Apple Iphone 5, 4th year ownership review

Today's my 4th year Anniversary owning my Apple Iphone 5 16GB.  Bought my Iphone 5 white under Maxis One Club contract back in 27 December 2012.  

I'm quite satisfied with the Iphone 5.  Back in 27 December 2012, I had a choice of Iphone 5 and Samsung Note 2 N7100.  Thank God I picked the Iphone 5.  As based on my cousin's experience, Samsung Note 2 can last barely 2 years.  Typically, the Mainboard, Screen, Digitizer or Battery will fail (at least 2 of the above).  Also, Note 2 Android update up to Kitkat only.  Unlike  IOS, my Iphone 5 now running Latest IOS 10.2.

 Above: Chipped Glass Screen protector caused by Previous casing.  Below 2 photos.

So far it's a reliable, tough (due to Glass screen protector and Targus Hybrid casing) and user friendly companion. Just updated to IOS 10.2. A bit laggy while playing Subway Surfers. Camera quality's decent but terrible at Low light shooting.

The Drawbacks, 16GB barely enough. Thanks to Google Photos, managed to backup and Spring clean my photos. Now left 500+/- MB storage.

Battery replaced once Jan this year by Brotan (of Lowyat Forum) and OEM battery now shows sign of deteriorating.  Below, Screen shot of Typical battery life.

There's 2 annoying things about Iphone 5 and IOS.  Their Apps requires updating every DAY.  Yes, Everyday there's AT LEAST 1-5 apps needs updating.

There's 1 particular Annoying App that Required updates every 3-5 days.  A WHOOPING 30 updates in 6 months.  It's no other than Airbnb.  Each update 100+ MB.  Very Bad for my 16GB Iphone 5.  Latest update's version 16,49.2 (Yes, 50 updates).

Another annoyance's the Storage.  I had myself to blame by picking 16GB version.

Overall rating 9/10. Highly recommended. But get AT LEAST 64GB.

That's all folks, thanks for having the time and patience to read this blog entry.  An original Jefferson Lim's production.  Copy like a man, please acknowledge my work.  Don't plagiarize.

Gadget 101: List of Phones I've used

As per title.  I owned my 1st phone back in 1999.  I was 20 years old then...  My 1st phone's a Green Nokia 5110.  It was with me for 2 months only coz It dropped off my pocket.

The reason why I came up this this is because of worrying trend in past 2 years.  A normal Malaysian will change phone on average TWICE A YEAR!!!  For my case, barring stolen or lost, my loyalty to my phone can be seen below.  I keep a phone for AT LEAST 8 months (Nokia N8, SonyEricsson K850i up to 7++ years (SonyEricsson K618i).  On average, I changed phone once every 2.5 years.  My Current phone, Iphone 5's nearing 4 years Anniversary coming December.

 Here's the list of my phones I owned:


Primary Phones  / Secondary Phone

1) Nokia 5110 (June 99 to Aug 99)

2) NEC DB500 (UK-spec) Aug 99 to Aug 00) - Sold off

3) Nokia 3210 (Aug 00 to April 2002) - Sold off/ Siemens C35i (April 2001 to August 2001) - Sold

4) Ericsson T39m (April 2002 to April 2004) - Sold / Alcatel OT512 Gold (Sept 2004 till Oct 2005) - Sold

5) Sony Ericsson T610 (April 2004 to Nov 2005) - Traded in) / Nokia 6510 (Oct 2005 till Oct 2007)

6) Nokia 3230 Symbian (Nov 2005 to Dec 2006) (Traded in)/ Nokia 6510 (Oct 2005 till Oct 2007) - Stolen

7) SonyEricsson K618i (December 2006 to October 2007)  / (Oct 2007 till October 2013)

8) SonyEricsson K810i (Oct 2007 to Nov 2008) - Traded in/ Sony Ericsson K618i (Oct 2007 till October 2013) (Still keeping, Still alive, collecting dust.  My toughest phone ever.  Refused to die)

9) SonyEricsson K850i (Nov 2008 to July 2009) (Sold off) / Sony Ericsson K618i (Oct 2007 till October 2013)

10) Nokia N79 (July 2009 till April 2012) - Still with me but Motherboard and Screen KO / Sony Ericsson K618i (Oct 2007 till October 2013)

11) Nokia N8 (April 2012 to 27 December 2012) - Sold off @ Lelong.

12) Apple Iphone 5 Maxis Set Silver. 27/12/2012.  Current primary phone.

13)  Iphone 5   /Sony Xperia Z Ultra (October 2013 to June 2014 (STOLEN)

14)  Iphone 5 (Currently using, Battery replaced once Feb 2016, Still running IOS 10 smoothly). 

Back then, as a Maxis One Club member, I was given a choice of Iphone 5 OR Samsung Note 2 for RM999, 2 years contract. Imagine back in Dec 2012 IF I choose the Samsung Note 2...  I would have stuck at Jelly Bean, Memory full, Maybe screen OR digitizer OR motherboard KO) / Huawei Honor 3C H30-U10.  (7/7/14 till now)

15) TARGET NEXT PHONE (Next 6 months, no hurry): 

Iphone 6S 64gb (Refurbish) Comp-Asia/ Huawei Honor 8  

MY QUESTION:

What did you do to your old phone other than Selling it off?  Did you recycle it properly?

For me, I sold off Phone 2-4, traded in phone 5-6, 8, 9,11.  Still keeping Phone #7 (The SonyEricsson K618i's Still alive and well) and Phone #10 (Dead).

That's all folks, thanks for having the time and patience to read this blog entry...  Happy Malaysia Day everyone!

REVIEW: Huawei Honor 3C H30-U10 2 yrs On

Yesterday was my 2nd phone's 2 years Anniversary owning the Huawei Honor 3C H30-U10.  I bought this Dual-SIM Phone from Lazada at RM474.00 after using RM25 cash voucher.  I received the phone via GDEX within 72 hours.  I received the phone on 8 July 2014.

I'm happy to report that this phone's serving me well after 24 months OR 2 years.  It's so GOOD that I'm struggling to find a suitable replacement for this phone.

A Detailed review of the phone can be found here:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Honor-3C-Smartphone-Review.137666.0.html

The above German review rated the Android Dual Sim phone a solid 78% out of 100%.

I'm struggling to find a Worthy upgrade for the Honor 3C.  Yesterday was my 2nd years anniversary using this Phone.  Any suggestions?

I almost buy the Huawei P9 lite.  But stopped after found out that it don't have Quickcharging and App2SD support.

My H30-U10 so far served me well.  Despite 8GB Internal, I still have 1gb Free as I moved the Gaming and many other files to SD card.  Of course Using 32GB Class 10 Sandisk Ultra helps...  

Pros:

1) Decent battery life.  My usage easily Charge once last whole day.

2) Nice display contrast

3) Better than Iphone 5 speaker quality (my other phone)

4) 2 SIM + MicroSD Slot.  Only Honor 5X have this useful feature.

5) Removable 2300mAH Lithium Polymer Battery...  (nowadays difficult to find).

Drawbacks: 

1) No quickcharging...

2) Heats up (record 52 deg celsius) while running Waze non stop 1 hr OR 1 hr Gaming (Subway surfers).

3) Slow to Log GPS.

4) Lots of Photo Noise, Hopeless Low light shooting...

5) Still running Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

My next phone upgrade requirements:

1) Dual Sim with MicroSD Slot though 1 SimCard and 1 MicroSD also acceptable.

2) NFC + Bluetooth 4.0

3) Decent wide angle cameras with Low aperture.

4) Budget below RM1000.

My Ideal phone is Sony Xperia Z5 Compact but at RM1899 is out of my budget.

Other photos:

That's all folks, thanks for having the time and patience to read this blog entry.  

Sony Xperia Z Ultra C6802 review Vol 1

In  this blog entry, I'm posting about my Latest toy.  it's no other than Sony Xperia Z Ultra C6802.  I bought this phablet exactly 1 month ago at Sony Centre 1 Utama at RM1999+150 for extended warranty to 3 years.  They gave me free Krussel leather flip case and screen protector worth RM129 which sealed the deal. 

Initially, I was planning to buy Asus Nexus 7 Lte at RM1299 from SENQ, the sales girl poisoned me with Sony Xperia Z Ultra C6802. 

Advantage over Asus Nexus 7 Lte:

- Phablet (phone and tablet) VS Tablet

- EXPANDABLE MicroSd memory up to 64gb with a total of 80gb storage
adding to internal 16gb memory. Vs 32gb Fixed

- superior connectivity with Wifi hotspot, DLNA,
 NFC and Bluetooth 4.0
- IP55/57 water and dust resistant

- Fits my Khakis and Jeans pocket comfortably 

- SONY MOBILE BRAVIA screen with Full HD 1080

- Better photo quality than Nexus 7 LTE 

- Sketch mode capabilities with a stylus pen bought at Daiso for RM5

- 16:9 Full HD 1080p display.  EXCELLENT FOR MOVIES.  

- STAMINA battery life up to 4 days+ usage averaged 2.5 days. See photo below 

- A host of quality apps by Sony like Walkman, play memories, Sony selection etc. Photo below:

There's only 2 disadvantage:

- Google NEXUS device have 1st priority to get Latest ANDROID OS.  In fact as I am typing this many Nexus device owner already upgraded to Android Kitkat OS.  In comparison, my Sony Xperia Z Ultra C6802 still running on Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2.

- SMALLER 6.44" vs 7" display. 

Verdict: No regrets purchase.  RATING 9/10. 

Well, there's a saying a picture's worth 1000 words.  Enjoy the photos:

 Above and below, all my 3 gadgets. IPHONE 5, Sony Xperia Z Ultra C6802 and Ipad2 16gb wifi

 Above, sample of the Sketch apps.

 above: STRONGER social.network photo integration than Apple

 Above: The "worst" battery life under my heaviest usage. Below: latest battery status.  3 days usage easily achievable

Lastly, my parting shots; the camera Quality:
- Double click to enlarge

That's all folks, thanks for the time and patience to read this blog entry.  AN ORIGINAL JEFFERSON LIM PRODUCTION.