There are enough reasons why staying at home shouldn’t hinder Kenyans, especially content creators from being just as productive. In a bid to tackle the current situation, Kenya has extended another 21-day working from home plan, and this shouldn’t scare content creators. With everyone stuck indoors, it seems every aspect of life is moving online: work, study, entertainment… and even socializing. While this does mean missing out on sunshine and get-togethers, there are still plenty of ways to make the most out of this situation. With today’s advanced technology, it’s never been easier to stay informed, communicate with loved ones.

Since Google open-sourced the android OS, developers can therefore edit the code to their liking enabling more features, recompile it, and re-release for a number of devices. Phone owners can then proceed to download the custom android ROMS and install on their devices to modify the overall appearance as well as behavior. Custom ROMs based on Google’s open source platform are mostly developed by a diverse android community, often times by a group of core developers who do this purely out of passion for modding. This means that most are completely free. Custom ROMs are available for phones, tablets, media players, smart watches and almost any type of device running Android.

We’ve seen a consumer trend that’s has evolved over years towards a decent camera setup when shopping for a new device. However, almost a good number of consumers never get to utilize the power of these camera setups in a real world except at least for content creators. It’s therefore very important to invest in a phone that has good camera so that you can take good quality content for your audience it doesn’t matter if it is for fun or for business. 

With Huawei Y7p a device that retails at Kshs 18,499 you will be able to create the content you require without any challenges and here is why.

1.     Use the 48MP AI Triple Camera to your advantage: – with 48MP AI Camera you can take high resolution images and videos thus looking very professional.

The 8MP ultra-wide angle camera will give you a much wider shot, which means you can fit a lot more in the frame, you can take photos such as the food photos, landscape photos, your interior design or even fashion pieces that you can use on your social media to push content relevant for your audience. 

You don’t have to worry about adjusting any settings either. The on-board AI will automatically recognize what you are trying to take a photo of and adjust the settings accordingly, be it your pet, the sunset, the beach, the list goes on to more than 500 scenes in 21 categories even including fireworks, plants, the sky, snow and more.

2.     The night shouldn’t stop you from taking photos since Huawei Y7p has that perfect Night Mode

With the HUAWEI Y7p, all you have to do is switch to Night Mode and take the shot and the smartphone will do the rest, including stabilizing your shot and even adjusting the exposure, resulting in a well-lit photo. It’s that easy.

3.     Shoot creative videos

Video content always attracts more attention and the creative ones even go viral! With the HUAWEI Y7p’s 8MP ultra-wide angle camera you can shoot ultra-wide videos which allows you fit a lot more in the frame. This way you won’t have to keep zooming in and out or even cropping your videos and capture everything in one shot, for example you have been working out from home and need to share with friends on your platforms, you want to do a food throw down and want to walk your followers through the process. Also slow-mode is perfect to shoot videos hence making sure every single details is caught.

4.     Step up your selfies game

Of course, no social media account is complete without a selfie and with the HUAWEI Y7p, every selfie will look like it is taken professionally, standing out from everyone else’s. Thanks to the 8MP AI Selfie camera upfront, you can take selfies in HDR which is further optimized with the help of AI. Not only does the AI recognize the scene and adjust the settings accordingly, it also enhances your natural beauty with Enhanced AI Beautification.

Stunning photos and videos paired with these quick tips are the secret ingredients to give your social media profile the boost it needs. Thanks to a powerful camera setup, the HUAWEI Y7p is easily one of the best choices for the budding social media influencer.

How would you call a phone that’s neither in the top tier lineup or within the mid-range sequel? Well, the proper terminology should be a “feature phone” – something we both know no one ever longs for. Nokia was once a formidable force or probably still is a force to beat in this genre, but the current market has been overtaken by consumers strive to look for something that can combine practicality, functionality and affordability in the same phrase. While the new Nokia C2 in itself doesn’t surmount enough force to make fellows out there rubberneck, it’s price probably can.

With a meagre price tag of KS 8,199 here in Kenya, HMD Global promises the new Nokia C2 will offer simple yet important functionalities such as staying connected, a battery that’s long-lasting enough to let you forget about power worries at least in the short term and an immersive HD screen that’s just as good to watch videos on. The camera isn’t that bad, coupled by android Go edition that’s easy to receive security updates minus the dreaded unnecessary carrier/manufacturer bloatware, everything was designed to be practical in so many ways. And hooray! This phone comes with 4G connectivity.  

HMD Global so far is doing a tremendous job, the company brought back a once household name to the market though not as popular, but a force to reckon. Nokia C2 is currently available in Kenya from Ks8,199. By all means this isn’t a device for power users or those looking to have professional level photography on a smartphone but a device for those without a handful budget but want to connect, take admirable snaps and watch one or two videos with less concern on frames or resolution.

Long lasting battery and 4G capability

Since the specs are not that power hungry as we’ve in the top of line devices such as galaxies and iPhones, the removable 2800mAh lithium-ion battery should be enough to drive this device through days with minimal usage. And at that price point, it’s a bonus to have 4G capability built in that will ice photography and entertainment features on the Nokia C2.

Decent large 5.7inch screen for media consumption

On the front panel, the Nokia C2 houses an exceptionally large 5.7” HD+ screen, a front-facing camera with flash and HDR photography to brighten up your selfies. And since the battery is large enough for day to day activities, you’d be amazed to go from dusk to dawn without hooking on a charger. You can watch YouTube videos offline via YouTube Go. Introducing YouTube Go as well, an official app from YouTube that lets you download videos to your Android. With enough Go apps such as Gallery Go to keep your memories automatically organized, easy to find, edit and share, as well as the lightning fast, Google app designed for unpredictable internet connections.

Speaking on the official launch event, Gopher Ogembo, Senior Business Manager East Africa, HMD Global was quick to highlight the main objectives of the device, which is to bring great smartphone experiences to as many customers as possible across different price points.

He also acknowledged the desire by many consumers to have a reliable phone and with addition of 4G technology was a sure way for them to upgrade. Nokia C2 runs on an optimized Android™ 9 Pie (Go edition).

Nokia C2 Pricing and availability in Kenya

The Nokia C2 is now available in two colours, Black and Cyan, comes with a free phone cover and is available in both Safaricom stores and open retail channels countrywide.

The original iPhone SE had so much when launched that compelled most consumers with appetite for handsets with a small factor to have something they’d relate to. It was like Apple had finally started listening to its customers for once and did something about it. In fact, the smartphone giant admitted to having sold millions of then iPhone 5S devices to people who didn’t like the size of iPhone 6.

The original iPhone SE 2016 mostly retained the best technology in then flagship 6S but settled on the design of iPhone 5S – one of the best designs we’ve seen in the industry. It was a combination that gave no reason to pundits at the time to lament about apple; that’s not to say the device lacked flaws, but they were mostly ignorable considering the unusual low-price tag of (USD399) Ksh40,000.

And now we’re in the year 2020, the best in the original iPhone SE is now washed out even though some fellows still hold on to the handset like a precious box of diamonds. A few reasons you’d easily be given from these people include the handsets ability to receive latest version of iOS; at least in the year 2020, it’s awesome but now dated design ques, and an amazingly low-price tag – refurbished models are now going for less than USD100 (KS 10,000) online.

Today’s new small factor was actually once considered big, I remember back in the day when Samsung unleashed its phablet lineup with the likes of 5.3inch Galaxy Note stealing the show. The phablet designs were met with both skepticisms and embraced by many as well. The latest iPhone SE 2020 could actually have been categorized as a phablet back in the day, you’d not believe its actually amongst the few considered usable by one hand today.

Unlike the original SE, iPhone SE 2020 has all the goodies you’d get in an iPhone 11 but housed in the body of iPhone 8. The manufacturer moved away from its once iconic design used on the 5 series which came as a disappointment to many – me included. We expected the next iPhone SE to come in the same compact boxy design we used to love, only with minimal bezels at least to represent the SE’s evolution. Some novel designers came up with beautiful renders of how the SE would look like – something that actually made conservatives like me to have something worth looking forward to.

To be honest, I’m not necessarily lamenting about the iPhone SE 2020 its actually the only option small factor lovers like me have on the shortlist. We are extremely disappointed that out of the enormous android ecosystem, we don’t have a direct competitor. Technology has evolved tremendously in the smartphone segment and the level of copy-pasting we’re witnessing is disturbing.

When apple settled on the notch, everyone went for it. Its like every phone manufacturer out there saw the light for the very fast time. I’d love to see the level of innovations we once witnessed in the likes of blackberry and Nokia. Apple is not spared as well, just harvesting left-over parts on the iPhone 11 and putting in the body of iPhone 8 spells cost-cutting. To be honest, the only peace offering we get in the new iPhone SE 2020 is an affordable price tag and the power of apple’s current top-of-the-line device – the iPhone 11.

The iPhone SE 2020 comes with a 4.7inch display panel Apple A13 Bionic processor, iOS 13, 3GB RAM, 12 Megapixels primary camera and 7 Megapixels selfie camera. Its expected to cost somewhere around Ksh40,000 here in Kenya – at least once it gets here. But if you can’t wait that longer, there’s always the likes of amazon and eBay you could actually snap one when an opportunity arises.