Honor Band 5i vs Mi Band 4: Which is better in 2020?

So recently the Honor Band 5I released which is the lighter a version of the latest Honor Band 5 and if you have been following the budget fitness segment there is already MI Band 3I released a few weeks ago which again is the lighter version of the MI Band 3 and not the MI Band 4.

So, how do these lighter versions compare against each other, well you know what the Honor Band 5I is way better than the MI Band 3I so of course there's no point in comparing these. It would have been better if Xiaomi had launched MI Band 4I rather than the MI Band 3I anyways about the comparison would be the MI Band 4 and hence the question has to be asked which is the best budget fitness band to buy in 2020, well I have the answer let's find out.

Now before we get on to the comparison the Honor Band 5I is almost identical to the Honor Band 5 with a few differences like the Honor Band 5I has in build USB charger you do get a lower s LCD display instead of AMOLED and the lack of AMOLED display in Honor Band 5I means slightly inferior sunlight legibility the display looks side-by-side indoors not much of a difference but when you go outdoors you can clearly see the difference between AMOLED and LCD, other than that consider the Honor Band 5I has slightly cosmetic upgrade over the Honor band 5 with a new strap which I like with that out of the way let's get back to the MI Band 4.

So it's not much different from the Honor Band 5 but how does it compare with the MI Band 4, well I have to give the display part to the MI Band 4 the AMOLED display looks great and it really makes a difference when you see it outdoors under bright sunlight however display is not the only thing you see when you are working out outdoors. I often see my fitness band while I am running and bigger icons and text really helps the icons and text on the Honor Band5I look bigger and so does the text it would seem like a small detail but outdoors it's easier to figure out the Honor Band’s menu then the MI Band 4, another thing worth pointing out is the built-in USB charging this is the first time a major Fitness Band has included built-in USB charging while the MI Band still has that proprietary charger which is not something anyone would like to carry around while travelling.

But you know what's interesting about the Honor Band 5I the blood oxygen monitor or the SpO2 monitor and you know what it's not there out of the box. The official website says it would be available later via OTA update and we will update you on that. I got one OTA update that included music playback controls just like the MI Band 4 but straight up I prefer the honest implementation of the music playback control check this out once I go to the music playback menu the Honor Band 5I stays on for almost 45 seconds this is not the case when you are on any of the other menus and here is side by side on how the MI Band 4 music control functions it turns off as soon as it can this is a tiny inclusion in the firmware from Honor but means a lot when you use it.

But you know what you don't review a Fitness band sitting here in the office, because it's a Fitness band so let's move out I took a run with both the MI Band 4 and Honor Band 5I and here's the data side-by-side to give you a perspective

we also have the Nike Run Club data as you can see the HonorBand 5I is closer to the NRC data which is the most accurate one the MI Band 4 didn't do that bad but still, Honor Band 5I was consistently accurate another point to the note is that the MI Band 4 has connected GPS so it can use your smartphone's GPS data.

The Honor Band 5I also has extra workout activity 8 to be precise but surprisingly there is no swim tracking it's present on the Honor Band 5 but I don't see it in the Honor Band 5I interesting, apart from the workout the Honor Bands have better sleep tracking true sleep tracking I mean and it's good it has been consistently good since the Honor Band 4 if you look at the MI Band 4 and HonorBand 5I data side-by-side the MI Band 4 is just there but the Honor Band 5I has much more advanced algorithm which makes it slightly more accurate and provides better sleep analysis like it could detect I got up in the morning for about 23 minutes whereas the MI Band 4 had no clue.

To end this let's talk about third-party apps and battery life Honor Band 5I clearly loses out on the third-party app support the MI Band4 works with Android gadget and MI tools etc. and you also have the option to sideload custom watch faces although the Huawei health app does provide a watch face store but it doesn't give you the option to sideload your own watch faces so the MI Band 4 clearly has the upper hand when it comes to third-party apps and same is the case with battery life on continuous heart rate tracking to sleep monitoring the Honor Band 5I lasted around five days whereas on similar usage MI Band 4 would pull off eight to nine days so the Honor Band 5I clearly has an inferior battery but the USB charger is all I wished for you can just plug it into a laptop or even the power bank and you're good to go.

So which one should you buy well if you like tinkering with your band and you don't mind do three apps on your phone then MI Band 4 is for you, it has got a better display better battery life and huge third party app support but if you ask me I would cite the Honor Band 5I it has better algorithm, consistency sleep tracking, pricing, mobile app and UI but having said that you wouldn't go wrong either way.

3 Good Tech Habits You Should Follow in 2020

According to the book Pick Three by Randi Zuckerberg former marketing head of Facebook; 

you can focus on only 3 things out of 5, i.e.

Work, Family, Friends, Fitness and Sleep

So, if you decided to spend time on Studies, Sleep and Fitness you won't be able to make time for Netflix or friends and family. Now YouTube is filled with a lot of self-help advice and video essays to Kickstart 2020 but we are not here for that rather we will be talking about ideas that we personally use and has to the test of time so in our context, we'll talk about fitness, work and sleep and how to use tech to turn them into a habit.

Excercise

So, let's get started when it comes to exercise most people think of a fit body, however, the biggest reason to exercise is a healthy brain according to the John Ratey book Spark;

Exercise is the single most powerful tool available to optimize the brain.

Studies have shown that exercise can help us cope with stress ADHD and can improve our ability to focus and to learn new things. I exercise because it makes me efficient at work and it doesn't have to be hitting the gym any kind of physical activity that you enjoy is exercise can be running, swimming, playing a sport, cycling or even brisk walking.

Now one of my favourite things that will get you into exercise is Fitness mats I've been using the AmazFit Bip for quite a long time and the primary reason is the standalone GPS tracker but here's the alleged part the activity reminder I work a lot on the computer and sitting for hours is not good for your posture. So, like every fitness band this has an activity a reminder which pushes me to be active every hour and just to show you the drawbacks of the sedentary lifestyle, you are born with the J-shaped spine and you end up with an s-shaped one.

Overall the bigger picture here is to pick a physical an exercise that works for you could be lifting weights cycling running walking playing a sport anything that works for you and use the relevant tech app to track it and keep yourself motivated.

Top 10 Best Open-Source Website Builders

Sleep

Now when it comes to sleep you might have heard most successful people claim they sleep five hours a day but there is still ambiguity amongst the fact how many hours should you actually sleep according to the popular author and scientist Matthew Walker;

There is an adaptive balance to be struck between wakefulness and sleep in humans that appears to be around hours of total wakefulness and around hours of total sleep for an average adult.

So to get that proper eight hours of sleep for most I started tracking my sleep the fitness band helps in that case next I gave up on media consumption and most of my smartphone usage for that I use Google's native digital well-being app wherein I can provide app limits so when that is reached you cannot use the app until the next day additionally I use the Do Not Disturb mode quite a lot while I'm working so I am not distracted by those Whatsapp notifications moreover I made a rule to not use my phone an hour before going to bed and to deal with that I read from a Kindle or a physical book you can also use audible which is a fantastic book source the point is we avoid the smartphones blue light before going to bed the blue light coming up from your smartphone messes up your circadian rhythm and causes those random incomplete sleep patterns.

Work

So, the third thing to focus is work and, in our context, we'll take it as learning a skill and disclaimer don't learn it from YouTube, Reddit comments, podcast or Twitter. Yeah the flipside of these platforms is that the information is pretty concise and surface level it might be good in order to create an opinion and win a battle in the comment section but you're not gaining any knowledge out of it for that you have to read books as you would already know Bill Gates the co-founder of Microsoft is quite passionate about reading you can visit the GatesNotes.com to know about the books he read and his review on those but as a popular convention you have always been taught to pick up a book or read a newspaper every morning this is how you read but Nah, that's not the only way you read I use Kindle quite a lot and the biggest reason is zero distractions moreover, it's portable easy to use doesn't require maintenance the other side is Kindle and audible come at a cost but if you look at it in hindsight you are investing in yourself     you're investing in gaining knowledge.

For other book-related summary apps here's my personal experience on those I use an app called Book Book for a brief period of time it summarizes a book for you in the form of a chat conversation it's on similar lines like blink lists but soon I realized is doing more harm than good in the long run I am eliminating the habit of sitting down and reading a book plus I'm getting too quick to jump to conclusions reading an entire book makes you think about the subject introspect and research more about the topic whereas the summery only tells you what's the book about and the readers interpretation of the book so to summarize there are three takeaways from this article do a fitness activity not just to stay fit but to also train your brain and track it with an app of fitness man stay motivated and continue it in the long run second sleep eight hours a day instead of five to six hours track your sleep avoid smartphone usage because sleep is as important as anything else third finally learn new skills and read more books if physical books work for you do that else consider audible or even Kindle and rather than getting all your sources from Quora and Reddit.

To end this we firmly believe that tech will change life as we go on and health and finance are the two biggest sectors that would be most affected by tech in the coming years let us know your thoughts in the comment below.

Top 10 Best Open-Source Website Builders

Previously, making a website was a hectic task I mean you have to go through a lot of programming and coding but now building a website isn’t hard anymore, there many online services and software that are specifically designed to create and maintain websites and blogs. If you are thinking of making a website or a blog or an online store, then here are some open source online website builders that you should definitely try.

1.Wordpress

When it comes to building websites or blogs then WordPress is the most popular CMS (Content Management System). In fact, 30 percent websites on the internet are using Wordpress for content managing.

Plenty of themes available, plugins, customization options and a community with millions of users, makes Wordpress special. No matter what you need, you will have a plugin to do the things for you. We recommend you Wordpress and buy an awesome theme but if you are on a budget or financially tight then you can also use free themes and there are plenty of free themes to choose from.

There are the ton of resources to guide you step by step to set up an awesome website while using Wordpress. Almost every web host supports Wordpress and Wordpress runs on MySQL and PHP.

2. Joomla

My 2nd pick is Joomla a free open-source Content Management System for creating any kind of website that you want, either an e-commerce website or a general blog. Joomla is a community type Content Management System tool and it provides extensive security features to manage the content and your websites. It offers Two-Factors authentication to access the admin area which is pretty secure. Moreover, Joomla also runs on PHP and it provides a lightweight PHP framework.

Likewise Wordpress, Joomla also provides several premium and free plugins to enhance your productivity and to give you a better experience.

3. Builder Engine

If you are new to designing a website then Builder Engine is one of its kind Open Source Website Builder. Builder Engine is specially designed to build and manage websites with ease. You don’t have to use different plugins, unlike Wordpress, for managing files, SEO optimization, backup, HTTPS support, analytics, security settings, restore capabilities etc. Its user interface is straightforward and gives you an instant access to your admin account with just a couple of clicks.

The community edition of Builder Engine is free to use but for more modules and extensive support, you can purchase its premium license which is around $299 per year. Builder engine also runs on PHP and MySQL.

4. Drupal

Drupal is another popular open source website building platform for building amazing digital experiences. It's made by a dedicated community. Any user can use it, and it will always be free. Due to its complicated interface, Drupal lacks in terms of flexibility, usability, and features, unlike Wordpress and Joomla. But that being said, Drupal offers built-in support for multilingual websites and custom content view support and types etc. Drupal also runs on PHP and MySQL.

5. Open CMS

OpenCms a is a professional, easy to use Open-Source Open Source Website Builder. OpenCms helps website builders and managers worldwide to create and maintain beautiful websites fast and efficiently. Open CMS uses Java and XML technology unlike other open source website builders that use PHP and MySQL, but you can deploy an open source environment like Oracle and MySQL for database management. Open CMS may look dated when compared to other website builders but it has a wide range of modules to extend the functionality and add new features.

6. Modx

Modx is considered very much similar to Wordpress. However, Wordpress is assumed to be user-friendly and for everyone but Modx is more oriented for the developers. When you install Modx you will not see too many options to click and menus etc. To use Modx you should be familiar with intermediate level programming languages and HTML. Though is it difficult to use for regular users but for the developers, it is one of the most secure open source website builder.

To help you out for the website development, the Modx has video tutorials and very good documentation and instructions. Modx also runs on PHP and MySQL.

7. SilverStripe

SilverStripe was mainly developed keeping developers in mind. It is quite secure, powerful, and inflexible, but that doesn't keep every user away from it. But its user interface is quite confusing and lacking. SilverStripe is the instinctive open-source website builder and content management system and its flexible framework is loved by editors and developers alike. SilverStripe runs on PHP and MySQL.

8. Django CMS

Django is created using Python web framework and for database management it uses MySQL. It is a quite fast lightweight. Although Django content management system heavy focusses on developers but its drag and drop user interface and instinctive editor makes it considerably easy for the regular users to create and maintain websites. Django provides multilingual support so that users can manage content in different languages.

There are also many 1st party and 3rd party themes that you can use to enhance your productivity and core-functionality.

9. PrestaShop

As you can guess from the name that PrestaShop is developed to create and maintain e-commerce websites and online stores. As it mainly focuses on online stores and e-commerce website, it provides several modules to track inventory, associate products with suppliers, sort orders, support for various payments methods,  create custom filters, create manufactures list, fast content and product navigation, manage special offers and discounts, analytics, etc.

If you are looking for an e-commerce website or an online store then PrestaShop is for you.

10. Concrete5

Concrete5 CMS is yet another popular open-source website builder that makes it easy to build a website. It is for both for beginners and advanced users. The user interface of the Concrete5 CMS is very minimal but you will find all the options to properly manage a website. It provides drag and drop support, automatic updates for add-ons, easy theme controls, support for template and page types, built-in SEO and social media tools, etc. Concrete5 runs on PHP and MySQL.

How to Use New Gmail Add-Ons to Enhance Your Productivity

Raise your hand if you are tired of spending too much time on inserting images, attaching documents, and pasting data from another app or directly from your computer or mobile device in an email? Then you are not alone many of the users spend more time, on attaching files to an email, than they like. Now Google is looking to speed up the process for you by introducing some new feature and add-ons.
These new things are meant to speed up the process of attaching files and make it a lot easier for the people who spend a lot of time searching Dropbox files and copying and pasting links which is a bit old fashion. Now with the new Compose Action, you can do all these tasks with a little fuss by using Chrome Extensions right from Gmail message draft.
There are a variety of Compose Actions in Gmail add-ons, that come from Google Chrome Extensions that you can download right from your browser. Right now, four Extensions are available for all Gmail users including, DropBox, Box, Egnyte, and Atlassian.
First of all, install the Dropbox for Gmail Chrome Extension and from there click on Add to Chrome and the extension will be added to the Chrome, the installation won't take too much time.

Next head over to Gmail and open up a new message and if you are using this extension for the first time you will see a screen notifying you of Dropbox Extension. Now click on the get started and sign up or sign in to Dropbox on the next window.

Once you sign in you'll see the list of available files that you can attach with your Email by just checking a box near to that file and clicking on choose. After clicking on Choose your file will be added to the draft and that's it you are done now you can compose your message and send it.

And in future, if you want to access the Dropbox all you have to do is just click on the small Dropbox icon in the line up of other Email formatting tools.

Similarly, you can use the other Extension to attach the files from like the services of Box, Atlassian, and Egnyte. All of these new compose actions can be found via G Suit Marketplace, and Google is saying there are more coming soon.

Source: Google Blog

10 Free Apps for Windows 10 You Should Try on Your PC

If you're looking for the best free apps for your Windows 10 computer the Microsoft Store is loaded with great apps for productivity and entertainment now with more than 500,000 apps to choose from their selection has improved quite a bit over the last couple of years coming up I will show you 10 free apps for your Windows 10 PC that you should try out.
So, let's discuss them one by one.

1. Adobe Photoshop Express

First up is Adobe Photoshop Express that's easy to use lightweight photo editing tool is for those of you that don't need the full-featured version of Photoshop it gives you the basic tools to quickly edit your photos for free with none of the features locked behind a paywall after you've selected a photo to edit along the left you have a selection of looks to choose from these are similar to the filters in Instagram you can rotate flip change the aspect ratio and straighten out your image the corrections tab is the most useful of these light lets you adjust the exposure and contrast.

If you have a washed-out photo go down to blacks and adjust the slider to the left you have five color choices six effects including clarity and grain and details has the option to sharpen your image there's a tool to heal blemishes you can't correct redeye with a single click and there's a tab to add borders to your photos at the top of the screen there's an auto-enhance tool that can touch up your photo with just one click this feature is hit or miss but may come in handy if you're in a hurry.

2. Xodo PDF Reader & Editor

Xodo PDF reader and editor is a better alternative to using the free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader it includes more tools for editing and PDFs load faster in selecting the Edit icon in the upper right gives you several tools to markup your document you can even create your own signature if you select View mode to help protect your eyes there's even an option for night mode when compared to many of the free PDF readers I've used Xodo is one of the best.

10 Free Apps For Windows 10 You Should Try On Your PC

3. EarTrumpet

EarTrumpet just may be the best app that you never knew you needed quite simply it allows you to quickly change the volume for any specific app in your taskbar your trumpet looks just like the sound icon when you select it you can see the volume control for every program that you have opened with sliders to quickly change the volume.

4. Ditto Clipboard

Ditto clipboard is a superior clipboard tool than what is included with Windows it allows you to save any type of information in texts images or anything else that you can normally copy allow you access to those items at a later time ditto clipboard also lives in the taskbar followed your clipboard items can be found here just select the copied item that you need hit Ctrl C on your keyboard and paste it wherever you need it going into settings you have several choices including saving your current clipboard to be used later on.

5. Fused: Double Exposure, Video & Photo Blender

Fused is a cool blending app that can help you to create interesting effects for your photos and videos here's how it works first select your background photo you could leave it square or choose original click the checkmark to move on now select your foreground photo to accept it hit the checkmark again now you will have a blend of two photos this one is not so great selecting blends will give you several types of blends to play around with adjust will let you change the contrast exposure and brightness it includes masking tools along with tools to crop rotate and flip your image and when you're done in the upper right corner you can see your project to your computer.

6. Duolingo: Learn Languages for Free

Duolingo the popular language learning app for Android and iOS also has an app for Windows with 16 languages to choose from when you first launch the app select the course that you would like to take I'll go with Italian now it's going to ask you to pick a daily goal I'll just leave it on regular then select continue then on the course page start at the top and follow the instructions.

7. Spotify

Fanboys can argue all day about their favorite music services but if you're looking for a quality app in the Microsoft Store for listening to music Spotify is the absolute best I've used with Windows 10 in addition to all the various listening options selecting devices available in the lower-right will let you stream to another connected device in your home to listen to Spotify for free it is ad supported for an ad-free on-demand experience Spotify Premium will set you back about ten dollars per month.

8. ShareX

Share X is an open source screenshot and screen recording tool that can be customized to fit your needs with a lot more features than the snipping tool in Windows 10 share X is not your standard screenshot program it's packed full of features. I'll go over the basics you'll need to know to get started selecting capture you have several screenshot options the primary ones most people use include full-screen window monitor and region which is my personal favorite selecting it you can click and drag out the portion of the screen for your screenshot let go when you're done now you'll have several options for saving and marking up your image.

when you're done click on the green check mark you can view any of the images by selecting the filename when using this app it's recommended that you use keyboard shortcuts going down to hotkey settings we'll show you the defaults which can be edited to your preferred shortcuts there's so much more than you can do with this app if you plan on trying out share X I'd recommend checking out the many tutorials available online.

9. CrystalDiscMark

Crystal disk mark is an open source benchmark utility that tests the read and writes speeds of your hard disk or solid-state drives it's simple to use there are three drop-down boxes make sure to leave the first one on 5 for the number of test passes if you're pressed for time leave the second one on one gigabyte otherwise for a more accurate reading to reflect how a large database will work I usually use 32 but I'll leave it on one for now for the third drop-down select the drive that you'd like to benchmark in my case the C Drive is an SSD and D Drive is a hard disk drive.

 I'll leave it on C for now then to the far left click on all it'll take a few minutes to complete I'll jump to the end without getting overly technical you'll get the results of the sequential test along with three 4k tests with various cube depths if you've just installed an SSD into your computer this is a cool benchmark when comparing it to a hard disk drive or other SSDs you may own.

10. Code Writer

I've mentioned several code editors in past videos those that are available in the Microsoft Store code writer is the best that I've used it's a definite step up from using notepad which is built into Windows 10 it supports more than 20 popular file types and comes with active syntax highlighting in the settings in the lower right it can be customized to fit your needs if you've been looking for a new code editor check out code writer.

let me know in the comments if you know the free app in the Microsoft Store that's worth trying out. 

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority will Block all Unverified Mobile Phones and GSM Devices after 20 October 2018.

The smartphones in Pakistan will be blocked after October 20, 2018, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is sending SMS to all mobile users to confirm their smartphones and GSM devices before October 20, 2018. If anyone does not receive SMS, he can still verify himself of his GSM devices.
According to PTA, only confirmed mobile phones and GSM devices will be active after October 20 and all other mobile phones will be blocked. PTA has strongly said that buy and use only approved mobile phones and GSM devices.
There are three ways to verify mobile phones and GSM devices.

1. Via SMS 
2. Through the application
3. Through the website 

To confirm via SMS, enter your mobile IMEI number in the message to SMS and send it to 8484 SMS.

Dial # 06 # * from your mobile to check your IMEI number.

To verify through a mobile application, download and install the PTA App 

Download Official Device Verification System (DVS) - DIRBS Pakistan App

 From the Google Play Store link. Enter your IMEI number in the search box of the application and press the submit button. Checking it will tell you whether your mobile is confirmed by PTA or not.

To confirm from the website, open the following link.

https://dirbs.pta.gov.pk/

3 types of results you will get by SMS or mobile application verification methods. The following descriptions are below.

1-IMEI compliant:

Your mobile is registered and verified with the PTA and GSMA network.

2- Valid IMEI:

Your mobile IMEI code is verified with GSMA but is not verified by PTA. Contact PTA to register the mobile.

3- Invalid IMEI:

Your mobile is not registered and approved with both GSMA and PTA.

If the first realization comes after confirmation. If the IMEI compliant comes, it means your mobile phone is verified with PTA and it will not be blocked after October 20. If the Risks Valid IMEI, you will have to register with your mobile PTA or it will be blocked. If the Risks invalid IMEI comes, it means that you are using fake/compressed mobile. This mobile cannot be verified. This mobile will be blocked after October 20.

How to Enable Dark Mode on YouTube Android App

I assume that you have heard about a rumor that YouTube is testing Dark Mode on web browsers. You can simply shift to dark mode on your browser by clicking on the Profile icon and selecting Dark Theme from the drop-down menu. But guess what YouTube has rolled out this new feature for its Android app as well.
Until now I was using a moded version of Youtube app call YouTube Vance an alternative to Youtube to use dark mode and playing videos in the background. But now I'm shifting towards official Youtube app as it has dark mode enabling option by default.
So let's move over to enabling Dark mode on Youtube Android App, first you have to have auto updates enabled to do this open up the play store app, search for the Youtube app there you will see an update button o if you don't see that button then you might already have auto update enabled and you already have the latest Youtube app installed. To see what version you are using just long press on the Youtube app and an option will pop-up saying App Info just tab on it this will show you the application version that you are currently using. Dark mode is enabled on 13.35.51 or newer versions.

Next to enable the Dark mode on the Youtube app tab on your profile picture on the top right corner and select settings and from settings tap on the General.

From the next screen select on the Dark theme, it should be the 2nd option from the list.

That's it you will see all the interface of the Youtube app is turned dark. It also works flawlessly on both Portrait and Landscape mode.

What If Dark Mode Option Don't Show?

If you don't see Dark mode option in the settings even after updating the Youtube app then you might wanna restart the app or even Force stop the app from application manager and it should work.