OPPO Reno5 to arrive in February with two variants for PH

OPPO is set to introduce OPPO Reno5 4G and Reno5 5G, the ultimate smartphone videography powerhouse, this February 2021. This marks the steady commitment of OPPO in keeping up with the changing times and needs of its young consumers especially in the advent of 5G connectivity. OPPO Reno5’s latest camera technologies will allow you to picture life together better with your family and loved ones.

“We are thrilled to officially introduce the new OPPO Reno5 in February. We’re introducing two Reno5 smartphones – Reno5 4G and Reno5 5G in the Philippines. With the steady growth of 5G roll out in the country and our cutting-edge camera technologies, we promise to equip young Filipinos with a Reno smartphone that can inspire them more to creatively #PictureLifeTogether with friends and family in this highly digital-driven lifestyle,” said Raymond Xia, OPPO Philippines Marketing Director.

The Power of Imaging Innovation on 5G

5G has brought more opportunities for people to discover more diverse and complex content. Video, as both a content format and an engaging application in its own right, is set to benefit hugely from the arrival of 5G. The trend of short videos has already set the world ablaze.

But with the increased speeds brought by 5G, this trend is set to continue as 5G makes it easier to watch, download, and share videos of all types. With these developments, smartphone habits are also transforming with people becoming more interested in creating video content.

In facing the new demands brought by the 5G era, and in keeping with the Reno series’ long-standing pursuit of providing a superior video and photo experience, OPPO has developed a more advanced and more comprehensive imaging system on the new Reno5 4G and Reno5 5G – the OPPO Full Dimension Fusion (FDF) Portrait Video System.

Based on top-end imaging hardware, innovative image processing algorithms, and user-centric software, the OPPO FDF Portrait Video System caters to the diverse video creation needs of users in almost any situation, empowering them to capture the joy of life in every moment with easy-to-create professional-quality video content.

Clarity + Style: Consumer Video Needs in the 5G Era

OPPO’s consumer research has shown that the core need for consumers is the ability to capture clear videos in any situation, and in a way that expresses their own unique style. At the same time, they want this process to be simple and easy to use.

OPPO believes the best way to solve this consumer need is through the perfect integration of imaging hardware and software. The all-new OPPO Full Dimension Fusion Portrait Video System works on the basis of top-end imaging hardware in tandem with flexible, intelligent software, together with OPPO’s extensive expertise in portrait scene detection and portrait feature design.

The result is a world-class portrait video experience for users on the new OPPO Reno5 4G and Reno5 5G.

The OPPO Full Dimension Fusion Portrait Video System: Stunning Portraits, Stunning Scenery

The OPPO FDF Portrait Video System is comprised of two engines – the Quality Enhancement Engine and the Portrait Perception Engine.

Of the two, it is the Quality Enhancement Engine’s role to ensure users to capture clear images in any scenario, whether that be day, night, in strong backlight, while in motion or while standing still. The Portrait Perception Engine meanwhile, is responsible for establishing strict criteria for the features within a portrait video. These criteria ensure that the portrait subjects and the background are clearly and naturally defined.

The Quality Enhancement Engine: Crystal Clear. Wherever, Whenever

The Quality Enhancement Engine is a suite of algorithms that ensure users can capture quality video images in any situation. Whether in low light, bright light, or fast motion environments, the engine optimizes settings to deliver images that stay true to life. It is the basis of many of the core imaging functionality on the Reno5 4G and Reno5 5G. Among these is OPPO’s original, industry-leading AI Highlight Video.

AI Highlight Video

AI Highlight Video uses OPPO’s new generation, proprietary algorithm architecture to combine its industry-leading Ultra Night Video Algorithms and Live HDR Algorithms. By detecting light levels in a scene, it intelligently applies the algorithms to optimally adjust brightness, color and clarity in videos. This is the first time that OPPO has united Ultra Night Video and Live HDR under one feature, which is available on both the Reno5 4G and Reno5 5G front and rear cameras.

AI Highlight Video works by integrating three automatic optimization algorithms:

  • Adaptive Brightness Adjustment applies Auto Exposure (AE) – Adaptive Gain to control the exposure time and guarantee the brightness of the image while maintaining a smooth video from frame to frame.
  • Adaptive Dynamic Range applies dynamic range adjustments to each frame in a video with Dynamic Range Conversion and Filmic Tone Mapping technology to restore lost colors, brightness, and darkness to their natural levels.
  • Adaptive Noise Reduction introduces inter-frame fusion for temporal noise reduction and intra-frame fusion for spatial noise reduction.

The Portrait Perception Engine: Unique Style, Limitless Creativity

Creating high-quality video content is more than just clear images – users must be empowered to creatively express themselves. OPPO has provided a host of features such as AI Color Portrait (except Reno5 5G), Monochrome Video, AI Mixed Portrait (only available on Reno5 4G), and more that will give users the power to create content with deeper and more creative stories.

To enhance the overall portrait capabilities of the device, the FDF Portrait Video System also includes the Portrait Perception Engine to enable users to shoot in their style. This ensures that no matter what the scenario the subjects are in, the Video Portrait System will process the portrait subject more naturally.

Scene Design Manager

At the heart of the Portrait Perception Engine is OPPO’s Scene Design Manager. The Scene Design Manager uses OPPO’s proprietary top-level portrait scene definition capabilities, together with OPPO’s self-built large database to analyze real-life portrait scenes and the processing requirements needed.

It can define strict criteria for different scenarios and assess user-recorded videos against these criteria to provide suitable adjustments needed.

Portrait Recognition

After the Portrait Perception Engine has received the scene assessment from the Scene Design Manager, AI models, and deep neural networks work to recognize the portrait subject in the image, separating them from the image background. To increase the accuracy and speed of the AI model, OPPO uses millions of portrait data from its own database to train the industry-leading SOTA AI model, following which it conducts further processing to compress the model.

With these optimizations, the whole portrait recognition process can be performed in less than a millisecond.

The Portrait Perception Engine works to accurately obtain the specific features of each person and recognize each individual face even if partially obscured. This allows other features such as AI Highlight Video to perform their optimizations – be that brightness, color or contrast adjustments – with better precision.

In addition to facial recognition, it can also detect and track moving human bodies within a video and extract these portrait subjects with precision from even the most complex backgrounds.

From beginning to end, the Reno5 4G and Reno5 5G leverage OPPO’s powerful technology to simplify the complicated task of video capture, editing, and sharing off of users’ hands, leaving them with a simple-yet-professional means to record and create their own stories.

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Huawei FreeBuds 4i review: Charge less, listen more

05/12/2021

These days, there are just so many TWS devices to choose from. Ranging from expensive ones with extensive features to more wallet-friendly choices, wireless earbuds can already be regarded as a staple in a modern lifestyle. But, again, with so many choices out there, coming home to something familiar like the Huawei FreeBuds 4i shows that you can get a reliable device with advanced features all at a friendly price.

Now smaller, sleeker, and considered more powerful, what else does the Huawei FreeBuds 4i offer? Read on to find out.

Design

The Huawei FreeBuds 4i has undergone a semi-dramatic design overhaul when compared to its previous FreeBuds 3i. It ditches the old pill box-shaped design in favor of a smaller, more pocketable oval-shaped charging case. It’s not the most compact TWS charging case around but it can easily fit in your pants pocket or the palm of your hand.

The back of the case is rendered flat so it’s won’t wobble around when you put it down on a flat surface. There’s also a button on the right for manual pairing, an LED indicator up front, and the USB Type-C charging port at the bottom.

We’re still getting that high-gloss finish though which is very smooth to the touch and actually makes the device quite easy to clean. Our FreeBuds 4i comes in the Ceramic White color but there are two other colors available — Carbon Black and Red (Yes, it’s simply called Red)

As for the buds, they’re now shorter and smaller but seem just a tiny bit thicker. The design is also more rounded overall with a better fit for the ears thanks to the new ergonomic design. If you’re coming from the 3i or something similar, you’ll appreciate the shorter stems which help add a “barely-there” feel to the buds. It also feels less cramped in the ear and is easier to wear for longer periods of time.

Sound performance

Equipped with a 10mm driver, the FreeBuds 4i is an above-average performer in its price range and produces quality sound with a good balance of highs and lows. The improved earbud design and its silicone tips also provide a good seal in the ears that helped in improving overall sound. The lows have also been improved and are now much more present and alive while highs remain clear and balanced.

Don’t expect to crank up the volume to max, though, as you lose that balance as audio gets louder. At 80-100% volume, the bass will come up pretty thin while the highs can become just a bit overpowering. Though, in truth, this shouldn’t be a problem because it’s not healthy to max out the volume when listening on earphones in the first place.

Operating the FreeBuds 4i is easy thanks to the touch-capacitive sensors found on both buds. Much like the 3i, you’ll be able to customize what taps on the earbuds do. Actions are limited to double taps and tap and hold for each earbud, though.

In terms of controls, I’m still looking for a bit more flexibility. I personally find having just double taps and tap and hold quite limiting and had me reaching for my phone at times to take full control of the device.

In terms of latency, the FreeBuds 4i claims to have a minimal amount so you can enjoy content seamlessly. For playing music, taking calls, or playing games, I didn’t experience any lag to the point of inconvenience. The only time it became noticeable was when I started playing resource-heavy games like Genshin Impact. Audio would sometimes come about half a second late which wasn’t the best when watching cut scenes or cinematics. It didn’t happen often, though, so it’s forgivable.

ANC and Awareness mode

Back on the FreeBuds 4i are the Active Noise Cancelation (ANC) and Awareness modes. Huawei has been providing consistently good active noise cancelation across all its TWS devices so far and the FreeBuds 4i is no exception. The ANC on the 3i seems to perform better though but both still perform more than acceptable, more so in this price range.

You’re not getting pro-grade cancelation but it is enough to drown out surrounding noises. I was even able to drown out the noise of a TV playing music nearby. I could still hear it at a minimal volume but once I started playing music, I could barely hear it anymore.

As for Awareness mode, it’s a convenient feature to have and performs just as it should. The buds were able to take in the surrounding sound and feed it to my ears quite clearly. Even with the buds on, I was comfortably able to talk to others and could hear what was happening in the room thanks to the dual mics that can recognize and enhance voices. Though, of course, once you play music or any other audio, the surrounding noises become less audible.

While you can use the FreeBuds 4i straight out of the box, I would highly suggest downloading Huawei’s AI Life app to really get the most out of the device. It’s a great way to access all of the features without needing to touch the buds. You’ll also be able to monitor your battery life better and customize your taps.

Overall, the FreeBuds 4i show enough improvement to warrant an upgrade from past models. You’ve got better sound quality, overall, and have access to easy-to-use features that are really convenient.

Battery

Huawei claims that the FreeBuds 4i can last up to 10 hours of playback with ANC disabled and up to 7.5 hours with ANC enabled. I wore the FreeBuds for one whole working day, about 8 hours, and the FreeBuds 4i lasted with a little extra juice to spare. The battery life is very impressive, no doubt about it.

You can even get more life out of your buds with the charging case. We were about to get about 3 more charges from the case before it ran dry.

A 30-minute charge of the case with the buds in them resulted in 55% battery for the earbuds while the case was at 25%. It took about an hour to charge the case to full. Huawei says that even a mere 10-minute charge should be able to provide up to 4 hours of playback.

Creature Feature

In our reviews, The Modern Creatures aims to find special features in devices that make them worth having. For the Huawei FreeBuds 4i, it would have to be its battery life.

If you’re the type of person who appreciates not having to charge the whole day, then the Huawei FreeBuds 4i is just for you. Its long-lasting battery made me realize the luxury of not having to constantly charge your device and I really liked it.

And even if I was caught in a situation where the buds ran out of battery, I could take a break, leave them in the case to charge and they’d be ready again by the time I’d get back.

Final thoughts

The Huawei FreeBuds 4i offer the same reliable and quality performance the line has come to be known for. Not only are you getting good performing ANC on an affordable device but also good battery life to support it. Narrowing things down, if you value quality, balanced sound, and dependable features at a very good price, the Huawei FreeBuds 4i is something really worth considering.

The Huawei FreeBudss 4i is currently priced at PhP 3,599. There’s an ongoing promotion as well over at the official Huawei store where you can get a free thermos for every purchase or go for the bundle that includes a Huawei Band 4e. It’s also available at Huawei’s official stores on Lazada and Shopee.

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