Review: Huawei Watch GT 2. Overhyped, leaves much to be desired

I received this product as part of a review program in return for an unbiased review.

Pros:

• Long battery life
• Comfortable straps
• Very light
• Attractive design
• Accurate tracking

Cons:

• No third party apps
• Limited function
• Truncated notifications

I've heard so much about the Huawei Watch GT2. But I think it's a bit overhyped.

The watch is quite lite and has a long battery life. I had used it for 2 days continuously and the battery had only dropped 6%.  I had a continuous heartbeat turned on.

Despite these pros, the watch leaves much to be desired.

For example, I can't do much from the watch.  The music app won't work with Google Play Music, only the mp3 files transferred to the watch.  Spotify is out too so as Google Fit.

Also, you can't use the watch to pay using NFC.  In fact, most of the settings of the watch must be controlled by the phone; it cannot be used on its own.

While it does a great job at fitness tracking and sleep tracking, it's lacking on other fronts.

In summary, would I recommend the watch?  No.  At least not at the price point of £200.

Review: Huawei Nova 5T. Great phone, camera letdown

I received this product as part of a review program in return for an unbiased review.

Pros:

• Flagship level performance
• Crisp clear screen
• Fingerprint reader on the power button
• Large screen
• Great value for money
• No notch
• Long battery life
• Dual sim capability

Cons:

• No waterproofing
• Camera is OK
• No wireless charging
• No headphone jack
• Punch hole camera does not provide 3D facial recognition.  Also, face unlock doesn't work without ample lighting

On paper, the Nova 5T has an impressive specs sheet.  It shares the same Kirin 980 processor and memory size (6 GB ram and 128 GB storage) as Huawei's other flagship phones.  It also packs a camera with a quad-camera layout:

• 48 MP, f/1.8, 28mm (wide), 1/2.0", 0.8µm, PDAF
• 16 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide), 1/3.1"
• 2 MP, f/2.4, 27mm (wide), dedicated macro camera
• 2 MP, f/2.4, depth sensor

And it is almost half the price of Huawei's flagships.

But this is where the similarities end.

Design

The Nova 5T has a notchless 6.26 inch 19.5:9 screen.  Instead, it sports a punch out in the left corner of the screen for the 32 MP front-facing selfie camera.  The display is crisp and bright.

The back of the phone is clad in 2.5d hard glass, and there is a distinct camera bump for the 3 cameras + LED flash and depth sensor.  However, despite the metal backing, the phone doesn't have Qi wireless charging.

Overall the design of the camera is curvy and easy to hold.  The only concern I have is with the bump which juts out from the phone.  Therefore, the phone doesn't sit flat on the table.

On the side of the phone is the power button, which also doubles as a fingerprint reader.

The reader works like a charm.  It quickly and accurately unlocks the phone.

Camera

This phone has 3 cameras and one depth sensor.  In theory, the 48 MP camera would mean great pictures, but in practice, I noticed that the camera quality is a bit lacking.

Fruit taken with adequate lighting

Nova 5T night mode.  Blurry as hell

Picture of the peg taken under daylight

Nova 5T 48 mp (Ultra Clarity mode)	Shot of my neighborhood (48 mp)
Mate 20 Pro	Google Pixel 4

The camera performs well under adequate light, but once lighting drops, the phone starts to struggle.  Also, unlike the Mate 20 Pro, the Nova doesn't perform that well if your subject is close to the lens.

The front-facing camera lacks 3D sensing capability.  Therefore, the face unlock won't work in dull lighting.  However, the aforementioned fingerprint in the power button makes a nice backup.

Performance

Nova 5T is powered by Kirin 980 and has 6 GB of ram and 128 GB of storage.  This is the exact same specs as in Huawei's flagship phones.  Thus, the interface is as smooth as butter.  One thing I like about this phone is that it has dual sim capability.  That means that I can have two sims in the device, one for my main phone and one for a back up.  Therefore, I can use different network providers to improve my coverage.

Summary

This is an excellent device with flagship-level performance.  However, its camera is a bit poor, especially in low lighting.

Fix it: Hacked Twitter account

Recently there is a spate of Twitter account that has been hacked and spewing out spam tweets and direct messages to followers that says

Hi someone is posting horrible things about you... bit.ly/LKOFNj.

The shortened URL (address) and message may vary. Here is another variant:

Hi someone is saying nasty rumors about you... bit.ly/LKOqSG

But they all lead to tvvitiler.com/1w/ and have a similar suppose: to steal your Twitter account login details so they (the hackers) can pose as you.

How to fix it? Well, the solution is easy, change your Twitter account password. Also, change any other accounts that use a similar password. If you don't know how to do this, see this Twitter support article. For your convenience, the instructions have been copied over.

1. From your logged in account, click on the "more icon" in the navigation bar and select Settings and privacy.
2. From the account tab, click on Password.
3. Enter your current password.
4. Choose your new password.
5. Save your changes by clicking Save.

If you are unable to log in to your account, you may try resetting your password:

How to send yourself a password reset via email:

1. Click the Forgot password? link. Or click here. 
2. Enter your email address or Twitter username.
3. Enter your mobile phone number, if prompted, in the format suggested. (Forgot your number? Contact support for assistance.)
4. Check your email inbox. Twitter will immediately send a message to your account's email address.
5. Click the reset link in that email.
6. Choose a new password. 

How to send yourself a password reset via SMS:

If you've added your mobile number to your account in your Mobile settings, you may receive a password reset via SMS/text message.

1. On a computer, go to the Forgot password? page and enter your username (or email address).
2. Enter your mobile number.
3. Select Reset via phone.
4. Twitter will text you a six-digit code that is valid for 15 minutes. 
5. Enter this code on the Twitter website. Use the code given and enter it in the space given. You will then be prompted to change your password.

Not receiving the SMS code?

• It may take up to a few minutes for you to receive the code.
• If you do not receive it after a few minutes, try texting HELP to your Twitter short code to ensure you are receiving SMS notifications from Twitter. If you do not receive anything back, please review our SMS troubleshooting page or use the email password reset option above. 

If that doesn't work you may try contacting Twitter customer service. You may also want to check the apps you authorized to your account and remove any you don't recognize. To do this see this Twitter support article. For your convenience, the instructions have been copied over.

How to revoke access or remove an application

1. Review the applications you've connected in the Apps tab of your account settings.
2. Click the Revoke Access button next to the application.

Log out of other sessions

You might want to also log out of other sessions too.  To do that go to https://twitter.com/settings/sessions, scroll to the bottom of the page and hit "log out all."

Clean up

Now that you've secured your account, you may want to clean up your post by deleting all the spammy tweets and direct messages. This can be done by either clicking on delete or on the symbol of the trash can or clicking on the tweet to expand it and then deleting it.

Prevention

To avoid falling for phishing scams, always check the address bar of the browser or URL. Most try to use a URL similar to the site they are trying to imitate. Therefore, check carefully. Avoid phishing, malware, and viruses by examining short URLs before visiting them. Find out where links really take you by expanding those pesky shortened URLs with CheckShortURL. Also, it is always best to go to the main website itself. In addition, ignore such message as others are spreading rumors about you since it is most likely fake and the account sending the message is compromised. It is also a good idea to keep an up to date AntiVirus on your computer, regardless of your operating system; yes, Apple Macs can get viruses too (see my list of blog posts debunking that myth).

Tech for University

Source: Wikipedia by Ryan at UTSA Libraries

Now that you're in University, you might be wondering what new tech you might need.  In the run-up to University, big store pushing ‘back to school’ tech sales in our face.  You might see PCWorld having big banners advertising £100 discount off the latest computers or £50 rebate with the purchase of a certain brand of computer.  And it may seem that technology may be embedded into our daily lives, but I’m here to guide you through the maze of tech buying.  I will help you stay cool and within budget.

Computers

It is no arguing that computers and students go hand in hand.  Almost all of the lecture notes in the upcoming weeks can be found on Blackboard (Blackboard.swan.ac.uk) and most of you will be writing essay papers on computers to be printed out later.

Today, there are so many laptops and so much competition in the market you should have no problem finding one that suits your needs at a reasonable price.  

Four of the most important hardware specs to look at when buying a new Windows PC are the processor, memory, graphics card, and storage.

Hardware components

Source: JIP on Wikipedia

Processor

Computer processors come a myriad of models with a confusing number-based model like the Core i7, i5, etc.  For everyday tasks, Core i3 or i5 (or AMD equivalent) would suit your need.  For the gamers out there, if your budget suits, you could go for the Core i7 processor, depending on the need of the game you’re playing since not all games are built equal.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Ram is your computer’s ‘working area.’  The more RAM you have, the more concurrent tasks your computer can perform at the same time.  An example would be working on an essay while playing music in the background.  For a headache-less experience, look for a laptop around 4 GBs of RAM or more.

Storage

Your computer storage is like a filing cabinet.  The more storage you have, the more you can store.  Music, videos, pictures, and university work all use up storage.  Long ago, if you store a lot of things on your computer, just get a computer with more storage options.

However, nowadays, there are tons of cloud storage option available.  Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive allow you to save your work online and then access them anywhere.  So essentially you might not need that big a storage that a salesperson might be pushing at you.

In addition, adding to the mix are the two main types of hard drives HHDs and SSDs.  HHD or hard-disk drives are the traditional platter-based hard drive of magnetic tapes that store your files.  As you can imagine, it takes time for the platter to ‘spin’ to the right place where the file is stored.  Therefore, SSDs or solid-state drives were created.  Unlike HHDs, SSDs have no moving parts; therefore, data can be accessed instantly with little to no delay.  It allows your computer more speed and efficiency.  A drawback of SSDs is the cost.  SSDs are more expensive per GB.  But they might be worth your attention if you don’t store a lot of things on your computer.  And even if you do, hybrid-drives are an alternative compromise, storing essential software files on the SSD while regular files sit on the larger HHDs.

Graphics card

A graphics card, as the name suggests, is hardware that is used to convert the 1’s and 0’s into an image that you can see.  Cheap laptops often have the graphics processor built into the circuit board or even into the main processor chip.  These might be perfectly fine for everyday use, but for the power-hungry gamer out there, it might be worth investing in a dedicated graphics card for maximum performance.

In addition to the hardware specs, an important aspect of a computer is the operating system.  Below are three of the most popular computer system.

Operating systems

Mac OS X

It is often the go-to computer in movie University where all students are seen carrying one of these shiny slick aluminum machines.  But it is no arguing that they are quite pricey.  But if Apple is your liking you can grab a cheap bargain by going to the Apple Student store and buying a new device from there.  As of the writing of this blog, Apple is offering 15% off selected iMac lines.

Microsoft Windows OS

 Microsoft Windows is the king of the operating system.  It is the de facto operating system of choice by manufacturers.

Windows surface tablet by Takeaway. 
Source: Wikipedia

There are tons of computer buying guide out there, but ultimately the decision rest with you with choosing a computer that fit your needs.  Like the Mac OS X mention above, many of the Windows manufacturers are offering ‘student stores’ that offer discounts on the popular range of PCs.  One example is the HP student store.

Google Chrome OS

Google Chromebooks are the newcomers on the block.  They are powered by Chrome OS, a brand new operating system built by Google from the ground up with a view toward the web. If you have used a Chrome browser, you have pretty much used the operating system.  Chrome OS is a browser OS, and it is lightweight and require very little resource.  Updates install on the background and simply require a reboot to start. In addition, Chrome OS takes mere seconds (around 7 in my tests) from pressing the power button to being on the web.

Source: laboratorio linux

Now you might be asking what use is a web browser when you can’t do anything offline.  Thanks to the Microsoft Scroogled smear campaign attempt to discredit Chrome OS, Chrome OS is painted in a negative light that it is basically a paperweight since it can’t do things that a ‘real PC’ can do.  Well, don’t fret.  Word processing? No problem. Two solutions are available: Google docs or Microsoft Office online. Music your thing? No biggy. I'm pretty sure most of you are on YouTube anyway. Plus you can upload your music to Google Play Music online and it will work on any PC.  Anything you do on a traditional computer there is an equivalent application on the web.

Also, nowadays, Chromebooks can run Linux apps.  And there's usually a Linux equivalent of any Windows software you want.

For an in-depth review, please see my article on Chromebooks.

Cell Phones

It seems that cellphones are all the craze nowadays, with the top of the line Samsung Galaxy S10+ or iPhone X seen as ‘cool’ and hip.  But do you really need those phones or that many minutes? Shop around and find the best deal to suit your needs.  You may find out you don’t actually need that many minutes offered on the plan.

In addition, you could try getting last year's model or the year before that.  They are just as capable.  How much do you need the new iPhone X or the new Samsung Galaxy S10?  You could easily grab a bargain on the old iPhone 5 or the old Galaxy S4 or S5.  Last year’s flagship models are just as capable as this year’s model for a fraction of the cost.  In addition, there are tons of cheaper alternative like Motorola Moto X Play (from £21.99 per month (EE) or £249.99 sim free at Carphone Warehouse) or the Moto G (from £16.99 per month (EE) or £159.99 sim free at Carphone Warehouse).

Tablets

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

Tablets are perhaps the least appreciated technology. With phones getting bigger and computers getting smaller, tablets are slowly getting crowded out of the market.  But tablets are great for taking notes.  I have one and frequently use that to scribble on lecture slides with any notes that I want to add during lectures.  However, but you don’t need to go purchase a new tablet just for University. You could always search eBay for a good second-hand tablet

There are many tablets out there, but I personally recommend a tablet that has a stylus, which is good for taking notes.

Office software

Now we move onto the software.  I’m sure many of you are familiar with Microsoft Office for writing documents.  But if you don’t have that, don’t fret.  Swansea University provides a free copy of Office ProPlus for the PC (inc. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher, etc.) or Microsoft Office for Apple Mac (inc. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).  To download a copy go to https://myuni.swansea.ac.uk/it-services/software-enquiry/. There may be a similar deal offered by your local University.

In addition, there are tons of free Microsoft office alternative out there.  One of them is Google Docs, which is an online document writer that is just as good as Microsoft Office.  One advantage of Google docs is that it allows easy collaboration of the document with other students.  Just click “share” on the document and then type in the email.  Then all your friends or group partner can type in the same document in real-time.  There’s even a Google chat to discuss ideas.

Another free alternative is Openoffice or Microsoft Office Online, which is a watered-down Office provided online by Microsoft.  It is quite similar to Google docs.

In summary, you don’t have to spend big bucks and go broke buying all the necessary techs for university.  And wherever the road may take you, have fun and enjoy your time at your chosen university!

What to do if you're in debt?

Image courtesy of artur84 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Students are well known for being poor and cash-strapped and loan companies know this.  Therefore, some companies, such as Smart-pig, target students promising a quick and easy way to borrow money to cover shortfalls in the budget.  These types of loans are informally known as "payday loans" as they are aimed at providing money between paydays.  It is typically expected that the debt is repaid the next payday.

However, don't be tempted into taking out a loan with these companies.  Smart-pig charges 0.8% A DAY capping the interest at 50% of the original loan (according to the website).  Wonga, the infamous payday company that had recently gone bankrupt, charges an interest rate of 292%.  Therefore, you can quickly get into more financial problems if you have used one of those short-term loan companies.

Image courtesy of ladybeastcharmer on DeviantArt

An even worse source of money is a loan shark.  These illegal lenders target low-income people and charge high-interest rates.  For example, according to the Money Advice Service, one woman who borrowed £500 ended up repaying £88,000.  These lenders will seem friendly at first, but unlike payday loans, these loan sharks will often harass you or resort to violence if you get behind on your payment.   In addition, they might pressure you to borrow more money to cover the original loan.  As a result, you might end up in a spiral of debt that you can never repay.

Link to video: https://youtu.be/vZ4Sne0wdxY

A payday loan or a loan shark should never be relied upon if you are short of cash.  What you can do instead, is talk to your parents or friends and see if they can help you out with your financial issues.  I'm sure they are more than willing to help you out.

In addition, as a Swansea University student, you have a comprehensive team to support your financial issues.  Your first point of call should be Money@CampusLife team which can give you advice about keeping your finance in check.  In addition, the Money@CampusLife team can advise you about the various Hardship Funds available to help students who are struggling with their finances.

If you're not a Swansea University student, contact your local student union for directions to the relevant team at your university.

If you are not a University student, you can ask the Citizens Advice Bureau or the Money Advice Service for advice regarding debts.

You should never feel that you're alone. There are people there to support you.

Tech tips for students

Hey.  I'm sure going to University for the first time is both exciting and scary.  Here are some tech tips for you.

Get your own router

Unless you like random people blasting music on your Google Home or Amazon Echo devices, I recommend getting your own router. Depending on your budget, a cheapo router from Amazon could do the deed but if you plan on holding on your router for longer than 3 years, maybe it would be worth investing in a good brand name router. Look at reviews to decide which router is best for you.

Our rooms at Swansea University Bay Campus have an ethernet to plug in a router but this can vary depending on the accommodation you are moving in to.

Also, a router allows you to form a local area network in your room so that you can connect network devices like printers, Chromecasts, etc.

Getting some oomph from library computers (specifically for Swansea Students but your mileage may vary)

The computers at Swansea University have a hidden "C:" drive that is not normally seen. All files you save are stored in a network drive located at Singleton Campus. So running large simulations or CAD software from it can be slow and laggy. Therefore, I would save your files on the local C: drive and copy it off to a USB thumb drive or external hard drive once the simulation is done

Also, by default, you get around 2 GB of space allotted but you can ask nicely to have it expanded to 4 GB. Just email "engineeringit@swansea.ac.uk" with your request or visit room Engineering Central C105 (Engineering Central, C Block, 1st floor, Room 105).

Other Universities may have a similar configuration set up.

Make sure to match the version of software installed on the library computer

Most engineering software is not backward compatible. That means that files made with a newer version won't run on older versions. Software with known backward incompatibility:

• Solidworks
  For example, files made with version 2018 won't run on version 2017.
• Ansys
  For example, files made with version 19.2 won't run on version 18.2.

Therefore, always check the version installed on your university computers before downloading and installing it on your own PC. There's nothing worse than having to re-do the work because the file you send to your groupmate won't open on their computer.

If you feel I'm missing any tips, be sure to leave a comment on this post.

Image sources:

• Router: Image by RoboxInvasion from Pixabay
• Speedometer: Image by janjf93 from Pixabay
• Download icon: Image by IO-Images from Pixabay

Keeping your PC updated

There is nothing worse than switching on your PC and seeing the dreaded "Working on updates" screen," especially if you have a major deadline a few hours away.

To make matters worse, you can't skip the update.  However, here's some tip to keep it under control.

Microsoft release Windows updates on the second Tuesday of the month around 10 AM PST.  That translates to around 6 PM UK time.  Non-security updates to Microsoft Office tend to occur on the first Tuesday of each month and firmware updates for Microsoft's Surface devices on the third Tuesday of every month.

Therefore, to avoid unnecessary interruptions to your schedules, it might be good to block a "maintenance" period for your PC.  That way Windows won't interrupt your work.

At this point, you might be wondering why do I need the updates?

People often put off updating their PCs thinking that the updates are annoying and unnecessary.

However, they are wrong.  Windows updates often patch a major vulnerability that allows hackers to compromise your PC.

While it may take a while to update your PC, maybe block off a day "holiday" to update it.  Your PC will thank you for it.

Tips for new students

First of all, congratulations with securing a place at a university of your choice.  All your hard work during GCSE and A-level paid off.  You are one of the 241,585 (32.6%) of 18-year-olds who gained a place in higher education. [UCAS] 

But now what? Here are some top tips ensure success at university.

After receiving your acceptance letter

Sort out your accommodation early

You have made your firm choice on UCAS and had sorted out accommodation to stay for the year. If you haven't yet already, this should be the first thing on your checklist. You certainly don't want to be homeless when attending university. While many universities guarantee accommodation to those that make that university a firm choice, on-campus residences are extremely popular and you might be placed in a hall miles away from the campus.  Many university towns also sport student accommodations run by private companies but they could be more expensive or further away from the campus than the University's own hall of residence.  When comparing your accommodation choices, make sure to factor in the cost of utilities as well as the cost of transportation.

Moving in day

Picture by John Benson

What to bring with you?

If you're anything like me, you will be tempted to just bring your entire room with you.  However, sometimes it might be more convenient to just buy the items online and ship it to the place of residence.  Signing up to Amazon Prime student allows you to get your Amazon shopping delivered to your door within one day.  

If your place is anything like mine you can start sending parcels there about 2 weeks in advance of your arrival.  That means that you don't need to load your car to the brim with stuff.  Your parents will certainly thank you for it.

If you do want to bring some items from home, here's what I would recommend:

• Duvet and duvet case
  It would be good to bring a warm blanket or duvet.  Universities in UK start in September and the weather would quickly become cold in the coming weeks and months.  Therefore, it would be helpful to bring a blanket or duvet with you.  In my experience, stores can run out of duvets especially on moving-in week since everybody would be clamoring to buy one.

• Enough clothing to last two to three weeks
  You don't need to bring mountains of clothing since almost all student accommodations have onsite laundromats.  If you want, you can bring your fancy clothes for parties or a suit or two for formal events.

• Extension cords
  Not all places have conveniently placed sockets so extension cords are sometimes helpful

• Laptop
  A laptop should be adequate for most students.  And bringing one from home means you are familiar with it.  If you don't have a laptop, have you considered buying a Chromebook?  These laptops are low maintenance.  I personally would recommend a Windows desktop and a Chrome laptop (Chromebook) rather than a Windows desktop and Windows laptop.  You can remote desktop into the desktop from the Chromebook.

• Bedsheets
  Many student sites recommend bringing a bedsheet but I would email or call the accommodation to make sure the bedsheet you bring fits the bed you have.  Also, if you don't know the size, use flat sheets rather than elastic ones as they can fit beds that are larger than the size they are made for, albeit not perfectly.

• Place an online order with your favorite retailer
  Many high street retailers allow you to place groceries order with retailers like Tesco or ASDA who would often deliver right to your door.  I often make my first delivery purchase the evening of my arrival or the day after.  It can work out cheaper or more convenient for them to deliver to you than for you to go to them.  Delivery savers by these sites would work out cheaper if you make multiple purchases.  In addition, you can share them with your parents!  You can ask your parents to part pay for the delivery saver and let them use the plan.  The caveat is that you both can't book delivery slots for the same day.

Getting down to business

Now you have all your fun during Fresher's week and its time to put your head down and study.

Organizing your work

Photo by Kaboompics .com from Pexels

• Use online cloud storage like Google Drive or OneDrive to save your work
  More often than not, your university will be subscribed to Office 365, which comes with 1 TB of storage.  Make sure to back up your work to online cloud storage.  You never know when your computer might be hit by a nasty virus or suffer technical problems.  Also, working off cloud storage like Google Drive enables you to work from any computer, not just your own.

• Create a folder hierarchy and label each folder properly
  Don't randomly assign names to the folders.  This would make it hard for you to later find your work.

• Download your lessons and save them on your cloud storage or hard drive
  This may seem like an unusual tip but sometimes Blackboard (used by Swansea University) goes offline.  So saving your lessons would allow you to access the lectures even if your University site crashes or have technical problems.

Take notes

Photo by Startup Stock Photos from Pexels

• Take plenty of notes during lectures
  Personally, I would recommend taking notes using a tablet to take notes.  This would enable you to store tons of notes without having to lug around tons of notebooks around.  If you can't catch up to the lectures, use your phone to take pictures of your lecturer's writing.

• Film your lectures
  This may seem a bit controversial so ask your lecturer before using your mobile phone to film the lecture.  Filming the lecture makes it easier for you to review them later on at your leisure.  A lot of Swansea Univerity courses use lecture capture to store the lecture slide along with the lecturer's teachings.  However, not all lecturers use it and the audio quality might be poor depending on how far the lecturer is from the mic.

Watch out for phishing email

University students are often a prime target for phishers and hackers.  I have made a handy article about how to keep yourself safe online.  Be sure to check it out.  Also, practice caution lest you hand over your student log in to spammers who use your account to spam other students and academics.

These are my top tips for Univerity.  Be sure to check out my other advice articles and pob lwc (good luck) with your future!