly, Both phones fit a lot into the frame. Colour temperature in the images here are also the same and both phones manage to keep things consistent all through the other shots. In that similarity, they also share a flaw on how the edges of the shot closer to the frame are fringed giving them this sort of unwanted blur. As if the shot was taken on a windy day with the trees swaying when they weren’t. This is further clarified when you stack the A31 and A21s photos side by side with those of the S10 that doesn’t experience this sort of edge fringing. This edge fringing issue was also experienced in the Samsung Galaxy A51 when i was comparing it to the S10 where it also stayed consistent and its something Samsung should address in a future software update. I’ll link that Samsung galaxy A51 vs Galaxy S10 camera comparison video right under that like button if you haven’t checked it out. Again colour processing is top notch and nothing seems too exaggerated or blown out. One thing is for sure, both phones allow you to fit a ton more into your shots and are really keeping up with the images shot on the S10 and that’s a bold statement from these phones.

Now in these tests I decided to take things further to really push the phones to their camera limits. See what they can really do. I decided to do this by pushing them all the way to 2x and 3x. And all I can say is they performed brilliantly. At 2x images are sharp and just pleasing to look at. Mind blowing at how colours are consistent, clarity is top notch, exposure and saturation are well balance. Going into this text I was sure the S10 was going to perform well since it has a dedicated 2x telephoto lens, but how the A21s and A31 put out similar images without a dedicated telephoto lense is just stellar.

I then pushed them further to 3x and the results speak for themselves. Nothing is overexposed. Phones handle the colours and keep everything natural. And it’s just mind blowing how close to an object to can get without physically moving towards it and get clear sharp images of it. Also note that Colour temperature at this point will vary across all phones but no loss in detail. Also note, past 3x things start to get finicky and quality degradation is imminent. 3x is the sweet spot and past that images are quite literally unusable.

Moving on, I have no complains in the portrait mode section on both phones. The blur is mapped out very clearly and nothing intrudes onto the object in focus and results stay consistent. The Galaxy A31 and galaxy A21s both do a good job keeping the colour temperatures consistent in the shots. To a point, they even rival those shot on the Galaxy S10 and thats a bold statement from these phones.

The other lens left here is the macro lens which allows you to get super close to say 3 cm to an object to capture a macro photo. You guys already know how I feel about macro lenses on a smartphone but since it’s present on both phones they’re worth a review. Macro shots on both phones are good, impressive, detailed. But it’s presence doesn’t really make sense because the S10 lacks a macro lense but hold the phone close to the object you want to take a shot of and it does a stellar job. Infact I like the macro shots on the S10, it’s just a matter of personal preference.

In terms of video, both phones can shoot up to 1080p at 30 frames per second and use electronic image stabilisation to give you that smooth video output even tho the videos were taken when phones were hand held. Here is a sample of video.

Audio quality is also impressive. The mics are doing good job of keeping focus on you and lowering any background noise. Both phones also do a good job when recovering colour temperature after you move around while recording. Another thing to note is these phones don’t allow you to switch between lenses as you record, like the galaxy S10 so you’ll just have to do with zooming in to the object in frame to get close.

Alright so let’s wrap this up, you’re paying roughly 210 dollars for the A21s and Just under 230 dollars for the A31, are you getting your money’s worth? Well, yes you are, for the price, these two offerings from Samsung are proving to be quite competitive and ready to perform in that midrange section. From performance to design to storage options to the camera section, both phones are an ideal upgrade from last year’s A20 and A30. The cameras, as we’ve seen in this video are good and get a thumbs up from me. We’re they come up short I’m confident Samsung can iron out in a future software update. Knowing Samsung very well, those updates are set to come pretty soon.They’re perfect for people that want a good camera that can perform and don’t want to spend flagship money for that camera. Now things get thick in my line of duty where I have to justify a cheaper priced phone performing similarly or even better than a higher priced phone and this here is the case. In my opinion, the Exynos chip on the A21s, the MediaTek A31 and Snapdragon chip on the S10 do have a part to play in the photo aspects we’ve seen in this video. What is for sure is how the A31 and A21s are so close to the S10 and st some point even perform better than the Galaxy S10. This might be a case of new hardware beating the old but its quite something. It’s really comforting for a buyer to know they don’t need to spend discounted flagship money on last year’s premium device but can spend midrange money on the latest midrange 2020 device and get a just as good or even better camera. Yes the S10 has a ton of camera features not present on the A31 and A21s, but that wasn’t the point here, the S10 was just a control, to give perspective and I think mission accomplished. I’ll say it again. midrange phones are improving day by day and catching up to flagship phone photos. It’s mind blowing

Watch full video review here

Need For Speed HEAT(Greatness)

Need for speed heat is a high octane action packed game supplemented by thrilling graphics bundles with its frustrations, a huge amount of challenge and incredible customization. It’s shaping up to be quite a come back for a franchise that has been spinning its wheels desperately looking for traction. The developer ghost has finally built something that feels true to its past. Heat is fast, thrilling, gripping and way way ahead of its disappoint ting predecessor need for speed payback that debuted in 2017. Let’s get straight to it.

Ghost has dropped some welcomed tweaks into Heat if you look closely and you’ll see the intense cop chases of need for speed most wanted and the classic need for speed underground theme. Palm city is the new Need for speed heat play ground. Being the major highlight of the game, the city itself does nudge you more to the exploration aspect of the game far better than payback. And this time there’s few momentum killers since even trees and walls crumble when you drive through them rather than bringing you to a stop.

Heats mains hooking point is that there’s two distinct modes to switch from to access various events and switching between them is done manually before you leave the garage. Daytime palm city races includes sanctioned street races on marked locations that earn you bank with each win. It’s decent but might pass as plain when you actually stop to recognize detail. Night time races on the other hand are all about fast racing to build rep points and escape from the cops.. I’m my opinion, heat looks amazing at night. Especially with the rain and aggressive cop chases and having to dodge traffic that’s increases considerably at night over daytime. I also like that Need for speed heat gives you the power to switch from daytime to night anytime. Both daytime and nigh events are needed to progress through the story but the cut-scenes and events are really set it apart from the cringy story back in need for speed payback.

Cop chases aren’t restricted to predefined timed routes like in payback but the cop cars here can really haul ass and chases are much much tougher to evade. There’s also a damage meter for your car this time so while you can fight back and get car repairs from shops for up to 3 times a night, if you pull too much rough action, you’ll get wrecked, arrested and lose rep points. You also have the option to bribe cops this time round but that only happens when your heat is low and before the chase Heats up. However the AI does chest at times by popping out cops in front of you in close proximity when you’re in the thick of it and that buster timer can really be unfair to you at times.

I honestly don’t see the need for a timer if your car can only take damage for a set number of times. I get it, it’s all in favor of thrashing some more adrenaline in you especially with the risk of losing huge bank and rep points but getting busted when there’s nobody in front or behind me just because the timer ran out is just baloney. Especially when I have to lose all that bank and rep. I haven’t thrown my controller at the TV yet but I’ve had close calls.

There’s a good selection of cars available to choose from but there’s lack of Luster in the garage if you’re a veteran player of payback since bulk of the collection spans from that game. It’s good to see that Ferrari have climbed back on board in heat seen from the abundance of Ferraris in the game but Toyota ore still absent. Was really hoping I’d see the new supra included in the game. There’s also a wide array of beast machines from the 90s.

Now immediately I got Need for speed heat and grabbed my controller, I noticed a few tweaks in the driving and handling experience. By default, a drift can be initiated by getting off the gas for a sec and smashing back on it immediately when turning into a corner. And that might be problematic for a bulk of people who like it old school by using the brake to initiate the drift and the handbrake to angle the car into a drift. Luckily with live tuning you can easily switch from using gas to drift to using the brake all within the game not from a pause or garage menu. . Speaking of live tuning, it gives you the option to tweak traction control, steering sensitivity and down force accordingly all from the game. Drifts are shorter in heat but you have more control over the angle of the drift making it more enjoyable. Also keep in mind that the car you drive also has a say in the drift. Example drifting in the BMW M3 gives you wilder drifts than drifting in say a lotus Exige.

Need for speed heat also does away with requirements for specific cars to race an event like what we saw back in payback. Any car I’ve bought so far can be tuned and returned in the garage to Suit the race at hand be it drifting, circuits or off road races. Even buying of duplicate parts. Speaking of the garage, this upgrade system is a massive leap from the payback garage. Beyond a few reward items, there are no more hoops to jump through to apply cosmetics or convoluted pump ups to tune your performance. Thaaaaank Goodness. If you want a part JUST BUY IT like it should be. One confusing addition is the presence of drag tires in the garage without a dedicated drag mode. Another big new addition is engine swap, that allows you to increase the performance potential of cars that would previously have been under powered out in a race. All in all the best new option in my books is exhaust tuning which allows tweaking of the already sweet exhaust notes. That is one bad ass geeky upgrade for us petrol heads out here and I am all about it. Vinyl changing remains top notch and stance is also retained for you guys out there that want your cars to have rickety stances. There’s avatar customization to if you’ve wanted a change of clothes in your gaming character or if you want to see this mans belly button. To add on that, there’s a wide range of characters to choose from and all of them look like fugitives from the law.

While need for speed feels like it’s in desperate need of a revolution, as all games these days, in trend setting strides developer ghost has definitely pinched nostalgic sweet parts off other installments in the almost 25 year old franchise, put it in a bucket with technology and sweet graphics and pulled out something wildly respectable and worth our time. Need for speed isn’t all sizzle and dazzle but it’s way way above what I expected and it’s definitely one of the best racing games in the long line up of what we’ve had all these years.

If you want to pick up Need For Speed HEAT and other racing games or all types of games and consoles remember to hit up Vivid gold with the link in the description to place your order. If you want more racing and everything else gaming make sure you follow the blog and turn email notifications on.

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FIFA 20 REVIEW

While still regarded as one of the best sports game franchises, FIFA has seemingly lacked excitement for the past few years leaving fans begging for a fresh new experience. With new and improved game play mechanics in place, new FIFA ultimate FIFA objectives, and the introduction of Volta football, FIFA 20 really aims to raise the bar and differentiate itself from previous installments in the franchise. I’ve had to rethink how I play FIFA this year, which is something I haven’t had to do for many years. FIFA 20 poses itself as such a broad, deep, intense, realistic offering and here is everything you need to know before you head out and buy it.

It goes without saying that graphics in FIFA has been sort of a backbone in the franchise especially with the current generation of gaming consoles. The game looks incredible from the fans on the stands, players, managers on the sidelines, menus, pause menus, in game footage to the pitch itself. Our guys martin Tyler and Allan smith are also still the primary commentators in most matches like before. And I am digging the new pre and post-match presentation of the game as it truly feels like you’re watching the matches live on tv.

There are some large noticeable changes to various game modes that we fully don’t understand yet but thankfully the bulk of the changes have been made to the pitch. On the pitch, we see some welcome improvements such as more natural first touches and more satisfying ball mechanics once you walk out of the tunnel. FIFA 20 emphasizes intensity on the less loaded end of the pitch, defense, and it’s pretty clear that the quick switch from offense to defense is left needs serious input and skill. In real football, players put emphasis in getting the defenders away from goal and that resonates in FIFA 20 if you want to get those goals going. Tackles have also seen a major overhaul in FIFA 20 and now defensive AI has also been upgraded. Defenders controlled by the user will now intercept and break from long passes, through passes and crosses much better than in previous years. Set pieces and penalty shoots have also been revamped. It’s simply much more skill based meaning you’ve never had so much control of the shot before.

In terms of direct free kicks and penalties, both have a new way of how you want to place the ball, then like last year’s FIFA there’s still timed finishing that needs you to press shoot at the right time and add curve if you wish. This will take time getting used to but you will love that feeling of just curving Free kicks into the top corner.

Onto the game modes, FIFA’s major introduction to the latest installment is Volta football. A merged product of FIFA street from back in the day and the journey mode. Matches here are shorter and more chaotic than the standard 11 aside games. Fancier tricks, simplified tactics and ball flicks make Volta a mode whose main emphasis is on fun but don’t expect the depth FIFA street gave us back in the day. There are no game breaker shots in Volta and it’s not easy to massively humiliate your opponents in a match. Instead Volta focuses on street soccer culture. Here game atmospheres are more casual, relaxed and more expressive and freer with customization. The Volta store and challenges both unlock new gear and combine that with the ability to play against online human opponents in Volta leagues, Volta has a more modern fun appeal than what FIFA street and journey were all those years ago

Volta loads in its own section of the game and it’s so immersive I feel like it could have been a separate game on its own. The fact that it was entirely included in FIFA 20 is a huge plus n my books. You can play Volta online, offline, tour, story and lots of campaign modes. You can play Volta in 3 on 3 ,4 on 4, 5on 5 and the rush version of those that don’t have goal keepers and futsol modes. For Volta tour and story modes you’re going to play fully against AI. Story mode sees you build progress with a character from random pick up footballer to street football world champion. Tour mode takes you all over the globe as you travel to various cities and countries.

Where I spend most of my time in FIFA 20 is career mode and I must say, career mode has some major major improvements and you are going to feel them. You now have a lot more customization options for your manager, including the ability to create a female manager for the first time. Managers also now have press conferences pre and post-match. My only issue with this is that the questions repeat themselves, there’s limited amount of answers and their only impact Is on team morale. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a gimmick, but I feel like it needs more work. Manager and player communication have also been revamped and now managers can reply to player messages. Again, this only impacts the player morale. Overall A nice touch. Another new welcome addition is the cut scenes negotiation in game videos that take you through the process of negotiation to buy or sell players. You also get on screen options to choose from during negotiations making career mode more stimulating and interactive. My only issue is that there’s no audio output from negotiation cut scenes, just text subtitles, it would have been nice to hear the negotiation proceedings. I also like the new dynamic player rating where player ratings rise and fall depending on your treatment to them.

House rules has also been revamped and sees the introduction to 2 new modes this year in FIFA 20. King of the hill and mystery ball. King of the hill revolves around ball possession only which might pass as plain to some gamers. Mystery ball on the other hand has a nice touch to it, here, anytime the ball goes out of play, it returns with an added boost to it. The mystery is which of the offered boosts it has. The boost can be passing, speed, shooting, dribbling or all boosts. Games are short and id personally say mystery ball is the most fun for me.

Now if you don’t buy every FIFA release every year, the game might feel the same to you from the past releases. Hard core FIFA gamers will however feel the difference. There’s always room for improvement and, FIFA 20 brings major improvements in some areas. There better one on one interaction now and the game gives gamers full control in both offense attacks and defense. EA did improve game play mechanics but I feel like the new offense moves are crippled in how fast they can be performed. VOLTA football is the perfect new innovation fans have been begging for. it breathes new life into the FIFA series, which as I said is something that has been direly craved for in the previous years. Its definitely going to appease new and pro FIFA gamers not forgetting the casual gamers. There are some short comings to career mode example the transfer window ends too soon for English leagues, scouting for new youth players are also unchanged for yet another year and there is still no VAR, don’t get me wrong, career mode has taken major steps forward in FIFA 20 but we need a revolution. Verdict. FIFA 20 has its flaws, its perfect iterations, its frustrations, its essentials, its new innovations and remains a complete compelling realistic game and ea sports has me hooked on their game again this year. This is must buy game for FIFA fans and you guys out there looking for a cool new sports game.

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Best Apps of October 2019

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/9-BftvVZiNc

Right. October is upon us and you all know that means we have to kick things off with an app video. I’ve got a few great apps for you guys to try out, be it for normal phone usage, sport coverage and an app for you students out there that’s set to ease your academic life . I’ll leave links to these apps below for you to go and check them out. It would also make my day if you guys would head over to my YouTube channel and watch this video and subscribe to it while there and turn that bell on so you receive post notifications and without further ado. Let’s get started.

First app on the list is called, SCREENSHOT ASSISTANT .This app basically remaps your home button and enables you to take a screenshot of your screen by pressing and holding the home button. It also allows you to quickly crop, save or send the screenshot across all your social media. It’s particularly helpful if one of the combo buttons you use to take a screenshot isn’t working anymore or when you just want to screenshot that meme quickly and share it with your friends. The app is simple and straightforward to use.

Next app is the LESS PHONE LAUNCHER. This is an app for you guys out there who are addicted to your phones and really want to unhook themselves from that addiction. The app basically gives you access to a couple of apps of your choosing and will limit your phone usage across those 4 apps only. Say you want to cut your social media addiction, you can select the basic apps you use on a daily, be it the calculator, camera, contact, your to do list etc and the app limits you to those apps only. The app is pretty simple to set up and use but still overall discipline remains with you. If you really want to cut down that addiction, staying true to the custom apps you choose remains utterly up to you.

Next app on the list we have UNAPP. Now if you’re like me, a person who tries out tons and tons of apps, you definitely feel the urge to de-clutter your phone of unnecessary apps.. As the name suggests, this is an app Uninstaller that uninstalls multiple apps you select quickly and easily. Just select all the apps you want to uninstalls and click uninstall. You then just have to click okay when the prompt to uninstall comes up. Saves you time compared to uninstalling the apps one by one. You can also use a left swipe on the app to uninstall it. Pretty easy and convenient.

Next app on the list is Foo-View. What this does is it introduces an overplayed button on your screen that helps you carry out tons and tons of tasks on your phone. After you allow the app it’s permissions, you can place the ball wherever you want on the screen, swipe to the left on the ball to go back. Tap and swipe down to drag your notifications panel down. Swipe down to access your recent apps, swipe up on it to access the in app shortcuts example take a screenshot and one I personally like is tap hold and draw over your screen to take a snippet of the wanted part of your screen. The actions can be a bit challenging to remember and half the time you might be guessing what to do, but once you get the hang of it, all actions on your phone will depend on that ball.

Next up is POST IT. Now we live in an age where taking down notes is an integral part of our lives but carrying around sticky notes is a bit outdated and cumbersome to manage. That’s where post it comes in. With the app, you can create custom sticky notes by just writing the note down with your finger. The app also lets you take and use photos as sticky notes to write your quick notes on. I personally like the aesthetic and organization capability the app provides you with. I’m talking about renaming group notes, that helps you have all related notes in one place, change the color of your sticky notes and even type your sticky notes if writing isn’t your thing. To top it all off, you can share the notes as PDFs, images, PowerPoint presentations etc. This is an app I use literally every day and it takes note taking to the next level.

Next app is NOTIFY-BUDDY. Now I personally miss the notification LED that is slowly leaving smartphones by the day. It’s particularly useful if you want to know which app is sending you notifications without you unlocking your phone. Notify buddy aims at bringing that back. First you select the app you want to monitor, choose the color of the LED notification light set the number of intervals you want the LED to show, and you’re good to go. Every time you get notifications or messages from that app, you will see an LED flash on your screen.

Next up on the list is MNML screen recorder. This is the app I use and recommend you guys to use if you’re in search of the perfect screen recording app. Just open the app, give it the permissions it needs then hit record and you are good to go. The app capture high quality screen images and impressive enough, it doesn’t lag once you’re done recording your screen, simply hit stop in the notifications panel and then you can watch or share your screen recording.

Next we have BLOCKSITE. This app is for you guys who want to take app access to the next level. The app allows you to block any access to apps or websites on your phone. Simply select the apps you want to block or enter website URL and each time anyone tries to access that app or website, they get a message prompt that they can’t access the app or site. The app also has a dedicated feature to block any adult sites, something that comes in handy if kids use your phone a lot. You can also set app timers that allow the app to be used for that specific set time after which the app will be blocked and you will not be able to use it till the break time elapsed. You can also access blocked sites and apps with your password or pattern that you set in the app.

I did say that I got something for everyone yeah? This next app is for you sport lovers. Sports lovers that want to have everything of theirs all in one application, THE ATHLETIC is the app for you. The app gives you an up-to-date news feed full of sport articles. Recommended sport videos and news. You also get to follow up on the stats of all the teams you follow in one place. I’m talking about live stats when the match is on going, who got carded, how many shots, pass accuracy and so much more if you dive into the match time-line. You also get to see the lineups of all the players set to play a specific match. To top it all off, the app gives you access to tons and tons of sport podcasts to choose from depending on the sport you follow. And when I say this, I mean it. This app has literally ever sport you can think off and it goes in depth with all sport Coverage. From EPL, to Bundesliga to NFL every league you can think of.

Next app is ASSISTANT SHORTCUTS. This app allows you to remap your assistant button which on most phones is the home button and configure it to carry out other tasks. You might say it’s no different from app number one on the list but this one does a lot more. You can remap the button to turn on your flash light. To take screenshot. To pull down your notification panel. To switch to the last app used. To lock your screen. To split your screen and much much more. You can even map it to launch specific apps you want.

Final app on the list is for you students out there and it’s on this list because it’s personally helped me big time. SCHOOL PLANNER. The app allows you to set the number of terms in your academic year, the start and end dates of the semester or terms. Choose the notifications you want to receive and what time of the day you want to get them. And then you can start adding entries into your timetable. When your classes will be and which lecturer or professors will be taking you through that unit. It also allows you to fill in their details in the teachers section. The app also let’s you log in your attendance as either absent, delay for when you got to class late and early exit if you left class early. That way you are able to gauge your class attendance schedule easily. One feature I personally love about the app is that it allows you to record your lessons. You can record what your teachers teach and play it back later on in the day when you’re doing your revision. It also allows you to log in your grades in whichever grading system your institution uses. Cherry on top, you can use it to schedule your reminders for class, exams and your homework. So download it now and organize your school life. It’s easier that way.

Which apps are you downloading?

Watch the BEST ANDROID APPS OCTOBER 2019 here

DON’T Buy the Vivo Y15

Watch the review video here : https://youtu.be/YPc51s3KMxA

Now let’s kick this off with an unboxing. Now vivo are giving us a clean simple looking white box. Turning the box we get to see some of the key features of the phone and those include an AI Triple camera, a 5000mah battery and a 6.35 inch screen which vivo are calling the HaloFull view display and the color I have here is the aqua blue. You can also pick it up in Burgundy Red. Taking the seal apart and opening the box, we are greeted with another box that holds the paperwork and documentation, -things people never read and a soft silicon case for a bit of added protection. Next we get the phone and taking its wrap off reveals the aqua blue color that gives off this shining pearlscent kind of effect when light hits the plastic back. We also get a Sim ejector tool, a standard power brick so nothing special going on there and a charging cable. A micro USB charging cable. That kind of sucks since this late in 2019 you kind of expect vivo to ship you a phone with USB type C . But okay we take what we get. And that’s all you get in the box. No headphones included.

Checking out the phone’s design, you get your volume rocker and power button on the right side of the phone. Turning the phone down you see the speaker grill, micro USB port, microphone and headphone jack. On the plastic back lies the fingerprint scanner. Nothing on the top, the Sim slot on the top right part, the 16 megapixel front facing camera up front and finally the triple camera set up. First impressions I’d say the phone feels quite hefty in your hands and you’ll probably notice if it wasn’t in your pocket thanks to that massive 5000mAh battery. As Culture is these days, the glossy back on this phone is a fingerprint magnet and I suggest you slap the silicon case it came with. It kind of adds more bulk to the phone and takes the anesthetic from it but those fingerprints look ugly and dirty on the phone.

Jumping in to the phones internals, the Vivo Y15 is running on Android 9 pie straight out of the box with Vivo’s funtouch OS running on top of Android. For those who want more clarification on that, fun touch OS is the counterpart of Samsung’s One UI and Huawei’s EMUI skins that run on top of Android to give it a different look and feel. All that is backed up by 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Sad news however, is there’s no other variant. It would have been nice to see a 128GB model with 6GB of RAM but hey, we take what we get.

On to the display. As earlier mentioned, Vivo are calling this 6.35 inch screen the HaloFull View display and it’s a 720×1544 resolution screen bringing out 81.4% screen to body ratio. The display is quite bright coming in at so you need not worry about using it outdoors but then again it does have quite noticeable bezels with this tear drop notch at the top housing the front camera and one really massive chin.

The phone does come with a traditional fingerprint scanner that unlocks the phone pretty fast every time. I personally like where it has been placed making it easy to reach even without looking for it. The phone also has face unlock which I must stay is pretty fast, works well each time and is somehow hard to cheat with photos or even look a likes. Props to vivo for having it on lock on that end.

As always we can’t do a review without the speaker test. I don’t have much to complain or compliment the phone about. The sound is clear and balanced. I kinda wish it were a bit louder and had more punch to it in terms of bass but it’s not too terrible. Also worth mentioning, the phone does have a mono bottom firing speaker meaning no sound comes out of the earpiece to give you that stereo sound experience but then again at this price point, stereo speakers would come as a surprise.

Now here is where my love hate relationship with this phone tipped over more to the hate part. First up fun touch OS feels kind of cluttered. Cluttered in the way the settings app is arranged. See navigating through settings trying to find that specific setting can be quite a task since the main options aren’t placed where they normally would be found in majority of other devices out there. Example, to find the about phone option you have to go to more settings first before you can find it. Such an arrangement makes you feel like vivo was trying too hard to be different and stand out at the cost of making feel like you don’t know what you’re doing. That my friends is one frustrating feeling. Such frustrations spill over to easy tasks like turning on one handed mode, where vivo want you to quickly swipe right and left to turn it on other than the normal swipe on the navigation buttons or the diagonal swipe up. See how it seems they were trying too hard to be different and stand out?

Next misfire is on the cameras. Now you get a 13 megapixel f/2.2 primary shooter backed up by an 8 megapixel f/2.2 ultra wide angle lens and a 2 megapixel f/2.4 depth sensor which makes the phone look very good and well equipped on paper but it has nothing to show for those numbers. The standard lens does an okay job but clarity is lost with the ultra wide angle that takes hazy images that just won’t cut it. The presence of the depth sensor also doesn’t make sense since there’s not dedicated portrait mode in the camera app meaning you have to edit the blur background in the gallery after you take the photo, same as you would before posting a picture on Instagram. Videos max out at 1080p but also leave you wishing they were better. The phone does try to better the image quality after the shot but they still aren’t shots you’d be proud of. In fact other cheaper competitors like the Samsung Galaxy A30 do a better job than this.

Watch the sample shots here

I like the fact that you can use the fingerprint scanner as a shutter button when taking selfies but the selfies here are just straight up hot garbage. You get a 16 megapixel f/2.0 front facing camera and that would be enough to get your hopes up, and it does but soon after the photos taken just fail you. The selfie camera launches in beauty mode by default and can I just mention the Beauty mode shots on here are just terrible. It’s as if the whole image processing process was a huge guess as seen by the softened patches on my face in these sample shots. Normal selfies might seem a little palatable, certainly better than the beauty shots but they still don’t make the cut. There are also some gimmicks in the camera like the panorama mode in the selfie camera which I understand is an effort to make up for the lack of a wide angle selfie lens but it’s also a hit or miss. Nothing guaranteed. Which makes my point even more clear. Vivo was trying too hard on this one. I mean there are phones out there with one selfie camera that just add a crop into the picture to give it a sense of wider selfies and do a pretty good job at it but this here is another failed attempt at standing out.

Also viewing content on here won’t be as clear as you might expect. You might blame it on the lower screen resolution but then again vivo didn’t have an excuse to not fit a 1080p screen on here, I mean they did fit a large enough battery to power a higher resolution right? Even at max resolution video quality still doesn’t look that good.

In terms of gaming, the phone does try to deliver smooth frame rates but you will notice that periodic stutter when gaming. All in all games are pretty much responsive and that 4GB of RAM coupled with that MediaTek P22 processor help keep Games and apps open in the background a little bit longer. You also get this ultra game mode utility that kind of stores all your games in one place and is said to give you that extra juice to smoothen your gaming experience but at this point one can’t quite see or feel its effect. You can’t know if it’s on or off because there’s literally no difference. Maybe just blocking notifications while you’re gaming.

You also get this gimmick reverse wired charging via an OTG where the 5000 mAh battery allows you to share charge with another device but let me just ask. Out of the billions and billions of people on the planet, who walks around with an OTG for the purposes of sharing charge. There’s just a lot of things in that sentence that don’t sit right with me. Starting from the fact that if that was such an important feature of the phone, why wasn’t an OTG bundled in the box? Also just the whole contraption from the micro USB OTG to a normal USB cable to a USB type c or micro USB is just too bulky of a set up and sounds way inconvenient. Might as well have put reverse charging on the phone or leave the reverse wired charging part out of it. To make matters worse, Vivo packed a 5000mAh battery into the phone but didn’t think to equip the phone with fast charging technology or a fast charger. Kind of makes it feel like they were cutting all the wrong corners.

Well now you see my love hate relationship with the vivo Y15 and why it’s a bit hard to say who this phone is for. Apart from a massive battery fitted on there there’s not much going for the phone. Maybe with future software updates the phone might get better but at this point in time, going on that piece of hope just doesn’t feel safe. Verdict this phone isn’t worth the 20,000 shillings its going to send you back on.

Best Movie Remakes You Need To Watch

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYUzjVqrsgo

Remakes are never an easy task and reinventing something, be it a story or character can get messy ,convoluted or both. It’s time to kick back and go through a couple of old movies that were resurrected from the past and thrown into one bucket with technology and modern day top class actors to bring some hot, some not so hot, mind blowing, some straight up disappointments and top class entertainment. Some remakes stuck to the script and spiced it up a little and some completely overhauled the original story. The kind of stuff that has the whole theater stomping, clapping and cheering, and some that make you wish you had just rented the movie and not, gone to watch it at the cinemas. If you’re in it for the story you might want to watch the prequels in the coming list to get a complete picture of how the story flows, how it may have been changed and history of the characters.

PET SEMATARY (2019)

Now this is a remake of the original 1989 movie and the adaptation of the book. The book is really well written. However, the film lacks a lot. Having read the book, it is safe to say that 1 hour & 43 minutes of the original movie do not do justice to the story and the 2019 remake we’d say is closer to the book as It understands grief and the horror of the dying process a little bit more. Now it’s critics and reviews online aren’t much to get you psyched up for the movie and true to it, the negativity is somewhat deserved. The movie has some A plus characters but it feels overly rushed and that takes away from the story. It also has characters who are somehow unnecessary, characters just thrown in there to bring out some scary bits and their story killed off. However, It has held up remarkably well. The acting might look a little like hit and miss but no terrible performances. The movie is highly recommended, certainly more than the original since remember, Stephen King wrote the screenplay for it.

2. LION KING (2019)

Disney’s lion king remake is quite a work of art, an awesome movie. Probably the best one yet. The original movie packed some Very memorable characters, great cast, amazing animation, a unique story, an epic soundtrack and Disney being Disney, some great songs. The 2019 remake is no different. It’s a step up in fact. This movie is one mirror image for a huge bulk of kids who lived before technology took over the world. The creators of the movie remake bring back our childhood in some way by mashing up the original story, with what technology can do with animation and tying it all up in the hakuna matata bundle. The film is focused on realism as one major driving factor but some of you might find that as a compromise in the way animals in the original movie could give human like profound expressions. However, what comes as a plus is the story has been more or less kept the same. Some liberation has been taken and there are some scenes removed and some new scenes added; even a few characters have been modified. The cast do the film justice and while some changes are welcomed, there are a few aspects that will have you wish it were kept the same as the original.

3. ALITA BATTLE ANGEL (2019)

ALITA BATTLE ANGEL, from 20th Century Fox

This is one of those movies that got completely overhauled. The original show was an anime/Manga series by Yukito Kishiro and it had 2 episodes to it. And the show was so good that having 2 episodes only came as a blow to fans. The 2019 remake, that took 10 years to make brought along with it some very impressive CGI backed up by some of the best actors in the industry. Set a couple of years in the future, we are taken through a breathtaking transformation and evolution from the time Alita is found in the scrap yard, reassembled into a warrior cyborg and her setting off on a journey to figure out who she is. At the same time, she has to embrace her warrior past self to stop a bunch of bounty hunters from hurting her loved ones. The movie might not make it to your favorite’s list but it is surely worth your time. It doesn’t pack any mind-blowing plot twists but the flow and transition of scenes from slow dialogue scenes to fast paced fight scenes cover up for the lack of a plot twist. The movies supporting cast might seem underused but that’s made up for by various character development throughout the story. It’s ending hints at a sequel which we’re hopeful to get a confirmation on.

4. CHILD’S PLAY (2019)

The new reboot of the child’s play horror slasher series revitalizes one of the most iconic faces in the horror movie genre, the face of the killer doll, Chucky. After a move to the city, Andy receives a gift in the form of a doll from his mother and makes it his best friend, I mean, what could go wrong right? Soon after the doll takes on a life of its own and danger signs are missed as Andy and his friends use the doll to prank people. things then start to take a dark turn and Andy together with neighborhood kids unite to stop the sinister murderous doll from wrecking complete utter devastation. The cast is well selected and aid in the proper unfolding of events. However, the new design of Chucky might have you cringe a little since he looks a bit too plasticky* and impractical. The terrifying scenes are however lessened by the bits of humor that runs through the film. All in all, the movie retains the thrill and horror from its original series.

5. THE MUMMY (2017)

Up next. The mummy. Now friendly caution here is that you don’t watch this movie with any fixated expectations dependent on the prequels in the movie series. The 2017 movie is the fourth installment in the movie quadrilogy that sees Ethan Hunt play the role of Nick a soldier of fortune who lives off robbing ancient sites for valuable artifacts and selling them to the highest bidder. However, Things take a turn for the worse when he and his partner come under attack whilst on a mission and accidentally unearth Ahmanet’s tomb where she’s been laying in entrapment for 1000 years. A dead accomplice, a serious desert storm and a plane crash later, we get to see Ahmanet evolve her power towards her main sinister goal. Nick Morton must now stop Ahmanet as she goes on a rampage devastating the streets of London. The cast selection is on point and despite the negative critics and reviews you might have seen about it online; the movie Is packed with a couple of plot twists and fast paced thrill for you to enjoy.

6. HALLOWEEN (2018)

Though the latest installment in the Halloween franchise slasher movies doesn’t seem to quite bring back the tingles of the 1978 movie, the sequel is just about the best made of the series in any way. The new film is a thorough mix of brutality, gore and thrill that sends an intense predator vibe. The movie is set 40 years after the dreadful happenings of a fateful dark night in 1978. We see Laurie now old watching and waiting for the return of Michael Myers trusting her gut that his return is not far off. We also see Michael being reinvented no longer as an indestructible zombie like the other prequels but as vulnerable as a human can get and All that is done keeping him scary throughout the whole movie. Scary From how he breaks open skulls with one stomp of his foot, carving people’s faces off and hanging heads on fence posts. The side characters have little to no development but that doesn’t stop them from being viciously murdered for the entertainment of the viewers.

7. RINGS (2017)

Now this is the third installment in a movie trilogy that basically entails a videotape that kills the person who watches it. The third and latest installment however has a revamped version of the same idea. Unlike the first and the second where the videotape predicted how the watcher was to die, in the third movie, the watcher is set to die seven days after watching the tape. The plot starts off with the normal boy and girl going separate ways because college happens and soon the boy, Alex roe gets entangled in a sub culture surrounding a mysterious tape said to kill the watcher after 7 days. We then see Julia a role played by Matilda Lutz sacrifice herself to save the boyfriend and, in the process, unearths, a horrifying discovery. It’s an exciting thrilling movie but might feel underwhelming in some areas where it seems to rely heavily on horror movie clichés. For those new to the trilogy it will surely give you the creeps, but for previous fans it might be a disappointing reboot with much unexplored potential.

Next up is a couple of remake movies still to come that you should watch out for.

8. BAD BOYS 3 (Coming in 2020)

BAD BOYS 3: FOR LIFE from, Columbia Pictures

Bad boys 3 is set to take stage in 2020 and it is also set to star the same main actors from the previous movies. From what we already know, the story line will be kept the same revolving around a drug cartel and We’ll be seeing our two favorite old school cops Mike and Marcus team up once again to bring down the cartel. The ruthless Armando Armas. If the past movies in the trilogy are anything to go by, we should expect the same or even more thrill, gun fights and action. The Movie will be released in January 2020

9. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG from, Paramount Pictures

Also expect sonic the hedgehog to grace your screens in late 2019. If you’re reminiscent of sonic the hedgehog video game franchise by Sega and the sonic animation series you might want to be stoked for this one. From what we know, we’ll be seeing sonic (he’s still blue) try to maneuver the complexities of life on earth with his new found human best friend. They must soon join forces to prevent the evil classic Dr. Robotnik from capturing Sonic and using his powers for world domination. Expect to see the likes of James Marsden and Neal McDonough in the remake this November.

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Watch the video here