Acer has done an amazing job as of late when it comes to introducing very high-quality mid-range laptops.
We spoke in-depth earlier about the Acer Aspire 5 515 43 R19L, a nice laptop if you're looking for a device to browse the web, edit some texts and stream Netflix but if you're looking for a laptop that can get down with the best of 'em you're going to need a lot more horsepower and that's precisely where the newly released Acer Aspire 5 A515-54-59W2 comes in.
Acer's latest mid-range flagship debuts with a 10th generation Core i5 processor, 256 GB of SSD storage, and 8 GB of upgradable RAM, all tied together withing a lightweight body of just under 4 pounds.
Today we're going to get down and really examine Acer's latest offering to check if it's worth your money or if you should look in another direction as we dive headfirst onto this review of the Acer Aspire 5 A515-54-59W2.
Once in awhile a laptop manufacturer will introduce a laptop that will be immensely popular due to its perfect balance between price and specs. They won't advertise it heavily and you won't read about it constantly but said laptop will be in and out of the top seller positions for months on end.
Sure enough, it won't boast an impressive - nor memorable - name, neither will it posses a stunning design but what it will manage is to set itself apart just enough on every single category that you'll be left wondering; how come this laptop isn't more popular?
Today, we're excited to tell you all about one such laptop; the ASUS VivoBook 15 F512JA-AS34. A stunning model that arrives with a killer price and high-end specs worthy of laptops twice its price.
Asus has carved out quite a name for themselves in the last few years thanks to their exceptional line of ultrabooks; the Asus Zenbook. Its popular lineup is seen as the windows equivalent of the MacBook Air with a tighter price point and -let's face it - a more innovative design. Today we're ready to talk about one of its most popular models; the Asus Zenbook 13 UX333FA-AB77.
The signature model packs a powerful Core i7 processor, ample SSD storage capacity, a nano-edge display, and stunning battery life amongst its many, many virtues. Now we're ready to get cracking, look under the hood, and see if this ultrabook has what it takes to become our newest crush.
Finding a laptop that strikes the right balance between performance and affordability is no easy endeavour. The market is packed with models that either underperform or overperform to our needs. That said, today we would like to talk to you guys about a model that perfectly speaks to our needs - and our wallets -; the HP 15-dy1036nr.
HP's latest venture onto the mid-range packs just about everything we could wish for; sufficient RAM, SSD storage, 10th generation i5 processor, powerful battery and a whole lot more. Without further ado, let's get on with this in depth review of the HP 15-dy1036nr.
It has been a while since we published a review here at 9to5gadgets, though in all fairness it's been a while since we've seen a product interesting enough to warrant one (these reviews do take quite a bit of time).
Today, we're here to talk about a laptop that has us pretty excited -though an entry level model at that- we're talking about the Acer Aspire 5 A515-43-R19L.
In this review of the Aspire 5 515-43-R19L we will talk about the good, the bad and the ugly, because obviously this laptop does have its limitations and we're not going to pretend that it doesn't.
That said, it's price to specs ratio is amongst the best we have seen in a very very long time. Without further ado, let's get on with this review and try to figure out if this is the right laptop for you.
Acer's new budget laptop is perfectly suited for those of you who are looking for a laptop that has a fast performance on tasks such as browsing the web, editing documents and streaming movies without breaking the bank in the process.
Thanks to its solid state drive and mid-range processor, it's well suited as an entry level laptop that would be great for students, people who don't work consistently with image editing software or gamers. Its low price point and rave reviews are its main strengths but due to its specs it could easily cost 100 dollars more and still be worth its price.
Today we're gonna talk about a smartphone that's been garnering a lot of attention within the mid range thanks to its great price to spec relationship. Specifically, we're gonna take on the pros and cons of the Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro, also known as the Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite for global markets.
Xiaomi is a force to be reckoned with, the company which started off limiting itself to manufacturing phones has now gone on to produce a wide array of high-quality products. That said, they are still one of the best manufacturers of budget phones in the world. It's with that in mind that today we take apart the Xiaomi Redmi S2, a new mid-range smartphone launched by the company in recent weeks and that is poised to dominate the budget smartphone market.
Without further ado, today we'll dive deep into the pros and cons of the Xiaomi Redmi S2, also known as the advantages and disadvantages of the product. Let's get on with it!
Design 9
Display 7
Hardware 9
Battery Life 7
Connectivity 8
Recap
With a 5.99 inch display, a great processor, 4 GB of RAM (in the international version) and a great camera that packs AI for better results in bokeh mode, the Xiaomi Redmi S2 is undoubtedly one of Xiaomi's most attractive ventured into the mid-range smartphone market.
7.2
Rating
Xiaomi Redmi S2 Pros and Cons, Advantages and Disadvantages
Xiaomi Redmi S2 Cons
The Xiaomi Redmi S2 does not have a Full HD display
Despite being launched in the middle of 2018, Xiaomi did make one major mistake when designing the Redmi S2 in the sense that they didn't incorporate a Full HD display. Instead, they opted for an HD+ display. In case you're not familiar with the resolution, an HD Plus display offers 1440 by 720 pixels, a step above the average HD display but well below a Full HD display.
What's more is that the display is LCD, we might be able to forgive Xiaomi if they had used an AMOLED display to compensate for the relatively low resolution but using a standard LCD display seems a bit cheap in our books.
That's not to say we're looking at a bad screen, it's a very good screen but it could've been way better with a higher resolution.
No USB Type C port
This one is quite a shocker as well. Specifically, another con of the Redmi S2 is that instead of implementing the new USB type C standard for charging and data transfers, the new smartphone packs a standard micro USB 2.0 port. With so many Chinese manufacturers launching phones with a USB Type C port it was quite surprising to see the lack of this element on the newer budget flagship.
On the plus side you also get the chance to use this phone with all the cables you surely have lying around the house and if its default cable dies on you you'll always have the option to use another one without any fuss and without the necessity to go out and but a USB type C cable if you don't already have other devices that use this standard in your home.
Battery is standard for one day of usage
When it comes down to battery life, Xiaomi has never been especially concerned with improving its battery life on its budget devices and the Redmi S2 is no exception to this rule. Specifically, another disadvantage we encounter when reviewing the pros and cons of the S2 is that it packs a standard 3080 mAh battery under its belt.
What this means in terms of battery life is that the S2 is equipped to handle one day of usage but not more. Sorry, you're not gonna rid yourself of the nightly tradition of plugging in the phone with this smartphone.
No 4k recording
The S2 might come equipped with a dual rear end camera but that doesn't mean that it boasts all the best features when it comes to its optical department. Specifically, the Redmi S2 can only record at a maximum resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels, also known as a Full HD resolution.
In all honesty, we also know that the resolution isn't all that matters when it comes to recording video and we would much rather have a good quality Full HD video than a poor quality 4K video which seems to be the case in most phones that sell for this price point. More on the camera in the pros...
Pros of the Xiaomi Redmi S2
Extra wide display
While we did stop a moment to criticise the resolution of the display, the size of it is something to be commended, even more so when we consider that the phone isn't particularly large. Specifically, we've got a 6-inch display (5.99 inches) with a screen to body ratio of 74.5% and an overall size of 6.3 by 3.4 inches.
In contrast, the iPhone 8 Plus which packs a 5.5-inch display does so in a size of 6.2 by 3.07 inches with a screen to body ratio of 67%. Also in stark contrast is the weight of the devices, while the iPhone 8 Plus weighs in at slightly over 200 grams, the Redmi S2 weighs over 15% less marking just 170 grams.
Future proof internals and a solid CPU
One of the biggest issues when buying a new smartphone is getting one that will last for several years. To do so you must search for a phone that packs a good processor and a lot of RAM. Fortunately for us, one of the Redmi S2's most prominent pros is that it delivers 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of storage in its international version and a tried and proven Snapdragon 625 octa-core processor.
4 GB of RAM is vital to ensure that the phone will keep working for years to come. For some perspective, Motorola's new offerings which cost significantly more than Xiaomi's come with 3 GB of RAM which is what you would need for a phone that will last you a little over a year.
Another solid component of the S2 is the processor which is also present in phones such as the Moto G5, the Zenfone 3 or the Vivo X9.
Facial unlocking
Facial recognition is nothing new in the smartphone market, it's been around for several years now but good facial recognition implemented at the root of a smartphone is something pretty new for most users. In that regard, another advantage when it comes to the Redmi S2 is that it packs facial recognition technology that actually works pretty well.
Sure enough, it's not going to be as advanced as the face id in the iPhone X but we're also talking about a phone that costs a fraction of the price. Specifically, under decent (not just good) lighting conditions, the Xiaomi Redmi S2 can unlock in just under a second.
However, for those who aren't big fans of facial recognition software to unlock their devices still have the option to use the fingerprint sensor placed on the back of the phone for a more secure unlocking experience.
That said, you should know that the facial recognition feature is not easily fooled and when trying out the phone's feature we've gone onto using pictures to try and unlock the phone and fortunately for us it did not seem to recognize a picture of a face as the actual face of the user.
Excellent camera
Undoubtedly, the most prominent advantage on the Redmi S2 has to be the picture quality for both its front facing and rear end cameras. Specifically, the dual-camera coupled with AI learning has developed some pretty amazing results.
While we're not fans of dual cameras on budget phones as the pictures tend to look very artificial once we use the "bokeh" mode, this is not the case when it comes to the Redmi S2.
The camera on the S2 does an excellent job at accurately delivering an excellent depth of field image and it really does look as if the pictures were taken by a professional DSLR camera. We were very scared that this might not be the case, fortunately for us, it's not.
Sure enough, the camera isn't up to par with Apple or Huawei's high-end phones, especially in low lighting situations but overall the results are quite impressive not just in terms of picture quality but also in regards to video quality. Undoubtedly one of the most impressive cameras on a budget phone.
Price point
Finally, we can't talk about the pros and cons of the Redmi S2 without giving a special shout out to the price point. Specifically, while the lowest cost version with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage is on sale for roughly 150 dollars, the superior international version with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage is available for just about 180 dollars. That said, prices in tech fluctuate at a dramatic rate so we really recommend you checking the price point here as it's very likely that this phone has a special offer going on.
However, even without a discount, this is an amazing phone for the price and you're getting an excellent bang for your buck all things considered.
Conclusion: Do the pros outweigh the cons?
Wrapping up this study on the virtues of the Xiaomi Redmi S2 we must say that the pros outweigh the cons in a considerable fashion. Sure enough, we would've liked a Full HD display instead of an HD Plus display but considering that a higher resolution would also hinder the battery life, it's something we can live with.
The Redmi S2 is as sure as it gets when it comes down to buying a budget phone and in all honesty, you simply can't go wrong when purchasing this phone.
