So the past month has been all about the iPhone 6, which is for the first time ever having a bigger screen size due to pressures from other manufacturers who have gone from big to gigantic. Even though I felt my heart twitch a beat when I saw how gorgeous the curves are on the 6, this time round I am strangely not compelled at all to go out and get it, mainly because I already have a smartphone, the HTC One (M8) that I am very happy about. Let me tell you why.



1. The screen
It's slightly bigger than the 6, but its not really about the size (though it helps) but the quality of it. It has a 1920px by 1080px resolution, which means there's more pixels cramped in this small 5" screen than there is on my 20" monitor (1440 x 900px) at home. How crazy is that? I really enjoy looking at things on it because it's so clear and big. And the screen is strangely fingerprint-repellent, by the way. I don't know why but I really liked that it does that, by some sorcery disguised as technological innovation not doubt.

2. Android OS without all the junk
I realize even though I use Macbooks at work and home, I'm not forcibly "tied into the system" because I really didn't like the updates they have been doing lately to the iOS design and all the interconnectedness between phone and computer is really not necessary for me. What I realize is that I am however using Google products every day, from Chrome to Gmail, Maps and YouTube. All of which works seamlessly on the Android OS (install the Google keyboard on your HTC One to get a better typing experience too! This is very important!) and pre-installed. Another good thing is that beyond a few native apps, HTC does not install junk apps on your phone that you do not need (and cannot delete).

3. The sound and camera
I love watching the odd YouTube video now and then, especially at night before bed and I want to unwind. Instead of getting my iPad out, I now just use my HTC one, which comes with two front-facing speakers with Beats audio that has crystal clear and more importantly, loud sound.

For camera, I love the uFocus feature that's unique to the HTC, where after you take the photo you can select which part to focus on, and the rest gets blurred out. Read more about it on fonearena.com.



4. Little nifty gestures
Again, this might not seem much at first, but it's just so intelligent. You can pick up a call by just lifting it to your ear - there's no need to tap on "answer". You can reject a call by flipping the phone onto it's front. The ringtone volume can also soften as you pick it up towards you, when you receive a call. You can also switch between cameras by swiping the camera screen to the left or right (yes, iPhone does that too), which I learnt from stooffi, a fellow HTC user. 

5. Battery life
Any iPhone user will agree that battery life on the Apple phones are not the best. I often find my iPhone 5 not lasting beyond 3/4 of a day before it gets to 5%, which is when I start to panic. When I got the HTC, I can leave my house with 100%, and still have 35% left when I am home after dinner. That's pretty impressive if you consider how much of a social media and IM user I am! Its not just me too -- battery tests by tech magazines concur.

Source: phonearena.com


So there you go! The five reasons why I am sticking to the HTC One M8, and why you should be getting one too! Check out their price plans at your local telcos (such as StarHub) and be pleasantly surprised at how good it is.



Thanks to HTC for sending across the review unit! This article is 100% my own opinion and not a paid advertorial.

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By the time you're reading this, the new Twilight menu (no, not the ones featuring glittery vampires) from McDonald's Singapore might have already stopped as I understood that it is a limited edition run, but I wanted to share a review of the two special burgers I tried when they came to our shores in selected stores (mostly around outskirts of town), which I tried on Tuesday evening!



We started with the Grand Twilight Burger which is a big mac configuration with two patties and an extra middle bun. Instead of lettuce and tomatoes, this has steak sauce on the patty, onions and a tamago! The steak sauce was what's intriguing - it didn't taste too salty or artificial. Instead it was slightly smokey and bitter and rather light on actual taste. It went well with the indulgent egg which is also the same one used in the current Beef/Chicken Tamago burgers.

The Classic Twilight was the preferred burger of the two though. It was made with the Quarter Pounder patty, with lettuce, tomato, slivered onions, nacho cheese sauce and two pieces of turkey bacon added, just in case you are very hungry. It's dinner after all! The serving is definitely huge.


I liked the crunch of the veggies, mixed with the generous layer of  nacho cheese sauce that held all the ingredients together. It was really satisfying! I suppose you can do a Special Order now in stores for dinner by adding lettuce and tomatoes to your Quarter Pounder Burger!


Lastly we topped it off with dessert! We had the Sunset Dream - apple pie with butterscotch sauce drizzled on them and soft serve vanilla, which was pretty average and something you can make on your own any time you like.

It was the Midnight Delightdeep fried brownies with vanilla soft serve that was rather special. The brownies are really really fried, to the point where its a sweet black ball of crispy flour. While a novelty, I still prefer my brownies moist and dense so I don't think it's that big of a loss that we're not having this (until perhaps they decide to bring it back for McCafe? Who knows?). What I realized, is that soft serve goes very well with brownies. So I might just pop by McDs next time to get some soft serve to go with brownies that my sister could make :D


I really had fun trying the new Twilight menu from McDonalds Singapore! I hope you've enjoyed reading about this, and do keep your eyes peeled next time something new comes in!

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