December 21, 2018

Your smartphone is like a best friend. It entertains, educates, organises, and reminds. An essential part of your daily life, it not only keeps you socially connected, but also boosts your work productivity.

“It is akin to being my partner in life,” says Kemmy Tan, the CEO of M+S, a high-end property developer responsible for Marina One Residences and Duo Residences. Rosaline Chow, who founded CXA Group, a marketplace for flex and wellness that is valued at over $100 million, chimes, “I can’t do without my phone but I don’t obsess over the brand or model. I choose the phone for practical considerations and perhaps what my husband, Clarence, chooses for me.”

Imagine a day without your smartphone. Who’s going to wake you up? Who’s going to remind you about your 2 o’clock meeting at Oxley Bizhub? Who’s going to tell you how to get to Oxley Bizhub? Who’s going to call you a cab for you? And who’s going to provide you with the phone number?

“Honestly, I can’t imagine not having my smartphone with me,” ponders Dione Song, the chief commercial officer of Love, Bonito, the fastest growing women’s fashion brand in Asia. “I guess I’ll be very dependent on my laptop and will probably need to be chained to my desk 24/7.”

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For prominent, high-performing business leaders who are always on-the-go, this little device is their lifeblood. Kemmy, for one, uses it for everything: “E-mails, my newsfeed, social feed, online purchases, food delivery, online banking, online payments, Google Maps, online streaming, Googling, music.” And the list goes on.

Rosaline adds, “I also use health tracker apps to track my steps and calories, WhatsApp to keep in touch with my kids who are overseas, and of course our CXA mobile app, which is on WeChat for our Chinese market. I use the phone to keep up with our product enhancements.”

More than fulfilling personal needs, a proper smartphone aids in managing professional responsibilities as well. “With the right settings, it optimises my day. And it enables me to have all my handy work apps at the touch of my fingertips – Slack, Google Analytics, Workable and Gmail,” says Dione.

Kemmy expresses similar views: “I can work 24/7 even if I am out of the office. It also allows me to multi-task, so I’m able to do my work whilst still keeping tabs on the trends and happenings in the business world and in current affairs.”

Hence, it is imperative for these high-functioning individuals to choose a smartphone that suits their demanding lifestyles. While Kemmy looks for a lasting battery, speedy connection, and “a handy palm size”, Rosaline prioritises physical durability and a sharp screen, among other things. She says, “I don’t have a problem with size because I mostly use a backpack, but I need one that is light and has a full screen. I do enjoy a sleek, modern design in a phone. It’s important to have screen clarity and a phone that doesn’t heat up. I also like one that is tough enough to withstand accidents.”

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For Dione, battery life is the most crucial aspect of a smartphone. “Since I’m always out and about for meetings, my ideal phone gets me through a day of high usage without needing to be charged.” Making sure none of these issues plague its users is Huawei’s latest Mate 20 model.

“The curvature of the screen is impressive from a design and usage point of view,” says Rosaline, when she first came in contact with the flagship phone. Equally stunned by its aesthetic appeal is Dione: “It’s really light, sleek and has probably the most amazing camera I’ve ever seen.”

Huawei Mate 20 debuts the Kirin 980 chipset, which is 40% more power efficient and 20% faster than the regular chipsets of today’s smartphones. “The fast processor allows me to access my information in a flash,” praises Kemmy. Besides its striking display and stylish selection of finishes in black, twilight and midnight, the smartphone is also known for its Leica triple-camera feature.

“This is essential because I meet many people and it’s nice to take a nice wefie to post on social media. Screen clarity also helps when I don’t have my reading glasses with me,” says Rosaline. Echoing the sentiments of the millennial generation, Dione says, “It’s just so much better on the eyes and you know that you’ll always have a reliable device to capture all your precious and impromptu moments.”

Aside from aesthetics and functionality, the jewel in the crown is the impressive battery life, which has been tested to last 14 hours and 26 minutes. It is perhaps the most important feature for business leaders who are constantly flitting from meeting to meeting with no time to make sure their phones aren’t on the brink of death. For the CEO of CXA Group, whose WhatsApp profile tag reads, “Battery about to die”, the Mate 20’s sturdy lifespan is a clear advantage. “It helps when I have back-to-back meetings, when I am travelling, or when I simply forget to charge my phone. It is a lifesaver not having to worry about battery life,” she says.

No other smartphone is able to give you the peace of mind like the Mate 20, which allows you to juggle a million tasks without draining your battery too quickly. If you are an iPhone or Samsung user, you might want to seriously consider making the switch, because the Mate 20 is a worthy contender.