Disclaimer: 9to5gadgets.com is a participant of the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Any valid purchases made through clicking on the links on this site (when directed to Amazon) will garner us a commission.

[Pros & Cons] UMI Max, Everything you Missed on first Glance

Advantages and disadvantages of the Umi Max

UMI has been taking the world by storm and making no apologies for it. The company has recently launched a slew of new and exciting smartphones such as the low cost UMI Diamond or the recently reviewed UMI Plus. Clearly, the company excels at developing budget phones that deliver prominent features.

Today we're going to take a stab at one of its most promising and exciting new models.Specifically, we're gonna review the pros and cons of the UMI Max. Why the UMI Max? Well because its one of the most attractive budget phablets on the market and we simply couldn't miss out on looking up its advantages and disadvantages in detail considering how affordable its become.

UMI Plus 5 cons and 7 pros you MUST know

Reviewing the advantages and disadvantages of the UMI Plus

UMI is ready to take the smartphone market by storm. The company has been called the new Motorola thanks to its pension for delivering high end smartphones at low range price points. Today we take a look at one of the companies most ambitious products to date; the UMI Plus 4G Phablet, a smartphone that's on sale for a limited time offer of just $179.

This particular smartphone is getting a lot of traction thanks to its 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, ultrafast fingerprint sensor and octa core processor. Now we dive in to review the pros and cons of the UMI Plus 4G phablet to help you decide if this is the phone you want or if you're better off looking for another handset. Ready?

[Detailed Pros and Cons] Xiaomi Mi Max

And in depth look at the advantages of the Xiaomi Mi Max

Things keep getting better for Xiaomi who simply doesn't know when to quit. The company has enjoyed massive success with both its smartphone and tablet lineup and now they've decided to go full in with it's first ever big sized phablet. We're talking about the Xiaomi Mi Max, a smartphone that's set a new trend by delivering nothing shy of a 6.44 inch display.

Today we're determined to get to know the Mi Max, along with its virtues and drawbacks. With that in mind we set out to explore the pros and cons of the Xiaomi Mi Max, care to join us?

[In review] Acer Aspire ES1-572-31KW Just about the Best Budget laptop available

An in depth look at the Acer Aspire ES1-572-31KW

Budget laptops have certainly gone a pretty long way in terms of performance and key specs. I remember just a couple of years ago when you couldn't get anything even close to decent for less than $500. However, today the landscape has truly changed and one of the companies that's more determined to prove this is Acer.

Acer has spent quite some time developing attractive laptops that cater to both our professional and financial needs, delivering the best price/spec ratio. Today's model is no different, packing an Intel Core i3, a massive 1TB storage capacity and a respectable 6 hour battery life along with an affordable price. We're talking of course about the Acer Aspire ES1-572-31KW. Wanna know more? Then check our full review right after the break!

Pros: Intel Core i3, 1TB storage, 4GB of (upgradable RAM), WiFi ac connectivity, extremely low price point, Intel HD 520 Graphics card.
Cons: No USB Type C ports, HD display.

[Reviewed] Dell XPS9360-4841SLV the Best Windows Ultrabook you'll find


Finding the best possible laptop to fit all your needs can be a bit of a daunting task. Everyday we seem to ask more and more of our laptops and some machines simply aren't built for the task. It's with that in mind that Dell set out to create it's now infamous XPS lineup. These are some of the best windows laptops available and if budget isn't an issue you can get a pretty awesome laptop that's up and ready to meet all your needs.

Today we take a look at one of the most attractive models launched to date, the Dell XPS9360-4841SLV. This particular ultrabook is pretty much as good as it gets. A quick overview will show you it's got a killer display, high end internals and a massive battery life. Today we set out to do more than a shallow overview as we propose an in depth review of the Dell XPS9360-4841SLV. Are you ready to come along for the ride?


[Review] Dell XPS 9360-1718SLV Honestly we expected More

An in depth honest look at the  Dell XPS 9360-1718SLV

Dell has done a pretty amazing job when it comes to its XPS lineup and in fact, as far as Windows laptops are concerned, these are probably amongst the best Windows has to offer. Often times we'll see a comparison between a top notch XPS vs a high end MacBook Pro and, more often than not, the XPS comes out swinging. Today, we're gonna take a look at relatively affordable Dell XPS 9360-1718SLV.

With its latest ultrabook Dell has decided to deliver a QHD display that's almost without a bezel as well as a seventh generation Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and very lightweight design that rivals even Apple's infamous 13 inch MacBook Air. Now, without further ado, lets get cracking on our in depth review of the Dell XPS 9360-1718SLV.

[Reviewed] Dell Inspiron i7559-3763BLK Affordable and Discreet Gaming laptop


Dell has really been working hard at making a name for themselves in the gaming market. Recently, the company has launched a series of affordable gaming laptops that have made quite a stir on the market. It's latest bet to pay off big time was the Dell Inspiron i7559-763BLK launched late last year and now the company has done it yet again with the Dell Inspiron i7559-3763BLK.

On its latest venture onto the "cheap gaming market" Dell has decided to bet on a quad core Core i7 processor, a hybrid storage system, dedicated graphics and, of course, an impressive 16GB of RAM. There's a lot of ground to cover so let's get too it as we take a peek behind the curtain on our review of the Dell Inspiron i7559-3763BLK, a gaming laptop with a killer price.

Not your average gaming aesthetic

This is, by all accounts, a gaming laptop, and as such you shouldn't expect a compact lightweight ultrabook design. That said, for a gamers laptop the Dell Inspiron i7559-3763BLK is quite discreet, weighing a shy of 6 pounds and measuring about 1 inch on thickness. It's not gonna win any design awards but its pretty conservative to the eye and you can easily use it when you're out and about without the laptop screaming its a gaming machine first and foremost.

The only two elements that make it clear it's focused on gaming are the red borders on the trackpad and the red covered speakers on the upper side of the keyboard.

Moving onto the display, it's a standard 15.6 inch Full HD IPS LED display with anti-glare technology, a matte finish and a 16:9 widescreen ratio. What this basically means is that it's a pretty great display for gamers and you'll be able to use it both indoors and outdoors.

Finally, another benefit to being a full sized laptop as opposed to a 13 inch model is that we've got a fully fledged backlit keyboard with its very own numeric pad and everything. Also, I should point out that the trackpad is pretty precise, eliminating pretty much the need to use a mouse.

Quad core CPU, massive RAM and a Hybrid Storage

To have a gaming laptop it's not enough to just have a great dedicated graphics. Truthfully that's a big part of the task but you'll also need a high end processor and a solid amount of RAM. Coincidentally that means that not only is this great as a gaming laptop but it's pretty much great as a high-performing laptop for pretty much anything you can think off.

In that regard, the Dell Inspiron i7559-3763BLK's performance is defined by its Intel Core i7-6700HQ quad core processor. This is, in short, just about the best consumer laptop processor available in the market right about now. It's base speed is 2.7GHz but when you're in need of more processing power it can go all the way towards 3.5GHz, all of this with 6MB of cache and 8 threads working all at once.

In short, this CPU is ready for just about anything you can think off, seriously, pretty much anything.

RAM is the other impressive feature as we've got 16GB of DDR3L SDRAM working at 1600MHz. You should know that RAM in this case isn't upgradable but to be frank I doubt you'll ever need anything more than 16GB. What's more, unless you're a hugely intensive multitasker its unlikely you'll ever get past using 8-9GB of RAM at a time. As they say, it's better to have and not need then it is to want and not have.

Finally, in terms of storage we've got a hybrid 1TB hard drive with 8GB of SSD storage. This isn't as good as having a full on SSD storage unit but it's pretty close giving you the benefit of having a pretty big storage capacity coupled with a higher speed while accessing your most used apps which would be stored on the SSD part of the storage. Again, it's not as fast and snappy as an SSD but it's a way to deliver a mix of both worlds and, in general, most people are pretty pleased with this format.

It's also worth noting that you could swap the hard drive for an SSD, with plenty of high capacity SSD's being sold at very low prices. For example, you could get a 250GB SSD for under $100.

Battery Life and Graphics chip

Bad news first: battery life isn't all that good. Specifically, while Dell hasn't actually gone out to explicitly state battery life, preliminary consumer reviews suggest that overall battery life on the Dell Inspiron i7559-3763BLK is around the 5 hour benchmark when doing some light computing. This number would go along with our own assessment considering the specs involved; display, CPU, RAM etc. Therefore we'd argue that you shouldn't really expect anything beyond the 5 hour mark.

Onto the graphics chip, we've got an Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M with 4GB of dedicated GDDR5 VRAM. This is an awesome graphics controller and you'll be able to play just about any AAA blockbuster at a Full HD setting with great frame rates. 

Games such as Call of Duty Infinite Warfare will give you roughly 30-40 frame rates at Full HD, same as Titanfall 2, Battlefield 1, Overwatch, Doom and Need for Speed 2016. 

Overall this is a pretty solid frame rate and though it's not the best graphics chip on the market it's more than enough to carry on with modern games without a hitch. Whats more, you'll also be able to do stuff like edit 4K video and do long photoshop sessions without worry.

What connectivity options do I have?

Finally, once we've taken a look at the most prominent features of the Dell Inspiron i7559-3763BLK in review, it's time to take a look at the more "boring" conventional connectivity stuff. To that point we've got three USB 3.0 Type A ports, an HDMI port, an ethernet port, audio jack as well as an SD card reader.

On the wireless segment we've got the latest WiFi 802.11ac standard as well as Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity. As expected, there's no optical drive in sight (pun intended), but that's beginning to be an increasingly common trait amongst high end laptops as well as convertibles.

There's also your run of the mill HD webcam and a pretty solid set of speakers which are pretty great for gaming as well as watching movies.

What's left to say? Should I but this laptop?

Our review of the Dell Inspiron i7559-3763BLK covers all the basics and then some. Should you buy this laptop? That will depend upon your needs. One thing's for sure; this is an excellent laptop from every stance.

 It's got a killer processor, excellent graphics card, more than enough RAM to work with multiple heavy apps at a time and a hybrid drive to give you both space and speed at the same time. It's a great laptop whether you're a gamer or simply a power-user who's tired of using machines that aren't up to the task.

The only point where it lacks is battery life but considering this is a gaming laptop equipped with power hungry components we can't really blame it for that. All in all, just about the best budget gaming machine money can buy with a great price and stellar opinions to match.

[Reviewed] Dell Inspiron 13 i5368-7643GRY the King of Affordable Convertibles


Alongside HP and Acer, Dell's really stepped up its game when it comes to two in one laptops, also known as convertibles. This kind of laptop features a foldable touchscreen display which allows the user to take home the best of both worlds by getting both a big sized tablet and a compact little laptop. Now it's time to take a look at one of Dell's most promising new convertibles under the name Dell Inspiron 13 i5368-7643GRY.

This particular convertible is available at a very competitive price and packs an impressive 256GB SSD storage unit, a 6th generation Core i5 CPU and the latest standard DDR4 RAM. Without further delay, let's see what it's all about as we review the Dell Inspiron 13 i5368-7643GRY.

[Review] Acer Swift 5 SF514-51-54T8 What's not to love?


Acer certainly has a lot to be proud off this year. The company has gone from manufacturing a decent laptop lineup to providing premium quality laptops at the most aggressive price points. Case and point; the stunning Acer Swift 5 SF514-51-54T8.

On its latest entry towards the ultrabook market Acer has managed to equip this relatively affordable laptop with features typically reserved for the higher end models. Stuff like a 13 hour battery life, a seventh generation Core i5 CPU and a Full HD display with Acer Color intelligence are just a few reasons why we completely love this laptop (and you'll likely love it too).

Overall, we can safely say that this is one of the best options in the market but don't take our word for it, check out our review of the Acer Swift 5 SF514-51-54T8 and draw up your own conclussions.

[Review] Acer Swift 3 SF314-51-384Z a whole New Ball Game


Good things come to those who wait and if you've been waiting for the right time to buy yourself a new laptop then you're sure to reap the benefits in the form of the latest Acer Swift 3 SF314-51-384Z. This laptop makes a huge leap forward from most laptops within its price range by adopting a whole new set of innovative and cutting edge technology at a convenient price point.

Specifically, in our review of the Acer Swift 3 SF314-51-384Z we're gonna tackle the SSD storage unit, 6th generation processor, fingerprint reader as well as its fairly extensive battery life. Make no mistake, if you're looking for a budget ultrabook that will meet all your needs then you most certainly found it. But enough small talk, lets get down to our review so you can see for yourself why we believe so firmly in this laptop.

[Reviewed] Acer Swift 3 SF314-51-52W2 Shut Up and Take my Money!


Ultrabooks are the new standard alongside convertibles and lately it's more and more people who prefer portability over high end performance. Fortunately for us, Acer isn't making us pick between performance and portability thanks to their introduction of the latest Acer Swift 3 SF314-51-52W2.

This new laptop, that can only be qualified as a straight up ultrabook, offers its users high end components such as 256GB of SSD storage, a freakin fingerprint reader and a powerful Core i5 CPU coupled with an insanely competitive price point amongst many other positive traits that are incredibly rare. Without further delay, let's see what this model has to offer as we dive into our  in depth review of the Acer Swift 3 SF314-51-52W2.

[Reviewed] Acer Spin 5 SP513-51-55ZR Perfect in EVERY Sense

review Acer Spin 5 SP513-51-55ZR

Convertibles have never been an easy segment. However, lately they seem to be coming into their own thanks to the advancements of technology that provide them with more compact and efficient components as well as a lower price tag to match.

The most common mistakes that most affordable convertibles make is that they tend to have a standard hard drive versus an SSD storage unit. This is done to improve margins and cut costs.

That said, it's Acer who decided it was about time for a shakeup and they've launched a series of attractive convertibles who all implement SSD storage units. Today we're gonna tackle a very attractive model that features a mid range price coupled with an impressive 256GB SSD storage as well as a 6th generation i5 CPU. Let's get to know this model in detail as we deliver our review of the Acer Spin 5 SP513-51-55ZR.

Pros: 256GB SSD, Core i5-6200U, Full HD touchscreen, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, 10 hour battery life, competitive price, dual band WiFi.
Cons: No ethernet port, 1 USB 3.0 port.

[Reviewed] Acer Spin 5 SP513-51-30EU, the Ultimate Budget Convertible

review Acer Spin 5 SP513-51-30EU

Getting the right convertible at the right price can be somewhat of a challenge. Most budget convertibles offer the very basic features you'd expect from a base $300-350 laptop, and if you really want high end specs you end up spending quite a bit more. However, Acer has come to the rescue and to help us deal with this issue it has introduced a very price friendly convertible that packs high end specs into a mid range price point.

In this review of the Acer Spin 5 SP513-51-30EU we're going to talk about everything from its high end Full HD display to its 10 hour battery life as well as its 6th generation CPU and what this means for the end user. Without further delay, let's get on with it!

[Infographic] Minimum Wages needed to buy an iPhone 7 across the Planet


The iPhone 7 is not a cheap phone by any standard. No matter how you look at it, buying an iPhone 7 is gonna cost you a pretty penny. However, today we've gone a little further and developed an interactive map in which we capture exactly how many minimum wages you would need to buy an iPhone 7 across the globe.

For this infographic we've taken the base $649 iPhone 7 with 32GB of storage and we've stacked that up against the worlds minimum wages across all 176 countries. You should bare in mind that the iPhone 7 doesn't sell at the same price all around the world. In fact, in most countries it's actually more expensive than what it costs in the United States.

We didn't take that into account because since many countries don't actually offer an official Apple distributor, prices would've been all over the place. That said, the map was developed to give you a rough idea of how expensive the iPhone is for most of the worlds population and how "cheap" it is in some countries.

With that in mind you can see how in a country like Uganda, you'd need 381 minimum wages to purchase an iPhone 7. That's more than 31 years of work to buy a phone! In other countries, you just need a fraction of your salary. In New Zealand, where the minimum wage is set at over $1800 you'd need "just 35 percent" of your monthly income to buy an iPhone 7.

In South America, most countries require over one minimum wage to purchase an iPhone 7 with Venezuela topping the list at 21 minimum wages and Argentina at the bottom with 1.6 minimum wages required to buy Apple's latest flagship.

Nearly every country in Africa required you to spend over 10 times your minimum wage to get the coveted phone with some countries like Libya being the exception at 1.99 with a $325 minimum monthly wage.

As we leave eastern Europe and set our sights on the west, things get considerably more expensive as the minimum wage drops considerably, not quite to African levels but well above the levels of South America with countries like Mongolia requiring 7.45 minimum wages and Russia needing 5.88 minimum wages. Indeed, in most of the world you'd need to work over 6 months to buy an iPhone 7 with a minimum salary job.

Finally, we'd like to point out that the data for the minimum salaries was taken from Wikipedia (for the most part) and it applies to the lowest minimum wage (specified in each country). You should consider that in many parts of the world, the minimum wage is set by province and sector where we gather the lowest common denominator of each.

Also take into account that there are countries where there isn't a minimum wage in any sector, such as Italy, Norway and Sweden.  All in all it's a scary outlook, not just in reference to the iPhone 7 in and of itself but about the distribution of wealth across the planet.

If you like the infographic you're more than welcomed to share it through the social buttons and if you'd like to place it in your blog we'd be very grateful and the code for such is right here:

<iframe width="800" height="1031" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="overflow-y:hidden;" src="https://magic.piktochart.com/embed/17753255-iphone-7-price-in-minimum-wages"></iframe>
You can adjust the width and height of the infographic once you've copied the code. :) If you would like to copy just the image (without the interactive map) you can do so here.